Friends At The Table

..alone would drive many settlements to resign themselves to his vassalage, as the Duke’s medicinal stores separated him from many of the other warlords in that first year, when the pollen was so severe not only due to its density but to our own body’s sluggish adaptation to it. But the University’s leadership was not keen to submit to anyone, least of all a monarch who wouldn’t even show his own face on the frontlines; whatever their differences, Corsica Neue and Lord Ephrim had in common a comfort with danger and a respect for those who would wade into it courageously. In hindsight, though, it has become clear that the Grey Duke’s grand project—his attempt to re-order and organize the world around him and his territory—did not need others to kneel before him. They need only decide that facing him was a necessity to ensure his centrality in the new maps of the world. Which provides some context for the surprising, and not altogether unwelcome, tactics the Duke deployed... -An Excerpt from The Last Days The W

...good a start as could be imagined, given the circumstances. But there was a confounding question still, which seemed to rent space in everyone’s mind: Yes, the university had survived, but where was it? This was not a philosophical question. It was a simple matter of fact, a concrete concern. “Used to be three weeks, with cart, from Twinbrook,” said one resident of the University, who operated a food cart both before and after the Second Spring. “Sure, [I] haven’t made that trip in eight or nine years, not with everything going on. But [I] could count on it. Three weeks, with cart.” The man tapped his temple three times, as if to emphasize the truth of the matter. While early efforts--DuCarte’s map school, the Spider Silk Gondola to Alcyon, Feritas’ road project--were progressing on schedule, there was the gnawing feeling among some in leadership roles that these moved too slowly. “If even our people, easy-tempered and well-calloused from the old life want to map this tangle out,” wrote Corsica Neue in he

…was standing there in the midst of utter chaos, I found strength in words uttered by the immortal warrior Red Jack (who you will become well acquainted with as you read on) only days before he led an assault on the being called the Advocate. “Heroism,” he said, “is not such a unique thing.” He was right. The heroes that day were not only those who faced down men worshipped as gods—or those that despised them. The heroes were the many whose names were not already known, who rallied their neighbors as the world around them crumbled, and ensured that even if the very body of Hieron itself vanished, Hieron, the collection of people, would not. The world, contrary to this book’s title, did not end. All of which is to say that I am grateful that this text is being published in an incomplete state. The truth is that when I first began to write this volume, it wasn’t a volume at all. It was just a book. An encyclopedia, collecting in one place stories from reliable (if not always honest) narrators, who together pain

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

Across the long lawns below the central tower of the Last University, the grass defies itself. In the mind, a field is a million individual blades blending into one. But when Stars of the steppe arrive, they make mental category into physical reality, each blade blending with the next until the trembling, green pasture becomes blinding, fixed tract. But even this transformation, which spreads across the whole of one of the continent’s densest settlements, is minute against what occurs above. A distraught god once promised that he would do anything to hold back the Heat and the Dark. Now, he proves his intent, yet wonders to himself if he can be stopped; if, perhaps, eradication might be better. This week on Spring in Hieron: See Where You're Standing Taken all at once, the unearned length of my life, it is easy to call this unavoidable. After all, before I could hold a chalice, I could only drink with tooth and maw, my thirst unsated, as blood stained the ground. Before I could store unfinished thoughts on a

Of all the resources unique to the City of First Light, the Ordennan Impetus was most taken by the ancient city’s network of trains. The once-island nation was already familiar with the value of heavy logistics, and though the steam-powered trains of this new island were on tracks, it was not as if their own ships did not have to contend with the more organic rails of weather, wind, and current. As important, they knew first hand how disruptive it would be for a culture to lose control of its transportation system. Which is why they stormed the trains early in their invasion, and grew their occupation through railway terminals. And this is how Fela Malle found his way to the ancient home of Samothes. The same volcanic palace to which Adaire, Hadrian, Hella, Hadrian, and Throndir now enter, under stormswell skies.. This week on Spring in Hieron: Ingenuity and Love When those few who know it tell our story, they tell it wrong. They say that we squabbled for years because He told me that there was no solution f

As the shell-sky ruptures under impossible heat and pressure, the citizens of the Last University face grim prospects. Beings of empty light tread over the familiar until it is unsafe, recasting the world around them in macro and micro, both. And above, a lord looms. Do they have any hope? Does anyone fight for them, still? Yes. This week on Spring in Hieron: Terrible and Necessary After too many years of loneliness and solitude, I believe even now that I was blessed by accord with two who moved in kindred ways. The paladin felt His warmth, even from the blade, and worked drunk in his faith as I once did. And in that we knew one another, though he knew (and knows still) so little. I was likely a fool for dreaming a solution through his hands. (Yet I am a dreamer, always.) The other knew me in a way only one so devoted to knowledge could. The old stories always missed this about me: I found myself alone in study as often, if not more, than among the carousing congregation. And so in the Wizard Fantasmo, I fo

The bounty was plastered from the boulevards of Malle’s Fist to the canals of Kanton, on the broken archways of the old imperial road and the mural boards of the old eastern sea wall: TO WHOMEVER SLAYS THE BEAST, SO CALLED THE ADVOCATE, IN LOYALTY TO ORDENNA AND ALL MANKIND, A REWARD DUE, EARNED, AND PAID BY THE HONORABLE IMPETOR OF ALL HIERON, FELA MALLE: 100,000 IN COIN OR THE ARMORY AND ESTATE OF A BLOODED PEER. And so, floating down the Archivist’s River towards the smogging skies of Malle’s Fist, a group of heroes intends to collect. This week on Spring in Hieron: Unfinished Work If only I had been more attentive during my arrival to the city all those years ago. Or if father would push past his obstinance and help me find it. Or if it had been delivered by fate into Hadrian’s hands instead of Eprhim’s. Perhaps a less ambitious violence would have brought a Spring more- No. It cannot be known. All that can be said with confidence is that of all my contingencies, the killing of my son, turned mocking

  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   Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Sylvi Clare (@capt

Weeks ago, the Advocate took flight its cradle hidden in the hills and trees. Its path north took it across places already devoured by the Heat and the Dark: Rosemerrow’s once Long Sands, the devastated woods between Old Man’s Chin and Twinbrook, across the ancient imperial highway south of Velas, and into the unmappable, frozen wastes of Auniq, deep within the Mark of Erasure. Where does a being unwilling to create go to roost? To a nest already made. The heart of the mark. Atop the fallen tower of Samot. Its hunger for destruction sated, in this brief moment, it rests. And they arrive. Today on Spring in Hieron: Particular Malice He has not faced anything quite like what you describe, no. But from what you have told me, your father seems an obstinate and foolhardy man. And those are the qualities of every so-called hero I have ever met. -A message from the Crystalized Voice of the Wizard Fantasmo   Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Clare (@captaintras

It is an old road that travels between the Last University, through the settlement of Baron’s Gate, and into what is now called the Mark of the Erasure was built--many times, across many lamina--to bring direction and pace to the roving party of Samot, bringing him between the First University and his father’s home at the Hewed Peak. But in time, with his father retired to convalesce in a more humble home in the woods, the God of Books and Wine carved away the Peak, drawing the finest stone not only from the nearest mountain, but from each Peak of the past ten ages, all to provide material for his new, towering home. And in time further, with the meddling of mages eager to make their own paradise, his new home would fall, bringing about an eternal blizzard. And so the old road found itself untraveled, covered in snow, and lost to time. Now, new flame has unearthed it, and it sees new use, carrying a dedicated group with their own direction and pace to a new dragon, which roosts and writhes in the ruins of his

The morning after the second sun broke open, the campus of the the Last University is quiet. But this is not hard-won exhalation. It is a gasp for breath in the middle of a marathon run. Because before the members of the University’s ad hoc council can fully settle back into daily life, they are sprung back into action by an impulse as nervous as it is noble. There will be time to rest--and surely they need it. But in this moment, the world burns. And they refuse to let the fire simply light their faces from afar. This week on Spring in Hieron: A Handful of People What is the difference between an INSTINCT and an IMPULSE? Everything. The former guides you in thought, shaping your REFLECTION with biases hard earned. The latter triggers ACTION without consideration. Embrace your instinct, even--especially--when others tell you that it confounds their sense of possibility. You know better than them. But resist impulsiveness with all your being. However quick a dead mage was in their final moments, they are sti

Above the waves of the Alcyonic Sea, the second sun has not yet hatched. But below its blood red light, a plan has begun to. But what sort of plan is it? Is it a former paladin’s plan to protect his family? Is it the plan of a druid and a lord to stop a threat that has grown too large, too dangerous, to let continue? Or is it something grimmer: the latest, vengeful volley in the decade long arc of enmity between one who was once a wizard and one who was once a ranger? This week on Spring in Hieron: A Safer Second Both in your studies and in the field, SUCCESS is not an finality. It is only an opportunity for you to find new COURSES to travel and CONUNDRUMS to consider. The world is endless, and you will never bore for a lack of things to do. But the wise mage knows to tackle these many things with FOCUS and DELIBERATION. However powerful your magic, however full your book of SPELLS, it is a fool who thinks they can do everything all at once. When you find reality bending to your WILL, you may want to take t

Under crimson light, a plan moves into effect, a counter motion with speed so great that it matches the age of the plot it seeks to derail: the consumption of light, the birth of a dragon apocalyptic, the early days of Summer’s lethal heat. Against this: Adaire Ducarte, Hella Varal, and the still dreaming Lem King. This week on Spring in Hieron: Deeper Than Flesh It is common aphorism that no EFFECT comes without matching COST. This is, of course, absolute tripe. What would the point of our SCIENCE be if it were not to offset the two in our own favor? To turn bay leaf into bartergold, fowl feather into the wind itself. Yes. There is always a PRICE. This is true. The best of us simply learn how to address reality directly and NEGOTIATE. -An excerpt from the Crystalized Lectures of the Wizard Fantasmo Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal) Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west) Music by Jack de Quidt (@notquite

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 transcript

In the city of Coraline, on the isles of Alcyon, the morning sun is welcomed with the ringing of bells. But not today. Instead--for some reason--there is only the sound of waves against rocks, of late-night partygoers babbling through street and alley, of quiet conspiracy and whispered arrangement. And instead, the day is marked with the ominous light of a second sun. But however halting the heat may be for some, the travelers from the Last University push on: Fero, into the fields where he studies this new form of life; Ephrim and Throndir into local dilemmas, political and interpersonal; Hadrian into his own heart, as he prepares for a confrontation that, though not fated, still carries the weight of history. Today on Spring in Hieron: Significant Concern However devoted to the THEORETICAL you intend your studies to be, you will eventually be pressed upon in PRACTICAL matters, and none will be more dangerous than those of STRATEGY and WARFARE. This is not because the dangers of combat are any more perilou

Many of the dangers that surround the Last University are new. Bright stones at the bottom of a stream burn bare feet. Sometimes, when the wind blows westerly, it carries a scent that fills eyes with tears and tatters the flags on the University’s towers. But there are older dangers, too, in damp tunnels beneath the earth, as Adaire and Red Jack are about to discover. Back in the compound, Hella Varal, Death’s Servant, finds time to quell the anxieties of the young Ranger. And Lem King, gangly, human, finds himself burning with hunger and ambition. Around him, the city of Marielda burns too. This week on Spring in Hieron: A Place and A Time There will come a MOMENT when you will be required to rely on the MEMORY of others, and you will find yourself disappointed. Details you consider TRIVIAL will have been raised to prominence in RECOLLECTION. Valuable assets will have been FORGOTTEN. Do not, however, allow your frustration to hide from you the GIFT that you have been given. Pay close attention. Everything h

Before the travelers from the Last University settle into their guest lodging on the peninsula of Alcyon, they must finish some small bits of business. Throndir, avatar of justice, investigates ways to prevent his unique weaknesses from troubling him during the remains of the visit. Fero seeks an answer to the question of Alcyon’s continued magical nature, and finds instead something (and someone) tied to his past. Hadrian’s business brings him to his son’s ever-studious side. And Ephrim, his work for the day done, waits in the wings to find where he might be useful. This week on Spring in Hieron: An Attractive Offer NEOPHYTES often ask why the UNIVERSITY demands that young mages develop not only arcane ACUMEN but also moral CONSTITUTION. The answer is simple. To do otherwise would be a grand, fatal ERROR. -An excerpt from the Crystalized Lectures of the Wizard Fantasmo A transcription is available for this episode here.A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provi

Above the Last University, two suns hang, unbalanced. Under their shearing light, the heroes of this makeshift city move into action, even though they may not yet know what action they ought take. For Hella Varal, it is the needs of those with the least that must be addressed: shelter, food, water, ease of mind. The fundamentals that all need and deserve. For Adaire Ducarte, who joins the Golden Lance member Callowkeen and the ancient warrior Red Jack, “action” must come only after careful investigation. And for the archivist and bard Lem King, the answers must, must, be found in a book. But if not there, then… perhaps, finally, it is time to get creative. This week on Spring in Hieron: The Second Sun ALCHEMY is, of all disciplines, the most underappreciated. Young MAGES, perhaps even yourselves, see it as a vulgar display of MAGIC, something that anyone with a RECIPE, the tools, and patience may pursue. And it is true, alchemy does not draw on the developed talents of a mage, or on the intrinsic strength o

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-cal