Friends At The Table

Princeton, The Powdered Sugar Horse “Only a fool would say the horse does not belong at the beach,” wrote a young Elliott Callahan in 1885. “The British, in their usual parsimonious fashion, insist that the beach is the province of the donkey, but the fact of the matter is that as far as strength, determination, and grit are concerned: one can do no wrong by bringing the horse—America’s workhorse, if you will—down to the waterfront.”  By 1897, horses were a regular sight on the Bluff City boardwalk.  Carriah and Letitia dragged the boat launch down to the water and back. Maribeth stood patiently by the bicycle rental stand and blinked placidly at passing cyclists. The less about Big Arthur that is committed to the historical record, the better.  The most beloved of these animals, however, was Princeton: the mild mannered Clydesdale who pulled the Princeton Powdered Sugar wagon. Though whether he was named after the company or vice versa is a matter of some dispute, his sweet temper and calm demeanour is no

(If you'd like to follow along to everyone watching Mr. Ed Plays Baseball at 1:22:24, here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlVr45CHOuA ) Three Out of Five It Ain’t Bad During the late 1880s and early 1890s, the Bluff City Boardwalk saw a surge (and then sudden decline) in the unusual genre of “Lovers’ Songs”. Enterprising organ grinders would charge participants a small sum, hand out a broadsheet, and then act as an accompanist to a lovesick singer.  These proved wildly unpopular. The songs were never particularly emotive, the cost was slightly too high, but the primary nail in the coffin was that it turned out that nobody liked to be sung to - in public - by a potential beau (who was invariably fighting the volume of a barrel organ two feet away).  Most of these songs had faded into obscurity by the time Elliott Callahan, in 1899, recorded “Three Out of Five It Ain’t Bad”, a song that fails - straightforwardly - at communicating anything about love, or indeed anything at all.    I wish I could g

What A Big Building, I Can’t See The Top By 1898, construction had begun on several boardwalk-side buildings that so exceeded the previous maximum building height that they caused a city-wide stir. Of course, early skyscrapers had been constructed before, closer to the city centre, but these new buildings’ proximity to the ocean was a cause for excitement and, in some cases, concern. Would the ocean winds knock them over? Was it an act of hubris to situate such a tall building so close to the waves?  These questions, however, were the purview of city folk. Those on the boardwalk were mostly disinterested by the whole situation, or irritated by the construction noise, or confused as to why the skyscrapers were called for at all.  Elliott Callahan, writing in the summer of 1898, and seized with the “skyscraper spirit”, asked a local organ grinder to “let loose a tune commemorating the new buildings that [he] might put it to paper.” The resulting tune did not reflect the spirit in which it was requested.    S

I Can’t Find My Way Off Atlantic During the winter of 1895, the main thoroughfare of Atlantic Avenue was set upon by work crews from City Hall, who - in preparation for the approaching 20th Century - sought to improve the quality of the road surfaces and allow for increased traffic. The works were scheduled to last no longer than two months - but, thanks to mismanagement, bad luck, and direct appropriation of funds - the project stretched languorously into the summer of 1896: the year of the heatwave.  “What a disaster,” wrote Elliott Callahan. “The wheels of carts, of automobiles, sinking into the asphalt as it melted on the streets. Confused horses. Shouting patrons. Great columns of immobilised travellers, the length of the avenue.”  From the relative safety of the boardwalk, far from the sounds of the work crews, the organ grinders were known to sing:    Oh once, long ago, I knew peace in my heart, I would rise with the sun and the birds! But now I am stuck in the back of a cart, And my anger surpasses

Here's our GenCon liveshow set in Marielda, playing Blades in the Dark! While this game of Blades in the Dark takes place in our Marielda setting, it's totally listenable even without that background (at least, that's what some totally new fans told us at the event!). That said, I do think listening to Marielda first makes it shine even brighter. For those curious, it takes place in the time jump between "The Valentine Affair Pt. 4" and "Four Conversations," and here's how we listed it in the big list of GenCon Events: Come watch a high stakes heist in an industrial fantasy world like no other! Friends at the Table leads you through a live Blades in the Dark game featuring new and returning players from their Marielda campaign. For new fans, get ready to learn about tea witches, lovelorn gods, and a very unpredictable train. For those in the know: Months before their climactic confrontation, Aubrey and Sige find themselves teamed up with a rival gang on a robbery like no other. Their target is a national trea

Hello hello everyone!! Today you are treated to a special episode of a RANDOM ARTICLE, a potential patreon podcast where we go to a random article on wikipedia and TALK ABOUT IT! It's good and funny. I promise. This is being released because it was a milestone for our marathon livestream fundraiser for the National Network of Abortion Funds. Thank you so much to everyone who's donated and who made this possible. We've been blown away by your support and we're looking forward to continuing the event TODAY!!!!!! Please come out and hang out and support reproductive rights if you're able!! THANK! YOU! EVERY! ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm gonna make this easy and just say, here is every link mentioned in the intro to this episode. twitch.tv/friendsatthetable https://tiltify.com/@friendsatthetable/marathon-for-abortion-funds https://possible-worlds-games.itch.io/scene-thieves https://worldchampgameco.itch.io/standoff https://worldchampgameco.itch.io/wish-you-were-here https://www.twitter.com/fisherfruit

BEFORE WE GET TO THE EPISODE THERE IS AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!!!! This upcoming weekend, July 3rd and July 4th, Friends at the Table will be doing a LIVE STREAM MARATHON FUNDRAISER for the National Network of Abortion Funds!! We'll be hosting the stream over at twitch.tv/friendsatthetable JOIN US 12 - 8 PM ET JULY 3RD AND JULY 4TH! Watch us play some videogames! Listen to us play some ttrpgs!!! Enjoy us not playing games at all for a bit of it!!! We might do a Marielda one shot . . . . ? It'll be fun! Tell your friends!!     The Scamps Are About The unusually mild spring of 1891 saw an unusual craze sweep the length of the Bluff City boardwalks, when the organ grinders found themselves targeted by the city’s children in an outbreak of particularly nefarious behavior. The children, moving in loosely organized packs, would fall upon one organ grinder after another. Some would find the cans that contained their tunes removed and dropped off the pier. Others would turn their organs’ handles and salt wate

Old Mister, Old Mister In 1897, the “Twin-Pan” barrel organ was introduced to Bluff City by the Callahan Corporation and took the boardwalk by storm. The ease of use, the smoothness of operation, and purity of tone were a significant step forward from the common “Trout” model used at the time. These new instruments were expensive to source, and as such, many organ grinders found themselves pushed out of business by “Twin-Pan” operators paid for by the boardwalk hotels.  This song, first recorded by Elliott Callahan in 1899, speaks to the mingled pain and opportunity felt on the boardwalks in those days.  Old Mister, Old Mister, I heard from my sister! The man on the boardwalk is closing up shop, Oh brother, our mother has heard from another, A new kind of organ has forced him to stop!  The tunes that it plays are a new kind of sweetness, Old Mister, Old Mister, my spirits take flight! Old Mister, with such incomparable neatness, Its harmonies thrill and its measures delight! So brother, we’re

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 the first season of Sangfielle and answer your questions! Thank you so much for all of your questions and for listening to Sangfielle! We hope you enjoy this send off! As mentioned in the stream, the next few weeks of on this feed will by our game of Mall Kids for Bluff City, a patreon exclusive campaign! We think its one of the funniest games we've ever done and are excited to share it with our entire audience.    

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 Samanth

This episode carries content warnings for memory loss, multiple realities, blood, gun violence, vomiting, death, mention of mass destruction, insectoid creatures, and a character trapped in an enclosed space.   And so the Blackwick Group went its ways: Marn north towards the Telluricists and Duvall to Aldomina; Lyke to a place where he could confront himself fully and Es to aid Dyre Ode and the boy Gasto in destroying the wards of Concentus. Hazard, never officially a member, nevertheless found themself picking up one of the group’s oldest threads, and bloodying the nose of a foe each would be happy to wound. So what about Pickman? Well. Pickman stayed, of course. There was work to be done. And it would take her quarry leaving town to get her to do the same… This week on Sangfielle: Six Travelers: Pickman The Almanac of the Heartland Rider Places 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

This episode carries content warnings for organs, mass destruction, blood, general and surgical body horror, and bodily transformation. When the mysterious and genteel Dyre Ode made Es the offer, it was one of the rare moments of doubt for the ancient and powerful figure. Would they accept the invitation? Could she assist them when the moment of truth came? One thing that Dyre was certain of, though, was that if they were successful, Es was uniquely suited for what would come next. This week on Sangfielle: Six Travelers: Es The Almanac of the Heartland Rider Places 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 Dyre Ode (he/they): When an agent of the almanac pressed this mysterious, masked figure for more information

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 journeys heads 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 dar

This episode carries content warnings for human sacrifice, knives, explosions, memory loss, death. When Hazard entered our story, they may have seemed like someone defined by what was missing. But in truth, they had something that the members of the Blackwick Group never did: A clear and obvious objective. Now, standing on the other side of vengeance, they have the freedom (and the burden) of deciding what comes next.   This week on Sangfielle: Six Travelers: Hazard   The Almanac of the Heartland Rider Places 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 The Sunken Empress Altapasqua (she/her): Around fifty years after the panic set in, Altapasqua told her people she would ride across this cursed land and purge it of its disease and danger. She only

This episode carries content warnings for blood, memory loss, illusory reality, discussion of possible hallucination. You might wonder where the rest of the erstwhile Blackwick Group might be headed after their fracture in Blackwick. But deep down inside, you probably know exactly where Lye Lychen is headed, don’t you? That man has unfinished business, and he is nothing if not someone committed to getting straight to the task at hand.   This week on Sangfielle: Six Travelers: Lyke   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

This episode carries content warnings for blood, illusory reality, discussion of possible hallucination. We’re nearly at the end now, but there is nevertheless some way to go still. Six ways, in fact. First: the Keen Marn Ancura heads north along with the shape knight Bucho and a number of refugees who have finally, truly had enough of Blackwick and its curses.  This week on Sangfielle: Six Travelers: Marn 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. 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. Zevunzolia: Who the hell knows. A miraculous city waiting to be built? A utopian

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

This episode carries content warnings for knives, sword swallowing, the appearance of amputation.bodily transformation, mind control/magical compulsion, discussion of death, mass destruction, and public panic. The Carnival of Moted Light has come to Blackwick. Behind the storm of dust and destruction, a town revels in open bewilderment. A big top. The sound of shouting down the way. A moon above. A barker guiding you deeper in. It will pass. It will pass soon. Unless someone decides otherwise.   This week on Sangfielle: Dead in the Dust 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. Sapodilla: One of, if not the, largest city inside of the walls of Concentus. Sapodilla rests on the western shore of the vast lake th

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 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 rest

This episode carries content warnings for cannibalism, blood, direct physical trauma to a bodily organ, burned hands, implied temporary imprisonment, and rotten food. Having escaped Alaway's ad hoc temple, the Blackwick Group has attended to their collective wounds and begun to piece together what the vampiric Lord of Wax is planning. In short: godhood. In detail: the theft and usurpation of the last, material power of the Mother-Beast, the god who once called this territory hers. They know, too, that to confront their foe directly at this point would be to invite destruction and calamity. And so it is time for counter-schemes and further research. Perhaps, though... perhaps just a peek? A quick look at what this recurring enemy is capable of. Just a glance, and nothing more. This week on Sangfielle: Wax, Inchor, and Iron 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