Introducing: The Shrike

I am excited to finally announce a project I’ve been working on for two whole years at this point. The Shrike is an all-new OSR adventure and setting book, written for Old School Essentials and published by Silverarm, who have put out adventures like Desert Moon of Karth and Secret of the Black Crag. The book has turned into a bit of a monster: over 67,000 words and 300+ pages in hardback. It is completely separate from Vaarn, being set in a dark fantasy afterlife rather than a science fantasy desert.

The adventure takes place in a discarded fragment of Hell, which imprisons a long-tormented God as well as a host of other weird creatures. I’ll let the opening of the book speak for itself:

“Hell does not retain a consistent size: it waxes and wanes in response to unknowable stimuli. When Hell recedes, entire provinces are shed like refuse abandoned on the beach by a retreating tide. The Shrike is one of these lost fragments of Hell, a neglected corner of the afterlife abandoned by the greater vista of torment that once gave it purpose.

The Shrike itself is a colossal blade, dedicated to the punishment of a nameless God. From afar, the edifice resembles a sharpened mountain of black iron and volcanic stone, a cathedral of pain buttressed by serrated spires. The Shrike is a heaven-harrowing thorn, ever-burgeoning and burrowing into sacred flesh, piercing the Nameless God’s heart and bearing them aloft in undying agony. Divine blood flows through the inner structures of the Shrike and nourishes life where it pools. 

The Shrike is a world of rusted iron, crumbling stone, saltwater, blood, and fog. Around the structure lies the roiling ocean and a grey archipelago upon which no healthy plant has ever grown and no wholesome creature stirs. Above are pewter-hued clouds, seabirds, and the pitiless stars.”

All very cool and exciting (I hope). If that weren’t enough, the book will be fully illustrated by Jantiff Illustration, in a dark and baroque style. You can see his cover artwork as the header to this post, and the interior illustrations are shaping up to be just as good:

As you can see Jan is killing it, and the book is going to be a really beautiful vista of Hell.

What’s inside?

I can tell my readers that The Shrike contains the following things:

• several immortal cannibals
• selkies who like a drink
• animals made from glass
• a sword forged to kill monarchs
• blood which gives life to things which should not have it
• stones which give life to people who do not want it
• masks of various sizes
• a leviathan who is very large
• a giant who has lost her skin
• crabs of various sizes
• a grove of candelabras
• a lake of flames
• eels that are quite large
• lanterns with odd properties
• a witch who is married to a spider
• various Devils of unpleasant aspect
• a party, which never ends
• an anchor chain, which is very long
• a boat, which can no longer float
• a colossal spire of iron
• a God who is pierced through the heart
• many many lost souls who have nowhere else to go
• a forest filled with weeping things
• infernal engines which have no clear purpose
• many other disturbing and delightful sights

The Shrike will be coming to Kickstarter in 2024, likely during February. The project page is here, currently in a pre-campaign state. You can sign up to be notified immediately when the funding campaign goes live. I will obviously be talking a lot more about the book during the campaign period, so watch this space.