Tom O’Bedlam

Late Update

My flat is flooded again. I will post two chapters tomorrow and catch everyone back up. Sorry about that!

Thanks for reading!

No Update Today, 15 Aug 2022

There will be a double update on Thursday this week to make up for it!

Thanks for reading!

Interlude, or, Chapter 152

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Tarin-Tiran…

Gis scowled. The hobgoblins before him, the remnants of a scouting party, cowered before the priest’s wrath. Two bodyguards, part of Gis’s party, stood to either side of the Disciple of Urkhan.

All of them were safely ensconced in a hidden chamber, one of many that Urkhan’s former disciple Melusk had secreted throughout the city, cut off and warded from the main magical constructs that powered and guarded the place. There was a...

Descent into Tarin-Tiran, Chapter 18

‘How much do you know?’ Nilsiir asked briskly, striding about the room as it reshaped itself to their will.

If Robin’s perusal of potential high level illusion spells was correct, Nilsiir was likely employing [Supreme Mirage] or something similar. [Supreme Mirage] was an illusion so encompassing it could even fool the sense of touch, and had an inherent quasi-reality to it, such that even someone who saw through the illusion or was otherwise immun...

Descent into Tarin-Tiran, Chapter 17

It was another illusion of Nilsiir, High Priest of Rhyth in the days when Tarin-Tiran flourished. This time something was different, however, and it was not hard for Robin to put his finger on precisely what that was.

Nilsiir was staring right at them, eyes flicking from one member of the party to another. The High Priest opened his mouth and began to gesture wildly, but no sound issued forth.

A look of consternation drifted across the illusion’s face.

Illusion? Ghost? Som...

Descent into Tarin-Tiran, Chapter 16

Robin conjured a flaming Ace of Spades, the blue light from the witchfire surrounding it casting the scene in an eerie luminescence. The ghostly figure didn’t react, but the fog around its feet swirled and advanced slowly.

The bard sent the [Lesser Witchbolt] flashing toward the fog, rather than the figure. the card exploded with a snap and crackle of eldritch flame, but the fog around it did not respond. No wild magic surge. Just a bit of swirl to i...

Descent into Tarin-Tiran, Chapter 15

It was, in no uncertain terms, an unmitigated disaster. For thoroughness, they had tested glass, wooden, and paper containers. All of them dissolved into unexpected and unpredictable magical effects. They even tried to move a small sample of the stuff with Drev’s force magic, with the mage conjuring a shallow disc of force to carry the liquid across the intervening space.

The result of that particular experiment nearly killed them all. The magic absorbed the force magic and, well, exp...

21 July Update

Hello! 

I’m afraid there will not be a chapter posting today. I’m under the gun with work and the heat wave that hit London two days ago absolutely killed my ability to squeeze in writing time this week. I will make it up over the weekend, however, so look out for more words then!

Thanks for reading!

Descent into Tarin-Tiran, Chapter 14

Robin hissed in frustration and let his hand fall from the stone blocking the party’s way back to the cavern and the tunnel that led to the temple room. The thing wasn’t shifting and he had not been able to find any mechanism to cause it to open once more. jhess, with her superior skill at finding traps and hidden doors, might still turn up something, or Drev, with his superior magical senses, but Robin was tapped out.

Instead he turned to examine their surroundings. Even if trapped...

Descent into Tarin-Tiran, Chapter 13

The party had already fought rats with crystal symbiotes growing form their bodies, and now they faced a far more dangerous—though curiously rhyming—foe: bats with crystals growing from them. Though in this case it was not the eyes that were the focus, as had been the case with the rats, but instead the fangs, and, likely, the vocal cords as well, to judge by the unholy crystalline wailing that sprang to life as the flock of crystal-bats took wing.

‘We need to retreat, now,’ Dre...

Descent into Tarin-Tiran, Chapter 12

The secret door gave a click and swung open as Jhess pumped her fist in jubilation.

‘Further in?’ the rogue asked, a hopeful look on her face.

‘Great fortune and great danger await,’ Savra said, eyeing the coin in her palm.

‘Further in,’ Vance opined, with Drev agreeing a moment later.

‘Might as well,’ Robin said, following the will of the party. ‘But slowly. We’ve had a warning and it would be foolish to completely ignore it, even if it mi...

Descent into Tarin-Tiran, Chapter 11

Robin examined the altar, Rerebos perched on his shoulder, as the rest of his party examined the remainder of the temple for traps, hidden doors, lurking monsters, or other surprises. So far they hadn’t discovered anything, but Robin would willingly go without spouting a single lie for a month if there wasn’t another secret door in here, somewhere. This had been a temple of Rhyth, or the dungeon had given it that appearance, and no temple of Rhyth, real or fake, would be without ...

Announcement: Trickster’s Song Audiobook!

Hello my Amazing Patrons!

I have a bit of news! I have signed with Podium Audio and Trickster’s Song is going to be an audiobook! They’re also going to produce ebook and Print-on-Demand versions! As of right now, the first 9 adventure-arcs (we’re up to the middle of adventure-arc 8 here on Patreon on the highest tier)!

I do not yet have any news on release dates because it is early days still, but I wanted to share the news with all of you first! I’ll keep you pos...

Descent into Tarin-Tiran, Chapter 10

[Not a shadow but the illusion of a shadow]

The party took up defensive positions, spreading out along the inner wall of the temple so as not to be in—as Robin still thought of it—fireball position. No one wanted to get hit with an area attack.

‘Watch for others,’ Savra warned. ‘Undead of this kind often dwell in groups.’

Then she raised high her holy symbol and began calling upon her goddess to rebuke the undead thing before them. Her features fell into sharp re...

Descent into Tarin-Tiran, Chapter 9

The dungeon entrance could have been any other tunnel or doorway in the vastness of the ruined city. Robin studied it alongside the rest of his party. It was a simple archway of crumbling stone, but given the control dungeons tended to have over their demesne, it was likely that a cruise missile wouldn’t dislodge so much as a pebble on a direct hit.

‘I don’t like how innocent it looks,’ Jhess complained. ‘Those are the ones you have to watch out for. Give me a dungeon with sku...

Descent into Tarin-Tiran, Chapter 8

Under Ruprecht’s power and influence, the ruined manor had been fully restored. In fact, it was restored far beyond any degree necessary for the party’s purposes. Ruprecht, however, was having none of anyone’s objections.

The energies are mine to use as I see fit.

‘Not when we’re the ones risking our lives to bring you dinner!’ Jhess protested.

Robin noted that while the rogue was irritated, it didn’t stop her from lounging in the lap of luxury Ruprech...

Descent into Tarin-Tiran, Chapter 7

“I’ve just about got it,” Drev said, a look of concentration on his face as he stood with one hand pressed against the remains of the latest mosaic the party was investigating.

This one was in the ruins of a small temple. Robin had already ransacked the place for hidden caches of knowledge, but aside from a few small scraps of scripture carved into the walls he’d come up empty. Jhess had done slightly better, finding a nest of things that looked like winged packrats. Their nest ...

Descent into Tarin-Tiran, Chapter 6

The mural in front of Robin depicted a golden vision of Tarin-Tiran—at least the thought it was Tarin-Tiran—as a centre of trade and wealth. It made sense, considering it graced some kind of shopping arcade, though any actual evidence of such had long since been looted by invading forces, wandering monsters, and opportunistic adventurers.

It was surprisingly intact, compared to the other examples the party had seen so far in the city, protected by location and, presumably, the kinds...

Descent into Tarin-Tiran, Chapter 5

‘Frell,’ Robin muttered as he looked through Rerebos’s senses at the next location that the party intended to explore in their hunt for more illusory knowledge. The location in question had once been a market gallery of shops, but now it was a nesting ground for some of the monsters that had escaped from the living dungeon threaded through the city.

The shopping arcade had been colonised by a small band of humanoids that looked rather like goblins, save for their strange blue hue ...

Descent into Tarin-Tiran, Chapter 4

‘I really don’t understand why he likes you so much.’ Jhess complained as they trudged down the ruined street, clambering over the rubble and shattered stone.

‘He’s my familiar,’ Robin answered, reaching up to skritch Rerebos between his fuzzy cat-ears. ‘And he likes me! Isn’t that right cutie?’

I will end you for your impertin—oh. Oh! Right there!

Rerebos began purring loudly. Robin didn’t even bother to hide his grin. Of course as soon as he ...

Descent into Tarin-Tiran, Chapter 3

‘I think,’ Robin said slowly, making a show of looking from the book to the winged cat and back, ‘that it might be our deceased friend’s familiar.’

It was a blatant lie, but no one else could decipher so much as the odd word from the journal he was holding, so it worked as well as any other explanation. better, really, if Robin was going to ‘bond’ with Rerebos in this disguise and make him his own familiar.

Robin pulled a morsel of foods from dimensional storage and ...

Descent into Tarin-Tiran, Chapter 2

Robin followed closely behind Jhess as the party made its way through the ruined mansion. Night had fallen, judging by what they could see from the flickers of illusion that still struggled to shroud the cavern ceiling. An oppressive silence had fallen as they crept inward, knowing that a body lay at the end of their path.

Yet for all that there was still beauty to be had. The remnants of faded glory still clung to the walls in panels of fine, dark wood, and glimmers of gilding. There w...

Descent into Tarin-Tiran, Chapter 1

Robin sent one final [Lesser Witchbolt] sparking off into the darkness and the battle ended with a small squeak! Around him the floor of the tunnel was scattered with small corpses, the remains of the swarm that had descended on them. Most of them were small, rat-like creatures with clusters of crystal spikes where their eyes should be. Three or four of them had had those but also a small gem glowing on their foreheads, between their eyes.

Jhess was busy trying...

23 May Announcement

Hello all!

Just a quick announcement here to explain why there will not be a chapter released today! It’s my birthday, and there’s a lot of stuff happening around my birthday, so my schedule is all over the place this week.

What does that mean for Trickster’s Song? It just means that there is no update today, and chapters will esume regular release again on Thursday!

Thank you again for reading!

Happy May!

Tom

TL;DR: It’s Tom’s Birth...

Interlude, or, Chapter 133

An unspecified time ago, above the world…

The harmonics of the realmsphere sang through the crystal ship as it knifed through the interstellar darkness. The pilot felt it thrumming through the helm and resonating down to his bones. He bounced his foot impatiently; this was always the worst part, the final bit of waiting before journey’s end.

‘Proximity?’

4.5 cycles to arrival.

‘Status?’

Initial mission remuneration: r...