Henchmen

By: Matthew Hughes

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Vunt is building a career as a gambler. Oldo is a young man fresh from the farm. But the Duke of Vanderoy has decreed that every able-bodied man must have a job or be conscripted for unpleasant chores.

The two meet when they come seeking work at a riverside warehouse that handles goods being shipped up- and downstream. The job pays more than it ought to, so long as they keep their mouths shut. They do that, but they also keep their eyes open, and soon they discover their new employer is engaged in shifty operations. Worse, they suspect his brutish bodyguard may have killed the workers Vunt and Oldo have replaced.

From there, the two young men embark on a perilous adventure that will see them hired on as caravan guards—while acting as undercover operatives of the Vanderoy wizards’ Guild—traveling north to Ur Nazim then pursuing the developing mystery in the city of half-mad thaumaturges, Olliphract.

They’ll encounter wonders and terrors, worlds they never dreamed of, visiting the Underworld and even the unknown depths of the human psyche, struggling to fight their way free of the schemes and duels of powerful spellslingers and madmen.

Terrible AI narration

A fun story that would have been much more enjoyable if read by a real person.