Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Ep. 01 - Wildheart - Interregnum I: Pyke
15 Plays37 minutes ago
Pyke rows his passengers through the fog of The Floodroot Glade in Wildheart. The glade is often flooded after the Tidal Surge. It's common knowledge that passing through the glade is only possible by boat this time of year. But something seems wrong with the fog.
Join the community: fellowshipofthetabletop.co.uk
Create your podcast today! #madeonzencastr
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'Wild Heart'
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Wild Heart, a brand new adventure from the creators of Bellum Draconis. After five incredible years, we are expanding with an all-new campaign, featuring a mix of fresh voices and familiar storytellers.
New D&D Campaign Announcement
00:00:15
Speaker
Filling your Tuesday podcast slot, you can join us every other week for our actual play Dungeons & Dragons episodes, where we dive into the untamed kingdom of Wild Heart.
Narrative Side Quests: Interregnums
00:00:25
Speaker
But between these episodes, we'll be releasing these...
00:00:29
Speaker
Interregnums. Consider them narrative side quests that explore the rich history and pivotal events shaping this world. While it's not essential to the main storyline, these 10-15 minute vignettes provide deeper context, framing for our characters' journeys and offer a bit of an insight to the unfolding action across Eastern Earth that maybe our characters can't or won't get to.
00:00:51
Speaker
For those who love to uncover secrets, these interregnums will also provide clues to the greater mysteries at play. I really hope you enjoy these glimpses into Wild Heart as much as I've loved bringing them to life.
00:01:35
Speaker
The world moves in cycles.
00:02:02
Speaker
moves in cycles And between them, stories wait. This is one that rises in the silence.
Pike's Journey Through the Fog
00:02:12
Speaker
Interregnum One Pike
00:02:17
Speaker
The marshes that nestled in the centre of Floodroot Glade stretched endlessly under the pale light of a sun smothered by thick cloud. It was always quicker to traverse the boggy lakes than try to find a route through.
00:02:31
Speaker
Ever-changing, you are more likely to get lost than find a shortcut to Cliffstone Keep. The water reflected the grey sky like a tarnished mirror, interrupted only by clusters of reeds and the occasional ripple from unseen creatures beneath the surface.
00:02:48
Speaker
Pike, Jonar's ferry, drifted steadily, though it seemed as if the world itself had slowed. The oars dipped into the water with the same rhythm as always, their quiet splash, the only sound in the unnerving silence.
00:03:04
Speaker
Pike said nothing to his three passengers, his hands steady on the handles.
00:03:12
Speaker
No one spoke. The fog had crept in an hour ago, dense and cloying, pressing against the edges of vision. It wasn't uncommon in the marshes, but there was a weight to this time.
00:03:27
Speaker
The merchant, the woman, and the young man. They sat in complete silence, stewed in it.
00:03:39
Speaker
Pike kept his eyes on the pale shapes of the willows that lined the edges of the water. They rose and fell in the mist, their branches reaching down like skeletal fingers. The passengers didn't seem to notice.
00:03:54
Speaker
"'Odd, isn't it?' the woman said suddenly, breaking the heavy silence.
Passengers' Unsettling Memories
00:03:59
Speaker
She looked to be in her mid-thirties, her face pale and angular, a worn travelling cloak drawn tightly around her shoulders.
00:04:09
Speaker
What is? asked the young man across from her. He was dressed in patched clothes, his eyes sharp and restless. The quiet! she gestured vaguely to the fog.
00:04:22
Speaker
yeah You can't hear the birds anymore. Pike didn't look up, but he tightened his grip on the oars. The young man frowned, tilting his head as if to listen.
00:04:35
Speaker
After a moment he shrugged, Marshes go quiet sometimes. It's nothing. But the older man beside him, the merchant, by the look of his fine coat, though was wrinkled and travel-stained, shook his head.
00:04:49
Speaker
No, she's right, he said. There's always something. Frogs, crickets, even the surge, but but this. He trailed off, gesturing to the water and the thick white shroud that surrounded them.
00:05:07
Speaker
"'He'll pass,' the young man said gruffly, his voice cut through the tension like a knife, though it did little to settle all the unease. The fog wrapped tighter around the ferry, muffling the sound of the oars and turning the world into an endless grey void.
00:05:23
Speaker
Time seemed to stretch, the minutes blending together as the ferry glided forward.
00:05:31
Speaker
Then, as if on cue, the young man spoke again, his eyes dimmer now.
00:05:40
Speaker
Strangest thing, he said, leaning back against the wooden railing. I was just thinking about my ah my my grandmother's house. Haven't thought about it in years, but it was so clear.
00:05:55
Speaker
Like I was there. The woman glanced at him, her brow furrowed. Your grandmother's house? He nodded. Yeah, a big place up near the hills.
00:06:08
Speaker
She had this ash tree in the yard. Gnarled thing, old as the land. i used to climb it, but... ah He hesitated, his face twisting into a frown.
00:06:22
Speaker
That's not right. She didn't have a tree like that. The others looked at him. And Pike... said nothing.
00:06:34
Speaker
The ferry drifted onwards. The fog seemed to thicken, now swallowing the edges of the deck. Each oar stroke felt smaller and muffled.
00:06:47
Speaker
The young man rubbed his face. His restless energy suddenly dimmed. I swear it felt real, like I was there. the The tree was grey.
00:06:58
Speaker
The kind that leaves your hands all dusty, you know. smell it even.' "'Memories don't just change,' the merchant said, though his voice lacked some conviction.
00:07:11
Speaker
His hands tightened on the edge of the bench. "'Ash-trees don't grow near the hills, either.' The woman glanced at him sharply. "'What do you know about that?' I've traded across Wild Heart for twenty years.
00:07:25
Speaker
I've seen every hill from the Frost Heart Heights to Great Arrow, and Crosswind Town to the edge of the Veils and Glades, and everything in between. If there was an ash tree like that, I would have seen it. The young man shrugged, staring down at his boots, and Pike said nothing.
00:07:45
Speaker
The silence returned, stretching long enough that Pike thought that the conversation had well and truly ended. But then the merchant cleared his throat, oh his eyes darting nervously towards the mist.
00:08:01
Speaker
The woman cut in before the merchant had a chance to break the silence, her words slow. "'I keep seeing a fire,' she said.
00:08:12
Speaker
her voice flat but edged with unease. It was massive, roaring up against into the sky. It wasn't like any fire I've ever seen. the flames were wrong. they They didn't flicker, they just they moved slow and smooth, like they had a purpose.
00:08:35
Speaker
The others turned to look at her.
00:08:38
Speaker
There was smoke everywhere, she continued. Thick, choking smoke falling like snow. I couldn't ah couldn't breathe and there were shapes in it, faces or um maybe shadows of faces.
00:08:53
Speaker
But they were watching me.
00:08:56
Speaker
She shivered, her gaze unfocused as if the memory lingered just beyond her reach. But I don't know where I was, or... I don't even think I've seen a fire that large in my life.
00:09:12
Speaker
She stopped speaking then, her words trailing into the mist.
Doubt and Fog Clearing
00:09:18
Speaker
And Pike said nothing.
00:09:24
Speaker
"'I... yeah I remember something too,' the merchant admitted, his voice low. "'A market stall, one I used to visit in Stormspire.
00:09:38
Speaker
The vendor was this old woman, always wearing a grey shawl. She used to sell charms and baubles, trinkets mostly useless, but infused lightly from the surge. She got the local orphans to skitter down the sides of the ravine near the moor.
00:09:53
Speaker
Paid them well, I remember. Too well, really. but But in the memory... He hesitated, his hands tightening around his knees.
00:10:05
Speaker
She wasn't selling charms. She was selling ash. Handfuls of it. she She said it was from the first tidal surge.
00:10:18
Speaker
The young man snorted, though his expression was uneasy. That's ridiculous. The merchant shrugged, his eyes distant. I thought the same thing.
00:10:33
Speaker
And then I looked at her hands. And it wasn't just ash. There was shapes in it. patterns moving as if they were alive.
00:10:45
Speaker
And Pike said nothing.
00:10:50
Speaker
The fog began to thin, its oppressive weight lifting gradually as the ferry drifted closer to unseen shores. The passengers sat in silence now, the earlier conversation settling like dust on the air.
00:11:08
Speaker
Each seemed lost in thought, their eyes distant. The woman spoke, her voice quiet and strained.
00:11:20
Speaker
That memory I mentioned earlier, about the burning. I've been thinking about it.
00:11:28
Speaker
ah don't think it was mine.
00:11:31
Speaker
Silence. "'I don't think it was mine,' she repeated. The young man looked up sharply. "'What do you mean?' "'It's hard to explain,' she said, rubbing her arms.
00:11:44
Speaker
"'It felt real, but not in the way my memories feel real, like like it was borrowed from somewhere else.' The merchant frowned, his fingers tracing the edges of this bench. "'You're not the only one,' he admitted." That market stall.
00:12:02
Speaker
I've been to Stormspire dozens of times. I've seen that woman, but I've never bought ash. I've never seen her sell it either. And yet I can remember every detail as if I had.
00:12:14
Speaker
The young man shifted uncomfortably, his hands tightening on his knees.
00:12:21
Speaker
I thought about the tree again, he said reluctantly. It wasn't just an ash tree, there was something wrong with it. The bark was too smooth, too dark.
00:12:34
Speaker
It didn't look like any tree I've ever seen.
00:12:39
Speaker
Their eyes met in the dim light, unease rippling through them. The marsh was coming back into view. but the silence remained, heavy and strange.
00:12:55
Speaker
The merchant, the woman, and the young man breathed a sigh of what seemed like relief. Their eyes seemed to lighten like the dimming sun suddenly reappearing from behind a cloud.
00:13:08
Speaker
The rim of the marsh came into view. "'We're through it,' the young man sighed. The glimmer returned to his eye.
00:13:19
Speaker
Pike looked back to the fog. The fog that now seemed flecked with tiny flies or... What's that ash?
00:13:31
Speaker
He rubbed his eyes and looked back to his passengers as if they seemed to awaken from their slumber too. He looked back at the fog and opened his mouth. He wanted clarity.
00:13:42
Speaker
He wanted clarification. He wanted answers.
00:13:49
Speaker
But Pike said nothing.
Engage with Characters Online
00:13:57
Speaker
Thank you for listening. Until next time, farewell.
00:14:02
Speaker
if this tale has sparked your interest and you'd like to learn more about the characters let us know we've got a revamped site fellowship ofthe tabletop dot code u k where you can read more law see more maps and a renew blog entry from both belleham drconni and wildart we've got a new email as well so if you want to get in touch be really great because your input could help shape the stories we tell next until next time