Longwinded One: The Podcast

Heading through the Vast Swamp is one of the most dangerous things you can do in Sembia. But Lady Tymora seems to bless their path, as they bump into a Sharptooth Lizardfolk near the source of the Darkflow River. They work together to battle pursuing Shadar-kai wraiths. After regrouping back at the Sharptooth village they are rewarded by the Blackscale tribe taking them to the edge of the Infested...

Want to hear from the antagonists? In this episode we hear from Kaligax, the leader of the Shadar-kai. We hear from Aldond Talendar and his patron. And finally, we hear from Thera, the Deathstalker. Not a feel-good episode... Unless you like the sound of a dragon eating a guy...

This is an immediate continuation of the last episode, where Sonia and the voice seek out the source of a magical aura from a ruined manor house in Battlerise. There she finds some Sembian Helms guarding a spherical "beacon." She she tries to acquire the orb, she is attacked by the Helms and by the Shadar-kai. Jendal, Ciran, and Mitoa come to help Sonya and the orb gets broken, causing the magical...

In this episode, we meet another of our new heroes, Jendal, as he comes into West Battlerise. He approaches the river just as the Sembians begin a dark ritual on the eastern shore of the Darkflow River. The ground swallows up the Cormyrean army. Jendal spends the next few days trying to dig out survivors. That is when Ciran, Sonya, and Mitoa stroll into town looking for the Harper contact, Harald....

The party wakes up to find Koril missing or dead. Even worse... they are surrounded by a group of Wild Elves, led by a man named Firin. They are seeking the Koril Seed, but Ciran and co. are not willing to part with it. Mitoa finds Koril's staff, which enables him to communicate with the trees, thus enlisting their help to get out of Koril's Well. When they arrive at Daerlun, they seek out the tem...

There is trouble the morning after the undead fight! Sonya has an encounter with the Shadar-kai hitman that are looking for her. The group makes for Daerlun through the Red Water Meadow. There, they realize they are being following. Seeing shelter, they seek out the only help in the area, a crazy old arch druid named Koril.

Welcome to Jarliel (which we mistakenly call Jariel), a port town on the Red Water Meadow in Sembia. On the eve of Greengrass, we meet Sonya, who awakes chained to the ceiling in a holding cell. We meet old friends, Ciran and Mitoa who discuss Mitoa's new Harper mission. At the Foremast, the three characters join together to battle a recent uprising of undead- another of the random wild magic even...

This podcast trilogy has been an amazing experience. I've learned so much and am so thankful for all of my guests and listeners that I wanted to go out in Tolkien fashion... So I wrote a lay. I hope you all enjoy it. Don't forget to check back in a few months when Season 4 kicks off with the Sembia Revival campaign. The road goes ever on...

Shawn and Alan chat with Jared about the Second Prophecy of Mandos and the Dagor Dagorath.  They read parts of the early manuscript containing the prophecy and discuss theories about why Christopher (and his father) abandoned this concept. The trio end by introducing the Jared's original poem, Lay of Angruin. Listen to the Lay in episode 150- the last of the Ingolorion Bastards trilogy.

My double secret guests on this episode are none other than Alan Sisto and Shawn Marchese from the Prancing Pony Podcast. Join us as we learn more about the dynamic duo of the PPP. Come bear witness as we they partake in a "Lightning Round" set of fun question (like they do on their show).

This episode contains the last of the role playing in this campaign. All of the former players came back to play their characters on the Plains of Valinor. It got a little silly and the DM had a little too much whiskey. In the end we learned some off the wall twists of the campaign (including some that will make Tolkien fans enraged). 

Join us as Dr. Andrew Higgins shows us around Warwick and Great Haywood, both of which were early sources of inspiration for the first iteration of the Lord of the Rings legendarium. Come see Warwick Castle, Shugborough Hall, Essex Bridge, and Rock Cottage. After the virtual tour we get a chance to chat a little more with Andy and what he is currently working on (and it is fascinating).    Visit A...

Come on a virtual tour with Mary Moore from Birmingham Tours as we visit Sarehole Mill, Moseley Bog, the new King Edward's School, Edgbaston Waterworks Tower, and Perrott's Folly.   Visit Birmingham Tours for more information: https://www. BirminghamTours.co.uk

Well, the group certainly isn't as quick as Bilbo at solving riddles, but join them in Gundabad as they try to solve an age old Dwarvish riddle... Or in this case, a "Dwarfish" riddle, in order to get the chain, Angainor.

The players bungle their way through the first two traps back in Gundabad. Witness the sheer idiocy of this episode as they attempt to find the chain, Angainor.

Back in Ilmarin, Celebrimbor and Fëanor present Feredir with the black, sister swords reforged into Angwedel, or "Iron of the Bound Star." Mor-lomin experiences the true power of the Flame of Arnor using his staff. Ezellendur is donning all three silmarils in the crown, Angrî. Okrin learns that the Mallet of Tombo, that they rescued from Angband, is essential in making the prophecy of Mandos come...

The party exits the Great Gates of Angband only to find Gothmog, the Lord of Balrogs waiting for them outside. A grand battle ensues, whereby Gothmog finds it easiest to chuck the heroes one by one into lava. Even still, good prevails in the end, and the party heads back to Ilmarin. 

In what will likely be the last interview with a Tolkien scholar on the podcast, we discuss John's path to Marquette University, where he studied the Tolkien manuscripts. The resulting book is called the History of the Hobbit. John has worked for TSR and Wizards of the Coast, working on Dungeons and Dragons. Listen and learn about his wealth of fantasy knowledge, and the connections he has made ov...

As the group destroys the balrog looking creature in the altar room, they attempt to fight off the Virtues of Morgoth, and rescue Alatar, Ilfrin, and Imin. They discover the Mallet of Tombo and Angrî and Morgoth's Crown of Iron before coming face to face with Gothmog, the Lord of the Balrogs.

The party discovers that Thangorodrim brings out the worst in a hero. They encounter some long lasting sentries in the once ruined fortress of Melkor. Burin proceeds through the "Anger" threshold and Feredir goes through the "Obedience" threshold. At the end of this episode, the group sees an altar and something that looks like a balrog.

The group enters Thangorodrim and immediately feels "miserable." Exploring the passageways of this accused ancient stronghold, they find remnants of evil and must choose who will enter the thresholds labeled for each virtue of Morgoth.

The heroes learn that Littleheart, Imin, and Alatar the Blue have been kidnapped and taken to Thangorodrim. Varda informs the group that Angband, the home of Thangorodrim, is the most evil part of Arda, and that traveling there will likely change each character permanently. Once at the Great Gate, they are told by the sentry that inside the gate, "Your strengths become your weaknesses, your weakne...

Join Douglas A. Anderson and I as we discuss how he originally got to know Humphrey Carpenter, Wayne Hammond, and Christopher Tolkien. Learn how his Annotated Hobbit came to be, and hear some truly interesting stories and anecdotes about independent scholarship and fantasy publishing going back 35 years. Doug and I also discuss our D&D characters' pending adventure into Angband... Journal of Tolki...

The group licks their wounds after the fight against Ungoliant. They decide to head back to Ilmarin and take council. Ingwë has gone to Tirion and collected the Silmarils and used them to set Telperion ablaze. While there, the group rests. Varda and Yavanna make the Miruvórë. Then, a brave Tesoro removes the magical cloak that once saved his life but now has slowly been turning him into Laurelin....

This fight marks the hardest the group has ever had, across all parts of the trilogy. Ungoliant is a force that seems to only get stronger as they fight her. Ezellendur is unconscious at the bottom of a Well of Varda and when the water begins to pour forth from the damaged body of Ungoliant, he begins to drown. Tesoro is unconscious also. Burin is stuck in the well. Just when all hope seems lost,...