Tan Skulks is a man on a mission. Except he’s not really a man and now he’s not sure what his mission is any more. Summoned to the ancient city of Hardened to investigate a series of murders, he finds that the grisly deaths are only a tiny part of the city’s problems. While a vicious beast stalks the streets, a newly-emboldened Rat God is trying to subvert the city. Wizards and assassins lurk in places they are most certainly not welcome to lurk in. Now the indomitable Skulks must follow a series of leads to find out who or what is behind this catalogue of mischief. As a Wielder, he is never far from trouble—much of it of his own making. Using his powers of stealth and a not-quite-human ability to drink, steal, cheat and fleece his way through a city full of cynical citizens, Skulks must race against time to solve the mystery. Can he do it and escape with his thieving mitts intact? Tan Skulks is a unique tale of thievery and magic, with added doses of humour, larceny and burglary.

Having dispatched the recent threat to the ancient city of Hardened with a steel toe-cap up the rear end and the pointy bit of a dagger in its eye, the Wielder Tan Skulks finds himself promoted to high office. With new responsibilities come new opportunities and Skulks finds himself challenged by mad wizards, a master thief and on top of that, someone is most definitely trying to kill him. As if that wasn’t enough, there’s a top-secret mission which only a man of Skulks’ calibre has any hope of completing. Dastardly miscreants are everywhere and it’s a good job Skulks is one of them, because it’s going to take all his powers of cunning, guile, stealth and outright thievery to emerge from this one moderately unscathed. Can he face the Demon King and come up smelling of roses and stolen coins?

With the Wizards’ Conference finished for another year, the Wielder Tan Skulks hopes for a break from all things magical. His quiet life doesn’t last long - a new threat looms and it’s much, much worse than a baboon-summoning mage. Thirsty dead have begun to roam the streets and everything seems to be growing spider legs all of a sudden. Are these the symptoms of something greater than they appear? As Skulks investigates, all signs point to evil doings a-happening, with a practitioner of the dark arts on the loose. It’s dog eat dog out there and the city needs its favourite thief more than it’s ever needed him before. Can Skulks step up to the plate and defeat the mysterious figure that hopes to conquer the city?