PUBLIC FIRESIDE CHAT: Chapter 4 and Book One Fireside Chat!

I got to the party late, and only just finished Book 1. I'm usually chagrin to post on something that is almost a year old, but Damnit, you all did such an amazing job. The trust, the cohesion, and the beauty of this story, are astounding. I loved you all individually before this, but together you all told the greatest story I've ever witnessed. You really lifted the genre to new soaring heights, and I can't wait to hear what comes next.

I am late to the party on joining the Patreon, but this fireside was so meaningful to me. Everyone’s reflections about how Umora has changed them resonated so deeply with me. Aabria’s comment about how doing storytelling like this forces you to confront the idea of what is praxis, what is activism. Brennan’s commentary about imaginative fiction and how important it is to political work hit me so hard as someone who works in narrative change and also tries to create the space for these kinds of stories and ideas in my own campaigns. As a tender-hearted leftist, I have never connected so intensely and emotionally to an actual play, and I absolutely think it is adding to the body of work alongside folks like Ursula K. LeGuin and Augustina Bazterrica and Disco Elysium and so many other storytellers. Stories are so real in their ability to change minds and hearts, even in fiction we can tell truths that ring almost truer than reality. Thank you so much for telling this story.

yus!!!!

"And also with your fox" UNDERRATED

Going back to re-listen to episode 1, with the context of the final episode and talkback...it's A LOT. It's heartbreaing at times

Where is the support group for people who binged WWW in like a month and now have a hole inside their heart?

I'm doing a full re-listen and have so many fireside questions but it's too late!! Suffice to say, I desperately want a one-shot of the liberation of the Cassov collection with Erika as Vandal, Lou as Cyril and Aabria as Enzo. Ink demon spirit heist!

The artificers are about to turn Ame's cottage fully into Howl's Moving Castle by the time she gets back home, complete with a modification to the doorknobs that lets her do the instant teleportation to multiple areas around the world.

Oh damn! About an hour in when Brennan is talking about big emotions toward things that don't actually hinder you getting what you want/where you want to be being wasted energy- YES!! THANK YOU!! I had no idea we had that in common!

Best reveal/nat 20 roll of the whole book? Ame having Indri's nasty b!tch / killing of her Coven-mates revealed way ahead of schedule. Always here for that secret/intrigue reveal

"You're mad at somebody. You're distressed. Is that person between you, and your goal? Because of not that energy is wasted." And y'all... That hit me like a ton of bricks.

Relistening to Book one, and in episode 3 Suvi says “I have to have a task. I’m better with a task.” The accidental foreshadowing made me so happy! 🕷️

sadly i didnt get to fill out the questionnaire on time but i gotta know. Brennan. the lemon lady and the great bear. what are the chances

I just listened to the Children's Adventure and listening to Steel tell Suvi what happened to her parents. Oh man, I wanted to punch her right in the mouth.

brennans commentary on steel wording herself in a way that’s so reasonable is how i’ve felt about older liberals telling me we just need to meet the democrats where they’re at, we can’t expect them to turn on israel or whatever issue they’re justifying being centrists (at best) about bc you have to be patient with political moves. that does sound reasonable if you believe their eventual intent is to do the right thing, which, just like steel, it demonstrably isn’t. they’re only doing the right thing for them and theirs, which is making sure the empire stays in power. meanwhile we’re waiting for the people with more power than us to save us while we we witness unconscionable suffering

“Panama can wait” is the most romantic three word short story ever written

Y E S !! ERIKA !! IM TRUSTING YOU W THIS !! ASK THAT LIBRARIAN OUTTTTTT !!!! PLEASEEE !!!!!!

anyone thinking about the real life mouse the fox ate in the Citadel???

Brennan's comments at the end about each character's future makes it seem like Suvi gets to be in Kiki's Delivery Service now, while Ame and Eursulon are diving into Mononoke.

and the World's Heart becomes the World's Forge

If you keep citing Ursula k le Guin, I think we will have to meet a few more Dragons. As she said in her introduction from the fancy 2016 edition of The Complete Illustrated Earthsea: "If a dragon comes to you and says, "Arw sobriost!" ('Mount here' from The Farthest Shore) you don't ask questions. You do what it says."

To Brennan's point, the phrase "going to war with" could reasonably be interpreted as "going to war in alliance with" OR "going to war against." Could be some interesting fine print in this metaphorical contract of the coven and the MIB

"Those are just Cajuns" made me actually scream, as a cajun who loved to jump as a child. Petition that anytime a Grenaux villager is around they have to speak with a thick cajun accent and I will be judging you for authenticity, BRENNAN

A) absolutely incredible book 1, I’ve gotten so many friends into it *just* so I can have someone to talk to about it and B) ABSOLUTELY THE SUPPLY CHAIN IS KEY TO A WAR - an army marches on its stomach! And historically, we also find that any occupying force that does not have the people on its side will eventually lose to guerrilla tactics. It’s nice to have your big names, but even better is to have the common people who are able to pass among crowds, fuck up supply chains, pass messages, mine roads, etc. being fast, nimble, and adaptable is the realm of guerrilla warfare and truly the best place to be for this little band now. A war is won through supply and intelligence, and the clever use of both. Ok back to the episode!

JOHN WICK EURSALON LETS GOOOOOO 😤😤😤

Interesting thought while listening, to war with someone does not have to mean that you are alongside them so with that play of words would they still be able to reach unanimity while supporting their own causes?

On another note: It's crazy what you guys achieved with this story and podcast. This story, its characters and delivery are so amazing. Everyone of you can be proud of the work you have done. Bravo. Aabria, Lou and Erika, I love your PCs so much. I think I can partly relate to every character on some level, and the journeys they go through to find themselves in this world are just incredible. Sometimes the things they have done or said or thought were ugly, but that made them so true and believable. And sometimes you decided to take actions that were unexpected but perfect. Taylor, without you amazing work, this story would not have been as immersive as it is. When Eursulon met Sir Curran on the road and the music hits I was hooked in. I felt like a child meeting a knight and being inspired. I can't say how much else your work has elevated the story, because the immersion of every episode was spotless. Brennan, thank you for the world you shaped into being. Thank you for the Citadel, thank you for Toma, thank you for all the people and every nook and cranny of Umora you've shown. The things you made me feel in particular regarding Steel and the Citadel... ugh. Sweet honey coated empire apologism. I'm so exited to see what's beyond the horizon for WBN.

You guys are great at recklessly making us obsessed about a world you build around rolling dice. What do you mean I have to wait for book 2 to know what happens to my favorite make believe world when you guys are ready for it? This is my life right now! God, I will not fall for your tricks again. Anyway, that Solari thing Aabria teased sounds interesting. I'm curious about it and looking forward to check it out.

I feel vindicated about operation beat feet from the Citadel.

Samalamadingdong!

Also — eew, Grimoire is an anti-vaxxer? Please tell me this isn’t canon. But I see Aabria’s point.

In my reading of the test version of the witch class, Steel would not have gotten to make a save against the retributive curse. The towering flesh construct that almost crushed the party at the battle of twelve brooks didn’t get to make a save. Is the final version of the class different in this regard? Maybe I’m just misreading the text. Even though I expected and hoped Ame’s curse would land with no save from Steel, I thought comrade Mulligan’s narration of why it failed was excellent.

OMG Erika I see you with the FLAMES! FLA-ames. On the side of my face!

Early Suvi absolutely was a racist, and THAT'S why her character development/de-indoctrination of empire was so impactful and triumphant. Imagine saying that immigrants deserve their irredeemable treatment by ICE because when they come here 'they get what they fucking get'. Repugnant. But Suvi's so fun because she breaks herself (mostly) of those such harmful (both to herself and others) ideologies. I LOVE this story so much and can't wait for more as long as you beautiful people tell stories. Excuse me while I re-watch every Steel scene with the twist in mind. Favorite Brennan villain, probably even more than Critical Role's Lord of the Hells, which is also sublime.

"In the name of, The Ame, the Fox, and the Holy Spirit, Shamen."

Brennan would you ever consider DMing a one shot with the mothership RPG system as part of worlds beyond number, or perhaps Lou could DM it? I feel like those settings combined with the way you DM as well as the incredible music that could go along with it could turn out incredible. The system is also very easy to understand and use it would be a great start for first time DMs

Thank you, thank you, a billion times thank you ALL for this wonderful story. It will stay with me forever and I cannot WAIT to go to space with y’all. This somehow feels like a skeevy question, and I can’t tell if it actually is or if I’m just feeling financial shame, but I’m quite broke and was looking to stop my subscription until the new main campaign starts up - however, I’m waiting on the Umora lore dossier that Brennan teased at the end of arc 1. The players I DM for and I are *so* inspired by Umora and we want that crunchy lore! Is this still in the pipeline, and if so can you tell us anything about when it might arrive?

I easily could have listened to you all talk about this book for another 2 hours. 💖

Can one Circumnavigate something that does not posses a circumference ?

Long time listener first time commenter 😂 my biggest “what if” that I think about ALL THE TIME is what if Suvi hadn’t gone after Silver in the shroud mountains? Or had been prevented from doing so / the party didn’t join her and she had to bail? I know the battle of twelve brooks would have happened still, but there’s no knowing where our characters would have been and what their priorities would be when it happened. Maybe they would have gone to see Koliah (sp?) and then gotten on the train? Or followed Eursalon on various quests to free bound spirits? Maybe they would have tried to intervene before the Great Bullfrog could be silenced? I would love to hear peoples’ theories!

Yussssssssßsssss!!!! teh big un is here lolol;lolol;lololo! can't wait, CANT wait timo listen ans see teh lou is ther and IF so WILL he b there ir will he be in teh jungles of teh sweety nast hole with Brenan lololo;koll!!! dues any one know what sporte abria plays as shes def touching funny style on that nast if a man that deep talks and rubz

eioreign and heinrull in my dreams will be true

I want to say this because listening to the fireside chat about Steel, I feel a little bit more able to articulate it, and I think ot's genuinely an incredibly important life skill. I knew Steel did not have Suvi's best interests at heart almost immediately. I was really struggling to articulate where that was coming from to a good friend I follow this podcast with. But what I think it comes down to is the toolkit Steel was using. People who want to invest in you, help you to grow and develop the skills they hope will be useful to you and to projects you may be working on together--those people need you to be confident in your own abilities. They need tou to feel competent and effective wirhout their direct oversight. If you have a relationship with someone of any kind, and they shower you in affection and attention and whatever it is that you deeply emotionally need--that's in and of itself a flag. It's not necessarily a red flag. Very perceptive people are going to see what you need. Some of them will give it to you because they want you to have it. Some of them will give it to you because they know they can manipulate you with it. You just need to take the time to check. But if you walk away from interactions with that person consistently feeling bad about yourself, incompetent, and ultimately dependent on them--that's not a red flag that's your ticket out. You don't need to accept that they're doing that on purpose, although my experience is that they almost certainly are. You just need to accept that that mindset is bad for you, and therefore that relationship is bad for you. And if you decide to confront them about it, and they make you feel like a bad person for doing so--well. Sure there's reasons someone acting in good faith would do that. But I think it's important to look at what the consistent results of a persons behaviors are, and if they don't line up with their stated intent and they don't change that when confronted about it. You at some point need to accept that they are achieving what they set out to do.

Softpitch: If Book 1 is The Wizard, The Witch, and The Wild One - is Book 2 The Magician, The Matron, and The Monsterous One?

What about Who has the Juicest Dumper!?

Steel RE Morrow: "You dumbass! We're working on this.... God damn. Parallel discoveries, only this guy's a moron." Well, that answers that question. Steel *didn't* know about the derrick. Her surprise and outrage were genuine--just not for the reasons we thought. And I'm guessing she would have loved to investigate and find out who in the Empire was supporting Morrow's work. The Citadel aren't the only ones doing this research. Tefmet's group captured the lenses on their way to Carrow, not to the Citadel. So Keen was our Imperial researcher. Didn't the attack on the Great Bullfrog include Keen's dispelling agent? I want to know how Keen and Steel were working together or competing or both.

Damn, eursalon really entering his napalm era

Dude, I can't even imagine this quality of story telling plus level 20... I'm so amped for 2035 😆

omg Sly is late-career Andre Iguodala

I am here for Gangster and Waif sidequests. And I think Eorghorain can fix Indri; she would definitely be the bad boy in that paring.

As far as the artificers go, as a craftsperson I can confirm that sitting still, especially after emotional upheaval, is DIFFICULT. I need the making zone to feel both calm and joy.

Aabria, are you saying that White Grenot Can't Hop?

Minute 40! Exactly! Thank you!

Sly isn’t the best at being aggressive in the paint but he has great court vision

First the MCU post credit scenes, now the MCU What If? Series, let's fucking gooooo

Just wanted to ask if there's any chance that the cast might go through and answer any/some unanswered questions in a text doc or something which were submitted seeing as we won't be coming back to this story/world for a bit. EDIT: I feel like we had so few questions actually answered so it would be incredible if we could get like a spreadsheet with the questions listed and then typed responses from the cast I would FIEND for that

Ahoo ahoo, crackle crackle, we can't wait 'til Umora's backle.

neif erasure, they’re apart of the squad booots

So Suvi is going to become Sparrowhawk.

Erika, Brennan is coming for you next book. Good lord.

I submit the same question every time, and it never gets picked. I NEED justice for baby Ame in the Children’s Adventure: “Are there wooden horses?”

It's me. I'm the one that Steel tricked.

I think magic may be starting to become enamored with Suvi -- which could be very helpful for someone possibly becoming a great magician.

“The change I have felt is clarity” HITS. I love that the lesson Brennan learned from this story is the lesson each character learned in Arc 4. Eursulon is already on the path to freeing the Greneaux children when he names his breath and makes his paladin oath to freedom. In claiming his oath, Eursulon voices what has already been driving him: not a perfect outcome, but one in which the children are free. Meanwhile, in the depths of her torture at the hands of Keen, Ame is not asked by the foxiness of her own spirit to abandon who she is, but rather to embrace the parts of herself she believed she must bury in order to fulfill her role of kindly Witch of the World’s Heart. In that moment, Ame does not reject the tricksiness that her parents disowned her for, but instead bridges her own cunning and kindness in an instant of finally accepting the whole of who she has already been. And Suvi, confined to the Tower of the Glove, relearns what she already knew as a child: she loves and wants magic. Her upbringing by Steel introduced a conflation, where “magic” was twisted to be synonymous with “the Citadel” as that thing Suvi’s always pursued. Suvi levels up not when she transforms into someone new, but rather when she remembers and reclaims the truth that has been at the core of her longing since that first prelude. In each case, the change undergone is one of understanding something that's already been a fact of who the characters are. The change is clarity. Gods I've loved this story.

[Mulligan] Sources: Man in Black is beside himself. Teleporting around Umora begging (thru texts) Eursulon’s family for address to Spirit of Freedom’s home

i’m stunned at the amount of ball knowledge on display from aabria during this episode, that’s a fantasy football sicko

Crimeboss and Waif side campaign would be a dope 3-parter. I'd be very interested to see what Brennan could do to the Wolf & Cub formula, especially considering the Wolf is a ruthless undead crime boss, and the cub is a nascent witch who's already been through the wicked stepmother and kindly mentor phases of her coming-of-age journey. Y'know what? Scratch the wolf n cub story, I want a Pinocchio style adventure story from Nief's perspective where she travels Umora meeting interesting characters and learning life lessons from them while performing her duties as a witch and trying to find her place in the world.

is yoren taking his talents to south beach???

Team three is a great squad name

There is nothing I love more and understand less than Aabria and Lou’s basketball and general sports analogies! 🏀

Taylor when did you lose your cap?

I feel like there was a missed opportunity ... Grannoh men can't jump.

My hot take is the Great Bear is actually Tim Duncan. The team has a solid foundation but that draft pick will take them to the championship

I need to catch up SO BAD! I got a new job which is great, but I haven't had time for this glorious podcast in too long

Erika is making arguments for the Grannoh like she actually is the Witch of the World’s Heart. I love it. I love the rag tag group of allies that Ame insists will be useful while Suvi just rolls her eyes and looks for someone who can throw a fireball.

But hear me out, where those StudBudz at?

Wait, so the use of the word "circumnavigate" implies that Lou is going *around* Panama. Is Lou just wading through Panamanian beaches? Is a boat involved? And why go *around* Panama? What does it accomplish? I need answers.

I'm maybe a little disappointed about the Ame/Tefmet thing? I kinda thought she was ace (like me)

I need someone good at art to make a tarot card for Suvi as the Magician

We need merch for Eursulon's John Wick Era. I would like to pitch a mug or enamel pin that says. "I introduce myself sword first."

Man I am really wanting that Sworn redemption arc for book 2, such a tragic figure, my man Brennan breaking my heart when Sworn asks "Why didn't you ask me?" ...thinking of him in the shroud mountains talking to Ame; Brennan describing it with the two people with possibly the most differing world views...but he is just a tragic little guy that wants his family to remember his name, who never wanted any of this. Man this is the best piece of media ever, you are all beautiful genius's.

@Brennan, all I could think about when you were talking about how the game has “changed” you was Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society. Gorgeous and thank you. “We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play *goes on* and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”

It feels so good being vindicated in my screaming into the void since arc 1 about "why does steel care about ame so much?!"

3 artificers, one of whom can break down magic objects to see how their spells work. In a house full of artifacts. Umora's own Q department!

"Door is a little squeaky... could turn this place into a giant robot."

This has firmly cemented Steel as #1 villain in all the media I've consumed because efficiency as a priority when being heinous is my true nightmare. It's easier to thwart evil when it's careless. Of course you don't need to get super worked up about random spirits if there's not gonna be spirits anymore soon enough

Sat reading through this on my lunch break waiting until I can actually listen after work 😭

Can we please get jersey merch with a brighter tomorrow LLC?😂😂

oh, and I was so hoping we'd get talkbacks nested within talkbacks. (Book 1 Talkback (Chapter 4 Talkback (episode 54 talkback)))

On behalf of my fellow Cajuns, we happily accept the Grinot into our nation. Although they may need to change the spelling to Grineaux if they really want to fit in.

Pfft the wizard stain

Suvi should get Galani on their team

Erica doing the important work of trying to get Brennan to say Bone Cone

I'ma say this up top, Erika; I don't believe FOR A GODDAMN SECOND that it isn't the Man in Black or some spirit in league with him, who Eioghorain made his "deal with some spirits" with. Brennan would do this to all of us #nastyman 😂

Yesss the clue reference !! I hate her ...flames...Flames. ..on the side of my face lol

Anyone else who has been dreaming in Umora?

Excellent!

"They had to go" 🤣🤣🤣

We're getting a whole what-if episode? Autumn is saved!

Whoop

Ahoohoo crackle crackle

Very excited to hear more about the music/sound design!

Ugh yes I need these humans interacting in my life again this week. It’s mind boggling how much I look forward to any sort of update now.

Ahoohoo krackle krackle

Woohoo!!!!!

Ahoohoo crackle crackle

Woo!! First!! 🎃🎃🎃

Yay!