Legends Awakened: A D&D Podcast

When strange glowing orbs appear across Kaelvaris, four strangers are pulled from their lives and awakened in the dark basement of a manor in Riverden. As Baron Eadwyn Lockridge and his advisors reveal the prophecy that summoned them, the strangers must confront an impossible truth: they have been called to save a world they barely understand. But the Orbs of Confluence may hold more secrets than anyone in Riverden realizes.

The legend begins here!


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Creators and Guests

JB
Host
Jay Bexell
as themselves
MD
Host
Madyson DeJausserand
as Verzana Warmgather
Host
Michelle Sayre
as Synthia and herself
ME
Host
Millea Errel
as Elowyn
Producer
David Geisler
as the Narrator and himself
SM
Guest
Spencer Morgan
as Dargan Stelgrip

What is Legends Awakened: A D&D Podcast?

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.

Narrator:

In the forest clearing outside the village of Encor, Verzana stood alone. Her calloused fingers brushed the ancient grain of a carving she'd been shaping all afternoon. Sunlight flickered through the canopy above, warm, golden, safe, but the air had changed. What? She had felt it first in her chest, a tug, not painful, but undeniable.

Narrator:

Like her name had been spoken by something far older than time. It was then that she noticed a strange light moving with tremendous speed through the forest. She quickly began to climb a tree to get a better look. But a branch betrayed her. Her zander plummeted, the wind knocked from her lungs as branches scraped at her face and horns.

Narrator:

She lay stunned on the forest floor, gasping for air looking up at the sky through the leaves. Suddenly, the ball of light floated down, silent and slow. It drifted nearer, hovering just above her face. She felt no heat from it.

Verzana:

What are you?

Narrator:

She blinked her eyes, a floating orb softly glowing, humming as if in tune with her breath. It hovered just above her chest expectant, a question held between heartbeats. Brzana reached out.

David:

Oh, oh, oh,

Synthia:

do you need to learn?

Jay:

I'm so sorry.

David:

It's alright. I'm gonna grab it. We got it.

Synthia:

I'm near the kitchen.

David:

You got it?

Narrator:

Alright. Cool.

David:

No problem. Little soda spill there. It opened weird, didn't it?

Jay:

Yeah. No. It just kinda exploded on me. I mean, it shook

David:

shook in the bag

Jay:

on the way

Synthia:

Oh, No. You.

David:

Oh, it's perfectly fine. It's perfectly fine, Jay. No problem at all. Alright. Well, I just wanna thank all of you for coming over to my apartment tonight and playing our first session of D and D together.

David:

Super, super cool.

Jay:

We're so excited.

Synthia:

So excited.

David:

Any expectations or thoughts about what's

Narrator:

gonna happen?

Jay:

I just wanna roll it at twenty. That's all I really care about. Oh, that's great. Yeah. Yeah.

Jay:

Cool. Excellent.

Eloywn:

Excellent. Watch it be the first thing you roll, and then you just hightail it out of here. Yeah.

David:

If it is, I

Eloywn:

might. Excellent.

Synthia:

I'm honestly a little nervous. I don't really know what to expect.

David:

Well, it's

Narrator:

the first time for all of us,

David:

actually, which is really, really cool. Yeah. We'll all kinda learn together. And so, yeah. I mean, alright.

David:

We're all cleaned up here. Let's let's get started. Yeah.

Eloywn:

Let's go.

Narrator:

Hello and welcome to Legends Awakened. My name is David Geisler and one year ago, my friends and I began playing D and D for the first time. We were all new to our roles. The four players had never played in a campaign before and I certainly had never DMed one either. But you know, you gotta start somewhere.

Narrator:

So I decided I'd write my own campaign. I came up with a relatively simple story, passionately and lovingly filled with typical campaign tropes. You know, it was everybody's first time, remember it's all new to us and we began to play. The story was written you know a little bit by me as the dungeon master by setting up non playable characters and locations and maybe you know larger story arcs, but the best parts were written by the actions and choices made by the four players sitting at the game table with me. And so what happens is you end up building a story together.

Narrator:

It's something that none of you could have imagined or designed ahead of time but at the end of the day, a wholly original story has been made. And the podcast you're listening to right now is a dramatic retelling of that story. Please enjoy season one of Legends Awakened, a D and D podcast.

Jay:

Alright. How bad did I

Jay:

actually fall?

David:

Well, it was it was not a nat 20. It was a pretty low roll there. Oh, man. I mean, you know David. Three is very different than a nat 20.

David:

I'm so sorry. That's a pretty hard slip. That's a pretty tough slip.

Jay:

No. You're right.

David:

So she did. She tumbled down and, but the orb is right now the orb is hovering right over your face.

Narrator:

What would

David:

you like to do?

Jay:

I think I'm just going to kind of slowly reach out and try and touch it with my pointer finger.

David:

As you do, your finger starts to tingle a little bit. You're not sure what the feeling is.

Narrator:

Is it warmth or coldness?

David:

All of sudden your body feels like it's lifted off the ground, not tugged or pulled. You almost feel like you have your own center of gravity, but you see the ground disappear away from you. And before you know it, you see Encore disappear in a flash. And as you move through the air, you're seeing other is it lakes and lands and even oceans and continents fly by, but you feel peaceful.

Jay:

My gosh.

David:

Even though you might be going, you know, thousands of miles an hour. And as you fly, start to see that you're getting a little closer to the ground. And as you get closer to the ground, maybe there's a a little town. There's maybe a little island just off the town. And you come crashing down in, but you feel no pain until blackness.

Jay:

Okay. Am I dead? We shall see.

David:

In a completely different part of Calvaris, Cynthia is walking around her home and Michelle, why don't you tell us a little bit about who Cynthia

Synthia:

Cynthia is an elf, and she is very passionate about nature. She lives in a grove where the homes are made up from the roots of trees. And she can actually, when she immerses herself in nature, which is kind of all the time, she can talk to the plants, she can get messages from the plants, and she just she uses the the trees as her guides.

David:

What's her morning routine? Like, for example, what's what is she doing right now?

Synthia:

Okay. I'm coming down the stairs to my kitchen, and I'm putting a kettle of of water on to boil for my my morning tea.

Narrator:

Cynthia lived within a hollow the forest had made for her, an embrace of roots and branches bent into walls, their knots and limbs coaxed into a dome. The great roots of the elder trees arched above her, sheltering the little hearth she had persuaded into the hollow. Smaller branches had grown at her will, ceiling cracks, weaving windows, a home not built but grown. She prepared her tea, simple leaves steeped into simple water, a ritual of quiet. But the quiet shifted.

Narrator:

Through the lattice of her window woven from roots, she saw it. A streak of light gliding between trees too swift and smooth for flame. What? She stepped cautiously outside. The forest received her with its usual hush.

Narrator:

Moss muffled her steps, the air held its breath. The came again, not in her ears, but in her chest. She lifted her staff. The carved elder wood glowed faintly at its tip, as if it was made from burning embers though cool to the touch. She cast her question to the plants, into bark, leaf, and soil.

Synthia:

Old roots, my old friend, staff of the woodlands, tell me, am I safe?

Narrator:

The answer came from every plant within 30 feet of her, not in words spoken, but as a feeling from her staff. She felt the words, You are safe. The orb revealed itself to her, not rushing now, but waiting. It followed through the air toward her, hovering at the height of her eyes, pulsing in time with her breath.

Synthia:

If the forest trusts you, so will I.

Narrator:

She raised a hand, one finger trembling, and touched it. The roots, roots, the trees, her very house sighed and Cynthia felt the earth fall away. The forest blurred beneath her as she realized that she was moving up into the air at an incredible speed. Rivers, fields, and rooftops tore past. Glimpses of Kelvaris unfolding below her like a painted map.

Narrator:

Yet, there was no wind in her hair, no pain in her chest. She was not flying nor falling. She was being carried, drawn forward. And just before she could make sense of it all, she detected the ground rushing up to meet her faster than she could react. She felt outside of her body as she detected maybe the lights of a small town, a larger building, and then blackness.

Narrator:

Cynthia woke alone, cold stone beneath her. Darkness pressing from all sides. Her breath misted in the chill. She blinked, but it didn't matter. She stirred in a room small and forgotten, more like a cellar or perhaps a cell.

Narrator:

The air was damp, the walls heavy with dust. For a moment, all was still. Then her eyes adjusted, an elf's gift. The shadows became clearer. She found a door.

Narrator:

It opened easily and beyond it, silence. To her left, the corridor stretched into darkness leading to who knows where. To her right, another door. Its frame barred shut from her side with a wooden log And then she heard it, a sound, a voice.

Verzana:

Hello? Is is someone there? Who's speaking? My name's Verzana. I woke up in this place.

Verzana:

I can't get out the doors, Bart. Who are you?

Synthia:

I'm Cynthia. I just woke up in a room next to yours. My door wasn't locked though. You said you're trapped?

Verzana:

Yeah. I've been here for hours. I don't really know. I tried opening the door,

Narrator:

but I can't. Cynthia hesitated, but the voice was steady, alive, not goblin trickery, not the echo of madness. She braced herself and lifted the wooden log. Verzana pushed and the door gave way. The two stood face to face.

Narrator:

The elf and the tiefling, not sure what to make of each other.

Verzana:

Thanks. How did you get here? Did you touch a thing too?

Synthia:

I did. It pulled me here, dragged me from my home. Is that what happened to you?

Verzana:

I wasn't home, but yeah. I don't understand it. Are we safe? I think so. The trees told me I'd be okay.

Verzana:

The trees told you?

Synthia:

Yeah. They said I'd be safe. I can talk to plants with this.

Narrator:

Cynthia raised her staff slightly.

Synthia:

It takes some energy. Do you like trees?

Narrator:

Verzana recalled her recent fall from one.

Verzana:

They're fine. I'd guess it's no accident we both ended up here.

Synthia:

No accident, but no welcome either. Whatever brought us here didn't seem to wanna explain themselves.

Verzana:

Then maybe we'll have to find the answers ourselves. Together, why would we have both ended up here?

Narrator:

Their words carried little certainty, yet for that moment in that unlit tunnel surrounded by the chilled stone, they chose trust. For soon, they would need it.

Jay:

Jay, why don't you tell us a little bit about Verzana is a tiefling. She's a bard, so she always has her lyre with her. She's a little bit of like a blue color, just regular regular horns. Yeah. She grew up in nature in in the forest.

Jay:

Interesting. Yeah. Alright.

David:

Cool. What's her general disposition?

Jay:

She she's a little more guarded, so she very much likes to disguise herself in certain situations. She's learned to of blend in more than stick out.

David:

How is she feeling right now standing there with Cynthia?

Jay:

You know, meeting a new person is always a little bit difficult for her. She's not quick to open up, but it's almost like the situation is so ridiculous and so like uncharted territory that she's just like, alright, this person let me out of this locked room.

David:

Wonderful. Excellent. Well, as you look around, all you can tell is you're very much in a hallway. There's kind of a darkness, I guess you could say, in the opposite direction that Verzana's door was. What would you like to do?

Jay:

I'm looking at my sheet. I think I have dark vision. My character has dark vision.

David:

In fact, both of you do.

Synthia:

Yes. Yes.

David:

I think both of you can see about 60 feet. So actually in that case, yeah, thank you for that. You can, as your eyes adjust, you can very clearly see another wooden door, let's say about 60 feet away from you, just straight ahead. Okay. What would you like to do?

Synthia:

I think I want to go up to the door and maybe just put my ear to it. See if I can hear anything. I'll follow.

Jay:

I'll follow it by. I don't want to be at the door.

David:

Just behind? Yep. Just behind. No problem. So you get up to the door.

Synthia:

Yeah. I was thinking if I could put my ear up and see if I hear anyone inside.

David:

I think in this case, let's just have you roll a perception check. Okay. Perception. Alright. Okay.

David:

Was that fifteen there?

Synthia:

Yeah. Fifteen.

David:

As you look at the door, you put your your your ear and your hand up to the door, and, it doesn't it seems like let's let's say it seems like a normal door,

Narrator:

and that it

David:

doesn't seem to be locked. It doesn't seem, you know, has kind of just iron latches, iron hinges, normal wood door. As you have your ear to it, you feel almost a touch of warmth from the other side. A stark contrast to the cold hallway, the cold wet hallway you're in right now, which essentially has no light at all. As well, when you look down below, you see just a little bit of light flickering from the, you know, cracking through the bottom of the door.

David:

So, you don't hear anything at all. What would you like to do? Any of you, either of

Jay:

you? Do I see anything past the door?

David:

Well, you know, you do have pretty high passive perception. You sense as you as you're looking around because you're behind Cynthia a little bit, you do sense a bit of a draft coming from the right.

Jay:

Think I'm gonna walk that.

David:

Towards the draft. See what that is. Yeah. You turn to your right, you see another path, another hallway. Okay.

David:

And, down at the end of that hallway, as you turn, let's say, except it's a left hand turn, there's no other option.

Narrator:

Uh-huh.

David:

There's another door almost identical. As you look behind you, you see that there might've been another hallway that went to other things. Who knows if this is a basement, maybe you went to a kitchen or a storage room, but there's rock walls. This is if almost underground, like tectonic plates have shifted or something that's completely broken off. Okay.

David:

So right now your only option is this door, guess you could say.

Jay:

Okay. I think I'm gonna turn to Cynthia and just kind of whisper to you and be like, I think this is the same room. I'll look here if you

Synthia:

wanna Okay.

Jay:

Figure out something over in there.

Synthia:

Yeah. I mean, the the light flickering under the door and the warmth is kind of making making me wanna go in. Maybe I'll turn the if there's a handle or a knob or something.

Narrator:

There absolutely is. Yes.

Synthia:

Okay. And, just really slowly open it and see if I can peek in and see anything.

Narrator:

Cynthia slipped into the room first, cautious. Her staff balanced in her hand. The air was thick with damp and the room was lit only from the fireplace that dominated the far wall. The flames licked at large uneven blocks built for function not beauty. Verzana opened her door just enough to get a look at Cynthia about 20 feet away.

Synthia:

Careful.

Narrator:

It was intended for Cynthia but Verzana knew it was too quiet for anyone other than herself to hear. Cynthia looked over at Verzana's door and then forward. At the center of the room sat a table large enough for eight, maybe more. There were five chairs on one side and three on the other. Its surface marked by years of hard use.

Narrator:

No polish, no finery. The high backs of the chairs drew lines of shadow stretching and warping across the old floor.

Synthia:

Is anyone here?

Narrator:

Two of the chairs facing away from Cynthia began to change shape. Cynthia focused her eyes away from the fire to see that it wasn't the chairs changing, but the silhouettes of figures at the chairs turning their heads to look back at her. One with small shoulders, narrow, blue hair, pale and short, an elf no taller than a child. The other was vast red scales catching what little light there was. A dragonborn whose bulk dwarfed the chair beneath him.

Narrator:

Cynthia stepped closer, each pace measured. Behind her, the door across the room opened just a crack more. Verzana stood there watching, ready to rush in if the encounter turned foul. It was the elf who spoke first.

Eloywn:

More of us then.

Synthia:

Did you two call us here?

Narrator:

Verzana kept watch from the other door. The dragonborn's head lifted, horns outlined against the firelight. He half turned, eyes narrow, voice rough as gravel.

Drogon:

I called no one. Who are you? My

Synthia:

name's Cynthia. Did you touch a ball of light? That's what brought me here.

Drogon:

We both were brought here after encountering glowing orbs. Yes.

Synthia:

Orbs. I'd I'd call it an orb, the thing that I touched.

Narrator:

Drogon pointed his enormous scaly red hand toward what seemed to be a golden stand with five mounted lightly glowing orbs.

Drogon:

Was it one of those?

Narrator:

Cynthia looked closer. How had she not noticed them immediately? She certainly didn't feel her orb anymore.

Synthia:

I I think so. Maybe the one second from the right? I think that was the one that came to me.

Narrator:

It was hard for Cynthia to tell.

Eloywn:

I was the first to wake up here. Drogon showed up in this room just minutes after me. He was out for a bit, but woke up pretty quickly.

Drogon:

Where did you come from?

Synthia:

Down the hall. I don't know how long I was out though.

Narrator:

She pointed back behind her at the door that she used to enter the room. As she turned her head back towards the table, she noticed Rosanna still tucked behind the other. Rosanna's yellow eyes catching the light of the fire.

Drogon:

There are a lot of chairs at this table. Are we supposed to wait for more to show up?

Eloywn:

Is it just you?

Synthia:

Well, was just me when I touched the orb. I was there in my house with a cup of tea and

Narrator:

Cynthia hesitated. She didn't feel comfortable outing Verzana's presence yet. Verzana stepped through, horns catching a gleam of firelight.

Verzana:

She's not alone.

Narrator:

She took in the table, the strangers, the cold stone walls. Drogon turned his head to see Verzana. More strangers

Drogon:

pulled into a basement like rats in a trap.

Eloywn:

At least there are four of us now. I see eight chairs but only five orbs.

Narrator:

Cynthia and Verzana sat down. The fire kept its council. From left to right, the arrangement was Elowin, next to her Drogon, then Verzana, lastly Cynthia with an empty chair next to her. For the first time, the four took stock of each other. Suspicion, curiosity, and the uneasy way to fate thick in the air.

David:

The four of you are sitting at this enormous table, basically staring at a at a fireplace, a huge fireplace, three chairs opposite you, one spare chair next to you, Cynthia, to your left. Elluin, how are you were in this room first.

Millea:

Yeah.

David:

How are you feeling right now?

Eloywn:

Lost. Pretty lost. I mean, Elluin couldn't have seen this coming. I'm sure no one here could have. She can't see this ending very well.

Narrator:

Yeah. No, you know, she was there for a

David:

couple minutes down on the floor all by herself. Yeah. Why don't you describe Elliwyn a

Synthia:

little bit?

Eloywn:

Yeah, sure. So Elliwyn is an elf. She's no taller than a five year old. Blue hair, she's What you see is what you get with her. I

David:

saw in your character sheet that you put that she came from a civilization to the north where it Yes, snows a

Eloywn:

yeah. The snow is a good way to describe her, very just sort of soft, but cold.

David:

Yeah, this is wonderful. This is wonderful. How does she deal with things?

Eloywn:

Well, she's definitely not a leader. She'll follow if it means getting the quickest and safest way to whatever she'd like. She's not stubborn. She has her values, and there is a line when it comes to how much she can take. Right now, the line is far away.

Eloywn:

She's not quite at the point where she can't go further. In a situation like this, you can only go further. So really, she's almost trapped.

Narrator:

Yeah. Yeah. Excellent. Wonderful. Well, the four of

David:

you are here and you hear some noise. There's a door to the right and to the left and it's clearly like a stairwell door or something. Hear some chitter and chatter of what seems to be some maybe older men or you can't make out the words, you're hearing some back and forth and they're speaking with an intensity of which where they may not be necessarily agreeing with each other. But also at the same time, Verzana, roll roll a perception. Okay.

David:

Okay. High roll. So you you don't feel any threat. You don't feel like you're gonna be attacked or anything like that. Right.

David:

It seems like general discourse coming down, but definitely slightly heightened. Okay. And just then, the door bursts open, and an and an older man with a gray beard, maybe, you know, fifties, maybe even sixties comes in. He has blue eyes. He looks like he smiles nicely, but he's not smiling right now.

Synthia:

Oh.

David:

And he walks forward and just behind him is another, gentleman, much older, bald with, with white hair on the edges with a beard coming down and he is frowning. He seems quite upset. As as those two start to walk in, they make eye contact with all of you. Then you hear some pounding on the steps a little bit and an enormous, for all intents and purposes, grumpy looking half fork pushes the door all the way open and and is grumbling and looks at all of you at the table like he's looking at at a at a sack of garbage. Just just disgusted that that you're there.

David:

Far behind him is then a knight who's in almost full armor, except he's not he's not wearing his helmet or anything, stands right behind the man sitting in the middle.

Jay:

Interesting. Okay. Wonder what we're doing here.

Narrator:

The old man's name was Edwin Lockridge. He was the Baron of a town called Riverden. Three others hovered around him like players unsure of their lines. Oswin Carrick sat himself down to the right of the Baron, his eyes darting as though searching for rules he had forgotten. Dargon Stelgrip, the half orc sat to the left of the Baron, arms crossed, distrust etched deep.

Narrator:

And Sergei Eric Falkenmeyer stood just behind the baron, a knight in name, stiff in posture. All of them were complete strangers to the four who had been summoned. Where are we? What is this? The baron tried to collect his thoughts.

Jay:

We performed a rite. Old words, old fire. My family kept the texts. It should have summoned help.

Synthia:

And were we what you summoned?

Narrator:

Oswin sat forward.

Jerrick:

We awakened something older than our memory. The orbs of confluence. They were meant to call heroes.

Eloywn:

Meant to? Sounds like you guessed.

Jay:

We followed what instructions remained. They've been kept for generations. Aswin here studied them and sent the orbs out for the heroes. The rest was faith.

Eloywn:

And you think we are those heroes?

Jay:

The orbs answered. It must mean something. Or nothing.

Synthia:

You don't even know why we're here, do you?

Jay:

No. No. I I don't.

Narrator:

The silence was long, awkward. The fire worked harder than the men to keep the room alive.

Drogon:

Look at them. They don't look like heroes. And you don't look like someone worth saving.

Speaker 10:

Please. You're a casualty waiting to happen.

Jay:

Enough. Please.

Jerrick:

Listen. Riverden is unprepared. We are out of our depth.

Narrator:

Dargon shifted in his seat as if to disagree.

Jerrick:

All we knew was that the orbs would bring someone. Champions or heroes perhaps, but the ceremony, the texts didn't say what came next.

Eloywn:

You dragged us here with no plan, no reason.

Jerrick:

We were following the texts. We thought more answers would come with you.

Narrator:

The four strangers looked across the table. No destiny had been declared, no banner unfurled, only stone, strangers, and confusion.

Verzana:

So, what now?

Narrator:

No one at the table answered. The silence stretched too long. The fire cracked and shifted, sparks climbing the stone like nervous thoughts. Finally, Dargon leaned forward, arms crossed, eyes fixed on Verzana.

Speaker 10:

You think it's a champion? A tiefling? I've spent years gaining respect in this town because of where I came from, and you expect River Den to kneel behind horns and shadows?

Verzana:

Say that again.

Narrator:

Cynthia softly glanced at Verzana and whispered.

Synthia:

Careful.

Narrator:

The Baron stirred and spoke to Dargon without making eye contact.

Jay:

We are grateful for your introduction to our town and the way you trained our soldiers to keep us safe, Dargon.

Narrator:

Oswin's lips pressed into silence. Jaric stared down at the table, hands tight on the hilt at his side.

Speaker 10:

I bled for this town and you let him

Narrator:

He pointed an enormous green hand at Oswin. Botch the right.

Jerrick:

We didn't ask for your help, Dargon. You were given to us when your own wouldn't have you.

Narrator:

Dargon slammed his fist on the table.

Speaker 10:

Enough. You know nothing of my tribe and why I left. I'm proud to help Riverden, but you you couldn't even perform the ritual correctly.

Narrator:

Dargon looked at the four sitting at the table as if he were looking at a spoiled supper.

Speaker 10:

Champions, there were five orbs and we barely got four individuals. Two of them came to in the store rooms like misplaced sacks of grain. If the orbs worked as intended, they'd have been here at the table, all of them. Any other than these useless piles of flesh.

Jerrick:

I have been studying our records for years, preparing for this night. I used the key and translated the words perfectly.

Speaker 10:

Then the words were wrong.

Drogon:

Or you were.

Narrator:

His chair scraped back, a harsh cry against the stone. He looked at the four heroes sitting dumbfounded and confused at the table.

Speaker 10:

Have any of you ever even been in battle?

Narrator:

The four looked at each other realizing that none of them had ever experienced any kind of combat. Verzana looked at the others.

Verzana:

Are we supposed to be fighters?

Speaker 10:

Shut it,

Narrator:

you. Drogon stared directly into the half orc's eyes. Careful. Dargon huffed and turned to leave through the heavy door at the far wall. The narrow stone stairway beyond rose like a throat swallowing him in shadows as he stomped away.

Speaker 10:

River Den was supposed to get champions to bring a new age to Galvaris. Instead, we got these fools.

Narrator:

The fire popped. The words hung heavier than the smoke. For a long time, no one spoke. Finally.

Jay:

Forgive us. We're only doing what the prophecy has instructed us to do. We believed we were bringing salvation to our world, a a new light. Instead, we seem to have acquired only questions and given you even more.

Eloywn:

We were taken from our homes. Can't you send us back?

Jerrick:

I'm afraid we can't. I only know how to summon heroes through the orbs. Now send them away, but I shall study the orbs and our techs to see if I can figure it out.

Narrator:

The baron, biting the side of his lip, glanced back at sir Jeric the knight standing behind him.

Jay:

Jeric, Alswin, could you please

Narrator:

He gestured to the floor.

Jerrick:

I will escort you to the gates of our town. After that, the road is yours.

Narrator:

The Baron, with kindness in his eyes, looked at Eluin, the elf wizard, Drogon, the dragonborn paladin, Cynthia, the elf druid, and Verzana, the tiefling bard, and said

Jay:

I don't share the skepticism that seems to permeate this room.

Narrator:

He took a breath, and with confusion and faith on his face.

Jay:

I've lived my entire life believing in this prophecy, learning of historic times when our world was in chaos. And though we may not see such chaos now, I believe that these orbs are preparing us for an evil of which we cannot imagine. I've spent years thinking about what it would be like when this night would come, how it would feel, grateful grateful that I was the one in my family that was going to be a part of such a historic event.

Narrator:

He looked down at the five orbs no longer glowing, resting in their stands.

Jay:

I didn't expect it to feel like this.

Narrator:

After a moment, he looked at the floor.

Jay:

The texts didn't speak of fighters. They spoke of heroes. Please consider that. And please, find out why it's you who the orbs chose. I believe in them, but I suppose I don't have much choice.

Narrator:

Oswin took a step back away from the Baron. The Baron continued.

Jay:

But even more important, please, find out what you and all of us will be up against.

Narrator:

Oswin motioned towards the four as he headed towards the staircase. Ser Jeric followed. Elowyn, Cynthia, Drogon, and Verzana rose together, chosen but not wanted.

David:

You go up a different set of stairs, not the ones that Dargon stormed out of. It looked like he went back upstairs. Mean, these stairs just bring you right to a door. A door that's almost like a cellar door right out into a cold black night. You open up the door and just wind and Oswin starts to walk.

David:

I think we'll take a break right there. This is a good time. If anybody wants to grab any snacks or anything like that or refill their sodas, use the restroom, this would be a great time. And, let's meet back in a couple minutes. Yeah.

David:

Sounds good.

Narrator:

Yeah. Cool. Excellent.

David:

Okay, everyone. Let's see here. So where we left off was

Narrator:

The heavy doors of the manor closed behind them. Riverton's streets were nearly black. The four strangers followed Oswin Carrick through the square. Sir Jeric Felkkenmeyer brought up the rear, armor muted, eyes calm. Derek was kind eyed though his duty held him in silence.

Narrator:

He did not walk as though threatened by the floor, only watchful as a night should be. The streets were deserted. Even with their eyes sharpened with dark vision, Cynthia, Elliwyn and Verzana could make out little more than outlines. Roof lines hunched like sleeping beasts, doorways yawned wide and hollow.

Synthia:

Where is everyone?

Jerrick:

Asleep or at least pretending to be.

Narrator:

His words dropped like stones into the steel square. Then, Oswin Slow Oh. Turned his head as though struck by a new thought. His tone shifted, deliberate but unreadable.

Jerrick:

I can't send you out into the world completely unarmed.

Verzana:

That's thoughtful coming from someone who dragged us here with nothing.

Jerrick:

Well, you can imagine that we expected our heroes to arrive prepared and armed.

Narrator:

Oswin looked up into the night sky.

Jerrick:

How foolish of us. Nearby, there's a warehouse. Abandoned these last years, rats drove men out and left it to ruin. Inside, you'll find vermin enough to test your skills on. As well, you are welcome to any weapons or armor you find left behind.

Eloywn:

Why not just give us weapons?

Jerrick:

Because we expected champions. The Baron, Dargon, myself, even Ser Jerichir. We believed the orbs would deliver warriors already forged for battle. We weren't ready for such a letdown.

Narrator:

The group tried to read him, but Aswin's expression was a mask. Was this help or a quiet attempt to be rid of them?

Verzana:

You wouldn't feed us to the rats just to wash your hands, would you?

Narrator:

Cynthia turned to look at Jerick in the back of the line, trying to read him. The knight's face was calm, steady, honest. He looked down at her, blinked with warm eyes.

David:

And he gives you a nod, but he's a he's a stoic man.

Synthia:

Mhmm.

David:

What this is reversed, but why don't you roll charisma and we'll see if you can read his face. Why don't you roll yeah. Yeah. Oh. Woah.

David:

Is that a nat 20?

Verzana:

My god.

Synthia:

I guess I'm turning on the charm this time.

David:

Something clicked. Something. Somehow you're reading Jerick's face and what you could tell from his eyes and his body language is it's okay. This is not a trick, going into the warehouse.

Synthia:

Okay. Well, I guess that look makes me feel better. Like it makes me feel like, okay, we can do this. Marvelous.

David:

Do you have anything to say to the group? Yeah.

Synthia:

Let's fight the rats.

David:

Think that's where we'll stop tonight. Oh, wow. Session, you'll most likely be entering your first round of combat. Very exciting.

Narrator:

Next time on Legends Awakened.

Synthia:

Did you hear that?

Eloywn:

Small feed. Many of them.

Synthia:

It came from my grove, a gift when I was young. It listens when others don't. What are you?

Drogon:

These aren't normal rats. They're possessed or something. I've never seen such blind rage.

Eloywn:

Wait. That's not a rat.

Jerrick:

Away.

Verzana:

Where is Jerick? Is he dead? How do you know that?

Jerrick:

One moment he was holding the door, then he was gone. Pretty exciting stuff, River Den taking on the honor of summoning the heroes to save us all?

Synthia:

Saving you from what?

Jerrick:

Oh, oh, that's the thing. We don't know. Do we, Oswin? Just know you're the ones.

Drogon:

I heard it. What did you hear?

Jay:

I I think I'm okay.

Drogon:

What did you hear?

Eloywn:

Can we schedule right now for this?

Synthia:

I know.

David:

No, it would be fun.

Synthia:

We just go a little longer.

Eloywn:

That's so cool.

David:

Well, okay, everybody. I'm so excited for you to Wow. See what happens in the story. I'm so excited for me to learn what all of you do in the story. And we'll see you in the next session.

David:

Yeah. Sounds good.

Jay:

Thanks for having us. Thank Alright. First

Eloywn:

D and D.

Narrator:

You've been listening to Legends Awakened episode one. Who are you people? Created, written and produced by me, David Geisler. Starring Madison de Jauserand as Verzana, Jay Bexel as themselves, Michelle Sayer as Cynthia and herself, Malia Arell as Elowin and themselves, with special guest Spencer Morgan as Dargon Stelgrip. Other voices and characters performed by David Geisler, sound design and editing by David Geisler.

Narrator:

Legends Awakened is produced by 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 table top role playing campaign, originally dungeon mastered by David Geisler and played by Jay Bexel, Michelle Sayre, Jeff Sayre, and Olivia Querer. I'd like to note that any resemblance to names, characters, or locations found in other works fiction or real life is purely coincidental. If you enjoyed the show, follow the podcast and share it with a fellow adventurer. You can find information about other episodes, character bios and links to all of our social media accounts at legendsawakenpodcast.com.

Narrator:

Well, thanks for listening. We'll see you in the next episode and remember, four arrived, but the story was meant for five.