Friends at the Table

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Spring in Hieron 19: A Night Like Tonight Mar 01, 2019

Show notes

The Creed of Samothes has, for countless years, spread its reach throughout society across Hieron. For many, it has provided strength, structure, and safety from the dangers of the wild world. But at its heart--not distinct from it, not a subversion or corruption--is a cynical ideology rooted in the fatalism of their first god: The world is ending. Limit the suffering of those still alive, so that they may pass easily. Tonight, Hella, Lem, and Adaire will learn the that "easing" suffering may take many forms…

Today on Spring in Hieron: A Night Like Tonight

It is common pastime across this University to debate DRACONIC classification. Fourth years lecture firsts about the distinction between DRAGONS and DRAKES, while research assistants struggle to place WYVERNS is clear category? "What of WYRMS," asked a colleague, recently, as if any answer to this or any other similar question mattered. No. LIVING or UNDEAD, aloft by WING or by AIR-SPIRIT, wielding FLAME or FOULNESS, the only relevant question is: How quickly will it kill you? -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 (@notquitereal) Text by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) 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 can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

Spring in Hieron 18: A Simple Answer Feb 23, 2019

Show notes

Across the campus and beyond the walls of the Last University, the gathering masses are holding their breath and asking themselves questions: What does the Wizard Arrell's conduit mean for Hadrian and his family, and how can Throndir help to protect them? How can Lem ease his Emmanuel's concern for an adventurer like him? How, wonders Fero, might a god grieve for his father? What money should a career thief like Adaire… or Blake Bromley not take? Who yet moves in that old Forge, which Ephrim knows too well? Who or what is stirring under starlight, and will Hella's blade be sharp enough for it? But these are questions of the few. The many voice other fears: How can the University serve the needs of the many when its own resources are so paltry? And if they cannot serve them, to whom will the people turn? An absent god? His wounded son? Who?

This week on Spring in Hieron: A Simple Answer

True TELEPORTATION is, without measure, the most dangerous and trying spell not explicitly created for violent ends and is thus the small purview of only the most advanced mages of the University… and reportedly some who study the so-called SEMIOTIC practices of the New Archives. Thankfully, there are other, safer, and more efficient means of completing tasks over long distances: ALCHEMIC DELIVERY, SYNCHRONOUS TRANSMISSION, and STRATUMINAL LINKAGE, depending on the distance traveled and, of course, the degree to which co-presence is required...

-An excerpt from the Crystalized Lectures of the Wizard Fantasmo

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) Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west) Music by Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal) Text by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) 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 can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

Spring in Hieron 17: A Desire to Live Feb 15, 2019

Show notes

From their home in the Last University, Adaire, Ephrim, Hadrian, and Throndir watch as refugees arrive from every direction as war and disaster spreads throughout the vastness of Hieron. From the north, where flood waters drive communities down into the continent. From the south, where Ordennan warships displace families with mechanical fire and thunder. And even from below the earth itself, where roots have taken too firm a hold. And there is one more new arrival too: With the events of the past week behind them, Lem, Fero, and Hella return to the Last University, and they travel with an illusionist with a penchant for betrayal….

This week on Spring in Hieron: A Desire to Live

In common speech, CONDUITS of power are said to extend a mage's REACH and PERCEPTION to such a degree that they may work their craft at great distances. But this is a grand understatement. It is not simply that the spellcaster's senses are duplicated at the point of the conduit. The sheer presence of such an artifact of power extends the very NATURE of reach and perception. With a conduit in place, a mage's vision spreads over an entire area, their ability to weave magic expands beyond what they might even do in person. For this reason, understand, there is no such thing as building a conduit for peaceful ends.

-An excerpt from the Crystalized Lectures of the Wizard Fantasmo

Spring in Hieron 16: Music Through A Wall Feb 01, 2019

Show notes

As Del continues to descend towards the surface, Hella, Fero, and Lem head towards the ruins of the New Archives in search of a Cartwright Wren, a peculiar bird with properties that may help the druid with the creation of new sorts of creatures. But when they come to an abrupt landing in a dilapidated and overgrown aviary, the group learns that they are, unsurprisingly, not the only ones who've come to the Archives in search of valuable things. What is surprising, though, is who they find...

This week on Spring in Hieron: Music Through A Wall

If there is one fact that neophytes fail to grasp, it is this: Every SPELL has two COSTS, not one. The first, pupils always remember: The component parts of whatever is being cast: REAGENTS, SOMATIC EXPRESSIONS, RITUAL PREPARATIONS. These are, of course, easily counted: Strands of wolf's hair, the motions of a hand, the dust of rough chalk. But the second cost is missed: The cost on the self. And this cost is vital to consider. As many young magic workers learn through repercussion alone: You may have the material needed for a spell, but if you begin to work it without the will or the vigor necessary, it will cost you greatly. Which is why I say, with great care and seriousness: It is of utmost importance that you learn to REST.

-An excerpt from the Crystalized Lectures of the Wizard Fantasmo

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), and Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west) Music by Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal) Text by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

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 can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

Spring in Hieron 15: The Breath of Hieron Jan 25, 2019

Show notes

Content Warnings: Descriptions of death, descriptions of medical care

His presence can be felt by those who do not even lay eyes on the dragon's body. Samol has arrived at the last university. And why should it not be felt? All presence, after all, is Samol, Hieron Himself, the first god, the one-who-spoke-words-alive, the universal origin, breathing. And as he breathes life into this too-quiet campus, the others hurriedly look for solutions to a variation on a problem they've known they had for a long time: How do you save a dying god?

This week on Spring in Hieron: The Breath of Hieron

"GODS" are not what you imagine. Despite the fables, these are not beings of infinite POWER or unshakable WILL, nor are they models of noble VIRTUE. Those preaching sermons in churches and scribbling songs in hymnals would have you believe that the world is a laboratory and the "gods" are its alchemists. Yet in fact, on the chemist's table of Hieron, they, like us are simply glass beakers filled with the physical STUFF of life. Perhaps their content shimmers more when stirred--and to that end, we ought understand their sheen and thus duplicate it--but remember, in the end, all glass shatters. -An Excerpt from the Crystalized Lectures of the Wizard Fantasmo

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart), Sylvi Clare (@captaintrash), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000) Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west) Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot) Music by Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal) Text written by Austin Walker and Nick Scratch 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!!

Spring in Hieron 14: Neighbors To Be Made Jan 18, 2019

Show notes

High above the Isles of Flight, Severea's Gift, the moon named Del, begins its descent. Below, a strange mix of chaos and quiet as the Mistral react: Some rush towards escape, but others seem all together poised and controlled. Caught in the middle are Hella Varal, Lem King, and Fero Feritas, whose own role in the matter is up for debate. Are they heroes, meant to save the isles from catastrophe? Or simply witnesses to a rebellion in full swing? And how, if at all, can they plant the seeds for future friendship in a moment like this...

This week on Spring in Hieron: Neighbors To Be Made

PROTECTIVE spells take many forms. Defensive WARDS shift the nature of possibility, prohibiting actions of a forbidden category to create sanctuary spaces, while MIRROR spells reflect back anything--material or otherwise--that attempts to pass it. LATTICES are complex, magical apparati, checking conditional statements against numerous variables and facts apparent before apply some effect. But none of these are effective as a simple BARRIER: Trust me, students, a sturdy wall will keep anything, and anyone, out. -An Excerpt from the Crystalized Lectures of the Wizard Fantasmo

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), and Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west)

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

Spring in Hieron 13: The Time of Gods Jan 11, 2019

Show notes

Content Warnings: Descriptions of death and injuries, descriptions of corpses, descriptions of surgery

It is some time after noon in the unnamed University settlement. A tree has grown too tall, too wide. Measures must be taken. To the south, debris falls into water, black and red and pale, and a river rushes to wash away the past. Measures must be taken. In the council hall of the school's tallest tower, worry clambers out of mouths and onto faces. Measures must be taken. Warmth is laid out on cold slate, a once vast and deadly patience dripping away all too quickly. Measures must be taken. Hidden experiments. Strained words. Gold and threats in the rubble. Finally, he arrives to take measure.

This week on Spring in Hieron: The Time of Gods

LIFE is no more an immutable characteristic than SCALE or TEMPERATURE. Whether leaping from branch to canopy, or constrained to coughs and carriages, each is life. But do not let those words secure your pride. Because just as some structures are too large to stand AND some heats are beyond the notion of relief, true DEATH is a finality that even the most powerful magic cannot undo.

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

Spring in Hieron 12: Long Promises Jan 04, 2019

Show notes

On the smallest of the Isles of Flight, Deya, Lem King finds himself cornered in a bookstore. But, he is, after all, Lem King, and conflict is to the orc bard no more than running water under a sturdy boat: whatever danger it poses others, for him it is merely a way forward. Once reconnected with his compatriots, Fero Feritas and Hella Varal, the three decide to speak rather than act, working to gain the confidence of Deya's chief officer of the law. But as they learn more about the Isles, their inhabitants, and their cruel leader others do what they must. They take dramatic, and final, action. As the saying goes: Clocks tick.

This week on Spring in Hieron: Long Promises

No. The history the DEL and BRI, twin MOONS of Hieron are not covered in this course, nor ought they be covered in any. Such CELESTIAL beings only inspire the most distracting flights of foolish imagination. To be a mage is to walk the line between unleashed creativity and utter mundanity. And to dream of above is to lose anchor to the ground that gives SHAPE and MOMENTUM to all arcane works

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), and Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west)

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

Spring in Hieron 11: Cut Off the Head Dec 21, 2018

Show notes

For some, it is just another week: Ephrim and Hadrian explore an untouched quarter of the University, Adaire digs into the mysterious connections of the Moonlighters Guild, and Throndir continues to tutor the young Blue J. But at the furthest stretches of the Last University settlement, there is an energy in the air. Maybe it is the echo of caravan wheels hurrying across dirt and stone. It could be the rumors of Ordennan scouts whispered from villager to soldier, from soldier to lord, from lord to father. Or perhaps it is the sound of a young Ranger snapping twigs beneath their neophyte steps. Benjamin attempts to pierce the fog and offer clarity, but reading the lines of time is not easy work. Samot approaches.

This week on Spring in Hieron: Cut Off the Head

PROPHECY is, perhaps, the most fraudulent school of magic, all the more for its broad popularity in the minds of the masses. It is not those who peddle PALMISTRY or auction AUGURY are incorrect in their predictions: No, oracular pursuits are as often accurate as the aim of any magic missile. But they are sold on a fabulous foundation. The soothsayer? The leaf reader? The blood drinker? The visionary? They all claim they can see what comes next. But they are not in touch with the FUTURE at all. They are only especially aware of the PRESENT. And it is keen evidence that the world is filled with fools that so many cannot tell the difference. -An Excerpt from the Crystalized Lectures of the Wizard Fantasmo

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart), Andi Clare (@captaintrash), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000) Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west)

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

Spring in Hieron 10: Who Vouches? Dec 13, 2018

Show notes

In the ruins of the ancient orcish Stoneworks, Lem King, Fero Feritas, and Hella Varal find themselves snared by by botanical beasts. But what lies beyond, to the north, may be even more dangerous: The soaring ambition of the Mistral, the birdkin who seek to leave faltering Hieron behind in search for a more stable home above. But as is always the case in journeys made, some are called riders and others mules.

This week on Spring in Hieron: Who Vouches?

PARTNERSHIP is a difficult prospect for all mages, as the IMAGE-IDEAL of any spell differs between all who cast. Even a trifling CANTRIP like the summoning of a sphere of light is soiled by the projection of a mage's SELF. The color, the shape, the intensity: All shift due to bias and experience. And so to perform even such a simple glamour as this with a partner is to court disaster. This is why in all but the most troubling of endeavors, the wise mage works alone. -An Excerpt from the Crystalized Lectures of the Wizard Fantasmo

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), and Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west)

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

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