Esteemed writer and interviewer Tolly Johnson grills local D&D podcast host about his political beliefs, religious ideals, glaring continuity errors and the very nature of storytelling itself. They also happen to be dear friends.
This special episode of The Barmy Balladeers podcast is hosted by writer, director, filmmaker and Dungeon Master Samuel Ptolemy Johnson. It also features DM of The Barmy Balladeers podcast Ted Collins.
The episode was edited by Kit Oliver, with sound design and music provided by the wonderful Standard License libraries over at Zapsplat and Pixabay.
The king is dead. Ted has been deposed, slain, exiled, abdicated, anything that can or must be done. Now the players remain, eager in their malice and treachery to spill those terrible secrets of the realm upon the cairn stones of your favourite podcasting app. Rise, Bilberforth of Nicholls, Kristofer of Oliver, and Elias Weaver of local hobbycraft shops. Your time is now. Sic Semper Tyrannis.
This special episode of The Barmy Balladeers podcast is hosted by writer, director, Dungeon Master and friend Samuel Ptolemy "Tolly" Johnson. It features Elias Weaver as Elias Weaver, Kit Oliver as Kit Oliver and Billy Nicholls as Billy Nicholls. Editing and sound design by Kit Oliver, provided by free-to-use open source libraries.
We sincerely hope you enjoy.
"How deep into the mirror do your darkest fears lie? Are they there upon your face, or just behind the eyes? Do they rest in boxes long forgotten, covered in dust and elm wood rotten?
Some day, the running will end and you will see that the mirror is nothing but glass. Perhaps by then, you will know yourself. Perhaps by then, I will know myself.
I hope. I hope. I hope.
One day I will tell this tale for the last time and the Mortimers will know that every triumph was a tragedy in waiting, and every tragedy a triumph of fate. One day, they will know as much as I do, and I shall know as much as them. I hope - as always - that she will remember me.
But until that day... a cardinal flies overhead. The streets smell like rain. My old hands are the youngest they will ever be. There are beautiful things to write about. At times like this, the joy is not so misty."
- From the diaries of the poet Lorenzo.
Part 1 of a Grand Season Finale.
Once upon a time, there was a woman called Ilse, and she - much to her despair - had fallen terribly in love with a man.
Once upon a time, there will be a bard called Lorenzo, and he - much to his delight - is falling terribly in love with a woman.
But those are just are just fairytales from long ago and far away, Tomorrow and Yesterday. For now, it is the age of a family they called The Mortimers whose fates bore a terrible hand. For now, it is the story of a shattered Glass, and the hungry hate that feeds him. For now, The Mortimers are a dead family walking. For now, The Mortimers are blind to the enormity of the lives they will one day lead.
For now... it starts here - as the historians say - in The Undercroft, fifteen years after the Dispersion when everything went wrong. When a group of adventurers dared to ask - against all their better judgement and the amassed forces of evil that would stand in their way - Where. Is. Valeria. Pfeiffer?
Steel yourself, prepare your spells, check all circuits available to you. Here is a compilation of everything you may have forgotten that will set you up for EPISODE 14: "Mabel", EPISODE 15: "Blind as a Looking Glass" and EPISODE 16: "The Battle of Silver & Fair" as Arc 1 of The Barmy Balladeers draws to a close.
Brace yourself.
Glass has won, he's taken a Mortimer's magic, left her sundered in the astral realm and fled to The Undercroft. It's up to Sibly, Gwerxos, Brian, Eka and Clemency to realign Mabel with her body.
As for the arcane heart in her chest that Glass so desires? That's up to the Tinker of Tanamai herself. And it won't be easy to defend. Memories repressed and horrors profound await her. It's a fight for the soul, a fight for her fate, a fight for the future of Tanamai.
This is going to hurt.
Featuring Kit Oliver as Possibly Mortimer, Elias Weaver as Mabel Mortimer, Billy Nicholls as Gwerxos and Ted Collins as Ellitha Mortimer.
Scoring and sound design provided by the Standard License libraries over on https://www.zapsplat.com/ and https://pixabay.com/
The Ballad of Silver and Fair was composed by @krumpetsband.
A soul for a soul
The tempest revolves
In black bile shadow
The hunger evolves
Peer through the putrid glass
Where desolation rolls
Old sands sing older songs:
Salas Uthero
Salas Uthero.
Featuring Kit Oliver as Possibly Mortimer, Elias Weaver as Mabel Mortimer, Billy Nicholls as Gwerxos and Ted Collins as BEINGS BEYOND COMPREHENSION.
Scoring and sound design provided by the Standard License libraries over on https://www.zapsplat.com/ and https://pixabay.com/
The Ballad of Silver and Fair was composed by @krumpetsband.
In the walls, many things hide away. But the light shines and illuminates all dark corners, even one's that should have stayed hidden away. The Mortimers are pulling together strands of a terrible truth. One that will change everything.
Featuring Kit Oliver as Possibly Mortimer, Elias Weaver as Mabel Mortimer, Billy Nicholls as Gwerxos and Ted Collins as Brian.
Scoring and sound design provided by the Standard License libraries over on https://www.zapsplat.com/ and https://pixabay.com/
The Ballad of Silver and Fair was composed by @krumpetsband.
Nothing lies deeper than the truth. Men of Gahara tell themselves it is not a fate worse than death. To be kept in the dark. To know nothing of how the world turns. They are wrong.
The Mortimers have been blind for too long. Now their eyes are opening to the doors that shift in shadow and the songs that sing in silence. Some people must fall before they rise.
Be careful where you tread. The steps down below get treacherous when no one is looking and no one is there to catch you.
Featuring Kit Oliver as Possibly Mortimer, Elias Weaver as Mabel Mortimer, Billy Nicholls as Gwerxos and Ted Collins as Several Walking OFSTED Violations.
Scoring and sound design provided by the Standard License libraries over on https://www.zapsplat.com/ and https://pixabay.com/
The Ballad of Silver and Fair was composed George Burman and Noah Barton, who you can find on Instagram @krumpetsband.
Memories are a hazy thing. Fingerprints on glass. Breath in a hurricane. But it's happening again - that much is terribly certain - and history rhymes in couplets. If you cannot remember her, the one you have lost, let her shadow fall in your footsteps.
She walks with you now. No matter the waning moment.
Featuring Kit Oliver as Possibly Mortimer, Elias Weaver as Mabel Mortimer, Billy Nicholls as Gwerxos and Ted Collins as Yet Another Echoey Serpent.
Scoring and sound design provided by the Standard License libraries over on https://www.zapsplat.com/and https://pixabay.com/
Our intro/outro song was composed by the incredible George Burman and Noah Barton, who you can find on Instagram @krumpetsband.
Following terrible news Sibly, Mabel and Gwerxos rush to gather intel on someone close to them. As they sum together the knowledge they have gathered so far, a concern sets in:
Are they really the heroes this story needs?
The shenanigans will speak for themselves as man and machine try blundering their way into an agency of high esteem.
Featuring Kit Oliver as Possibly Mortimer, Elias Weaver as Mabel Mortimer, Billy Nicholls as Gwerxos and Ted Collins as An Anti-Smoking Advert.
Scoring and sound design provided by the Standard License libraries over on https://www.zapsplat.com/and https://pixabay.com/
Our intro/outro song was composed by the incredible George Burman and Noah Barton, who you can find on Instagram @krumpetsband.
Chaos on the dancefloor. Mabel stages a threadbare revolution, Sibly improvises too close to the sun and Gwerxos tries to keep at least one of his bosses pacified at all times.
The Udan Intermediary Gala reaches it's hilarious and fiery conclusion as all three Mortimers cross paths for the first time since The Prologue.
But the story does not end there. Shadows orbit the city and Fin isn't there to keep an eye out. Mabel and Gwerxos uncover bad omens while Sibly's dreams grow stranger and darker still.
If only adventuring were as simple as a mad night out.
Featuring Kit Oliver as Possibly Mortimer, Elias Weaver as Mabel Mortimer, Billy Nicholls as Gwerxos and Ted Collins as A Dancing Robot.
Scoring and sound design provided by the Standard License libraries over on https://www.zapsplat.com/and https://pixabay.com/
Our intro/outro song was composed by the incredible George Burman and Noah Barton, who you can find on Instagram @krumpetsband.
Pompous psychos & salacious circumstance. The Mortimers navigate a decadent ball far out of their depth whilst hiding their true nature. Sibly masquerades as a run-of-the-mill bard, Gwerxos as an adequately functional automaton and Mabel... Mabel lies in wait for something a little more explosive.
Will the cousins find each other before everything implodes drastically, or is today just Tomorrow waiting to happen?
Featuring Kit Oliver as Possibly Mortimer, Elias Weaver as Mabel Mortimer, Billy Nicholls as Gwerxos and Ted Collins as The Worst Nepo Baby In The World.
Scoring and sound design provided by the Standard License libraries over on https://www.zapsplat.com/and https://pixabay.com/
Our intro song was composed by the incredible George Burman and Noah Barton, who you can find on Instagram @krumpetsband.
Tensions boil, and some pots implode too quickly. Even apart, the Mortimers unite. A gala is on the horizon, how will fates collide?
Gwerxos tries to have his cake and eat it too, Sibly chases down crucial leads in the university and Mabel rethinks her life choices. New discoveries and old faces bring the Mortimers one step closer to reuniting.
Tales of Tanamai has RETURNED with Kit Oliver as Possibly Mortimer, Elias Weaver as Mabel Mortimer, Billy Nicholls as Gwerxos and Ted Collins as Too Many Texans.
Scoring and sound design provided by the Standard License libraries over on https://www.zapsplat.com/and https://pixabay.com/
Our intro song was composed by the incredible George Burman and Noah Barton, who you can find on Instagram @krumpetsband.
The Mortimers pick up the pieces fifteen years after a terrible tragedy. But as new mysteries and old wounds rear their heads how will Sibly, Mabel and Gwerxos keep a hold of their comfortable lives?
Some folk are destined for greater designs than a simple existence. Strange dreams and billowing magic flood the streets of Udamas. Tomorrow is a new day and Today has just begun. Join us, travellers, it's great to have you back.
Tales of Tanamai has RETURNED with Kit Oliver as Possibly Mortimer, Elias Weaver as Mabel Mortimer, Billy Nicholls as Gwerxos and Ted Collins as a horse.
Outro composed by Noah Barton & George Burman.
Scoring and Sound Design provided by the Standard License libraries over on https://www.zapsplat.com/ and https://pixabay.com/
Bonus content from the Barmy Balladeers, sit down with us as we debrief and decompress from the Prologue adventure, discussing the big moments and hinting at the future to come.
From salacious behind-the-scenes details to nonsensical tangents, with the Barmy Balladeers, you never know what you're going to get.
Arc 1's first episode: "The Weaving of Threads" will air on the 22nd of March!
The prologue adventure draws to a close.
Disaster strikes not just at the heart of Ember, but the heart of the world itself. Aravin has a plan, Ellitha has a hunch, Mabel loses something, Gwerxos finds a purpose and Possibly begs for the universe to give them a break.
Scoring and sound design provided by the standard license libraries over onhttps://www.zapsplat.com/ andhttps://pixabay.com/
Featuring Billy Nicholls as Gwerxos, Elias Weaver as Mabel, Kit Oliver as Possibly and Ted Collins as karmic justice.
Dark tidings over Ember, and something is eating the crops. Aravin takes Gwerxos on a top secret expedition, Sibly's messianic nature is challenged, Mabel gets left out.
Somewhere in the woods, a Chekhov's gun fires.
Scoring and sound design provided by the free-to-use, standard license libraries over on www.zapsplat.com and pixabay.com
Featuring Billy Nicholls as Gwerxos, Elias Weaver as Mabel, Kit Oliver as Possibly, and Ted Collins as one dramatic snake.
Mabel and her family get used to a cramped living arrangement, Possibly starts to see through ‘Auntie Heretic’ and Gwerxos makes contact with a girl beyond comprehension.
Scoring and sound design provided by the free-to-use standard license libraries over on https://www.zapsplat.com/
Featuring Billy Nicholls as Gwerxos, Elias Weaver as Mabel Mortimer, Kit Oliver as Possibly Mortimer and Ted Collins as all the rest.
A self-declared messiah makes pilgrimage over snowy wastelands, an amnesiac automaton makes a rough landing and a wild-eyed tinkerer hunts for adventure. The Mortimers' epic journey begins on a startlingly unusual afternoon.
Scoring and sound design provided by the free-to-use, standard license libraries over at https://www.zapsplat.com/and https://pixabay.com/
Featuring Billy Nicholls as Gwerxos, Elias Weaver as Mabel, Kit Oliver as Possibly and Ted Collins as all the rest.