Daemon of the Deep

Call of Chaos #8

by Rob Sanders

The seeds of corruption lurk beneath the surface of an idylic island village, where the forces of Nurgle and Slaanesh vie for the souls of its inhabitants.

Read it because
It's Chaos on Chaos action in the Mortal Realms. What happens when the servants of two of the Ruinous Powers have the same idea? Well, you're about to find out...

36 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 8, 2015

About the author

Rob Sanders is the author of twelve novels, as well as numerous anthologised short stories, novellas, audio dramas, computer games and comics. His fiction has won national writing competitions, been featured on the BBC and appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list. His poetry has been short listed in national contests. He lives off the beaten track in the small city of Lincoln, UK.

Reviews

[DarkChaplain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daemon of the Deep is definitely one of the best stories from this year's advent calendar. The lack of battles with hundreds of meaningless, nondescript deaths and, maybe most importantly, the lack of warbands and Sigmarines, makes this a stand-out story in the Age of Sigmar series.

Instead of the usual, already stale concept of battles without end, this story delivers a chilling tale about a disfigured boy whose only fault is being born into an island society that prides itself on perfection and beauty. He is cast aside and into a grotto for no fault of his own. To please the God-King Sigmar, as his family and the newly arrived priest would have it.
His only defender is a lady sent by a neighboring island kingdom for the purpose of marrying his brother; nobody else dares, or desires to, stop the boy's abuse at the hands of his brothers.

And so he is discarded and left for dead along with the imperfect fish and sea creatures their people feel too important to make use of. Naturally, this leads to him being "saved" (as in, not eaten) by a greater daemon of Nurgle, who teaches him how to take revenge on his former people...

There are no grand battles here. The story is solely about the boy's place in his kingdom and resulting abandonment and revenge. And Sanders hit those spots really quite well, making the protagonist relatable and sympathetic, even in his misdeeds.

While the whole thing still exists in its own little bubble within the franchise, separate from all the rest apart from minor ties via a set of common names, it made me care more for the setting than any of the Realmgate Wars stories.
If Age of Sigmar had more stories like these, giving us decent characters and conflicts off-battlefield, instead of faceless, ever-same warriors reflecting generic rulebook entries, this IP might be far more engaging and rewarding to read about.

[Andrew Alvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Grandfather approves

[Michael Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eight days into Black Library’s 2015 Advent Calendar and it’s Rob Sanders’ second contribution, with the Age of Sigmar short story Daemon of the Deep. Set in the idyllic, utopian kingdom of Ersatz Island, when the ruling Sheldrac family make an alliance with a neighbouring kingdom they ruthlessly sacrifice the malformed Silas in an attempt to prove the purity of their line.

Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/20...