Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- Music by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

In my previous upload to this podcast (I can't call it an episode really), I described the origin and impetus for the Queen of Shadows podcast series. And now, onto episode 0 where we will discover our character and do some world building.

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

In our previous episode (our "Session 0" if you will), we met Eilwen, our main character and protagonist, a young huntress of Frostbridge in her late teens. We found out that Frostbridge, Eilwen's settlement, is a failing mining settlement deep in the cold and snow-ridden wilderness of the Veiled Mountains. We learned that Eilwen is daughter to her mother, Arwed and to her father Cadfael. We found that she has twin brother, Aron, her only sibling. We did some world building and decided on the truths for our version of the Ironlands. The most notable custom truth that I came up with is that demons of bone and blade termed "Heralds of the Night" came through a cleft in the sky, invading the old world. It was they who forced Eilwen's forebears to flee to the Ironlands generations ago.

And now, the Prologue for Queen of Shadows.

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

In our previous episode, the prologue, Eilwen and her twin brother Aron were both only 15 years of age. They discover that Eilwen's ailing mother has kept in her possession for many years, a finely carved box, and in that box is a cloven crown of gold with a crimson ruby shorn down the middle. This is the lost crown of the royal line of Queens from generations ago when these lands were first settled by her forebears. Eilwen finds out that she is in actuality of the royal line as was her mother before her, both are displaced queens to a lost kingdom and throne. Her mother urges Eilwen to seek the other half of the crown, promising her that the lands will unite under the one of royal descent who bears the two halves. Aron, with some convincing from his mother, vows to protect Eilwen in this quest. Eilwen's mother promises to answer her daughter's questions but upon sleeping, never awakens and dies in the night.

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- 'Just Run Adventure Cinematic' by Roman Gim (whvle) on Pixabay, used in accordance with Pixabay's royalty-free Content License (https://pixabay.com/service/license-summary/).

This episode was sponsored by Friends & Fables.

In our previous episode, Eilwen her twin brother Aron, both 18 years old, find out their father and Chief Mabon have not returned from their morning hunt. Eilwen vows to find them and she and Aron gather supplies in preparation. Before they can set out however, a huge silverback bear enters Frostbridge hoping for an easy meal. In the ensuing fight, two members of the community are slain by the bear before it retreats into the snowy wilderness of the Veiled Mountains. Eilwen and Aron continue their preparations and overhear conversations between the dark-hearted Belvan and his cronies talking ill about their family and planning something. Eilwen decides to do something about Belvan once they find their father. She takes the finely wrought box with the crown and its strange iron disks and brings it with them. Disks she doesn't reveal to Aron, disks her mother taught her to read.

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- 'Just Run Adventure Cinematic' by Roman Gim (whvle) on Pixabay, used in accordance with Pixabay's royalty-free Content License (https://pixabay.com/service/license-summary/).

This episode was sponsored by Friends & Fables.

In our previous episode, Eilwen and her twin brother, Aron, meet with Drystan, a member of the Frostbridge community. They manage to convince the large man to aid them in their search for Mabon, the missing chieftain of Frostbridge and Cadfael, their missing father. Drystan agrees and brings his sleds and dogs so they can travel more quickly over the snow. During their travels, Eilwen hides her mother's wooden box containing the crown and the iron disks in a cleft. After traveling for some time, they located the hunting grounds where Mabon and Cadfael should have been. There they see signs of a struggle and many boot prints that lead southward to the next settlement, they begin to make their way south in pursuit. After surviving an avalanche, and spending the night huddled together with the dogs, they arrive at the Green Grip, a vast swath of greenery thick with tall pines in a huge valley. The grip is rumored to be haunted. While Aron and Drystan set up camp, Eilwen goes hunting, attempting to recover their meager supplies. Instead of finding hare or doe or fox, she sees a tall slender figure whose features she could not make out under the shadowy boughs of the thick pine trees. It speaks not and only watches her. She tries to return to her brother and Drystan, but discovers that the game trail she had just been following was inexplicably gone, completely hidden from view, fresh needles and snow obliterating all traces of her previous route. With nowhere else to go, she decides that following after the strange figure who had retreated deeper into the trees is the only way she'll be able to get clear of this strange forest.

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- 'Just Run Adventure Cinematic' by Roman Gim (whvle) on Pixabay, used in accordance with Pixabay's royalty-free Content License (https://pixabay.com/service/license-summary/).

This episode was sponsored by Friends & Fables.

In our previous episode, Eilwen chases the retreating figure and ends up in a clearing where she finds ancient stone blocks and two strange iron pillars. She investigates the pillars, and to her surprise, realizes she can read at least some of the angular runes on their faces. She remembers how her mother had taught her the skill through a deep study of the iron disks. At the base of one of the pillars, she discovers a panel which she presses it, it springs open spewing out a large cloud of white dust, dust that she realizes with growing horror is likely dried bones ground to dust from a sacrifice a sacrifice of a little girl made to some power. She mourns such loss and vows to find out if her mother was affiliated with such a cult, and if so to stamp them out. Upon making the vow, she finds the way back to her brother and Drystan revealed. She spends the night in the forest and dreams of the child who tells her thank you. The next morning, she returns to Aron and Drystan and they resume their journey towards Rockriver to find Mabon the chieftain of Frostrbidge and their father, Cadfael.

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

In our previous episode, Eilwen, Aron, and Drystan arrive safely at Rockriver, however they find that the town has been attacked and half burned to the ground, its inhabitants dead or missing. They aid one of the wounded survivors, a man named Kyffin. He tells them that the town was attacked by none other than Uzak an erstwhile and now exiled member of the Frostbridge settlement who has raised his own warband and terrorizes the country side, calling himself clan chief of a Wolf Fang clan. Kyffin doesn't know if Uzak has captured Mabon and her father, Cadfael, but he tells Eilwen that if they want to get ahead of Uzak's raiding party, there is a shortcut through a nearby mine that takes them directly through one of the mountains and should position them on the far side. He warns them, however, that the mine is rumored to be haunted and have strange creatures. He gives them a map. They decide to go through the mines, seeking whatever advantage they can in their quest to quickly save their Cadfael and Mabon. They make preparations for the journey through the mine.

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- River sound is from ZapSplat (Zapsplat.com) and used in accordance with their standard license.

In our previous episode, Eilwen and Aaron leave behind Drystan behind in Rockriver with instructions for him to care for Kyffin so that they can move more quickly through the mines and get ahead of the Wolf Fang warriors and their prisoners. They find the mine entrance one valley over to the west and enter it about mid-morning. In the timeless dark, they find a large underground lake and a strange skeleton of a creature they have never known, an ancient skeleton that starts to crumble in places when moved. A shield and nearby helm are rusted beyond all usefulness. They resume their journey and come to a half-rotted bridge over an underground chasm of peerless depth where they hear roiling river rushing through the bowels of the mountain within. With some ingenuity involving some barrel staves and some rope, they make it safely across and finally at day's end, they exit the mine, now on the southern end of Mount Hingsworth.

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

In our previous episode, Eilwen and Aron find a sheltered spot with an overhang, largely obscured from view where they can see the valley below. They prepare for the Wolf Fang raiders to circle the mountain and come into view. Eilwen goes hunting and nearly falls to ruin when she encounters a pack of hungry wolves that chase her onto an slippery log over a ravine. She manages to escape and returns to camp. From their hidden overhang, they spot the Wolf Fang encampment in the distance with tents and cookfires and cages and sleds amidst a field of huge boulders that had sloughed off from the mountain's face eons ago. When Eilwen hears the cries of the children and the women in distress, she wants to go and help, but Aaron thinks it foolish to attempt to rescue everyone, and they argue. She vows to someday free the captive women and children.

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

In our previous episode, in the dead of night, Eilwen spots, within the Wolf Fang Clan raiding party's encampment, her Father, Cadfael, and Frostbridge Chiefton Mabon in a wooden cage with some old women. She awakens Aron and they get a closer look. When they see that only one sentry is on duty, guarding the cage, she and Aron decide they won't get a better chance to rescue the two men. With Aaron covering her with her bow, she stealthily moves from boulder to boulder and approaches the cage with only her dagger. She uses the runic magic her mother, Arwed, taught her for first time by herself to call upon the shadows to cloak her movements. And they come to her, but her magic betrays her, and instead of being cloaked in shadow, the shadows shift and change, and she is imbued with a ghostly sapphire light. She makes the best of it and pretends she is Shilvhana, Queen of Spears--a name and deity of her own creation--come down from the heavens to secure new retainers. She uses the tale to get close to the half-drunk guard who initially believes her. But he's ambivalent about following her, and when it looks like he might call out an alarm, she clubs him over the head with his own spear, and he crumples. She frees her father and Mabon without raising any alarm, but the captive women remain huddled within the cage, unwilling to leave, though the door is wide open. Eilwen and Aron with Cadfael, and Mabon all retreat back to the southern of Mt Hingworth to the mine entrance to make their way back through to Rockriver.

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

 In our previous episode, Eilwen, Aron, Cadfael, and Mabon enter the mine in an attempt to get away from the Wolf Fang warriors and return to Rockriver and then Frostrbridge. After a few hours, they recross the rope bridge and navigate the mine's dark tunnels and reach the edge of the dark underground lake. Eilwen shows the lake-side skeleton to Cadfael and Mabon and is about to resume their journey, when Cadfael and Mabon, still weary and worn and suffering from the abuses incurred at the hands of the Wolf Fang clan, call a halt to their journey. They decide to rest and make camp. They find some old ruined boats now bone dry, perfect for starting a fire and decide to make camp there. Eilwen discovers another boat under a worn canvas wrap that is in fairly good condition with workable oars. She also sees something is reflecting her torch light back to her far in the distance on the large lake. While Cadfael and Mabon work on starting a large fire and setting up camp, She and Aron take the boat to investigate what caused the reflection. They paddle across the lake and find a strange structure, an archway made entirely of iron but tilted askew. Eilwen investigates the markings on the archway, and with some excitement and dread, finds she can read them. She tries to interpret them, and upon touching the archway, receives a vision of sorts. Therein, she sees that an entity of great evil and destructive power is trapped inside the archway, a being with the same skeletal structure as that of the lake-side skeleton. She somehow knows from her vision that the archway was constructed to imprison the being, and that after unknown ages of imprisonment, a  group of death cult worshipers of the same race try to free the entity. A battle ensures between the cult and between guardians, also of the same race, set to protect the archway. During the battle, powerful magics are unleased. They rupture the earth and bring forth the fountains of dark waters to drown both warring parties. The imprisoned being tries to break free but as its cult goes to a watery grave, the ritual to break the prison is incomplete, and the thing falls, shrieking and thrashing, into dark oblivion once more. Eilwen's vision ends and upon doing so, a new threat awakens in the form two graceful skeletal creatures, that crawl forth from the slimy lake's depths. These are known as bone horrors. They are legends and children tales now come to life. The creatures leap upon the slanted archway's side and with slashing forearm blades try to kill Eilwen and Aron. A brief battle ensures, and she and her brother barely manage to flee to their boat and then back to Cadfael's bonfire. They convince her father of the immediate threat and the party decides that flight is once again necessary. And as they leave the lakeside's fire burning and run into the dark tunnels, they can see dripping out of the water and muck two bone horrors scanning the shore.

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

In our previous episode, Eilwen, Aron, Cadfael, and Mabon, Chieftain of Frostbridge, escape the mine and make it to Rockriver's ruins where they rest and recuperate. They journey back to Frostbridge and find that Belvan isn't there.  During the feasting that ensured upon Mabon's return, Carys, the old crone, tells Eilwen that Belvan went looking for the burial chambers that Eilwen's mother, Arwed, had found three years earlier. Mabon rewards Eilwen with a great honor, in the form of a battered iron sword called Toothbite that was passed down to him through his great grandfather. Mabon names Eilwen Swordmistress. For the next two days Mabon trains her from sun up to sun down one-on-one in the ways of the sword. Eilwen proves a quick learner and masters her concentration to such a level that on the second day of training she nearly defeats Mabon in their practice fight. On the third day since their return to Frostbridge, Belvan returns from the burial chambers. He bears a heavy dark spear and challenges Mabon's right to rule the settlement. Mabon informs him he'll be fighting his new Swordmistress, and after drawing the circle in the snow, a duel ensues between Eilwen (Mabon's champion) and Belvan. The fight is brutal but short. Eilwen is wounded but defeats Belvan, mortally wounding him with a thrown dagger. Grasping his spear, a dark shade moves into him, possessing him and giving him new power. She defeats this new foe, the spirit dissipates on the wind, and Eilwen vows to rid the burial chamber of whatever evil Belvan had uncovered or awakened.

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

In our previous episode, Eilwen rests and recuperates after her duel with Belvan and makes preparations for the journey through the mountains to the burial chamber Belvan had infiltrated. Her father reminds her that it is a place of death and is what led to her mother's illness and subsequent demise.

On the morrow, Eilwen reveals herself to Mabon and to Frostbridge as the rightful heir to the throne and as owner to the shorn crown. She asks Mabon for his fealty and his aid. He agrees but asks in return that she bring him back a wee lion cub from the southlands.

Eilwen, Cadfael, and Aron travel the rest of the day, and as evening falls, they arrive to the burial site and make entrance under windy conditions. They find  a covered hole in the burial-chamber floor and there discover a hidden sub-level, which Belvan must have explored earlier.

They descend into its depths, and find a room with a fallen statue with writings that Eilwen cannot read. They are ambushed by a swarm of blind, maggot-white and wrinkled, ravenous, cavern crawlers about the size of rats. They flee from the room and rush deeper into the sub-level down some steps into a room with eight coffins jutting out from each of the walls of the octagonal chamber. But each coffin seems to have been disturbed. Each lid has been removed, and the bones are missing from each. And oddly, they can see no prints in the dust other than their own.

After finding a branching corridor and getting past a poisoned spear trap, Eilwen manages to unlock a heavy stone door, and they move into the final room in the sublevel. It's a circular room with an iron pedestal in the center, and eight skeletons are lying face down as if making obeisance to a short and stout octagonal stand made of black iron. Atop the pedestal, Eilwen sees a notched octagonal inset groove that could only have held a heavy octagonal ring, a ring that is obviously missing.

When realization crashes upon her that Belvan must have taken the ring and that it is likely the source of some fell power, she fears that Frostbridge is in grave danger and urges them to race back to the surface. Upon doing so, they find that night has fully fallen, and a blinding blizzard has hemmed in their way, forcing them to spend the night in the upper chamber. Eilwen chafes at the delay, but can do little more than groan in frustration as she fears the worst.

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Various sounds from ZapSplat (https://www.zapsplat.com) and used in accordance with their standard-license.

In our previous episode, Eilwen, Aron, and Cadfael race back to Frostbridge to find it beset by some enemy. Several buildings are ablaze, and the corpses of the fallen are in the streets offering visceral witness to the violence done to them. They find Mabon cornered by a spirit-possessed blacksmith Gwili, one of the men who had been on burial duty, and who now bore the octagonal ring that Belvan had once possessed. Gwili kills Mabon and his two guards. Eilwen engages it in combat and eventually slays it. She takes the ring, and in Rhovat's forge melts it down, adds salt and dirt to its contents, and casts the glowing abomination into the depths of the icy blue chasm beneath the chasm's bridge. Leaderless, the people of Frostbridge clamor for her as their queen to lead them. She declines but with some help from Aron, she convinces her father, Cadfael, to take up the job of settlement leader. Cadfael addresses the people, urging them to bury and mourn their dead. She decides to head south soon.

Websites:

• https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/
• https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Where The Brave May Live Forever - Viking Background Music by Claude Houde from Pixabay.

- Deeply Emotional Orchestral Violin - L'Unico Che Amo from Pixabay.

At the edge of known space, the UASN Oracle, a military destroyer turned science vessel, begins a survey mission in an unexplored star system. In the face a dire threat to all of humanity, Ardelle Leath, a junior officer, on board the Oracle, will struggle to overcome her past and fulfill her duty to the United Alliance Space Navy (UASN) as leadership is thrust upon her.

'Flight of the Orace' blends immersive story telling with ambient sounds and music into a military sci-fi audio drama. It's also a solo role-playing 'Actual Play' experience that uses the OneDice role-playing game (RPG) system to both propel the plot forward and to handle conflict mechanics. Out-of-character (OOC) moments pull back the curtain, revealing die results, insights into game mechanics, character decisions, and on-the-fly world building. Content Rating: PG-13 for action violence, gore, and some minor foul language. For detailed information about the content rating, see my About page at https://www.patreon.com/rollponderandplay/about

About this Episode:

Welcome to the first episode (well the "zeroth" technically) of the 'Flight of the Oracle' podcast, a military sci-fi audio drama and solo RPG actual play! This is the "session 0" where we discuss the setting, the RPG system used to handle conflict resolution, the protagonist I'll be playing, and the UASN Oracle, the ship that the podcast is named after.

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my Patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay, or join as a paid subscriber and get additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- Music by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Album background image is real art by Chil Vera from Pixabay.

At the edge of known space, the UASN Oracle, a military destroyer turned science vessel, begins a survey mission in an unexplored star system. In the face a dire threat to all of humanity, Ardelle Leath, a junior officer, on board the Oracle, will struggle to overcome her past and fulfill her duty to the United Alliance Space Navy (UASN) as leadership is thrust upon her.

'Flight of the Orace' blends immersive story telling with ambient sounds and music into a military sci-fi audio drama. It's also a solo role-playing 'Actual Play' experience that uses the OneDice role-playing game (RPG) system to both propel the plot forward and to handle conflict mechanics. Out-of-character (OOC) moments pull back the curtain, revealing die results, insights into game mechanics, character decisions, and on-the-fly world building. Content Rating: PG-13 for action violence, gore, and some minor foul language. For detailed information about the content rating, see my About page at https://www.patreon.com/rollponderandplay/about

Note: The full series is available for paid patreon subscribers at https://www.patreon.com/collection/1580854?view=condensed, but you can get the first couple of episodes from my Patreon if you join my Patreon as a free member!

Previously:

In our previous episode (our "Session 0" if you will), we discussed the Sci-Fi setting for this podcast series, the OneDice RPG we will be using for conflict resolution, and we met Ardelle Leath, our main character and protagonist: a young junior officer in the Alliance Space Navy. We also learned about the UASN Oracle, a converted warrior class destroyer turned into a survey vessel. It is the ship that this podcast series is named after. And now, the Prologue for Flight of the Oracle!

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my Patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay, or join as a paid subscriber and get additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'Where Stars Fall' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- 'Powerful Electronic Beat (Runaway)' by fugu_vibes from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

- 'Space Ambient Cinematic' by Viacheslav Starostin from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

- Sound effects provided by Zapsplat (Zapsplat.com) and used under the Basic License.

- Album background image is real art by Chil Vera from Pixabay.

 In our previous episode,  Drystan and Kyffin find Eilwen at Frostbridge. The two men had arrived the night of the attack after seen the smoke from Drystan's home on the outskirts of the settlement where Kyffin had been convalescing. As they arrive, Frostbridge is holding a ceremony of remembrance, and while the bonfire burns, and the people mourn their fallen, Kyffin asks to travel with Eilwen and Aron whenever they commence their journey south. She says it will be some time yet and urges him to rest up for the journey.

The days pass, and Eilwen and Aron continue to help Frostbridge recover from its attack, sharing supplies and rebuilding homes.

Eventually, the day comes when Aron and Eilwen part from Frostbridge again, likely for a much longer time of absence. On the bridge of ice itself, their father hugs them and urges them to keep each other safe. With Kyffin in tow, the two siblings head south again towards Rockriver. After journeying a few days, they again arrive at Rockriver, and there they spy Wolf Fang clan warriors in the settlement. Not only that but some Wolf Fang clan families have started to make it their home.

To avoid running into more Wolf Fang migrants coming up from the south and judging the mines still unsafe with the awakened threat of the bonewakers, they decide to risk the more physically dangerous western pass to head west and then south around Mount Hingsworth. It's a trek that will take them higher in elevation.

While making camp and preparing for their journey, Kyffin doesn't return to camp from gathering firewood. After searching, they find that he has fallen into an underground ice cavern and is alive but hurt. Working together Eilwen and Aron manage to locate him, assess that his wounds are largely superficial and extricate him from the hole and return to their camp where they pass a miserable night shivering in the cold together.

Websites:

• https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/
• https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound Effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com)

In our previous episode, Eilwen, Aron, and Kyffin continue their journey to the mountain pass. There, amid the gray, ice-rimed cliffs, they find a body of a humanoid with a cracked wooden mask of curious design and ruined weapons and armor of fine make. The human-like being, is clearly not human and its missing eyes, and open chest cavity, reveal it is missing its organs. In addition, they see strange blackened holes pockmarking the corpse, and they see signs that whatever did this might very well be a large creature oof some sort moving a bout the area, a creature that leaves furrows in stone. They cautiously continue through the pass and find some large river birds hunting for fish near a rushing river overwhich is a stone bridge with ornate scroll work design and carvings in a similar style to the artwork found on the cracked mask of the humanoid. They hunt some of the birds and eat well that night. The next day, near an overpass, their progress is hampered when a young wyvern thinks them an easy meal and attacks them. Eilwen is enchanted by the creatures prowess and grace, yet still she gives it the killing blow, but in so doing, Eilwen suffers from bruised or cracked ribs and a sprained ankle. Anxious to get under cover, they continue their journey through a narrow slot canyon. There they find a cave and hope to use it as a resting spot. Instead, they find it is a wyvern lair, possibly for the one they killed, or possibly for its mother. Eilwen takes an egg to train a baby wyvern when it hatches. Kyffin and Aron are both opposed to her decision. But Eilwen is not swayed and convinces herself that it's a brilliant idea, one that very well may add a powerful ally to help her on her quest.

Websites:

• https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/
• https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com)

In our previous episode, Eilwen, Aron, and Kyffin continue to press through the pass, but the constant snow combined with blasting winds, strong enough to strip shards ice and flakes of sharp rock from the narrow canyon walls forces them to look for shelter or be flayed and frozen alive. They find a crumbling tower and hurry inside, grateful for the protection it offers from the slashing winds. Inside, they find Edris, a once human man,  but now a creature of darkness and driving need, a husk whose humanity is consumed and sacrificed to his soul-rending pursuit of dark powers. On his arms are perched two large bat-like creatures with dagger-shaped leather wings and vile elongated jaws with needle-like teeth. Edris invites them to feast… And Eilwen drops her torch in despair.

Websites:

• https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/
• https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound Effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com)

In our previous episode, at the zenith of her despair, Eilwen draws strength by feeding her anger at those who would slay the innocent for their nefarious and dark magics. She and Aron and Kyffin manage to barely escape from Edris's clutches and those of his leather-winged minions by fleeing through a rusty trap door near their feet and nearly falling down a metal ladder into the dark subterranean depths beneath the ruined tower. Eilwen bars the trap door with Kyffin's spear, and they discover in the chambers beneath that Edris has been using foul magics to create aberrations. They suspect that one such abomination is what killed and drained the blood from the shriveled humanoid corpse they saw on the surface. Eilwen takes Edris's research, some yellowed parchments with diagrams, symbols, and an old book, and they flee into the tunnels. They discover that while it is warmer beneath the mountain of rock overhead, a labyrinthine network of tunnels awaits them.

Websites:

• https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/
• https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound Effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

In our previous episode, Eilwen, Aron, and Kyffin venture into the dark subterranean ruins beneath the tower of the Husk, Edris, hoping to pass through to the other side of the mountains. They move through a huge rectangular-wrought chamber with large finely-crafted statutes carved into the pillars holding up the ceiling. The artistry is similar to what they found on the mask of the shriveled warrior on the surface and to the workmanship of the bridge where they hunted the birds. They surmise that this must be the handiwork of the elves, and at one time, one of their populations centers. But now it is a dark and dismal place, devoid of any wholesome life. They follow one of the main thoroughfares. After traveling long weary hours, they stop to camp amidst the rubble of a partially collapsed ornate archway. Eilwen, on watch, hears sounds of something moving in the dark. Unsure what it is she wakes her brother and has him start lighting a torch while she wakes Kyffin.

In the light of a torch, they see a monstrosity, a horror come to life. It's a huge bug-like creature, something like a giant centipede with a long body, a hard black carapace, sharp spear-like legs, and a head filled with razor-sharp teeth the size of daggers, surrounded by tentacles writhing with ill intent. They try to flee, and Kyffin is chased down, and overcome, gravely wounded and bleeding out. Eilwen wants to save him, but is physically detained by her brother, Aron, man handles her and pulls her back into the darkness, away from the macabre meal as Kyffin is consumed alive in the dying light of their fallen torch.

For the astute among you… I made yet another mistake last episode and forgot to drop my maximum momentum down by 1 because of her Shaken debility… Max momentum is usually 10, but it is affected by debilities, like Shaken, and so technically her momentum could not have exceeded 9 until Shaken is removed. I told you my previous mistake wouldn't be my last. But I don't feel too bad about it since she wasn't technically supposed to have taken Shaken anyway. So, when you hear maximum momentum of ten just be aware that that is incorrect. Anyway, I won't (and cannot) retcon this error, so this and future episodes with this mistake, stand as they are.

Websites:

• https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/
• https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound Effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

In our previous episode, Eilwen and Aron finally made their way through the large pile of rock and continued their journey through the subterranean depths. In one area, they found some strange blue-glowing water that would pass through living matter with little effect, but would affix itself to unliving matter such as stone or metal. Eilwen pulls out her sword and lets the dribbling glowing stream of magical water run over its iron blade, and the metal takes upon it a faint blue sheen, even when dried. The light is not as bright as a torch, but it is enough to see by. Aron, seeing it as unnatural, judges her foolish for dealing with things she does not understand and refuses to apply the same to his axe. They spend a night in a ruined home of an elven family and Eilwen finds two small figurines that of a man and a woman, both carved with delicate artistic skill. Putting them in her back, she notices bits of flaking shell and sees the dark sinuous head of the baby wyvern emerge from its egg. The little creature, soon free of its shell, takes to interacting with Eilwen.  As she plays with it, the small winged lizard, eats a share of their meat much to Aron's chagrin and Eilwen's delight. Resuming their journey, they find more elf skeletons, in the crumbling ruins and buildings on both sides of the street, wooden masks affixed to their faces, continuing onward at as the road narrows, they find another group of skeletons, these covering the road in front of them and they are contorted in horrific positions, and the horrid manner in which they perished can only be guessed at. Perhaps it was disease. This seems likely at what they encounter next as a smell of rot begins to permeate the road ahead of them. There, blocking the way they must go, they see strange fungal growths wheezing like diseased lungs clinging to walls. With timing and precision and with only some loss of supplies, they both make it through the narrow passage that stank of death and disease and they resume their journey. After long hours of travel, they see down one passageway a pinprick of light and smell a breath of fresh air. It is the exit! But before they can get to it, they see the creature that killed Kyffin blocking their way. It is not aware of them, being entirely focused on slaying and then slurping up the remains of a wolf or wild dog who had wandered into the tunnel. Eilwen using a wolf's howl manages to draw the creature into the wide  thoroughfare where Aron then uses a rock throw to send it skuttling away on its myriad legs in pursuit of the noise. Eiwen then calls the shadows down to mask their sight and sound and caressed in their writhing forms, the sibling finally, after days in the dark, emerge into the gray light of the Veiled Mountains.

Websites:

• https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/
• https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound Effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

In our previous episode, Eilwen and Aron finally made their way through the large pile of rock and continue their journey through the subterranean depths. In one area, they find some strange blue-glowing water that would pass through living matter with little effect, but would affix itself to unliving matter such as stone or metal. Eilwen pulls out her sword and lets the dribbling glowing stream of magical water run over its iron blade, and the metal takes upon it a faint blue sheen, even when dried. The light is not as bright as a torch, but it is enough to see by. Aron, seeing it as unnatural, judges her foolish for dealing with things she does not understand and refuses to apply the same to his axe.

They spend a night in a ruined home of an elven family and Eilwen finds two small figurines that of a man and a woman, both carved with delicate artistic skill. Putting them in her back, she notices bits of flaking shell and sees the dark sinuous head of the baby wyvern emerge from its egg. The little creature, soon free of its shell, takes to interacting with Eilwen.  As she plays with it, the small winged lizard, eats a share of their meat much to Aron's chagrin and Eilwen's delight.

Resuming their journey, they find more elf skeletons, in the crumbling ruins and buildings on both sides of the street, wooden masks affixed to their faces, continuing onward at as the road narrows, they find another group of skeletons, these covering the road in front of them and they are contorted in horrific positions, and the horrid manner in which they perished can only be guessed at. Perhaps it was disease. This seems likely at what they encounter next as a smell of rot begins to permeate the road ahead of them.

There, blocking the way they must go, they see strange fungal growths wheezing like diseased lungs clinging to walls. With timing and precision and with only some loss of supplies, they both make it through the narrow passage that stank of death and disease and they resume their journey.

After long hours of travel, they see down one passageway a pinprick of light and smell a breath of fresh air. It is the exit! But before they can get to it, they see the creature that killed Kyffin blocking their way. It is not aware of them, being entirely focused on slaying and then slurping up the remains of a wolf or wild dog who had wandered into the tunnel. Eilwen using a wolf's howl manages to draw the creature into the wide  thoroughfare where Aron then uses a rock throw to send it skuttling away on its myriad legs in pursuit of the noise. Eiwen then calls the shadows down to mask their sight and sound and caressed in their writhing forms, the sibling finally, after days in the dark, emerge into the gray light of the Veiled Mountains.

Websites:

• https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/
• https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound Effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

In our previous episode, Eilwen and her brother Aron make their way down out of the frozen heights of the Veiled Mountains into another mountainous region, much lower in elevation, known as the Tempest Hills. Still considered the highlands, these high golden alpine meadows are alive with bees, butterflies, and birds and are framed with tall thick pines. The landscape seems rich with verdant life when compared against the sterile cold of her home region, the Veiled Mountains. Against this picturesque backdrop, they find the settlement of Redcrag.

Upon entering Redcrag, they see a black wolfshead and a black fang on a field of red--the banner of the Wolf Fang Clan--fluttering in the stiff breeze, and they see a dozen warriors laughing and drinking inside the local inn.

Needing rest and resupply, they decide to skip the inn and try their luck with a local. On the outskirts of the settlement, perhaps a half hour walk away to the south east, they secure lodging at the home of a red-bearded trapper and hunter, known as Seith. After bathing and resting and helping Seith with chores around the house for several days, their strength slowly begins to revive, and in many ways they are largely able to put the darkness of their path through the Veiled Mountains and its grim undercroft behind them.

They talk with Seith of the Elven city and learn that the locals call it "Grimstone" and that many believe it is haunted. Eilwen swears upon her still-glowing iron sword to eventually deal with the husk, Edris who has taken up residence there.

Seith reveals that he is no lover of Wolf Fang clan. They also learn some of the settlements and strongholds that Uzak's warbands have conquered, Redcrag being one of them. They further learn that a local Wolf Fang clan sympathizer, a cruel sniveling man and native to Redcrag who goes by the name of Mattox is in a position of leadership among the fifty or so Wolf Fang clan warriors who have taken up residence in Redcrag. He spends his time ratting on the folk of Redcrag. Mattox has in fact turned in Seith's own daughter, Kari, to the Wolf Fang clan, not to mention Mattox's own grandmother. Seith agrees to help Eilwen against Uzak if she can make Mattox pay for his crimes. Later that night, Eilwen and Aron talk of her plans and she convinces Aron to help her on some of the more immediate convincing him that they dovetail with her vow to become the Queen of the Ironlands. And one of these is finding more information about Uzak and his movements.

Websites:

• https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/
• https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' and 'Emergent' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound Effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

Welcome to Episode 21 of the Queen of Shadows Podcast on Roll, Ponder, and Play! I'm Jared Hess, your friendly neighborhood game master, solo-player, author, and narrator. In our previous episode, as night falls in the settlement of Redcrag, Seith allows Eilwen to keep the baby wyvern, Scratch, in his shed prior to Eilwen, Aron, and Seith leaving to confront Mattox, a ne'er-do-well and local to Rockriver in the employ of Uzak and the Wolf Fang Clan.

Once the beast is settled with some meat inside the shed, they leave it to seek out their foe. They proceed to the inn and hear screaming and in the flickering light of lamp of fireplace, through an open second story window, they see young Erwin being tortured by Mattox. After some debate and planning, they agree to try and rescue the young man and at the same time question Mattox. Aron and Seith will steal the guards horses while Eilwen confronts Mattox. Eilwen calls upon the shadows to aid her and while they do come they only come for a moment to whisper unsettling words that someone had killed them before they rebound to their normal shapes under eves, trees, and rocks. Eilwen, somewhat shaken, proceeds to stealth across the inn's roof top hoping to swing in the through the window and surprise Mattox. But the man detects her as she lands inside. Mattox, far from being surprised, attacks her with the very implement of torture he used in Erwin, the glowing fire poker. After she is hit in the side, and a brief exchange ensues, she manages to disarm Mattox and subdue him, leaving him coughing and groaning on the floor bruised and hurt, but not seriously. The noise of her attack is somewhat masked by a commotion and the stables and the subsequent cacophony that ensures in the ground floor of the inn while the soldiers go to investigate. Eilwen frees Erwin, and he flees out the second story window. After questioning Mattox about Uzak and finding out that the Wolf Fang Clan's war plans are on a map on the table, Eilwen takes the map and clubs Mattox unconscious. After doing so, a dutiful guard knocks on the door to ask if all is well. Eilwen emulates the sniveling voice of Mattox and sends the guard away. Again, alone with Mattox she decides to send a message to Uzak by handing out justice to this torturer, Mattox. While still unconscious she cuts out his tongue, puts out his eyes, ruins his hands and leaves him a bleeding broken mess on the floor -- a queens justice. She flees the inn and returns to their rendezvous point near Seith's home, hoping that Aron and Seith are alright.

Websites:

• https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/
• https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' and 'Emergent' and 'The Old Ones' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound Effects and some music from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

In our previous episode, Eilwen, Aron, and Seith are reunited near Seith's home, with Aron leading several horses. While Seith is gathering supplies for a departure from Redcrag, Aron reveals that they have little some time but not much if they are to stay ahead of their pursuers from the Wolf Fang Clan. By the light of moon and stars, they consult the Wolf Fang Clan's map that Eilwen took from Mattox's second story room in Redcrag's inn. Hoping to both lose their Wolf Fang Clan pursuers and avoid Uzak's south-marching warband, Eilwen asks about a different route southward on the map that would take them between the high south-western bluffs known as the Gods Teeth and Eagle Point to the south east.

Seith reveals that no one has traveled that route in over a decade, that a darkness has slowly waxed slowly upon that land. As they pack their horses for their journey, he tells a tale he heard from an old trader, many years ago, a man known as Morys, one of the last to travel the road. Morys said that he and his wife often heard a woman's voice keening upon the wind as they took the north-south road that followed the river. Morys claimed that his wife was attacked and slain by some creature near the water, and when he ran to her aid, he found she had drowned and that her face and arms bore wound marks form human teeth and nails.

Eilwen decides to take this dark and broken road less traveled by and with baggage affixed and spare horses in tow they begin their southward journey. After traveling all night, as morning dawns cold and gray they find a rotted bridge, and crossing over to the other side, Eilwen spots where wagon some time ago had fallen off the bridge its tattered canvas snapping in the wind. She takes her horse down and investigates, but finds no survivors, no bones, and nothing of use, only thick mold and a sense brooding gloom.

Upon rejoining her companions up by the bridge, they hear a wolf's howl upon the wind. The noise throws the horses into a panic. The trio manage to calm their mounts and Seith's face blanches at the wolf call. For he alone recognizes it as not that of a mere wolf, but the wolf-like call belongs to the Varou, wolves that walk upright on two legs, vicious and brutal wolfmen, one of the old firstborn races upon the land. Then with sorrow etching his visage, he tell another sad tale, this one from his own history, how Varou attacked his homestead and wife and daughter, how he had to choose to protect either his daughter, Kari, or his wife, Alwena but that he could not save them both. He watched as Alwena was butchered slowly before his eyes.

While Seith admits that the Varou are intelligent and have a form of speech, he insists still that they are animals. With a dark hatred blazing in his eyes, he reveals how he has made it his business to learn all he could them and that he hunts and traps them. Eilwen and Aron learn that this man whom they thought was merely a sometimes hunter has hunted, captured, and tortured one of these Varou to death. Eilwen now sees Seith in a new light--a man who is in reality a very capable hunter and trapper and also one very capable of dark deeds.

The trio resume their journey and after several hours a tree-lashing storm hits the region. Soaked to the bone and at the height of the storm's fury, wishing they could find shelter, Seith insists they press on, for he notices that the slashes in the bark of a nearby tree on a field of old dried blood are signs that they are indeed passing through Varou territory. They travel all the rest of the day and into the night.

Finally, suffering from cold and wet from exposure, and next to a widening river threatening to overtake the road, Eilwen and Aron, finally manage to convince the driven Seith to find shelter.

Next to an escarpment of rock, they make a cold wet camp and pass a miserable shivering night with only their shared body warmth for heat. When morning dawns, it is warmer and a thick fog blankets the terrain. Midway through breakfast, they hear a horse scream followed by a very close howl.

Websites:

• https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/
• https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' and 'Emergent' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound Effects and some music from Pixabay (Pixabay.com)

In our previous episode, in the gray early-morning hours, during their breakfast, Eilwen, Aron, and Seith are ambushed by a group of Varou, who, using the thick fog to get in close, were able to attack their camp. In the ensuing fight, as their horses are being slaughtered, Eilwen is wounded in the forearm, and due to the thick fog, and the chaos of battle, is separated from Aron and Seith. Failing to find either her brother or Seith and failing to gain the upper hand in her one-on-one combat, she turns and flees into the wilderness as her lone Varou, wolfman opponent, chases after her. Racing into the thick wet woods, heavy with last night's rain, she finds some berries and smears them on her to mask her scent and for the time being manages to lose her pursuer.

Websites:

• https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/
• https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' and 'Emergent' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound Effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

 In our previous episode, Eilwen, having fled from the Varou assault on their campsite the day before, and having spent the night in the deep woods, spends the next day healing, hunting, resting, and recuperating. As she does so, Scratch, the little wyvern, gets into her food, attacks her boot laces, attempts to fly, hunts bugs, climbs a tree and after leaping at Eilwen's face, takes a nap by her side. Eilwen also brings down a deer and harvests it meat. As darkness once more claims the land, she lights a fire and with Scratch in her lap, together they watch the sparks rise to join with the stars in the night sky as she again wrestles with her decision of flight that brought her into these woods and further away from her brother.

Websites:

• https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/
• https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' and 'Emergent' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound Effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

In our previous episode, when dawn comes, Eilwen and Scratch make their way back near the escarpment where their camp had been attacked two days before. Together, they arrive in the treeline and study the clearing where their camp had been. Amidst the din of cawing ravens and buzzing flies feasting on the fallen slaughtered horses, Eilwen finds that her brother, Aron, and Seith must have run into the woods, the same woods she had been in, just a different direction.

For hours she and scratch follow the tracks through the verdant woods, and eventually see that they lead to some old human ruins deep within the woods, crumbling stone buildings under towering trees. There are human boot prints and also signs of the Varou. Near the buildings on now overgrown grounds, she sees a scorched and broken stone pillar and translating the angular runes upon its face, she learns this place was once called 'Greenhome'. She also sees a faint golden elliptical carving nearly worn away and barely visible on the stone pillar. She and Scratch enter the large multi-level structure, searching for any sign of Seith or Aron. Scratch noisily chases a creature in the gloom and enjoys a tasty morsel of squirrel for his afternoon meal. Proceeding through the main rectangular structure, she sees a broken stone throne and surrounding it the skeletal remains of both human inhabitants and also the remains of a bonewalker, a bone horror similar to those they encountered on the slanted pillar in the subterranean lake, its forearm blade piercing the ribcage of one of the humans. Another of the human skeletons still wore the tattered remnants of what must've long ago been an ornate dress. Investigating the throne's back, she sees again the golden elliptical carving. And here, largely preserved  from the elements, she can make out that the device resembles the very circlet of gold she carries. She suspects that this Greenhome must have been an abode of sorts for the queens of old, her direct ancestors.

Websites:

• https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/
• https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' and 'Emergent' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound Effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

In our previous episode, Inside Greenhome, the above-ground ruined building built for the queens of old, Eilwen hears sounds of fighting above her. Rushing to investigate, she sees Seith's bloody and still form rolling down some stone steps towards her. He's alive but hurt and soon loses consciousness. She proceeds up the stairs and is ambushed by a savage varou who leaps out of her from the shadows. She avoids taking harm and sends two arrows into it before sending it to the ground and crushing its neck. After she defeats the varou, she finds a second dead varou lying atop her unconscious brother on the third floor of Greenhome in a ruined solarium. Eilwen tends to their wounds and brings Aron and Seith back to consciousness.  She hears their tale, how they fled into the mists and found this place and ambushed the varou that had pursued them here. Eilwen shares her own adventures since their parting.

While Aron and Seith rest, Eiwen investigates a half opened stone box that her brother was about to open when they were attacked by the varou. Eilwen opens it and inside finds a smaller iron box, and inside that, a jewel beyond imagination! A sapphire pendant on a silver chain edged in gold. On its reverse side, she sees a skaed rune, the binding rune she uses to call the shadows to her. It's worth is staggering and she fears what might happen if the others know she has it. She decides to keep it from them for the time being and surreptitiously adds it to her possessions. She wonders who left this treasure here and was it perhaps left here on purpose…just for her?

Websites:

• https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/
• https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' and 'Emergent' and 'Echos' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound Effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

- Deeply Emotional Orchestral Violin - L'Unico Che Amo (Pixabay.com)

In our previous episode, Eilwen investigates the ruined palace at Greenhome while Seith and Aron take their rest. She finds a cellar and beyond the cellar a prison--a prison where manacles where wrenched free from their mountings and the door burst asunder! She feels a darkness and evil emanating still from that prison and flees back to the ground floor. She begins to piece together that perhaps whatever was in the prison is where the fighting originated from that slew so many and caused the fall of Greenhome. This is confirmed when later, amidst the ruins of the palace's second floor, where books and scrolls lie crumbling in wet sodden heaps, she finds a secret room behind the moldering book case that has largely been preserved from the ravages of time and the elements. Therein she finds a scroll written with blocky runes that she is able to translate. And at the base of the scroll on its reverse side, beneath the signature, she also sees a skaed rune, the same binding rune she uses to call the shadows to her, the same rune she saw on the back of the amulet and the on her mother's black iron disks.

Eilwen discovers that the scroll was authored by none other than the very hand of Queen Morwen, one of her ancestors. Eilwen unfortunately does not discover the fate of what happened to the other half of the crown, but she does learn some history of her kin and the fate of Greenhome. From the record, Queen Morwen had come to these lands generations ago when Morwen was but a little girl. Morwen reveals that Nar Shiv, one of the Heralds of the Night, that caused her people to flee the destruction of their original homeland, despite its fear of water, accomplished what the rest of its demonic kind could not; for it somehow followed Morwen, her kin, and her people across the wide oceanic expanse and continued to hunt down the bloodline of queens here on these lands.

We learn that Morwen as an adult woman battled Nar Shiv, using runes of power to defend herself and wound the demonic Herald, causing it to flee, possibly to its stone house underground to heal and bide its time. Queen Morwen then fled the ruined Greenhome but where she went to, the records do not say. All this occurred generations ago, and Eilwen fears that this Nar Shiv may again be on the hunt for Queen Morwen's bloodline.

She takes the scroll and returns to the ruined solarium where Aron and Seith slumber in deep sleep. For a long time under the waxing silver light of the rising moon, Eilwen ponders on this place, what she learned, and of her connection to her mother and her ancestors here. As both the silver light and shadows below deepen in their respective qualities, in a near meditative trance, she feels a deep sense of connection within her to this place and to her family who has gone before, not just a connection to her immediate mother, Arwed and to her father, Cadfael, but a joining throughout time to all her ancestors who had gone before her and the roles each played in bringing her life to fruition in this here and now.

Websites:

• https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/
• https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' and 'Emergent' and 'Simulacra' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound Effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

- Slow Sad Epic Piano (Power of the Heart) by ashot_danielyan) - (Pixabay.com)

Secondly, if you're missing my voice terribly, I invite you to check out a sibling podcast channel I just started yesterday, called 'Pray, Ponder, and Search' (even if you don't miss my voice I hope you check it out). Its stated goal is to share the truth and light and love of Jesus Christ one word at a time. I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and God has been prompting me for some time to be more bold in sharing what I believe, and this is one way I feel I can do that. Admittedly, the content of a Christian podcast is not as glitzy and fun as an RPG-fueled audio drama, but I promise you that God has a plan for His children and that truths therein are infinitely more rewarding… And I use that word 'infinitely' intentionally and literally.

What I do here at 'Roll, Ponder, and Play' is a passing hobby and mostly just for fun and a way to share my voice with family and friends after I've gone the way of all the earth. But it too will eventually crumble and fade to nothingness. What I share on 'Pray, Ponder, and Search' however includes eternal truths and principles that bring true and lasting happiness and peace. Such things are sorely needed in today's ailing society.

With all that said, let me wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving and a very Merry Christmas! And I want to thank all of you for making my show a part of your lives!

Feel free to reach out any time and share your thoughts. I really do love getting listener feedback. Thank you again, and until we meet again, may all your dice rolls ever bring you success!

Attributions: - 'Emergent' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.

In our previous episode, Eilwen calls the shadows to her, pulls one of them into her amulet which activates something. The amulet flares a bright sapphire glow before settling on a steady dim light. And in the amulet's swimming depths, she focuses on the shadow and sees… a series of three visions:

In the first vision, Eilwen becomes a child, the princess Morwen, in fact. She is in the old world, and she  is witness to the murder of Morwen's mother at the hands of Medrynn the Black, who took the half crown and fled, chased by the queen's guards. Then a man with a gentle touch and gentle voice picks her up and urges flight and calls her his queen, and she sees the Heralds of Night attack her people as they flees to the boats together.

In the second vision, Eilwen becomes the adult and beautiful queen Morwen in her prime, sitting in power and majesty on her throne in Greenhome in the Ironlands. There she battles the Herald Nar Shiv and the Herald's summoned bonewalker. Many guards are slaughtered as they come between Nar Shiv and his prey, buying Morwen time to activate her wards. She use her powers, wrought of rune magic, to protect herself and eventually to trap Nar Shiv, causing him to flee, retreating upon a black mist.

In the third vision, Eilwen becomes the wizened Queen Morwen, replete with years. She interacts with the innocent child, Arwed, her granddaughter, Eilwen's own future mother. Morwen reveals that she and her line are still hunted by Nar Shiv, and she commands Freern, Arwed's caretaker, a warrior woman with red hair, to take Arwed to a place of safety where she will not be found. That the line of Queens will be through her. Freern is further ordered to teach Arwed the ways of their people and to teach her the runes. Freern is given the black iron discs of power. Eilwen returns to herself and wonders at seeing her own mother, an innocent child and what twisting roads she may have traveled.

[As we begin this episode, Eilwen's stats are Edge 2, Heart 1, Iron 1, Shadow 3, Wits 2 Current Assets: Archer (initial box), Cutthroat (initial box), Shadow-walk (initial box)] Current Statuses: Supply 5/5, Spirit 3/5, Health 5/5, Momentum 7/10 Current Debilities: None Failure Track: 5/24 Current Unspent XP: 3

Before we begin this episode, I wanted to revisit her quest milestones. The writings she saw and the vision she had in the last episode fulfill some milestones on her background vow to find the other half of the crown and become queen by her getting more information. Plus, she has the name of a concrete person who originally took the crown. Together, I think that’s worth two milestones. So her background vow is now 5/40 -- and remember, every four ticks translates to one filled box on a progress chart. So, she still has a ways to go here. I think this also fulfills a milestone in her vow to learn more about her mother now 2/10).

Websites:

• https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/
• https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay

Ways to Show Support:

• Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional content
• Give the show a positive review
• Share the show with others
• Reach out to me and say hello

Attributions:

- 'The Long Dark' and 'Emergent' and 'Simulacra' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound Effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

Before jumping back into my usual Queen of Shadows podcast, I wanted to record a few one-off episodes from my “Shadow of the Demon” solo D&D 5e campaign I started back in December of 2019. (Maps and full transcript for this session 0 are available on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/shadow-of-demon-147261567

Attributions:

- 'Emergent' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) released under CC-BY 4.0.

- 'Between Adventures' track by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

In our previous episode we did a session zero, showcased the previous three adventures our party had been on, bringing them from level 1 up to the lofty level of level 4. We introduced our characters and did some Craewan kingdom building, and then rolled up some details about our upcoming adventure.

Attributions:

- 'Emergent' and 'Simulacra' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound effects by Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

In the previous episode, it remains winter, and the party travels to the town of Inolulen. It is crammed full to the rafters with refugees and there is no room in the inn, unless you are Renchant and are able to wave about copious amounts of coin for yourself and speak in stirring tones. Which he does, and he secures himself a well-furnished room, one with a bath, a fireplace, and luxurious white carpet. After a bath and massage, while he enjoys his solitude reading a book by the fireplace and sipping his mulled wine, a commotion attracts his attention and out the window overlooking the back of the inn, he sees a young woman grabbed and taken against her will into an alleyway. It is Tatanya, the very same young woman who gave him his back massage earlier in the evening. Slightly drunk he climbs out the window and chases after her. After a battle with several bandits and their leader, he rescues the girl. Our mage is nearly killed in the battle, and he believes an extra massage is fair recompense for his pains. Grateful to be alive, she agrees and returns with him to his room.

Attributions:

- 'Emergent' and 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound effects by Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

In our previous episode, back at the inn, in Renchant’s room, Renchant and Tatyana enjoy an evening together. Renchant gets his massage and tries to seduce the young woman; he offers her a job to come with him to the south. He succeeds in convincing her to come, but she turns the tables on him. She recognizes her prospects are small in this town filled with refugees. And with war on the horizon and many uncertainties, she believes a connection with Renchant is actually for the best, but on her terms. She says she’ll come on one condition, if there’s a promise of marriage. Marriage was not in Renchants deck of cards, yet she somehow wrangles an engagement out of the half-drunk mage. She also reveals that her father is an estranged knight of the realm, Sir Collin Bolstead, and as the frantic mage wonders what just happened, she makes him promise her that he won’t run away in the middle of the night, that they are engaged, after all. Let’s find out what befalls Master Renchant, mage and hero. Has he met his greatest threat yet or found his dearest treasure in the form of Tatyana (or Tatanya)?

Attributions:

- 'Emergent' and 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound effects by Pixabay (Pixabay.com)

- "Serious Dark Sorrow" by Ashot_Danielyan from Pixabay (Pixabay.com)

Attributions:

- 'Emergent' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound effects by Pixabay (Pixabay.com)

In our previous episode, Renchant and Tatyana attend their signing ceremony and become officially engaged (or betrothed). There is much feasting and celebrating their potential union. Some in the party, Raena foremost among them, have misgivings about Renchant’s motives, but after confronting him, she eventually becomes convinced that Renchant is sincere in his affection towards Tatyana.

The next day the party leaves Inolulan and they travel south for three days through mountainous terrain upon the kings road, a well-traveled mostly north-south highway that runs the length of the kingdom of Craewen. Out of the mountains, the well-patrolled road turns muddy. During one of their rests, they see signs of war on the horizon as they witness a mobilization of Craewen’s forces. Entire regiments begin marching through the countryside towards the kingdom’s border with Kadolan.

The party continues their journey, and after ten more days they finally arrive in Southmarch, the country’s current capital. Gaining entrance to the city, they proceed toward the palace, its white-washed walls atop a large hill in the center of the city catching the dying winter’s sun.

Attributions:

- 'Emergent' and 'Incantation' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) released under CC-BY 4.0.

- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

- Sound effects by Pixabay (Pixabay.com)