Joseph H Wycoff

Arcane Cage Joseph H Wycoff

An untested, urban cleric who is charged with the investigation of a missing merchant at a remote outpost on the border of a draconic wilderness. A half-elf ranger who senses a growing threat to the peaceful co-existence of the diverse communities in the region. A "half-grown" druid who can take the shape of ferocious beasts in battle or birds of prey to surveil the land. A mercenary rogue who plays both sides of an impending conflict for personal enrichment. A long-lived elf whose knowledge of magic and arcane cultures has been accumulated over centuries. A half-gnoll barbarian who becomes the champion of an ancient and free world.

These are just a handful of the extraordinary characters found in this sweeping history of the decline and fall of the Provenance, the ancient "empire for liberty" that dominated the known world during the Arcane Age.

Siddrah and her fascinating companions come alive in the stories captured by her official reports and personal notes regarding the investigation of the missing merchant. Suspicious events at the treacherous outpost soon force the cleric to go underground in order to complete her mission with the help of a small but powerful group of arcanists who conjure fantastic abilities. These late heroes of the Arcane Age discover dark secrets hidden since the earliest origins of world civilization.

An epic fantasy novel that re-imagines magical realism and pushes the limits of worldbuilding, the narrative enlarges the monumental historical plot to include events unfolding over two thousands years and offers insightful context that engenders greater apprehension for the growing threat to peace and prosperity during the cleric's lifetime.

A cross- or hybrid genre historical fantasy, Arcane Cage exposes the renegade forces at large that to this day devise the return of humankind to a preternatural dark age of captivity and self-tutelage.