Friends At The Table

Hey everyone! Here's the second part of Fall of Magic! We open again the scroll, return to the side of the Magus, and watch as the world enters the Fall of Magic. Join Piccolo the swineherd of Barley Town (Dre), Harp the beautiful Golem of Ravenhall (Jack), Fawn the Vinegar Fox of Mistwood (Janine), and Caspian the Kind Crabsinger of Istalia (Austin) as they journey eastward as companions to the Magus. 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!!

Join Austin, Dre, Jack, and Janine--a hang-gliding town crier, a swineherd, a golem, and a... bush dog, respectively--as they travel with a mysterious Magus across a world that is slowly losing its mystical energy. This was definitely one of our favorites so far, and we hope you enjoy it while we take some time off to prepare for spring! If you like what you hear and you're able to, you can support us over at friendsatthetable.cash! Donating at the $5 level gives you access to an entire year's backlog of Live at the Table (and everything else at that tier!)

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

Exigency Register A-TM-V-742 - Total Record of Events, Entry 001 To whoever finds this message: My name is Keen Forester Gloaming. I am, at time of this recording, the Chief Intercessor of the Rapid Evening in the Quire System and Primary Observer of the Twilight Mirage. I speak these words on the eve of Crystal Palace’s arrival and the scheduled deployment of a limited scope stellar combustor to destroy the divine Volition and its’....   Well shit, I guess I have no idea if any of those words mean anything to you. Alright, let me start from the very top: My name is Keen, and I come from a place called the Principality of Kesh. It is a collection of hundreds of worlds, tied together by a lesion in our history: A long time ago, my people spent eons enslaved by a technological tyrant, extraction exalted. And then, by luck, we found ourselves freed and empowered. And using that strength, we faced our oppressor down. And in the generations that followed, we learned that the galaxy was filled with other threats ju

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 i

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 wi

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

Crystal Palace, in all its endless worker-bee wonder, clacks and whirs its way across space, and now, as it nears the destabilizing stain of the Twilight Mirage, time as well. Even now, in transport, it is thinking, predicting, prophesying: Its pulleys spinning with magnetic unison, decks of hole-punched cards flipping through its designators, a pleasant coughing of gears and pinions. This is how it knows everything. But it did not always: There was a moment before its creation--back when there was still time to divert the direction of the Principality--and a time during its bloody construction, when it felt the waves of the future but could not yet pass them on to us in anything more than a mechanical roar. And then there was the day it was finished, the very beginning of Guaranteed Events.   This week on Twilight Mirage: Guaranteed Events, Or: An Accounting of the Time When We Built the Machine You dream of walls that hold us imprisoned It's just a skull, least that's what they call it And we're free to r

In the year after the Miracle, wonder and surprise appeared all throughout the daily life of the residents of the Quire System. Unfortunately, the composition of the system's political structures moved at a much more sluggish pace. Diplomatic gridlock and (well-grounded) fear of conflict leashed even the most aggressive states. The result was the vexing sense that the system had calcified in an imperfect shape. "To live in the Mirage," it was said, "is to see something unimaginable before lunch, but to be frustrated by the predictable before dinner."   But the assassination attempt on the system's leaders, the attack of the Axiom Schism, the end of the Rogue Wave's civil war, and the heroism of the Qui Err Coalition seems to have shaken the system out of its stasis.   Yesterday, even the Notion's patrons—the Cadent Under Mirage and Declan's Corrective—had little faith that their project of a unified system would come to fruition. But today, Seneschal's Brace has not only found recognition as a distinct sovere

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

For the hundreds of days after the Miracle of the Mirage, the sky above the planet Moonlock was filled only with dust and color. While the occasional landed by and the odd satellite or station came briefly into view, the world was not--like many others in the system--a harbor for fleets or a rest stop for caravans. Perhaps, those on Moonlock thought, it was the planet's frightening proximity to Volition. Or maybe it was the tension of relationships on the surface, an awkward arrangement of Qui Err communities, NEH colonists, and of course, the militant "Particulars" who prowled the wastes looking for erratic phenomena to capture or destroy. It was not a particularly friendly world, Moonlock. So why should its skies be? But today, thousands of ships hang in orbit above the planet's capital city, the Sky Reflected In Mirrors. It is the Argosy, Spliced, flotilla of the NEH and the Church of the Self. And at the center of the fleet, is the Restitution of All Things, flagship of Our Profit, and current home to Fou

CW: This episode contains death and gun violence On one end of the Quire system, eminating from The Restiution of All Things, is the Profit's Star, an overawing beam of scalding light aimed at the distant eye of Crystal Palace, machine sage. But here, inside of the Mirage, the light shines on a free-floating, living sea. Driven by reckless commitment to success, Gig Kephart throws himself into overwhelming odds to achieve his mission and save that creature. Meanwhile, Even Gardner--consumed by a righteous bloodlust--pursues a desperate strategy that could turn the tables on their pursuers. And there at the middle of it all, enveloped by the light of Profit's Star, are a pair of siblings: Echo and Ballad Reverie, as they hurtle towards an inescapable clash of wills and hearts. This week on Twilight Mirage: The Siege of the Lineage Brighton Pt. 3 Signal coming in and out Hope you're doing well bruh Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Sylvi Clare (@captaintrash), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry

On paper, the Notion's mission to protect the Wandering Sea from the cruel talons of Advent is going well: They've secured the massive, mysterious cube that contains what they need to free the sea. They've reunited, having secured Echo Reverie from the dock at the city of Perigiean. Gig Kephart has recovered from a major injury more ready than ever to jump into danger. And they're heading into space, where pilot Even Gardner is most in his demesne. And yet there is something off about today. The mystery of a closed box, maybe. Or perhaps it is Even's devotion to the larger mission at hand. And then there's Gig's fervant desire to dive into the fray--he who was once a filmmaker now throwing himself into conflict like a mercenary. And certainly, laying under all of these things, there is Echo's lingering knowledge that family ties can not be left behind at the dinner table--and the nagging feeling that some connections may last even longer still... This week on Twilight Mirage: The Siege of the Lineage Brighton

In the year that followed the Miracle, the Brighton Lineage leveraged their skill as diplomats (and their resort-quality holdings) to gain favor with factions throughout the Mirage. So succesful were they that they became the de jure rulers of the Rogue Wave, supported not by a fleet of their own, but through a collection of treaties to the military powers of the Quire system. But with the arrival of Our Profit, the creation of Parhelia, and the revelation of the Rapid Evening, the system has been thrown into disaray, and the Brightons have been left without their external support. Smelling blood in the water--and spurred on by the relic-hunters of Advent--the Herringbone Flotilla, former leaders of the Rogue Wave, have finally struck. It is the first extended battle of the Post-Miracle Mirage, a war without guns, yet filled with bloodshed. Over the last month, Even Gardner, Echo Reverie, and Gig Kephart have helped the Brightons in keeping civilians safe from harm. They've also uncovered the real reason for

CW: This episode contains discussion of suicidal ideation. A single family remembers the Divine Pleroma, now. Neither Phive Amala nor her daughter, Aete, lived when Pleroma, a being of wholeness and breadth, still blessed the fleet with their wisdom and perspective. But every evening, just before bed, Phive Amala and her daughter, Aete, work through Pleroma's volume of the Assemblage two lines at a time. Not simply a habit, yet not quite a prayer. Still, the forces at work in the Miracle must have heard them read. Because from a scrap of the body of the being, a Basilica formed. A palace of faith and of knowledge. And now, inside of that place, Signet and Tender Sky must confront an old, difficult truth before continuing on to the Vault of Anticipation... where they will at last confront a new one. This week on Twilight Mirage: The Vault of Anticipation Pt. 2 This thing won't last unless we're both lyin' (both lyin') Fake flowers, no water needed Real life drowned by the weekend     Hosted by Austin Walk

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   Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) and Ali Acampora (@ali_west) Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west) Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot) A transcription is available for this episode here.A full list of completed transcriptions is available here

It is one day after the Second Miracle and the arrival of Our Profit, the so-called final hegemon of the New Earth Hegemony. Lit by the massive, false star projected by the Restitution of All Things, Our Profit's flagship, the Twilight Mirage hangs, shocked and quiet. But not for everyone. Resting and recovering in the apparent safety of the World Without End, a sudden wave of energy passes over the members of the Notion, sparked by a corrupted transmission from the all-seeing supercomputer, Crystal Palace. In their visions, the crew witness future conflicts, opportunities, victories, and betrayals. But not all revelations come in visions. This time on Twilight Mirage: Downtime on Skein We’ll let you guys prophesy We gon' see the future first Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Clare (@captaintrash), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000

Despite the faux-mornings and would-be-nights, the sun never rises or sets over the Quire system. Yet today, in the moments between light and darkness, the air hangs too quiet, the way it only does at dawn and dusk. As Fourteen Fifteen guards the scientist and artist Wind's Poem in a well-barricaded hotel room, Tender Sky goes to convince her ex, Open Metal, not to kill the Notion's Ward. Meanwhile, miles and miles away, Morning's Observation and Grand Magnificent search for answers in the floating allocology of the Church of the Self. Dark Day is here. But will it arrive, or be finally diverted? This week on Friends at the Table: Our Flaws in a Vacuum, or the Promise We Made To Each Other Click-clicking my heels wishing away the day Wish it could have been Tuesday, just not today   Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal) Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west) Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot) A transcript

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 Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Clare (@captaintrash), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000) Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west) Music by Jack de Quidt Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot) A transcription is available for this episode here.A full list of

With the prophesied "Dark Day" less than 24 hours away, the Notion continue their plan to intercede and stop the murder of Wind's Poem, one of the event's potential catalysts. Grand Magnificent and Fourteen Fifteen look for loopholes (legal and otherwise) that will give them access to the Compel Project blueprint. And while Tender Sky tries to convince their mark to come under the group's protection, Morning's Observation senses a threat to his boring life of simple Tuesdays. This week on Twilight Mirage: Open As Possible Forgot to tell you, gotta tell you how much I vibe with you   Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal) Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west) 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