Friends at the Table
Episodes
Winter in Hieron 29: Slow Justice
22 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
I write this with no knowledge of where you are, or if you are. Yet, still, I write. And as I write, my words are overtaken by memories. Your finger p...
Winter in Hieron 28: What Life Looks Like
15 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Living Blood of Fire, I had reservations, but your so-called 'Fel anchor' captured the curator Havelton after my own scouts could not. I am a prou...
Winter in Hieron 27: A Good Metaphor
08 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
I swear on my life and on the pattern, Collector-Curator, it was a mistake! A tragedy! A deception! I was misled! Tel bewitched me. He is a hexer and...
Winter in Hieron 26: A Shattering Note
01 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Archivist van der Dawes, Thank you for your interest, and the letter you sent. Your inquiries are extensive, and I've always thought of that as a go...
Winter in Hieron 25: Twenty Two Brown Birds
25 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
I don't know if this device will transmit over this distance, so I'm gonna be brief. This place is just like you said it would be. The Sonorous Aca...
Winter in Hieron 24: An Open Mind
19 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Prelate, I do not understand. The Northern Exarch and the Paladin walk only on the Surface Path. Why did we not educate them? Why did we not bring ...
Winter in Hieron 23: Make the Library Smile
12 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Collector-Curator They pursue two patterns. They showed me only the first until today, but I've finally gained their trust! I've marked what I under...
Winter in Hieron 22: A Holy Place
05 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jer, I write to you in fear. "To be Justiciar," I was told "is to be unwavering in loyalty, determined in diligence, and zealous in the pursuit of jus...
Winter in Hieron 21: The Shield of Our Will
27 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Semiotician-Emeritus, Something is wrong. I am no great pattern worker. I know a few techniques that aid me in my duty: How to lower the light of an a...
Winter in Hieron 20: Pulling You Further Down
20 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Prelate Springe, Thank you for the hospitality on my visit. Thus far, it has been the only trustworthy thing in this gnarled subterrane. This place co...
Winter in Hieron 19: Make The Spring Last Forever
14 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Collector-Curator, It took two months, but I've finally convinced Tel and Havelton to see things my way. For weeks, the old man spent the day attendin...
Winter in Hieron 18: Try to Live Normally
06 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Living Blood of Fire, As my second reported, and I have confirmed, the first threshold has been sealed. I have walked the remains of that twisted muse...
Winter in Hieron 17: Undelivered Resignations
31 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Archivist-Collector, Please read this week's classification updates carefully. For the next month, it is imperative that "textile" carpets be subdivi...
Winter in Hieron 16: Is There Anyone Else?
24 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Aloysha, War is coming to Velas. Ordenna is coming to Velas. And while I believe in the strength of the velasian people and in the resolve of the chur...
Winter in Hieron 15: Settle Your Matters
16 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
TO: Impetor Fela Malle Living Blood of Steel, I have it. It is at the top of the tower, in a room my soldiers cleared of tables and chairs and old she...
Winter in Hieron 14: What Do You Want Here?
10 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
So, listen. I've heard whispers from spies and rumors from stewards, and it sounds like you've got your hands on something really special. Something t...
Winter in Hieron 13: Rosemerrow, Oh My Rosemerrow
03 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Hey chief, This is a weird one, and I almost didn't bring it to your attention, but Carver insisted. There was this guy shouting out near the Westshor...
Winter in Hieron 12: A Chaotic Cataloging
24 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
TO: Chief-Justiciar Qinta Quatróna Living Blood of Fire, you know I write you this at great peril, because it is you who imperils me. But whatever my...
Winter in Hieron 11: The Importance of Names
16 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Associate van der Dawes, There are actually three distinct sections to the treaty that allows the Golden Lance to operate in Rosemerrow, and I came up...
Takin' a Snow Day
10 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sorry for being so late to announce an off this week but we need a little extra time to make a big special thing a little more special. We tried to ma...
Winter in Hieron 10: Fire and Blood
04 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It's been four days since His sun left us, Tutor. On the first morning without it, I woke early--before its light would have graced us on a normal day...
Winter in Hieron 09: Warm Assurances
27 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Cider-Brew Conveyance Departure: 2TE,3M / Arrival: 4OL,3M Received By: Exarch Alyosha, Church of Samothes, District of the Sun, Velas Articles of ...
Winter in Hieron 08: The Meeting House
20 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Do I yet write to an empty room? An empty desk? An empty page? Or do you remain, too busy with your work to respond? Or, perhaps I can lure your eyes ...
Winter in Hieron 07: Two Hands
13 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Pupil, Alyosha. I promised you once that I would not ask the question ever again. That whatever our differences, however foolish your faith, I woul...
Winter In Hieron: Holiday Special 02: Pits and Ladders
06 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The mothkin do not remember why years ago, they decided to worship the stars of the southern sky, specifically. Perhaps it is because that is the dire...
Winter In Hieron: Holiday Special 01: Homes and Promises
01 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
There, in hidden village of Old Man's Chin, the mothkin gather around the dry well at the center of town, look to the stars of the southern sky, and b...
Winter in Hieron 06: All Violence, All Brains
25 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Several years ago, Arrell, I made a low shelf of wood and attached it to the wall above my bed. Before retiring to bed, I would draw some water and pl...
Winter in Hieron 05: Blood Doesn't Run
15 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It's time I leave Rosemerrow, Alyosha. All sorts of cockroaches scramble through this city, now. And while I am used to the cretinous locals--who can ...
Winter in Hieron 04: A Combination of Notes
09 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The library kept by the New Archives here in Velas saw its final day, Arrell. I walked past its corner today, and it was gone, vanished. Does that mak...
Winter in Hieron 03: You Haven't Kept Up, Have You?
01 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Have you read these so-called "broadsides" from Ordenna yet, Alyosha? They've been distributing them here in Rosemerrow. One of them, "A Letter From...
Winter in Hieron 02: A Museum in the Distance
28 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Has the news reached you, friend? A group of merchants form Rosemerrow told me today that a new wing to the Old Museum in Westshore-Upon-Sea is openin...
Winter in Hieron 01: An Arrow Let Loose
18 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In the early days of the New Archives, the philosopher and historian Krent Kava wrote that the first sign that Hieron was on its way to recovery was t...
Hieron: The Months of Autumn Pt 2
12 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
For a long, long time in Hieron, it was autumn. Crisp branches snapped under foot. Still lakes caught the reds, yellows, and oranges of the leaves ove...
Hieron: The Months of Autumn Pt 1
03 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
And so the season turns, and the cold winds sweep in, and candles and fires and stoves are lit. Black branches against a white sky. There are more sto...
A Message From Ali
27 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Hey everyone! Here we are again with no new episode. We really really hate doing this and promise that there will some real and true and good content ...
A Message From Austin
20 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Hey everyone! Sorry for taking a week off, but at least it gives us an opportunity to speak to the audience directly. Thank you so much for all of sup...
Marielda 14: The Killing of the King-God Samothes By The Traitor Prince Maelgwyn Pt. 4
14 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
FOREWORD to The Illustrated Concordance of Marielda, Second Printing No chronology will be observed here, nor could one ever be observed—Marielda re...
Marielda 13: The Killing of the King-God Samothes By The Traitor Prince Maelgwyn Pt. 3
06 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It was strange. Every morning you'd see The Black Slacks walking to work. By this point, the air would crackle around them, thick with rumours of anot...
Marielda 12: The Killing of the King-God Samothes By The Traitor Prince Maelgwyn Pt. 2
30 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In one way or another, High Sun Day is celebrated all across Hieron. After all, there is a day each year on which the sun hangs in the sky, resplenden...
Marielda 11: The Killing of the King-God Samothes By The Traitor Prince Maelgwyn Pt. 1
22 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Today is Sunday, and not just any Sunday, it is the Sun Day, the Long Day, the Day of High Sun. Once a year, sometime in the final month of the calend...
Marielda 10: Four Conversations
16 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
According to the scholars at the Sonorous Academy, there are three important songs in Marielda. The first, "High Pyre Adagio," has its origins in song...
Marielda 09: The Valentine Affair Pt. 4
09 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The nearest pub to Memoriam College is called The Blue Boar and, on the night of the Valentine Affair, the publican leaned out of the door and wondere...
Marielda 08: The Valentine Affair Pt. 3
02 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The citizens of Marielda close their eyes and dream of fire and water. On some nights in Canopy Row, people dream of crisp leaves, and residents of Em...
Marielda 07: The Valentine Affair Pt. 2
25 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The bells of Memoriam College ring out from high in the tower. At the top of the hour, The Diligent Peal marks the start and end of classes, ushering ...
Marielda 06: The Valentine Affair Pt. 1
19 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Memoriam College only wears flowers for one week a year. On Sunday morning of that week, they send a man called Alexander to fetch them from the flori...
Marielda 05: War and Azaleas
12 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
For the baker, news of a brewing turf war is a good sign. Hungry fighters are mouths to feed, and so they tend to their ovens and wipe flour from thei...
Marielda 04: The Crosstown Job Pt. 2
06 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
To look at a city from above changes it irrecoverably, and so it was for the passengers on Train Day. And say what you like, but the windows in the ca...
Marielda 03: The Crosstown Job Pt. 1
29 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Marielda is a city filled with scoundrels. Bakers lean on the scales as they count loaves of bread. Men and women in pubs shoot loaded dice. Art deale...
Marielda 02: The City of Light Pt. 2
21 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
For a while, everything was going just fine in Marielda. Sure, there was some dissent among the citizens—but what city is free of that? In general, ...
Marielda 01: The City of Light Pt. 1
14 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In the time of fraught paladins and wavering wizards, of contemptible fighters and indignant druids, of wide eyed rangers… and of bards, the people ...
COUNTER/Weight 44: Live Post-Mortem
26 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
With COUNTER/Weight firmly wrapped up, we take some time to answer fan questions, discuss the highs and lows of the season, and talk a little bit abou...
A Quick Announcement and Some Thank Yous!
16 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Hey everyone, we are taking a week off here at Friends at the Table but we do have an announcement to make. We're going to be doing a post-mortem for ...
COUNTER/Weight 43: A Splintered Branch, A Ringing Bell Pt. 3
10 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
15,000 years or so before the September Incident, it went something like this: Somehow, they'd survived. They'd peeled across the galaxy itself, la...
COUNTER/Weight 42: A Splintered Branch, A Ringing Bell Pt. 2
02 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Fifteen years ago, soon after the the Golden War ended, Grace issued her ex cathedra prognosis: With Apostolos defeated (and 'integration' well in pro...
COUNTER/Weight 41: A Splintered Branch, A Ringing Bell Pt. 1
27 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It has been four and a half years since the Chime confronted Rigor on the planet of September, an event that has been dismissed as insignificant, y...
COUNTER/Weight 40: The Storm Over September
20 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
"It is with great joy and humility that we make the debut of this machine today. For so long, so many have struggled here on the frontier. Food is sca...
COUNTER/Weight 39: Just Another Machine
12 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
As the only clock that really matters ticks further and further down, The Chime find themselves facing one sealed door after another. But do the doors...
COUNTER/Weight 38: Found Footage
06 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
As ships pull into high orbit over September and an uncanny groan bleats from below it, The Chime pair off and move to complete their mission. Cassan...
COUNTER/Weight 37: Visions from Windows, Or: The Last Time the Bomb Dropped
28 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
20,000 years before The Chime met on Counterweight, long before the Golden War against Apostolos, the Automated Diaspora devised a plan to stop Rigor ...
COUNTER/Weight 36: Everything is Temporary
22 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout the Golden Branch Star Sector, leaders leap into action as news of a new, galactic threat spreads. Minerva's Steiger sisters move their inv...
COUNTER/Weight 35: A Knock at the Door
15 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Though the rain seems to clear over the September Institute, The Chime move with well-learned caution. Mako Trig walks familiar steps, only to find so...
COUNTER/Weight 34: Reaching Out
08 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Maryland September has been located and The Chime are safe but only for the moment. The storm rages outside and with it, threat hangs heavy in the air...
COUNTER/Weight 33: A Fractal Garden and an Intercepted Message
01 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
After a near death encounter with a mysterious shooter, The Chime finally makes its way onto the seaside campus of the September Institute. Mako Trig...
COUNTER/Weight 32: Through The Crosshairs
24 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Now that they've secured their entrance into The September Institute, The Chime has one last thing to do before investigating the campus: making sure ...
COUNTER/Weight 31: Expertize with a Z
17 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
As The Chime makes their way towards The September Institute, they find that they'll need more than style and wit to get past the campus gates. In the...
COUNTER/Weight 30: Another Facility Among Trees
10 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
With the larger threat of Rigor rapidly approaching, The Chime have agreed to a truce with Ibex and his Righteous Vanguard. In exchange for this peace...
COUNTER/Weight 29: Three Conversations
04 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
A Lion and a Man chanced to travel in company through the forest. They soon began to quarrel, for each of them boasted that he and his kind were far s...
COUNTER/Weight 28: A Special Kind of Warmth
25 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
While Kingdom Come creeps through the dark, the Golden Branch explodes into violence and betrayal. In the peripheries of the sector, the Golden Branch...
COUNTER/Weight 27: An Animal Out of Context
19 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
As Ibex's Righteous Vanguard lands on Counterweight, the Kingdom Come drifts away in a slow arc towards September. The trip is long and cold and quiet...
COUNTER/Weight 26: Do You Have Room For Me?
11 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Divine Detachment circles the planet at a blistering velocity, its corresponding satellites watching over it. On board The Kingdom Come, The Chime...
COUNTER/Weight 25: You Can Call Me Captain
04 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Kingdom Come has left the surface of Counterweight, but it hasn't quite made it out of orbit. Between a furious unit out for revenge, and a stuffy...
COUNTER/Weight 24: It's Still Dark Out
28 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
With the newly formed Righteous Vanguard closing in on them, the Chime makes final preparations for escaping Counterweight. AuDy winds up working as a...
COUNTER/Weight 23: An Astonishingly Illegal Ship
21 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
As the members of The Chime awake from the memory farm, they return to a world that has changed without them. Corporations may have restructured, empi...
COUNTER/Weight 22: The Broken Branch
14 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
As our heroes review the past, the Golden Branch Star sector moves forward without them. And it moves towards instability. New corporate initiatives s...
COUNTER/Weight 21: Crisis! (A Solemn Vow Above The Sea of Counterweight)
08 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Military water running down stainless steel cookware. The rustling of paperwork, yet unsigned. The warm hum and soft glow of engines alight. Distance ...
COUNTER/Weight 20: The Glimmer Incident: The Executive Enters!
01 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Chime lay on medical beds on the surface of Counterweight, hooked into a simulation to learn as much as they can about Ibex, candidate of Righteou...
COUNTER/Weight 19: The Road You Take And Who You Take It With
24 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
With Ibex's threat in the air, an old ally reaches out to The Chime with an offer: Learn about your enemy before you suffer the same fate I did. The g...
COUNTER/Weight 18: The Order of Things
17 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The desert winds of Counterweight are broken by the sound of gunfire, as The Chime face foes new and old in the settlement of Seabed City. While Aria ...
COUNTER/Weight 17: Metal That Has Died Twice
11 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The Chime takes off towards the abandoned dome to carry out their mission: Deceive Sister Rust and steal a mysterious golden orb from her Iron Choir. ...
COUNTER/Weight 16: The Rear Left Engine
04 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we bring our attention back to The Chime who have been hired to take a mysterious artifact from a familiar group... The Iron Choir. Dealing...
COUNTER/Weight 15: A Candle in the Sun
25 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Tensions rise throughout the Golden Branch star sector. OriCon megacorporations maneuver for advantage, striking with deniable operatives, market mani...
COUNTER/Weight 14: We've All Killed People
20 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The Chime have tracked down the mysterious Gnosis virus, but they're not the only ones who want it! Two high powered, hard hitting mercs are between o...
COUNTER/Weight 13: Our Customer of the Month
13 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Even though they're not quite sure what it is (or what they should do with it), the Chime continues to track down the mysterious Gnosis virus. Cass an...
COUNTER/Weight 12: A Home After A Wake
07 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The Chime continues their hunt for the Gnosis virus, as Cassander and Mako infiltrate the Snowtrak facility, AuDy finds a nice cafe and Aria goes to a...
COUNTER/Weight 11: A Thing You Know About Nightclubs
30 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we enter into The Sprawl in earnest. Big Cass finds himself pulled between familial duty and personal safety, AuDy calls in a favor from a ...
COUNTER/Weight 10: Drawing Clocks
23 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
After 10 or so episodes of using Jeremy Keller's excellent MechNoir, we're switching our game of giant robots, neon hair, and gig economies over to ...
COUNTER/Weight 09: This Month Of Ours
15 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout the Golden Branch sector, a dozen little pieces begin to move all at once, each one causing two dozen to move, and each of those, four, and...
COUNTER/Weight 08: Our Hostage Below
01 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The battle continues as The Chime tries to rescue Orth Godlove but they aren't the only ones with their sights set on him... between the Iron Choir an...
COUNTER/Weight 07: I Am Not Allowed
19 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The Chime's sometimes-employer Orth Godlove has gone missing and the group is on the hunt... but the mysterious Netted Wave is just a few steps behind...
COUNTER/Weight 06: Here's Your Bribe Tip
19 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
After a few weeks of recovery and dry times, The Chime finally gets a new job from Orth Godlove: to investigate his own disappearance. Stakes are high...
COUNTER/Weight 05: A Ship of Seeds
11 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Friends at the Table, we introduce the "second layer" to our MechNoir campaign, combining elements from Microscope and Stars Withou...
COUNTER/Weight 04: The Bells Are Ringing
03 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The Chime continues their rescue of Cene Sixheart, the brilliant roboticist kidnapped by Snowtrak Industries and forced to work on a mysterious proje...
COUNTER/Weight 03: It's Fine, We're Criminals
01 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The Chime, our intrepid group of freelance investigators and problem solvers, managed to survive their encounter with the mercenary band known as Th...
COUNTER/Weight 02: Soldier Game
25 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In their search for the missing roboticist Cene Sixheart, Cassander Timaeus Berenice (Art Tebbel) and Mako Trig (Keith Carberry) have tracked down the...
COUNTER/Weight 01: I Would Like A Bribe
17 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In the first session of our new MechNoir game, the freelancer problem-solving crew known as The Chime begins an investigation into the disappearance...
COUNTER/Weight 00: If Han Solo Used To Be Beyoncé, or: Hashtag Otechku
15 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Whether you're a brand new listener or a long time fan, welcome to Friends at the Table, an actual play podcast about critical worldbuilding, smart c...
Autumn in Hieron 29: Live Post Mortem
19 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Since we've reached the finales of both boat party and ice party's arcs, we take some time to discuss the show and answer some questions during a liv...
Autumn in Hieron 28: A Choice About What You Believe
01 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In the season finale of Friends at the Table: Dungeon World, The Great Fantasmo (Nick Scratch) makes a new friend, Thorondir (Andrew Swan) tries to ke...
Autumn in Hieron 27: The Shores of Ordenna
23 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In this season finale of the "Boat Party" group, Lem is torn, Fero is frustrated, and Hella finds herself face to face with the last scion of the line...
Autumn in Hieron 26: Why Are You Here, Again?
16 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Hadrian recommends splitting up, Thorondir grows uneasy, and the Great Fantasmo finally finds his voice. Featuring Nick Scratch (@drevilbones...