Available in the Vaults of Obsidian anthology, Thomas Parrott’s Blackstone Fortress short story Fates and Fortunes tells the tale of a man running from his past and finding a calling, of sorts, in the darkness of the Fortress. After acquiring an item of great supposed value from the vault of Rogue Trader Janus Draik, self-identified thief Ilden joins a ragtag team of adventurers in heading deep into the Fortress, intending to use the artefact to unlock a treasure trove from the Dark Age of Technology. As the Blackstone takes its toll on them, however, Ilden feels his past catching up.
Parrott quickly, effectively brings together a mixture of murky characters before breaking them apart, following a similar approach to his novella Isha’s Lament in digging into their reasons for being on the Fortress. Ilden finds a sort of purpose in the Blackstone, but for all that he cares about his allies, whether tech-expert Cascade or the wonderfully strange xenos Ovthaugh, he’s not able to protect them in the Fortress – his talents lie elsewhere. Starting off quite light in tone before gradually getting darker as Ilden’s destiny becomes clearer the closer he gets to his goal, it’s a smart story that’s as characterful as it is bleak, and demonstrates Parrott’s knack for the grimdark adventure stories of the Blackstone Fortress.
