Longwinded One: The Podcast

The heroes make their way to Ezellohar, knowing that Ungoliant is enroute. The battle begins in the darkest part of the night, and it grows ever darker when the ancient Avathari and her minions show up. Quickly the group becomes poisoned and paralyzed from the sting of arguably the most frightening creature in the legendarium.

In this episode, Jared looks back at the previous 130 episodes, talks about what he has learned, and what he would do differently. He talks about how important the Tolkien community has been for him over the last three years. He talks what's left to come in the podcast: Cuiviénen, Angband, and Gundabad. There are interviews with Doug Anderson and John Rateliff. There are virtual tours of some of T...

A nice break to the combat... The group gets back to Ilmarin and finds an old friend. Okrin is back to help them in the final trials! The group discusses how to get the cloak off of Tesoro without killing him. They discuss the vision Mor-lomín had of the coming of Ungoliant. And they discuss the cordial of the Valar- Miruvórë.

Have you ever wished Treebeard would say the song title of track #6 from The Chronic? If so (or if not), this episode is for you. Join the players as they finish the fight with Queen Berúthiel, claim Dramborleg, and bring the white tree of Meneltarma back to Ilmarin.

If the heroes weren't "cat people" before entering into the inner sanctum of Meneltarma, they certainly aren't now. The cats of the queen grant bad luck to the characters, and the Queen comes out swinging with Dramborleg. Meanwhile, being so close to the white tree of Númenor speeds up Tesoro's tree-bound effect of his cloak.

Few have given so freely of their time and contributed so much to the Tolkien community as David Bratman. Over the past 40 years, he has spent much of his time writing and organizing essays, bibliographies, reader guides about Tolkien and his body of work. Listen as we discuss elven magic, sub-creation, the three different styles of Tolkien's writing, Unfinished Tales, the status of Ungoliant, and...

In this episode, the heroes enter the remains of Meneltarma. They are surprised to find several cats following them around the ruins. In the inner sanctum they find a grand white tree and Queen Berúthiel. She is wielding Dramborleg, the vicious heirloom of Númenor.

Back at Ilmarin, Irmo thanks the heroes and suggests that they do the Trial of Yavanna to get a sapling of Telperion. The players discuss the history of the Númenóreans, the fate of Númenor, the Great Eagles, the artifact called Dramborleg, and the infamous Queen Berúthiel. The players take a short rest and head to Meneltarma.

"Home Land" is the passphrase to summon the portal from Ilmarin. And finally, the party is able to whisper those words and leave the Path of Dreams, having collected the vemon of the Great Glow Worms.

As the group tries to free Mor-lómin from the jaws of a Great Glow Worm, Feredir and Burin are also swallowed. Tesoro and Ezellendur are standing alone battling the guardians of the Path of Dreams.

Dr. Vicki Ronn joins us on this episode to talk about the Mythopoeic Society, their conference, and their awards. She and Jared discuss Tolkien's "old cat lady." Jared asks about the (supposed) newly established Inklings at Oxford. Dr. Ronn mentions what is next on her reading list, the book referred to as the "Chinese LOTR," called Legends of the Condor Heroes. Check out mythsoc.org for more info...

There be Glow Worms in this episode... They aren't happy to see the party. Tesoro finds a creative way to collect the venom. The group decides which Trial to do next, and Jared mispronounces Meneltarma.

The group returns the bodies of Eärendil and Arien to the palace of Ilmarin. Ezellendur becomes the Avatar of Eönwë. The group begins the Trial of Irmo and travels to Cerin Amroth. There they encounter Arwen, circa in FA 211. Though there are no more Golden Mallorn trees in Lothlórien, Arwen tells the group that Tesoro's cloak is the key to reviving a Golden Mallorn. She sends them to collect the...

The party manages to collect Arien and the last Silmaril before defeating Ancalagon and heading back through the portal to Ilmarin. Find out why Ancalagon destroyed the three peaks of Thangorodrim the first time he died.

The Coronavirus is bad. Thousands of people are sick and dying. Many people are isolated. Governments and economies are suffering. People have had to put their lives on hold, so to speak. And though the Longwinded One is suffering the same fate as millions of others, including a delayed Tolkien pilgrimage to England, there is some good to be found in these strange times. The first good thing is th...

The last of the episodes with audio difficulties, in this episode the players meet their match. Ancalagon begins the beat down, and the group finds the body of Eärendil and his silmaril.

Having been awakened by Gwarthaur, Ancalagon the Black has knocked Eärendil out of the sky. With him fell his Silmaril and the carriers of the sun and moon, Arien and Tilion. While traveling through Oiomúrë, they find Tilion and the great maiar Eönwë. Then the group arrives at the Helcaraxë, where they find the body of Eärendil and his nemesis.

After the Trial of Ulmo, the group is back on Taniquetil reviewing the Octagram of Ilmarin. The DM tries to bring Charlie up to speed on how to run Burin, and after a short rest, the crew braces for an adventure into the frigid Helcaraxë in the Trial of Vana. Having been reinvigorated, Ulmo begins singing the lay of Narsilion. The group learns of Arien, Tilion, and Eönwë.

A treasure trove of fun and interesting stories, listen as Dr. Fimi discusses her written work, her most influential mentors, her favorite interviews, discovering treasures in the Bodleian Library, why The Hobbit is so much fun to read aloud, and the lay called Narsilion. Tolkien Experience Podcast: https://luke-shelton.com/2020/01/03/tep-1-dimitra-fimi/

Charlie, Burin's new player, joins in this episode. And though we had some technical difficulties (you can't hear the player microphones), the storyline is intact. The group defeats the kraken and takes both the Dragon Helm of Dorlomin and Silmaril of Maglor back to Ilmarin.

Join us as we talk to two fans of the podcast. Liam is from the USA and Bea is from Norway. Together we talk about the campaign, Tolkien, and D&D in general. At around 29 minutes you begin to understand why the podcast is called the "Longwinded One." Other Podcasts Mentioned: Adventure Zone Realms of Ukodor Tolkien Professor Tolkien Experience Podcast

Join the characters as Maglor leads them into the underwater structure that houses his former Silmaril. Unfortunately, the Silmaril has an angry roommate.

Heading down to the sea from Ered Luin, the party encounters Maglor standing in the waves. Beside him is another Maglor... The group must decide who is the real son of Feanor, defeat the summoned giant minions, then convince the real elf prince to show them into Maglor's Gap (which was part of Beleriand and is now underwater). He eludes to a great sea creature who has taken his former jewel into i...

The crew pops out in Mount Dolmed, inside the once great slopes of Nogrod. Here, the spot of awakening for the father of the Firebeards, Burin discovers his true parentage, son of Dain, King Under the Mountain. That puts him in a somewhat unique position in the line of Durin. Afterward, the fellowship sets out west to the coast to find the second son of Fëanor.

On top of Taniquetil there sits the "mansion of the high airs," referred to as Ilmarin. The players find eight Valar inside looking weary and unmoving. There the High King of the Vanyar, Ingwë, teaches the characters how to travel to and from Ilmarin in a portal. The first stop is Ered Luin, the Blue Mountains.