The Road to PALISADE 16: Serious Reading

Heads up: This is our world building episode for our new season, where we describe the setting and some major components. If you're less interested in hearing us chat about that and more interested in getting to the action, you can wait (or skip ahead) to episode 01! The first half hour is us defining our aesthetics for the season, the next hour and a half is us building and explaining different city ships, and the last hour is some basic details about our characters if you want to skip around! Floating in the sunset-hued safety of the Twilight Mirage, the Divine Fleet hums and pulses, its ships bright beacons of culture and technology in an age when both are under threat. All through the fleet, organic and synthetic citizens work side by side to protect a utopia that the universe thought impossible. In the past, we'd convinced ourselves that our technologies were just reflections of those who made them: Tools to fit our hands, robots to ease our labor, artificial beings to teach, protect, and entertain us. We believed that our greatest achievement—the machine-gods we called Divines—were simply idols made in our own image. We were wrong. Since the first grain silo, the first cathedral, the first ship, the first computer. Since the first time we put pen to page—we've always made things bigger, quicker, longer lasting, different than us. For a long time, we thought we were building mirrors. But now we know better: We were setting fires. When humanity made this realization 30,000 years ago, we faced a dilemma: The divines were not only more capable than us, they were different. And we were no longer capable of denying those facts. But the scholar and prophet Kamala Cadence diverted disaster by unifying loose, competing strands of organic and synthetic belief to form a new school of thought: The Resonant Orbit, a harmonic faith that affirmed both human and robotic life without reducing one to the other. Where other ideologies saw difference as a threat, the Resonant Orbit saw it as an undeniable fact of life. And so, in this small corner of the Milky Way Galaxy, life blossomed. A choir of 300 Divines built a new society alongside billions of human devotees. Advancements in science and technology joined with a diverse, growing culture of art and scholarship, leading to whole new ways of life. And while threats did arrive, peace always followed. The Divine Fleet always had room for difference, and because of this, the Divine Fleet knew only peace and prosperity for eons. But over the last millennium, the divines have begun to die. Attacks from within and without have pierced their once-immortal shells, and even small mistakes have proven fatal. Three hundred years ago, their number fell to eight, and in the face of these deaths, the Divine Empyrean created the Twilight Mirage, a false nebula in which the fleet might find shelter and time. And for a while, we did. A new stability arrived, and though more divines met their ends, our faith gave us the strength to fight, to work, to find new ways to survive. But today, there are only two divines left. We will face a future more uncertain than we've ever known. Our utopia—a world that so many worked to build—is in decline, and our pantheon is decimated. For years, the Divines protected us, gifted us with their strength and technology, lifted us into the forms we most desired. But now we face a hard truth: We are no longer their wards, they are ours. Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000), Sylvi Clare (@captaintrash), and Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), 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!!

29 Juni 20173h 16min

Hey Everyone! Here's the audio from our live post mortem for Winter in Hieron! We looked back at the season together, spoke about our motivations and feelings, and answered your questions! It was a lot of fun and we love doing this every year, so thank you for joining us and for sending in your questions! We also made some pretty big announcements! If you're excited for that sweet patreon content, head over to https://friendsatthetable.cash. If you just can't wait for that Twilight Mirage, you're in luck! Our world building episode is going up thursday, and our first real adventure on Friday! We're so, so excited for Twilight Mirage and wanted to make sure we had a good jumping on point for everyone who just wants to get to the action. We've been really overwhelmed by the support so far. Thank you for listening and we hope you all enjoy what comes next! Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000), Sylvi Clare (@captaintrash), and Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), 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!!

28 Juni 20173h 17min

Hey everyone! Yesterday's live post mortem was a big day for us, and since the turn around time for getting that full episode up for you is longer than just a day, we wanted to be able to bring the announcements we made here as soon as possible. So here it is! Twilight Mirage! Patreon! New games! New shows! Cool Rewards!!!! I talked too much in this announcement so I'm gonna keep from rambling here, but I just want to take the time to say thank you, thank you, thank you. ANYWAY, here's all the links to all the things: Patreon: friendsatthetable.cash Video for the post-mortem stream: https://youtu.be/a9xJB4ZhPvs Twilight Mirage preview if you wanna listen to that banger again: https://soundcloud.com/friendsatthetable/twilight-mirage-preview Twilight Mirage, the song, if you wanna buy it from Jack: https://notquitereal.bandcamp.com/ Invitation to our discord channel: https://discord.gg/6GZkzBC And that's all the stuff! Thank you so much for everything, everyone. That your excitement for all of this mirrors ours is overwhelming and humbling and we can't wait to make more stuff. 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!!

25 Juni 201725min

I write this with no knowledge of where you are, or if you are. Yet, still, I write. And as I write, my words are overtaken by memories. Your finger pointing at verse in some ancient text—I have forgotten the book's name in favor of remembering your eyes, bright. Your voluminous generosity, as you led me into inquiry I dared not pursue. Your voice, angry, confused, and honest in the face of terror. And then, for the last time, your stark figure silhouetted against early moonlight on that hill south of Rosemerrow. Has the paladin protected you, I wonder? Could I have offered my own protection instead of simply suggesting I hide you away like I did the others? I thought I was presenting you a gift, but in retrospect, I fear I was too vague: Perhaps you believed that I felt you were important in general—like the others I saved—instead of important to me. I'm moving now, Pupil. I'm retrieving the book and with it, I will build us a home. All of us. I'm moving now because I must. Because I will not let your memory be still stone in my mind, but will treat you instead as a river in my heart, a path to follow towards a bright, distant sea. Perhaps I will lose myself on the way. Or, perhaps, I will find you. Your Tutor, Always This Week on Friends at the Table: Slow Justice Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000), Sylvi Clare (@captaintrash), and Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) 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!!

22 Juni 20171h 43min

Living Blood of Fire, I had reservations, but your so-called 'Fel anchor' captured the curator Havelton after my own scouts could not. I am a proud man, but not too proud to see utility in action. Despite their effectiveness, I plead with you to not yet move on the island. It is imperative that we know exactly what is on in that place before we attack, and my interrogation of the witch scholar provides is already providing answers. For instance: That blade of the Queenkiller's is not of Ordennan make at all. It is something much, much older, built by occultists before the erasure. They called it the "Blade in the Dark," and it was supposedly a tool to fight some ancient nemesis. She said that it held something older than the Ordennan Empire, though that seemed obvious—old blades draw blood for long times. When I demanded the heretic tell me more, she looked me in the eyes with the ferocity of Impetor Mall and said, plainly, that for all of its sharpness, the blade in the dark is first and foremost a place. "It is a gateway and a manor both, and invitations are always at the ready." I am not sure what that means, but this alone gives me pause. Give me another day with "Sunder" Havelton. The answers will be our shield. Justiciar-Captain Stornras Unblooded This week on Friends at the Table: What Life Looks Like Her blade is not Ordennan yet kills the cursed and the uncanny? Then it—like the Queenkiller herself—must be retrieved. Whatever other secrets Havelton knows can be obtained after we recover Hella Varal, dispatch her traitorous allies, and deal with whatever power has drawn them here. You say that we should not yet moe on the island, Glasseye. Yet as we speak, I raise ballast so that our ship may take flight: The island is moving on us. Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), 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!!

15 Juni 20172h 1min

I swear on my life and on the pattern, Collector-Curator, it was a mistake! A tragedy! A deception! I was misled! Tel bewitched me. He is a hexer and a conniver, and he put me in step with his quick words and devious gestures. I thought only that the "bard" was providing components for the pattern, not that he would be the traveler himself. If I helped, it was only to remain in my role as your agent and not too quickly reveal my true allegiance. I thought that the gate would remain open long enough for you to see my signal and arrive, but before I could even send it, the boy was gone, violin and mask in hand. Please, Ferr. I know I've failed you. I know that this must be mended—and if you will allow me one more apparitive pattern, I can make it right. But please, please know that my loyalty was never compromised. Your most loyal agent, Zhan Kurr This time on Friends at the Table: A Good Metaphor Kurr, your loyalty was never in doubt. Only your ability. They cry out in the streets. They rush to Corsica's banner. Now, more than ever, the people of the archives require something solid, something with weight. We do not need your painted air. We need the original pattern fixed. And if it is too far to touch from here, and too late to "mend it" without your illusions, it is time for me to act—as I should have all along. I have held the book tight to me for months. It is time I open it. You have a choice: Help me, or stay out of my way. Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000), Sylvi Clare (@captaintrash), and Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) 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!!

8 Juni 20171h 31min

Archivist van der Dawes, Thank you for your interest, and the letter you sent. Your inquiries are extensive, and I've always thought of that as a good thing. Find enclosed the requested index of names of the principal figures of The Illustrated Concordance of Marielda. Please know that this isn't an index for the book itself, as writing one of those would effectively only be a reproduction of the Concordance itself. Also find inside a copy of the figures missing from the earlier edition that you are working from. As to your final question: "What ever happened to the Blade in the Dark?" Well, Devar, you need to understand that however powerful the Blade is, however dangerous, it is not special. It is not guided through time towards us. It is just one more brick in the tall wall of history. And eventually, bricks, they break, or they fall out of place, or they're covered up by a new layer, or they are taken away by someone, placed in a garden, maybe, as trim. What I mean to say is that the Blade vanished into time. I can track it but so far: Scavengers, traders, mercenaries. Survivors. A cult, briefly. Briefly. A hero who drew it only one time. A villain who never dared touch it. And then, ages ago, it vanished. This is not something to correct or to concern yourself with. You do not ask about the petard that set Samot's tower to fall, nor the gauntlet that Samantine left on the Eastland Shores. These, like the Blade, have served their purpose. To be an archivist is to keep everything in its place. But to be a historian is to swim, curious, in a sea of unfinished stories. Keep studying, Semiotician-Emeritus Uklan Tel This week on Friends at the Table: A Shattering Note Man, don't take this the wrong way, but why are you like this? You write about the foolish plans of jealous gods, about arrogant wizards, about people who were so dedicated that they rearranged history itself. I'm not saying that the Blade has some Chosen Path Through History, man. I'm just saying you put a weapon like that in a world with people in it—you know, our world—and it ain't just gonna vanish one day. I read your concordance carefully, Tel, and I know one thing real well: That thing ain't a brick in a wall, it's a door no one's opened in a while. -D Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), 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!!

1 Juni 20171h 57min

I don't know if this device will transmit over this distance, so I'm gonna be brief. This place is just like you said it would be. The Sonorous Academy still stands. The Paladin and the Ranger are here. Phantasmo, no, the Wizard is not, but I must confirm what they claim. I don't understand. I'm closer to the Original Pattern than any archivist or mage has been in ages, but I cannot close the distance. The nearer I get, the more twisted the route. This place is a maze even when it is straight. Do not put the second pattern in motion. They will be lost without him. S U N D E R This Week on Friends at the Table: Twenty Two Brown Birds I don't know if you will receive this message or not, but our time grows short. H&D spreads in the west, held at bay by tall tower and white wall. Time is shorter now than ever before, and I cannot wait longer to hear from you. I must finalize the second pattern before it is too late. T E L Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Sylvi Clare (@captaintrash), and Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) 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!!

25 Maj 20171h 31min