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Previously: In our previous episode Eilwen and Aron split the party. Leaving Seith with Valeri and her children with a few supplies, hidden in the countryside around Longfalls, the twins make their way towards Highcrag, a day’s journey by foot to the west, to confront Delos, the Iron Priest. En route, around mid day, at a road function that splits off to the north, they are ambushed by warriors dressed in mottled greens and browns bearing bows, spears, and daggers, who had come from that northern road. After they defeat the warriors, Aron interrogates the sole survivor. They find that these warriors were advance scouts for Uzak’s warband who is heading south towards this region. But they learn little more when their captor bleeds out. Eilwen mercy kills him, and she and Aron take their three mounts and any supplies they were carrying and continue west towards Highcrag. Websites: https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/ https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay www.youtube.com/@RollPonderAndPlay https://discord.com/invite/dfKTkJHKem 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. – ‘Emergent’ by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) released under CC-BY 4.0. – ‘Escape Velocity’ by Scott Buckly (www.scottbuckley.com.au) released under CC-BY 4.0. – ‘Simulacra’ by Scott Buckly (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. – Ominous Soundscape – TrenoX8 (Pixabay.com) – Jaques – Andreas-Woll-Music (Pixabay.com) – Sound Effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).  

Previously: In our previous episode, near nightfall, Eilwen and her companions engage in hand to hand combat against the four warrior priests who seek their death for blaspheming “Delos the High One”. The companions slay the warrior priests but a few moments after they fall, tar-like shadow creatures rises from the fallen forms and infect others in the settlement. The companions flee Longfalls to the west. Finding a modicom of safety brought by distance and height, they watch the settlement struggle against the spreading darkness and they see several buildings in the settlement burst into flame. As Seith tries to calm the fears of Valeri’s children by telling a tale of Gadwyn Moonhunter, Aron confronts Eilwen about her actions at Longfalls and initially believes that Eilwen’s is the cause of unleashing the shadowy darkness upon Longfalls. He is distrustful about her use of shadow magic. Eilwen convinces him that the shadowy darkness that is spreading is not from her and must be stopped and they make plans to leave Valeri and her children with Seith here hidden outside of Longfalls, while she and Aron go on ahead to deal with Delos, the Iron priest blamed for the spreading darkness at Highcrag. Websites: https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/ https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay www.youtube.com/@RollPonderAndPlay https://discord.com/invite/dfKTkJHKem 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. – ‘Emergent’ by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) released under CC-BY 4.0. – ‘Escape Velocity’ by Scott Buckly (www.scottbuckley.com.au) released under CC-BY 4.0. – ‘Simulacra’ by Scott Buckly (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. – Jaques – Andreas-Woll-Music (Pixabay.com) – Sound Effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

Previously: In our previous episode, Eilwen and her companions finish their final leg of travel and arrive at the settlement of Longfalls. They witness a beautiful sunset backdropping twin waterfalls, the namesake of the settlement itself. The falls cascade off of a grassy plateau where, fed by cold mountain streams far to the north, they feed the green valley and that spreads out below them, wherein lies the settlement of Longfalls. Scratch and Aron nearly get into a fight as an unnatural and a nameless something seems to put everyone on edge. As they entered Longfalls, the townsfolk are suspicious of and even hostile towards the companions. The settlement is bursting at the seams with refugees from Highcrag, who had fled the settlement to the west. While Eilwen seeks lodging in a stable, they are attacked by the stableman and in the ruckus that ensues, a pack of hungry children steal some of their supplies and then disappear down the side streets. Eilwen helps one refugee family and manages to get some answers–an iron priest named Delos, the man claims, had visited an Iron pillar near Highcrag and he claims that that is the source of their ills and the fountain of the darkness at Highcrag. EIlwen in a showy display stands atop a wagon and with sword aloft vows to deal with Delos. But even as her vow leaves her lips, acolytes of the accursed priest, led by a hulking man in a gray robe with strange gray streamers sewn into their clothes step forth to confront them. The man gives no name but bears a massive war hammer in his thick arms and accuses Eilwen of blasphemy for speaking such against “Delos the High One” and says her words are worthy of death. Websites: https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/ https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay www.youtube.com/@RollPonderAndPlay https://discord.com/invite/dfKTkJHKem 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 Check out soloroleplayersnetwork.com for other great shows! Attributions: – ‘The Long Dark’ by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) released under CC-BY 4.0. – ‘Emergent’ by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) released under CC-BY 4.0. – ‘Escape Velocity’ by Scott Buckly (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. – Jaques – Andreas-Woll-Music (Pixabay.com) – Sound Effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

Previously: In our previous episode, Eilwen and Valeri continue their talk around the campfire. With only Eilwen and the silent forest trees for spectators, Valeri opens up about her purpose in coming to these lands. She seeks an ancient treasure to buy the freedom of her husband, Edyard, and her eldest son, Gethyd, who are both thralls  to Yormid, leader of Redhall circle, working in his mines,  seeking for black iron. In starlight and firelight, Valeri shares an old treasure map her husband had found months ago. In the starlight, along one edge of the vellum sheet, Eilwen picks out some blocky runes she can read and manages to memorize the characters before Valeri puts the sheet  away. The map also features the Greenhome. The ruined palace of queens that Valeri had just left, a region no doubt now crawling with the varou that have ever dogged their heels these last several days. It is there that Valeri seeks to find her liberating treasure. Eilwen, bearing the only treasure she had found in those ruins, the amulet of queens upon her breast, attempts to convince Valeri that it’s too dangerous, that it would be suicide to attempt entering those lands. When Valeri is near sinking into despair, having lost one son to death, and another son and her very husband nearly lost to permanent slavery, Eilwen offers to help Valeri free her family. Valeri is grateful for her aid and tells Eilwen she is not like Arwed, her mother. When the others are asleep, Eilwen ponders the runes she memorized by the fire and finds out they are in verse form and contain a clue that urges her to seek the lost crown in a low region upon the earth in some brackish swamp or fen. Eilwen also ponders about Valeri’s affirmation that Eilwen is not like Eilwen’s mother and wonders if need had turned mother from innocence into the cruel woman Valeri had known. Eilwen also justifies her use of the shadow magic and decides she is queen–queen of the living and queen of the shadows and what harm is there for a queen to use the tools she has been given to regain and protect her kingdom? Websites: https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/ https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay www.youtube.com/@RollPonderAndPlay https://discord.com/invite/dfKTkJHKem Attributions: – ‘The Long Dark’ by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) released under CC-BY 4.0. – ‘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. – Jaques – Andreas-Woll-Music (Pixabay.com) – Sound Effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).   Check out soloroleplayersnetwork.com for other great shows!

Previously: In our previous episode, Eilwen discovers Valeri watching her by the fire. As they engage in conversation, she finds that Valeri had, long ago, actually met her mother, Arwed, a lovely blond woman whom Valeri referred to as ‘The Witch’. This was many years ago at the circle of Redhall when Valeri was but a young girl and when Arwed was a beautiful woman in her prime.  Valeri tells Eilwen that The Witch had been unkind and cruel and refused to help Valeri’s ailing mother. Instead, The Witch had the villagers scouring the hills searching of black iron. Valeri relates that when her mother died, she went to The Witch’s home to bring about some act of vengeance, but as she hid outside the witch’s cottage in the woods, she instead witnessed a what she believed to be some dark ritual which filled her with terror. She saw The Witch pour what Valeri terms were the ‘shades of the dead’ into a miniature raven formed from the molten black-iron. The blond witch subsequently used the device to summon a cloud of ravens and disappear amidst the flapping of wings. Valeri recognizes the witch’s features in Eilwen’s face and learns of the familial connection between mother and daughter. Eliwen tries to defend her mother, as much as she’s comfortable doing,  and shares some good memories of her mother and also admits to learning some shadow magic from her mother as well.  Valeri admits she never Eilwen’s mother well, that The Witch was there in Redhall only a few weeks. but that she counted it a good day when the witch finally left Redhall for good. Eilwen mourns that her mother kept too many secrets, which prompts Valeri into sharing a secret of her own, as she opens the leather tube that she had previously been so protective about. 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 4/5, Spirit 2/5, Health 5/5, Momentum 1/10 Current Debilities: None Failure Track: 7/24 Current Unspent XP: 3 Websites: https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/ https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay www.youtube.com/@RollPonderAndPlay https://discord.com/invite/dfKTkJHKem Attributions: – ‘The Long Dark’ by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) released under CC-BY 4.0. – ‘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. – Jaques – Andreas-Woll-Music (Pixabay.com) – Sound Effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

Previously: In our previous episode, the companions awaken and continue their travels from the iron pillar, following the river south through the tempest hills. About midday, the road takes them to a rotten wooden bridge that spans a large and deep ravine through which the heedless river courses with rapidity. A covered wagon perches precariously near a ragged hole where a tangle of horses and reins and tackle have fallen through the bridge, and, spiraling in mid air above the ravine, threaten to drag the wagon and its occupants down to certain destruction. A boy, named Fen,  leans forward and tries to reach the saddlebags at his mother’s urging. Before Eilwen can do anything, the lad slips and falls, and plunges into the depths. Eilwen leaps into action and saves the rest of the family: three girls from the back of the wagon, Valeri, their mother, and she also rescues the saddlebags, cutting them free, just as the entire wagon collapses through the rotting bridge and smashes onto the rocks near Fen’s body far below . Eilwen confronts Valeri over sending Fen recover the contents of the saddlebags and wonders what could be of such great value to risk the cost of a beloved child’s life. Valeri remains tight-lipped when Eilwen opens the saddlebags and holds a small tube made of hardened leather. But Eilwen doesn’t open the leather tube, and sensing the mother’s trauma and heartache and the need for allies of her own, she returns the mysterious item with no strings attached. Eilwen and Aron with Seith’s then help descend into the ravine to recover Fen’s ruined body. They return the body to Valeri who, upon recovering her young boy’s frail corpse, falls to her knees and weeps into Eilwen’s arms. 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 4/5, Spirit 2/5, Health 5/5, Momentum 1/10 Current Debilities: None Failure Track: 7/24 Current Unspent XP: 3 Websites: https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/ https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay www.youtube.com/@RollPonderAndPlay https://discord.com/invite/dfKTkJHKem Attributions: – ‘The Long Dark’ by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) released under CC-BY 4.0. – ‘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. – Deeply Emotional Orchestral Violin – L’Unico Che Amo (Pixabay.com) – Jaques – Andreas-Woll-Music (Pixabay.com) – Sound Effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

Previously: In our previous episode, as the companions make camp around the peaceful iron pillar infused with golden mystical ight, Eilwen, during her watch activates her magic and calls the shadows to try to unlock the secrets of the pillar. One of the two-dimensional beings made of shadow stuff tries to lead her astray through a shadowy twisting door. But she resists and binds the shadows to her will. She then uses the sapphire amulet to interact with the iron pillar. She sees a vision of the past. Her mother, Arwed, a beautiful young woman, with blue eyes and blond hair, with the sunset for a backdrop is only a few years older than Eilwen, and stands at the pillar as she is engaged by three trained warriors in dark leather armor and gray cloaks who bear the heraldry of three arrow shafts on a black field upon their brooches. They demand that Arwed give them the crown.  She says nothing. Merely gives a grim smile. They attack her with bows and arrows and Arwed defends herself by drawing power from the iron pillar in the form of an energy shield that consumes their projectiles upon contact. The men try to flee, but Arwed uses the shadow magic to drown them in the dark pitch-like pools that surround and overcome the terrified men as they flee. The shadows take their lives without mercy, without remorse, and without leaving any wounds. After the battle, Eilwen feels sickened and disturbed to see that her mother stands over the bodies with a self-satisfied smile as she strips off everything of value. Eilwen returns to the present and yields her watch to Aron as she slips into a disturbed sleep. Promotions: I invite you to check out The Alchemists’ Monster a Dragonbane Foundry VTT module written by one of our fans, available at fullboongames.itch.io. I had a chance to playtest it earlier this year, and I enjoyed it. It’s well written and the VTT module is visually pleasing as well! Websites: https://rollponderandplay.podbean.com/ https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay www.youtube.com/@RollPonderAndPlay Attributions: – ‘The Long Dark’ by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) released under CC-BY 4.0. – ‘Emergent’ by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) released under CC-BY 4.0. -‘Ice Cream’ 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. – Deeply Emotional Orchestral Violin – L’Unico Che Amo (Pixabay.com) – Sound Effects from Pixabay (Pixabay.com).

Roll, Ponder, and Play is now on YouTube! Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/@RollPonderAndPlay 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 Previously:  View Previous Episode In our previous episode, Eilwen, Aron, Seith and their small wyvern companion, Scratch, leave Greenhome, the ruined palace where Eilwen found a connection to her family’s past in the form of a mystical and ornately decorated sapphire pendant. They travel south along the road moving most of the day without incident. In the late afternoon, under the beauty of a scintillating waterfall, as they rest and refill waterskins, they hear the piercing howls of a pack of varou that had caught their scent. Thinking quickly, Eilwen throws bits of meat down the road and then the party gather their things and hide behind the waterfall. The deception fools the varou who continue their chase, racing down the road, and the companions decide to move cross country parallel to the road to avoid running into the varou. Hours later, lower in elevation amidst whispering warm grasses, they find another iron pillar on a low hill, the sun bathing it in golden light. Drawing near to the pillar, Eilwen hears music in her head, a clear piercing note that reminds her of a lullaby. She feels drawn to the pillar and upon touching its warm surface someone seems to whisper the word ‘Daughter’. The sun sets, but even so, the runes on the pillar glow a golden color. In its peaceful light, they make camp by the pillar. Eilwen feels certain that her mother, Arwed, must’ve been here and touched this very pillar at some time. She also notices one of the runes of power, the familiar skaed rune on the pillar, the very one that lets your control the shadows and activate the pendant. That night Eilwen and Aron talk about Arwed. Aron reveals how he believes that Eilwen was favored by their mother, and Eilwen detects an undercurrent of resentment from him. 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 3/5, Spirit 3/5, Health 5/5, Momentum 9/10 Current Debilities: None Failure Track: 5/24 Current Unspent XP: 3 Attributions: – ‘The Long Dark’ by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) released under CC-BY 4.0. – ‘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).

Previously: The party, enroute to fulfill a mission for the king of Craewen, rests and supplies at the royal palace in the new capital of Southmarch. They are attacked by a malevolent force consisting of part physical and part shadow substance. The larger spider-like demon creatures are also accompanied by smaller shadow spiders. We learn that the party’s assailants are sent from the chaos realm by the Demon itself when it momentarily broke free from the puzzle box that bound it fast. This is the same puzzle box that the party was sent to find for the elf mage, Zelfaria, in their first adventure together. We rejoin the party now and return where we left off, with Renchant in a precarious situation. While still invisible, he is covered in shadowy webbing that has both ensnared him and partially revealed his position to the shadow demons even as one of the larger creatures bears down upon him, mandibles clacking in eager anticipation of a kill. Attributions: – ‘Emergent’ and ‘Eyes in the Void’ 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) – All oracle queries were done using the awesome solo tools available on rpgsolo.com. 

Previously: In our previous episode, the party arrives at the palace in Southmarch, the new capital to the Kingdom of Craewen. They ride up the winding icy streets to the kingdom’s palace atop a large hill in the center of Southmarch and witness the Craewan military in full mobilization. At the palace, they are met by the palace steward, a man named Paron, who with the authority and backing of the crown, gives them a suite of connected rooms on the corner of the third floor of the palace to rest, recover, and resupply before their next leg of their journey. Futhermore, Paron pays them from the royal treasury 100 platinum pieces, the promised half of their agreed upon price to perform this mission for king and country. The servant staff sees to the party’s needs and brings in a royal spread of food and drink. While Raena makes plans, and Dosaken, Garvis, and Kendrock eat and drink and gamble long into the night, Renchant continues training Tatyana. We find that she is indeed talented in magic, and she casts her first spells that night under Renchant’s tutelage. In one of these, she detects the magical wards at work in the palace defenses, but to her horror, she sees those defenses wink out one by one as a roiling cloud of darkness rises from the streets below. We return to the party as the palace is beset by some dark force. And now onto Episode 6 of Shadow of the Demon. Attributions: – ‘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 by Pixabay (Pixabay.com) – All oracle queries were done using the awesome solo tools available on rpgsolo.com.