Featured in Aconyte Books’ first short story anthology, Tales From the Crucible, Thomas Parrot’s KeyForge story To Catch A Thief follows the daring, dangerous exploits of light-fingered elf Nalea Wysasandoral. After a particularly lucrative score from burgling the home of the Crucible’s High Councilor himself, Nalea is on the lookout for her next job, unaware that the investigation into her ongoing crimes has been supplemented by an outside investigator – the renowned sylicate detective Talus the Thief-Taker. As she prepares for a risky new endeavour, the jaws of a trap begin to close around her.
A smart, highly capable and almost principled thief, Nalea is driven to crime by a combination of innate nature and an abiding envy of the luxury available to the rich and powerful. She makes for an engaging protagonist and a useful perspective from which to view the bright, colourful and occasionally dangerous world in which she lives…and the shadows it casts. Parrott takes a light touch with the world building, hinting at the depth of the KeyForge setting – and the Crucible itself, packed full of wild variety in its characters and locations – without shoving anything in the reader’s face, which helps make this both a tremendously fun story and an intriguing introduction to the IP. There’s clearly scope for more stories of Nalea’s escapades, so here’s hoping this isn’t the last we’ll see of her.
Check out reviews of the other stories featured in the Tales From the Crucible anthology.
