Chapter 10: A Light Among Shadows (Part 2 of 2) Transcript
OPENING
[Music: "Main Title" (triumphant orchestral music) starts.]
NARRATOR The Call of the Flame: An Audio Play. Chapter Ten: A Light Among Shadows. Part Two of Two.
[Music: "Main Title" ends.]
SCENE ONE: THE KING’S MEN
[Music: "Gathland" (wistful, pastoral percussion and string music) starts.]
[SFX: Distant townsfolk chatter, farm animals.]
[SFX: Wooden door creaking open, footsteps on wood, fireplace crackling.]
BRI I brought everything from the market.
SMITH That's a good lass. What is this?
[Music: "Gathland" ends.]
BRI That's, um, ginger root.
SMITH (Sniffs) Smells more like sanbaniel.
[SFX: Distant hooves galloping.]
BRI Oh! Oh, no, my mistake. Silly me, I'll go exchange it.
SMITH Nay, don't bother. Just get it right next time.
[SFX: Galloping grows louder, townsfolk chatter grows panicky.]
BRI What is it?
[SFX: Wooden door creaking open, galloping and chatter unmuffled.]
SMITH The King's Men. Come, girl.
[Music: "The Knights" (tense, then triumphant music) starts.]
[SFX: Horse whinnies, footfall on dirt.]
BRAND Good people of Eastwine!
BRI (Muffled) Oh, hells, not again.
[SFX: Footsteps on dirt.]
SOLDIER #1 Eastwyn, sir.
BRAND Whatever. I am Sir Brand the Smith of the Wynland Kingdom. We've come a long way from Wynhold to see the King's peace done.
[Music: "The Knights" ends.]
BRAND We require food and resources, anything you can provide. Or rather, everything you can provide.
[SFX: Armoured footsteps clinking.]
SOLDIER #1 All right, men, spread out!
[SFX: Doors opening.]
SOLDIER #2 Check under the floorboards!
BRAND Go on, search their houses.
[SFX: Barrel lids lifting, glass shattering.]
BRAND Coin, water, food, ale, all of it.
CALAN Do we really need the ale, sir?
BRAND I do, wouldn't you?
[SFX: Door knocking, creaking open, porcelain smashing.]
SOLDIER #1 Get down on the ground!
PEASANT #1 No! That's my gold, you can't—!
BRAND We fight for their lives. We're owed a little reparation.
SOLDIER #1 Back off!
[SFX: Knocking on door, sword drawn, wood smashing.]
SOLDIER #3 (Growling)
PEASANT #2 (Screaming)
BRAND Don't hide, if you're hiding, I'll take you for the criminal you are, and all that's hidden confiscated as stolen goods.
[SFX: Gold clinking, knights laughing, distant screaming.]
BRAND Am I not clear? Am I not just?
PEASANT #3 (Whispering) His face, look at his scars, they—
BRAND What?
PEASANT #3 …M-me?
[SFX: Footsteps on dirt.]
BRAND What are you looking at? Are you looking at my face? You are. Don't lie. Tell me.
PEASANT #3 I-I was looking, yes.
BRAND Shall we go to the smithy?
PEASANT #3 What?
BRAND The smithy, see where they keep their irons, and give you a face like mine? Would you like that?
PEASANT #3 No! No, sir!
BRAND (Growling) And burn your face like a pork chop, so all the children can stare upon it forever!? No? (Screaming) Then WHY do you STARE at me!?
[SFX: Punching impact.]
[SFX: Townsfolk clamouring.]
PEASANT #3 (Groaning)
BRAND (Screaming) All of you!?
PEASANT #4 Cur!
PEASANT #5 Shame on you!
[SFX: Swords drawing.]
SOLDIER #4 Weapons!
[SFX: More swords drawing.]
BRAND In all my years of service, I've never seen a such a pathetic people so proud.
[SFX: Sword whooshing with emphasis.]
BRAND All you've ever done is lose! Beaten by the Gods, by the Elvans, then by my ancestors. You have nothing to be proud of. Yours is a history of bloody failure. So, when I come around, I don't want to see that look in your eyes. I want to see bowed heads as you do what you're told. Search the village!
[SFX: Footsteps fade.]
SCENE TWO: NOTHING SPECIAL
[SFX: Distant glass breaking, townsfolk protesting.]
[SFX: Wooden door creaking open.]
BRI (Panting)
[SFX: Footsteps on wood.]
SMITH Damn these Wynish swine. Someone needs to stand up to the knight.
BRI Shh! I've got to hide.
[SFX: Door shoved open.]
BRI Oh, bollocks.
[SFX: Sword ringing.]
CALAN All right, sit down in your chair. If you have any coin or iron, you give it—Bri?
[SFX: Sword sheathes.]
CALAN Is that you?
BRI Hello, Calan. Shut the door?
[SFX: Door shuts.]
SMITH I…have something to do in the other room.
[SFX: Footsteps on wood.]
CALAN So…what are you doing here?
BRI Existing. I see you're getting along with your new friends.
CALAN Only because my old friends didn't want me.
BRI And now you're helping them pillage the land where we both grew up?
CALAN Come on, Bri, look at this place. It's nothing. Nothing special at all.
[Music: "Bri’s Theme" (soft, plaintive music) starts.]
BRI On any other day you'd be someone from this village. It's where you came from. It's all you've known!
CALAN Then I guess that's why I knew nothing, huh? I came from a great knight. The rest is dog shite. I'm leaving it all behind.
BRI Are you going to turn me in, to Brand?
CALAN No, no, I'd rather leave you here. Right where we started, doing nothing, being no one. I found my calling, Bri. I'm moving past this all. Moving past you.
[Music: "Bri’s Theme" (soft, plaintive music) ends.]
[SFX: Armoured footsteps on wood, door opening and shutting.]
BRI …That's exactly what I asked you to do last time.
SMITH (Muffled) Is your old boyfriend gone?
BRI We were never together. But, aye, he's gone.
[SFX: Footsteps on wood.]
SMITH Good. Now, go to the cellar, and bury these, quickly.
[SFX: Wood clanking.]
SMITH They are precious to me.
BRI Oh! Beautiful craftwork.
SMITH Aye, by my mother. She taught me all I know. I know, I know, metal and wood are as different as they come, but art comes in many forms, lass.
[SFX: Footsteps down stairs.]
SMITH Now hurry, before a soldier that doesn't fancy you comes sneaking in.
[SFX: Shovel digging in dirt.]
BRI What? Under your home, there's debris. And ash…
[Music*]
[SFX: Footsteps down stairs.]
SMITH This is one of the many towns burned in the fire storm. After Rhuadu fell, the dragons rampaged across the world for ten days. The village before this one, and every soul in it, burned to sunder.
BRI It's not safe anywhere, is it? So many innocent people…
SMITH Funny, how they never seem to mention, in any of the great tales about dragon-slayers and god-killers, just how many ordinary folk minding their own business suffered for it.
[SFX: Footsteps on wood.]
BRI Have you got any parchment?
[SFX: Drawer scraping.]
SMITH I don't think the knights will be nipping that.
BRI I need to write a letter.
[SFX: Paper rustling.]
SCENE THREE: VERMIN
[SFX: Chains clinking, dirt rustling, distant gruff voices.]
NARRATOR (Voiceover) Far to the west, a great distance on horse or by foot, lies a sacred and dark place deep within the mountains before the great lake. Bolg's Crown, named for the father of Gods, the cruel giver of all life. A tremendous cavern lies within, and at its heart, an amphitheatre of water shone by the moonlight pouring from the crevices above. Soldiers, guards, men of Wynhold move about in the torch-lit nothingness. Their faces masked, their chatter silent. Securing, preparing great cages, prepared for suspension on chains and pulleys over the water. Mounds of spikes and spears in piles beside their workload. A great ceremony of sacrifice is being prepared. A ritual of bloodletting, into the great lake where rivers meet.
SORSEER #1 Here he comes.
SORSEER #2 Master Sorseer—
ULTOVÍN No watch dogs?
SORSEER #2 We…lost them, Master.
SOLDIER #1 Ran off, likely.
ULTOVÍN Ugh, that filthy warlock. The full moon rises in two days, is the chamber prepared?
[Music: "My Friends" (mysterious percussive and choral music) starts.]
SORSEER #1 The cages are secure and to your design, Master.
ULTOVÍN I must speak with the Incanter. Where is he?
SORSEER #1 We seem to have lost him, too.
ULTOVÍN I will find him.
[SFX: Footsteps on dirt.]
[SFX: Swarm of rats squeaking.]
WARLOCK Patience! Patience! Be still!
[SFX: Meat slicing.]
WARLOCK I will split the meat. All will be served.
ULTOVÍN Vermin.
WARLOCK Hmmm? Sorseer, you have kept us waiting.
ULTOVÍN I've been coming. The pestilence is working like you designed.
WARLOCK My creatures tell me so. (Laughs) But you haven't come to congratulate me, yes?
ULTOVÍN King Masun eagerly accepted my proposal, sooner than I had hoped. Wynhold is ours. But for the rest, we need to spread it faster.
WARLOCK So you've come to me, the Lord of Rats, for my service, hmm? For my little messengers to—GAH! No eating YET!
[SFX: Rat squeaking in distress.]
WARLOCK What did I say? I said…PATIENCE! (Grunting)
[Music: "My Friends" ends.]
[SFX: Smacking noises, squeaking, then silence, aside from the rest of the swarm.]
WARLOCK Oh…what was I saying? What did you want again?
[Music: "My Friends" starts.]
ULTOVÍN To spread the pestilence quicker. In order for me to cure these lands, they must first be plagued. Will you send your infected vermin tonight?
WARLOCK They dare not refuse their Master's order.
[SFX: Another smack.]
[Music: "My Friends" ends.]
SCENE FOUR: BALANCE
[SFX: Crickets singing, distant crowd chatter, horse hooves clopping, horse snorting.]
[Music: "Villadius’s Theme" (hopeful flute music) starts.]
VILLADIUS Zia dier, this damnable horse.
[SFX: Horse neighing, footfall on dirt.]
GUARIN You should treat it better. It can sense your insecurity.
VILLADIUS Lovely, even the horse has more spiritual power than both of us.
[SFX: Fire roaring and crackling, hammering.]
VILLADIUS Bri? Bri, is that you?
BRI Villadius?
VILLADIUS I received your letter, finding me in my dream.
GUARIN Yes, we got them through the—
BRI The spirit world. Let's take this indoors.
[Music: "Villadius’s Theme" ends.]
[SFX: Crickets cease, fireplace crackling.]
VILLADIUS You know, it's traditional for Magnir to wear red.
[SFX: Chair scraping.]
BRI I like green better.
VILLADIUS Are you ready to go?
BRI I don't know. Am I?
GUARIN We came as quickly as we could.
VILLADIUS I got your message. I'm deeply sorry to hear about what has happened. Terrible news. But I am relieved that you have finally come to your senses.
BRI Ultovín told me a few things about you.
[SFX: Chair creaking.]
VILLADIUS I—what!? You met Ultovín while you were—?
BRI He said, when Magnir and Sorseers went into conflict, you two tried to stop it, together. Find peace. And you fled to defend your side. Is it true?
VILLADIUS I… sought my own peace. Stripping power from the Sorseers would achieve it.
BRI I thought the goal of Magnir was balance?
VILLADIUS Precisely! But the Sorseers carry a heavier burden than the Magnir, with their practices and customs of blood and sacrifice. They must have limits, strict limits. Balanced? Yes. Equal? No.
[SFX: Chair creaking.]
GUARIN Miss, surely you don't sympathize with the Sorseers, do you?
BRI Any sympathy I had for Ultovín fled the moment he hurt my friends. What have you done to stop him?
GUARIN King Masun will do nothing. There is no proof of his deeds.
[SFX: Drink sipping.]
VILLADIUS And he won't listen to me. He has overthrown me as Chief Magic Advisor.
BRI Well, that's just brilliant then, isn't it?
VILLADIUS All is not lost. You are a secret advantage. We know that because of you, the Magnir can return—or Rhuadu is not dead.
GUARIN Of course, if Rhuadu is not dead, then the Deep God cannot die, either
BRI Then you're still just stuck, aren't you? Rhuadu is still alive, the Deep God cannot die, Magnirs and Sorseers keep fighting.
VILLADIUS (Sighs) Then there will be balance.
GUARIN (Coughs) Again with your balance. Gods or no, we must eradicate their practice root and stem.
VILLADIUS I'll never understand you Humans and your need for competition. In Hymerthral, the Magnir and Sorseers co-existed peacefully for thousands of years.
GUARIN But not equally.
VILLADIUS One side will never overcome the other. The Gods made the magic orders to keep each other in check.
BRI When you can live for ten lifetimes, maybe. Not in the Human lands.
VILLADIUS Perhaps. Until you learn the virtue of passing on what you've learned to your kin, you mortals will always be childish.
BRI Sometimes we can't. Sometimes we leave before our time, and we never get to share our failings, and our children make the same mistakes. I will come with you. I don't give a damn about your war or your balance. I only want to stop Ultovín from hurting anyone. Will we do that?
VILLADIUS I promise.
[SFX: Chair scraping.]
BRI Before we go, let me just say my goodbyes.
VILLADIUS Very well.
[SFX: Footsteps on wood.]
SCENE FIVE: WHAT A SHAME
[Music: "You Could’ve Been Happy" (plaintive, forlorn music, building to tragic chorus) starts.]
[SFX: Wooden door creaking open.]
BRI Sir?
SMITH I knew you weren't who you said you were, lass.
BRI You were—? Did you hear—?
SMITH Fear not, girl. I want no part in your tale. Not all of us were meant for stories. I'm happy here.
BRI I never said I was anybody.
SMITH That's right. You just kept your head down and pretended to be nobody. But you're not. What a shame. You could've been a fine smith. Maybe it would've even made you happy.
BRI You think the folk in tales aren't happy?
SMITH Not until the end, at least. If you make it there.
BRI I'd stay if I could. But, uh—if it keeps good folk like you safe and happy—I have to go.
[SFX: Door creaks open, footsteps on dirt.]
SMITH I wish you—LASS!
[SFX: Knights grunting.]
BRI (Yells)
SOLDIER #1 The water! Quickly!
[SFX: Water splashes.]
SMITH Leave her be!
BRI (Grunting)
[SFX: Struggling, kicking impact.]
SOLDIER #2 Get the irons!
BRI Let go of me, you—!
[SFX: Sword drawn.]
BRAND Found you again, girl.
BRI (Panting)
BRAND So nice to see you.
BRI (Scream muffled)
[SFX: Cloth rustling.]
[Music: "You Could’ve Been Happy" ends.]
SCENE SIX: CHARMING NEW FRIENDS
[Music: "It Isn’t Safe" (slow, menacing music) starts.]
[SFX: Crickets singing, knights laughing, cart wheels rolling, horse hooves clopping.]
NARRATOR (Voiceover) On the rolling green fields, a band of knights and soldiers ride alongside a few carts, filled with the loot of a dozen Gathish villages, and a cage holding the Fire Maiden Bri. And sitting in the wagon outside of her bars is Calan, a pail of water on his knees.
[SFX: Water sloshing.]
BRAND Hold that bucket still there, boy, we wouldn't want her going on a burning streak without water to help us.
CALAN Aye, sir.
BRI You've got charming new friends.
CALAN They're better to me than my last ones.
BRI Do they treat you as one of their own?
CALAN A knight has to start somewhere.
BRI Or does he make you cook his stew and polish his shining armour while talking of tales and promises of knighthood?
[SFX: Water splashing.]
BRI Ack!
[SFX: Banging on iron cage.]
BRAND (Laughs) Let her wail.
[SFX: Horse snorting.]
BRAND A woman's weapon is her words, that's why you should never listen to them. (Laughs) Woah!
[SFX: Horse whinnies, armour clinking, footfall on dirt.]
BRAND They make you weak, impulsive, and wasteful. Go on, I’ll take watch of her, take my horse.
[Music: "It Isn’t Safe" ends.]
[SFX: Bucket clanking, water sloshing.]
BRI Calan…if you have any happy memories of us, please remember them.
[SFX: Leather creaking, mounting on horse, horse snorting.]
BRI Please, help me.
BRAND Move along!
[SFX: Horse hooves clopping.]
CALAN Hyah!
[SFX: Cage rattling.]
BRAND I bet you wish some of those memories were "happier," and perhaps you wouldn't be in a cage meant for unruly beasts.
BRI I've made a lot of mistakes. I only wish I rejected you and Calan sooner. What are you planning on doing with me now?
BRAND Not certain. The Master Sorseer put a high bounty on you, that'd be a start. Of course, many across the whole world will offer a price for the only one that can conjure fire. You still owe me a sword forged with Rhuadu's magic.
BRI The only thing you'll get is the other half of your face burned.
BRAND You charm me.
BRI Gods dammit. Stop trying to tell me what I mean. I say what I mean. If you lay a hand on me, I will BURN you.
[SFX: Cage strike.]
BRAND Why do you resist so much? What do you have to lose? Your future? As if you even had a past. Your pride? You don't have shit to be proud of. So be silent and at ease. You're going nowhere else, so shut up and enjoy the ride. Stop the cart!
[SFX: Cart wheels stop, cage creaking.]
BRAND Sir Ellis, watch the wench.
BRI (Muttering) Have I still got the sanbaniel? Ah, yes.
[SFX: Low flame ignites, smoke hisses.]
ELLIS Hey! What are you doing?
[SFX: Cage clanking.]
BRI Me? Oh, just smoking my herbs over here, don't mind me.
ELLIS Well, if it'll keep you quiet.
BRI (Breathes in) The spirit world. I couldn't get there before. What must I do? …Shut my eyes, and breathe.
[SFX: Beat of silence, sounds muffled.]
BRI (Sighs)
[SFX: Cage strike, cricket singing and wheels rolling.]
ELLIS What are you DOING?
BRI (Innocently) Nothing.
[SFX: Cricket song fades out.]
SCENE SEVEN: ONLY HOPE
[Music: "Workingar" (somber horns) starts.]
[SFX: Crows cawing.]
JENQUO This is very terrible.
[SFX: Footsteps on dirt.]
IRIKLAS Yes. But…it's too late.
[Music: "Workingar" (somber horns) ends.]
IRIKLAS Ultovín's already done it.
MYRTLE Over here, yes. But not everywhere else. A bigger village, or a bigger city, demands a bigger sacrifice.
IRIKLAS And faith in the Deep God will take hold. The last nail in the coffin of the Magnir. And the Dark Bride can take over the country from within. And soon after that, the whole world…
[SFX: Beat.]
IRIKLAS Well, pity.
MYRTLE Pity?
IRIKLAS Well, what can we do about it!?
MYRTLE We can tell the King of Wynland! Ultovín is on his Council!
IRIKLAS Oh, sure, we'll just all three of us, the Dwarf, the Elvan, and Halfin, walk into his council chamber, with no proof.
MYRTLE Not true! I saved a page from Ultovín's spellbook!
IRIKLAS Then we'll walk into his council chamber, with a page—which we stole from his magic advisor—from a book belonging to Incanters, who are not allowed to HAVE books.
JENQUO And last time we were in the city, we got arrested at the DOCKS just for looking different.
IRIKLAS …And not paying the toll.
JENQUO Also that…I saw the way they looked at me!
IRIKLAS People won't listen to us, Myrtle.
MYRTLE Then we need to stop the ritual! Before the first part happens!
JENQUO What about Bri?
IRIKLAS She has no more powers, Jenquo. And she left, yes?
MYRTLE Well, she— (Sighs) Yes. She did. Don't know why, don't know where. We're too short on time to worry now. If she's left then so be it. We're this world's only hope now.
IRIKLAS All the more reason to hurry, before…um…what is the first part of this ritual?
MYRTLE that’ll be the harvest. Ultovín and his servants will round up souls. With kidnappers, with prisoners, and the rest are souls owed to the Deep God, gathered by his minions.
IRIKLAS Minions?
JENQUO And what, pray tell, are these minions like?
MYRTLE Mmm, uhh…I don't know much, they're the Deep God's servants at the bottom of the sea. Fishy, I imagine, fishy and man-like.
[Music: "Bal Mohr" (eerie, forlorn choral music) starts.]
MYRTLE The book calls them…Moohrians? Or Mohrians? Something like that.
JENQUO …Oh, no.
IRIKLAS …And the second part?
MYRTLE The sacrifice, before a full moon. Why? We've got time before the first part happens…right?
SCENE EIGHT: HARVEST
[Music: "Bal Mohr" (eerie, forlorn choral music) starts.]
SORSEER #2 Will the Mohrians have gathered enough souls to harvest?
[SFX: Footsteps on dirt, staff clanking lightly.]
ULTOVÍN It will be the grandest harvest this land has ever known. The blood will run from the Elder Hills to Ridend, from High Smith to Buri, from Bolg's Crown to the Wynland Kingdom. The gift will cure them of their ails. And the Deep God will never forget your service to him.
ULTOVÍN Captain.
[SFX: Armour clinking.]
CAPTAIN HYLAN Master Sorseer, we've cleared the prison cells like you asked. All the ones we can spare.
ULTOVÍN The spears? Have you brought soldiers?
CAPTAIN HYLAN Aye, one hundred strong like you’ve asked. But you'll find that ten of my men can handle themselves with the fifty unarmed prisoners.
[Music: "Bal Mohr" ends.]
[SFX: Metal rattling.]
ULTOVÍN My friends are bringing more.
CAPTAIN HYLAN Friends?
[SFX: Mohrians growling.]
CAPTAIN HYLAN (Gasps)
ULTOVÍN They're here.
[Music: "My Friends" starts.]
[SFX: Water splashing, soldiers screaming, swords drawing.]
CAPTAIN HYLAN Three Gods and Hells! What are those!?
ULTOVÍN My friends. And they have brought in these cages fugitives of fate. The Deep God wants these souls dead, and thus they will be the main course for sacrifice.
[SFX: Water splashing, swords drawing.]
CAPTAIN HYLAN Stand down!
[SFX: Mohrians roaring, chains rattling, cages clanking, muffled prisoners screaming.]
ULTOVÍN Well? Move these cages.
CAPTAIN HYLAN Get some of the prisoners over here to move these cages.
[SFX: Soldiers yelling.]
[SFX: Popping noises, gasped breaths, prisoners coughing.]
CAPTAIN HYLAN What's that on their faces? That slime?
ULTOVÍN A gift from the Mohrians to keep them breathing under the sea. Move these cages!
[SFX: Wet footsteps, chains rattling, prisoners coughing, gagging, and weeping.]
ULTOVÍN I was like all of you once. Less, in fact. A slave, a half breed, a starving wretch. And when I was offered as a lamb to slaughter, I was too worthless to sacrifice. A sacrifice would have given me worth. Understand that your sacrifice is your gift, your atonement. For tonight…you all die. You may act like an animal, or you may meet your God in dignity.
TARÚK (Growling) You think your tithing will bear you a bountiful harvest? (Bitter laugh)
[SFX: Cage clinking.]
TARÚK Look into my eyes, Sorseer, and see all the good the Deep God has done for ME!
[SFX: Cage rattling.]
TARÚK (Growling) COME HERE!
ULTOVÍN String them over the pit. Start with this one.
CLOSING CREDITS
[Music: "Main Title" starts.]
[Music: "Main Title" ends.]
[Music: "End Credits" (rustic percussive music) starts.]
NARRATOR The Call of the Flame: An Audio Play. Starring Bonnie Bogovich, Stephen Cumberworth, Jacob Williamson, Corey Borchers, Hayden Ashley, Abigail Turner, Xathian, and Gary Gibbs the Second. For the full cast list, please visit thecalloftheflame.com. This podcast was written and produced by Kurt Cañez. With music by Adam Halpin, with additional tracks by Stephen Cumberworth, both can be found on Bandcamp. This chapter was co-written with Nadi Reed Perez. Sanavran speech by Megan Watson. Editing by Kurt Cañez and Sasha Blore. Read the podcast description and follow us on our pages of media. Send a bird bearing the hashtag COTF Podcast and follow us on Twitter @calloftheflame. Leave us a review on iTunes. Although the greatest way to support the show is to become a patron of ours on our Patreon page so that we may maintain our production. Five dollar and above listeners get exclusive content such as music tracks by Adam Halpin and extended episodes. Special thank you to our patrons: Zane Simon, Vincent King, Stacy Holbrook, Ryan Cushman, Joshua DiMaggio, John the Smith, Jon Winstead, Jolly, Cassie M, Ben Blair, and Andrew Vandereigh. To ask us about sponsorship, send an electronic letter to thecalloftheflamepodcast@gmail.com. This has been a Magnir Production. I am your narrator, George Hoctor. We thank you all for listening.
KURT Hey everybody, it’s Kurt, creator of The Call of The Flame. Construction’s going on outside. I’ve been putting off the soapbox for that reason, but it looks like it hasn’t ceased, so here we are. Book One is wrapping up with Chapter Eleven, and we’ve already begun writing Season Two of The Call of The Flame. It’s really manifested over the course of making Book One of The Call of The Flame, and [I] hope to get that down and not have a very long hiatus between season one and season two. However, there is going to be a project in between. It’s a project that’s been in my mind for a very long time and it’s been in various phases of production. It might not necessarily be an audio drama. More details about that will come out on our twitter @calloftheflame and previews will come out on our Patreon and Discord, which is now open to non-patrons, so hang out with our cast and crew! Talk about Smash Bros and Animal Crossing and play with them. That’s been going on a lot lately. But if that’s not your jam, if you’re the internet equivalent of a wallflower, I’ve created a few channels just for The Call of The Flame lore. Think of them as little episode Wikipedia summaries to catch you up as a cheat, in case the episode recaps aren’t enough. Anyway, that about covers it. It feels really good to be back. Take it away, Hoctor. Wow, I forgot there was construction going on, and I was so close, too, ugh…