I have to say, it is fun to go through a single author's works, and see how the things change, stay the same, and loop upon each other!

While this tale may not involve the adventuring duo that featured in Andrew Wright's first three stories, it is otherwise remarkably full of references to previous works - be it the alcoholic drink from Lair of the Troglodytes, another gastronomically gifted Mind Flayer like in The Black Lobster, bees and beehives playing an important role like in Impudent Peasant!, alongside an infinitely-spawning fight very similar to what that story had. That, and there is also another reference to the canonical Demons of the Deep, like in The Black Lobster, though this time it's clearly a rival of what was probably the most memorable character in that story.

The journey is also very fun on its own, although the narrative leaves a questionable aftertaste. In terms of morality, nearly all the canonical stories had been extremely straightforward, and predictably, this applies to a fair few works here as well. Then, an encouraging fraction here genuinely attempt moral ambiguity, which I appreciate dearly. And lastly, there is the uncomfortable category where the events appear far more ambiguous than the narrative is willing to acknowledge.

Up until now, Nye's Song was the only example I could think of, and my reading of it may be considered esoteric (is the invasion of England by Thuggee-led undead and demonic hordes actually worse than the Bengal Famine it would have averted?) Here, though, I don't think it's particularly arguable that you serve evil while considering yourself a hero (like most villains do, anyway). Not only do the Salamanders hold a very good claim to the artifact, but your city is literally ruled by slave masters who need the artifact to keep the slaves that toil in the mines in check...and we are heroic for helping them do just that? I wouldn't have minded it if the narrative seemed more aware of it (i.e. A Princess of Zamarra is very clear in its true ending that what you have achieved is hardly a boon for anyone outside of the orc tribes of Khul and Zamarra's ruling classes), but the true ending here is clearly meant to be read as an unadulterated triumph.

As for the rest, it's great when the story doesn't just have a lot of artwork, but artwork which was actually purpose-drawn, and not slotted in awkwardly from elsewhere, at times with clear mismatches between it and the text! The spells are fun, too, although there are perhaps too many of them for an adventure of this length, since the balance is clearly off. The Galehorn's spell wrecks practically everything and is just so much better than the rest. Meanwhile, picking a Giant's Tooth at the start is literally a total waste, and there doesn't seem to be any situation where a Fire Water is usable AND preferable to alternatives either. The items you can exchange for provisions also seem rather underwhelming at that point. It doesn't help when some fights deny you spell use for what appear to be balancing reasons, yet seem to have no internal narrative justification for that. (that Beetle, or the merchant, anyone?)

And at a certain point, there's some weirdness I'm really not sure about.

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Finally, proofreading.

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