In the world of Kaelvaris, five mysterious orbs ignite in a hidden chamber and rip strangers from their lives, dropping them into darkness with no answers and a destiny that may be a mistake. What starts as a chaotic first adventure quickly spirals into monsters, secrets, and a creeping truth: something ancient is waking up, and the “chosen heroes” might not be chosen at all.
Legends Awakened: A D&D Podcast is a cinematic, fully produced audio drama built from a real first-time Dungeons & Dragons campaign played by a group of friends, then retold as an epic fantasy story.
Previously on Legends Awakened.
Speaker 2:What are you? If the forest trusts you, so will I. Hello? Is is someone there? I'm Cynthia.
Speaker 2:How did you get here? Did you touch a thing too?
Speaker 3:More of us then. I called no one. Who are you?
Speaker 4:We performed a rite. It should have summoned help.
Speaker 5:The Orbs of Confluence. They were meant to call heroes.
Speaker 6:And you think we are those heroes?
Speaker 3:Have any of you ever even been in battle?
Speaker 4:The texts didn't speak of fighters, they spoke of heroes. Please consider that. Find out why it's you who the orbs chose.
Speaker 5:Inside, you'll find vermin enough to test your skills on.
Speaker 2:Let's fight the rats.
Speaker 7:Alright, everybody. How are you doing? Have a good day, Lilia?
Speaker 2:Yeah. It was good.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Cool. Class is going okay and stuff
Speaker 2:like Yeah.
Speaker 6:I'm having lots of fun.
Speaker 7:Alright. Well, you're all welcome to sit down. Actually, it looks like most of are pretty settled. Yes. Alright.
Speaker 7:And can anybody does anybody remember where we were last session?
Speaker 2:Oh, Brad. Yeah. Right? So
Speaker 1:So
Speaker 7:Brad. Rat Warehouse Where else? Battle. I was talking to a coworker at work, and I and they were saying, hey. How's the campaign going?
Speaker 7:And I said, well, I just want to fight rats. And and he said to me, he said, rats?
Speaker 4:It's all the first fight is always rats. And
Speaker 7:he was just joking, but I was like, well, we gotta warm up. We gotta start somewhere.
Speaker 4:Yeah. So we'll see.
Speaker 7:It's not a cliche if we don't know about
Speaker 2:it. Mhmm.
Speaker 7:It's not a cliche if we don't know.
Speaker 4:As well, we don't know if it is rats.
Speaker 6:Oh. Oh, I didn't even think about that.
Speaker 4:So I think let's get started here.
Speaker 1:They came to the warehouse.
Speaker 4:It crouched at the edge
Speaker 1:of the square. Its stone foundations sunk deep. A trench had been dug around its flank, ramping downward into the earth until the side door loomed before them. The door itself was massive, built for wagons once, but long disused. Oswin gripped a lever and pulled.
Speaker 1:The catch released with a groan. Door sliding up an inch before sticking fast.
Speaker 5:It should have opened.
Speaker 1:Jeric stepped forward, broad shoulders filling the trench.
Speaker 8:Here. Allow me.
Speaker 1:With a grunt, the knight took his hands and held the weight bracing it high enough for the others to duck beneath.
Speaker 8:Go. Quickly if you can.
Speaker 1:One by one, the four passed under the half lifted door resting on Jeric's shoulders. They stepped into darkness that smelled of dust, grain and something older. Behind them, Jerick's voice echoed steady and kind.
Speaker 8:Find your courage in there. I'll pull the way out.
Speaker 1:The four stepped further into the warehouse. The air was stale, heavy with rot. Old wooden shelves leaned like tired giants, their surfaces blanketed with cobwebs. Verzana looked to the left. An old table still held scattered papers, yellow and curled, ink stains blotting the wood.
Speaker 1:Cynthia and Ellowin spotted a shelving unit halfway into the room that had crumbled completely leaving a gap wide enough for someone to walk through.
Speaker 3:I can't see a thing in here.
Speaker 1:Cynthia realizing that Drogon's eyes probably couldn't see in the dark the way she, the other elf and the tiefling could said.
Speaker 2:I see unlit torches. Give me a minute.
Speaker 1:Cynthia whispered something the others couldn't hear. Her fingers tracing a small arc in the air. Sparks danced at her fingertips, prestidigitation, simple and precise. And one by one, the wall torches bloomed with flame, hissing to life after years of silence. Light crawling across the walls, shadows leapt and retreated, revealing cobwebs thick across the shelves and the skeletal remains of supplies long spoiled.
Speaker 2:Did you hear that? Small feed,
Speaker 6:many of them.
Speaker 1:They moved deeper, boots stirring dust. Verzana chose to examine the table. The ledger's ink had bled but fine lines still hinted at numbers once tallied here.
Speaker 2:Someone kept track of all this very carefully.
Speaker 1:They crossed towards the back. At the far wall, a weapons rack leaned. Iron, rusted, wood warped, but a few blades still sound enough to hold. Swords dulled with rust, spears warped, a shield whose leather straps had rotted.
Speaker 6:It will do.
Speaker 2:Better than nothing, I guess.
Speaker 1:But Cynthia lingered, her fingers brushing iron that felt lifeless in her hands.
Speaker 2:None of these will answer me.
Speaker 1:She turned staff in hand, the twisted elder wood grown from her grove roots still alive beneath the bark. Its grain caught the torchlight as if an energy lived inside.
Speaker 6:That staff, it's no simple branch.
Speaker 2:It came from my grove, a gift when I was young. It listens when others don't. More than that,
Speaker 6:I've seen the mark in old texts. That's a staff of the woodlands. You know it? Rare. Powerful.
Speaker 6:It binds forest to wielder, allows the power of bark skin, thorns, the voice of beasts and roots, even the ability to walk unseen through the wild. Few druids ever touch one in their lifetime.
Speaker 2:Then I was right to keep it. Rust and rot can stay on that rack. This is enough.
Speaker 1:Eloyn gave the faintest smile, her eyes glinting in the torchlight.
Speaker 6:Enough and more.
Speaker 1:Cynthia looked past Eloyn and the rest of the group to see that the wall in the opposite corner had collapsed inward. Stones sagged, broken timbers jutting from the ruin. It actually looked eerily like the rubble she and Verzana had seen beneath the manor before finding Elowin and Drogon. Was there a giant crack through the entire town? She detected a light draft coming from the small slots between the stone and rubble.
Speaker 2:That wall.
Speaker 4:The four tighten their grips on their weapons.
Speaker 2:Any of us ready?
Speaker 3:Does it matter?
Speaker 6:Heroes, not fighters. From
Speaker 4:the shadows, six enormous rats burst through the cracks of the wall, each the size of a cap. Eyes glinting red in the firelight. Teeth flashing, squeezing through cracks in the stone like water through fingers. The first hurled itself straight at His blade split it clean in two. Elowin looked at the rat just beyond Drogon and raised her hands, fingers cutting sharp patterns in the air.
Speaker 4:The torchlight bent toward her, colors bleeding and twisting as green energy coiled at her fingertips. A cloud of shifting hues materialized in an acid green smoke, churning like storm clouds in miniature. She pressed her palms forward and the air cracked as the sphere launched. The smoke like acid streaked across her room, smashing into the face of the second rat. Its flesh melted.
Speaker 4:Its squeals cut short as it collapsed in smoking ruin. The next rat hurled itself at Cynthia.
Speaker 2:What are you?
Speaker 4:Cynthia struck it with her stab, knocking it skidding across the floor. But it staggered back up, still alive. Brzana broke for cover, darting behind one of the shelves near the old table that she was looking at moments earlier.
Speaker 2:Something. There has to be something.
Speaker 4:She looked around to see if there was anything she could use to her advantage. Two of the beasts chased her down. Drogon swung as they passed, but missed.
Speaker 3:These aren't normal rats. They're possessed or something. I've never seen such blind rage.
Speaker 4:He said to Elowin as she froze. She had seen it through the hole in the wall. Wait. Two glowing eyes pierced out between the cracks burning red.
Speaker 6:That's not a rat.
Speaker 4:Stones shifted and tumbled forward pushed by two yellow green hands digging open a hole a foot wide. It was then that she witnessed one of the eyes disappear replaced by the tip of an arrowhead. The metal lined up with the remaining red eye. She saw it slowly poke through the rubble, glinting as it caught the light of the torches, trembling lightly before the arrow was released. It sang across the room straight at Drogon bouncing off his newly found shield.
Speaker 4:He turned teeth bared.
Speaker 3:What the Goblin doing here?
Speaker 4:From across the room, Vrzana's breath caught as she looked at
Speaker 1:the others. Did Drogon say goblin?
Speaker 4:As if in slow motion, she suddenly became hyper aware of their situation. Two elves and a dragonborn. She didn't ask for this. She didn't want this. But what were they going to do?
Speaker 4:Rats in the trap I said. Rosanna needed to think quickly. True, the rats were almost upon her. She decided to try a cantrip that she had been studying for a couple years. She had tested it on inanimate objects back in the forest, rocks and stones here and there, but she had never been able to
Speaker 1:get much of a response. Perhaps thaumaturgy worked only on beings with consciousness. She had seconds to decide and acted on instinct.
Speaker 4:Her chest heaved as the rats closed in. She gripped her liar and threw it around her back, then steadied herself. She drew in a breath, summoning the fire and spirit she had carried since childhood. She thought of her cursed lineage, the tiefling parents she never knew because of the choices they made. All the dreams and nightmares she had of what her childhood could have been.
Speaker 4:She thought of all the ways she had been misunderstood. The halfling step parents that took her in, the love she felt but the emptiness that followed. How she loved her horns but hated them at the same time. She steadied herself, summoning power older than fear, thought of two words as she opened her eyes, fire yellow with black slit pupils blazing. Her voice swelling beyond natural bounds screamed.
Speaker 4:Go away. It was as if you could see the word roll over the vermin. It boomed across the rafters like a storm breaking inside the stone walls. The ground itself trembled underfoot. The very dust on the floor lifted as the torch's shadows leapt wildly across the walls.
Speaker 4:The rats tumbled and squirmed falling over themselves squealing. They tried to grip on anything on the old floor as they turned as if their life depended on it, scattering unknowingly toward Drogon. Drogon, now surrounded by three massive rats, hate in their eyes as if driven by something deeper and more sinister than any kind natural existence, decided to strike. His longsword swung wide, a brutal arc making contact with all three. The first rat was clumped in two.
Speaker 4:The second, split deep, lifeless. The third slammed into the wall, bones cracking. One last rat leapt from the rubble. It slammed into Cynthia. Its claws raked at her hair.
Speaker 4:Teeth snapped for her face. She toppled backward, the rat clawing at her. Cynthia couldn't see much as she looked up.
Speaker 1:She saw a flash of
Speaker 4:a weapon followed by the trail of bright blue hair. Elowyn had struck the rat. She jumped over her and landed right next to it. Cynthia rolled over, catching her breath as she lay on her side, her face free of the rat. She looked at it, through her blurry sideways gaze, saw Elwyn walk up to the snarling and snapping beast.
Speaker 4:Its vile teeth biting the air with rage, stunned from the impact. Its eyes staring straight in Eluin's possessed by hate or something darker, ready to kill until its end. Cynthia saw Eluin raise her small boot and looked away. Another arrow shot passed Drogon from the Goblin's hole. Enough.
Speaker 3:What must we do?
Speaker 4:Drogon charged the wall, bursting through it in a storm of rain. The Goblin shrieked, then silence as stone buried it beneath. The battle, if you could call it that, was won. Beyond the wreckage, newly revealed by Drogon's impact, lay a hidden hollowed out area of earth. A cramped cavern, six by eight feet, still underground but beyond the building's foundation, damp with a shallow stream cutting through it.
Speaker 4:Bersana stepped up.
Speaker 2:Do we follow the water?
Speaker 4:The four gathered at the opening in the wall peered into the darkness. The passage was too small for anyone to fit including Elowin. Silence fell heavy in the warehouse. The stench of blood and mold mingled. Crates leaned broken.
Speaker 4:The four heroes stood catching their breath, wounds burning, hearts pounding. At the doorway, Sir Jerich still held the massive door muscles taut. Then
Speaker 8:What's happening? Yeah.
Speaker 4:All four looked back to see his face contorted, eyes wide, lips straining for air. He looked as though his breath had been stolen and then he vanished, gone. In his place, only Oswin stood behind, arms stretched forward, eyes wide. Oswin made eye contact with Drogon. What
Speaker 3:did you do?
Speaker 5:I I I don't know what happened. I swear it. He was there then gone.
Speaker 4:All four stared at him, suspicion coiling like smoke. But there was no time. Already, the door groaned. Weight pressing down, ropes snapped, and it was clear that the door was failing. Time to go.
Speaker 4:Drogon grabbed one of the ropes and held it to slow to closing. Everyone else sprinted. Cynthia and Elwyn made it out. Rizana snatched a bundle of trinkets from the shelves as she passed. Drogon let go of the rope and leapt onto his shield, sliding across the stone floor, hurtling out just as
Speaker 7:And all of you tumble down onto the muddy ramp. You're doing somersaults. Oh my god. What? Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4:Oh my god. Look who
Speaker 7:decided to join the game. Oh my god. This is so exciting.
Speaker 2:He's so cute. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4:Well, yeah,
Speaker 7:I'm not actually sure. He he didn't he wasn't around much last session. This is my cat, Shrodinger.
Speaker 6:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:Hi, cute. He's an old he's an old man. Old man cat.
Speaker 7:So he's particularly cuddly.
Speaker 2:I'm in love.
Speaker 7:Yeah. As Jay is learning right now.
Speaker 4:Yeah. There you go. Good boy. So special. Okay.
Speaker 7:Wonderful. Well, wait. I mean Was that like Indiana Jones style tumbling? It was
Speaker 4:pretty much Indiana Jones style. Yeah.
Speaker 7:Rolling right out. I think even though, Jay, you may not be able to get up, I think maybe let's take our break right now. Catch our breath. I'm fine staying
Speaker 8:right here.
Speaker 7:Yeah. That's fine.
Speaker 6:That's fine.
Speaker 7:Alright. Thank you. Grab your snacks, grab your things, and, I'll see you back here in a little bit.
Speaker 9:I'll see you back.
Speaker 7:Well, that's what I was thinking about, Michelle. I mean, I think, like, if the car is gonna, like, drive that far, I think it's okay.
Speaker 6:Is he still moving?
Speaker 7:Because it's a hybrid. Oh, yeah. I have not moved it.
Speaker 4:Are you kidding me? Yes. You
Speaker 7:really have been
Speaker 4:here the whole you really didn't move. I did not move.
Speaker 2:There's a cat on
Speaker 7:the lap. I appreciate, Michelle, that you brought me some a drink. There was no way I was gonna get out.
Speaker 2:No. I understand. Amazing.
Speaker 4:I love it. Yeah. Well, you
Speaker 7:got you got definitely not even emotional support. It's an adventure support kitty over there You on your
Speaker 6:can play with a cat on your lap. Right? Yeah. Yeah. You'll be
Speaker 2:I could meet a cat in D and D world.
Speaker 7:That's true. Oh my god. You have
Speaker 2:a I hope we find one.
Speaker 4:Noted. Noted. Interesting. Interesting.
Speaker 7:Okay. Cool. Excellent. Well, everyone, why don't we get back into it?
Speaker 4:The force spilled back into the night chest heaving. Oswin's face was pale, his hands trembling.
Speaker 5:Where is Jerick? I don't know. One moment he was holding the door, then he was gone. Did one of you do something? Please.
Speaker 5:Believe me, I wanted him alive as much as you.
Speaker 6:Alive? Is he dead? How do you know that?
Speaker 5:What? You you think I wanted this? You think I expected goblins in there? That was supposed to be rats, just rats.
Speaker 2:It was one goblin. And wait, hold on. Is literally no way you could have known that because we were all the way in the back. I Which means you couldn't see us.
Speaker 5:I heard Drogon scream something about a goblin.
Speaker 4:Cynthia coughed, touching scratches on her face. Oswin noticed and realized the whole situation had gone much worse than he expected. He reached into his cloak producing four small vials of red liquid. Here.
Speaker 5:Take them, all of you. One each, please. They're potions of healing. I thought you wouldn't need them. Clearly, I was wrong.
Speaker 4:Cynthia sipped hers as the scratches on her face literally healed themselves and disappeared. Elowid and Pryzanna did the same. Drogon hadn't actually taken any damage. He decided to store his in his backpack. Within seconds, the four felt like they had never been in the battle at all.
Speaker 5:Please. Please follow me.
Speaker 4:Minutes later, they all reached the edge of town. Riverden's gates loomed like dark teeth.
Speaker 5:This is the edge of Riverden. The road from here should be safe enough.
Speaker 4:He caught his breath and looked at the four.
Speaker 5:If you ever need help, Riverden will be here.
Speaker 2:Help with what? Help getting home? What are we supposed to do?
Speaker 4:Oswin looked out past the town into the dark night. The road could barely be seen under the new moon. He gestured toward the road as if to say, I don't know, but he actually said, Figure it out. Oswin turned to leave them when Wait. Wait.
Speaker 4:A man hurried toward them, cloak flapping.
Speaker 5:Wait.
Speaker 4:He skidded to a halt before them, holding bundles in both arms.
Speaker 10:Oh. Oh, thank goodness. I thought I'd missed you. You must be the ones. Oren told me you'd come.
Speaker 10:I'm his father, Caelin Vorthos.
Speaker 4:Confusion rippled through the floor. None had ever heard the name Oren?
Speaker 10:Yes. My boy. He wanted the heroes or you to have these. He's been working on them for quite some time. He was hoping they could help the heroes chosen by the orbs of confluence on their quest.
Speaker 4:He handed each of them a bedroll, a sleeping bag of sorts. Seams neatly sewn.
Speaker 10:Yeah. Oh, you'll you'll need them. My son, Oren, is one of the best seamsters in all of Kelvaris. The threads are so fine and so tight that these bags are virtually waterproof. The storms on the road and all that, you know, should protect you.
Speaker 4:He was catching his breath.
Speaker 10:Help you rest long and well, you know, even in unsavory conditions, you know. You can thank him later. He's up north of River Den right now collecting more supplies for his shop.
Speaker 4:Oswin stood, not knowing how to remove himself from the scene unfolding.
Speaker 10:Hey Oswin, pretty exciting stuff, River Den taking on the honor of summoning the heroes to save us all?
Speaker 2:Saving you from what?
Speaker 10:Oh, that's the thing. We don't know, do we Oswin? Just know you're the ones. At least that's what our history books tell us.
Speaker 4:Oswin smiled painfully and put his finger to his lip as if he had an idea.
Speaker 5:Thank you, Caelin. Let me walk you back into town. I'm surprised you're not asleep at this hour.
Speaker 4:Oswin put his arm around Caelin and directed him back toward the town square.
Speaker 10:How could I be? It's all so exciting.
Speaker 4:Caelin shouted over his shoulder.
Speaker 10:Caelin Vorthos, you'll find me at my son's shop or at the Rusty Rutter, the inn just over there.
Speaker 4:He pointed vaguely to the west as Oswin grabbed his arm. Soon, both were no longer in sight. Our four heroes stood there alone. Cynthia looked at the others. Verzana looked at their new gifts.
Speaker 4:She felt hers in her hand.
Speaker 2:They're nice bags, waterproof. Feels like they could be.
Speaker 6:I just feel bad.
Speaker 3:Why?
Speaker 6:I mean, we're just not the ones, right? We're not what they were expecting.
Speaker 4:The heaviness hung in the nighttime air as all four questioned. They stood there bewildered. Elliwyn looked up.
Speaker 6:Hours ago, I was in my own home tending to a simple life. Now I'm here with strangers and questions and these gifts for heroes. They talk about destiny like it's a comfort, but it isn't. I don't think Oswin wants us anywhere near River Den. Do we go home?
Speaker 6:Do we go our separate ways? Or do we lock the four of us out into
Speaker 4:Drogon rested his enormous hand on her tiny shoulder.
Speaker 3:Maybe we go back into town and figure out how to use those orbs ourselves?
Speaker 2:I don't know. I think the Baron believes in us. I think Jeric did too. Did you see what happened to him? We all saw it, right?
Speaker 2:Oswin and that orc, I don't trust this town one bit.
Speaker 6:Did Oswin get rid of Jeric?
Speaker 2:I don't think so.
Speaker 6:Then what happened? Someone in this town knows more than they're saying. And if they think we're their answer, I I just wish we knew what question we're supposed to be asking.
Speaker 2:I I don't know.
Speaker 4:All four stared at the open road. Cynthia clutched her staff, thinking of the grove she'd left behind. Rizana traced the seams of her new bedroll with her fingers, remembering the adoptive half parents who had raised her. Elowin stared into the dark. Her silence as familiar as the northern snows she had walked alone.
Speaker 4:And Drogon scowled at the emptiness ahead, a newborn soldier without an army, daring the night to give him something to fight. Four lives pulled from four corners of Kelvaris. One lost team. The air split, a blast of light flared. Sir Jerick reappeared, collapsing to his knees.
Speaker 4:His eyes were wide, hands clutching at his chest.
Speaker 2:Jerick, are you okay?
Speaker 4:He was covered in sweat. I
Speaker 3:I heard it.
Speaker 6:Heard what?
Speaker 4:Sir Jeric looked up, collecting his whereabouts.
Speaker 2:What happened to you? I
Speaker 8:don't know. I was somewhere, not here. What did you hear? I thought I was drowning night. I couldn't breathe, but I also felt like I didn't need to.
Speaker 4:Cynthia grabbed his hand.
Speaker 8:Thank you. I think I'm okay.
Speaker 4:Drogon took a step forward.
Speaker 3:What did you hear?
Speaker 8:On on the name I think.
Speaker 4:The others leaned in close. His voice cracked but carried a weight that stilled the night. What Sir Jeric Felmeier said next hung in the air heavy as thunder. A name none of them had ever known. A name that would change Calvarus forever.
Speaker 4:Slynar.
Speaker 7:Pizza was great. Oh, thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 7:Hey. Thanks for putting the pizzas
Speaker 6:together, Michelle. Yeah.
Speaker 7:Yeah. I cannot believe they were vegan pizzas. Really? That cheese was so good.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, actually, plant based cheese is really delicious. Yes.
Speaker 7:I have come to prefer plant based cheese
Speaker 4:over over, I guess, cow based cheese.
Speaker 7:Yeah. Cow based or or
Speaker 3:goat grains. Yeah.
Speaker 7:Excellent. Alright, everybody. Well, have a have a great night, and and we'll see you next session. Yeah. Sounds good.
Speaker 7:See you, David. Thank you, David.
Speaker 1:Next time on Legends Awakened.
Speaker 8:The orbs of Confluence. They're legend.
Speaker 2:Are we supposed to stop it? Stop its return or something?
Speaker 8:I don't know. It's an old myth. A tale about when Kelvarys was filled with death and ruin.
Speaker 9:Riverden is no worse than Honeyktown. Anytime there is some kind of problem, our guards led by Captain Stalgrip take care of it.
Speaker 10:Don't matter how they look, the orbs chose them. And that's good enough for me.
Speaker 9:You know, every place has bermen. River Den is no different.
Speaker 4:Bermen don't break into stores at night. Don't raid carts along the river.
Speaker 10:Keep wolves as pets.
Speaker 3:This whole place feels like it's holding something back.
Speaker 4:Eventually, the goblins moved in. And now, when they stir, so does our town. You sense any stirring?
Speaker 1:You've been listening to Legends Awakened episode two of Vanishing Night. Created, written and produced by me, David Geisler. Starring Madison de Jausserand as Verzana, Jay Beisler as themselves, Michelle Sayre as Cynthia and herself, Malia Arell as Elowin and themselves. Other voices and characters performed by David Geisler. Sound design and editing by David Geisler.
Speaker 1:Legends Awakened is produced Six Five Media with special thanks to Matt Cunningham and the School of Communication and Culture at Columbia College Chicago. The story, characters, locations and events depicted in Legends Awakened are original works created for a tabletop role playing campaign. Originally dungeon mastered by David Geisler and played by Jay Bexel, Michelle Sayre, Jeff Sayre and Olivia Queirere. I'd like to note that any resemblance to names, characters or locations found in other works of fiction or real life is purely coincidental. If you enjoyed the show, follow the podcast and share it with a fellow adventurer.
Speaker 1:You can find information about other episodes, character bios and links to all of our social media accounts at legendsawakenedpodcast.com. Thank you so much for listening. We'll see you in the next episode and until then, consider. The orbs have chosen, but memory is not the same as truth.