Goblin Diaries, Volume 5: The Mercenary Tsing

 From the November 17th newsletter...

Hey folks. It's time for another excerpt from the Goblin Diaries. Things seem to be heating up in Trevor' world.


18th Day of the Frost Moon, 1218th Year, Human Age of Magic ...

The mercenary, Tsing, arrived yesterday afternoon having procured the Eye of Ellindrell. However, he does not carry Ka'il Idreth. The rumor that he has a sword that sings seems merely to refer to his prowess with the blade. Still, I was counting my blessings when he turned over the Eye to the Alchemist ...

... until the feces hit the fan.

Tsing delivered the Eye, and the Alchemist paid him half his fee, promising the remainder once he had balanced his ledger--part of the spell he worked up to conjure the god, Vale. My master was up all night completing his work, and when Tsing arrived this morning to collect the rest of his fee, the Alchemist apparently chose to demonstrate his work.

I have no idea exactly what happened, but I knew something had gone terribly wrong when the screaming began. Shortly thereafter, Tsing emerged from the workshop in very much of a hurry, murmured a curt goodbye, and galloped away at full speed.

The workshop looks like it was hit by one of the strong tempests that pass over the Great Sea in late summer. What I think must be the remains of the Alchemist is a huge bloody stain on the workshop floor. The Eye of Ellindrell sits mounted in the forehead of the silent statue of Vale, pulsing weakly every few seconds. I fear to retrieve it from its mounting, lest I waken the sleeping god and suffer the same fate as my former master.

I'll have to do something, though. And quickly. King Palatus will get wind of this soon--his spies are everywhere. I've sent a desperate plea for help to the Protectorate. I hope it arrives before the king's men do.

Meanwhile, I must cut short this entry to my journal. I have a disgusting mess to clean up in the workshop.

Progress Notes:

Wednesday morning (11/15/23) I crossed the 40k word mark in the first draft of A Verse for Witches, book one of my 3-part epic fantasy/sword & sorcery series, The Song of Tsing, coming out in 2025. That puts me about a third of the way into the book, and things are fleshing out quite nicely with the characters in the world of Panprama. What fun!

That's all for now. Happy Reading!

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