Friends At The Table

Memoriam College only wears flowers for one week a year. On Sunday morning of that week, they send a man called Alexander to fetch them from the florists on Today-And-Tomorrow Street. He carries them back to the building and, balanced on a ladder, arms full of blooms, fixes the arrangements above the balconies. As he works, butchers and chefs down in the kitchens peer at yellowed recipe cards, trying to remember just how they made these dishes last year. In the empty refectory, Prelate Silas practices the grace he knows so well, looking at himself in the mirror. You’re getting old, he thinks. He sounds out the prayer’s vowels and its consonants carefully. He practices a smile. With eyes closed, he imagines exactly the day that lay ahead. Across town, five scoundrels do exactly the same. This week on Marielda: The Valentine Affair Pt. 1 You did remember to study, right?   Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring  Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Sylvi Clare (@captaintrash), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal) a

For the baker, news of a brewing turf war is a good sign. Hungry fighters are mouths to feed, and so they tend to their ovens and wipe flour from their brows. For the smiths and armorers too, business goes up as neighbors and governesses double up on weapons kept behind doors and under desks, just in case, just in case. Fewer people play on the streets, but the music in pubs and cafes is louder than ever—a good fight deserves a little accompaniment. Flag-makers and seamstresses see a brief upturn in trade as symbols of gangs and factions are hastily embroidered onto collars and lapels. In Marielda’s language of flowers, the azalea has come to symbolise the moment where, just before entering the water, the diver takes one final, deep breath. They are blossoming early this year. This week on Marielda: War and Azaleas You better watch your step. Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring  Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Sylvi Clare (@captaintrash), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3

To look at a city from above changes it irrecoverably, and so it was for the passengers on Train Day. And say what you like, but the windows in the carriages seemed each to show a different city, a different nest of streets. Those in the engine room saw the smoke from the factories and furnaces, and Marielda hissed and smouldered. Those in the rear carriages looked down upon Canopy Row and wondered whether Chrysanthemum Parish had always been so close. Passengers in the dining carriage looked down onto the parks and boulevards and Marielda smiled back in cypress trees and laurel bushes. No windows lit the pala-din's carriage as they waited in the dark, and for them, in that moment, Marielda barely existed at all, as if a dream recounted long ago. There is a word for all of this, my friends, taking many meanings across our wide city, and the word is reconfiguration. This week on Marielda: The Crosstown Job, Pt. 2 Just for a moment, you felt safe... Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring  Ali Acam

Marielda is a city filled with scoundrels. Bakers lean on the scales as they count loaves of bread. Men and women in pubs shoot loaded dice. Art dealers swear, solemnly swear, that this is a genuine Sabbatini, just look at the brushstrokes. No, scoundrels in Marielda are ten-a-penny. But sometimes, the sun smiles, and its light shines upon those who have something… particular about them. Look, there they are now. A strongman, binding up his fists in front of a mirror. A dancing master, marking time with a dagger. A little alchemist emerging from a cloud of something purplish. And an alabaster figure, face covered by the wide brim of a hat. Step forward into the light, my friends. This Week on Marielda: The Crosstown Job Pt. 1 When I see your face, it's like lookin' into a mirror.   Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring  Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Sylvi Clare (@captaintrash), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000) Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west) Cover Art by Cra

For a while, everything was going just fine in Marielda. Sure, there was some dissent among the citizens—but what city is free of that? In general, people were coming together, rebuilding, taking care of each other. Canopy Row wasn't thriving, but it was definitely surviving. Knowledge was spreading throughout the city. Even them Cobbins had begun to find their place. And then, sometime in the middle of the year, everything seemed to turn. First, the marble-faced pala-din came marching from the sea, half-alive extensions of Samothes' personal brand of justice. Then... well, as we'd soon learn, the pala-din weren't even the half of it.   This week on Marielda: The City of Light Pt. 2   I wonder what ever happened to her...     Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Keith J Carberry (@KeithJCarberry), Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart), Nick Scratch (@drevilbones), and  Art Tebbel (@atebbel) Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west) Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot) Music by Jack de Quidt (@no

In the time of fraught paladins and wavering wizards, of contemptible fighters and indignant druids, of wide eyed rangers… and of bards, the people of the continent of Hieron recover and rebuild in the aftermath of a cataclysm.    But, after all, for every inside there is an outside—no disaster was the first of its kind, except, of course, for… well...     And so, in the years prior to the event that would come to be called the Erasure, in a time of civil conflict, the people of Hieron faced calamity, and they sought to recover and rebuild.    For a long while, blessed Samothes led His Somber Campaign against the heretical armies of the Boy-Traitor Samot, clashing steel in valleys and volleying arrows across plainlands. In time, though, your wise lord, the god-alive, recognized that there had been a stalemate, and that you, His people, were suffering.   And so, He returned to you, to His home, your city in the south, moving at fast pace, the dust of the Traitor Charioteers rolling like thunder behind him. And

With COUNTER/Weight firmly wrapped up, we take some time to answer fan questions, discuss the highs and lows of the season, and talk a little bit about what’s coming next for Friends at the Table!   For those following along at home, make sure to check out the following things during the relevant segment of the show: This map of Mode City, September; this tweet which explains the actual, true origins of Divines and Riggers; this picture of a robot friend from Titanfall 2.   This week on COUNTER/Weight: Live Post-Mortem   Take a bow.   Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Keith J Carberry (@KeithJCarberry), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Sylvi Clare(@captaintrash), Andrew Lee Swan (@andrewleeswan) and Art Tebbel (@atebbel) Produced by Ali Acampora 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

Hey everyone, we are taking a week off here at Friends at the Table but we do have an announcement to make. We're going to be doing a post-mortem for COUNTER/Weight that will be streamed live at twitch.tv/friendsatthetable on Tuesday, June 21st at 7 PM EST! We're really looking forward to looking back on the show and answering some of your questions so please send those questions in to friendsatthetable[@]gmail.com or via DM to our Twitter, @Friends_Table. We will be recording the discussion and releasing it as a proper episode, so please send in questions even if you don't think you'll make the live stream! Thank you so much for listening and for supporting us. Making COUNTER/Weight has been something really special for us and a big part of that has been due to all the support we've gotten from you. Ali goes over all of the games that we played this season and you can find more about them here. See you next week~! A transcription is available for this episode here.A full list of completed transcriptions is a

15,000 years or so before the September Incident, it went something like this:   Somehow, they'd survived. They'd peeled across the galaxy itself, launched by the combined force of a half dozen stellar combusters. Shielded by Rigor's endless mass, they'd subsisted on machine-assembled proteins and nutrients, suffering in the lonely dark at high speeds.    They weren't quite candidates, but they were the closest thing Rigor had. So it stung, in so far as Rigor can be stung, when they slipped from its grip in the light of the Golden Branch. As the bulk of its body bore deep into the ice of Ionias (and deeper still into slumber), they wrenched free from it and found land elsewhere, taking bits of the machine god with them.   There was a debate among the survivors, though. What to do with the remnants? With living technology that protected and provided for them in the dark just as it had once exploited and used them?    Some survivors joined under the banner of a young, charismatic leader--Chess Kesh--whose optim

Fifteen years ago, soon after the the Golden War ended, Grace issued her ex cathedra prognosis: With Apostolos defeated (and ‘integration’ well in process) and peace firmly in place with the Orion Conglomerate, the Diaspora had finally brought into being the end of history as such. Certainly, there was still difference in how OriCon and the Diaspora operated, but the writing was on the wall: The Diaspora’s method of mechanized democracy was the final, universal form of governance that all true civilizations would eventually arrive at. OriCon would be the next to prove it: After all, each and every day those oligarchs put more and more faith in automation, deferred again and again to procedural logic. It was only a matter of time before they elected their own divines, even if they went by other names. Certainly, Grace explained, there’d be more disputes over territory and resources, and yes, of course there would be new inventions and technological progress. But in the long run, the state of things had settled

It has been four and a half years since the Chime confronted Rigor on the planet of September, an event that has been dismissed as insignificant, yet simultaneously has served as a key catalyst for immense change in the Golden Branch star sector. Living symbols of unity become increasingly erratic and violent. Empowered operatives, both public and hidden, take action against the most corrupt forces in the sector. Noble leaders threaten their own democracies through charm alone. And in the face of increased stress, daring radicals find themselves struggling to keep their revolutions afloat. And now... a familiar voice, a knock on the door, a reminder that there are threats greater still than tomorrow.   This week on COUNTER/Weight: A Splintered Branch, A Ringing Bell Pt. 1 Even a watched pot boils eventually... Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Keith J Carberry (@KeithJCarberry), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Sylvi Clare (@captaintrash), Andrew Lee Swan (@andre

“It is with great joy and humility that we make the debut of this machine today. For so long, so many have struggled here on the frontier. Food is scarce, and time is even more precious. A hard day of labor is a thing to be proud of, but it does not yet stretch far enough. Soon, though, we will thrive, prosper, and if we work with dedication and vigor, we may even profit.” -Chief Engineer Irene Klipsch-Dove, 100 years before the activation of the first Stellar Combustor   This week on COUNTER/Weight: The Storm Over September   The difference is something to do with the sound Or partly to do with the color   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 A transcription is available for this episode here.A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are

As the only clock that really matters ticks further and further down, The Chime find themselves facing one sealed door after another. But do the doors protect something precious or keep something dangerous locked safely away? AuDy makes one final attempt at convincing Maryland that the planet isn't a safe place. Mako finds too-brief refuge in the arms of another. Aria Joie’s investigation into Maritime Lapel leads her to a dark truth about someone close to her. And Cassander Timaeus Beranice walks alone into a large, dark room. This week on COUNTER/Weight: Just Another Machine What's the worst mistake you've ever made? 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 A transcription is available for this episode here.A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcripti

As ships pull into high orbit over September and an uncanny groan bleats from below it, The Chime pair off and move to complete their mission. Cassander and AuDy find themselves wondering if there's more to Dr. September's cabin than meets the eye. Meanwhile, Aria Joie and Mako Trig scrub through the past for an answer to the Institute's biggest mysteries. This week on COUNTER/Weight: Found Footage Do you ever wish you could rewind time? 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 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 trans

20,000 years before The Chime met on Counterweight, long before the Golden War against Apostolos, the Automated Diaspora devised a plan to stop Rigor once and for all, and at great cost... This week on COUNTER/Weight: Visions from Windows, Or: The Last Time the Bomb Dropped Alright, alright. Now back to work!   Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Produced by Ali Acampora 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!!

Throughout the Golden Branch Star Sector, leaders leap into action as news of a new, galactic threat spreads. Minerva's Steiger sisters move their invisible fleet into position. The Rapid Evening digs in deeper to their new outpost in the sector. Rigor stirs from it's slumber. And on Counterweight, Ibex knocks on a door. This week on COUNTER/Weight: Everything is Temporary Easy come, easy go Featuring Sylvi Clare (@captaintrash) and Andrew Lee Swan (@andrewleeswan) Produced by Ali Acampora  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!!

Though the rain seems to clear over the September Institute, The Chime move with well-learned caution. Mako Trig walks familiar steps, only to find something very askew. AuDy and Maryland spar, first over the notion of leaving the planet, and then about more... esoteric things. And Aria and Cass find themselves facing the cost of brief, innocent indecision. This week on COUNTER/Weight: A Knock at the Door Light showers continuing throughout the day! 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) Intro 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

Maryland September has been located and The Chime are safe but only for the moment. The storm rages outside and with it, threat hangs heavy in the air. In a space that is both familiar and unfamiliar, where does the real danger lie? A simple phone call, a little impatience, a forgotten responsibility, and a distant memory... what could be worse than a little rain? This week on COUNTER/Weight: Reaching Out What lies beyond the bounds?   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) Intro 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 transc

After a near death encounter with a mysterious shooter, The Chime finally makes its way onto the seaside campus of the September Institute. Mako Trig leads the team's investigation, guiding them down hallways real and virtual, old and new. Meanwhile, Cass manages his concerns (and his temper), Aria deals with a surprise reunion, and on an mechanistic instinct, AuDy plants a seed more important than they know.    This week on COUNTER/Weight: A Fractal Garden and an Intercepted Message   When you speak, who listens?   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) Intro 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

Now that they've secured their entrance into The September Institute, The Chime has one last thing to do before investigating the campus: making sure their two newest bells are safe. The storm stays steady as night falls on September, is searching for Orth and Jacqui really worth the risk...? Of course it is! Cassander relies on his tech, AuDy makes themselves a target, Mako is reminded of a very bad day and Aria tries her best to help. This time on COUNTER/Weight: Through The Crosshairs Remember to pull the trigger! 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) Intro 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 m