Friends at the Table

For Kalar Anakalar and Phrygian, SBBR's newest recruits, it seemed like another boilerplate mission. A too-warm, too-quiet night in seaside town, making sure that the people in suits and dresses could go about their politicking and gallivanting in safety. But when Ver'Million Blue called in a strange occurrence at the Strand Semaphore station to the north of Auspice, they understood this would be...

It has been just over fifty days since Millennium Break took Cruciat, and each day has been more busy than the last. The hammer of the Principality fell on the organization's independent cells across the moon, and now the leaders of Millennium Break seek allies wherever they can find them. No potential partner in the fight against tyranny is more important than the Isle of Logos. As a sovereign na...

Content Warnings for this Episode Throughout: Violence During a Public Event 00:00 - 20:30: Disrespect of the Dead, Implied Disrespect of a Dead Body  1:41:00 - End: Death, Deliberation about Character Sacrifice, Suicide by Sacrifice, Immolation, Violence During a Public Event,  Hey everyone, this has been a really heavy week: Wildfires across the western United States, Hurricane Laura in the Cari...

A month ago, Millennium Break seized control of Cruciat, ushering in a new age on the holy moon of Partizan. But like a counterpunch already chambered, the great Stels of the Divine Principality hit back with force and speed, driving minor Millennium Break bases into the dirt. Today, along with Cruciat, the only two strongholds left to the revolutionary group are the Lambic House and a trio of cit...

Hey everyone, welcome to a very special bonus episode of Friends at the Table. As we said on Twitter, we're currently taking a few weeks off after the end of Kingdom to catch up on things, prep for the rest of PARTIZAN, and generally tak ea break.  Many of us here on the show have spent some of that break by playing Blaseball , the internet sensation that VICE's Gita Jackson describes as "an onlin...

For those who live under tyranny, the exhaustion and fear is such that it can be hard to even imagine or recognize what escape or progress or revolution look like. But when Icebreaker Prime came over the horizon, the citizens of Cruciat, beaten down by generations of chic, high-minded Kesh terror, knew exactly what they were looking at. Millennium Break. Cruciat was all but undefended, with the bu...

However the Summer Passage of Arms--a yearly competition of strength, skill, acumen, and style--began, it has followed in the fate of many similar comptetitons prior and become a proxy for nationalistic fervor. On the Isle of Summer in the Prophet's Sea, all five Great Stels gather to test each other in a host of events. Commenters often say that the games bring out "the best of the Principality."...

With its internal threats sorted, at least for now, Millennium Break's de facto leaders shift the bulk of their attention outward. As rebellion is sparked across Partizan, a new question takes center stage: If Millennium Break wants to lead this revolutionary moment, does it need to step out into the light of day? Who can they save if they take this risk? And who do they put in harms way if they r...

A week away from the moon of Partizan, a vessel rare in its luxury and power orbited the Portcullis which connects this provincial system to the rest of the empire. Inside, the living leaders of the Pact of Necessary Venture conferred with the sort of secrecy afforded only to the truly powerful. Their question: What was to be done about Millennium Break? On paper, the two groups had great reason t...

One might think that, with elections behind them, Millennium Break would turn its full attention outwards, towards the world it was trying to change. Instead, like an athlete determined to operate at peak performance, it turned further inward. Bringing democracy onboard Icebreaker was all well and good. A solid first step. But what was to be done about Clementine Kesh? What was to be done about th...

Word traveled fast: The Oxblood Clan had demanded elections, and whether they'd get them had become the talk of all Icebreaker. For the hundreds on board familiar with the guild's practices, Oxblood's insistence was no surprise. The group was famous for deciding on things "as a family," which meant a mix of extempore votes on the shop floor and regular elections for key decision-making roles throu...

First off, a quick note of thanks to everyone who has already contributed to our fundraising efforts for Reclaim the Block, The Bail Project, BYP100, and The Marshall Project, which we announced last week. Thanks to your donations we've raised over $70,000 for these causes, which is INCREDIBLE. But the sale continues. You can go to friendsatthetable.itch.io to contribute. Let's push for $100k! At...

Hey everyone, Austin here. Today's episode kicks off an eight episode run tracing the revolutionary movement on Partizan that formed at the end of the previous episode. We'll be playing (butchering?) the Kingdom 2nd Edition playtest by Ben Robbins. Below, you can find all the standard info that is in an episode dossier, but in lieu of a traditional description, I wanted to use this space to let yo...

The town of Rezevi is quiet, most days. Five years ago, when the war with Kesh first kicked off, the sleepy fishing town's residents wondered if their lives would be shaken by the conflict. But as an Apostolosian town, the demands of war--mandatory service, expectation of quarter, junior and senior reserve duty--were already stitched into daily life. In reality, it simply meant that their assigned...

After a stunning victory in Orzen, the Society of Banners and Bright Returns must now face the cold light of day. Bodies wounded, hollows damaged, and reputations scarred, Broun, Thisbe, and Valence recuperate as best they can. But as the war becomes ever more complicated, and as new expectations are placed on them, tensions raise from a simmer to a boil. This week on PARTIZAN: On the Edge of Frac...

In the valley where Juniper lies along a slight river, the Divine Motion has brought her enduring velocity to bear. In front of her, the vanguard of her Black Century, the tip of an endless spear. Behind her, the vast machinery of the greatest military power in the history of life itself. And in her sights, unworthy prey: The Rapid Evening, a group sent to die for an empire they don't believe in a...

At the northwest reaches of the extended defensive perimeter known as Fort Icebreaker, Kesh brigades engage in a feint so convincing that the graves have already been dug. To the southeast, the bulk of the Stel's might on Partizan waits for the signal to roll through the weakest point in Apostolos' line. And in the middle, as if the axle of a wheel, is the Rapid Evening, a river, and a bastion cal...

In the weeks since Kesh's new offensive into Apostolos territory, little has changed besides the quantity of weekly war casualties. Halting Kesh's push is Fort Icebreaker, a massive defensive line composed of a dozen smaller forts, an intricate tunnel system, and a massive moving fortress called Icebreaker Prime which stalks along the border, rejecting any intruders with overwhelming force.    But...

Content Warning: This episode features discussion of chemical warfare and suffocation. Deep in the Pique Ridge, at the back of a steephead valley, on the edge of the town of Orzen, under the Cathedral of Imperium is an archival facility filled with record of Partizan's greatest secrets. And in its halls, gunfire rings out as HORIZON leader Gucci Garantine, her bodyguard Thetonious, and their colla...

Eager to refill their coffers, Kal'Mera Broun has brought SBBR to meet Kesh noble (and HORIZON commander) Gucci Garantine, who offers the group a daring opportunity to both make some money and get access--however temporary--to some Stel Nideo state secrets along the way.  The target is a secure Palace facility in the canyon city of Orzen, where raw footage is given final review before being shippe...

Content Warning: This episode features injury, surgery, and infection.  With Gur Sevraq retrieved (and secreted away inside of the Winter Palace), the Rapid Evening ought to have earned themselves reprieve. But with the drums of war beating, an overeager member of the crew volunteers them for a difficult new mission. With this added pressure, Clementine Kesh pushes herself to get back on her feet...

With the "kidnapping" of Gur Sevraq spread far and wide, each Stel on Partizan spins up for war—even though some have not yet decided who they will come to blows with. In the heat of this moment, the Isles of Logos have become more important than ever, with shipments passing through the port and transports stopping to refuel on route to some combat maneuver.  But for the Disciples of Logos on the...

From the midst of a sandstorm, hands burst through the tempest in search of a miracle worker. From the front, the reformed pirate Callister Drive Callister leads his forces—and the unnatural sands—towards the heart of Gur Sevraq's pilgrimage. From the rear, the head of Partizan's largest church, the Song Aleel Verdicate, seeks to employ subtler methods to capture her prey. And in the middle of it...

With their defense operation underway, the Rapid Evening have moved into position and identified a potential threat in the form of an unnaturally-moving sandstorm. As Sovereign Immunity and Clementine Kesh attempt to ingratiate themselves with the pilgrimage's leadership and re-route the convoy, Exeter Leap and Ver'Million Blue standby in overwatch position. And as the storm grows nearer, it becom...

In a matter of weeks, thousands of Kesh hollows will slide down the icy hills of the Verglaz Taiga, weapons raised and spirits on fire, as they charge an Apostolosian line. It will be the start of a new, bloody offensive, a spark that will light the moon aflame, drawing every Stel on the moon into the sort of open conflict that has not been seen in this region since the Principality first conquere...