Special: The Fate Tree

Stack o’ Dice

Special: This episode is a bit of a sneak peek into Season 6, anticipating an early episode in which it'll be used. It was fun--but challenging--to write, but shares some things that will quickly become relevant.

Here's the text:

Urðaþollr

Along the high Spine, heaven-reaching world-roof,
The mountains rise marching north and south.
Rain-wet clouds scowl, send their riches east and west.
From the old and lofty hold, our halls and homes of stone,
Here too great wealth flows out: not wealth of water or gold,
But of weary folk fleeing for fear or fame,
Seeking fleeting gain on sea-foam steeds.
They leave their fathers’ lands to look for loathsome gold.

How sad it is to sing of souls now lost,
Of blood-bought home with blades hard won,
Now sold for want of gold and lusting eyes.
Brave names, brave deeds are borne in lasting names:
Brísingr, who held the pass with but a torch against a host;
Of Grimr and Moinn, good brothers that stood when others turned;
And Vili the wordless: in wilderness he fought the deadly beast.
These lives are bound in us, are laid into our streets.

I feel upon my head the heft of godly sight
To know ahead of time how days unfold.
On a day when green lights shine a gate of air appears;
From it comes our hope with friends from far.
Their coming warms our hearts but hastens dark times.
I fall at their feet, these fearsome ones,
Yet in their glow I find all fear is gone.

Their hands will find a way to form the fate-tree,
To use the magic of music, water, light, earth
To fatten the trunk, unfurl the leaf,
To prepare from it a haft, a hefty spear-haft
The clan may raise to call to young and old.
Its blade will catch the sun and send word through the land
That Rindis is not lost to reaching dark.
Its spirit is alight and speaks of war.

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Our spot for Battlebards uses music from Battlebards! We hope you like our use of:

• Capital City - Middlegate - Score Music by Shams Ahsan

We're glad you're sharing our story; we really appreciate your support and hope you enjoy what we've created together. We're having fun sharing our adventure with you each week, and we'll only get better with time! If you like what you hear, please take the time to leave us a review on iTunes, since that bumps us up in the ratings and lets others join in the fun. For quick updates on a more real-time basis, follow us on Twitter (@stackodice) and on Instagram (@stackodice), where we'd love to hear from you. Or if you want to share a question or idea with us, drop us a line at [e-mail].

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We didn't use any Creative Commons sound effects or music in this show. Check out freesound.org anyway; it's a fantastic resource for completely free sound effects.

We used some excellent Battlebards sound effects. If you like what you hear, check them out at battlebards.com. If you sign up for a Prime account, be sure to use our special code, stack, and you'll get a 20% discount on your subscription.

Here are the sound effects we used in this episode:

• Forgotten Chamber - Tomb of the Dead Kings - Score Music, by Phillip Johnson

And now, on with the show-- we're excited to tell a story with you.