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And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief, and the dry stone no sound of water. When the dead tree bears the fruit of empire, it will all be this. You can't shake it. You can't shake me. Or the burning sky, or the blood, or the ink, or the ash. But there is a part of us that lives forever, and chances taken are rewarded. Stretch your legs, use the space, and I will show you your shadow at evening rising to meet you. I will show you fear in a handful of dust and freedom in the shadow of man. Deep breaths.

RELEASE SCHEDULE UPDATE: My friends and lovers, the next episode of hit podcast Worlds Beyond Number, titled "The Battle of Twelvebrooks, Part 1" will come out on April 29th, and then the next episode two weeks after that, etc etc, until we finish Book 1. We're giving the whole release schedule a lil skooch up one week. Don't worry, we have a delightful replacement treat for you to shove in your head holes during the buffer week. Which head holes? Up to you, comrade. Choose wisely.

SECOND UTILITY PARAGRAPH: Look, you really gotta hear the Twelvebrooks interlude, if you wanna get the most out of the next few eps. It's available here, on our patreon right now! It's very good, I SWEAR.

Worlds Beyond Number is:

Brennan Lee Mulligan

Erika Ishii

Aabria Iyengar

Lou Wilson

and is produced, designed, and scored by Taylor Moore at Fortunate Horse with exquisite design and editing help from Jared Olson

SPECIAL THANKS TO: Shannon and Amanda Freberg! Apologies to: T.S. Eliot, sorry big dawg!

Transcript of this episode coming soon! You can find transcripts of all our episodes here, for free, on our Patreon.

Our album art is by the great Corey Brickley

Some additional ambient sound design comes from Michael Ghelfi Studios. You can get their sounds and music for your home games and VTT as well, which we enthusiastically recommend. 

Files

Comments

Ben Warfield

Oh boy I can’t wait for everything to be alright in this episode :D

The Wizard Seek

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to war, we go- we go!

Joel Hicks

How on EARTH are the episode descriptions so incredibly cool every time? They're SO GOOD

Mike Ferris

I swear if anything bad has happened to Salmon…

The wizard Sober

The next episode is called: The battle of twelvebrooks, part 1. I shudder and jump with terror and excitement. But first this! I’m sure nothing will go wrong.

The Spirit of Vicious Inspiration

"The Battle of Twelvebrooks, Part 1"... there are 8 eps left after this one, does that mean there are 8 parts of the battle!!!

The Wizard Sparrow

I am not looking at the comments, but I just wanna say thank you for posting because I kept waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting…

Seerinx

for anyone else very confused, the twelvebrooks interlude was posted April 4th last year

The Spirit of Vicious Inspiration

desperately trying to emotionally prep myself for a description of a dead body that resembles any of the wonderful 1-shot characters 😵‍💫

João Padinha

I'll be really sad when they finish Book 1, at the same time that just gets me closer to the day there will be a published physical copy of the book... right?

worldsbeyondnumber

There are actually 426 parts. But the good bits will be in Book Two through Book Eleven.

Steve Cartwright

Nose! I chose nose holes. I hope I chose wisely.

TeacupTheBopcaJournalist

“The Battle of Twelvebrooks part 1” PART ONE?!?!?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN PART ONE?!!? If anyone here knows me in real life be prepared that this is the only thing I’m going to be talking about for a while.

Elizabeth

Thanks for the update, and all the work you guys put into it. Happy to wait for the good stuff.

TPK_light

Out here crying in the club at the Paladin of Freedom. Goddamn that was beautiful and perfect. No one is free until we're all free

bluebluebutton

"If I am you and you are me, because we are of the breath of this world together, how distant can I be from one form to the other? The thing in me that lives forever honors that in you which lives forever. You are here in the wholeness of what you are. The only difference between you and me is that when I go, I'm gonna leave a mess. But I believe, deep down, that we are one." Breath - spiritus in Latin - being a lingual representation of that eternal something shared through all the living. Could that be the danger Eioghorain sees posed by the Citadel? The Great Bullfrog reportedly exhaled his breath and diminished in size until he was nothing. Could Silence, wittingly or unwittingly, have destroyed that eternal shared thing Eioghorain refers to here?

Savin

I'm gonna eat it, the wisest choice I can make

irisilmaril

It so so sweet to hear Suvi and Ame talk to each other like they did in the Children’s Adventure again. Genuinely so touching and I don’t know if it was intentional but damn.

Amaya

Don't you just love when you read the episode title and are filled with a deep sense of foreboding

LuChiChi4

I cried, I was touched. Yall are just so fucking gifted. Thank you for giving us something to believe in in these hard times. So much love!!

MG Valentine

The way Ame has so many rapid fire questions when she meet Eioghorain reminds me of little Ame from the children’s arc when she first meets Suvi 💖

Lillet_ Blue

Damn this was crazy. I didn't connect the firefly to the man in black at all! I love when they talk brother to brother. The whole episode was a banger! As always honestly. I can't wait to hear the fireside chat for that one

The Wizard Sweven

Brennan I am at WORK and you just casually “The heartbreak of the ability to what you want is that it requires you to be able to make what it is you want- it requires you to choose who you want to be.”?! I’m not even fully through the episode and I had to pause to collect myself and say thanks for the proud tears this morning.

Lauren

THE DICE! TELL! THE STORY!!!!!!!

gramps

Tuesday has become my favorite day

GrimGhost343

Taylor you absolutely COOKED thats ending!! The back of my neck, my soul was raised at that visual and audio description. Let there be war

I Davis

You know which head holes.....

Stefanucci Mozzarella

The Man in Black being a part of Eursalon's Oath confirms for me that Brennan keeps enough f the game open. Some things are determined. Some things definitely change according to the story the PC want to create. I'm kinda done with predictions, because it doesn't feel like its the point. Just excellent play.

Melody Snow

Crying in this episode multiple times. 😭🥹👍

Kaʻainakekoa

One of the best episodes yet! I feel like Ursalon is going to become a great spirit. Not from his desire to be great, but from the neccesity of his station and a will to follow through.

Stefanucci Mozzarella

I love the ease of stream of consciousness that the descriptions transduce... almost like he's describing a normal day... just glides into my imagination! But Yes! So rich! So intense and vivd.

Ryan L.

I cant wait to listen. I will gladly take on the tears this worlds tales invoke than the ones induced by the 'real'.

blinnx

I was almost prepared for the Oath. I was not even remotely prepared for the Ink Demons. Everything about the Oath brought fourth so much energy. I loved it Then the Ink Demons, both hit me with a unexpected note of both feelings and shock/awe. Such excellent narrations and and superb episode end. Dying inside for 2 weeks waiting for the next episode.

The Wizard Seek

I have so much to say that it's all stuck in my throat. Brennan's description of the heft of responsibility and the honor that carries you is something I have felt deeply about love translated through service and haven't been able to articulate. Oh, the way that will be etched into me forever. The nature of that moment and the idea of identity with the Man in Black and Eursulon both, the act of choosing a path and how that is in itself a sorrow and a joy and the wind beneath your wings. Oh my god Oh my god Oh my god?? And beyond the idea of choosing your path and your commitments, the responsibilities and moral compass (or watch) that will carry you- I'm biased because I'm trans, but I felt so much about identity and self through this episode. Eioghorain, my beloved cracked revolutionary, has banger lines that keep hitting me deeply as a trans person in this day and age. The idea that your truest form is all forms you have been, that your truth is something vital and integral to you that you can *choose* to pursue and create only after you accept it. The narrative about choice as a denial of reality has never been true of trans folks; we are the paint brush in the fox spirit's hand, we are choosing the path before us at the riverbank, asking no more and no less but to stand whole in the truth we are and move in our own divine sense. I cannot begin to even get into the ending, but that ending? To the incredible sound duo, my hats off, because I got a gut punch deep dread that made me genuinely nauseous. Kudos, and thank you I think???

The Wizard Sparrow

So f’n worth it… I think I stopped breathing the last 30 minutes of this episode. And my brain definitely stopped working during the conversation between Yuron and Eursolon…so much philosophical wordsmithorama filling by mind.. I will definitely need a second or third run through on this episode. I want a physical image of six-foot Enzo🤗. Everything became silent after Lou rolled a dirty 20 and we got to see a glimpse of the man in blacks face/eye, and then we learned the many names of our Bear 🐻. Freedom in the mist❤️🤗❤️🤗🔥🔥🔥

The Wizard Sparrow

Oh, this episode is poetic and divine and energetic and philosophical and amazing 100% amazing I love love love love love this podcast

The Wizard Sparrow

Most definitely. It’s his calling, even his sister said he’s on the right path. This episode is I live in my heart and my mind for a very long time especially now that I have to listen to it at least a couple of times🤗

nat

BRENNAN MADE ATATs IN DND?!?!?

The Wizard Sparrow

With 10 minutes past from the time that I stopped listening to the end of this episode, my mind is flowing with everything under the sun from freedom in the mist to Ursula and Euron talking and about being in the spirit and with the spirit and Ame sewing her gold threaded token for Suvi and painting protection 🦊 for Eursolon. There’s so much more in this episode that cannot be filled in one tiny little paragraph but we all heard it. Poetic powerful intense breathless… and so on

TWSanto

Every one who posted a comment before this one, should just join the Discord or Reddit groups. I'm a little late but Patreon can't keep up.

The Wizard Sparrow

This episode is definitely going to be my relisted to over and over because there is so many good messages that I need to write down and paste on my walls in my apartment

The Wizard Sparrow

Me too, I thought the firefly was tied to the great bullfrog

Adonis

I was riding my bike and began to cry at Cyril's goodbye 😭😭😭 The profanity of these demons being a perverse manifestation of the citadels love is heart wrenching, I hate Brennan so much edit: name spelling because it's imortant to get names correct, even if they write bad poetry

Lauren

Taylor said in an interview that they had to take breaks every 20 minutes because it was so intense and they were firing at every cylinder

TWSanto

Gonna respond to the episode in a later comment but ts soo good we gotta find a medium

bails 🌀 witch of the what the fuck

NOTHINGGGG HITS LIKE A LOU WILSON NAT 20 🗣️🗣️🗣️ also Eursulon having access to pass without trace could not have come at a better time let’s fucking GOOOOOO

The Wizard Sparrow

These words are power and oh, do we need them now❤️🔥

TeacupTheBopcaJournalist

Broooo!!!! IM TOO AMPED!!!!! WORDS CAN NO LONGER CONTAIN ME!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAA(x1000)

The Wizard Sparrow

In my mind, I have some animation sections that I think should be brought to life

Lauren

oh NO

Mike Ferris

Sorry to put that thought in your head! I’m sure he’s off somewhere teaching unruly frog children!

Amaya

I didn't think I'd be crying over ink demons at the outset of this episode but alas, here I am weeping in the bathroom at work

Bad Brain Comics

Oops I’m crying in my kitchen again because of Eursalons story. This story has hit me harder than literally any other I’ve seen or listened too. Just excellent.

The Wizard Fae

Hello, where can i find the transcripts for the episodes? I am a member of the fireside but cant find them

Elizabeth Boskey

So much crying in so many directions. Damn it BLM!!! And Taylor!!! And everyone!!!!

milo

the stranger: “to some, the rivers are roads, brother eursulon” me, yelling, alone in my house: “that’s fucking SICK”

Alec

She talks so softly, so quietly, so solemn but with such love. She's coming back into her own.

RuviGaPo

This episode is giving two towers and i love you all for it (the horn music sertainly helps evoke the image)

Alec

My favorite poem ever 😭

Alec

Every part is a good part, silly WBN 💖

Alec

SpongeBob scream mention at 3:35

Glen Petrofski

I'm not going to cry on my way to work, I'm not going to cry on my way to work, I'm not going to cry on my way to work

Khayroh

there may never be a piece of storytelling more important to me than this. as sincerely as i can muster, thank you.

Amaya

I'm currently playing a paladin in a home game and I just might change my whole deal so I can play test the Oath of Freedom

RuviGaPo

c r y i n g !!!!!!!!!!!!!

E. Jason Davis

What a GODDAMN level up. I. Am. Speechless.

bitterbaldguy

Suzi's journey is insane and intense and other words the entirety of her time with her ink-demons! So much love for this group!

TimeBarista

🙏 grateful for learning how to have a nat20 perception check, and big ups to everyone for making me cry in the grocery store

Ryan L.

oooh just chills! ahoo hoo crackle crackle. Cant wait for this episodes Firside Chat!

Liam Horgan

i screamed a knights huzzah driving home from work when the oath was made. the care and respect put into the handling of his character puts me in awe

Zoop

I really really loved Suvis asssurance to Ame that “you’ll never be rid of me-that’s what true friend means-can’t do it, impossible.” It’s hard to exactly put into words but something about that quote and the sentiment it captures, just really struck a cord with some profound and essential belief or feeling or perhaps even aspect of self within me. I suppose it puts words to a feeling that accompanies my any and every thought of those closest to me. Idk man it just really resonated with me

ConcreteAfterRain

brennan growing ever less subtle with the communism

The Wizard Savvy

How do they keep having each episode be my favorite one every single time what is this

ky-bean

What an 'sode!! The drama!! Ohh I'm so excited for what's to come, how the hell are they going to navigate through this one???

ky-bean

The sound design is, yet again, absolutely top notch. Huge kudos to everyone involved in making the world come to light in my head holes 💜

BethKF

Aaaaaargh! For the 46th time: you can’t just leave it there!! Unbelievably good episode WBN Team. Taylor the scoring under - eh, no spoilers so we’ll call it - “that bit with Eursulon,” filled my heart the way the scoring does in the greatest West Wing episodes. You can’t underestimate how much of a compliment that is coming from me.

Zoop

God the intensity of Eursolons empathy and absolute resolve on the fundamental injustice of the denial of freedom in its truest sense, both resonated deeply with me and genuinely moved me. There is something so casually profound about the notion of a paladin of freedom, not as it is dictated by empire and glory but rather as it is felt and known in hearts intertwined and suffering shared. Real Good stuff yall fr

Luke

Hail and Well met Wizard Fae! It seems like currently the transcripts for episodes 45 and 46 aren’t online yet, but all episode descriptions up until episode 44 include a link to the transcripts here on Patreon. Hope this helps you find what you’re looking for!

BethKF

There’s a discord?

Luke

Who is up opening up their senses to profound truths while listening to this episode tonight? (It’s me)

TWSanto

Someone let me know if the link doesn't work for you, idk the discord invite rules

Sean Boyce

No. You're not a nose hole. You're a different...better hole. Mouth? Maybe?

Emily C

What a THICK 'sode guys. Suvi and the ink spirits/demons made me crazy and made me cry a little. Made me think about how she treated Task with kindness, and then begins extending it to others she may have written off. The MiB just showing up WHAT HORNER CORNER MADE CANON FOR REAL

Emily C

I agree!!! The French horn kicked ASS in this score

BethKF

What?! Of all the years to pick socials sign off for Lent 😭

Emily C

I also thought faerie at first and was confused

Blades Dragonic

Holy shit the sound design on this episode was Insane! The wizard Score casted his most powerful spells.

Emily C

Also how do we do polls in Patreon, gotta vote if you're A) a friend or B) a lover of Taylor Moore

Nassim Tanha

I cried real tears this episode. why you do dis to me

Sean Boyce

Ewuxch. There is something deep and grim about referencing the Waste Land in a war between a literal engine of invention, the Citadel, wielded to oppress and a system of oppression that has invented ways to convert unwilling flesh into machines of war guided by the nightmares of powerful aristocrats. I have been shown fear in a handful of dust.

thebillmm

It’s been so long, can someone remind me who Sworn is?

The Wizard Seek

God the way I HOLLERED when he rolled that nat 20, Lou knows how to fill a moment with so few words and it just absolutely floors me, as an avid yapper.

TPK_light

Sworn was the wizard who was Suvi's second in command during the Coven of Elders stuff and the rescue at Abassin. Cool headed in a fight, stoic, and apparently fucked up very badly once so now he doesn't make his own choices, instead he trusts his superiors to make all the decisions

Jack Jones

The Spirit of Freedom got me feeling the biggest fuck yeah dude moments I've felt in a while you guys are fuckin stellar at this man and I'm so glad we all get to be along for the ride

The Wizard Stank

Rarely has the sweet little credits song been so jarring. Really threw me for a loop. 😂

icesquirrel

I’m only 30 minutes in and I have to go back to work devastated

Conor Mulvaney

Hearing the Oath of Freedom actualized brought me to tears driving home from a job that might not exist tomorrow because of people who think that freedom means power over others. Absolutely masterful, brilliant, moving, hope-inspiring work when the world feels so wildly without light. ❤️

Tucker Eckman

Not only do I not even remotely know how this is going to pan out, I don’t understand how they plan to come back to this and elevate it to a 20th level. How can things get harder than this?! This show is what is going to get me through this summer! This episode feels like an official start to the finale and I already KNOW it’s going to be great. Holy cow I have no words

TētēKura

THE SOUND DESIGN??? So many points omg. The Man in Black, once again incredible. EVERYTHING with the oath! The DREADNAUGHT???? What a sounds! Taylor and his team knocked it out of the Park!

April Atlas

also trans, also resonated SO MUCH with everything in this episode. what a banger.

Bea W

Me too

Bea W

It is so worth the wait.

Lauren Hartz

There are nat 20s and then there are NAT 20S! I'm in tears for Lou. What a beautiful moment to believe in freedom.

Brandon Carbaugh

Level 5: You are helpless amid a giant terrifying epic vista of forces larger than you waging battles beyond your ken. Level 20: You are the people doing those things. You are the one in whose ken this shit is. Your shit is out of everybody ELSE's ken. People freak out when YOUR flagship drops out of the clouds and YOU shoot off across the sky like Superman in a pillar of light.

A.M. Healy

Me three. I grieve & fear with you. Worth remembering that, for all of those assholes out there, there ARE those of us out there who know what freedom actually means, and know that none of us are free until we all are free. You're not working towards this goal alone. To use the language of the game we all love (even if it might be cringe) let's focus our efforts to help dealing with challenges within our immediate CR capabilities, gain the experiences we need to level up, make allies, and go from there. But we are not alone. Nobody takes down the BBEG at lv1.

A.M. Healy

... yup. Yup I knew Eursulon's Oath was gonna make me ugly cry when he finally swore it AND IT DID.

A.M. Healy

GOD I LOVE PALADINS SO MUCH. 😭😭😭

Lauren Hartz

For the episodes that are available to the public, they don't post them on patreon. So patrons listen to the episode on their platform of choice and chat about it here.

The Spirit of Vicious Inspiration

awestruck y'all, awestruck. Brennan opening a sentence with "on a nat 20..." is one of the most momentous phrases ever, instantly strapping me in for what's going to be a hell of a ride. fuuucckk I feel this way after every ep, and it is true after every ep, but absolutely stoked for this fireside chat

mguin

Sound design is, as ever, outta the park & across the highway. I love that this show contains the vast profundity of the moment of Eursulon's oath of freedom and the much quieter but significant freedom of Cyril's declaration & comedy. "Published" made me cackle, get that demon an agent! And dang but I want to know more about Enzo, what an embodiment of the lingua arcana is an ink demon. Vandal? He will be *glorious*

elle

i felt like i was levitating out of my chair during Eursulon's Oath, the sound design oh my god!

Britt Anderson

This is one of the most breathtaking things I have never heard. Tears are streaming down my face right now.

Aaron Deyoung

What a ending gaht damn stick the landing

Jay

what an incredible episode, I got absolute chills with eursulon said Freedom - what an oath and what a power. I like to think his spirit lives in this world too as it's certainly inspired me

Bizarre Little Star

This one made me tear up with hope and solidarity 😭 the oath of freedom!!! So perfect 💚 the releasing of the ink demons!!

Bizarre Little Star

I am so pleased with where Suvi is headed as a character, she got on my nerves SO much till now but I trusted Aabria and this episode definitely shows her storytelling skills in how people can change so much but that it takes time and reinforcement 👏🏻👏🏻

rocket-flash

Since the beginning of this arc I think every single episode has made me cry (mostly from joy or compassion), but this one really hit different. I don't know whether it's the current state of the world or what, but this story is going to live right at the center of my heart for a long time.

Matt

Standing in Harris Teeter with a basket full of Texas Pete when that Oath dropped and I am full on crying in the grocery stoooooore. Y’all! So good.

JaNay Larsen

First, I want to ask if there's only the one episode of 12 Brooks? I remember it ending in a way that felt like there was going to be another episode and just want to make sure I didn't miss anything? Now, let us all take a moment to just consider the fact that you've released banger after banger after banger after banger this season. I have re-listened to every episode immediately after it ends just to catch that magic again. You are era defining storytellers, each and every one of you. Thank you for doing what you do. (P.s. Brennan and Lou, you've redefined hope and action in a time when everything weighs so heavy. It meant a lot to me to have those feelings captured in this episode.)

Ashley Teatum

Oh the waaaaay they're called Dreadnoughts. Voyager fans anyone? (Among other references and actualities, but that's the one I recall best 🤌)

Sil

I have to ask what that delightful ?wooden ?percussion instrument makes the sound in the background of the sorcerer lore dump at 28:59 and 29:12

Sil

Only one so far, I hope we get more of the cozy fantasy to take the edge off this insanely emotionally heavy chapter 🩵

Sil

Weeping at the dialogue between Ame and Suvi re. The ways they've hurt each other up until this point. I've never heard other people do this out loud before except here and in other fiction that was serendipitously between Lou/ Brennan as Fabian/ Bill Seacaster at the end of FH: JY. I've had to learn to apologise like this in the last few years and my Gooooodddsss, the pain of that level of vulnerability is next to none.

Sil

"I want them dead, I want them all dead... I want the ones that don't know what the House is doing, dead. I want the ones who have ever looked up at their banner with pride, just because it flew over the grain house where they bought their barley, I want them dead. House Qa'shif (sp?), long ago, was the first of the Great Houses to pass a law, calling for the capture and death of Shapeshifters." As someone who is, and loves people who are Othered in the world we live in, especially at the moment, I feel this so deeply in my blood, it aches. My love and solidarity to my siblings here, likely across several oceans and a hemisphere, who live similarly.

Sil

Snaps for #teamTaylor 🫰🏻🫰🏻

Sil

This. I have plans as they go on for a full sleeve, so that even when I likely succumb in 40 years time to dementia, whoever is with me will see, read and know to retell me these stories.

Sil

PSA from a managed- crying pro; Cry on your way to work so you don't cry at work 😉

Sil

... gods and spirits damn it, now I can't see anything else 🤣

Mubeen Khan

You guys are making cry at least once per episode. This was no exception.

Sil

26:27 😉 don't freeze. And remember to breathe.

Aidan Stoddard

Do we know when this arc is going to end? All I want is more of these three, and I know it's taking a break after, so I want to know how long I have left.

JaNay Larsen

Same! That would be delightful.

Krissi Carson

On Bluesky, Taylor said the total episodes for book one are 54. So, 8 more.

Krissi Carson

It’s incredibly inconsiderate that we have to wait TWO WEEKS for the next one! 😩

Esther Bee

Fully sobbing about 50 minutes in. They got me folks, my dam has been broken

RahneFace

Y'all just keep making me cry with your beautiful words and music 😭

Bog Station: Remembrance

The audible gasp I made when Eursulon beholds himself, fully, a spirit of freedom. The weeping! This story is so fucking good. That conversation between him and the MiB… magnificent.

Shaw Digby

My new favorite episode, beautiful

Adarsh Nednur

Re: redefining hope and action, I could not agree more. This episode more than any other, I felt myself filled with the white-hot sense of purpose that Lou describes Eursulon feeling, and I felt such an overwhelming feeling of gritted teeth resolve. Hearing Brennan say that dedicating yourself to something is to dream of a better world and give yourself the slightest chance of creating it, and the tragedy is that you have to choose what to dedicate yourself to and stand for, but the weight of that responsibility is a burden that pushes you up, not down... I really felt moved and encouraged in a way so few things make me feel. It made me want to really think about what responsibility I want to dedicate myself to in this world, and what fills me with the kind of purpose Eursulon finds in freedom.

Esther Bee

Off to listen to more Dvořák as I come down from this ep - (Serenade for Strings in E Major, Op. 22, B. 52: II. Tempo di valse is where the end credits song comes from by the way) can’t recommend the Vienna Philharmonic version enough, the Prague Orchestra one is also lovely, has a sort of softer feeling (older recordings)

Sean Lawrence

What is that scream sound effect at 3:30 and why do I know it deep in my soul? What is it from?

Felix Vance

Wept at work over the oath, weeping at home before bed cause I had to listen again. stunning as always! Especially blessed be the work from our beloved Taylor Moore!

JaNay Larsen

This exactly-- your summary of that moment is spot on. The part about choosing a dream felt surreal and lucid all at once, like waking up. I've never felt something so powerfully evocative. Listening to that scene, I had to pause the episode to write down a portion of it because of how much it moved me. "You feel the weight of responsibility and purpose, that weight for the first time, is not pushing down on you-- it is pushing up, like the great force of wind filling wings... The heft of responsibility is not a burden, it is that which allows one to sore." - Brennan Lee Mulligan [Episode 46, Their Sorrow Is My Sorrow, 42:13] Thanks for sharing how it moved you! Hopefully a lot of people felt it too. Our world could use more dedicated dreamers.

archaeocyathid

The last few episodes have been on fire. This one resonated so hard ❤️❤️❤️

AlterGerent

Eursulon looking out over the water and then the ticking began I thought of the crocodile from Peter Pan going after Captain Hook

Chey

taylor that sound at the end of the episode WAS CRAZY COOL

Daniel Wong

Brennan saying "Devil's Bargain". Me thinking "someone's been playing Blades in the Dark again?"

The Wizard Spwerm

Eursalon’s oath got me fucked all the way up. Suvi and Ame on the path to healing which thank god I was gonna lost my mind they’re literally best friends also the man in black is so hot 🥵

Sil

The structure of this is so similar to a windchime I have 😱 thank you for sharing!

MonteMonteMonteeee

Not sure if this is where you leave a comment that could potentially be read during fireside but has Eursalon become the patron saint of freedom day? 😂

Cackle Cackle

You guys, this was so meaningful. Eursalon’s description of his heart and his focus since learning of the children… it really echoed so true for me and I just appreciate hearing art so carefully wrought and blisteringly told about the true nature of Empire. Thank you for this!! Every ep is better and better and I’m so excited to see where it goes from here. Also the sound design GOOD GRACIOUS.

Mubeen Khan

Eursulon will be a great spirit.

Filius Viae

Is Enzo in his full majesty intentionally inspired by a Titivillus demon, "patron demon of scribes", or just a great coincidence? Either way, what an awesome and unexpected transformation!!

Geneviève Marian

OMFG 🙀 bravo 👏🏻 👏🏻👏🏻 this episode was amazing!!gasps, cheers, giggles, sobs, hope, fear

King Rob

TAYLOR YOUR SOUND DESIGN WAS ABSOLUTELY INSANE!!!!!

Ellie Hail

You people are gifted, and you have gifted us with yet another incredible episode. The oath was amazing. You guys are just out of this world.

Kelsey

Y’all got me crying on the train commuting 🤣

The Wizard Sparrow

I’m always going back to certain episodes to catch the magic, experience the incredible soundscapes and remember the mystical words created for us, crack crackle🔥🔥🤗🦊

King Rob

Incredible work on this episode y’all. This is one of my favorites and I can’t wait for the next one!

The Wizard Sparrow

The …loud Nooooo that leaves my lips as I ponder once again to listen from the beginning to capture something I have missed, pieces of subtle mystical wisdom, remembering why I love this story with all my passions and thankful this platform exists so I can share my thoughts 🔥🦊🤗❤️

Melina

I thought it was a really nice parallel of eursulon becoming himself in his oath (and the MiB reiterating his belief that suvi and ame will not stand with him in the final consequence of eursulon's path) and suvi again choosing freedom and regard for beings she was taught to disregard in their captivity. I just love to see how all three are changing and learning with each other in community and love while not at all disregarding their separate stories and paths -- absolutely incredible, flabbergasted every time I finish an episode. Can't wait for the next ❤️❤️

Raquel Albert

I relistened to the twelvebrooks interlude this week, and big mistake, it made me sob so much harder during this ep. So I think everyone should do that too o/

Tralan

This is truly one of the greatest stories I've ever had the privilege to listen to. Long form media done well and freely like this just isn't found in corporate spaces.

Matthew

"Their sorrow is my sorrow." A commitment to true freedom is born not from selfish chaos but from empathy. it's all so good, but the end of this episode and the realization that the change in campaigns is drawing near did not make me sad but left me eagerly anticipating hearing the words, "...and Aabria Iyengar as everyone and everything else."

Brennen Hilgendorf

@Taylor: was that a deliberate homage to the Superman theme I caught during the conversation between Eursalon and the Man In Black?

theelizabethjoy

Once again I'm sitting at work and crying because of the amazing story and sounds of this podcast. (Also yaaaaayy my man is back!)

Bog Station: Remembrance

The scale of the war they just walked into… y’all I tried to be ready, was NOT ready.

Bo0gie

I love how black coded his oath is. The breaking of chains the unfastened bonds, and the purposes pushing up. It's all so profound

worldsbeyondnumber

Not so much a direct homage, but def using the same playbook (standout horns leaping in fifths) -t

Maybeitshailey

I know Taylor and his teams sound design always slap but…wow, each episode you keep topping yourself. Amazing sound. Killer storytellers lifting one up - just amazing.

NaviSeelie

Tantrum scream, or something like that. One of many stock screams used in movies and tv since forever.

NaviSeelie

Transformers! Uncles in *disguise*

retrocalie

y’all are villainous

Matt Lozinski

I demand every verse of the ballad for vandal

Emily C

big Dr Farnsworth energy

Dustin Jones

This episode! Every single one seems to top the previous one and it blows my mind!

Rachael

Not me over here crying my eyes out over Eursulon finding himself and naming that which has always been him. 😭❤️

One Punch Max

The word epic was invented to describe this podcast.

BrightWorm Studio & Press

Brennan's description of Lou's nat20 perception check... that broke something in me that's needed breaking for too long. When I say that I cried, I mean that in the 'uncontrollable sobbing, full body & soul release' kind of way, which I think has been building in me since January, maybe even November. The destruction of peace in the crossfires of two evils, the children in cages, the coopting and bastardization of the word 'freedom' to mean power when it should mean full bellies for all, and to play, and to run... and, the heft of responsibility being not a burden, but that which allows one to soar. I needed so badly to hear that on the edge of darkness & in the face of horror, dawn cries out to be unleashed, that a new sun would rise, and a better world is on its way. And now that I've heard it, I think maybe I can begin to feel it. Thank you, Brennan. You've worked a magic for me that nothing else had been able to.

Gavin Green

Yeah everyone who’s working on this story is S+

Daniel Stevens

This was incredible. But I have to say that how Our lovely wizard released her familiars right after eursalon claimed his mantle of freedom shows that their hearts are connected.

Maddie Moreland

God, this one was so good. I mean all of them are but especially in building the stakes for the coming battle. So far most of what we’ve heard of Rhuv forces is citadel propaganda but finally seeing the fleshcraft and hearing about the kind of oppression the shape-shifters are facing from both sides is a whole other level. I really get why Kaliyah’s family went underground. A lot of things make a lot more sense now. God, this story is so good! Each little tidbit of information is another brick in this beautiful narrative structure.

Sarah Neima

This episode has somehow managed to top all the the other 10/10 episodes. Y'all keep moving the bar higher and higher. I've never listened to a piece of audio media or read a book that I could picture so clearly in my mind. Between the score, the sound design, Brennan's narration and the way each player embodies their character so fully with just their voices. Immaculate

Marji

Chills chills CHILLS. The mantle of true freedom and liberation is something we should all be engaging with and i am obsessed with the idea of using world building, fiction, and play to get us there. I love our empathetic protagonists so much and am so excited to see them KICK ASS in these next episodes. THANK YOU ALL for continuing to crush it! These episode releases are the highlight of my week every time and your podcast continues to be the most recommended listening out of my mouth.

Michael Landes

"Then Vandal, the brave - / his aim did not miss! / And that citadel goon / got a face full of piss"

Tawny Lacuna

THE SKY TO BLAZE!!! ??? 😭😭😭

Stefanucci Mozzarella

Yes. I find myself abnormally replaying this one for some reason and I think it has to do with an affinity to the ambient themed perspective. Very wonderful

Manifesting Good Posture

Beautiful juxtaposition. "Parents tell your kids that if you fuck as animals you get stuck that way 😭😂😂🤣😂" "The creaking of great limbs of those who are alive but have been made inhuman, engines' sounds like the rattling of spirits' cages: these are the sounds of this grim horizon, a dream that only empire could see, and which does not permit anyone to look away."

Melina

YES!! I am so excited how she interprets the freedom and depth this podcast has claimed in this book already! 🥰🥰

Krystine W.

I mean, yea we've had solid endings of episodes but this one HIT DIFFERENT.

Val

god

Thomas Moberg

CHILLS at the end, Taylor that audio was fully out of this world! To Lou and Brennan; what do you think the man in black was offering eursulon (sp), and how does it feel to be honored by the main antagonist of this story? With the sword no longer at his side, do we think that the man in black found another champion in Hallicre (sp) forest?

danielle

Absolutely cried over Eursulon’s oath! Naming that which has always been there, oh Brennan and Lou when I catch you….. how very dare you. C’mon now!!!! I love how we get to see the narrative elements behind the mechanical level up moments! And also Aabria how dare YOU with letting the ink demons go, and oh my god TAYLOR + CO WITH THE SOUND DESIGN!!! The sounds of war arriving gave me full body chills. Insane episode this week, cannot wait for the fireside chat next week to get a bigger breakdown of Eursulon’s oath choice!!!!

Devon

Casual mention of a level up after the most beautiful dedication of one’s spirit. Eursalon, the spirit of freedom. 😭🥺 This is the alignment to a different solution that Ame and possibly Wren were looking for. The solution that is simple to say but complex in its execution with so many oppressive institutions warring for dominance.

Sam Berry-Sullivan

I had goosebumps for most of this episode. I feel like I say this too often, but THIS TIME…this time you all have done something so incredible, so beyond, such an unbelievable elevation of the form…just wow

Sam Berry-Sullivan

What awards are podcasts eligible for bc this episode will SWEEP THEM

Charles Ewing

It’s crazy the best story I’ve ever heard is free and the ability to sit at the fireside with its creators is only 5 bucks a month.

Mia

This was wild

Cackle Cackle

I think of you look in the FAQ there’s a link to a form where you can submit a question.

Cackle Cackle

So cool!! I had no idea this was a physical instrument.

Jazz

Ugh Brennan got me 😭 "if you could dream of anything why would you dream of hurting people"

Shelby Welby

Steel’s flagship?! What the what?!

Jazz

WE AREN'T FREE TILL WE ARE ALL FREE

mumbo

There’s some kind of maybe-more-than-friends tension between the Wizard and the Witch going on... I feel it in my bones.

Beth Fisher

absolutely insane episode. Lou and Brennan's performances absolutely blew me away this week in particular--Eursulon's conversation with The Man in Black had me almost in tears. So incredibly, painfully, insanely good. I will say I didn't love Suvi asking the shapechanger the question about whether or not they have sex as animals--kind've struck me as an in-world insanely invasive question, like a cisgender rich woman asking a trans woman she just met if she has a penis or not in real life. It would be different if she knew this woman super well and the tone of the scene was less "hey come over here and tell me about your freaky body experience i don't understand." I love horner corner and don't mean to be finger-wagging, it just strongly gave me the ick towards suvi in a way that I don't think was intended like other scenes where suvi's ignorant/oblivious. (also want to be clear, that I usually have NO complaints about aabria's performance of Suvi, everyone on this show is brilliant) Otherwise, immaculate episode, as always.

Beth Fisher

ALSO I REALLY HOPE WE'RE WINDING UP FOR SUVI X AME YAA BOIII

Cassidy Mauvelous

"The heft of responsibility is not a burden. It is that which allows one to soar."

Manifesting Good Posture

An undercurrent of even my shitposts should be read as: this is all fucking outstanding. Eursulon's acceptance of his name held the same note for, like, 5 minutes and was progressively building the entire time. That was outstanding. Speaking personally, as The Wizard Shitposter, the notion of 'why didn't you figure this out sooner' is one of the only questions you can really cut me with. It's a piercing question - look at the harm you wrought, look at what chances you missed in the time you were ignorant - and I have no recourse other than to apologize and make excuses. "Live as clearly as you can moving forward" is a response to that question, but it's not an answer to it.

nk

I like these guys

taromilktea

So much that was amazing about this ep, but as a grad student this bit almost made me yell while on the subway: Suvi: What do you want to be? Cyril: *Published* SOLIDARITY WITH CYRIL 🫡

RionHurd (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-08 21:00 This episode is one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced. I was listening at work and there were literally tears in my eyes the whole time.
2025-04-11 12:55

Albertina Sparrhult

Great reading this I started crying again and I had just recovered from listening. Two days ago.

Evan Baker

Hey, I just want to say it's fucked up your going to make us wait two weeks for the next episode.

Melody Fan

As a college student getting closer to graduation and trying to figure out where to go next, while feeling like the world’s problems are too big to even begin to face, this episode made me bawl. The depiction of uncertainty against its hopeful undertones struck a chord nothing else really has before. This series is honestly so comforting and validating. It’s been a long time since something has made me feel like maybe things will be okay.

irisilmaril

yeah i get it. it was weird to be so forward about her curiosity or even bring it up. As a trans woman that is not the specific vibe I received, but I see where you are coming from. I do like the response that having sex as a human is preferred because animals don’t have sex for pleasure so the equipment you would be working for in beast shape wouldn’t be preferred. I thought that was a clever response to a question that boiled down to “Is it good to bang while u r big monster?”

Kael McDonald

"Y'all ever want to get a better than blockbuster movie experience but completely in your mind's eye?"- Me pitching this show to people as I still feel the chills of that last soundscape

Kael McDonald

Also I wanted to shout out a moment that was really subtle among all the amazing mind-blowing MOVES made this episode, and that was Ame stopping to check with Suvi before running into the dangerous choice. Seeing Ame reciprocate that vulnerability of trust, and Suvi meeting it eyes open and heart blazing to take the risk felt so GOOD.

Beth Fisher

Totally agree that it was a good response from brennan and a neat lil bit of world-building. I think when it comes down to it, I just think it should have been something brought up in the fireside chats horner corner rather than Suvi's performance. It would've been funny and silly to ask about for world-building as the actors but was really jarring to imagine that scene in-world and not be like "God, Suvi, what the hell somebody stop her." In the end though, Suvi's character is meant to be learning right now and getting up-to-speed about how to be in community with people like the shapechangers and that does come with fucking up! Maybe I've got my finger on the pulse and next ep Eioghorain is gonna be like "Suvi, you're fucking cringe and we need to talk" lol

TheloniousPunkyBrewster

Full on cried on an airplane during the scene with Lou naming his oath. Just so damned beautiful,

Gerard Cana

We’re going to need a new verse of the poem every week. LOL.

Eleventh Hour Panic Productions

"War is here, and I need you all to roll initiative" has got to be one of the hardest lines I have ever heard. There are no emojis that can express my feelings in that moment, and it was exquisite Also, Enzo's plot twist of a glow-up *slapped*

Doug Grosser

Damn, the music and descriptions go hard on this one. What a treat. Also, when we getting an Cyril book drop? I need more sonnets in my life.

The Wizard Scam

I think his champion is Sir Curran, but I do believe he could have been waiting with the man in black to take on our party in Halliker Forest

Jordan Charles

I’m convinced his champion will be Anarion, Eursulon’s flaming spirit half-brother

Jordan T. Maxwell

I've rarely felt so stirred and inspired as Brennan's epic description of Eursulon's "becoming" moment. Damn, like St, Crispin's Day without all the dead French folks...

Danny Roldan

Did anyone else notice that the Man in Black referred to Eursulon by 3 different titles after receiving his Oath?

The Wizard Sketch

I do agree, however if the music and sound design has been this good every 2 weeks imagine what they can do with even more time to perfect it. I’m so excited and devastated at the same time

Sil

Knew I recognised it from somewhere, albeit aaaggeess ago

Sil

I still scream "YEEEEAAAAHHHHH," when Sworn drops Fireball in "Abassin," so... 👉🏻👈🏻👀

Sil

GOD. DAMN IT.

Sean Sultan

For some reason this episode is not showing up for me on Apple Podcasts. I did listen to it on a different platform, but I’m just wondering if I missed something or maybe my phone is being weird about the app.

thebillmm

Thank you!!! I clearly need to give the last two chapters a re-listen.

Jake M

I am a professional cellist. The cello solo at the beginning when “Eoighorain and his shapeshifters enter the cave” made my day. Perfect choice of instrumentation and register, perfectly encapsulated Eoighorain’s vibe. Bravo 🎵

Heydon Hensley

Am I right in seeing that Euralon's Oath of Freedom is heavily influenced by the Black Panthers (as well as in line with a bunch of other liberatory radical traditions), right? Like that description of freedom centering not on power over others but rather full bellies - Damn! Incredible.

Catloaf

While I agree, that Suvi’s questioning was inappropriate, to me it’s very in line with other sex related conversations she has had previously in the story. I think earlier in chapter 2, it was noted that Suvi will run her mouth (the fox bit her twice while Ame was in a coma). That part of Suvi has not changed. It’s an inappropriate question, yes, but Suvi has never been appropriate in a space where she feels comfortable. I think the fact that she asked her first whether or not they were at a level where she could ask a question is a sign of her being a tiny bit more considerate. But it’s been maybe 2 to 3 months in the story. It is unrealistic to me that Suvi would stop being an inappropriate smart ass this soon.

Beomene

My name is Beomene and I'm looking for a Wizard and a Wild one and a DM Reach me at beomene@gmail.com I'm in Sweden, so it could be tricky to find times to play if you're on the other side of the planet - but nothing is impossible Hope to hear from you, it could be the beginning of wonderful friendships ✨🫀✨

Aussie Griffin

Not to complain, yet I had to use the Simplecast link from a prior episode to find the most recent one. If the episode wasn't so good I'd be annoyed. A.G.