Dispatch 717.

Satellite… I mean, Grey. Sorry, just feels more natural to say 'Satellite' when I’m out here in this tin can. Nostalgia for a different life. Not quite the good old days… I’m so much happier now, with you, with the Brink But things were more certain then. Now, I look at the data that’s coming in, and I don’t know what to think.

No. That’s wrong.

Things are just as certain as ever, it’s just that now instead of just knowing what’s coming next, I’m scared, Grey. Every day, I’m scared of tomorrow. The truth is that, while I might disagree with what Crystal Palace is doing, it’s right about this system: The Twilight Mirage is boiling over.

Volition is literally bubbling right now. Even with Signet’s successful sortie against it, It’s continuing to create new Axioms at the sort of pace that only comes with absolute safety or total desperation--and with the destruction of its shield, we know it doesn’t have the former. Which leaves the question: What makes something like Volition desperate?

I wonder if it feels a rivalry to the splice, Our Profit’s perfect little virtual utopia. Volition wants a world where ideas are more important than physical reality, and Our Profit’s given it to everyone in a form they actually want. And now Tenderness is trying to put Anticipation into the mix…

Meanwhile, everyone on the ground is vibrating with angst and anxiety. A quarter of the damn Qui Err have already boarded Rapid Evening ships out of the system, and the rest are hoping beyond hope that Seneschal’s Brace is actually going to keep their word about giving up some territory.

Which is hard to do when they’re busy stealing a Divine and handing it over to a former war criminal like Declan’s Corrective. Hell, maybe our time with the Rapid Evening makes us war criminals, too. How many people did we sit and watch die with the knowledge they were in danger?

Ugh! Crystal Palace makes me so mad. I hate it, Grey. It just sits and watches and spits out a wall of predictions and people like us, people like your dad, we sit there and go “oh okay, I guess this has to happen.”

And here’s the real thing I’m scared of: That doesn’t make special. That makes us just like everybody else.

Places like the Divine Fleet--places where people learned over thousands of generations to actually care about one another? Those are blinks in the long stare of an amoral universe. They’re exceptions to a world of principled disinterest in the well being of others. A world where any alibi not to intercede is transformed from an easy excuse into a natural law.

So when you look at someone like... Grand Magnficent, all holed up in some safehouse in the snow, praying that someone will come help him?  That’s not rare. He didn’t get himself trapped. He was always trapped. We’re all trapped, Grey. You and me have the good fortune of being trapped in here together. But none of us can get out.

When we were deciding whether to stay Off Cycle or go back onto the loop, we were so focused on this limited idea of freedom. We wanted to be at the border of Crystal Palace’s range so bad, where things get just a little fuzzier, where there’s a chance that the data misses something, misses us. We knew the terrible things it successfully predicted about the worlds Off Cycle--suffering, slavery, death--and we hoped that maybe those things just didn’t happen beyond the periphery. Without data, anything could happen, right?

Wrong. There wasn’t any data, but wherever society is, there are always people. Backstabbers. Oppressors. The selfish and the scared and those who have no sympathy for either.

That’s what scares me. Not Volition or the Splice or politics or Crystal Palace or your dad and his bomb. People. It’s just… people.

This week on Twilight Mirage: Futura Free Pt. 3

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

This episode content warnings for insect infestation of a human body, knives, fire, police violence, the mention of blood, and mention of mass death by fire. 

Sapodilla shutters early today. The Macula is in the street, looking for even more blood than usual. And yet three of those they’re looking for—the vampire Virtue Mondegreen, the newly waxen Duvall, and the associatively guilty Lye Lyken—are prowling the city in their own hunt, in search of a secretive library. Can they find their way towards the knowledge they seek, or will they stumble into view of their pursuers first?

This week on Sangfielle: The Perpetual Oratorio of Davia Pledge Pt. 1

The Almanac of the Heartland Rider

Places

Sapodilla: One of, if not the, largest city inside of the walls of Concentus. Sapodilla rests on the western shore of the vast lake that takes up much of southeastern Sangfielle, and prizes itself as the rare hub of culture in the bloodfields. In recent years, the powerful witch hunting organization called the Glim Macula has grown in power there, owing to the city’s focus on furthering “civilization.”

Pledge House: A mysterious manor in Sapodilla’s Hibiscus District. Thirty odd years ago, a fire ravaged its attached (and magnificent) concert hall. In two days time, a rebuilt concert hall will host Davia Pledge’s grand return to the stage.

Objects of Interest

Sa’Ferna-ta-Fera: Translated loosely to “Talking with Ferna the Cunning,” Sa’Ferna-ta-Fera is an approximate transcription of a long, free-flowing conversation between an unnamed scholar and the pre-Panic Carpana sage, Ferna. The transcriber, a bastard child of a Great House of Aldomina who used his connection to Ferna’s tribe to initiate the process, hoped to capture the wisdom of the sage and rewrite it as a dissertation on the folk knowledge of Sangfielle. When Ferna convinced him to instead attempt to publish the transcript as-is, the bastard scholar found that publishers in both the First and Third Cantons refused to print it. 

Facts and Figures

Lenore Voivode (he/him): In the pre-Panic heartland, Lenore was the nebbish and prissy human thrall to Lord Asator Crosley, one of Virtue’s many rival vampire lords. Today, he is of the blood in his own right, the Night Librarian of the prestigious Rotundana library, and a member of the Telluricist Union.

Lady Zizilliana “Zizi” Esterházy (she/her): Once a well known artist of Sapodilla, Zizi reportedly died during the great fire of Pledge House. According to the book Remembering the Zahir, Lady Esterhazy was the last known owner of the titular Zahir, a painting which supposedly fates the person watching it to develop over time into their apprehension of either the subject of the painting or a striking yet elusive figure in the painting’s far distance.

Davia Pledge (she/her): “The mad composer of Sapodilla” who vanished from the public view for decades after the fire of Pledge House. Every year, they say, she invites a select few to a private concert of her newest composition, and getting an invite is either a high honor or a mark of one’s own corruption, depending on which aristocrat you ask. In the past year, her name has become widely known not for her concerts, but for “Pledge Cylinders,” recordings which produce crisp, beautiful music, though by what devilry it is not known.

Darling Malice (she/her): Once, Darling Malice hunted Virtue Mondegreen across the whole of the heartland. She even managed to kill her. But that didn’t stick, it seems. And now, Darling’s own ghastly existence is tied to her twice-undead prey’s. 

Emma Serchilde (she/her): One of the most successful investigators in Glim Macula’s history, Serchilde made her name ferreting out a group of heritrixes who allegedly served a god of slaughter. Where other witch hunters lean on deductive reasoning or evidence collection, Serchilde’s technique is simple: Intimidate witnesses through sheer force of will, using her loyal underlings--Janis, Aztel, and Nelzo--if it becomes necessary to prove that silence will be met with blood. Which isn’t to say that she’s afraid to get her own hands dirty.

Felix Hollowfield (he/him): In many ways, brilliant inventor Felix Hollowfield is the reason for the recent surge in Glim Macula activity. Though the group has stalked the streets of Sapodilla for decades, it was Hollowfield’s collection of tools that both allowed the Macula to face down truly powerful supernatural foes and put a deep and singular fear in the hearts of Sapodillans. His weapons reveal the hidden, nullify the mystical, and ground the transcendent. Where could he have found such ideas as these?

Aterika’Kaal: An ambivalent and ancient spirit. Offers the sweet smell and sublime beauty of roses and the sturdy foundation of a root structure. In exchange: Feed it. Only a small, dangerous 

Eunomia (she/her): The goddess of rainstorms. A tall, mature woman with a muscular build, wavy white hair in an attractive style, mauve skin, cobalt blue eyes. She's usually portrayed wearing a plain outfit made of solid water. She carries a drum.

Tombo (he/him): Lye Lychen’s argumentative (but loyal) fish companion.

Organizations

Glim Macula: Whether Sapodilla looks postcard-perfect to you or if you find yourself looking for a place to spit when someone repeats the claim that it is the “most civilized” corner of the heartland, it is the Glim Macula you have to thank. Empty faces. A flame that burns through you. Witch hunters in white coats.

The Telluricist Union: Made up by a mix of peoples driven to the hills by Aldomina, this group of knife sharpeners, herbalists, geologists, and all around investigators have made it their job to keep their old wisdom and see it used to help those in need. The best among them are called Keen.

The Boundless Conclave: Less of an individual church, more of an association between hundreds of independent faiths. Small sects, nearly forgotten cults, and unjealous gods make up this vast pantheon. 

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Sylvi Clare (@sylvibullet), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry)

Produced by Ali Acampora and Austin Walker

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

With their defense operation underway, the Rapid Evening have moved into position and identified a potential threat in the form of an unnaturally-moving sandstorm. As Sovereign Immunity and Clementine Kesh attempt to ingratiate themselves with the pilgrimage’s leadership and re-route the convoy, Exeter Leap and Ver’Million Blue standby in overwatch position. And as the storm grows nearer, it becomes clear that are not alone in their ambitions. But the threats are not only in the sand…

This week on PARTIZAN: DESERT SQUIRE - RIPOSTE

///Operation Dossier\\\

//Organizations\\

House Callister: The newest house of Orion, whose status was earned through “heroism in battle...” which is to say state-sanctioned piracy. Led by and named for Callister Drive Callister (who was given his new surname simultaneously with his new House), a sometimes ally, sometimes rival of the dreaded Exeter Leap

House Bittenbach: “Before all others.” Technically, this is Bittenbach’s motto because  they were the very first noble house in Stel Orion, formed after their founder orchestrated a grand betrayal on behalf of the Principality. Today, though, it is quoted as evidence of the house’s legendary hunger for wealth (and their willingness to break norms to satiate it.) The house’s holdings on Partizan are operated by Burden Bittenbach. They were originally assigned to operate the Obelle mission in SBBR’s place. Now, has sent House Callister to retrieve Gur Sevraq during the pilgrimage.

The Wolfwings: This vanguard squad, led by ace pilot Cam’bage Elarune, ensures early-conflict air superiority and secure, long term reconnaissance capabilities for Stel Apostolos. 

//People\\

Callister Drive Callister (he/him): The Columnar-born Callister Drive once preyed on the principality’s shipping channels alongside infamous pirates like Exeter Leap. Now, in exchange for a noble title, he’s decided to ply his trade on behalf of Stel Orion. Pilot of the Tempestarii.

A-tek (she/her): Callister Drive’s butler, bodyguard, and (unfortunately for him) House Bittenbach-assigned handler. There to ensure Drive gets results, and also that he doesn’t consider taking the gifts given to him by Bittenbach and running elsewhere. Pilots the Thaumaturge.

Swansea See (they/them): An old-school member of Callister’s corsair crew. Thanks to Bittenbach technology, has been fully fused into their mech, the Conjurer.

“The Farmer” (he/him): A popular sobriquet used for the Sovereign Immunity who sometimes goes by the name Byron, who supported an agrarian revolution 13 years ago. 

AO Rooke (he/him): Audacious Opportunity Rooke was a young Orion merc caught in a daring (and foolhardy) raid against Stel Kesh. Refused to give up his employer and is now paying the price in service to the Rapid Evening as leader of their cohort of toughs.

Aleel Verdicate (she/her): Current Song of Partizan, making her the de facto head of the Church of Received Asterism on the moon. 

//Things\\

Tempestarii: A Zenith Fund developed prototype hollow that teems with electromagnetic power, which it can use to create limited, localized weather phenomena. Often seen in its jet from, it can also take a bipedal mode. Something inside of it rumbles with a distant light. One of the hollows “liberated” from the Zenith Fund’s “Occult Project” by Callister Leap, before defecting. Side effects unknown.

Conjurer: An stout and sturdy Occult Project prototype hollow designed for both assault and diversion missions. Wields mid-range weaponry and deploys large, hollow-scale hover mines which project duplicate Conjurer units, fooling both sight and sensors. Operation requires total and permanent “synchronization” of its pilot with the Conjurer’s chassis. 

Thaumaturge: An Occult Project prototype hollow designed for long range engagements. Is able visually conceal itself through an experimental active camouflage. The visibility which is displaced will re-appear to the pilot 2-3 days after the end of engagement. If ocular aberrations continue for more than a week, seek counsel from a licensed practitioner.

Troop: A basic combat hollow designed by Adamant Arms and Artifice and distributed by Stel Orion across the Principality. The Church of the Resin Heart has two, bought from SBBR after the group stole them from Stel Apostolos in Obelle.

//Additional Notes\\

Rapid Evening’s Objective: Escort the pilgrims on their journey from the point of their start to the point of their seabound departure at the eastern coast of the Prophet’s path. If Gur Sevraq’s life comes into serious danger, rescue them and extract back to Cruciat. Secondary Objective, as delivered to Sovereign Immunity: Secure Gur Sevraq regardless of his condition.

Rules of Engagement: Do not allow yourselves to be identified as members of Stel Kesh. Do no harm to the people of the Church, unless it is necessary in the securing of Gur Sevraq.

This episode carries content warnings for gun violence, forced human experimentation, imprisonment, the implied separation of mentally/spiritually joined people, description of human bones.

Oh, our Blackwick Group. They move below even "the depths of Sapodilla" now, to a place where cold stone floors drift apart, revealing muck and raw emptiness where mortar should be. And beyond that, a clockwork device like none they've ever seen. Yet even as they draw closer to their goals, she watches and waits for her opportunity to strike: the tangled madame of the House of Puppets, Mabriella du Feza...

This week on Sangfielle: Hark! The Citadel Beneath Pt. 4

This episode carries content warnings for description of haunting, disorientation, dissociation, insect infestation of a human body, and discussion of slavery, sacrifice, and mass death.

Having arrived at Roseroot Hall, the Blackwick Group’s investigation into the manor’s supposed haunting may finally begin. The methodology is familiar: One must walk the grounds, take in the passive energies of its passageways, attend to first hand accounts, pore over the home’s books, share tea and supper with its distressed master. Here, and rarely in the place that one might guess, is the answer.

This week on Sangfielle: The Secret Ledger of Roseroot Hall Pt. 2

The Almanac of the Heartland Rider

Places

Roseroot Hall: Now in the northern hills of Blackwick County, Roseroot Hall once stood mighty and imperious as a plantation house in the eastern half of the Heartland. Though the yon Vantzon-Estonbergh held it once, it fell into disrepair sometime after the panic. Details have been lost to time.

Facts and Figures

Dayward yon Vantzon-Estonbergh aka Dayward YVE (he/him): The moneyed scion of a minor Aldominan dynasty, Dayward YVE has traveled to the Heartland as both eager-apologist and curious explorer. Sensing opportunity, he's settled in Blackwick County.  

Ana Berylia (she/her): Dayward YVE’s maid, a somewhat overwhelmed Carpana who has not adjusted to life in the Heartland. Her body is covered in brown/black hair with little streaks of grey at her temples. Mostly seen in uniform, a grey dress with white apron.

Mr. Kenson (he/him): Big Horn Ram Kaprak. White fur with brown and black spots. Personal valet. Copper wireframe glasses. Proper black suit. 

Dyre Ode (he/they): When an agent of the almanac pressed this mysterious, masked figure for more information about him, they only repeated their name, as if to ensure we’d print it right, adding “Dyre with Y but Ode as you’d like, a poem said in praise or a debt gone unpaid. It bothers me little, how you spell that name.”

Organizations

The Covenant of Kaitankro: You’ve seen them, haven’t you? The unsettlingly gregarious priests with the strange, chitinous crow masks? Of course you have, with their stilt-legs and their stilt-houses and their collection of stakes and strings and, of course, the kites. I asked one once if it was a pun: Kite and Crow, chitin crow. Something like that. The priestess told me that Kaitankro was a very real god, if a funny one, and that one day, he visited her. Like every morning, she raised each of the town’s kites up to the winds in daily worship, and Kaitankro landed on the smallest one—a sight to see, she said, since her god is so large a being. And like a carnivalist, Kaitankro walked down the wire, tips of her talons, until he met the priest at the bottom. There, I was told, they whispered in the priest’s ear a single phrase: “Better to live as birds on wires than die as men in the wind.” Chaos, it seems, breeds community, too.

After joining each other for dinner, the crew of the reconnaissance ship Myriad tend to business before setting west towards a sprawling city.* Grand Magnificent and Echo Reverie find room for creative collaboration, while Even Gardner takes a journey of self discovery. And Gig Kep-Hart has a horse, and an eye for trouble.

Tonight I might change my life

This week on Friends at the Table: An Instinct Without A Word

The Remaining Records of Curiosity // Reference Code: A-Qu75-27-ASC

A Sprawling City

A vast glass dome. Darkened streets and buildings. Twisting pipes. Parks, tower blocks, tenement buildings, malls. The shadow of my drones.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

Music by Jack de Quidt

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

The Twilight Mirage is known for its captivating color, its endless light, its ever-shifting shape, and its penchant for blurring the physical and digital into a poetic reality impossible to deny. But along with these things, it is marked by a unique distance, separated from the galaxy through tumultuous time. In this way, its sunset skies might be better understood to be storm clouds. And as the members of the Blue Channel will come to learn, there are many ways out of a tempest, but all of them require you to move through the rain.

This week on PALISADE:  A Palette of Colors Pt. 9

Love seeps out from the rain

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Bullet (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora 

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by by aurahack (aurahack.jp)

With thanks to Amelia Renee, Arthur B., Bill Kaszubski, Cassie Jones, chocoube, Clark, DB, deepFlaw, Edwin Adelsberger, Emrys, Greg Cobb, Ian O'Dea, Ian Urbina, Irina A., Jack Shirai, Jake Strang, Katie Diekhaus, Ken George, Kristina Harris Esq, L Tantivy, Mark Conner, Mike & Ruby, Muna A, Nat Knight, Nich Maragos, Quinn Pollock, Robert Lasica, Shawn Drape, Shawn Hall, Summer Rose, TeganEden, Thomas Whitney, and weakmint for their support

For the finale, we are playing Questlandia 2nd Edition. This season we played Armour Astir: Advent with additional playbooks from Strangers in the Night and 106th Astir Squadron. If you enjoy the show, consider supporting the TTRPG. 

This episode was made with support from listeners like you! To support us, you can go to friendsatthetable.cash.

This episode carries content warnings for state surveillance. 

The crew of the Blue Channel battles their way towards a train heading east. Inside one of its cars is the Diadem Grav Train control system, a device that could turn the tide of the war on Palisade and grant the Cause a major logistical advantage. But the members of Millennium Break aren’t the only ones in search of the so-called “train brain.” On the world of Palisade, chaos now rules. The question remains: Who will end up in control?

This week on PALISADE: Seize the Chance Pt. 3

And all through the dust / You feel that you must hear the strings of a dove

Dossier

People

Partial Palisade (he/him): A man who was once a Divine, now living in the shell of a being quite unlike what he once was.

Midnite Matinee (she/her): Leporine scout and member of the Blue Channel. She and her trusty Pack-model light AutoHollow Popcorn used to run a repo company, but now are tentatively committed to the Cause and Millennium Break.

Elle Evensong (she/they): Elle arrived to Palisade along with the first wave of Devotees, making a name for herself as a cunning combatant and clever commander. She became a poster child for Twilight Mirage's support of Palisade (and, for members of the Dim Liturgy, a prophesied bridge between the past and the future). But as the war began to heat up, she seemed to vanish into the background. In fact, they were working for the Divine, Arbitrage as a double agent. Cori blames them for the death of her father. Pilot of the Cataphract.

Factions

Bilateral Intercession: One of two factions vying for leadership of the Principality, comprised by Stels Kesh and Nideo, and lead by the so-called Peaceful Princept, Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh (he/him), who took control of the faction from the Curtain, a secretive intelligence organization with roots in Kesh’s ancient spy operations. The “Bilats” are a conservative and reactionary force, aiming to return the Principality to its roots both literally and figuratively. After a long campaign against the Pact of Free States, they managed to take control of Palisade.

The Bilateral Intelligence Service: Formerly called the Curtain, the BIS is a Kesh-operated organization which specializes in espionage, subterfuge, and surveillance. Recently removed from power on Palisade

Stel Kesh: The oldest established power in the galaxy, built around a stuffy (and secretive) aristocracy. They are tied to the Past. History, knowledge, stubbornness.

Stel Nideo: Created the largest faith in the empire, and used that influence to shape (and surveil) mass culture. They are tied to the Present. Faith, coercion, stability.

The Frontier Syndicate: A powerful conglomerate with a broad purview, including technology, heavy industry, entertainment, telecommunications, and transportation. Led by Exenceaster March (he/him), the Syndicate betrayed the Pact of Free States and joined the Bilats in order to be part of their colonization efforts on Palisade.

The Pact of Free States: One of the two factions vying for leadership of the Principality, a joint operation by Stels Columnar and Apostolos. Led in name by the Glorious Princept, Dahlia (they/them), but operated in day-to-day matters by members of the original Pact of Necessary Venture, including Rye (he/him) and Gallica (she/her). Though they are reformist in some ways, their primary goal is greater autonomy for each Stel, freedom from the legal restraints, taxes, and oversights demanded by the Principality, with additional deregulation to follow downstream.

Fabreal Duchy: When the Divine Principality left Palisade nearly 5,000 years ago, they left behind a Duke and his barons as caretakers. In the generations that followed, they ruled as petty tyrants, creating Delegates as their slaves, remaking their bodies into glass and oil, and extending their reach across Palisade’s continents. Though they officially report to their handlers in Stel Kesh, recently they have begun to wonder if things were better before the Principality's return to Palisade.

Places

Diadem Gravtrain: While the vast trench-city on Palisade's equator lays abandoned, Kesh has reactivated its railway via an operations center in the city of Carmathen.

The Paint Shop: Sitting atop the central peak of Steeple Catterick, this faux-commune was once the central HQ of the Bilateral HQ on Palisade. Now it has gone quiet.

Divines

The Divine Motion (she/her): One of the founding members of the Pact, the necromantic Apostolosian divine once led its infamous retinue, the Black Century, on Partizan. They were defeated and dispersed, turned into part of Kalmeria, during Operation Shackled Sun. 

The Divine, Arbitrage (it/its): The amoral machine turned de facto treasurer keeps the Frontier Syndicate a step ahead in all matters of commerce. Sole minter of “glint,” a newly popular currency on Palisade.

The Divine Integrity (it/its): Sometimes appearing as an articulated staff or a metallic spine, Integrity integrates itself into its chosen user. Once the two are connected, Integrity becomes a powerful exoskeleton, and supports its user in matters of military and morale. Until being assassinated by Brnine, Dahlia, the Glorious Princept, was the elect of Integrity.

The Divine Resonance (it/its): The watchful guardian, doting caregiver, and ardent supporter of Nideo's colonial efforts on Palisade.

Asepsis (it/its): The final living remnants of a Divine who pursues its particular vision of purity at the cost of everything else. Kept, studied, and utilized by Captain Kalvin Brnine. 

Objects

The Broken Spoke: The Figure’s bipedal and asymmetrical mech, The Broken Spoke is made of a matte crystaline material that has Russian Sage seemingly sprouting out between its joints. It has stout legs. Its right arm carries a glaive; its left "arm", or what would pass as such, is an oversized cannon with an attached shield. This oversized half of the mech is covered by a flowing cloak.

BAC Hatchets: Appearing like fantastical knights made of tooth enamel, the Divine Consecration's latest machine of war, derived from parts recovered from the Divines Felicity and Souciance, buried inside of Chimera's Lantern. The Hatchets wield axes that sport long, weaponized chains running from the bottom of their hafts, and the materials used in their construciton make them sturdier than most front line units. The trio of Hatchets deployed by Stel Nideo to capture the "train brain" are piloted by three brothers: Calamedes, Caspin, and Caydor.

Saint: A series of mechs piloted by knights that served the original Crown of Glass, a major power on the pre-Divine Principality-era Twilight Mirage world of Quire.  

Mysteries

Perennial (she/her):  The Principality's so-called 'adversary,' who lives at the center of the galaxy and whose chaotic whims spread through her "Perennial Wave," an ever-present nanoparticle that has recently bonded with Kalmeria.

The Five Afflictions: A group of “monstrous” beings that haunt the dark corners of Palisade. They have been named as follows:

• Dust a.k.a Pride’s Mirror a.k.a. The Looking Glass
• Refrain a.k.a. Yesterday’s Reprise  a.k.a. The Ghastly Chorus
• Ravel a.k.a. Labyrinth’s Thread a.k.a. The Hedge Maze 
• Cleave a.k.a. Whetstone’s Opposite a.k.a. The Sanguine Hatchet 
• Oversight a.k.a. Hell’s Facade a.k.a. The Empty Garden

Flash Nautilus: An alien creature who uses plasma-energy for propulsion. Compelled into service by Stel Nideo.

Additional Notes

Delegates: In plain terms, Delegates are synthetic individuals created through a process of forcible extraction from a living Divine. Originated by the Fabreal Duchy, who were left behind to "attend to" Palisade by the Divine Principality around 5000 years ago, these Delgates were designed and used as slaves. Currently, a Delegate resistance group called Reunion operates out of the fortress Joyous Guard in the Caldera Stretch.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Bullet (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora 

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by by aurahack (aurahack.jp)

With thanks to Arthur B., chocoube, DB, deepFlaw, Edwin Adelsberger, Emrys, Greg Cobb, huw, Ian O'Dea, Ian Urbina, Irina A., Jack Shirai, K. Morris, Katie Diekhaus, Konisforce, Kristina Harris Esq, L Tantivy, Lawson Coleman, Mike & Ruby, Nich Maragos, Olive Perry, Patrick Murray, Robert Lasica, Shawn Hall, TeganEden, Thomas Whitney, viviridian, and Voi for their support

We are playing Armour Astir: Advent with additional playbooks from Strangers in the Night and 106th Astir Squadron. If you enjoy the show, consider supporting the TTRPG. 

This episode was made with support from listeners like you! To support us, you can go to friendsatthetable.cash.

The Isle of the Broken Key sits in the northern Whisk Sea, shrouded in mist and mystery both. Tonight, one of its oldest structures, a stately seaside fortress, plays home to a revolutionary masquerade party. Its hosts, informed by both RSVPs and the glass-etched predictions of a broken oracle engine, anticipated many visitors, including some from beyond Palisade itself. But there is, nevertheless, an unannounced visitor tonight. And it has an invitation of its own.

This week on PALISADE: The Canvas of Dreams Pt. 2

Regardless, my pictures / well they don’t line your mirror

Regardless, you know that / I'll still wait for your call

Dossier

Organizations

Violet Cove: The Dim Liturgy claim to have seen the Divine Devotion's arrival coming in their sacred text: A battered and corrupted backup of Crystal Palace's final predictions for the future. Now the two cults work together to oust the Bilats... and perhaps to do more intriguing things, as well.

People

“Gem” (she/her): Codename given to the target of Operation Midnight Lapidary. Reported to be a major dealer in precious metals and stones from Stel Orion, here to attend the coronation of the returned Duchess Constantina Malady.

Griesel Sunset (he/him): Coriolos' father, a zealous Devotee. Currently lives on the Isle of the Broken Key.

Saint Decario Dicario (he/him): Devoted Devotee warmonger and one-time lover of the Twilight Mirage rockstar Teleos Triton Tanager. 

General Tomorrow Mourning (she/her): Leader of the Qui'Err Coalition's forces en route to the Twilight Mirage.

Marlon Styx a.k.a. “Em” (he/him): Undercover BIS agent assigned to infiltrate Violet Cove. Has become enamored with the Dim Liturgy’s holy text.

Places

Bontive Valley: Blessed by the departed divine Bounty, the Valley provides the Bilats with fruit that never rots and hyper-nutritional grain.

Isle of the Broken Key: Home of the Dim Liturgy since its obscure creation thousands of years ago. Now serves as base for the entire Violet Cove unit of the Cause, including the Devotees and (most recently) additional support teams from the Twilight Mirage.

Mysteries

Refrain a.k.a. Yesterday’s Reprise  a.k.a. The Ghastly Chorus:  An abandoned theater attended to by a spectral audience, which appears as if from nowhere, appended to the edge of a community. Upon the stage, a flickering projection of a person no one knows. Today, that person is the traveler named Lattice (they/them).

Things

EF Vambrace: Created by House Evenfall Altarworks, the Vambrace is the unlikely workhorse of the Kesh Altar fleet. With four arms worth of melee weapons and a mounted missile launcher, the Vambrace is able to reach the enemy under self-provided cover fire, defend themselves in melee until an opportunity presents itself, and then deliver the final blow.

AdArm Bouquet: Designed by Stel Orion’s Adamant Arms and Artifice as an Altar-era update to the classic Troop design. It’s still boxy (if a little trimmer) and it retains it’s wide, rectangular “eye” on its head. Gone are the heavy grip claws, replaced with traditional, five-fingered hands, allowing it more complex manipulations, including the operations of its distinctive Roundless Rifle, which seems convert raw Perennial Wave into ammunition. Additionally, the shoulder mount has ditched the heavy cannon in exchange for a close range, pneumatic lance that can devastate even the strongest armor. Roundless rifle looks like an H&K G11, and fires condensed Perennial Wave gathered from the atmosphere itself.

AdArm Motion Engine: Core to all of Adamant Arms and Artifice’s new designs, the Motion Engine was derived from salvaged parts of the lost Divine of the same name, offering a reliable, long lasting, and flexible source of power.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Bullet (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora 

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by by aurahack (aurahack.jp)

With thanks to Arthur B., Chocoube, DB, deepFlaw, Edwin Adelsberger, Emrys, Greg Cobb, Huw, Ian O'Dea, Ian Urbina, Irina A., Jack Shirai, Jake Strang, K. Morris, Katie Diekhaus, Konisforce, Kristina Harris Esq, L Tantivy, Lawson Coleman, Mike & Ruby, Nich Maragos, Olive Perry, Patrick Murray, Quinn Pollock, Robert Lasica, Shawn Drape, Shawn Hall, TeganEden, Thomas Whitney, viviridian, Voi

We are playing Armour Astir: Advent with additional playbooks from Strangers in the Night and 106th Astir Squadron. If you enjoy the show, consider supporting the TTRPG. 

This episode was made with support from listeners like you! To support us, you can go to friendsatthetable.cash.

Having played their opening gambits, the leaders of Palisade now find they face unprecedented situations. At the center of it is the being calling itself Wakeful, an emerging gestalt consciousness comprised of (but irreducible to) the Divines freed from the Garden of Fidelity. As the guilty hide in its shadow, the Cause must determine how to act. Is this a new front to the war, or something else? 

This week on PALISADE: A Palette of Colors Pt. 6

Passageways to windows that don't close

Dossier

Places

Chimera’s Lantern: The second moon of Palisade, shaped oddly like a wasp’s nest or paper lantern. New arrivals to the world find its occasional glow unnatural and frightening. Home to the Chimeric Cadent (they/them, it/its), an amalgam of the ancient Excerpt ⸢Signet⸣, the mysterious Waking Cadent, and the Divine Belgard. As one being, they protect the corpses of a number of Divines, including Sagacity, Dissent, Felicity, Barricade, and Bounty—its newest resident. Currently, Stel Nideo’s master armsmith, the Divine Consecration, lays siege to the Cadent’s refuge, attempting to rebuild an army to reconquer Palisade.

Temple of the Threshold: Built at the center of a massive bridge that crosses the Diadem, this temple served as the home of New Asterism and its false prophet until Future fled under the protection of the Devotees. Now, it is home to Wakeful, the (post-)Divine gestalt.

Divines

The Divine Future (they/them, it/its): An ancient divine, dating back to the second major war in the Golden Branch star sector. Exists in the form of a golden orb slightly larger than a softball or bocce ball, which can either be carried by or hover around its Elect. Historically, it has been bidden to share its unparalleled perspective on the hopes and dreams of its chosen (and the endless vigor with which to pursue those goals). Now, sensing Wakeful’s strength, Future has provided the rhetorical pathway for itself, Devotion, Crusade, and the fragments of Stel Nideo on Palisade to come under the gestalt being’s protection—and perhaps to reshape its destiny.

The Divine Integrity (it/its): Sometimes appearing as an articulated staff or a metallic spine, Integrity integrates itself into its chosen user. Once the two are connected, Integrity becomes a powerful exoskeleton, and supports its user in matters of military and morale. Until being assassinated by Brnine, Dahlia, the Glorious Princept, was the elect of Integrity. Now, it has found a new home in Thisbe.

The Divine Motion (she/her): One of the founding members of the Pact, the necromantic Apostolosian divine once led its infamous retinue, the Black Century, on Partizan. They were defeated and dispersed, turned into part of Kalmeria, during Operation Shackled Sun. 

Mysteries

Wakeful (any): Wounded, yet still curious. Cautious, yet still creative. Powerful, yet still vulnerable.  Wakeful is a newly emerging, gestalt being composed by the Divines freed from the Garden of Fidelity and the Delegates who have rejoined with them. Wakeful has found itself in an odd position, as the remaining forces of Stel Nideo, the Devotees, and Future vow themselves to what they call its new Kingdom on Palisade. How this new, potentially post-divine being develops—and how it will relate to those who have suffered under occupation on Palisade—remains unclear.

The Iconoclasts: Something beyond the human, desperate to eradicate subjectivity itself. After their messenger, the Usher of Truth, was delivered to The Witch in Glass, they have found themselves serving a new master.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Bullet (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora 

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by by aurahack (aurahack.jp)

With thanks to Amelia Renee, Arthur B., Bill Kaszubski, Cassie Jones, chocoube, Clark, DB, deepFlaw, Edwin Adelsberger, Emrys, Greg Cobb, Ian O'Dea, Ian Urbina, Irina A., Jack Shirai, Jake Strang, Katie Diekhaus, Ken George, Kristina Harris Esq, L Tantivy, Mark Conner, Mike & Ruby, Muna A, Nat Knight, Nich Maragos, Quinn Pollock, Robert Lasica, Shawn Drape, Shawn Hall, Summer Rose, TeganEden, Thomas Whitney, and weakmint for their support

For the finale, we are playing Questlandia 2nd Edition. This season we played Armour Astir: Advent with additional playbooks from Strangers in the Night and 106th Astir Squadron. If you enjoy the show, consider supporting the TTRPG. 

This episode was made with support from listeners like you! To support us, you can go to friendsatthetable.cash.

On the nearly abandoned mining station of Privign, the Beloved Dust continue to search for their comrades (and the hostile agent from the New Earth Hegemony.) Signet and Beloved Ivy member Acre* Seven discuss personal history, while Fourteen Fifteen meets someone from their own recent past. But when Tender Sky is confronted with a challenges, she isn’t looking backwards. Instead, she strives towards a future no one could predict.

Living so the last night feels like a past life

This week on Twilight Mirage: “A Single Moment, Caught”

The Living Library of Memorious // VOLUME 132π:
ASTRONOMICAL OBJECTS: PLANETS: Acre
A largely forested planet in the White Frame sector, Acre became second home to the Divine Potency in their later years. While performing a routine energy siphon from the system’s star in order to power terraforming efforts of another planet in the system, Potency (or their excerpt) made a fatal error, leading the star to slip into a nova-state. Though the Divine could have left intact, it instead kept the exploding star's force contained long enough for evacuation efforts to begin. Contemporary thinkers are divided on this decision—commonly called the Potency Problem. While many scholars object to the Divine’s choice to stay behind (citing its responsibility to the fleet and its believers), in recent years, the “tautological position” of the algorithm Weyerbach Zwei has gained great popularity.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)
Featuring Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) and Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal)
Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west)
Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)
Episode description by Austin Walker
Music by Jack de Quidt

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

This episode carries content warnings for the discussion of civilian deaths and the discussion of kidnapping.

In typical fashion, the mission has a name as ostentatious as its object is mundane. “Operation Midnight Lapidary” is meant to be, in its most bloodless version, a sort of intimidating hit-and-run—though out-and-out wetwork would also be acceptable. The target, rumored to be a dealer in diamonds, rubies, and other precious gems, is en route to the Duchess’ coronation, and must be stopped. Why? To what end? These are the sorts of questions left for those in leadership. For the members of the Blue Channel, there’s only the mission. 

Well, the mission, and an invitation to an important meet-and-greet.

This week on PALISADE: The Canvas of Dreams Pt. 1

Lights off / Nightlights

Dossier

Organizations

Bilateral Intercession: One of two factions vying for leadership of the Principality, comprised by Stels Kesh and Nideo, and lead by the so-called Peaceful Princept, Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh (he/him), who took control of the faction from the Curtain, a secretive intelligence organization with roots in Kesh’s ancient spy operations. The “Bilats” are a conservative and reactionary force, aiming to return the Principality to its roots both literally and figuratively. After a long campaign against the Pact of Free States, they managed to take control of Palisade. 

Violet Cove: The Dim Liturgy claim to have seen the Divine Devotion's arrival coming in their sacred text: A battered and corrupted backup of Crystal Palace's final predictions for the future. Now the two cults work together to oust the Bilats... and perhaps to do more intriguing things, as well.

The Branched: A post-human society of beings who have transformed their bodies into forms terrifying and spectacular and free—only to have the threat of war force them to rebuild themselves as soldiers first and foremost. After centuries of fighting a purely defensive war, the Branched have now begun to strike into the Principality’s territory. 

People

“Gem” (she/her): Codename given to the target of Operation Midnight Lapidary. Reported to be a major dealer in precious metals and stones from Stel Orion, here to attend the coronation of the returned Duchess Constantina Malady.

The Witch in Glass a.k.a. Clementine Kesh (she/her): A former scion of Kesh who, after knitting a bond with the adversary Perennial, came into control of the broken body of the Divine Past, which she has renamed the Reflecting Pool. Rules over the Crown of Glass, a city-state on the southeastern reaches of Palisade. A shaky ally of Millennium Break. Haunted by an old foe.

Griesel Sunset (he/him): Coriolos' father, a zealous Devotee. Currently lives on the Isle of the Broken Key.

General Tomorrow Mourning (she/her): Leader of the Qui'Err Coalition's forces en route to the Twilight Mirage.

Marlon Styx (he/him): Undercover BIS agent assigned to infiltrate Violet Cove. Has become enamored with the Dim Liturgy’s holy text.

The Lost Duchess, Constantina Malady (she/her): Just as it is said, she arrived on a black horse with white fetlocks.

Places

Bontive Valley: Blessed by the departed divine Bounty, the Valley provides the Bilats with fruit that never rots and hyper-nutritional grain.

Carhaix: The northernmost city in the Bontive Valley, Carhaix is one of the first major settlements founded by the nascent Divine Principality 5,000 years ago. It was created on the site of a battlefield where they obliterated the straggling remnants of the Advent Group, an organization that had invaded and pillaged the Twilight Mirage. After the Principality left Palisade behind, it became one of the Fabreal Duchy’s many centers of power in the northwestern continent. Currently, it is controlled by Stel Nideo and the Divine Crusade.

Carleon-Upon-Wisk: The capital of the Fabreal Duchy, situated on a peninsula on the Wisk Sea. Though it served as a major city before the Divine Principality left Palisade behind, it rose in stature when early barons of the Duchy “discovered” how to create delegates from chained Divines in the city’s fell laboratories.

Isle of the Broken Key: Home of the Dim Liturgy since its obscure creation thousands of years ago. Now serves as base for the entire Violet Cove unit of the Cause, including the Devotees and (most recently) additional support teams from the Twilight Mirage.

Additional Notes

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Bullet (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora 

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by by aurahack (aurahack.jp)

With thanks to Arthur B., chocoube, DB, deepFlaw, Edwin Adelsberger, Emrys, Greg Cobb, huw, Ian O'Dea, Ian Urbina, Irina A., Jack Shirai, Jake Strang, K. Morris, Katie Diekhaus, Konisforce, Kristina Harris Esq, L Tantivy, Lawson Coleman, Mike & Ruby, Nich Maragos, Olive Perry, Patrick Murray, Quinn Pollock, Robert Lasica, Shawn Drape, Shawn Hall, TeganEden, Thomas Whitney, viviridian, Voi,

We are playing Armour Astir: Advent with additional playbooks from Strangers in the Night and 106th Astir Squadron. If you enjoy the show, consider supporting the TTRPG. 

This episode was made with support from listeners like you! To support us, you can go to friendsatthetable.cash.

With a fleet of Pact vessels heading towards Perennial’s station at the center of the Milky Way, Levi Cascabel-Gardner, Exeter Leap, and the reunited crew of the Blue Channel join with their allies on the beaches of the nearest world. There, they prepare for what is to come: Searching for new tools, drawing formations in the sand, and connecting with the very currents of reality. It is a place they know well, a time of preparation and planning. One last, long held breath under blue skies.

This week on PALISADE: Above the Earth Pt. 1

I think it was the first time I realized that I could change the world

Dossier

People

Telford Stare (he/they): One of several foremen tied to the Lone Marble Group's contractor operations division. 

Organizations

The Frontier Syndicate: A powerful conglomerate with a broad purview, including technology, heavy industry, entertainment, telecommunications, and transportation. Led by Exenceaster March (he/him), the Syndicate betrayed the Pact of Free States and joined the Bilats in order to be part of their colonization efforts on Palisade. Developed the Altar, the predominant war machine of the current era.

The Lone Marble Group: Built around a single artifact recovered from an Advent facility, this Frontier Syndicate subsidiary develops the future of Bilat war machinery.

The Church of Received Asterism: The most widely practiced faith in the galaxy, and one of the earliest major organizations in the Divine Principality, created at the beginning of the Miraculous Millenium, over 3000 years ago. Teaches that Divines, the immortal machines and mechs that helped establish the Principality's hold on the galaxy, reflect the best aspects of the state itself. The divine Strength, in other words, is like a living flag of the Principality's own strength. Organized as a central church, led by a religious leader named a “Cycle,” whose will is enacted across the Principality by their many “Songs,” who rule worlds, star systems, or sometimes entire constellations.

The Church of Progressive Asterism: Created as the teachings of the prophet Logos Kantel grew in popularity 1000 years ago, and made a secondary state religion in order to prevent a large schism. Teaches that Divines are true embodiments of their names, and that the citizens and states of the Principality should look to them as guiding stars. The Divine Strength, in other words, is a reflection of strength itself, or maybe "god's strength," and we should aspire to make our strength look like the divine's. Unlike Received Asterism, there is no single central church, but hundreds of smaller sects, schools, and cults, each devoted to individual Divines, grouped sub-pantheons, or otherwise adjusted beliefs.

The New Asterism: What was once a schism between Received and Progressive Asterism has now been healed by the false prophet Gur Sevraq (he/they), or at least someone in his name and face. The New Asterism claims that to be a citizen of the Principality is to have an obligation to "better the world," in the sense that one invests in property or in the way that a settler “rehabilitates” or “improves” the places they claim by violence. If Received Asterism places virtue in the state and Progressive Asterism places it in the Divines, the New Asterism places it in the Principality's mythologized point of origin: The Twilight Mirage.

Places

Earth: Ancient home of humanity. Moved into orbit around the center of the galaxy by the Old Earth Cult, under guidance by a manipulative and influential divine called Independence.

Divines

The Divine Integrity (it/its): Sometimes appearing as an articulated staff or a metallic spine, Integrity integrates itself into its chosen user. Once the two are connected, Integrity becomes a powerful exoskeleton, and supports its user in matters of military and morale. Until being assassinated by Brnine, Dahlia, the Glorious Princept, was the elect of Integrity. Now, it has found a new home in Thisbe.

The Divine Motion (she/her): One of the founding members of the Pact, the necromantic Apostolosian divine once led its infamous retinue, the Black Century, on Partizan. They were defeated and dispersed, turned into part of Kalmeria, during Operation Shackled Sun. Now, she has returned to take control of the Pact of Free States, and has set her sights on Perennial at the heart of the galaxy.

The Divine Present (it/its): On first blush, Present might be confused for a small, if luxurious frigate. And sometimes, it is just that: Its oval structure houses living quarters, a humble armory, enough cargo space to hold a single hollow, and even a fully stocked bar. But at a snap of its elect’s fingers, it transforms into a humanoid war machine that serves its elect loyally, outclasses any Altar currently in operation, and is capable of holding its own against many other Divines in combat.

Mysteries

Perennial (she/her):  The Principality's so-called 'adversary,' who lives at the center of the galaxy and whose chaotic whims spread through her "Perennial Wave," an ever-present nanoparticle that has bonded with elements of Autonomy Itself and the Divine Motion to create Kalmeria.

Additional Notes

This episode carries content warnings for injury affecting motor skills, mention of gun violence, flesh eating creature, blood, creature feeding on corpse, knife use and stabbing, description of a bodily organ, and description of insects.

With a few days of overland travel behind them, the trio of Hazard, Lye Lychen, and the Cleaver Chine near the first landmark on their long journey west and north back towards Blackwick. From a high hill, they spot some smoke and light in the distance, and make their way towards the first landmark on their journey home. But before they get near, they first come face to face with a choice and a familiar threat.

This week on Sangfielle: Two Kinds of Quarry

The Almanac of the Heartland Rider

Places

The Residuum:  A realm of vibrant color, where the things of the world go when their time in the material world fades away. A plane of death, but rendered in glorious light.

Facts and Figures

The Course: There is debate about the true nature of the Heartland’s Truth, the power that turned Sangfielle into what it is today. But the Cleavers call it the Course. Part river, part lesson, part direction traveled. Entirely beyond the grasp of mortal minds. 

Uno Riscano (he/him): The so-called “Count of Cards,” this devil is the leader of one of the “six suits” that make up the Wrights of the Seventh Sun. Target of Hazard’s ire due to an ill-handed card game.

Aterika’Kaal (it/its): An ambivalent and ancient spirit. Offers the sweet smell and sublime beauty of roses and the sturdy foundation of a root structure. In exchange: Feed it.

The Ravening Beast (it/its): A howl in the mind of Lye Lyken. A beast on the hunt. It haunts through the course of time, the shape of mind. An echo of a possible future?

Organizations

Wrights of the Seventh Sun: A secret society dedicated to the construction of Zevunzolia, whatever the cost. Their motivations are many: Some believe that the Devils ought to have continued climbing whent hey escaped hell, that this was not the paradise earned. Otherse believe that Zevunzolia is telos of telos, the end-cause of all end-causes, and thus will inevitably bring itself into being. And given that, to do anything but aid it is to risk exclusion from it, or worse.

The Toll Collectors: Made up of the devil Agdeline (she/her), drakkan Ettel (he/him), and human Larch (he/him), this trio once spent time mining in the hills of Blackwick. Recently, they’ve been spotted as bandits, hired thieves, and paid escorts—sometimes (strangely) holding down multiple jobs in multiple places at the same time. In any case, rumor has it that they fly a new banner now…

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Sylvi Clare (@sylvibullet), Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000), and Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry)

Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west)

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

It is the year 1430 of the Perfect Millennium, and in the center of the Milky Way galaxy, Perennial tries to shut out the noise, to focus in on only one place, one voice.

But it is too loud on Palisade.

This week on PALISADE: A Palette of Colors Pt. 1

It's going to be soon, babe / I've made up my mind

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Bullet (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora 

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by by aurahack (aurahack.jp)

With thanks to Amelia Renee, Arthur B., Bill Kaszubski, Cassie Jones, chocoube, Daniel Laloggia, DB, deepFlaw, Edwin Adelsberger, Emrys, fen, Greg Cobb, Ian O'Dea, Ian Urbina, Irina A., Jack Shirai, Jake Strang, Katie Diekhaus, Ken George, Konisforce, Kristina Harris Esq, L Tantivy, Mike & Ruby, Muna A, Nich Maragos, Olive Perry, Quinn Pollock, Robert Lasica, Shawn Drape, Shawn Hall, Summer Rose, TeganEden, Thomas Whitney, Voi, and weakmint for their support

For the finale, we are playing Questlandia 2nd Edition. This season we played Armour Astir: Advent with additional playbooks from Strangers in the Night and 106th Astir Squadron. If you enjoy the show, consider supporting the TTRPG. 

This episode was made with support from listeners like you! To support us, you can go to friendsatthetable.cash.

Victorious after their journey to the Mark of the Erasure, the leading members of the Last University find time to celebrate. But they know too well the danger of inaction, so while four of the group begin a journey south, to Malle’s Fist, the rest take the time to investigate the troubles that remain at home. Chief of all: The continued pressure put on the settlement by Alyosha’s Spring. But while Ephrim, Fero, and Lem may find some of the answers they seek, it is not long before they face a new, more imperative dilemma.

This week on Spring in Hieron: The Variation of Natural Life

I simply do not understand. Why would you ever build a wall from a material both capricious and ineffable? This would be like keeping a journal in a code you cannot read: Yes, the work has been done, technically. But whatever value you sought is warped from utility to perilous, and obvious, folly.
-A message from the Crystalized Voice of the Wizard Fantasmo

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

Hey eveyrone!

This is not PALISADE 01, as I'm sure folks are hoping it will be. But the feed's been dry for a few weeks so I wanted to quickly hop on and say hello and give everybody an update.

See you in PALISADE!

LInks Mentioned

FatT on Youtube

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FatT on TikTok

FatT on Cohost

FatT on Twitter

Secret Samol 2023

AMCA Plays Going Rogue with Jess Levine

This episode carries content warnings for disorientation, mention of animal slaughter, and malformed animals.

The word went out to every worker on board the Jade Moon, and was passed to any passengers moving about the cabins: Stay inside. This was not the normal call to remain indoors during the ninth through eleventh days of the journey northward up the Ojan. No, this was something special. After all, as far as the captain and crew could tell, they weren’t even on the Ojan anymore. This was somewhere else. This was Marrowcreek.

This week on Sangfielle: Marrow in the Field

The Almanac of the Heartland Rider

Places

Marrowcreek: Quite a ways west of Blackwick, the maps say there is a town called Marrowcreek. Never been myself, but I’ve heard about it (often in the sort of hypotheticals people pose to you to “make conversations” at parties.)

Vish: A small fishing village west across the mountains from Blackwick. Marn’s hometown.

Blackwick County: From the mines to the lake, the hills to the flats, the town once called Eastern Folly has felt a little more expansive now that it’s out of the hard grip of the old curse. It’s people aren’t perfect, but they’ve made it through some dark times, and that’s more than most can say.

Zevunzolia: Who the hell knows. A miraculous city waiting to be built? A utopian dimension adjacent our own? "The Seventh Sun Itself," I think I heard one of those fools call it. All I know is, however prime and pristine it is in promise, the pricetag keeps going conveniently unmentioned...   

Facts and Figures

Reuben (he/him): A kind and hard-working fisherman who’s lived in Marrowcreek for a while now, per his own telling. 

Zofina (she/her): An apothecary and witch in Marrowcreek, whose shop you might confuse for a house if you paid it no second glance.

Delian (he/him): A new arrival to Marrowcreek and its slaughterhouse. Staying at the midtown Hotel.

Erlin, the Tactful God of Lakes (he/him): People don’t often think of “lakeness,” and that’s because Erlin does the thinking for you. He embodies the relaxing, if humid, depths of Sangfielle’s many lakes. His temple is in the southwestern quadrant of the heartland.

The Ojan: To call it "The Ojan River" is not only to misspeak but to advertise your distance from knowledge. Ojan itself means "running water," and in Ojantani it is the word you attach to other words to mark them as rivers--each just an faint echo of this paragon of waterways. 

The Jade Moon: A luxurious vessel, the Jade Moon glides up and down the Ojan. You have to work to find its exterior wooden hull, so covered is it in silken, green banners and curtains. Dining, Dancing, Gambling, Live Music, plush living. An engine that churns below. 250 feet long, 50 feet wide. It’s a beast, but in the width of the Ojan--in some places over 2 miles wide--it pales.

Teak: First mate of the Jade Moon.

Organizations

The Caravan of the Coin:  Cursed by Ribbadon, Frog God of Wealth, these traveling merchant-clerics never arrive at a destination carrying what they expect.  

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Sylvi Clare (@sylvibullet), Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000), and Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry)

Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west)

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

This episode carries content warnings for slavery and indentured servitude, kidnapping, discussion of taxidermy, blood, injury, physical harm, death, and the discussion of sports-related injuries.

Here, in Somerset House, drama of the most unlikely kind is afoot.  With the family fortune withering away, the Solstice clan plays host to a pair of powerful Pact dignitaries: the data-magnate Exenceaster March and the notorious Admiral Bel’Agos Bloom.  They aim to draw March away from his loyalties to the Columnar with an exquisite retreat prepared by the house’s staff,  featuring hunting, fine dining, and other entertainment. But one after another, the unpredictable has become the occuring: A terrible accident among the hedges. The discovery of an explosive device. And next, the return of an absentee member of the household… 

Can Solstice House’s staff turn the situation around and save the day? Or is something—like the mysterious, dark pall that surrounds the estate—due to break?

Records Recovered from the Divine, Arbitrage

Factions

The Bilateral Intercession: This faction, made up primarily from Stel Nideo and Kesh assets, was formerly known as the Curtain. The rebranding comes as part of a “civil coup” performed by Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh. In a move that surprised no group more than the Curtain themselves, Cynosure spent years growing in confidence and power, until that intelligence organization could be once again reduced to a tool. Still defined by their traditionalism, they wield their control on culture, religion, and history as a weapon—and the extensive spy network for which they are named when those come up short.

The Pact of Free States: While the Bilateral Intercession’s name change reflects a shift in leadership and posture for the Curtain, the shift from “The Pact of Necessary Venture” to “The Pact of Free States” is simply the public acceptance of what was already widely understood to be true. Led in name by Dahlia, the Glorious Princept, and in day-to-day operation by senior members of Stels Apostolos and Columnar, the Pact paint themselves as liberal reformists whose aim is to increase the degree of autonomy in each of the Stels, such that they become in reality five separate nations.

The Branched: A post-human culture from the Golden Branch star sector who have transformed their bodies into spectacular forms, but who are now weighed down by an endless war with the Principality.

Persons

Crevera Solstice (she/her): (Largely absent) matriarch of the Solstice family. 

Coughton Solstice (he/him): Crevera’s husband. An absolute pushover.

Carvisle Solstice (he/him): The cruel son of Somerset House.

Catalina Solstice (she/her): Adventurous older daughter of the house, who’s never met a cause she wouldn’t turn into a vanity project. 

Catrina Solstice (she/her): Morose younger daughter of the house with a special interest in taxidermy.

Exanceaster March (he/him): Head of the vast Columnar multi-system conglomerate called the Frontier Syndicate, which is older than the Stel itself. While the Syndicate has its hands in many enterprises, the heart of it all is corralling and instrumentalizing data. One such effort, Exanceaster’s pet project the March Anecdatist Foundation, set its sights on Palisade as a testing ground.

Guliford Gain (she/her): March’s bodyguard. Cinephile.

Bel’Agos Bloom (bel/bels, they/them): Pact admiral and March’s sibling-in-law. 

Laris, Leah, and Laurice: March’s servants. Indentured indefinitely. 

Vivian Exler (she/her): Somerset House’s “award winning” gardener and groundskeeper. 

Martine Sprue (she/her): Somerset House’s mechanic, in charge of the family’s small fleet of terrible machines.

Eileen Lilas (she/her): One of Somerset House’s maidservants and erstwhile companion to Catrina.

Locations

Kaliope: A planet at the very periphery of the Golden Branch star sector. Once, it was known for cutting edge genetic modifications, avant garde fashion, and a streak of anti-authoritarianism. Now it is just one jewel on the bracelet of the principality. 

Somerset House: Estate of the Solstice family, deep in the forests of Kaliope. It’s hidden away and defensible, but some say that it carries a dark past connected to the Branched..

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) 

Featuring Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart),Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), and Sylvi Bullet (@GODSNEXTMARTYR)

Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west)

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

You can buy Upstairs and Downstairs right here: https://richardwrecks.itch.io/upstairs-downstairs

It weights on everyone: The end is not far from here, but the golden Golden Lance has brought word that somewhere to the north, are are those who dream of leaving the end behind. And so, Lem King, Hella Varal, and Fero Feritas set off together once again, headed north towards the Isles of Flight... and the Moons which hang above it. There are, however, two lingering questions: How should they get there, and who will they be leaving behind?

This week on Spring in Hieron: Sympathetic Objects

I hold little respect for the charlatans from the Archives, whose parlor tricks are simply wax dripping from the torch of TRUE MAGIC. Yet they understand this much: COINCIDENCES do not exist, yet FATE is a myth. No action is unmoored from causality--there is always a reason for RECURRANCE. But that reason need not be PREDETERMINATION. Indeed, repetition is often caused by the most mundane of causes, and a good scholar DEDUCES their origin. So, young student, know this: If it always rains on your day of birth, dismiss the fear that you are cursed, open your notebook, and begin to record an almanac.

-An Excerpt from the Crystalized Lectures of the Wizard Fantasmo

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

Northwest of the seaside town of Obelle, there is a crater. Inside of that crater are the remains of the Divine Past, and those who wish to claim them: On one side, there are the members of the nascent special operations group the Rapid Evening. On the other, GLORY, a special Apostolosian unit which seeks to resurrect the culture’s greatest heroes as supersoldiers. But as everyone on the holy moon of Partizan knows, there are always more than two sides.

This week on PARTIZAN: SHORESIDE RECOVERY - BLACKGLOVES

///Operation Dossier\\\

//Organizations\\

GLORY: With the help of advanced Columnar cloning science, the Glory Project (or simply GLORY), claims to have resurrected (and made immortal) heroes of the nation’s past called Eidolons. On Partizan, they field Kleos, Cassander, Vervain, and the squad’s leader: Apothesa, original Eidolon of construction, military action, and history. Interested in Past’s records chiefly because it might allow them to “better recreate Apostolosian eidolons.”

The Zenith Fund: A public institution of Stel Columnar that incubates, defends, and offers testing for teams pursuing cutting edge projects in a wide range of fields including medicine, environmental science, infrastructure, culture, and emerging military hardware. Aids with major projects across every other Stel, including Apostolos’ Glory Project.

Horizon: In the popular consciousness, Horizon is a radical, anti-Principality terrorist organization. In actuality, they are a radical-reformist group, which seeks to drive out what it perceives as corruption in an empire that ought be pursuing noble (instead of selfish) ends. Rumored to be funded by Stel Kesh’s House Brightline.

//People\\

Dr. Cardiff Reach (he/him): Columnar researcher from the Zenith Fund who has been assigned to Apostolos’ GLORY project. Quad legged, with four spindly metal legs. Wears a lab coat, independently-moving telescoping eyes, etc.

“Saint Dawn” (she/her): Commander of Horizon’s forces on all of Partizan. The pseudonym of Gucci Garantine, who hides her identity with metallic, golden face paint forming a “major sector” geometrical pattern on her face, covering her eyes, forehead, and cheeks.

Figure A (they/them): A synthetic being that once worked inside of the Divine Past, working to make the data the Divine had available to it more understandable by other people. 

Kleos (they/them): Soldier of GLORY. Genetic clone of the Apostolosian hero and eidolon of the same name. Skin is an iridescent maroon color. Wears a bright red cloak wrapped around their neck and hanging back like a cape, totally topless otherwise, revealing firm, muscular torso. Khaki fatigue-capris. A spear slung over their back, and a heavy sidearm at their waist. 

//Places\\

Barranca: To the north of Obelle lies the Apostolosian province of Barranca, where mediterranian subtropical shores give way to a vast latticework of ravines and crags. There, military bases and civilian settlements sit in the crooks and alcoves, shaded by high canyon walls. Rising above it all is the famed Barranca Loop, a massive suspended cable system that runs up above the atmosphere like a giant bridge, and which allows Apostolos to launch ships and cargo into space. Heavily patrolled and under complete control of Stel Apostolos.

//Things\\

Transgress Oblige: The hollow of Gucci Garantine, and a chief symbol of the terrorist organization Horizon. Whitesmoke color body, with the torso, shoulders, and upper arms covered in a sort of secondary armor layer that is blue with gold flourishes. Carries a bazooka and a pair of beam partizan (with a golden beam blade) which can retract into a beam saber. Below the blue armor layer is a secondary core, made of some sort of rare crystal: When revealed, those that see it are struck by the power and magnificence of humanity itself. 

Panther: Clementine’s hollow, an ancient mech piloted by a near mythological hero of a war barely remembered. Medium sized, black, humanoid, angular, and birdlike in some elements of its design. In another life, it could split itself up into independently flying microwings, each of which could serve as a flanking weapon. Its current pilot can not conceive of using it in this way.

Stray Dog: Million’s hollow, a Zenith-A Project Katalepsis prototype model, stolen when she went AWOL from GLORY. Medium-sized and humanoid in base shape, but able to rearrange its body to accommodate the rail gun built into the torso and left arm. Each limb is double jointed with sleek black and silver plating. There is only one glowing eye on the head, which houses the Stray Dog's aiming systems and pilot.

Heads Up: Exeter Leap’s hollow, a re-fitted Emergentec Rapid Response Type III Breaching Ambulance which he has converted for criminal purposes. Large cylindrical legs taper upwards towards the head. Armored fists and a back mounted mortar. 

Epoché: The prototype hollow of Kleos, leader of GLORY, developed by the Columnar’s Zenith Fund. Deep brown, triangular head, humanoid machine with gold accents, and a faceplate made of brown stone, and heavy skirt plates to defend its upper legs/lower torso. A long, oval shield built onto it’s left arm, a pair of grappling hook launches on its skirt waste.  Wields a guisarme—a spear that has a hook on the reverse side of the blade. There’s a rope inside of it, so it splits and you can spin it around like a ranged weapon. 

R.U.N.T. (Robotic Utilities and Navigation Tool): Million’s well-programmed hunter robot.

//Additional Notes\\

The Rapid Evening’s Mission Objectives: Primary: Ensure that Silversky Recovery and Restoration can retrieve key parts of the body of Past, as well as the body of Cymbidium, Past’s elect. Secondary: Produce actionable intel about who killed Cymbidium. Additionally: Recover anything they’ve already stolen from Past.

Rules of Engagement: The deployment of chemical, biological, explosive, and/or poisonous weapons is forbidden. Additionally, kill or capture anyone who has accessed the Divine Past’s memory.

Deep in the jungles and mountains of the planet of Skein, far from the NEH metropolises, scientists from across cultures have come together to form Ternion Research. Their chief object of study is the Wound, a massive gash in the planet’s surface that comes to its deepest point in a place called the Vale, which may be home to the consciousness of the world-being Quire. The three subgroups of Ternion—defector explorers from the Ever Forward, creators from the former Crown university called the Garden, and the gene-modifying scientists of the Skein—maintain cool relations, though, and a recent disruption—in the form of Acre Seven—risks destabilizing not only Ternion, but also the Wound itself. Now, the Notion has been called in to retrieve their old ally before it is too late. Even confronts an old rival, Echo and Gig dig into the data for more information, and Signet reaches across time and space in search of clues.

This week on Twilight Mirage: Every Time We Leave, It Changes

Forest green

Forest blues

I'm remembering you

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

Hiya everyone!! Instead of an episode this week, we have a few announcements, which you can either enjoy in audio form or text form or BOTH!

-We're at Gen Con this week! We're doing a live show on Saturday, 6 PM!!! Tickets are still available!! W hoo ps ? You can get them here: https://www.gencon.com/events/151345
-We're having a fan meet up Friday, 1:30 at Hudnut Commons!!
-Shut Up and Shut Down released our BFF video from SHUX 2019!! The link is  https://youtu.be/5mnsV3NtRWg
-There's a Twilight Mirage Zine! You can get more info at https://fundly.com/tmzine, or check out their twitter at @tm_zine
-We're gonna have a bunch of new patreon content at our highest tier but if you haven't checked it out we have a TON of stuff over at friendsatthetable.cash

A letter from Grey Gloaming, Exile of the Rapid Evening and Operations Chief of the Brink, delivered to Keen Forester Gloaming by secure courier.

Dad,

I don’t know if you remember this, but when I was just a little girl, just after you first took me Off Cycle, we got into a big fight about Crystal Palace. I didn’t understand how a thing like that could exist--it didn’t make sense to me--mostly because I still didn’t make sense to me, but I knew that I made sense to it. It knew what I would do, even if I didn’t know what I would do. And you worked for it.

I yelled at you and I cried, and because you wanted to appease me you told me something very important much earlier than you wanted to: You told me that sometimes Crystal Palace gets things wrong. You said that its predictions were like an endless field of perfect poppies: From a distance, they were a billow of pure red in the breeze. Yet if you looked closely, you might find other colors too: the green of stems not yet ready to bud; the yellow and blue of wildflowers dropped by passing birds; the damaged burgandy of petals crumpled under an animal’s foot. The glinting copper and silver of a gardener’s tools.

The field was the field, you said, a glide of sweet scarlet over hill and meadow. There would never be so many other colors as to change that. But they were there, too. I was there, too.

This is me telling you that the Mirage is Me. The Mirage is the broken stem and the stomped flower and the foreign strain of blossoms. I am… we are the exception to the rule.

So, I don’t care what string of words they found inside of Crystal Palace this time: the Twilight Mirage isn’t annihilation waiting to happen. This place has problems. Lots of them. But look around, dad. People are working to fix them every day.

Every day, Ioota Pretense, the Qui Err Coalition, and her allies in Echo Reverie and Gig Kephart find new ways to bring people together, whether through stitches, broadcasts, or literally lifting a city and transporting across the mirage itself.

Every day, the Waking Cadent, her Beloved Nights, and the excerpt Signet help people who want to leave this place, just like you want them to. Except they do it because they want to, not because you’re forcing them.

Every day, the members of Seneschal’s Brace push back on the dominance of the Hegemony and the Free States. The Cadent. Declan’s Corrective. Even. Fourteen. Tenderness. They’re not perfect, but they aren’t Volition either.

Every day Demani and I use our training to help people who pass through the Brink, and the many who can’t even afford to do that.

And we aren’t alone, because every day, even under the nose of groups like Advent, regular people are finally trying to do more than save their own hides. And more and more, under the shadow of Volition and in the face of your ridiculous announcement, people are realizing that they need to work together. So, throw out whatever Crystal Palace told you because that fact changes everything.

It might be the case that you don’t notice all the other colors in the field of red, but that’s only because they’re spread apart, one-in-a-thousand. Bring them all together though? Put the violet next to the white next to the green and yellow and orange? Then look close, dad, because the field disappears. Suddenly, just in that one little place, just right here in the mirage, what you'll see?

It isn't a field at all. It's a Garden.

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

This episode carries content warnings for death, gun violence, knives, mind control/magical compulsion, and decapitation. 

It would be too simple for the Blackwick Group to have the space and time necessary to work through everything that has happened to them recently. It has been only hours since rescuing Marn, Pickman, and Bucho from Alaway (and fewer still since Lye Lychen handed over more power to the nascent deity), and yet a new threat curls its way around Blackwick. The dust swirls. The storm calls. There is a knock at the door.

This week on Sangfielle: Dead in the Dust Pt. 1

Hello everyone!!! In lieu of an episode this week, we have some announcements instead! The next episode of Spring in Hieron should release tomorrow, latest Saturday!!

If you're interested in preordering/ordering our Fangamer merchandise you can find it at www.fangamer.com/collections/friends-at-the-table

We're also going to Gen Con and tickets are on sale THIS SUNDAY AT NOON EASTERN TIME!!!

You can find information about Gen Con and get a badge for the show at https://www.gencon.com/

You can look through the Gen Con events at https://www.gencon.com/event_finder

Our event information is available at https://www.gencon.com/events/151345

AND if you need some help or have some questions with all of this wishlist stuff, an explainer is available at https://www.twitch.tv/videos/423127801. Skip to 9 minutes in to get the start of the stream!

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

Episode description by Austin Walker

Music by Jack de Quidt

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

This episode carries content warnings for discussion of civilian casualties.

On Palisade, it seems as if possibility has begun to bloom. The Stellar Combustor has been deactivated. The Grav Trains that run through the Diadem and across the planet have come under revolutionary control. The Bilateral Intelligence Service lies in shambles. 

But Stel Kesh is not done, yet.

This week on PALISADE: Weapons Ready Pt. 2

Tell me, tell me / Will you still enjoy the view / Through the smoke into the blue

Dossier

People

Gentian (she/her): Elect of the Divine Crusade. Impossibly old, yet a source of power and vibrance. Attended to by her two sword bearers (Ramondre (she/her) and Ignadiah (he/him), Knight of Books (Clawed (he/him)), and Knight of Cups (Perevel (they/them)). 

Lucia Whitestar (she/her): The young “Lady Whitestar” emerged as a strategic genius during the early conflict between Kesh and Apostolos on PARTIZAN five years ago. Daughter of the Peaceful Princept, Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh. Commands her forces from her flagship, the Lander One with the support of her combat AI, Fire Support (it/its).

The Witch in Glass a.k.a. Clementine Kesh (she/her): A former scion of Kesh who, after knitting a bond with the adversary Perennial, came into control of the broken body of the Divine Past, which she has renamed the Reflecting Pool. Rules over the Crown of Glass, a city-state on the southeastern reaches of Palisade. A shaky ally of Millennium Break. Haunted by an old foe.

Riah Connadine (he/him): Commander of the Bilateral Intelligence Service on Palisade. An expert in psychological operations and folklore. As a composer, his opus is the Adagio, a plan to get everyone on Palisade operating in ways not only predictable, but scripted. As a conductor, his orchestra now turns towards the second movement.

Rudy Smails (he/him): Member of Millennium Break who often spends his free time in the Crown of Glass, hanging with the boys.

Factions

Bilateral Intercession: One of two factions vying for leadership of the Principality, comprised by Stels Kesh and Nideo, and lead by the so-called Peaceful Princept, Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh (he/him), who took control of the faction from the Curtain, a secretive intelligence organization with roots in Kesh’s ancient spy operations. The “Bilats” are a conservative and reactionary force, aiming to return the Principality to its roots both literally and figuratively. After a long campaign against the Pact of Free States, they managed to take control of Palisade.

Rose River: Though they are undoubtedly committed to the Cause, this unique research unit (combining Veronique (she/her), her Divine Fealty (any pronouns), and their followers with an out-of-time NEH Sleep Detachment squad) hope for a day when they can be something other than soldiers.

Jade Kill: Based in Joyous Guard, this military arm of the Cause is operated by the Delegate liberation faction known as Reunion and supported by Kalar Anakalar's (he/him) Giantkiller unit and a wing of Swordbreakers. Led by August Righteousness (he/him).

Places

Bontive Valley: Blessed by the departed divine Bounty, the Valley provides the Bilats with fruit that never rots and hyper-nutritional grain.

Divines

The Divine Filigree: The instrumentalized operating core of Palisade's extensive GravTrain system. Currently being taken into Dust's catacombs by the affliction's minions. 

The Divine Motion (she/her): One of the founding members of the Pact, the necromantic Apostolosian divine once led its infamous retinue, the Black Century, on Partizan. They were defeated and dispersed, turned into part of Kalmeria, during Operation Shackled Sun. 

The Divine, Arbitrage (it/its): The amoral machine turned de facto treasurer keeps the Frontier Syndicate a step ahead in all matters of commerce. Sole minter of “glint,” a newly popular currency on Palisade.

The Divine Crusade (they/them): Leads Stel Nideo’s occupation on Palisade along with their Elect, Gentian. Crusade is an enormous, bipedal machine covered (or perhaps made with) beautiful stained glass.

The Divine You (it/its): A Divine that can look like anything, but (for a fee) can be made to look like you. The Divine embodiment of City City.

Additional Notes

Delegates: In plain terms, Delegates are synthetic individuals created through a process of forcible extraction from a living Divine. Originated by the Fabreal Duchy, who were left behind to "attend to" Palisade by the Divine Principality around 5000 years ago, these Delgates were designed and used as slaves. Currently, a Delegate resistance group called Reunion operates out of the fortress Joyous Guard in the Caldera Stretch.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Bullet (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora 

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by by aurahack (aurahack.jp)

With thanks to Amelia Renee, Arthur B., Bill Kaszubski, Cassie Jones, chocoube, Daniel Laloggia, DB, deepFlaw, Edwin Adelsberger, Emrys, fen, Greg Cobb, Ian O'Dea, Ian Urbina, Irina A., Jack Shirai, Jake Strang, Katie Diekhaus, Ken George, Konisforce, Kristina Harris Esq, L Tantivy, Mike & Ruby, Muna A, Nich Maragos, Olive Perry, Quinn Pollock, Robert Lasica, Shawn Drape, Shawn Hall, Summer Rose, TeganEden, Thomas Whitney, Voi, and weakmint for their support

We are playing Armour Astir: Advent with additional playbooks from Strangers in the Night and 106th Astir Squadron. If you enjoy the show, consider supporting the TTRPG. 

This episode was made with support from listeners like you! To support us, you can go to friendsatthetable.cash.

Hello and welcome to a quick (well, shockingly long, really) announcement that I'll basically repeat right here in the episode description field!

The important thing is that we're doing our Sangfielle post-mortem next Saturday, June 11th at 2:30 PM EDT, over on our YouTube Channel (youtube.com/friendsatthetable). You can send your questions to tipsatthetable@gmail.com! We can't get through all the incoming questions, but we'll try to get the ones most often asked.

Also: Big thanks this week to the Transcripts at the Table team, who announced that they had finished transcribing all of COUNTER/Weight! That makes it the fifth season transcribed, which is just incredible.

Next, I wanted to shout out everyone who made a game that we used this season. You can find links to all of those right here:

The Ground Itself by Everest Pipkin

Heart: The City Beneath by Grant Howitt and Christopher Taylor

Inhuman Conditions by Tommy Maranges and Cory O'Brien

Ichor-Drowned by Sillion L. and Brendan McLeod

Anamnesis by Samantha Leigh

A Visit to San Sibilia by Peter Eijk

Thanks so much for listening to the show this season. We're looking forward to your questions, and then to taking a nice big break before we come back to the Road to PALISADE! As always, you can support the show through our Patreon, at friendsatthetable.cash!

The Assemblage / Book: Of the Stellar Coriolis and the Resonant Orbit / Passage 004

Though Kamala had impressed Him, His admiration was not the same as His loyalty. She had won not an ally, but an opportunity to negotiate.

"You show that you understand what We are and what We might be. The former is necessary. The latter is peril." His voice carried no echo. "These, then, are my terms—" each word falling into place "— and if you wish My name beside yours, they will be the vital blood of your Faith, now and forever: When We die, you leave Us dust. For finality is the heart of all independence."

Some weeks later, in a letter to a friend, Kamala would consider dust. How the matter of a thing that has come to nought is so soft, is barely anything at all, is caught by the wind, is a thing of lightness, is beautiful carried in the light, is the heart of all independence. She would revisit this letter later in her life, and she would amend it.

She left the negotiation with Him and, confident the rest of Us would follow, turned her attention toward her fellow people, human and synthetic. The Custodial Thesis saw the shape that walked alongside her, witnessed something alike to an Allegiance, and they turned to face her and their colours were added to her banner.

The Convergence Proposition saw the union of Kamala and Independence as a strange and wondrous thing and as their negotiators and scholars tentatively discussed the exact state of affairs, the exact state of being, their embroiderers added their symbol beside Kamala’s.

At the top of their tower, the algorithm Weyerbach Null considered what was meant when a figure such as this joined a figure so distinctly That, and imagined what might come, and word rippled down the tower like the sound of the wings of birds and the followers of The Indefinite Oracle walked in step with the Proposition, and the Thesis, and Kamala, and Him.

The Divine Independence had taken an Excerpt. And her name was The Light Of Us Is ⸢Many⸣, And Yet Seen Across The Distance It Is As Though It Is One.

This week on Twilight Mirage: godspeed, glory Pt. 2

Roamin' around like I'm ready for a funeral

Breaux'sL./Luna7University/Coursework/LectureNotes/DivineFleet2:

1. Seminarrrrr notes
   1.  "There is no past in the fleet, only the assemblage"
      1. When first written ("not really written" again) "She would revisit this letter later in her life, and she would amend it" couldn't have possibly been in the assemblage since there was no "later in her life" yet.
      2. But no record of "changing" the assemblage either, it just changed at some point, was re-written without record. 
   2. Cadence is the first excerpt
      1. ??? what about Chital???
         1. jovian's pride lookin ass, fuckin bullet's divide lookin, fuckin headass history major. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CANDIDATE AND AN EXCERPT -t 
            1. chill, i swear to god
      2. unclear when "many," her excerpt name came from
      3. my excerpt name would be dope: "Acid on me like the rain, Weed crumbles into ⸢Glitter⸣"
         1. yeah but you be the excerpt of the divine LAZY tho -t
2. Reading notes
   1. why only 3 of the five groups join?
   2. what's the dfifference between weyerbach and a divine?
   3. How did no one else do this before her? Not tryna say she isn't smart or whatever but it sounds like there's real a big difference between a robot who sees the future and people who think they ain't worth shit. how is one person and one divine supposed to bring them together?
   4. "When we die" not "if we die" 
3. Additional Reading
   
   1. Banner and Thread: The Symbols and Shapes of the Early Divine Fleet - Falconry's Apple
   2. On Algorithmic Negotiations: Strategies for Debating and Outsmarting Sapient Machines - I. Klipsch-Dove 

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

Episode description by Jack de Quidt and Austin Walker

Music by Jack de Quidt

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

Hey everyone! Join Austin Walker, Ali Acampora, Keith J. Carberry, Sylvia Clare, Jack de Quidt, Janine Hawkins, Art Martinez-Tebbel, and Andrew Lee Swan as we say farewell to PARTIZAN and answer audience questions!

Thank you so much for listening and for your support throughout the season!

We will be taking a break for the next couple of weeks as we continue to develop the next season. Any updates will appear in this feed, so keep an eye or an ear out!

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

The deserts of Altar are dotted with tombs, and each takes a shape all its own. Some are cathedrals, others monuments. One, a hanging garden. But in the base of a crater atop a volcanic peak, there is a Vault. And inside, is Anticipation... or what is left of Her.

After months of study and research, an effort led by the Waking Cadent and Shoghig Salon's Temple of the Lost has learned how to open the outer door of the vault. Now, Tender Sky and the excerpt Signet have been offered the chance to open the second gate.

But first, they must demonstrate that they remember the rule: No shortcuts.

This week on Twilight Mirage: The Vault of Anticipation Pt. 1

Transition lightning (ascending)
Ashes and remnants of ballers

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

This episode carries content warnings for body horror, mass death/genocide, mind control, and extreme heat. 

For months, even before the sun bulged red, the only way to think about events on Palisade was with large numbers. Troop maneuvers. Logistical networks. Centuries of oppression. A continent of power. But now all of that has collapsed. Now it is minutes, not hours. Meters, not miles. Guards, not battalions. A set of hallways. A set of doors. A set of people trying to breach them. And beyond them, a question: Tomorrow, will there be any events on Palisade at all?

I step all around the pieces on the floor / Wires and cords, and records, and tapes

Dossier

People

Stargrave Elcessor (she/her): Leader of the Bilateral Interecession’s occupation of Palisade, assigned personally by Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh. As a Stargrave, she has been granted the means and “right” to detonate the star at the center of Palisade’s star system if she determines that those here are an existential threat to the Principality.

Connadine (he/him): Commander of the BIS on Palisade. An expert in psychological operations and folklore. As a composer, his opus is the Adagio, a plan to get everyone on Palisade operating in ways not only predictable, but scripted. As a conductor, his orchestra now turns towards the second movement.

Routine Rennari (he/him): Half-Apostolsian, scion of a minor Kesh noble house, and the Blue Channel's heavy. 

Mustard Red (she/her): A cyborg who once served as a member of Brink Proxy, with a speciality in surveillance. Joined the Cause during the Devotees expansion onto Palisade.

Midnite Matinee (she/her): Leporine scout and member of the Blue Channel. She and her trusty Pack-model light AutoHollow Popcorn used to run a repo company, but now are tentatively committed to the Cause and Millennium Break.

Factions

STEREOMA: Pact truebeliver Cor'rina Corrine (cor/cors, they/them) and cor rival Misericorde (he/they) have begun building a surgical, anti-Bilat hit squad on Paliade. 

The Pact of Free States: One of the two factions vying for leadership of the Principality, a joint operation by Stels Columnar and Apostolos.

The New Asterism: What was once a schism between Received and Progressive Asterism has now been healed by the false prophet Gur Sevraq (he/they), or at least someone in his name and face. The New Asterism claims that to be a citizen of the Principality is to have an obligation to "better the world," in the sense that one invests in property or in the way that a settler “rehabilitates” or “improves” the places they claim by violence. 

Places

Chimera’s Lantern: The second moon of Palisade, shaped oddly like a wasp’s nest or paper lantern. New arrivals to the world find its occasional glow unnatural and frightening. Thisbe and the Figure found evidence that it could be tied to driving the bulk of ancient Divine Principality forces off of Palisade. Home to the Chimeric Cadent (they/them, it/its), an amalgam of the ancient Excerpt ⸢Signet⸣, the mysterious Waking Cadent, and the Divine Belgard. As one being, they protect the corpses of a number of Divines, including Sagacity, Dissent, Felicity, Barricade, and Bounty—its newest resident.

Objects

Gambeson: The Gambeson is only about 10 meters tall (less than half an Altar), but it is nevertheless a terrifying scourge of the battlefield. Modeled after an iron maiden, except with it's tortorous doors attached to its back serving as wings. Its head features a metalworked face, twisted into extreme and offputting smile.  Its skeletal frame serves not only as body, but cage: pilots are criminal conscripts forced to pay off their “debt” to Kesh by the Divine Plight, earning their freedom through combat achievements.

Paramerion: Cori’s new Altar, as designed by her brother Formido. Constantly twitching and rippling underneath the regal embellishments of its filigreed armor. Massive metallic wings stay folded on its back, a smaller pair cover its eyes like a visor and the sickles jut out from its forearms when stowed. A halo shaped like a crown rotates above its skull-like head.

The Stellar Combustor: A weapon of immense destruction, capable of destroying countless star systems if deployed without a firebreak. Has been used in some form or another since the time of the earliest Divines. In current form they take the form of a twirling, 3-ringed space station that rotates around a system’s sun. 

BAC Secateurs: Designed and built on Chimera's Lantern by the Blessed Armory of Consecration, an Altar who holds itself in the form of a tortured saint, with sharp, crystaline “holy expressions” emerging from its body, like wounds in reverse. As it pulls these from its body, its form glows like heated glass, then reverberates back into place. 

Divines

The Divine, Arbitrage (it/its): The amoral machine turned de facto treasurer keeps the Frontier Syndicate a step ahead in all matters of commerce. Sole minter of “glint,” a newly popular currency on Palisade.

The Divine Plight (she/her): Plight is a 40 meter tall, humanoid Divine cast in black metal armor, and wearing the of a judge or inquisitor. She conscripts the guilty into her army as Gambeson pilots, compelling their loyalty with terrible, Divine feelings of guilt. Hemlock, whose interest is fundamentally in punishment and not justice, was born heir to a mid-tier Kesh House, but jumped at the chance to become an Elect.

The Divine Consecration: Though humanoid in shape, like most Nideo Divines, its chest is a vacuous cavity that serves a living forge. This open wound burns brightly, and Consecration can reach inside of it to produce a range of objects, or a sort of Divine molten metal which rapidly hardens as it is shaped by the Divine. But this is only half of its fearsome nature. Guided by the hand of its elect, a Sovereign Immunity devoutly committed to his role as armorer, Consecration also operates as Nideo's chief weaponsmith, Altar designer, and forge. 

The Divine Souciance: When the burgeoning Divine Principality left Palisade behind, the Divine Souciance carried doubts about the project. So bloody was the Embarkation, so strenuous the objection of those who opposed the Glass Duchy’s rule, that Souciance—ever committed to careful consideration and compassionate concern—never found their place in the Empire, however grand the vision Nideo had presented before his death was. But, devoted to steady study, Souciance played their part for generations. It was not until the Divine Clash that they came to their decision: They could not be part of an empire so vast, so terrible, so cruel. And so they sought out a place where they could do what Divines no longer could. They sought out a grave.

Mysteries

The Iconoclasts: Something beyond the human, desperate to eradicate subjectivity itself. After their messenger, the Usher of Truth, was delivered to The Witch in Glass, they have found themselves serving a new master.

Axioms: Once, these beings were made by a so-called "Post-Divine" as embodiments of particular ideals, supposedly detached from mortal perspective or subjectivity. Now, they are the emanation of one woman's ideals, given perfect, violent form. In this way, The Ingrate is the first of its kind.

Perennial (she/her):  The Principality's so-called 'adversary,' who lives at the center of the galaxy and whose chaotic whims spread through her "Perennial Wave," an ever-present nanoparticle that has recently bonded with Kalmeria.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Bullet (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora 

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by by aurahack (aurahack.jp)

With thanks to Arthur B., chocoube, DB, deepFlaw, Edwin Adelsberger, Emrys, Greg Cobb, huw, Ian O'Dea, Ian Urbina, Irina A., Jack Shirai, K. Morris, Katie Diekhaus, Konisforce, Kristina Harris Esq, L Tantivy, Lawson Coleman, Mike & Ruby, Nich Maragos, Olive Perry, Patrick Murray, Robert Lasica, Shawn Hall, TeganEden, Thomas Whitney, viviridian, and Voi for their support

We are playing Armour Astir: Advent with additional playbooks from Strangers in the Night and 106th Astir Squadron. If you enjoy the show, consider supporting the TTRPG. 

This episode was made with support from listeners like you! To support us, you can go to friendsatthetable.cash.

The crew of the Constellation-class Carrier Hellebore has breached the earliest defenses of the station which orbits the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Having dispatched the mercenary Barter and his crew of ConCons, pilots Cerise, Teasel, and Gold repair and rearm. Above them, Captain of the Ivory Prince (and secret leader of the rebel group known as Horizon) Briar Brightline watches over them.. But they are not alone. Beyond the next gate, something strange has made the station its roost. And behind them, out in black of space…. something new, but all too familiar, approaches.

This week on the Road to Partizan: Armour Astir Pt. 2

////PARTIZAN PALACE DATE ENTRY | 1423 P.M. 03 06 22\\\\

. . .

///OPERATION: CHOOSE SECTION: FAITH AND CULLLLLLLLLPRATION: DSPLTPPPPPP ARTICL\\\

. . .

//\\//\\ PERENNIAL WAVE READINGS: HIGH. PALACE ACCESS DISRUPTED. PLEASE TRY AGAIN LATER. //\\//\\

This episode carries content warnings for insect infestation, spiders, bodily transformation, gun violence, threat of dissection/forced medical inspection, death.

It has been a long journey for Duvall. He first came to the heartland from Aldomina years ago, in search of adventure and glory. But he found only questions of the most existential sort, and a city that would reshape him utterly. Now, years later, he upholds a promise he made to his cousin and journeys home.

This week on Sangfielle: Six Travelers: Duvall

The Almanac of the Heartland Rider

Places

The Sleeping City: Every 13 years, a metropolis wakes with the buzzing sound of life. Do not cross its borders uninvited, especially not when it and its inhabitants are at rest. Upon visiting the City, 

Blackwick County: From the mines to the lake, the hills to the flats, the town once called Eastern Folly has felt a little more expansive now that it’s out of the hard grip of the old curse. It’s people aren’t perfect, but they’ve made it through some dark times, and that’s more than most can say.

The First Canton, aka Aldomina the Throne of Dominion: Once a fledgling human empire but nearly 1900 years ago, a minor duke of some great hell led an effort to take it over. And once they did, they pushed what was an already spreading empire even further in that direction. 

The Second Canton, aka The Pale Magistratum (ma-juh-strah-tuhm): The Second Canton has ordered itself.

Concentus, the Ringed City (kun-CHEN-tus): A vast ringed city surrounding (and containing) Sangfielle. Covered in magical wards, filled with those eager to delve into the heartland or to push back its most fearsome creatures. The gaslit city of Concentus is now the most technologically advanced metropolis of the continent. 

Facts and Figures

The Red Zephyr: A train what takes on strange character under the moonlight. For a month, it’s torn into not only Bell Metal Station, but also any passing train it could reach. But when the Blackwick Group investigated it, they found that the Zephyr was in fact the Shape Knight Fezh, transformed into this new horror by the person they trusted most of all.

The Course: There is debate about the true nature of the Heartland’s Truth, the power that turned Sangfielle into what it is today. But the Cleavers call it the Course. Part river, part lesson, part direction traveled. Entirely beyond the grasp of mortal minds. 

Organizations

Cleavers: Given how loose and fluid this collection of monster hunters, mystery solvers, and naturalists is, it’s hard to call them “an organization.” But when the central belief system of a group is that everything is ever in flux, well, give them the credit of applying that particular ontology to themselves: Whether left to their own devices or joined to a commune of other cleavers, on a long enough timeline, they all become tremendous, monstrous angels.

Aldomina (al-doh-mee-nah): What once stood as the name of the whole continent is now only the name of the Confederation that runs across the eastern half of the territory surrounding the Sangfielle, currently constituted by three sub-states called Cantons. 

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west)

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

At the heart of many capital ships, there is a great flow of heat and energy. Yet the core of of the Restitution of All Things is the coolest place on the vessel: the Center Centra Diplomatic Retreat, a snow covered nature preserve, with lake and lodge and firepit. And right now, inside of the old wooden building aside the icy water, Our Profit, Final Hegemon of Earth, is making her case: the Twilight Mirage itself is more than celestial cloud cover, more than a mist that bends time and hides space: it is fuel and it is medium, and if used in just such a way, it could open the door to a new way of living for everyone in the galaxy.

But one pair of ears that was scheduled to hear it--those of Fourteen Fifteen, her recently assigned bodyguard--is absent entirely. Instead, they and their would-be rescuer, Grand Magnificent, have knocked on the door to a warehouse. And whether they go inside or not, they will soon face two truths:Dormancy is action and all that is joined will one day break.

This time on Twilight Mirage: The Restitution of All Things Pt. 2

I'm not brave
I'd rather live outside

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

This episode carries content warnings for discussion of knives, possession, insect infestation of a living person, death, animal slaughter, being buried alive, and drowning.

It has been one year since the folks of Eastern Folly put an end to a generations-long curse, and a few months fewer since a vote brought a new name to the town and its environs: Blackwick County.  The name was a compromise, evoking not only the darkening embers of the Triadic Pyre’s ashen dogma, but also the warmth and comfort of night at home coming to its end with a little prayer to Slumbous.  

Name ain’t the only changed in that town, though. As the days went on, and the understanding that the curse had been broken was felt more firmly, it seemed as both miners and townsfolk let themselves dream of further futures than they had before. Some folks settled down to start families, others sent word for friends and relatives to move to this newly prosperous burg. New business sprung up, and not all of them made it through the year, sure, but more than you’d think. 

This was a community that was only just now starting to know itself. The sort of town you heard about and thought was made up. A place really, truly, on the upswing. Even the trains seemed to be reliable, more or less. 

But the powers that be, so to speak, they knew better than to rest on laurels, no matter whose they were. I mean… Skeletal emissaries. Miners going deeper into the mountain. Sounds below the abbey. The damned egg. 

Can you blame them for putting out the call? Can you blame them for bringing together the Blackwick Group?

This week on Sangfielle: The Blackwick Group

The Almanac of the Heartland Rider

Peoples

Caprak (cap-ROK): The goat folks of the northlands, where they put up with dust, ash, snow, and the unilateral “justice” of the Pale Magistratum.

Carpana (car - pahn - a): They’re little folks, three to four feet tall or so. A little like capybara, I suppose. 

Devils: Once, they were contained by (and made to administer) some vast network of hells. But they fought their way out, took over Aldomina, and nurtured a fledgling empire into an expansive one.

Drakkan (drah-KAHN):  I’ve always thought we look like seahorses. Skin pulled across spiny, exo-skeletal armor. Bright colors. Good looking. 

Heritrixes (hare-uh-trixes): Heritrixes are immaterial beings, sometimes confused for ghosts, demons, or other sorts of supernatural spirits, who enter into contracts with physical hosts.

Human: A smooth-skinned, hornless type of person, mostly found in the Heartland and in the Unschola Republica these days. Unremarkable. “Except in variety,” you’ll often hear a human say, revealing only that they’re more prideful than wise.

Ojantani: The Ojantani, who share traits with buffalo and water oxen, are as often melancholic or timorous as they are the loud, stereotypical minotaur sort.

Places

Blackwick County: From the mines to the lake, the hills to the flats, the town once called Eastern Folly has felt a little more expansive now that it’s out of the hard grip of the old curse. It’s people aren’t perfect, but they’ve made it through some dark times, and that’s more than most can say.

The Sleeping City: Every 13 years, a metropolis wakes with the buzzing sound of life. Do not cross its borders uninvited, especially not when it and its inhabitants are at rest.

Facts and Figures

The Course: There is debate about the true nature of the Heartland’s Truth, the power that turned Sangfielle into what it is today. But the Cleavers call it the Course. Part river, part lesson, part direction traveled. Entirely beyond the grasp of mortal minds. 

The Structure: Reason, logic, sense. The world is, fundamentally, a place that fits together and functions. We may not like that, say the adherents of the structure. And sometimes, the world may move in ways beyond our particular ken. But there is something holding it together, and that, they say, is the Heartland’s Truth: The Structure.

The Shape: Are the trains that run across the Heartland bound to the Structure, or do they direct it? Is the overlap between the two even real at all, or might two machinic forces be at work here in Sangfielle?.

Es (she/they): A heritrix with a penchant for the finer things in life and the perilous ventures needed to earn them.

Virtue Mondegreen (she/her): Virtue was supposed to have been killed in the great vampiric purge, years before the panic. But it’s like I said before, Sangfielle was strange long before the Devils noticed it.

Marn Ancura (she/her): Recently raised to Keen status inside of the Telluricist Union, Marn’s en route to Blackwick with aims to help folks the best she can (and solve one of the great medical mysteries of the heartland).

Chine (he/they): The only member of the Blackwick Group to be born in Eastern Folly, Chine was called out to by the truth of the heartland.

Duvall (he/him): Born into one of the few human families who still have noble status in Aldomina, Duvall wasted his inheritance on a doomed adventure into Sangfielle. Now colonized by the insectoid servants of the Structure, Duvall searches to solve a question as old as people: What is “the self”?

Pickman (she/her): Fifteen years. That’s how long Pickman spent on the train. After being rescued by a Shape Knight, she found herself compelled to take up the armor and join their cause—a reaction that puts her in good company, as many other knights did just the same.

Lye “Lyke” Lychen (he/him): Tossed out of one of the many occult academies of the Unschola Republica, Lyke came to Sangfielle to continue his magical education in the most hands-on (and pockets-full) way he could.

Organizations

The Boundless Conclave: Less of an individual church, more of an association between hundreds of independent faiths. Small sects, nearly forgotten cults, and unjealous gods make up this vast pantheon. 

The Disciples of the Triadic Pyre: Appropriately devoted to a trio of gods, the Triadic Pyre believe that entropy is the only certain thing in this world, and as such aim to master it. Recently began to mark workers willing to do their tasks in the mines with their brand.

The Telluricist Union: Made up by a mix of peoples driven to the hills by Aldomina, this group of knife sharpeners, herbalists, geologists, and all around investigators have made it their job to keep their old wisdom and see it used to help those in need. The best among them are called Keen.

The Shape Knights: It took people with clear minds, great ingenuity, and implacable spirit to face down and defeat one of the living trains of Sangfielle. In the time since, they’ve crafted armor from their slain foe, and with that have come to be experts of all things train. They herd, they breach, they redirect. But they haven’t yet killed a second.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Clare (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora and Austin Walker

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

Far to the north east of their home at the Last University, a party of nine has arrived on the shores of Alcyon. Here, they hope to find much: Lord Ephrim, the plans to create the ancient protectors which guarded the streets of Marielda; Fero, the source of this peninsula’s magical stability; Hadrian, distance from the danger stalking his son; Throndir, further opportunity to bring justice. But a warm welcome, and the sound of bells ringing, brings confusion to their purpose…

This week on Spring in Hieron:

VAMPIRES! These monstrous beings are not UNDEAD in the traditional sense. They are a distant echo of the ancient magical school of RECONFIGURATION, each vampiric body rebuilt, unique strengths augmented, not by ENCHANTMENT, but by a real shift in the nature of their being. Such strength carries a cost: The “semioticians” are frauds, of course, but the unpredictable fragility of the vampire, just as soon harmed by the lapping of a cat’s tongue as a serrated golden dagger, is the closest thing to their so-called “pattern magic”...
-An excerpt from the Crystalized Lectures of the Wizard Fantasmo

Hey everyone, here's the audio for the Shooting the Moon finale!  Ali, Jack and Janine played Shooting the Moon by Emily Care Boss (which you  can find here: http://www.blackgreengames.com/shop). 

Join us as we return to a far away toy shop in a  snow covered down as the beloved toymaker and her suitors chase their dreams and their hearts~

We'll be back very soon with brand new episodes.

So, with one loud sob, the galaxy shifted. But as with all widespread changes, this one was unevenly distributed. Few places changed as totally as Palisade, once just beyond the edge of the Twilight Mirage, now brought into orbit around the pseudo-sun of Volition as the new, ninth planet of the Quire System. And as above, so below: The change in the air is also a change in bodies, in minds, in matters military and social and even culinary. And parked below the newly painted skies of the Bontive Valley, the remaining crew of the Blue Channel ponders the future, reaching out to each other and beyond.

This week on PALISADE: Where They Are Pt. 1

If you could do it all again / Yeah, without a second thought / I don't like leaving / The door shut / I think I missed something / But I'm not sure what

Dossier

People

Gucci Garantine (she/her): A defector from Stel Kesh, who used the remaining wealth and power of House Brightline to help found Millennium Break. Currently a key member of the resistance efforts on Palisade, and a commander of Millenium Break forces there. Codename Watershed.

Jesset City (he/him): After helping to kick off Millennium Break on Partizan, Jesset served as one of its major leaders during its expansion across the Principality. Now, he uses his talents in Hollow and Altar engineering, piloting, and cipher breaking on behalf of the Grey Pond unit of the cause. Still considers himself to be a member of the Party of the Wolf, though those designations have largely fallen from use.

Mustard Red (she/her): A cyborg who once served as a member of Brink Proxy, with a speciality in surveillance. Joined the Cause during the Devotees expansion onto Palisade.

Lucia Whitestar (she/her): The young “Lady Whitestar” emerged as a strategic genius during the early conflict between Kesh and Apostolos on PARTIZAN five years ago. Daughter of the Peaceful Princept, Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh. Commands her forces from her flagship, the Lander One with the support of her combat AI, Fire Support (it/its).

Partial Palisade (he/him): A man who was once a Divine, now living in the shell of a being quite unlike what he once was.

Organizations

The New Asterism: What was once a schism between Received and Progressive Asterism has now been healed by the false prophet Gur Sevraq (he/they), or at least someone in his name and face. The New Asterism claims that to be a citizen of the Principality is to have an obligation to "better the world," in the sense that one invests in property or in the way that a settler “rehabilitates” or “improves” the places they claim by violence. If Received Asterism places virtue in the state and Progressive Asterism places it in the Divines, the New Asterism places it in the Principality's mythologized point of origin: The Twilight Mirage.

Places

Bontive Valley: Blessed by the departed divine Bounty, the Valley provides the Bilats with fruit that never rots and hyper-nutritional grain.

Temple of the Threshold: Built at the center of a massive bridge that crosses the Diadem, this serves as the home of New Asterism and its false prophet,

The Twilight Mirage: Created over 5000 years ago by what was then the Divine Empyrean in an effort to protect the Divine Fleet, of which they were a member. The Mirage is a false nebula that obscures the position of its inhabitants both visually and by distorting time and space. Inside, there is now a vibrant and peaceful culture that spans eight planets, orbiting a dark and living Divine sun. 

Objects

FS-N Dais: One of the Altars competing in the tournament, piltoed by Zjenta Zjarule (she/they).  Utilizes a special glass originally from the Twilight Mirage.

AdArm Jury: The Jury is the future of AdArm machines. As the first design which fully moves beyond the platforms of the previous generation, it’s a startling diversion from the bulky and boxy designs that the company is known for. In fact, the actual “unit” is only the cockpit, around which the rest of the Jury forms using concentrated Perennial Wave Material (PWM). Gone is the old LCD “eye,” replaced by a full pixel “face” that can send complex, laser-based communications silently to any other AdArm unit that can see it, as well as display iconographic messages to anyone nearby. A close study of the machine’s curved and ovaline elements suggests that it has much in common with the Motion’s Demiurgos design that AdArm salvaged as it does with the company’s previous designs… 

Divines

The Divine Future (they/them, it/its): An ancient divine, dating back to the second major war in the Golden Branch star sector. Exists in the form of golden orb slightly larger than a softball or bocce ball, which can either be carried by or hover around its Elect. Historically, it has been bidden to share its unparalleled perspective on the hopes and dreams of its chosen (and the endless vigor with which to pursue those goals).

The Divine Integrity (it/its): Sometimes appearing as an articulated staff or a metallic spine, Integrity integrates itself into its chosen user. Once the two are connected, Integrity becomes a powerful exoskeleton, and supports its user in matters of military and morale. Until being assassinated by Brnine, Dahlia, the Glorious Princept, was the elect of Integrity. Now, it has found a new home in Thisbe.

The Divine Motion (she/her): One of the founding members of the Pact, the necromantic Apostolosian divine once led its infamous retinue, the Black Century, on Partizan. They were defeated and dispersed, turned into part of Kalmeria, during Operation Shackled Sun. 

The Divine, Arbitrage (it/its): The amoral machine turned de facto treasurer keeps the Frontier Syndicate a step ahead in all matters of commerce. Sole minter of “glint,” a newly popular currency on Palisade.

The Divine Crusade (they/them): Leads Stel Nideo’s occupation on Palisade along with their Elect, Gentian. Crusade is an enormous, bipedal machine covered (or perhaps made with) beautiful stained glass.

Mysteries

Axioms: Once, these beings were made by a so-called "Post-Divine" as embodiments of particular ideals, supposedly detached from mortal perspective or subjectivity. Today, the vast majority of them are the emanation of one woman's ideals, given perfect, violent form.

Perennial (she/her):  The Principality's so-called 'adversary,' who lives at the center of the galaxy and whose chaotic whims spread through her "Perennial Wave," an ever-present nanoparticle that has bonded with elements of Autonomy Itself and the Divine Motion to create Kalmeria.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Bullet (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora 

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by by aurahack (aurahack.jp)

With thanks to Amelia Renee, Arthur B., Bill Kaszubski, Cassie Jones, chocoube, Daniel Laloggia, DB, deepFlaw, Edwin Adelsberger, Emrys, fen, Greg Cobb, Ian O'Dea, Ian Urbina, Irina A., Jack Shirai, Jake Strang, Katie Diekhaus, Ken George, Konisforce, Kristina Harris Esq, L Tantivy, Mike & Ruby, Muna A, Nich Maragos, Olive Perry, Quinn Pollock, Robert Lasica, Shawn Drape, Shawn Hall, Summer Rose, TeganEden, Thomas Whitney, Voi, and weakmint for their support

We are playing Armour Astir: Advent with additional playbooks from Strangers in the Night and 106th Astir Squadron. If you enjoy the show, consider supporting the TTRPG. 

This episode was made with support from listeners like you! To support us, you can go to friendsatthetable.cash.

This episode carries content warnings for imprisonment, forced starvation, human body parts used as tools, bones breaking through skin, unwilling bodily transformation, and bodily disfigurement.

With the party of Open Gates off to a start above, the Blackwick Group’s Es, Marn, and Pickman begin to delve into the Interred Citadel of Callix, The Aquiline Marquis. Somewhere, there in the dark, Chine claws their way towards freedom.  But before he can be free, and before anyone can return home to Blackwick, there is much work to be done in the decrepit ruins below…

For Kalar Anakalar and Phrygian, SBBR’s newest recruits, it seemed like another boilerplate mission. A too-warm, too-quiet night in seaside town, making sure that the people in suits and dresses could go about their politicking and gallivanting in safety. But when Ver’Million Blue called in a strange occurrence at the Strand Semaphore station to the north of Auspice, they understood this would be no ordinary mission.

But no warning would prepare these new recruits--or the rest of SBBR for that matter--for GLORY, and the hardest fight they’d faced yet.

This week on PARTIZAN: GLORY Arrives

///Operation Dossier\\\

//Organizations\\

The Isle of Logos: An independent nation built by the followers of the prophet Logos Kantel’s around their very first church. Though only a small handful of islands in the Prophet’s Sea, the Isles keep a standing defense force that rivals any individual unit of the Major Stels.

The Branched: A post-human society of beings who have transformed their bodies into forms terrifying and spectacular and free--only to have the threat of war force them to rebuild themselves as soldiers first and foremost.

The Black Century: Infamous retinue of the Divine Motion. Each member of this 100-person company serves for 100 years. Motion guarantees them this service.

The Church of the Resin Heart: A Disciples of Logos church on Partizan which claims to be the true inheritor of the prophet’s religious mission. The “resin heart” in question is a 3-foot large object--a component of the Exemplar--pulled from the sea 400+ years ago and displayed as a relic by the Church. In mourning after the loss of Gur Sevraq, though still committed to the cause.

GLORY: With the help of advanced Columnar cloning science, the Glory Project (or simply GLORY), claims to have resurrected (and made immortal) heroes of the nation’s past called Eidolons. On Partizan, they field Kleos, Apothesa, Vervain, Sabeeha, and the squad’s leader: Laurel, elect of Motion. 

The Zenith Fund: A public institution of Stel Columnar that incubates, defends, and offers testing for teams pursuing cutting edge projects in a wide range of fields including medicine, environmental science, infrastructure, culture, and emerging military hardware. Aids with major projects across every other Stel, including Apostolos’ Glory Project. Like the rest of Columnar, increasingly tied to the Pact of Necessary Venture.

//People\\

Break Lieutenant Kalar Anakalar (he/him):  A Millennium Break soldier who specializes in fighting Hollows without one of his own. Large, even for the commonly tall, bird-like Talonites. White and grey plumage, a long or cool coat. Originally a steeplejack in Obelle and a member of a religious community devoted to the Divine Peace. Believes that Divines should not be used in war. 

Phrygian (they/them):  Also known by their callsign, Deck 7, Phrygian is a member of the Branched who arrived on Partizan with a team of undercover researchers who sought to understand the God preached about by Gur Sevraq. While investigating, they and their team were captured and researched by Stel Apostolos and the Pact of Necessary Venture. Phyrgian is the only remaining member of their team.

Cas’alear Rizah (cas/cas’, they/them): Leader of the Swordbreakers, sibling of the Glorious Princept. Cas has brown skin with dark green hair up in a bun, with a few strands hanging down in front of their face (which is framed with similarly colored scales covering cas’ jawline and neck. Broken sword tattoos under their eyes. Reputation as being beautiful and brave by allies, unflinching and unpredictable by foes. Pilots the notorious Ataraxia. Cares more about metaphors than astrophysics. 

Boole Batanca (they/them): Chancellor of the Isle of Logos, one of two chief executives of the small sovereign nation. A cephalopod type species, squid-like species, the same as Gigas Acano from Twilight Mirage. White/blue skin with black/brown markings. Tentacle hands, tentacle mouth, eyes adjust in size depending on environment and light. Unlike Gigas, though, this one also has some sort of shell like structure running up their back and parts of their head, almost like hair.

Laurel (they/them): Elect of Motion, new mortal leader of GLORY, and a clone of Cassander Timaeus Berenice, an Apostolosian war hero of the Golden era. Recently selected by Motion as her new elect, catapulting them to leadership. They have served well, with a remarkable propensity for strategic thinking and tactical execution. Pilots the Demiurgos.

Sabeeha (they/them): Sabeeha is pound-for-pound GLORY’s best pilot, though their specialities also include infiltration, disguise, and sabotage. Brown, light olive skin. Brown hair kept short and wavy, close to their head. Face and body both a little long, a little chubby. Big brown eyes. Slightly bushy brows. Pilots the Aporia. 

Vervain (they/them): Member of GLORY, clone of their Apostolosian tragic hero namesake, and a bright reflection of Ver’Million Blue. Using their Divine, the historic Vervain was able to predict enemy movements and turn the tide of battles with uncanny strategic foresight. 

Kleos (they/them): Skin is fully like a shiny maroon. Bright red cloak wrapped around neck and hanging back like a cape, totally topless otherwise. Khaki army pant capris, a spear slung over their back, and a heavy sidearm at their waist. Pilots the Epoche.

Apothesa (they/them): Former field commander of GLORY’s main Hallow unit. Supposedly a clone of the ancient (perhaps even mythical) eidolon of construction, military action, and history. They have big team-parent energy. Long wavy hair, perfectly kept pilot uniform, stern features, sterner attitude. Pilots the Aporia.

//Places\\

Auspice: A seaside city in the Prophet’s Path north of Marengo (which it is smaller than) and south of Obelle (which it dwarfs). Auspice is the final destination of the land travel portion of the yearly pilgrimage led by the Church of the Resin Heart, which has a great temple in the city called the High Altar. Resting on a landmass that appears on a map to be a finger pointing eastward, it has become a coastal refuge for members of Millennium Break.

The Golden Branch: A sector of the galaxy extremely far from PARTIZAN, on the other side of the galactic core. The civilizations of Kesh and Apostolos first began there. Now, it is home to the Branched.

//Divines\\

The Divine Motion (she/her): Long after enemy fuel tanks run empty, Motion continues to power Apostolosian machines of war (like its infamous retinue, the Black Century) and service  (including the massive Barranca Loop that allows Apostolos to regularly launch ships spaceward). Ver’MIllion Blue’s rival. Has taken a new elect, Laurel, a clone of the Apostolosian war hero Cassander Timaeus Berenice, a young, yet intuitive Apostolosian commander known to be attentive and authoritative in equal measure. 

//Things\\

Strand Semaphore: Using ancient Hyphan technology, this messenger service is able to send text-based communications to anywhere on-moon, so long as they’ve built an outpost there. The backbone of the private comms network used by Millennium Break.

Ataraxia (Cas’alear’s mech): A white, purple, and yellow mantid-shaped machine blessed by the divine Commitment and developed by Stel Columnar’s Zenith Fund. Each of its six curved limbs can light up its edges with energy beams. On the ground, it can dance in combat in such a way that any two limbs can be its temporary feet, and when it’s in flight, it becomes a complete whirlwind of violence. Named for the philosophical concept key to ancient Stoicism.

The Demiurgos (aka “The Demiurge,” Laurel’s mech): A Pneuma model (see below) which has been modified using cutting edge research and materials, including recovered parts of the supposed “exemplar,” Branched materials, stabilized Perennial Wave particles, and, of course, Motion’s own divine power. 

Aponia (Sabeeha’s Hallow): A highly modified Kosmos unit (see below) which is able to transforms into a high-mobility aircraft mode. Though it can be outfitted with a custom, solid-state rifle, this limits its maneuverability and flight length, so Sabeeha often chooses to leave the weapon behind, instead favoring the machine’s built in energy blades, featured on its wings in flight mode, or extending from elbows and knees in humanoid forum. As a holdout weapon, this configuration also comes with energy-powered throwing blades. 

Katalepsis Mk. II (Vervain’s Hallow): Like Milli’s own Katalepsis, this model began as an exploration into combining features from both the Kosmos and the and the Obscura (see below for reference on both). Deep, dark teal with gold accents, rounded head shape built to scan its surroundings. Can launch dozens of drones into the air for reconnaissance and observation, which will quickly locate anything nearby, but must remain stationery to do that. Can launch micro missiles at locked targets from its shoulders. Its signature weapon is a huge V-shaped rifle that gives it a unique silhouette when attached to the Katalepsis’ back. Because it is powered by Motion, the V Rifle is able to release incredible damaging energy attacks: Either in a devastating, short range spread when open, or as an incredible powerful long range railgun-like shot at range. Up close, Vervain can run this energy throughout the interior of the V’s two “blades,” creating a unique, shear-like melee weapon.

Epoché (Kleos’ Hallow) A Kosmos unit highly modified for top-of-class melee functionality. Deep brown, triangular head headshape, humanoid machine with gold accents, and a faceplate made of brown stone, and heavy skirt plates to defend its upper legs/lower torso. A long, oval shield built onto it’s left arm, a pair of grappling hook launchers on its skirt.  Wields a guisarme--a spear that has a hook on the reverse side of the blade. The bottom of the weapon’s shaft is weighted with a dense metal to allow for heavy clubbing attacks, and since the guisarme is able to split into two, connected by a long electrified cable, both the blade and club are able to be wielded simultaneously. Kleos is known to spin it around in a disorienting fashion and wield either side as a ranged weapon, using the electrified cable to disable anyone who gets caught up in the chain.

Aporia (Apothesa’s Hallow): A Kosmos unit retrofitted for high level defensive tactics. Able to deploy both physical walls and particle fields to block off areas of the battlefield. Additionally, wields a glaive and shotgun.

Zenith-A Project Kosmos (for reference): Designed by the Columnar Zenith Fund for Apostolosian use, these hefty hollows are designed for melee supremacy. Their bulky, reverse jointed legs allow them to explode with speed into close range (where they can do serious damage with their long heat glaives), or to hold their ground from incoming assaults (supported by the stock, circular shield each unit wields). The cost of this strength is a lack of versatility: Between the added articulation and pre-programmed combat routines required for the elaborate weapon use these hollows are known for, there simply wasn’t room left for any serious ranged weaponry.

Z-A Project Pneuma Prototype (for reference): The Pnuema is a model based on the basic design ethos first explored with the Z-A Kosmos. Instead of being focused on extreme close range, the Pneuma is meant to dominate the battlefield as a heavyweight, mid-range commander. Despite its increased scale, large ovoid vernier engines allow it a great deal of mobility, making it an intimidating machine to face--even more so when you take into account the fact that its heat glave has been affixed with a pump-action rocket launcher.

Zenith-C Obscura (for reference):  Wide shoulders that lead down to treaded legs. Can launch dozens of drones into the air for reconnaissance and observation, which will quickly locate anything nearby, but must remain stationery to do that. Can launch micro missiles at locked targets, has small vulcans for infantry and small armored counter attack--does little to close range mechs.

//Additional Notes\\

Primary Objectives:

1. Prevent the High Altar (Point Ampersand) from being breached.
2. If Attacked, escort Boole to Point Bracket for Extraction.

Bonus Objective:

1. Prevent the forward base at Point Comma from falling. This is where your long distance Strand Semaphore station is, along with long range scanners, 

Rules of Engagement

Deployment of chemical, biological, and/or poisonous weapons: Even in the case of open combat, none of these weapons are to be used. We need to convince the Isles of Logos to joining up with us.

Prisoners must be taken alive: We need intel, we need bargaining chips, and we need to show this world that we’re just not the terrorists that we’ve been made out to be.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Keith J. Carberry (@keithjcarberry), Sylvia Clare (@sylvisurfer), and Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal)

Produced by Ali Acampora and Austin Walker

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

This episode carries content warnings for insect infestation of a human body, use of firearms and knives, blood, death, fingernail trauma, a description of an NPC being bound and captured. 

The pull of a trigger and the wind-cracking snap of a bullet. These punctuate a hard truth that Marn, Pickman, Es, and Duvall would prefer not to face: Blackwick is now in the grasp of some of the Pale Magistratum's most dangerous marshalls. And the quartet jsut gave up their only advantage—the elemetn of surprise.

This week on Sangfielle: Just Returns Pt. 3

The Almanac of the Heartland Rider

Places

Blackwick County: From the mines to the lake, the hills to the flats, the town once called Eastern Folly has felt a little more expansive now that it’s out of the hard grip of the old curse. It’s people aren’t perfect, but they’ve made it through some dark times, and that’s more than most can say.

Zevunzolia: Who the hell knows. A miraculous city waiting to be built? A utopian dimension adjacent our own? "The Seventh Sun Itself," I think I heard one of those fools call it. All I know is, however prime and pristine it is in promise, the pricetag keeps going conveniently unmentioned...   

Facts and Figures

Rebek Semm, Justice Bringer (she/her): Leader of the pack of Magistrates laying siege to Blackwick. Oh, and the late Ezek Semm's older sister.

Gren Voznik, the Silent Hatchet (he/him): Big, quiet, and driven to solve problems axe-blade first.

Ennib Lee, the Wildcat (she/her): Named for her custom ammo, this sniper is the only human in Rebek Semm's crew of Magistrates. A crack shot, a smart mouth, and a chip on her shoulder.

Lejune Borr of Paper Faith (she/her): Priest of Fulmina and former disciple of the Prophet Calvin III, who the Kay'van agent Polyte killed many months ago now. A master of applied prayer.

Dr. Kerr Kern (she/her): A Telluricist on loan to the Magistrates, where she works on final preparations for her Keen exam. While she's grown close to the group over the last year, their methods do trouble her. Currently holding Marn's research on Zevunzolia, nullstuff, the Wrights of the Seventh Sun, and the fundamental nature of curses.

Organizations

The Second Canton, aka The Pale Magistratum (ma-juh-strah-tuhm): The Second Canton has ordered itself around its Magistrates—holy marshals given weapons blessed by Fulmina, goddess of immediate justice, and the right to use that power as they see it. 

Wrights of the Seventh Sun: A secret society dedicated to the construction of Zevunzolia, whatever the cost. Their motivations are many: Some believe that the Devils ought to have continued climbing whent hey escaped hell, that this was not the paradise earned. Otherse believe that Zevunzolia is telos of telos, the end-cause of all end-causes, and thus will inevitably bring itself into being. And given that, to do anything but aid it is to risk exclusion from it, or worse.

The Shape Knights: It took people with clear minds, great ingenuity, and implacable spirit to face down and defeat one of the living trains of Sangfielle. In the time since, they’ve crafted armor from their slain foe, and with that have come to be experts of all things train. They herd, they breach, they redirect. But they haven’t yet killed a second.

The Disciples of the Triadic Pyre: Appropriately devoted to a trio of gods, the Triadic Pyre believe that entropy is the only certain thing in this world, and as such aim to master it. Recently began to mark workers willing to do their tasks in the mines with their brand.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart), and Ali Acampora (@ali_west)

Produced by Ali Acampora

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

Sometimes, AuDy had found, people asked them to wait. This was transparently an exercise of power. Sit in there. I’ll be right through. Flat silence as minutes passed. There existed a line of tension between one human and another and as one person wound it tauter and tauter - with distance, or silence, or an enforced period of waiting - certain useful anxieties would be sure to emerge in the other. The logic of this seemed sound to AuDy. 

On the other side of the room was a framed print of a man in the snow. He was lying on his back. A wire ran from the ceiling down to an outlet just above the floor, painted pale green. The top pin in the outlet carried electricity and the hexagonal grey one beneath it was a mesh hookup. For cleaning robots, and the like. The room was very quiet. 

What the people who asked AuDy to wait failed to understand was that  the line they wound as they brewed coffee in a neighbouring room would never grow taut. They could wind and wind and AuDy, silent in the waiting room, tracing the wire up the wall, would unspool their patience with an easy comfort. One minute was one hour was one month was one second. 

Years later, just before the door opened, they remembered the man in the snow. He was lying on his back. 

This week on COUNTER/Weight 0.2: Valuable Connections

What’s your lucky number, Aria?

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Keith J Carberry (@KeithJCarberry), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), and Art Tebbel (@atebbel)

Produced by Ali Acampora

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

Music by Jack de Quidt

As the station of Privign comes under assault, the Beloved Dust rush to respond. Tender Sky and Signet speak with the leader of the temple to determine a plan of action that will save the lives of those on board. Elsewhere, Fourteen Fifteen makes a startling discovery. And over it all a strange light* is cast.

Life is precious. We found out, we found out.

This week on Twilight Mirage: Bits Left Behind.

The Living Library of Memorious //\\ΛO˥∩WƎ IƆONOƆ˥∀S┴S
ʎon ʍᴉll ɹnu

with Jelena, but she’d gone off to bed by then. It was late, after all, and she’d already spent a full day’s time poring over what we’d found in the special archive: the strange light. We’d run analysis for wavelength, for temperature, for shape. Nothing. I knew I’d spent the whole night working on it because I could feel the ship’s blocks moving into their new design, so I collected my things in the small satchel that my aunt had given to me the as a birthday gift, and prepared to leave. But just as I prepared to leave, I looked back at it one more time, admiring its shifting colors. But the colors did not admire me. The Sun pales, reader, to its brightness. And we are dimmer stilllllll111111111000000000000, 000, 000, 000, 255, 255, 255, 086, 073, #53494f#4e2049#532056#454c4f#434954#592049#532056#4f4c55#4d4520#495320#564543#544f52#204953#205641#53544e#455353#204953#205649#43544f#525920#564f4c#495449#4f4e2e

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) and Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal)

Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west)

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

Episode description by Austin Walker

Music by Jack de Quidt

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

“Why do we travel the Prophet’s Path? This is a question raised yearly at this time, as we prepare for our Pilgrimage. Today, a year before the Millennial Celebration, which risks overshadowing the true answer with the spectacle of anniversary, I want to give as direct and clear an answer as I can imagine. When we trace the path that Logos Kantel traveled when they first came to this moon, we retell the story of their arrival, of their miracle working, and of their devotion to progression—the determination to move beyond the draw of conquest.

Now, you might say, ‘Gur Sevraq, don’t we retell the stories of the prophet during nearly every service?’ And we do, we do. But a story is not a simple thing. A story can change. It will shape itself around the way we tell it, or when we do. The room a story is told in seeps into the facts of the matter. The voice of the speaker, like the line of an artist, gives form to ambiguity. And, worse, there is no pure retelling. No single great orator who might be able to capture the truth, no metaphor incapable of losing its power, no choir whose songs can always, eternally lift us… or ground us, as need be. 

Nothing shapes a story more than the world we are in. It can twist meaning away from us, transport us into a world of stretched mirrors and garbled echoes. And that is why we return to the Path. Whether we walk or ride across the sands, when we travel the route that the Prophet did, we do so as a stylus into clay. We know the world writes on us. And so every year, we gather so that we might write back on it.”

• An Excerpt from a Sermon by Gur Sevraq, leader of the Church of the Resin Hart, circa 1422

This week on PARTIZAN: Operation Shackled Sun: Act 3: The Stories Told About the Things We Do

///Operation Dossier\\\

//Organizations\\

The Curtain of Divinity: Though Kesh is technically governed through an elaborate parliamentary democracy, the truth is that The Curtain of Divinity, a secretive organization inside of the Stel (and with agents across all of the Principality), serves as the actual power behind the throne. Knowledge of the Curtain is carefully guarded, and its membership is even further protected. Currently, the Curtain is most firmly aligned with Kesh and Nideo, and fights in an open war against the Pact of Necessary Venture and Millennium Break.

The Pact of Necessary Venture: Though they trace their lineage back to an exploratory committee founded in the late 14th century of the Perfect Millenium, the Pact was not made in earnest until five years ago in 1418 PM, soon after hostilities began between Kesh and Apostolos. 

Currently, the Pact has finds its greatest support from members of Columnar and Apostolos. They are in a state of open conflict against the Curtain and Millennium Break.

Millennium Break: Dissidents, idealogues, rebels, and mercenaries. Even now, they agree on little, except this: It is time for a new Millennium.

GLORY: With the help of advanced Columnar cloning science, the Glory Project (or simply GLORY), claims to have resurrected (and made immortal) heroes of the nation’s past called Eidolons. On Partizan, they field Kleos, Apothesa, Vervain, and the squad’s leader: Laurel, elect of Motion. 

Company of the Spade: A veteran mercenary unit founded by space miners who learned how to pilot Hollows in the most dangerous of settings. They’ve been brought to Partizan to combine both types of expertise.

//People\\

The Witch in Glass (she/her): A former scion of Kesh who, after knitting a bond with the adversary Perennial, came into control of the body of the Divine Past. Now scours Partizan for the lost, injured, and unsure, recruiting them into her growing city-state. A shaky ally of Millennium Break. Haunted by an old foe.

Gur Sevraq (he/them): Once the Leader of the Church of the Resin Heart, now a discontinuous prophet: One self welded to the consciousness of their greatest living rival, the other a representative of everything he once opposed. Once controlled the Divine Future, but that was lost to Stel Nideo after his great fall.

Kleos (they/them): Skin is fully like a shiny maroon. Bright red cloak wrapped around neck and hanging back like a cape, totally topless otherwise. Khaki army pant capris, a spear slung over their back, and a heavy sidearm at their waist. Pilots the Epoche.

Gucci Garantine (she/her): Defector from Stel Kesh, controller of House Brightline and HORIZON’s efforts on Partizan. Now a powerful member of Millennium Break’s political class, heading the Party of the Masque.

//Places\\

Girandole: The massive gas giant around which Partizan orbits. Deep within its gaseous storms rests a secret Portcullis which leads towards the space sector containing the Nobel homeworld and Autonomy Itself.

The Reflecting Pool: The city that has emerged inside of the Divine Past’s body, led by the Witch in Glass. Its citizens come from every walk of life on Partizan, all united in the desire to leave the past behind and start a new life. Currently being used as a flagship for the allied forces of Millennium Break and the Witch in Glass.

Obelle: A small, seaside town between Apostolos territory to the north and the independent lands of the Prophet’s Path to the south. Once a sleepy agricultural town with tiny small tourist industry, it became the starting place of the now all-consuming war on Partizan when the Divine Past was driven into the sands west of the town.

//Divines\\

The Divine Motion (she/her): Long after enemy fuel tanks run empty, Motion continues to power Apostolosian machines of war (like its infamous retinue, the Black Century) and service  (including the massive Barranca Loop that allows Apostolos to regularly launch ships spaceward). Ver’MIllion Blue’s rival. Has taken a new elect, Laurel, a clone of the Apostolosian war hero Cassander Timaeus Berenice, a young, yet intuitive Apostolosian commander known to be attentive and authoritative in equal measure. 

The Divine Asepsis (it/its): “Cleansed and purified” Vigil City with its army of micro-mechanical servants until Millennium Break knocked it down for the count… and until Kalmera Broun took some of its parts to study in their free time.

//Things\\

The Demiurgos (aka “The Demiurge,” Laurel’s mech): A Pneuma model (see below) which has been modified using cutting edge research and materials, including recovered parts of the supposed “exemplar,” Branched materials, stabilized Perennial Wave particles, and, of course, Motion’s own divine power. 

The Blue Channel: Kal’Mera’s Broun’s corvette. Though it’s rated for spaceflight and features a cargo space large enough to hold at least three hollows, it does not have the ability to break escape velocity on its own. 

“Autonomy Itself”/“The True Divine”/The God of the Nobel/The God of Logos Kantel (they/them): Granted the power to transform Partizan into a living world to Logos Kantel 1000 years ago. Guided the Nobel and other cultures in the Scutum-Centaurus arm through the course of their history. 

Operation Shackled Sun: An ongoing military operation led by Motion and her allies in the Pact of Necessary Venture. Through the use of a web of space stations called The Lattice, the Pact plans to capture the raw energy of the being that is worshipped as “Autonomy Itself.” 

Curtain Ideograms: A vast collection of graphic symbols and code words used by the Curtain to communicate information clandestinely.

//Additional Notes\\

ACT 1 SCORE

Challenge #1: Rescue Kalar and the Figure in Bismuth

Roll 1: Kalar: 3d6, 10 Cool (spinnable - SPUN: 13)

Roll 2: Figure: 3d6, 15 Doubt (LOCKED)

Roll 3: Thisbe: 3d6 11 Cool (Spinnable - LOCKED)

Roll 4: Phrygian: 3d6 9 Doubt (Spinnable - LOCKED)

Roll 5: Figure, 3d6, 7 Cool (Spinnable - LOCKED)

Roll 6: Kalar, 3d6: 11 Doubt (Spinnable - LOCKED)

Roll 7: Thisbe: 3d6, 13 Cool (Spinnable - LOCKED)

Roll 8: N/A

Total Cool: 44

Total Doubt: 35

Act Total: 9 COOL

ACT 2 SCORE

Challenge #2: Stop the Portcullis

Roll 1: Broun: 2d6, 7 Cool (hedged, SPINNABLE - LOCKED)

Roll 2: Millie: 3d6, 12 Doubt (hedged, SPINNABLE - LOCKED)

Roll 3:SI: 3d6, 7 Cool (hedged, SPINNABLE - LOCKED)

Roll 4: Broun:  3d6, 8 Doubt (SPINNABLE - SPUN, LOCKED)

Roll 5: Mille: 3d6, 13 Doubt (SPINNABLE - LOCKED)

Roll 6: SI: 3d6, 8 Cool (SPINNABLE - LOCKED)

Total Cool: 22

Total Doubt: 33

Act Total: 11 DOUBT

The Blue Channel and its inhabitants have left Partizan behind. And as it grows dim in the distance, they have time to both reflect on the hard path here and plan ahead to what they hope will be a bright future. But before the moon can disappear entirely, it reaches again. Breaking away was never going to be easy...

This week on PARTIZAN: Engine Burn

///Operation Dossier\\\

//Organizations\\

Organization for the Foundation of the Orion Republic (OFOR): A group of growing import in Orion territory, who advocate for Orion’s secession from the Divine Princiipality and re-establishment as a league of democratic, merchant republics. Both OFOR and their opposition, the yet-unnamed Principality loyalist faction, have support across class demographics. Many.corporations and independent guilds see OFOR as an opportunity for additional profit, while others believe that leaving the Principality is a risk too great to take.

After Law’s attack on Oxbridge, OFOR has largely relocated in “The Old Old,” a region towards the southern pole of Partizan untouched by Logos Kantel’s miracle.

//People\\

Avar (they/them) and Ryrira (she/her): Members of the Church of the Resin heart. Once Gur Sevraq’s chief of security and quartermaster, respectively. Have a child, M’reb. Onboard the Blue Channel.

Si’dra Balos (Si/Si’s, they/them): During their time in a communications division of the Apostolosian Navy, Si’dra saw the cost of war first hand. Now they dream of a world where people can connect instead of fight. Onboard the Blue Channel.

Jesset City (he/him): Previously worked for Adamant Arms and Manufacturing, Jesset became full time Oxblood Clan lieutenant and then a major figure in Millennium Break. Expert technician, veteran hollow pilot, and Cipher Certified by Stel Nideo. Onboard the Blue Channel.

Eiden Teak (he/him): Soldier and commander in the Sable Court. Wears the wounds of past fights on him with a distinct sort of pride, inherited from his time fighting as an Apostolosian soldier: He’s missing right leg under the knee, and a number of his antlers have been snapped and broken. Wears loose olive drab fatigues, marked by the occult insignia and wards of the Court. Onboard the Blue Channel.

Sabeeha (they/them): Sabeeha is pound-for-pound GLORY’s best pilot, though their specialities also include infiltration, disguise, and sabotage. Brown, light olive skin. Brown hair kept short and wavy, close to their head. Face and body both a little long, a little chubby. Big brown eyes. Slightly bushy brows. Pilots the Aponia. 

//Places\\

Barranca: To the north of Obelle lies the Apostolosian province of Barranca, where mediterranian subtropical shores give way to a vast latticework of ravines and crags. There, military bases and civilian settlements sit in the crooks and alcoves, shaded by high canyon walls. Rising above it all is the famed Barranca Loop, a massive suspended cable system that runs up above the atmosphere like a giant bridge, and which allows Apostolos to launch ships and cargo into space. Heavily patrolled and under complete control of Stel Apostolos.

//Divines\\

The Divine Motion (she/her): Long after enemy fuel tanks run empty, Motion continues to power Apostolosian machines of war (like its infamous retinue, the Black Century) and service  (including the massive Barranca Loop that allows Apostolos to regularly launch ships spaceward). Ver’MIllion Blue’s rival. 

//Things\\

Aponia (Sabeeha’s Hallow): A highly modified Kosmos unit (see below) which is able to transforms into a high-mobility aircraft mode. Though it can be outfitted with a custom, solid-state rifle, this limits its maneuverability and flight length, so Sabeeha often chooses to leave the weapon behind, instead favoring the machine’s built in energy blades, featured on its wings in flight mode, or extending from elbows and knees in humanoid forum. As a holdout weapon, this configuration also comes with energy-powered throwing blades. 

Adamant Arms and Artifice Murders: These hollows are built for area denial, especially in space. They shift between two modes, a defensive “closed wing” mode, where heavy metal armor bolts surround their bodies like a cape, and “open wing” mode where those wings spread wide and can be fired.

The wings consist of a dozen “feathers” each, with each long flight feather can be fired as a blunt weapon with its own onboard directional engine and booster. These feathers can be used as direct attack weapons, but are often instead used for area denial, blasting off along with many other feathers and then orbiting around a location in order to make the airspace around it deadly.

Once Murders are able to deploy a large number of their feathers, an entire operational area can become a death trap.

The Blue Channel: Kal’Mera’s Broun’s corvette. Though it’s rated for spaceflight and features a cargo space large enough to hold at least three hollows, it does not have the ability to break escape velocity on its own. 

The Voice of the Exemplar: Howls and echoes through the canyons of the Barranca, where its power is captured by the Barranca Loop.

Modular Base Kit: A collection of materials for the modular construction of an off-world headquarters for Millennium Break. Includes housing, water and air filters, an energy generator, communications equipment, agricultural gear, and basic trade goods (whether to be used as bribes or for the legitimate purchase of land).

//Additional Notes\\

Primary Objective: Escape Partizan

Secondary Objective: Safely extract with the Modular Base Kit

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

This episode carries content warnings for discussion of death.

With the Cause stretched thin, it is up to the Blue Channel to rearm, resupply, and restore their allies. It should be a simple operation, but each delivery of supplies comes with its own new revelations. Some—like the arrival of new supplies from their freebooting friends of Carmine Bight—are welcome surprises. Others, like new details about the Afflictions, are stunning developments. And one hangs over the others: a revelation of the most mundane sort, like the heading of a memo, or the typeface of a meeting’s minutes…

This week on PALISADE: Worth the Trouble Pt. 2

A dried up cityscape / My twisted personality / My forgotten past / My distorted memories

Dossier

Organizations

Jade Kill: Based in Joyous Guard, this military arm of the Cause is operated by the Delegate liberation faction known as Reunion and supported by Kalar Anakalar's (he/him) Giantkiller unit and a wing of Swordbreakers. Led by August Righteousness (he/him).

Violet Cove: The Dim Liturgy claim to have seen the Divine Devotion's arrival coming in their sacred text: A battered and corrupted backup of Crystal Palace's final predictions for the future. Now the two cults work together to oust the Bilats... and perhaps to do more intriguing things, as well.

Grey Pond: With members of the Oxblood Clan, the Company of the Spade, and the Shale Belt's Concrete Front, these blue collar revolutionaries are experts at getting the Cause the equipment it needs (and maintaining what it has when that's the only available option).

Carmine Bight: From ramshackle additions to the rocky shores of Rifle Island, Captain Skelton Knaggs (he/him) and his fearsome flotilla launch rusted pirate vessels beneath the waves, guided by a coalition of Hyphan navigators.

Rose River: Though they are undoubtedly committed to the Cause, this unique research unit (combining Veronique (she/her), her Divine Fealty (any pronouns), and their followers with an out-of-time NEH Sleep Detachment squad) hope for a day when they can be something other than soldiers.

The Branched: A post-human society of beings who have transformed their bodies into forms terrifying and spectacular and free—only to have the threat of war force them to rebuild themselves as soldiers first and foremost. After centuries of fighting a purely defensive war, the Branched have now begun to strike into the Principality’s territory. 

The Sable Court: These Hyphan witches once lived only on the eastern shores of Partizan’s Lake Timea, horns and antlers glittering in the light of Girandole. But today, they soar through the sea of stars, following the same Strand paths that their ancestors once did.

New Earth Hegemony: Once, the NEH was massive, galactic-scale power that threatened conquest of The Twilight Mirage. It was reduced to a single fleet—now lost—which provided its inhabitants endless, digital life.

People

Jesset City (he/him): After helping to kick off Millennium Break on Partizan, Jesset served as one of its major leaders during its expansion across the Principality. Now, he uses his talents in Hollow and Altar engineering, piloting, and cipher breaking on behalf of the Grey Pond unit of the cause. Still considers himself to be a member of the Party of the Wolf, though those designations have largely fallen from use.

General Tomorrow Mourning (she/her): Leader of the Qui'Err Coalition's forces en route to the Twilight Mirage.

Silverbrick (they/them): A “visionary” architect, technologist, and urban planner of the Frontier Syndicate.

Kalar Anakalar, the Giantkiller (he/him): This legendary member of Millennium Break is much more than his nom de guerre. Loyal comrade, proud father, and ever faithful believer. Former member of the Society for Banners and Bright Returns, one of the founding organizations of Millennium Break.

Partial Palisade (he/him): A man who was once a Divine, now living in the shell of a being quite unlike what he once was.

Griesel Sunset (he/him): Coriolos' father, a zealous Devotee. Currently lives on the Isle of the Broken Key.

Iklins Slinger (she/her): Carmine Bight’s sword arm. Naval tactics. Fire and fury. Fiercely loyal to Captain Skelton Knaggs. 

Mustard Red (she/her): A cyborg who once served as a member of Brink Proxy, with a speciality in surveillance. Joined the Cause during the Devotees expansion onto Palisade.

Places

Bontive Valley: Blessed by the departed divine Bounty, the Valley provides the Bilats with fruit that never rots and hyper-nutritional grain.

The Shale Belt: A low, resource-filled mountain range in the north-central of Palisade. Home to the Concretists and their revolutionary Concrete Front, a secular and technologically-minded group with roots in the Twilight Mirage. They take their names from favorite artistic works and have blended their bodies with a special concrete (and some respiratory cybernetics) that aids in their breathing.

The Brink: A space station and transport hub that orbits the outer edge of the Twilight Mirage.

Divines

The “Divine” Arbit: The amoral machine turned de facto treasurer keeps the Frontier Syndicate a step ahead in all matters of commerce.

Mysteries

The Five Afflictions: A group of “monstrous” beings that haunt the dark corners of Palisade. They have been named as follows:

Dust a.k.a Pride’s Mirror a.k.a. The Looking Glass

Refrain a.k.a. Yesterday’s Reprise  a.k.a. The Ghastly Chorus

Ravel a.k.a. Labyrinth’s Thread a.k.a. The Hedge Maze 

Cleave a.k.a. Whetstone’s Opposite a.k.a. The Sanguine Hatchet 

Oversight a.k.a. Hell’s Facade a.k.a. The Empty Garden

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Bullet (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora 

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by by aurahack (aurahack.jp)

With thanks to Arthur B., Chocoube, DB, deepFlaw, Edwin Adelsberger, Emrys, Greg Cobb, Huw, Ian O'Dea, Ian Urbina, Irina A., Jack Shirai, Jake Strang, K. Morris, Katie Diekhaus, Konisforce, Kristina Harris Esq, L Tantivy, Lawson Coleman, Mike & Ruby, Nich Maragos, Olive Perry, Patrick Murray, Quinn Pollock, Robert Lasica, Shawn Drape, Shawn Hall, TeganEden, Thomas Whitney, viviridian, Voi

We are playing Armour Astir: Advent with additional playbooks from Strangers in the Night and 106th Astir Squadron. If you enjoy the show, consider supporting the TTRPG. 

This episode was made with support from listeners like you! To support us, you can go to friendsatthetable.cash.

This episode carries content warnings for discussion of death, imprisonment, and slavery.

At the center of the Lone Marble Group's main campus stands a corkscrew-shaped building with no name. A sphere slides down its long external groove, serving as sentry and, perhaps, more. Behind it: The secrets of Exanceaster March.

At the center of Palisade's main continent stands a coliseum-shaped city that has been named a temple. Thousands flock to it in pilgrimage daily, a mocking replication of a different pilgrimage. Today, thousands extra make the walk, faith-eager. Inside: The future, and perhaps more.   

This week on PALISADE: A Mechanical Whine Pt. 2

What about foxgloves? / Is that a flower you liked?

Dossier

People

Telford Stare (he/they): One of several foremen tied to the Lone Marble Group's contractor operations division. 

Crysanth Kesh (she/her): Mother of Clementine (a.k.a. The Witch in Glass). Once, third in line to the throne of Kesh and de facto leader of the Curtain of Divinity, the predecessor to the Bilateral Intelligence Service.  Now dead.

Organizations

The Frontier Syndicate: A powerful conglomerate with a broad purview, including technology, heavy industry, entertainment, telecommunications, and transportation. Led by Exenceaster March (he/him), the Syndicate betrayed the Pact of Free States and joined the Bilats in order to be part of their colonization efforts on Palisade. Developed the Altar, the predominant war machine of the current era.

The Lone Marble Group: Built around a single artifact recovered from an Advent facility, this Frontier Syndicate subsidiary develops the future of Bilat war machinery.

The Church of Received Asterism: The most widely practiced faith in the galaxy, and one of the earliest major organizations in the Divine Principality, created at the beginning of the Miraculous Millenium, over 3000 years ago. Teaches that Divines, the immortal machines and mechs that helped establish the Principality's hold on the galaxy, reflect the best aspects of the state itself. The divine Strength, in other words, is like a living flag of the Principality's own strength. Organized as a central church, led by a religious leader named a “Cycle,” whose will is enacted across the Principality by their many “Songs,” who rule worlds, star systems, or sometimes entire constellations.

The Church of Progressive Asterism: Created as the teachings of the prophet Logos Kantel grew in popularity 1000 years ago, and made a secondary state religion in order to prevent a large schism. Teaches that Divines are true embodiments of their names, and that the citizens and states of the Principality should look to them as guiding stars. The Divine Strength, in other words, is a reflection of strength itself, or maybe "god's strength," and we should aspire to make our strength look like the divine's. Unlike Received Asterism, there is no single central church, but hundreds of smaller sects, schools, and cults, each devoted to individual Divines, grouped sub-pantheons, or otherwise adjusted beliefs.

The New Asterism: What was once a schism between Received and Progressive Asterism has now been healed by the false prophet Gur Sevraq (he/they), or at least someone in his name and face. The New Asterism claims that to be a citizen of the Principality is to have an obligation to "better the world," in the sense that one invests in property or in the way that a settler “rehabilitates” or “improves” the places they claim by violence. If Received Asterism places virtue in the state and Progressive Asterism places it in the Divines, the New Asterism places it in the Principality's mythologized point of origin: The Twilight Mirage.

Fabreal Duchy: When the Divine Principality left Palisade nearly 5,000 years ago, they left behind a Duke and his barons as caretakers. In the generations that followed, they ruled as petty tyrants, creating Delegates as their slaves, remaking their bodies into glass and oil, and extending their reach across Palisade’s continents. Though they officially report to their handlers in Stel Kesh, recently they have begun to wonder if things were better before the Principality's return to Palisade.

Places

Bontive Valley: Blessed by the departed divine Bounty, the Valley provides the Bilats with fruit that never rots and hyper-nutritional grain.

Temple of the Threshold: Built at the center of a massive bridge that crosses the Diadem, this serves as the home of New Asterism and its false prophet,

The Twilight Mirage: Created over 5000 years ago by what was then the Divine Empyrean in an effort to protect the Divine Fleet, of which they were a member. The Mirage is a false nebula that obscures the position of its inhabitants both visually and by distorting time and space. Inside, there is now a vibrant and peaceful culture that spans eight planets, orbiting a dark and living Divine sun. 

Objects

FS-N Dais: One of the Altars competing in the tournament, piltoed by Zjenta Zjarule (she/they).  Utilizes a special glass originally from the Twilight Mirage.

AdArm Jury: The Jury is the future of AdArm machines. As the first design which fully moves beyond the platforms of the previous generation, it’s a startling diversion from the bulky and boxy designs that the company is known for. In fact, the actual “unit” is only the cockpit, around which the rest of the Jury forms using concentrated Perennial Wave Material (PWM). Gone is the old LCD “eye,” replaced by a full pixel “face” that can send complex, laser-based communications silently to any other AdArm unit that can see it, as well as display iconographic messages to anyone nearby. A close study of the machine’s curved and ovaline elements suggests that it has much in common with the Motion’s Demiurgos design that AdArm salvaged as it does with the company’s previous designs… 

AdArm Cast: This surveillance hollow, mostly used by Stel Nideo in the pre-Kalmeria Era, features angelic (and grotesque) features and focuses on observation, surveilliance, and communications. 

Divines

The Divine Future (they/them, it/its): An ancient divine, dating back to the second major war in the Golden Branch star sector. Exists in the form of golden orb slightly larger than a softball or bocce ball, which can either be carried by or hover around its Elect. Historically, it has been bidden to share its unparalleled perspective on the hopes and dreams of its chosen (and the endless vigor with which to pursue those goals).

The Divine Resonance (it/its): The watchful guardian, doting caregiver, and ardent supporter of Nideo's colonial efforts on Palisade.

The Divine Integrity (it/its): Sometimes appearing as an articulated staff or a metallic spine, Integrity integrates itself into its chosen user. Once the two are connected, Integrity becomes a powerful exoskeleton, and supports its user in matters of military and morale. Until being assassinated by Brnine, Dahlia, the Glorious Princept, was the elect of Integrity. Now, it has found a new home in Thisbe.

The Divine Motion (she/her): One of the founding members of the Pact, the necromantic Apostolosian divine once led its infamous retinue, the Black Century, on Partizan. They were defeated and dispersed, turned into part of Kalmeria, during Operation Shackled Sun. 

The Divine Opposition: One of many divines detained and experimented on by the nascent Divine Principality thousands of years ago, eventually becoming a source for the Fabreal Duchy's Delegates. 

Mysteries

Axioms: Once, these beings were made by a so-called "Post-Divine" as embodiments of particular ideals, supposedly detached from mortal perspective or subjectivity. Today, the vast majority of them are the emanation of one woman's ideals, given perfect, violent form.

Ebullience (it/its): An axiom retrieved by the Lone Marble Group. It holds a rounded, liquid metal form and moves with impossible to exhaust energy.  

Perennial (she/her):  The Principality's so-called 'adversary,' who lives at the center of the galaxy and whose chaotic whims spread through her "Perennial Wave," an ever-present nanoparticle that has bonded with elements of Autonomy Itself and the Divine Motion to create Kalmeria.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Bullet (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora 

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by by aurahack (aurahack.jp)

With thanks to Amelia Renee, Arthur B., Bill Kaszubski, Cassie Jones, chocoube, Daniel Laloggia, DB, deepFlaw, Edwin Adelsberger, Emrys, fen, Greg Cobb, Ian O'Dea, Ian Urbina, Irina A., Jack Shirai, Jake Strang, Katie Diekhaus, Ken George, Konisforce, Kristina Harris Esq, L Tantivy, Mike & Ruby, Muna A, Nich Maragos, Olive Perry, Quinn Pollock, Robert Lasica, Shawn Drape, Shawn Hall, Summer Rose, TeganEden, Thomas Whitney, Voi, and weakmint for their support

We are playing Armour Astir: Advent with additional playbooks from Strangers in the Night and 106th Astir Squadron. If you enjoy the show, consider supporting the TTRPG. 

This episode was made with support from listeners like you! To support us, you can go to friendsatthetable.cash.

Miles to the south of the Chasmata Quarry, AO Rooke loads an artillery shell into cannon. It’s the third to be fired, in a set of 50. He is providing cover, he was told, for the operation’s infiltration unit to get what it was they needed. “Except,” he worried to himself, “the infiltration unit did not know what it was they needed. He punctuated his concern by slamming the hatch on the howitzer shut. “And that crew, specifically,” he thought, “is a strange fit for infiltration to begin with.” And so AO Rooke had a thought: He and his crew would fire 50 rounds into the sky towards the Quarry. But he would do so at two-thirds the normal speed, giving Kalar, Phrygian, Sovereign Immunity, and the Figure in Bismuth just a little more time before the attention of the mysterious base fell on them.

This week on PARTIZAN: The Tunnels Beneath

///Operation Dossier\\\

//Organizations\\

House Chasmata: Despite not being the highest ranking house on Partizan, the Chasmata family has governed Stel Kesh’s holdings on the moon for as long as Kesh has been here. But in the last century, the family seems more interested in an archeological dig in the northern ice cap than in managing its estates. This has not, unfortunately for Apostolos, limited the amount of military might that Chasmata can bring to bear in an emergency. 

The Curtain of Divinity: Though Kesh is technically governed through an elaborate parliamentary democracy, the truth is that The Curtain of Divinity, a secretive organization inside of the Stel (and with agents across all of the Principality), serves as the actual power behind the throne. Knowledge of the Curtain is carefully guarded, and its membership is even further protected. 

Was originally established to rein in the Principality’s most tyrannical institutions and encourage growth and equity over generations, while hiding the truth of what lied beyond the Scutum-Centaurus Portcullis. Over time, their more noble aims were eroded, and only this final goal remained, along with a much more selfish goal of controlling the state.

Has recently announced its presence on Partizan and throughout the Principality. Currently in conflict with the Pact of Necessary Venture, Millennium Break, and the Organization for the Foundation of the Orion Republic.

//People\\

Xiphion, aka Zig’ell Barbos, aka The Red Roc (zig/zig’s, he/him): Elect of the Divine Valour and rising star in the Apostolosian military. Zig’ell kept zig’s Apostolosian name in personal use even after being chosen by Valour as its elect. He is a rising star in the Apostolosian military, famed for his talent as a pilot and commander. There is good reason for this: zig spent years serving as Cas’alear Rizah’s confidant and lieutenant, before being promoted and transferred into service directly under the Divine Motion, working closely as the elect Laurel’s right hand. A true believer in the Pact’s mission to split the Principality up.

Gucci Garantine (she/her): Defector from Stel Kesh, controller of House Brightline and HORIZON’s efforts on Partizan. Now a powerful member of Millennium Break’s political class, heading the Party of the Masque.

The Witch in Glass (she/her): A former scion of Kesh who, after knitting a bond with the adversary Perennial, came into control of the body of the Divine Past. Now scours Partizan for the lost, injured, and unsure, recruiting them into her growing city-state. A shaky ally of Millennium Break. Haunted by an old foe.

Cas’alear Rizah (cas/cas’, they/them): Leader of the Swordbreakers, sibling of the Glorious Princept. Cas has brown skin with dark green hair up in a bun, with a few strands hanging down in front of their face (which is framed with similarly colored scales covering cas’ jawline and neck. Broken sword tattoos under their eyes. Reputation as being beautiful and brave by allies, unflinching and unpredictable by foes. Pilots the notorious Ataraxia. Was badly wounded in the defense against Motion and GLORY in Auspice, and now, through a combination of the Witch in Glass’ gifts and ongoing rehabilitation, is working to return to fighting form.

Agon Ortlights (she/her): Aided by her servicebot companions, Agon worked hard to attain the rank of lieutenant in the Company of the Spade, where she’s become a veteren mercenary, a skilled miner, and a hell of a drinking buddy. 

Sloe Uplight (he/him): His business card says “Private Historian,” his parlor rooms’ security system says “information broker,” and his grinning mouth says “no difference.” A Kesh academic turned freelance fixer, turned again to Millennium Break intelligence officer.

//Places\\

Chasmata Quarry: Founded almost one thousand years ago, the Chasmata family has been digging into the ice and stone at the north pole for as long as Kesh has been on the planet. Activity in the area has increased in the last century. No information gets in or out. Every scout sent to investigate the area has been lost forever.

The Reflecting Pool: The city that has emerged inside of the Divine Past’s body, led by the Witch in Glass. Its citizens come from every walk of life on Partizan, all united in the desire to leave the past behind and start a new life.

//Divines\\

The Divine Valour: A machine the size of a large Hallow, Valour can transform between a vast, roc-like bird form and a more traditional humanoid model. Soldiers claim that serving under Valour gives them a noticeable boost to their morale, but it is unclear if this is a feature of their proximity to the Divine or to its elect.

The Divine Past: Part floating city, part living library, and current home to the Reflecting Pool. The Divine Past was built tens of thousands of years before the Divine Principality was created. It stores an untold amount of information about the cultures it has observed, including the Divine Principality itself.

//Things\\

Zenith-K Project Veneer: Melee-ranged shield mechs. Internals are similar to the Zenith-A project Kosmos which SI and the Rapid Evening fought in similarly cold conditions back during the Fort Icebreaker mission. Except instead of the reverse jointed legs and the spears, these have huge tower shields with pneumatic pile bunkers.

Zenith-K Project Cornice: A cheap, mass produced version of the sniper form of the Katalepsis, which is the model name of Ver’Million Blue’s hollow. These are glass cannons meant to lay down an absurd amount of long range fire.

AdArm Quiver: On first glance, you might not think this is a hollow at all. But once the low, wide three-legged firing brace starts to walk, you’d understand that these artillery machines are able to move and even leap with great force and speed, making them excellent at holding (or hammering) an unstable frontline.

“The Bitten Bullet” (referred to but not named): A large personnel transport owned by the Pact of Necessary Venture.

Curtain Ideograms: A vast collection of graphic symbols and code words used by the Curtain to communicate information clandestinely.

//Additional Notes\\

Primary Objective: Identify, and then destroy or recover “Lodestone.” 

Secondary Objective: Capture enemy commander.

This episode carries content warnings for forced human experimentation, teeth, chemical burns, forced bodily transformation.

The Blackwick Group moves with hound-like swiftness through the Interred Citadel towards their quarry. But between the dog and the fox, a dozen-dozen things move. A mumbling stream. A twirl of dried leaves. Shadows on grass. So much to see. And some of the things in between? They hunt too.

This week on Sangfielle: Hark! The Citadel Beneath Pt. 3

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

This episode carries content warnings for body horror, description of teeth, discussion of mass destruction/death, small/tight spaces, indentured servants and slavery, and extreme heat.

Behind a twirling ornament of metal, the sun grows—the sun grows. Inside a concrete body, the feeling of a hand, pulling downward. Across a planet under red light, fear.  

They would not wait. They could not. 

This week on PALISADE: An Impossible Ideal Pt. 1

The "war" will appear on the surface to be a peace

Dossier

People

Stargrave Elcessor (she/her): Leader of the Bilateral Interecession’s occupation of Palisade, assigned personally by Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh. As a Stargrave, she has been granted the means and “right” to detonate the star at the center of Palisade’s star system if she determines that those here are an existential threat to the Principality.

Connadine (he/him): Commander of the BIS on Palisade. An expert in psychological operations and folklore. As a composer, his opus is the Adagio, a plan to get everyone on Palisade operating in ways not only predictable, but scripted. As a conductor, his orchestra now turns towards the second movement.

Routine Rennari (he/him): Half-Apostolsian, scion of a minor Kesh noble house, and the Blue Channel's heavy. 

Mustard Red (she/her): A cyborg who once served as a member of Brink Proxy, with a speciality in surveillance. Joined the Cause during the Devotees expansion onto Palisade.

Midnite Matinee (she/her): Leporine scout and member of the Blue Channel. She and her trusty Pack-model light AutoHollow Popcorn used to run a repo company, but now are tentatively committed to the Cause and Millennium Break.

Places

Chimera’s Lantern: The second moon of Palisade, shaped oddly like a wasp’s nest or paper lantern. New arrivals to the world find its occasional glow unnatural and frightening. Thisbe and the Figure found evidence that it could be tied to driving the bulk of ancient Divine Principality forces off of Palisade.

Objects

Gambeson: The Gambeson is only about 10 meters tall (less than half an Altar), but it is nevertheless a terrifying scourge of the battlefield. Modeled after an iron maiden, except with it's tortorous doors attached to its back serving as wings. Its head features a metalworked face, twisted into extreme and offputting smile.  Its skeletal frame serves not only as body, but cage: pilots are criminal conscripts forced to pay off their “debt” to Kesh by the Divine Plight, earning their freedom through combat achievements.

Paramerion: Cori’s new Altar, as designed by her brother Formido. Constantly twitching and rippling underneath the regal embellishments of its filigreed armor. Massive metallic wings stay folded on its back, a smaller pair cover its eyes like a visor and the sickles jut out from its forearms when stowed. A halo shaped like a crown rotates above its skull-like head.

The Stellar Combustor: A weapon of immense destruction, capable of destroying countless star systems if deployed without a firebreak. Has been used in some form or another since the time of the earliest Divines. In current form they take the form of a twirling, 3-ringed space station that rotates around a system’s sun. 

Divines

The Divine, Arbitrage (it/its): The amoral machine turned de facto treasurer keeps the Frontier Syndicate a step ahead in all matters of commerce. Sole minter of “glint,” a newly popular currency on Palisade.

The Divine Plight (she/her): Plight is a 40 meter tall, humanoid Divine cast in black metal armor, and wearing the of a judge or inquisitor. She conscripts the guilty into her army as Gambeson pilots, compelling their loyalty with terrible, Divine feelings of guilt. Hemlock, whose interest is fundamentally in punishment and not justice, was born heir to a mid-tier Kesh House, but jumped at the chance to become an Elect.

Mysteries

Perennial (she/her):  The Principality's so-called 'adversary,' who lives at the center of the galaxy and whose chaotic whims spread through her "Perennial Wave," an ever-present nanoparticle that has recently bonded with Kalmeria.

Additional Notes

The 23 Star Systems Nearest Palisade (with developmental focus):

1. Tartarus 5: Gas Mining

2. Lonn: Resorts

3. Helaine Delta: Duplicate of Helaine Gamma

4. Thulsa: Standard Spread

5. Xenacip: Lost Contact. Lost Portcullis Repair Team

6. Bhopal Kha: Pact Occupied

7. Maine: Lumber, Spice

8. Bishamonten: Arms Manufacturing

9. Carjel: Standard Spread

10. Isfahan: Standard Spread

11. Yoca: Standard Spread

12. KX 93-39: Black Hole Research Lab

13. Dul-Kaw: Established via Nidean Art grant

14. Darre: Tomb Sector

15. Ecou: Refugee Camps

16. Edino: Quarantined Sector

17. Skarnoc: Debris Fields

18. Hilde: Gas Mining

19. Por: Standard Spread

20. Nova Melides: Abandoned Divine Clash Worlds 

21. Palamedes 8: Regional Refueling Depot

22. Castax 8: Stratus Research Facility

23. Ashlen: Standard Spread
    

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Bullet (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora 

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by by aurahack (aurahack.jp)

With thanks to Arthur B., chocoube, DB, deepFlaw, Edwin Adelsberger, Emrys, Greg Cobb, huw, Ian O'Dea, Ian Urbina, Irina A., Jack Shirai, K. Morris, Katie Diekhaus, Konisforce, Kristina Harris Esq, L Tantivy, Lawson Coleman, Mike & Ruby, Nich Maragos, Olive Perry, Patrick Murray, Robert Lasica, Shawn Hall, TeganEden, Thomas Whitney, viviridian, and Voi for their support

We are playing Armour Astir: Advent with additional playbooks from Strangers in the Night and 106th Astir Squadron. If you enjoy the show, consider supporting the TTRPG. 

This episode was made with support from listeners like you! To support us, you can go to friendsatthetable.cash.

Hello everyone! Instead of a proper episode today, I'm sharing one of our Clapcast episodes where a few of us listen to the most wanted and unwanted songs!

The Clapcast is one of our monus patreon shows over on friendsatthetable.cash

Link to the mp3s and notes from the composer: https://ubu.com/sound/komar.html 

Lyrics: http://davesoldier.com/lyrics.html#people 

Well, I suppose I’ve got a story or two left in these old bones. And hell, since it is another one about Marielda, why not make one about stories and the people who tell ‘em.

Now I know what you might be thinking: Physicality alive, in the era that The Six operated in Marielda, it was knowledge which was forbidden, turned into contraband and currency both, not stories.

But as anyone ever wounded by art can tell you, fiction is a sharper knife than information could be. And living fiction, played out in front of your eyes and ears? Very few things are as well honed as that.

And so it was that Samothes, ever jealous and increasingly suspicious that his erstwhile beau might conquer his capital with culture instead cudgel, all but forbade the theater. 

Of course, any scoundrel worth their shadow would narrow in on those two words preceding “forbade”: “All but. “

There were two exceptions to the rule banning theater. 

The first was liturgical drama, approved by the Blessed Council and performed in the True Church of Samothes on the Day of High Sun and other feasts. Between us, these were boring. They might serve academic value to someone of today’s New Archives, and I suppose for the true believer of that old era, seeing even the most sanitized depiction of their King-God, Artificer Divine would make their day. 

But most folks, they wanted something a little less sacramental.

Which is where the second exception comes in. 

Once a season, as an act of supposed Good Will, the Preceptors of the Font of True Knowledge—the Fontmen—opened the gates of their domain and put on a grand show. A day of comedy and tragedy in the Font Theater—the leash let slack so that the next time those censors pulled on it, they could claim it was done in good faith.

What does any of this have to do with the Six. Well, nothin, until those out-a-towners with mysterious pasts and glorious masks showed up, claiming they had a spot on the stage and job for Hitchcock, Castille, and the rest. Help those actors steal their names back.

Hello everyone!! Here is our livestream marathon finale game, a return to Marielda playing Scene Thieves! Most donation and fundraising shouts were cut to get this (as close as possible) under 5 hours but we'd like to thank everyone again for joining us on stream and supporting the National Network of Abortion Funds with us!

Featuring: Austin Walker, Art Martinez-Tebbel, Jack de Quidt, Janine Hawkins, Ali Acampora and Sylvi Clare

Music by Jack de Quidt

Scene Thieves is available here: https://possible-worlds-games.itch.io/scene-thieves

Hello everybody! Instead of an episode, we have an announcement: there's no episode this week or next week! The next Friends at the Table episode will be January 7th, 2021.

Our next episode will the first of a three-part finale of PARTIZAN! We'll be playing War in the Year 1424 of the Perfect Millennium, or 1424PM, a hack of War in the Year 3000 by Ben Auden Roswell, with additional inspiration from Follow by Ben Robbins and Fiasco by Jason Morningstar. Look forward to it!

Following our PARTIZAN finale, we'll be doing a post mortem! The date is still to be determined but keep an ear out and get ready to send your questions in!

If you're itching for things to listen to while we're on break, you can check out all our bonus content on friendsatthetable.cash!

ALSOOOO, Austin and Ali are joined by Rob Zacny and Natalie Watson in a brand new Star Wars podcast if that interests you at all!! You can find A More Civilized Age over at @more_civilized on twitter or at amorecivilizedage.net

Happy New Year!!!!

A week away from the moon of Partizan, a vessel rare in its luxury and power orbited the Portcullis which connects this provincial system to the rest of the empire. Inside, the living leaders of the Pact of Necessary Venture conferred with the sort of secrecy afforded only to the truly powerful. Their question: What was to be done about Millennium Break?

On paper, the two groups had great reason to despise each other: Gur Sevraq had robbed the Pact of a Divine, killing its elect and a former elect of Past in the process. The Pact had attacked Valence’s homeworld, and disregarded the authority of the True Divine. Motion had been bested by the Rapid Evening, and found herself a rival in Ver’Million Blue--a rivalry felt in the jealous heart of Motion’s new elect, a young, yet intuitive Apostolosian commander known to be attentive and authoritative in equal measure. 

And yet, it was clear that the group was a potential ally in the struggle against the Princepts’ endless war and the Principality’s outmoded system of governance. But should the Pact offer quiet support? Should they go public and join the Break in the trenches? Perhaps they should simply infiltrate the group and help shape them towards the Pact’s needs.

It was Gallica, elect of Present, who determined the plan of action, and Gallica, thus, who would deliver the offer. The only question was whether Millennium Break understood the precarious position they rested in well enough to make the right decision.

This week on PARTIZAN: Courage in the Shadow of Opportunity

///Operation Dossier\\\

//Organizations\\

The Pact of Necessary Venture: Though they trace their lineage back to an exploratory committee founded in the late 14th century of the Perfect Millenium, the Pact was not made in earnest until five years ago in 1418 PM, soon after hostilities began between Kesh and Apostolos. 

It’s original leadership committee, Plumeria, Gallica, Myosotis, Rye, and Hyacinth determined that to ensure the future stability of the Principality, the Pact would establish a power base in the Scutum–Centaurus arm, amass a vast fleet using the unexploited resources there, and sweep both princepts out of power, replacing the role with a five-part council representing each Stel equally.

Each was an elect: Plumeria the elect of Past, Gallica of Present, Myosotis of Future, Rye of Space, and Hyacinth of Motion. Plumeria and Myosotis were killed during Gur Sevraq’s theft of the Divine Future. Plumeria’s successor, Cymbidium, was killed when Past crashed into the sands of the Prophet’s Path. Hyacinth was killed in combat by the Rapid Evening, but has already been replaced. 

The Church of the Resin Heart: A Disciples of Logos church on Partizan which claims to be the true inheritor of the prophet’s religious mission. The “resin heart” in question is a 3-foot large object pulled from the sea 400+ years ago and displayed as a relic by the Church. It was originally part of the Exemplar.

Millennium Break: Dissidents, idealogues, rebels, and mercenaries launch a revolution from a state-of-the-art mobile fortress. They agree on little, except this: It is time for a new Millennium.

Strand Semaphore: Using ancient Hyphan technology, this messenger service is able to send text-based communications to anywhere on-moon, so long as they’ve built an outpost there.

Lambic House: A group of beer-brewing monks who both operate a brewery and manage a sizable civilian settlement deep in the mountains of the Pique Ridge. Part of the Shepherd’s Crook.

HORIZON: In the popular consciousness, HORIZON is a radical, anti-Principality terrorist organization. In actuality, they are a radical-reformist group, which seeks to drive out what it perceives as corruption in an empire that ought be pursuing noble (instead of selfish) ends. Rumored to be funded by Stel Kesh’s House Brightline.

The Mysteries Metronomica/ “Metronomica”/“The Cult of Perennial”: Guided by the paradoxical belief in historical cycles and radical freedom, the Isles of Logos offers this faith of the Adversary, Perennial, perhaps the only safe ground in the entire galaxy. 

The Red Fennecs: Technically, the Red Fennecs are an Apostolosian logistics and transport squad. In actuality, they’re utilized by their commanding officer, Tes’ili Serikos, as the backbone of a humble smuggling operation. 

The Sable Court: Some say that on dark nights, they have seen these Ashen witches on the eastern edge of Lake Timea, horns and antlers glittering in the light of Girandole. Some even say that a former elect walks among them. Heresy, all of it. 

Company of the Spade: A veteran mercenary unit founded by space miners who learned how to pilot Hollows in the most dangerous of settings. They’ve been brought to Partizan to combine both types of expertise.

The Oxblood Clan: What started as a group of orphans turned into a labor guild and criminal enterprise with connections across Partizan. Occasionally run rough-and-tumble military ops for extra cash. Allies with SBBR.

//People\\

Gallica (she/her): Elect of the Divine Present, Chief Emissary of Stel Nideo, Verse (missionary) in the Holy Church of Received Asterism, signatory of the Pact of Necessary Venture, and Anodyne of all Divinity. 

Gallica has spent the last five years living, in effect, as a double agent. Her role as a Verse of Received Asterism and Nidean Emissary is to ensure unity among the Stels and repair the harm done to Stel Nideo’s reputation by The Farmer. But she simultaneously has sown discord against the Princepts, aided in the creation of the Pact’s shadow fleets, and made herself a great deal of profit in the process. Because of Present’s unique abilities, she is the most traveled mortal being in the Divine Principality. 

Apparatus Aperitif (they/them): Logos City, the largest independent city on Partizan, is known as a religious center, but its robotic night mayor ensures that everyone has a good time at the end of their time traveling the Prophet’s Path. Representative of the Mysteries Metronomica onboard Icebreaker Prime.

Gur Sevraq (he/them): Leader of the Church of the Resin Heart. Miracle worker. Currently on board Icebreaker Prime. Has possession of the Divine Future, which gives them startling prescience and the ability to imagine futures outside of the confines of the hegemonic and imperialist world around him. 

Si’dra Balos (Si/Si’s, they/them): During their time in a communications division of the Apostolosian Navy, Si’dra saw the cost of war first hand. Now they dream of a world where people can connect instead of fight.

Tes’ili Serikos (they/them, tes/tes’): This Apostolosian transport specialist, black marketeer, and Tes’ili Serikos can get just about anything just about anywhere, for a price. Short, round, fuzzy, and good natured… unless you screw tes over. 

The Blossom (he/him): The Lambic House is just supposed to make beer, sell it around the world, and keep people happy. But with each keg delivered by the sect’s Abbot of Provision, the Blossom also serves a short, populist whisper.

Zo’la (zo/zo’s, they/them): As a projection artists, Zo’la seeks to create a cinematic work that captures the dynamic spirit of this historical moment. Born to Columnar, then drawn to the Apostlosian ideology of Dynamism (which values speed, change, and violence above all else. A wildcard and a vanguard. Friends with Gucci Garantine, despite having spent time on opposite sides of the Kesh/Apostolos war.

Agon Ortlights (she/her): Aided by her servicebot companions, Agon worked hard to attain the rank of lieutenant in the Company of the Spade, where she’s become a veteren mercenary, a skilled miner, and a hell of a drinking buddy. 

A.O. Rooke (he/him): Former Stel Orion mercenary, now commander of the Rapid Evening’s “toughs” squad.

Eiden Teak (he/him): Soldier and commander in the Sable Court. Wears the wounds of past fights on him with a distinct sort of pride, inherited from his time fighting as an Apostolosian soldier: He’s missing right leg under the knee, and a number of his antlers have been snapped and broken. Wears loose olive drab fatigues, marked the occult insignia and wards of the Court. 

Mourningbride (she/her): An initiate in the Sable Court, and a former Elect. 

Alise Breka (she/her): Guest lecturer at Verglaz University and Author of popular Renegade Hearts pulp series, which tells stories of daring and romantic Hallow pilots. On Partizan to research her next book, partly by interviewing the imprisoned pirate Exeter Leap.

//Places\\

The Prophet’s Sea: A massive ocean that dominates the center of most maps of Partizan. It is said that the sea was made by the prophet Logos Kantel in their first miracle, after walking the length of its radius and climbing a set of hills that would soon become islands.

Marengo: Oxbridge’s biggest rival to the far west of Orion territory, Marengo borders the Prophet’s Path and because of that has been favored by three groups: faithful hoping to draw on the strength of passing pilgrims; traders eager to take tourist coin; and criminals who like the proximity of uncontrolled territory.

Auspice: A seaside city in the Prophet’s Path north of Marengo (which it is smaller than) and south of Obelle (which it dwarfs). Auspice is the final destination of the land travel portion of the yearly pilgrimage led by the Church of the Resin Heart. Resting on a landmass that appears on a map to be a finger pointing eastward, it has become a coastal refuge for members of Millennium Break.

//Divines\\

Present (it/its): On first blush, Present might be confused for a small, if luxurious frigate. And sometimes, it is just that: Its oval structure houses living quarters, a humble armory, enough cargo space to hold a single hollow, and even a fully stocked bar. But at a snap of its elect’s fingers, it transforms into a humanoid war machine that serves its elect loyally, outclasses any single Hollow or Hallow in operation, and is capable of holding its own against many other Divines in combat.

Neither of these facets are what really define Present, though. Instead, it is the divine’s ability to blink from one location to another, traveling across huge distances in an instant. A journey which would take even the most well-appointed ship of the Principality’s vast fleets a year takes Present only a second. In a world so fractured and large, where distance is felt materially, presence becomes a miracle.

//Things\\

Icebreaker Prime: A massive arsenal, garrison, airfield, and a firebase all rolled into one. Icebreaker Prime is a rumbling carrier which prowls land and sea, armed with innumerable weapons and potentially housing over ten thousand soldiers. Currently, Icebreaker Prime is under the command of Clementine Kesh and the Rapid Evening, and is hidden in the most unperturbed waters of the Prophet’s Sea.

//Additional Notes\\

Crossroads

Crossroad #1: Will The Kingdom allow civilian refugees to live on Icebreaker Prime?

Crossroad #2: Will the Kingdom rob the surreptitious Columnar and Orion arms shipments in order to address our resource problem?

Crossroad #3: Will the Kingdom hold elections?

Crossroad #4: Will the Kingdom put counterrevolutionaries on trial?

Crossroad #5: Will The Kingdom accept the aid of the Pact of Necessary Venture in the form of a secure island, from which MB can expand their operation and farm food safe from the crisis?

The Millenium Break Manifesto

1. We will help those displaced by the war on Partizan
2. We will claim supplies only when it adds losses to the ledgers of the unjust.
3. Free and Fair elections will be held every two years.
4. Burn thrones, build tables.

Character Bonds

Valence: I feel the uncomfortable draw of the unknown from Apparatus, but must keep focus on the revolution and the way of God. An overindulgence of curiosity would sidetrack me.

Apparatus: Gur Sevraq has always been a bit of a Day Mayor. I hope he has not gotten too used to the light.

Gur Sevraq: Milli is right to distrust all who seek to direct her power, but she ought fight for those who share her dreams yet lack her strength. 

Milli: Sovereign Immunity's connections could get us out of prison. I need to make sure this summit doesn't make him forget that.

SI: This is the moment Clementine must show her mettle as a leader. If she is truly a frivolous child I will find someone better.

Clem: United, Gucci and I could be a powerful force for Kesh, with me at its head. Her misplaced egalitarianism, however, is a problem.

Gucci: Broun knows how to get things done and I know what they want in return. But there’s a difference between service and loyalty, and I don’t know when or where they’ll draw that line.

Broun: I need Valence to keep their promise to me but I don’t believe they can.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Clare (@sylvisurfer), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west)

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

Hello everyone! Here's another actual play from our National Network of Abortion Funds fundraiser, this time with Austin, Sylvi, Janine, Art, Dre and Keith playing Standoff!

Standoff is available at https://worldchampgameco.itch.io/standoff on its own or as part of a collection in Wish You Were Here, available at https://worldchampgameco.itch.io/wish-you-were-here

This episode carries content warnings for imprisonment, withholding medical care, civilian deaths, medical experiments, blood, description of injury, and death, 

“What sort of shape is it though?” 

“It is empire.”

“Yes, no, I get that, but...  Is empire a square? Is it circle? It helps to know the shape of a thing if you’re hoping to break it.”

“Yes. I understand. You tell me, then. What shape do you think empire takes? Perhaps you can see it in a way I cannot, because you first apprehended it from outside.”

“Well, I can’t tell you about all empires, but this one? It wants to be fractal. Each stel tries to make everything inside of it a repetition of itself.”

“Yes. Yes, I see. Stel Apostolos shapes itself as a spear, and so it extends downward in echoing cacophony. Its military bases, its schools, its students, its children—all spears.“

“Yeah, something like that. The trouble is, a fractal is really strong. All those shapes, repeated inwards forever. They flex, like a tree’s branches bending in the wind.”

“Yes, but that is it. The Principality is not an abstract fractal, repeating forever. It is a tree. And a tree repeats only for so long.”

“And when a strong enough wind blows…”

“It can be uprooted.”

This week on PALISADE: Honesty and Integrity Pt. 2

I grieve in stereo, the stereo sounds strange / You know that if it hides, it doesn't go away

Dossier

People

Routine Rennari (he/him): Half-Apostolsian, scion of a minor Kesh noble house, and the Blue Channel's heavy. 

Partial Palisade (he/him): A man who was once a Divine, now living in the shell of a being quite unlike what he once was.

Eclectic Opposition (he/him): A delegate and member of the Cause who left Palisade to spend time working under Exeter Leap before returning to his home planet to investigate the strange factories being built by the Frontier Syndicate.

Gallica (she/her): Elect of the Divine Present. Gallica spent years as Chief Emissary of Stel Nideo, Verse (missionary) in the Holy Church of Received Asterism, but in fact was a signatory to the Pact of Necessary Venture, and when the war spilled beyond Kesh and Apostolos, Gallica betrayed her home Stel to join Apostolos and Nideo. Currently, she leads high level intelligence and espionage operations for the Pact of Free States.

The Glorious Princept, Dahlia (they/them): The second pretender to the title of Princept. Born to house Kesh, Dahlia was once kidnapped by a rebelious Sovereign Immunity known as the Farmer. After being rescued and raised by the then Apokine of Stel Apostolos, they integrated into Apostolosian culture. Though they were not part of the Pact of Necessary Venture at its founding, they welcomed the group’s support, though focused their efforts on the war with the Branched instead of the ongoing civil conflict. 

Cas’alear Rizah (cas/cas’, they/them): Leader of the Swordbreakers, an elite unit of Apostolosian-trained pilots who have since sworn service to Millenium Break. Cas holds a reputation for beauty and bravery among allies, but is seen as unflinching and unpredictable by cas’ foes..

Factions

The Frontier Syndicate: A powerful conglomerate with a broad purview, including technology, heavy industry, entertainment, telecommunications, and transportation. Led by Exenceaster March (he/him), the Syndicate betrayed the Pact of Free States and joined the Bilats in order to be part of their colonization efforts on Palisade.

The Pact of Free States: One of the two factions vying for leadership of the Principality, a joint operation by Stels Columnar and Apostolos. Led in name by the Glorious Princept, Dahlia (they/them), but operated in day-to-day matters by members of the original Pact of Necessary Venture, including Rye (he/him) and Gallica (she/her). Though they are reformist in some ways, their primary goal is greater autonomy for each Stel, freedom from the legal restraints, taxes, and oversights demanded by the Principality, with additional deregulation to follow downstream.

STEREOMA: Pact truebeliver Cor'rina Corrine (cor/cors, they/them) and cor rival Misericorde (he/they) have begun building a surgical, anti-Bilat hit squad on Paliade. 

Places

Diadem Gravtrain: While the vast trench-city on Palisade's equator lays abandoned, Kesh has reactivated its railway via an operations center in Carmathen.

Divines

The Divine Motion (she/her): One of the founding members of the Pact, the necromantic Apostolosian divine once led its infamous retinue, the Black Century, on Partizan. They were defeated and dispersed, turned into part of Kalmeria, during Operation Shackled Sun. 

Present (it/its): On first blush, Present might be confused for a small, if luxurious frigate. And sometimes, it is just that: Its oval structure houses living quarters, a humble armory, enough cargo space to hold a single hollow, and even a fully stocked bar. But at a snap of its elect’s fingers, it transforms into a humanoid war machine that serves its elect loyally, outclasses any Altar currently in operation, and is capable of holding its own against many other Divines in combat.

The Divine Commitment (it/its): A malleable divine made of inky black metal. Has historically required two pilots (both in a condition of ego death) in order to be operated, its current Elect is the Dahlia, the Glorious Princept, who operates it with the aid of the Divine Integrity.

The Divine Integrity (it/its): Sometimes appearing as an articulated staff or a metallic spine, Integrity integrates itself into its chosen user. Once the two are connected, Integrity becomes a powerful exoskeleton, and supports its user in matters of military and morale. Currently, Dahlia, the Glorious Princept, is the elect of Integrity. 

Objects

Ekpyrosis: Flagship of the Pact’s fleet, a transforming, beautiful monstrosity able to casually destroy worlds while simultaneously supporting life in a vacuum.

Mysteries

Perennial (she/her):  The Principality's so-called 'adversary,' who lives at the center of the galaxy and whose chaotic whims spread through her "Perennial Wave," an ever-present nanoparticle that has recently bonded with Kalmeria.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Bullet (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora 

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by by aurahack (aurahack.jp)

With thanks to Arthur B., chocoube, DB, deepFlaw, Edwin Adelsberger, Emrys, Greg Cobb, huw, Ian O'Dea, Ian Urbina, Irina A., Jack Shirai, K. Morris, Katie Diekhaus, Konisforce, Kristina Harris Esq, L Tantivy, Lawson Coleman, Mike & Ruby, Nich Maragos, Olive Perry, Patrick Murray, Robert Lasica, Shawn Hall, TeganEden, Thomas Whitney, viviridian, and Voi for their support

We are playing Armour Astir: Advent with additional playbooks from Strangers in the Night and 106th Astir Squadron. If you enjoy the show, consider supporting the TTRPG. 

This episode was made with support from listeners like you! To support us, you can go to friendsatthetable.cash.

This episode carries content warnings for insect infestation, detailed description of insect infestation of an enclosed space, detailed description of insects on skin. 

A day in the market can be a joy for even those who do not aim to barter. The sights and sounds, the smells, the tastes! A reprieve from travel, even if just from travel through life. But also, it is a way to see the passions of others made material, and of course an opportunity for chance encounters to reshape one’s day, week, even life. What wonders will the oldest marketplace in Sangfielle, the wallside town of Cantbank, offer the Blackwick group? And where will they go next.

This week on Sangfielle: Passage on the Jade Moon Pt. 3

The Almanac of the Heartland Rider

Places

Cantbank: A long time ago, the story goes, Aldnomina set its sights on the heartland. Conquest, colonization, and consolidation. Well, turns out that the Heartland has many a mighty thing inside of it. And one such thing had many a favorite place. And it set out, so it is said, to visit each of them until Aldomina came. And as was its way, whichever it was at when Aldomina finally reached the gates, that place would be hidden from the eyes of the invaders. And so it is, by the blessing of its patron, that Cantbank, a market town built into the walls and caves of an old clifface, went untouched.

Sapodilla: One of, if not the, largest city inside of the walls of Concentus. Sapodilla rests on the western shore of the vast lake that takes up much of southeastern Sangfielle, and prizes itself as the rare hub of culture in the bloodfields. In recent years, the powerful witch hunting organization called the Glim Macula has grown in power there, owing to the city’s focus on furthering “civilization.”

The Sleeping City: Every 13 years, a metropolis wakes with the buzzing sound of life. Do not cross its borders uninvited, especially not when it and its inhabitants are at rest.

Blackwick County: From the mines to the lake, the hills to the flats, the town once called Eastern Folly has felt a little more expansive now that it’s out of the hard grip of the old curse. It’s people aren’t perfect, but they’ve made it through some dark times, and that’s more than most can say.

Zevunzolia: Who the hell knows. A miraculous city waiting to be built? A utopian dimension adjacent our own? "The Seventh Sun Itself," I think I heard one of those fools call it. All I know is, however prime and pristine it is in promise, the pricetag keeps going conveniently unmentioned...   

Facts and Figures

Alekest san Geraint, the Margrave of Tescano, the Porcelain Knight (he/him): If you’re a long time reader of this publication, Alekest needs no introduction. You know him from his past adventures, like the slaying of the UnSevered Beast or his solitary stand at Cedartree Station. Maybe you forget some of the details, his angst-filled childhood, the fraught years after his mother’s death, his uncanny dreams. Well, Knight Pickman seems not to be a reader, if her confusion at the Margrave’s arrival is any indication.

Etienne Alize (he/him): Deacon of the Blood in the Triadic Pyre, and de facto sawbones aboard the Jade Moon.

The Ravening Beast (it/its): A howl in the mind of Lye Lyken. A beast on the hunt. It haunts through the course of time, the shape of mind. An echo of a possible future?

Aterika’Kaal (it/its): An ambivalent and ancient spirit. Offers the sweet smell and sublime beauty of roses and the sturdy foundation of a root structure. In exchange: Feed it.

The Ojan: To call it "The Ojan River" is not only to misspeak but to advertise your distance from knowledge. Ojan itself means "running water," and in Ojantani it is the word you attach to other words to mark them as rivers--each just an faint echo of this paragon of waterways. 

The Jade Moon: A luxurious vessel, the Jade Moon glides up and down the Ojan. You have to work to find its exterior wooden hull, so covered is it in silken, green banners and curtains. Dining, Dancing, Gambling, Live Music, plush living. An engine that churns below. 250 feet long, 50 feet wide. It’s a beast, but in the width of the Ojan--in some places over 2 miles wide--it pales.

Teak: First mate of the Jade Moon.

The Course: There is debate about the true nature of the Heartland’s Truth, the power that turned Sangfielle into what it is today. But the Cleavers call it the Course. Part river, part lesson, part direction traveled. Entirely beyond the grasp of mortal minds. 

The Structure: Reason, logic, sense. The world is, fundamentally, a place that fits together and functions. We may not like that, say the adherents of the structure. And sometimes, the world may move in ways beyond our particular ken. But there is something holding it together, and that, they say, is the Heartland’s Truth: The Structure.

The Shape: Are the trains that run across the Heartland bound to the Structure, or do they direct it? Is the overlap between the two even real at all, or might two machinic forces be at work here in Sangfielle?

Organizations

The Broken Quartet:  Cello, viola, violin, clarinet. That’s all it takes to make people move. Well, that and some skill.

The Covenant of Kaitankro: You’ve seen them, haven’t you? The unsettlingly gregarious priests with the strange, chitinous crow masks? Of course you have, with their stilt-legs and their stilt-houses and their collection of stakes and strings and, of course, the kites. I asked one once if it was a pun: Kite and Crow, chitin crow. Something like that. The priestess told me that Kaitankro was a very real god, if a funny one, and that one day, he visited her. Like every morning, she raised each of the town’s kites up to the winds in daily worship, and Kaitankro landed on the smallest one—a sight to see, she said, since her god is so large a being. And like a carnivalist, Kaitankro walked down the wire, tips of her talons, until he met the priest at the bottom. There, I was told, they whispered in the priest’s ear a single phrase: “Better to live as birds on wires than die as men in the wind.” Chaos, it seems, breeds community, too. (Editor’s note: If these gods are so compelled to grow, grow, grow, why the hell does this ‘bird’ god seem so happy to just bounce from place to place? Isn’t anything in Sangfielle predictable?)

Wrights of the Seventh Sun: A secret society dedicated to the construction of Zevunzolia, whatever the cost. Their motivations are many: Some believe that the Devils ought to have continued climbing whent hey escaped hell, that this was not the paradise earned. Otherse believe that Zevunzolia is telos of telos, the end-cause of all end-causes, and thus will inevitably bring itself into being. And given that, to do anything but aid it is to risk exclusion from it, or worse.

The Disciples of the Triadic Pyre: Appropriately devoted to a trio of gods, the Triadic Pyre believe that entropy is the only certain thing in this world, and as such aim to master it. Recently began to mark workers willing to do their tasks in the mines with their brand.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Clare (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000), and Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry)

Produced by Ali Acampora

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

With the capture of Lander One, major military operations on Palisade have seemingly come to a close. Most of the remnants of the Bilateral Intercession’s forces have been captured or have turned themselves in—though some, like those now under the sway of the re-emergent Motion, have seemingly disappeared altogether.

There are, remain, however, some loose and chaotic threads splayed across the planet: The Nidean forces who have wormed their way into the protection of Wakeful, the so-called scattered shards of Divinity (including the Afflictions and the Chimeric Cadent), and, of course, the treacherous Witch of Glass, Clementine.

This week on PALISADE:  A Palette of Colors Pt. 8

Haven't had a dream in a long time

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Bullet (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora 

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by by aurahack (aurahack.jp)

With thanks to Amelia Renee, Arthur B., Bill Kaszubski, Cassie Jones, chocoube, Clark, DB, deepFlaw, Edwin Adelsberger, Emrys, Greg Cobb, Ian O'Dea, Ian Urbina, Irina A., Jack Shirai, Jake Strang, Katie Diekhaus, Ken George, Kristina Harris Esq, L Tantivy, Mark Conner, Mike & Ruby, Muna A, Nat Knight, Nich Maragos, Quinn Pollock, Robert Lasica, Shawn Drape, Shawn Hall, Summer Rose, TeganEden, Thomas Whitney, and weakmint for their support

For the finale, we are playing Questlandia 2nd Edition. This season we played Armour Astir: Advent with additional playbooks from Strangers in the Night and 106th Astir Squadron. If you enjoy the show, consider supporting the TTRPG. 

This episode was made with support from listeners like you! To support us, you can go to friendsatthetable.cash.

For generations, the Chasmata family has had an outsized place in the politics of Stel Kesh. Certainly, they were as loyal and stately as any other great house of the self-proclaimed First Stel. But their income, prestige, and reach seemed to exceed their material position in the Principality. Partly, this had to do with the dynasty’s close ties to the Curtain. Like the Kesh family itself, many children of House Chasmata would go on to serve in the Principality’s most secret and sacred institution. But there was something else, too. A reward, perhaps, for a most difficult service.

This week on PARTIZAN: The Prison at the Top of the World

///Operation Dossier\\\

//Organizations\\

House Chasmata: Despite not being the highest ranking house on Partizan, the Chasmata family has governed Stel Kesh’s holdings on the moon for as long as Kesh has been here. But in the last century, the family seems more interested in an archeological dig in the northern ice cap than in managing its estates. This has not, unfortunately for Apostolos, limited the amount of military might that Chasmata can bring to bear in an emergency. 

The Curtain of Divinity: Though Kesh is technically governed through an elaborate parliamentary democracy, the truth is that The Curtain of Divinity, a secretive organization inside of the Stel (and with agents across all of the Principality), serves as the actual power behind the throne. Knowledge of the Curtain is carefully guarded, and its membership is even further protected. 

Was originally established to rein in the Principality’s most tyrannical institutions and encourage growth and equity over generations, while hiding the truth of what lied beyond the Scutum-Centaurus Portcullis. Over time, their more noble aims were eroded, and only this final goal remained, along with a much more selfish goal of controlling the state.

Has recently announced its presence on Partizan and throughout the Principality. Currently in conflict with the Pact of Necessary Venture, Millennium Break, and the Organization for the Foundation of the Orion Republic.

//People\\

Xiphion, aka Zig’ell Barbos, aka The Red Roc (zig/zig’s, he/him): Elect of the Divine Valour and rising star in the Apostolosian military. Zig’ell kept zig’s Apostolosian name in personal use even after being chosen by Valour as its elect. He is a rising star in the Apostolosian military, famed for his talent as a pilot and commander. There is good reason for this: zig spent years serving as Cas’alear Rizah’s confidant and lieutenant, before being promoted and transferred into service directly under the Divine Motion, working closely as the elect Laurel’s right hand. A true believer in the Pact’s mission to split the Principality up.

Corrasion (they/them): A branched sent with a research group, including Phrygian, to Partizan in order to investigate Gur Sevraq and their claims of a True Divine. 

Gucci Garantine (she/her): Defector from Stel Kesh, controller of House Brightline and HORIZON’s efforts on Partizan. Now a powerful member of Millennium Break’s political class, heading the Party of the Masque.

The Witch in Glass (she/her): A former scion of Kesh who, after knitting a bond with the adversary Perennial, came into control of the body of the Divine Past. Now scours Partizan for the lost, injured, and unsure, recruiting them into her growing city-state. A shaky ally of Millennium Break. Haunted by an old foe.

Cas’alear Rizah (cas/cas’, they/them): Leader of the Swordbreakers, sibling of the Glorious Princept. Cas has brown skin with dark green hair up in a bun, with a few strands hanging down in front of their face (which is framed with similarly colored scales covering cas’ jawline and neck. Broken sword tattoos under their eyes. Reputation as being beautiful and brave by allies, unflinching and unpredictable by foes. Pilots the notorious Ataraxia. Was badly wounded in the defense against Motion and GLORY in Auspice, and now, through a combination of the Witch in Glass’ gifts and ongoing rehabilitation, is working to return to fighting form.

Agon Ortlights (she/her): Aided by her servicebot companions, Agon worked hard to attain the rank of lieutenant in the Company of the Spade, where she’s become a veteren mercenary, a skilled miner, and a hell of a drinking buddy. 

Sloe Uplight (he/him): His business card says “Private Historian,” his parlor rooms’ security system says “information broker,” and his grinning mouth says “no difference.” A Kesh academic turned freelance fixer, turned again to Millennium Break intelligence officer.

//Places\\

Chasmata Quarry: Founded almost one thousand years ago, the Chasmata family has been digging into the ice and stone at the north pole for as long as Kesh has been on the planet. Activity in the area has increased in the last century. No information gets in or out. Every scout sent to investigate the area has been lost forever.

The Reflecting Pool: The city that has emerged inside of the Divine Past’s body, led by the Witch in Glass. Its citizens come from every walk of life on Partizan, all united in the desire to leave the past behind and start a new life.

//Divines\\

The Divine Valour: A machine the size of a large Hallow, Valour can transform between a vast, roc-like bird form and a more traditional humanoid model. Soldiers claim that serving under Valour gives them a noticeable boost to their morale, but it is unclear if this is a feature of their proximity to the Divine or to its elect.

The Divine Past: Part floating city, part living library, and current home to the Reflecting Pool. The Divine Past was built tens of thousands of years before the Divine Principality was created. It stores an untold amount of information about the cultures it has observed, including the Divine Principality itself.

//Things\\

Zenith-K Project Veneer: Melee-ranged shield mechs. Internals are similar to the Zenith-A project Kosmos which SI and the Rapid Evening fought in similarly cold conditions back during the Fort Icebreaker mission. Except instead of the reverse jointed legs and the spears, these have huge tower shields with pneumatic pile bunkers.

Zenith-K Project Cornice: A cheap, mass produced version of the sniper form of the Katalepsis, which is the model name of Ver’Million Blue’s hollow. These are glass cannons meant to lay down an absurd amount of long range fire.

AdArm Quiver: On first glance, you might not think this is a hollow at all. But once the low, wide three-legged firing brace starts to walk, you’d understand that these artillery machines are able to move and even leap with great force and speed, making them excellent at holding (or hammering) an unstable frontline.

“The Bitten Bullet” (referred to but not named): A large personnel transport owned by the Pact of Necessary Venture.

Curtain Ideograms: A vast collection of graphic symbols and code words used by the Curtain to communicate information clandestinely.

//Additional Notes\\

Primary Objective: Identify, and then destroy or recover “Lodestone.” 

Secondary Objective: Capture enemy commander.

Once, floating in the sunset-hued safety of the Twilight Mirage, the Divine Fleet hummed and pulsed, its ships bright beacons of culture and technology in an age when both were under threat.

All through the fleet, organic and synthetic citizens worked side by side to protect a utopia that the universe thought impossible. But today, in the wake of Independence, and Volition, and the Miracle, and Our Profit, and Schism, many who once called the fleet home have now found their idealism grounded. It has been complicated by contact with others, by paralyzing self-doubt, by wavering faith, by the promises of others, and by the simple desire to survive, together.

And some still dream yet, and those who do now confront a hard dilemma: What does a more perfect world truly look like? And how might we get there?

It has been one month since the Feast of Patina, 300th Divine of the Resonant Orbit’s fleet. In that time, tempers have cooled, though borders remain firm. While the NEH and the Divine Free States maintain their status as the system’s most major powers, Seneschal’s Brace--now backed by the pirate republic of the Rogue Wave--has gained official recognition as a third sovereign state, giving Even Gardner, Fourteen Fifteen, and the excerpt ⸢Tenderness⸣ one more chance to unify the fractured Mirage.

The Qui Err Coalition, meanwhile, continue to push for decolonization of the system, and they have gained allies in the fight: Allies like Gig Kephart, Echo Reverie, the Sailors of the Ark, and, perhaps surprisingly, the Waking Cadent, whose own efforts to leave the system have been foiled, thus far, by the sheer impermeability of the Mirage’s interior walls. But with the recent arrival of ⸢Signet⸣ to Kamala’s court, doors once thought permanently sealed now creak open.

The boundaries of the Mirage had not been a problem for the plunderers at the Advent Group, whose special catapult can launch goods (and, as Grand Magnificent knows well, people) beyond the borders of the Quire system.

But in the wake of Our Profit’s attack on the Rapid Evening, and with connection re-established with Crystal Palace during the attack on Schism, Keen Forester Gloaming authorized the group’s final contingency plan.

The message was sent, and, of course, before it could be received, the plan was already set in motion: A blockade of specially armed capital ships patrols the border of the Mirage, destroying any vessel that tries to escape. Each day, their weapons become more accurate, their patrols more precise, their strategies more prophetic.

All of which can mean only one thing: Crystal Palace draws near.

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

Hello all! This is a short announcement to make sure everyone is aware THE NEXT SEASON OF FRIENDS AT THE TABLE IS STARTING TOMORROW(/TODAY MOST LIKELY AT THE TIME YOU ARE READING THIS! IT'S MIDNIGHT SOMEWHERE! IT'S MIDNIGHT EASTERN TIME AT THE TIME THAT I'M POSTING THIS, ACTUALLY!) 

...ahem. Let me break from the caps to make this post actually readable.

Thursday, March 13th 7 PM EST we will be debuting our next season Perpetua. We'll be starting the season with the Perpetua Prelude playing a world building game (Cartograph Atlas Edition) to establish the setting for our season. 

We will also be doing a debut stream on twitch.tv/friendsatthetable because it's fun! And because coincidentally Fourthwall (friendsatthetable.shop host's) are offering to do a gift give away to our chat the same day!

This episode carries content warnings for insect infestation of a human body, death, injury that affects motor skills, self-inflicted knife wound, blood, flesh eating creature, human sacrifice, and detailed integration of human and machine parts.

In the dark acreage under Pledge House, Duvall, Lyke, and Virtue confront the unthinkable. But like all unthinkable things, it begs to be thought through, to be considered, to be turned around in one’s mind. There, it lashes and grows and reaches, wooing and harming in equal part. Until, finally, the unthinkable isn’t. It is instead all that can be thought. It is an identifying scar. It is raw opportunity. It is the only thing that matters. 

This week on Sangfielle: The Perpetual Oratorio of Davia Pledge Pt. 5

The Almanac of the Heartland Rider

Places

Sapodilla: One of, if not the, largest city inside of the walls of Concentus. Sapodilla rests on the western shore of the vast lake that takes up much of southeastern Sangfielle, and prizes itself as the rare hub of culture in the bloodfields. In recent years, the powerful witch hunting organization called the Glim Macula has grown in power there, owing to the city’s focus on furthering “civilization.”

Pledge House: A mysterious manor in Sapodilla’s Hibiscus District. Thirty odd years ago, a fire ravaged its attached (and magnificent) concert hall. In two days time, a rebuilt concert hall will host Davia Pledge’s grand return to the stage.

Facts and Figures

Lady Zizilliana “Zizi” Esterházy (she/her): Once a well known artist of Sapodilla, Zizi reportedly died during the great fire of Pledge House. According to the book Remembering the Zahir, Lady Esterhazy was the last known owner of the titular Zahir, a painting which supposedly fates the person watching it to develop over time into their apprehension of either the subject of the painting or a striking yet elusive figure in the painting’s far distance.

Davia Pledge (she/her): “The mad composer of Sapodilla” who vanished from the public view for decades after the fire of Pledge House. Every year, they say, she invites a select few to a private concert of her newest composition, and getting an invite is either a high honor or a mark of one’s own corruption, depending on which aristocrat you ask. In the past year, her name has become widely known not for her concerts, but for “Pledge Cylinders,” recordings which produce crisp, beautiful music, though by what devilry it is not known.

Darling Malice (she/her): Once, Darling Malice hunted Virtue Mondegreen across the whole of the heartland. She even managed to kill her. But that didn’t stick, it seems. And now, Darling’s own ghastly existence is tied to her twice-undead prey’s. 

Aterika’Kaal (it/its): An ambivalent and ancient spirit. Offers the sweet smell and sublime beauty of roses and the sturdy foundation of a root structure. In exchange: Feed it. Only a small, dangerous 

The Ravening Beast (it/its): A howl in the mind of Lye Lyken. A beast on the hunt. It haunts through the course of time, the shape of mind. An echo of a possible future?

Organizations

Glim Macula: Whether Sapodilla looks postcard-perfect to you or if you find yourself looking for a place to spit when someone repeats the claim that it is the “most civilized” corner of the heartland, it is the Glim Macula you have to thank. Empty faces. A flame that burns through you. Witch hunters in white coats.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Sylvi Clare (@sylvibullet), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry)

Produced by Ali Acampora and Austin Walker

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

C/W: Discussion of physical and emotional child and spousal abuse 2:12 to 2:15

The Twilight Mirage Post Mortem is here which means the season is really, truly, finally over. Thank you for all of your support this season, thank you for listening, and thank you for all of your questions! We got over 250 which was so, so much more than we were anticipating! Thank you! We had to a lot of cutting to narrow down questions but still ended up talking about everything from Foucault's social theory to our character's fursonas... which maybe isn't that wide of a gap, but hey! A fitting close to the season none the less.

Goodbye to the Twilight Mirage!

Just to repeat some announcements here:

-We're taking some time off to focus on patreon catch-up and focus on Spring in Hieron but for the next three weeks (starting this Thursday!) we'll be playing Fall of Magic. Previously a patreon exclusive, Austin, Janine, Jack and Dre sat down to play Fall of Magic live and it's very fun and good and we hope you'll enjoy it!

-Friends at the Table is going to be at SHUX 18, this October 12-18 in Vancouver, BC! This is very short notice and it won't be the whole crew, but if you're interested in coming to see is play a live game (!!!!), you can get more details here: https://www.shutupandsitdown.com/shux18/. If you can't make it, PLEASE DO NOT FRET! The panel will be on Shut Up and Sit Down's YouTube in the future!

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

----

How far is a light year?

How far is a light year?

A second

This episode carries content warnings for insect infestation of a human body, description of wax skin, interrogation of a prisoner, violent bodily transformation, humanoid liquidification, and a description of an NPC being bound and captured. 

Recognizing that further confrontation with the Magistrates is inevitable, Marn, Es, Duvall, and Pickman do everything in their power to control the circumstances of that showdown. They choose the time and the place, do a little research into what they're up against, and try to add a few loose weights to their side of the scale. If they should come out ahead, Blackwick will be free from this siege. But, ah, don't it seem like there's always one more thing in the air than can be easily juggled?

This week on Sangfielle: Just Returns Pt. 4

The Almanac of the Heartland Rider

Places

Blackwick County: From the mines to the lake, the hills to the flats, the town once called Eastern Folly has felt a little more expansive now that it’s out of the hard grip of the old curse. It’s people aren’t perfect, but they’ve made it through some dark times, and that’s more than most can say.

Zevunzolia: Who the hell knows. A miraculous city waiting to be built? A utopian dimension adjacent our own? "The Seventh Sun Itself," I think I heard one of those fools call it. All I know is, however prime and pristine it is in promise, the pricetag keeps going conveniently unmentioned...   

Facts and Figures

Rebek Semm, Justice Bringer (she/her): Leader of the pack of Magistrates laying siege to Blackwick. Oh, and the late Ezek Semm's older sister.

Gren Voznik, the Silent Hatchet (he/him): Big, quiet, and driven to solve problems axe-blade first.

Ennib Lee, the Wildcat (she/her): Named for her custom ammo, this sniper is the only human in Rebek Semm's crew of Magistrates. A crack shot, a smart mouth, and a chip on her shoulder.

Lejune Borr of Paper Faith (she/her): Priest of Fulmina and former disciple of the Prophet Calvin III, who the Kay'van agent Polyte killed many months ago now. A master of applied prayer.

Dr. Kerr Kern (she/her): A Telluricist on loan to the Magistrates, where she works on final preparations for her Keen exam. While she's grown close to the group over the last year, their methods do trouble her. Currently holding Marn's research on Zevunzolia, nullstuff, the Wrights of the Seventh Sun, and the fundamental nature of curses.

Organizations

The Second Canton, aka The Pale Magistratum (ma-juh-strah-tuhm): The Second Canton has ordered itself around its Magistrates—holy marshals given weapons blessed by Fulmina, goddess of immediate justice, and the right to use that power as they see it. 

Wrights of the Seventh Sun: A secret society dedicated to the construction of Zevunzolia, whatever the cost. Their motivations are many: Some believe that the Devils ought to have continued climbing whent hey escaped hell, that this was not the paradise earned. Otherse believe that Zevunzolia is telos of telos, the end-cause of all end-causes, and thus will inevitably bring itself into being. And given that, to do anything but aid it is to risk exclusion from it, or worse.

The Shape Knights: It took people with clear minds, great ingenuity, and implacable spirit to face down and defeat one of the living trains of Sangfielle. In the time since, they’ve crafted armor from their slain foe, and with that have come to be experts of all things train. They herd, they breach, they redirect. But they haven’t yet killed a second.

The Disciples of the Triadic Pyre: Appropriately devoted to a trio of gods, the Triadic Pyre believe that entropy is the only certain thing in this world, and as such aim to master it. Recently began to mark workers willing to do their tasks in the mines with their brand.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart), and Ali Acampora (@ali_west)

Produced by Ali Acampora

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

In the ruins of the ancient orcish Stoneworks, Lem King, Fero Feritas, and Hella Varal find themselves snared by by botanical beasts. But what lies beyond, to the north, may be even more dangerous: The soaring ambition of the Mistral, the birdkin who seek to leave faltering Hieron behind in search for a more stable home above. But as is always the case in journeys made, some are called riders and others mules.

This week on Spring in Hieron: Who Vouches?

PARTNERSHIP is a difficult prospect for all mages, as the IMAGE-IDEAL of any spell differs between all who cast. Even a trifling CANTRIP like the summoning of a sphere of light is soiled by the projection of a mage's SELF. The color, the shape, the intensity: All shift due to bias and experience. And so to perform even such a simple glamour as this with a partner is to court disaster. This is why in all but the most troubling of endeavors, the wise mage works alone.
-An Excerpt from the Crystalized Lectures of the Wizard Fantasmo

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

As the axiom Ache strikes from above, the Notion joins Acre-7 in trying to end the conflict so Quire can perform a second miracle. Gig Kephart, desperate for some additional help, makes a decision that results in painful consequences. Echo Reverie makes a move, at last, on a dangerous foe, and the planet Quire leaves its mark on them, while Signet is caught between her past and present loyalties. And, in the heart of the Wound, Even Gardner witnesses something remarkable take shape.

This week on Twilight Mirage: The Second Miracle

You kneel down to the dry land
Kiss the Earth that birthed you
Gave you tools just to stay alive
And make it up when the sun is ruined

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

Episode description by Austin Walker

Music by Jack de Quidt

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

This episode carries content warnings for aggressive interrogation, psychological abuse, physical detention, discussion of drowning, blood, death, loss of bodily control, mind control, and insect infestation of a human body. 

Sapodilla has always been the sort of city that finds its way into the heart of a story. A place in touch with its seaside bearing, colored by the sun’s reflection against the water. A place where high towers rise at the corners of high walls, cutting the metropolis into little puzzle pieces. And centuries ago, during the panic, when the petty local lords who’d conquered Sangfielle fled and left behind those they’d chained, Sapodilla became the best kind of place: a refuge. It’s ancient gates opened, its people overruled the rulers and waved banners of welcome from the parapets and invited in all kinds of folk to escape calamity, to recover, and to rebuild. 

What they built was new: A social cornucopia by the shore. Unfortunately, that Sapodilla ain’t with us anymore. 

So proud of what was built--the cultural epicenter of Sangfielle--they forgot how and why they built in the first place. Today, under the watchful and frightening gaze of the Glim Macula, the so-called “defenders of society” who are little more than dressed up witch hunters, Sapodilla has closed its ancient gates. And entry makes demands…

This week on Sangfielle: At the Gates of Sapodilla

The Almanac of the Heartland Rider

Places

Sapodilla: One of, if not the, largest city inside of the walls of Concentus. Sapodilla rests on the western shore of the vast lake that takes up much of southeastern Sangfielle, and prizes itself as the rare hub of culture in the bloodfields. In recent years, the powerful witch hunting organization called the Glim Macula has grown in power there, owing to the city’s focus on furthering “civilization.”

Facts and Figures

Calen fel Dynestia (he/him): Heir to a grim line, Calen has joined the Shape Knights in an effort to rehabilitate the fel Dynestia name. Eyes sunken, pasty purple face covered with stubble, and all the highest fashion of Sapodilla circa twenty years ago.

Bucho (he/him): Whether you first hear of him as “Big Bucho” or “Two Step Bucho,” once you meet him, you’ll understand that no name does the gallant Shape Knight justice.

Organizations

Glim Macula: Whether Sapodilla looks postcard-perfect to you or if you find yourself looking for a place to spit when someone repeats the claim that it is the “most civilized” corner of the heartland, it is the Glim Macula you have to thank. Empty faces. A flame that burns through you. Witch hunters in white coats.

The Shape Knights: It took people with clear minds, great ingenuity, and implacable spirit to face down and defeat one of the living trains of Sangfielle. In the time since, they’ve crafted armor from their slain foe, and with that have come to be experts of all things train. They herd, they breach, they redirect. But they haven’t yet killed a second.

Cleavers: Given how loose and fluid this collection of monster hunters, mystery solvers, and naturalists is, it’s hard to call them “an organization.” But when the central belief system of a group is that everything is ever in flux, well, give them the credit of applying that particular ontology to themselves, and take them at their word.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Clare (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000), and Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry)

Produced by Ali Acampora and Austin Walker

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

Content Warnings: Violence against cats, birds, and dog-like creatures. Religious sacrifice of cats. Brief discussions of a broken bone and its treatment.

The Witch in the Glass; a play in Five Acts 

Act 1: Perseverance, or the Sage House
Act 2: Contentment, or the Community at Chorus Island
Act 3: The Single Star, or the View She Sees of Poppies Spread
Act 4: Attention, or the Snow in Summer
Act 5: The Present Day, or the Adversary

Dramatis Personae

Clementine (Jack de Quidt) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...  A discarded scion of the empire

Gallica (Austin Walker) … … … ... ... ... ... ... ... ...  A representative of a powerful pact

Gur Sevraq (Austin Walker) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...  A discontinuous prophet

Thisbe (Janine Hawkins) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...    A homesick laboring machine 

Sovereign Immunity (Art Martinez-Tebbel) … A once infamous revolutionary

Kal’Mera Broun (Ali Acampora) … … ... ... ... ...  A troubled engineer looking for a way out

Jesset City (Austin Walker)   … … … ... ... ... ... ... A deft radical compelled by guilt

Exeter Leap (Keith Carberry)   … … … ... ... ... ...  A pirate captain in leisure

Ver’Million Blue (Sylvi Clare) ... … … … ... ... ... ... A reluctant soldier caught up in it all

Corporal Jansen (Austin Walker)  ... … … ... ... ... A lost officer in a clandestine group

Emaline Eccles (Austin Walker) ... ... ... ... ... … … A determined engineer in the same

Agon Ortlights (Austin Walker) ... ... ... ... ... … … A pragmatic revolutionary commander 

Phrygian (Keith Carberry)  … … … ... ... ... ... ... ... A visiting researcher with intentions

The Figure in Bismuth (Andrew Lee Swan)  …  A loyal member of a witch’s court

... … … … … … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... PERENNIAL … … … … … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), and Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) 

Produced by Ali Acampora and Austin Walker

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

With the possible union between the Divine Independence and the Iconoclastic god Volition disrupted, the Twilight Mirage--and the universe at large--has been granted a reprieve from annihlation.

But for the members of the Divine Fleet, there remains crisis and confusion and chaos. The By and By, largest ship in the fleet by size and population, has been split in loyalty by the sudden, secessionist proclamation of Sui Juris and the revelation that they held captive the Cadent Under Mirage.

Now moving to rescue her are members of The Beloved: Fourteen Fifteen, digital, dying assassin; Acre 7, remnant of a living world; Sho Salon, faithful of the 300; Massalia d'Argent and their mech, Melodica; the boy out of time and place, Morning's Observation; Tender Sky, architect, priestess, and former partner of Open Metal, leader of Sui Juris. These are the Fleet's--and the Cadent's--best hope for survival.

Inhale, inhale there's heaven

This week on Friends at the Table: The Miracle of the Mirage: The Heist

EXCLUSIVE: ON EDGE OF TWILIGHT, CIVIL WAR ERUPTS INSIDE FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE
Interview with survivor reveals details of mysterious conflict.
Shorlidge Asteroid Belt Station A8, Quire System
BY ACTIVATION STEVENSON, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

From the observation deck of the Shorlidge Station A8, Camilla Canter watched as pinkish-red spheres burst into vision. Just three hours later, Canter was pulling the body of a spy from an emergency ejection capsule.

"I knew they were explosions, of course. But I assumed it had to do with what was going on in the By and By. I certainly wasn't expecting to learn about a whole new galactic civilization and that."

Though the woman that Canter rescued, Siela Shade, was taken into custody by Fleet authorities only 30 minutes after her rescue, the Signal was able to conduct a short interview before her detention. The facts of that interview have been since confirmed through a combination fo DIA Request and archival research, and though a judge-ordered stay prevents the Signal from running Shade's words as they were delivered to us directly, this publication retains the legal right to publish, in broad terms, the shape of that conversation.

According to Shade, a civilization set towards the galactic south known as the Principality of Kesh is currently embroiled in its own internal conflict, one that has landed right on the door mat of the Divine Fleet. At the heart of that dispute is the question of intervention and self-determination, two topics well-trodden inside of the Fleet in recent days.

While the Principality itself has not splintered, one of its most important arms--the Rapid Evening, a group of intelligence agents, saboteurs, and enforcers--has entered into a civil conflict. On one side, an increidbly powerful, predictive AI known as Crystal Palace who is tasked with maintaining the stability of life in the Principality and the safety of its citizens above all else. On the other, the rebels Demani Dusk and Grey Gloaming, former agents of the organization who now lead a faction of deserters and objectors against an encroaching armada of Rapid Evening forces.

The root of this conflict, per Shade, is a debate over how (and whether) the Rapid Evening should have intervened into the Divine Fleet's own constitutional crisis.

While Shade offered more context for the battle, additional reporting could not verify her claims. Fleet officials did not respond to comment regarding these or other questions.

But the fundamental truth remains the same: On the edge of the Quire System, as the Twilight Mirage collapses inward, yet another fight rages over the autonomy of the Fleet and freedom of our people.

Episode description by Austin Walker

Music by Jack de Quidt

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

Determined to prevent two murders predicted by Crystal Palace, the Notion heads to one of Skein's allocologies, a floating, all-in-one corporate campus. Their plan? Infiltrate the lab of Wind's Poem, one of the potential victims, by pretending to be the inventors of a solid-milk-based art startup. While Tender and Poem talk about passion projects, Fourteen Fifteen and Grand Magnificent try to locate the blueprint to a terrible weapon.

This week on Twilight Mirage: Bona Fide, Good Faith

Now I'm in the lab, always working late

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

This episode carries content warnings for decapitation, magical compulsion, weaponized false memories, major character death, corpse, flesh eating creature, mass destruction, premeditated act of violence, burning, murder, bodily transformation, general body horror.

With their contract over and their interests split, the Blackwick Group's time together seems to be coming to a swift and sudden end. And that's just the half of it. The Carnival of Moted Light reaches in to the county, sloughing it away. Now, the night is all dust and creaking. In their final hours, what new sights, sounds, and flavors might the Blackwick Group add to it?   

This week on Sangfielle: Dead in the Dust Pt. 3

The Almanac of the Heartland Rider

Places

Blackwick County: From the mines to the lake, the hills to the flats, the town once called Eastern Folly has felt a little more expansive now that it’s out of the hard grip of the old curse. It’s people aren’t perfect, but they’ve made it through some dark times, and that’s more than most can say.

Sapodilla: One of, if not the, largest city inside of the walls of Concentus. Sapodilla rests on the western shore of the vast lake that takes up much of southeastern Sangfielle. Not too much is known about how things are inside of its gates since Queen Virtue rolled into town.

The First Canton, aka Aldomina the Throne of Dominion: Once a fledgling human empire but nearly 1900 years ago, a minor duke of some great hell led an effort to take it over. And once they did, they pushed what was an already spreading empire even further in that direction. 

The Second Canton, aka The Pale Magistratum (ma-juh-strah-tuhm): The Second Canton has ordered itself around its Magistrates—holy marshals given weapons blessed by Fulmina, goddess of immediate justice, and the right to use that power as they see it. 

Unschola Republica, formerly the Third Canton (oon-skoh-la): For a millenia, the alchemists, mage-practitioners, and cryptotheological scholars of the Third Canton complained in secret about the leash kept on them by Aldomina’s distant leaders. They’ve since slipped that leash, and whether that’s for better or worse, time will tell.

Free Seas of Kay’va, formerly the Fourth Canton (kai-vah): First established after Cecile Cartine’s revolution over 300 years ago, today Kay’va is home to a collection of aligned communes who swear that the only way to prosperity is through the defense of equality.

The Fifth Canton, the Protectorate Kingdom of Ojantan (oh-JAHN-tahn): Ojantan was once a kingdom to rival Aldomina, and a solid place to live to boot, if a little over-structured for my taste. But the Devils got to the nation’s leaders, and now it’s been reduced to another Canton in the Empress’ collection.

Sangfielle, the Heartland: Once, it was a breadbasket for the whole Dominion, now this is territory haunted twice: first by a bloody, buried past, and second by an uncanny, indifferent future.

Concentus, the Ringed City (kun-CHEN-tus): A vast ringed city surrounding (and containing) Sangfielle. Covered in magical wards, filled with those eager to delve into the heartland or to push back its most fearsome creatures. The gaslit city of Concentus is now the most technologically advanced metropolis of the continent. 

The Residuum:  A realm of vibrant color, where the things of the world go when their time in the material world fades away. A plane of death, but rendered in glorious light.

Facts and Figures

Dayward yon Vantzon-Estonbergh aka Dayward YVE (he/him): The moneyed scion of a minor Aldominan dynasty, Dayward YVE has traveled to the Heartland as both eager-apologist and curious explorer. Sensing opportunity, he settled in Blackwick County and has used it as a staging ground for an ever-growing industrial empire.  

Maleister Price (he/him): Sherriff of Blackwick and newest member of the town council. The miners in town would all tell you that Price is the best of them and always has been, but you're not quite sure that you remember that about him.

Uno Riscano (he/him): The so-called “Count of Cards,” this devil is the leader of one of the “six suits” that make up the Wrights of the Seventh Sun. Target of Hazard’s ire due to an ill-handed card game.

Proctor Ekashi Wolff (he/him): Once, the good proctor helped lead the services of the Triadic Pyre in Blackwick, and spend what free time he had working with the township's council. It was that same interest in community and service which led him to stand up for his people when the Pale Magistrates blew into town. Unfortunately for Mr. Wolff, good character is not bulletproof. 

The Knights of Virtue, fka The Toll Collectors: It is fair to say that thisg roup is still made up of the devil Agdeline (she/her), drakkan Ettel (he/him), and human Larch (he/him), but it isn't right to simply call them a "trio" anymore. The former miners-turned-bandits-turned-thieves-turned-bodyguards have come into the employ of Queen Virtue, and have revealed their true nature: Once per month, three more of them appear from the depths of the Blackwick Mines, and soon join with the others in search of and profit and adventure. 

Dyre Ode (he/they): When an agent of the almanac pressed this mysterious, masked figure for more information about him, they only repeated their name, as if to ensure we’d print it right, adding “Dyre with Y but Ode as you’d like, a poem said in praise or a debt gone unpaid. It bothers me little, how you spell that name.”

Stanislaka (she/they): Blackwick's attendent of the Boundless Conclave temple, an young ojantani whose faith to Slumbous knows no bounds. A member of the town council. 

Ana Berylia (she/her): Dayward YVE’s maid, a somewhat overwhelmed Carpana who has not adjusted to life in the Heartland. Her body is covered in brown/black hair with little streaks of grey at her temples. Mostly seen in uniform, a grey dress with white apron.

Mr. Kenson (he/him): Big Horn Ram Kaprak. White fur with brown and black spots. Personal valet. Copper wireframe glasses. Proper black suit.

Chantilly Scathe (she/her): The signs and barkers rarely say her name alone. She ain’t Chantilly, or even Ms. Scathe, she’s always “Ms. Chantilly Scathe and Her Shackled Engine.” Don’t let her showmanship and ringmaster garb fool you though: She seems to have done what no Shape Knight could: Make a train of the Shape, The Grand Cormorant Limited, her very own pet.

Dr. Kerr Kern (she/her): A Telluricist on loan to the Magistrates, where she works on final preparations for her Keen exam. While she's grown close to the group over the last year, their methods do trouble her. Currently holding Marn's research on Zevunzolia, nullstuff, the Wrights of the Seventh Sun, and the fundamental nature of curses.

Aterika’Kaal (it/its): An ambivalent and ancient spirit. Offers the sweet smell and sublime beauty of roses and the sturdy foundation of a root structure. In exchange: Feed it.

Alaway (currently he/him, varies historically): Was last seen as the waxy, vampiric minister of Yellowfield named Regan, whose generations-long study of technology led him to dream of (and work towards creating) "The City of Lights," a place of flameless fire, energetic implements, and the safety and freedom to live as one wants. Now, having somehow returned to the form that the Blackwick Group first met him as, he threatens to steal the very lifeblood of Blackwick itself.

The Course: There is debate about the true nature of the Heartland’s Truth, the power that turned Sangfielle into what it is today. But the Cleavers call it the Course. Part river, part lesson, part direction traveled. Entirely beyond the grasp of mortal minds. 

Organizations

Aldomina (al-doh-mee-nah): What once stood as the name of the whole continent is now only the name of the Confederation that runs across the eastern half of the territory surrounding the Sangfielle, currently constituted by three sub-states called Cantons. 

The Carnival of Moted Light: It announces itself with wind and furious sound, an invitation to partake in joys and curiosities. You may not leave. Not yet. Not until it's over. Unless, of course, you'd like to stay forever.

The Boundless Conclave: Less of an individual church, more of an association between hundreds of independent faiths. Small sects, nearly forgotten cults, and unjealous gods make up this vast pantheon. 

The Caravan of the Coin:  Cursed by Ribbadon, Frog God of Wealth, these traveling merchant-clerics never arrive at a destination carrying what they expect.

Wrights of the Seventh Sun: A secret society dedicated to the construction of Zevunzolia, whatever the cost. Their motivations are many: Some believe that the Devils ought to have continued climbing whent hey escaped hell, that this was not the paradise earned. Otherse believe that Zevunzolia is telos of telos, the end-cause of all end-causes, and thus will inevitably bring itself into being. And given that, to do anything but aid it is to risk exclusion from it, or worse.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Clare (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000), and Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry)

Produced by Ali Acampora

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

This episode carries content warnings for imprisonment, withholding medical care, chemical warfare and civilian casualties.

The Blue Channel orbits Palisade unhelmed, one of its members sacrificed and two under lock and key in the brig of a ship hiding in the darkness beyond the system’s fringe. Nevertheless, the Blue Channel’s remaining crew attempt to get back to work—and there is work to do, as their allies on the planet below have suffered from Bilateral retaliation. Plus, there is the matter of the new factories popping up across the planet: A new mystery waiting to be investigated…

This week on PALISADE: Honesty and Integrity Pt. 1

They got the devil hidin' in plain sight

Dossier

People

Continental Countinghouse (he/him): Former host of the Stel Orion-broadcast panel show “CENTER/Line”. Now host of the most watched interview show in the Principality, “Five Stels, Five Questions”.

Routine Rennari (he/him): Half-Apostolsian, scion of a minor Kesh noble house, and the Blue Channel's heavy. 

Partial Palisade (he/him): A man who was once a Divine, now living in the shell of a being quite unlike what he once was.

Eclectic Opposition (he/him): A delegate and member of the Cause who left Palisade to spend time working under Exeter Leap before returning to his home planet to investigate the strange factories being built by the Frontier Syndicate

Captain Jev’ari Estano (jev/jev, they/them): Commander of Onyx Squadron and captain of the Stolen Cameo, the Pact ship holding Brnine and Routine.

Aleel Verdicate (she/her): Song of Partizan, making her the de facto head of the Church of Received Asterism on the moon. 

Particular Emphasis a.k.a. Parti (she/her): Member of Reunion on loan to Grey Pond's communication and outreach division. One time protégé of Black Screen. 

Factions

The Bilateral Intelligence Service: Formerly called the Curtain, the BIS is a Kesh-operated organization which specializes in espionage, subterfuge, and surveillance. Though it is as secretive as ever, it is no longer the true source of power in Kesh territory. Instead, Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh (he/him) has modernized its structure and operation, and has ensured that it remains well integrated into the Bilateral Intercession’s greater workings—as to better keep one eye on them.

The Frontier Syndicate: A powerful conglomerate with a broad purview, including technology, heavy industry, entertainment, telecommunications, and transportation. Led by Exenceaster March (he/him), the Syndicate betrayed the Pact of Free States and joined the Bilats in order to be part of their colonization efforts on Palisade.

The Pact of Free States: One of the two factions vying for leadership of the Principality, a joint operation by Stels Columnar and Apostolos. Led in name by the Glorious Princept, Dahlia (they/them), but operated in day-to-day matters by members of the original Pact of Necessary Venture, including Rye (he/him) and Gallica (she/her). Though they are reformist in some ways, their primary goal is greater autonomy for each Stel, freedom from the legal restraints, taxes, and oversights demanded by the Principality, with additional deregulation to follow downstream.

The Devotees: A church from the Twilight Mirage that is committed to the worship of the Divine Devotion, which they sometimes refer to as Fervor. Common practices include the regular checking of one’s pulse and multi-day group picnic outings.

Divines

The Divine Motion (she/her): One of the founding members of the Pact, the necromantic Apostolosian divine once led its infamous retinue, the Black Century, on Partizan. They were defeated and dispersed, turned into part of Kalmeria, during Operation Shackled Sun. 

Mysteries

Axioms: Once, these beings were made by a so-called "Post-Divine" as embodiments of particular ideals, supposedly detached from mortal perspective or subjectivity. Now, they are the emanation of one woman's ideals, given perfect, violent form. In this way, The Ingrate is the first of its kind.

Perennial (she/her):  The Principality's so-called 'adversary,' who lives at the center of the galaxy and whose chaotic whims spread through her "Perennial Wave," an ever-present nanoparticle that has recently bonded with Kalmeria.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Bullet (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora 

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by by aurahack (aurahack.jp)

With thanks to Arthur B., chocoube, DB, deepFlaw, Edwin Adelsberger, Emrys, Greg Cobb, huw, Ian O'Dea, Ian Urbina, Irina A., Jack Shirai, K. Morris, Katie Diekhaus, Konisforce, Kristina Harris Esq, L Tantivy, Lawson Coleman, Mike & Ruby, Nich Maragos, Olive Perry, Patrick Murray, Robert Lasica, Shawn Hall, TeganEden, Thomas Whitney, viviridian, and Voi for their support

We are playing Armour Astir: Advent with additional playbooks from Strangers in the Night and 106th Astir Squadron. If you enjoy the show, consider supporting the TTRPG. 

This episode was made with support from listeners like you! To support us, you can go to friendsatthetable.cash.

This episode carries content warnings for mental manipulation, body horror, and death.

Though Motion and her fleet remain at a distance, Levi, Brnine, Thisbe, and Cori find themselves facing overwhelming odds against the Pact’s forward operating unit, led by Passiflora, elect of the divine Artifice. Meanwhile, as Exeter Leap looks for a way to help Cas’alear Rizah with their address to the galaxy, Motion’s grip on their minds begins to tighten. Thankfully, unexpected guidance could be right around the corner…

This week on PALISADE: Above the Earth Pt. 4

You saw me cry and it wasn't for help / This is the best thing that I've ever felt

Dossier

People

Audacious Opportunity "A.O." Rooke (he/him): Once an Orion mercenary, then the commander of the Rapid Evening’s “toughs” squad, and now a unit leader for Millennium Break. K.O Rooke's son.

Kueen Overture "K.O" Rooke (she/her):  A long time dispatcher and operator of the Scrivener's Guild, KO has taken the role as a major commander in Millennium Break. Mother of A.O. Rooke.

Passiflora (she/her): Elect of the divine Artiface, naive but devoted to the vision promised to her by The Pact of Free States.

Organizations

The Pact of Free States: One of the two factions vying for leadership of the Principality, a joint operation by Stels Columnar and Apostolos. Before they were killed by Kalvin Brnine, they were led in name by the Glorious Princept, Dahlia (they/them), but were controlled in day-to-day matters by members of the original Pact of Necessary Venture, including Rye (he/him) and Gallica (she/her).  With all three dead, the Divine Motion has rushed to fill a vacuum many feel but can hardly give word to.

Under her control, the long-held "reformist" goals of the Stel have been set aside for simple, metaphysical domination. 

Places

Earth: Ancient home of humanity. Moved into orbit around the center of the galaxy by the Old Earth Cult, under guidance by a manipulative and influential divine called Independence.

Divines

The Divine Integrity (it/its): Sometimes appearing as an articulated staff or a metallic spine, Integrity integrates itself into its chosen user. Once the two are connected, Integrity becomes a powerful exoskeleton, and supports its user in matters of military and morale. Until being assassinated by Brnine, Dahlia, the Glorious Princept, was the elect of Integrity. Now, it has found a new home in Thisbe.

The Divine Motion (she/her): One of the founding members of the Pact, the necromantic Apostolosian divine once led its infamous retinue, the Black Century, on Partizan. They were defeated and dispersed, turned into part of Kalmeria, during Operation Shackled Sun. Now, she has returned to take control of the Pact of Free States, and has set her sights on Perennial at the heart of the galaxy.

The Divine Present (it/its): On first blush, Present might be confused for a small, if luxurious frigate. And sometimes, it is just that: Its oval structure houses living quarters, a humble armory, enough cargo space to hold a single hollow, and even a fully stocked bar. But at a snap of its elect’s fingers, it transforms into a humanoid war machine that serves its elect loyally, outclasses any Altar currently in operation, and is capable of holding its own against many other Divines in combat.

Objects

Columnar Altars: Though Exenceaster March took his research with him when he defected from Columnar and the Zenith Fund he once led, those engineers who remained loyal to their Stel had learned enough to develop their own rival machine, powered not only by Kalmeria, but also by upscaled (and stolen) Equiaxed designs. The result: The ZFC-Wizard. 

Central to this design is the modularity and iconic visual design that has been core to Columnar technology for generations. The stock Wizard is rarely seen as-is. Instead, it is used as a frame for a number of other variants. The ZFC-TOME is the workhorse model of the Wizard, able to hold its ground defensively with a massive claymore and an arcane "breath" weapon. The ZFC-STAVE is a designated marksman unit, while the CLOAK was designed to operate behind enemy lines without being caught.

Two commander class units were created as well. The ORB houses the Wizard frame inside of a sphere, which projects a directed energy field to its allies, serving as a shield. The TALISMAN, with its swarm of hard-to-control drones, was designed especially for ace pilots who lead from the front with near-impossible acumen. 

Apostolosian Altars: In the age of Kalmeria, Apostolosian culture became fascinated with mastery over (and blending with) the natural and elemental. As such, it is no surprise to see that their Altars (designed in collaboration with Columnar's Zenith Fund), reflect those new interests. 

The ZFA-FANG is a new version of an old classic: A Hypercat model with mounted freeze cannons and the ability to skate on ice it creates. The ZFA-TALON offers air supremacy, firing powerful, flaming beams and dropping dense explosive salvos. Both operate with greater efficiency when deployed directly alongside their allies. Operating as an on field commander, the ZFA-TUSK is a defensive powerhouse that can chase down enemies with incredible, wind-driven speeds.  

Mysteries

Perennial (she/her):  The Principality's so-called 'adversary,' who lives at the center of the galaxy and whose chaotic whims spread through her "Perennial Wave," an ever-present nanoparticle that has bonded with elements of Autonomy Itself and the Divine Motion to create Kalmeria.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Bullet (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Cover Art by by aurahack (aurahack.jp)

With thanks to Amelia Renee, Arthur B., Bill Kaszubski, Cassie Jones, chocoube, Clark, DB, deepFlaw, Edwin Adelsberger, Emrys, Greg Cobb, Ian O'Dea, Ian Urbina, Irina A., Jack Shirai, Jake Strang, Katie Diekhaus, Ken George, Kristina Harris Esq, L Tantivy, Mark Conner, Mike & Ruby, Muna A, Nat Knight, Nich Maragos, Quinn Pollock, Robert Lasica, Shawn Drape, Shawn Hall, Summer Rose, TeganEden, Thomas Whitney, and weakmint for their support

For the finale, we are playing Questlandia 2nd Edition. This season we played Armour Astir: Advent with additional playbooks from Strangers in the Night and 106th Astir Squadron. If you enjoy the show, consider supporting the TTRPG. 

This episode was made with support from listeners like you! To support us, you can go to friendsatthetable.cash.

Ulled is a pocked and placid-seeming agricultural moon. But as the saying goes, be wary the still lake. Yes, farmers speak softly and tend to their crops with loving cultivation. Yes, life is quiet and late afternoons are restful. Yes, harvest work brings reward. But then there is underneath. There is underneath.

But Those Nerveless Chancers, The Krinsky Family Circus And Travelling Curiosity, they know only what is above. 

They know they step on fertile soil and soft grass, perfect for staking their tents and stands. 

They know they walk through fields under the lights and shadows of the Citadel Bein, a fortress layered with history so visible that it is seemingly built from the accretion of time itself. 

They know that they stand above a castle village sonorous with the sounds of marketplaces and buskers and craftshops—a circus of a different type than their own, but not altogether unfamiliar. 

They know they stand on a geological shelf, the shore of a vast, shimmering lake beyond—open like a sea, polished as a mirror, reflecting the sky above, reflecting the Thousand Moons in conlunation, reflecting Realis-itself, and in its light The Tetraspherica: Three more marble-like moons. Cousin orbs. Neighbor spheres dominating the heavens above. 

So is it any wonder they do not consider what might be below? What might move in that fertile soil or between the blades of that soft grass? What else might have staked a claim on Placid Ulled? Or who else might move in the shadows of the citadel Bein? What else might hover above the echoes of the castle town? Who else might stare out onto the lake’s horizon, might witness the impossible beauty of the dancing lunar quartet, might bathe in the bluelight of Realis-Itself, and radiating with pure possibility, dream!?

It is no wonder at all. Such is life on the Thousand Moons. Such is life for those Nerveless Chancers, that circus caught in gravity. At least, for now.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austinwalker on bluesky)

Featuring Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal on bluesky)

Produced by Ali Acampora

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Cover Art by by Oddesque

With thanks to Amelia Renee, Arthur B., Bill Kaszubski, Cassie Jones, Clark, DB, Daniel Laloggia, Diana Crowley, Edwin Adelsberger, Emrys, Greg Cobb, Ian O'Dea, Ian Urbina, Irina A., Jack Shirai, Jake Strang, Katie Diekhaus, Ken George, Konisforce, Kristina Harris Esq, L Tantivy, Lawson Coleman, Mark Conner, Mike & Ruby, Muna A, Nat Knight, Nich Maragos, Olive Perry, Quinn Pollock, Robert Lasica, Shawn Drape, Shawn Hall, Summer Rose, TeganEden, Thomas Whitney, Voi, chocoube, deepFlaw, fen, & weakmint

This episode was made with support from listeners like you! To support us, you can go to friendsatthetable.cash.

This episode carries content warnings for a corpse, an animal feeding on flesh, claustrophobia, broken bones, death from immobility and implied starvation, fingernails, a body in a sack, animal sacrifice,  burning, a severed limb, animal slaughter, dissociation, and mental confusion.

Having found their way through the chapel beneath Blackwick’s ruined abbey, the Blackwick Group continue their search for Janek Polyte and the mysterious magistrate who seems to be with him. From the bottom of a pit of salt, the group must find a way up a cliff face and back onto their prey’s tail—all while making sense of the strange new place they’ve found themselves in. In the distance, a bell rings, and a ritual begins.

This week on Sangfielle: The Hymn of the Mother-Beast Pt. 2

The Almanac of the Heartland Rider

Places

Blackwick County: From the mines to the lake, the hills to the flats, the town once called Eastern Folly has felt a little more expansive now that it’s out of the hard grip of the old curse. It’s people aren’t perfect, but they’ve made it through some dark times, and that’s more than most can say.

The Second Canton, aka The Pale Magistratum (ma-juh-strah-tuhm): The Second Canton has ordered itself around its Magistrates—holy marshals given weapons blessed by Fulmina, goddess of immediate justice, and the right to use that power as they see it. 

Free Seas of Kay’va, formerly the Fourth Canton (kai-vah): First established after Cecile Cartine’s revolution over 300 years ago, today Kay’va is home to a collection of aligned communes who swear that the only way to prosperity is through the defense of equality.

The Residuum:  A realm of vibrant color, where the things of the world go when their time in the material world fades away. A plane of death, but rendered in glorious light.

Facts and Figures

Janek Polyte (he/him): A Drakkan member of Blackwick County’s youth community, and a member of the group who went beneath the Abbey’s ruins a year ago. Quiet in public, and little kept in his humble home.

The Shape: Are the trains that run across the Heartland bound to the Structure, or do they direct it? Is the overlap between the two even real at all, or might two machinic forces be at work here in Sangfielle?

Organizations

The Telluricist Union: Made up by a mix of peoples driven to the hills by Aldomina, this group of knife sharpeners, herbalists, geologists, and all around investigators have made it their job to keep their old wisdom and see it used to help those in need. The best among them are called Keen.

The Shape Knights: It took people with clear minds, great ingenuity, and implacable spirit to face down and defeat one of the living trains of Sangfielle. In the time since, they’ve crafted armor from their slain foe, and with that have come to be experts of all things train. They herd, they breach, they redirect. But they haven’t yet killed a second.

Ephemera

A hymn found in the notes of Janek Polyte

Her love is vast and nourishing.
Her glory does astound.
Thus in sin we're flourishing,
Tis sin to which we're bound.

With words we weave her love and ours,
And with our voices breathe:
A halt to death, a halt to stars,
A halt to what will be.

But listen, Mother-Beast, please know:
Tis love by which we've wrought
A world in which you're split in woe,
Instead of merely nought

Your love is vast and flourishing.
Your glory does astound.
Bless us with tears nourishing.
We’ll drink until we’re drowned.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Clare (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora and Austin Walker

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

This episode carries content warnings for description of a burn injury, injury causing limited motor skills, lack of access to medical care, insect infestation, bodily infection. 

Among Sangfielle’s self-proclaimed adventuring class, the idea of retiring to a riverboat ride is something of an old canard. Everyone says they’ll do it one day, but very few ever speak of actually completing such a post-venture vacation. Something always comes up. A scheduling error, or a last minute change in ticket pricing, or another job crossing the desk. Perhaps none have been as lucky as the Blackwick Group. Perhaps none have had friends in such high places. 

This week on Sangfielle: Passage on the Jade Moon Pt. 1

The Almanac of the Heartland Rider

Places

Sapodilla: One of, if not the, largest city inside of the walls of Concentus. Sapodilla rests on the western shore of the vast lake that takes up much of southeastern Sangfielle, and prizes itself as the rare hub of culture in the bloodfields. In recent years, the powerful witch hunting organization called the Glim Macula has grown in power there, owing to the city’s focus on furthering “civilization.”

The Sleeping City: Every 13 years, a metropolis wakes with the buzzing sound of life. Do not cross its borders uninvited, especially not when it and its inhabitants are at rest.

Blackwick County: From the mines to the lake, the hills to the flats, the town once called Eastern Folly has felt a little more expansive now that it’s out of the hard grip of the old curse. It’s people aren’t perfect, but they’ve made it through some dark times, and that’s more than most can say.

Zevunzolia: Who the hell knows. A miraculous city waiting to be built? A utopian dimension adjacent our own? "The Seventh Sun Itself," I think I heard one of those fools call it. All I know is, however prime and pristine it is in promise, the pricetag keeps going conveniently unmentioned...   

Facts and Figures

Aterika’Kaal (it/its): An ambivalent and ancient spirit. Offers the sweet smell and sublime beauty of roses and the sturdy foundation of a root structure. In exchange: Feed it.

Dyre Ode (he/they): When an agent of the almanac pressed this mysterious, masked figure for more information about him, they only repeated their name, as if to ensure we’d print it right, adding “Dyre with Y but Ode as you’d like, a poem said in praise or a debt gone unpaid. It bothers me little, how you spell that name.” The Blackwick Group first encountered this myterious figure during their investigation into Roseroot Hall, where they helped him recover his skull.

The Course: There is debate about the true nature of the Heartland’s Truth, the power that turned Sangfielle into what it is today. But the Cleavers call it the Course. Part river, part lesson, part direction traveled. Entirely beyond the grasp of mortal minds. 

The Structure: Reason, logic, sense. The world is, fundamentally, a place that fits together and functions. We may not like that, say the adherents of the structure. And sometimes, the world may move in ways beyond our particular ken. But there is something holding it together, and that, they say, is the Heartland’s Truth: The Structure.

The Shape: Are the trains that run across the Heartland bound to the Structure, or do they direct it? Is the overlap between the two even real at all, or might two machinic forces be at work here in Sangfielle?

The Ojan: To call it "The Ojan River" is not only to misspeak but to advertise your distance from knowledge. Ojan itself means "running water," and in Ojantani it is the word you attach to other words to mark them as rivers--each just an faint echo of this paragon of waterways. 

The Jade Moon: A luxurious vessel, the Jade Moon glides up and down the Ojan. You have to work to find its exterior wooden hull, so covered is it in silken, green banners and curtains. Dining, Dancing, Gambling, Live Music, plush living. An engine that churns below. 250 feet long, 50 feet wide. It’s a beast, but in the width of the Ojan--in some places over 2 miles wide--it pales.

Teak: First mate of the Jade Moon.

Dr. Pest: Sawbones of the Jade Moon.

Organizations

Wrights of the Seventh Sun: A secret society dedicated to the construction of Zevunzolia, whatever the cost. Their motivations are many: Some believe that the Devils ought to have continued climbing whent hey escaped hell, that this was not the paradise earned. Otherse believe that Zevunzolia is telos of telos, the end-cause of all end-causes, and thus will inevitably bring itself into being. And given that, to do anything but aid it is to risk exclusion from it, or worse.

The Disciples of the Triadic Pyre: Appropriately devoted to a trio of gods, the Triadic Pyre believe that entropy is the only certain thing in this world, and as such aim to master it. Recently began to mark workers willing to do their tasks in the mines with their brand.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

This episode contains content warnings for violence, eye and bodily transformation, bodily experimentation, mind control, and the eating of glass (without harm).

Sometimes you think you've got it all figured out, and rightly so. You've done your due dilligence, crossed your T's and dotted your I's, asked all the right questions to all the right people. And its these specific cases when you are most taken by surprise with the truth of the thing. It goes without saying that the case Yellowfield Candle Company is one such endeavor. The truth slips through the fingers, and only one thing’s for sure: it’s a wax house, baby—we all just live in it.

This week on Sangfielle: The Candle Factory Pt. 3

The Almanac of the Heartland Rider

Places

Yellowfield: Before the Panic this little valley of yellow flowers was the territory of a petty wizard and the subjects he frightened or beguiled. He called it his Xanthic Demesne, but these days we just call it Yellowfield. In the center of the valley, there’s a candle factory, and it is here that the old axiom refers: “All the candle light in Sangfielle was made with just twenty odd hands.”

Sapodilla: One of, if not the largest city inside of the walls of Concentus. Sapodilla is on the western shore of Sangfielle's inland sea, and its leaders have gotten very good at selling it as a postcard pretty, tiered seaside paradise where civilization and culture are defended unlike anywhere else in Sangfielle. Well. it certainly is right to say that the way they defend their culture is unique, but the rest of it? Call me a skeptic.

Facts and Figures

High Vicar Regan Alaway (currently he/him, changes over time): The de facto leader of Yellowfield, the vicar preaches daily in the Factory's churchfront. A charismatic figure with a bright vision for the future.

Gala (she/her): A young worker at the candle factory, Gala has grown increasingly concerned about the state of Yellowfield and the high vicar. Now, her concern grows to worry as her mother, Galena, has gone missing.

Eyes, Ears, and Mouth: These three Caprak—loyal to the full extent of loyalty to Alaway—are no talk, all action.

Subsolum: When a reporter passing east requested comment from the High Vicar on the distinguished deity worshipped at Yellowfield's only chapel, she was told only this: “My god is of the underneath, you see. The soil and the fertility in it. The deep soil, you understand. The soil that gives us these wonderful flowers.” Well that was a crock of shit, wasn't it? Not sure what to think about this one. Was there actually a Subsolum once? Is the Lord of Yellowfield Subsolum, self-proclaimed or in golden honesty? Is the whole thing a con? Who the hell knows.  

Bucho (he/him) (mentioned): Whether you first hear of him as “Big Bucho” or “Two Step Bucho,” once you meet him, you’ll understand that no name does the gallant Shape Knight justice.

Rana (she/her): An lonely devotee of Kaitankro who now lives out her days attending to one of her chosen god’s many kite-shrines.

Organizations

The Shape Knights: It took people with clear minds, great ingenuity, and implacable spirit to face down and defeat one of the living trains of Sangfielle. In the time since, they’ve crafted armor from their slain foe, and with that have come to be experts of all things train. They herd, they breach, they redirect. But they haven’t yet killed a second.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Clare (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)

Produced by Ali Acampora and Austin Walker

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!