Episode Notes

We knew, coming into this, that there is going to be a change in power dynamics once we remove the head of the Delta. Ruel is self-sufficient enough, and we have been working with Cipru and the Anglers for these past weeks to know that they will be able to manage their own once Dragomir has been unseated from his position of power.

Two things have happened immediately in the wake of the death of Big Bill. The first is that not only do we now have a bunch of unruly Wolves who don’t quite see Ksana as a new master but have offered her their swords regardless. The second is the arrival of the representatives of the Sangele who offered us a gift in good faith (very nearly completely ruined by Ksana’s own blind bullheadedness) and more upon that if we take the trouble outside the Delta.

I wanted to say “sure, we can depose Dragomir anywhere, just don’t get in our way,” but it brought up a better question that I mean to ponder: Who stands to gain with the Wolves and the Warden out of the picture? Lilli said that we are a disruption to the ecosystem, meaning that the Sangele and the Wolves work in concert. The Sangele could move for full control of the Delta if they wished.

Instead, they intend to maintain the status quo, and mark us as a weed to be plucked if we go where we are not wanted.
- From the investigation notes of Elżbieta

Cast:
Bitmap as Ksana the Spear
Cory as Apricus the Luminary
Jade as Viidra Matei
Mab as Elżbieta Wrona
Zachary as The Game Master

Produced by: Mab
Theme song: "Stray Not, And Be Safe" by Zachary Frederickson.
Sound effects: zapsplat, Yellowstone National Park Sound Library, Soundbible user Tony Phillips, and Freesound users julianmateo, lg, brunoboselli, artninja, and nachtmahrtv
Other music: Kevin MacLeod

Find us on Twitter at SunReach and Tumblr at SagasoftheSunlessReach.
Don't forget to post about the show using #SunReach.

Follow all of Standing Stones' projects @stones_standing

Episode Notes

Content warning for graphic violence

For my whole life, the Errols had been a name that was larger than life — the rulers of Tarandaur, the family who claimed to fight back the night and all it brought with it. Not that I believed it. I couldn’t, if I wanted to stay safe. But they had always seemed bigger than anything I could conceptualize, a boot to avoid being crushed by; myths and legends.

When we met Aldrich, I realized that they’re not untouchable. They might be vampires, but they’re not gods.

They can be killed like the rest of us.

Seeing Dragomir in the flesh for the first time… I find myself questioning what I thought I knew all over again.

Except this time I don’t see him as mortal or mythical.

He’s a monster.

And he has our scent.
- From the investigation notes of Elżbieta

Cast:
Bitmap as Ksana the Spear
Cory as Apricus the Luminary
Jade as Viidra Matei
Mab as Elżbieta Wrona
Zachary as The Game Master

Produced by: Mab
Theme song: "Stray Not, And Be Safe" by Zachary Frederickson.
Sound effects: zapsplat user Felix Blume and others; Freesound users nachtmahrtv, lastraindrop, natty23, augustsandberg, and lg
Other music: Ovani Sound & Kevin MacLeod

Find us on Twitter at SunlessReach, Tumblr at SagasoftheSunlessReach, and Bluesky at SunlessReach
Don't forget to post about the show using #SunReach.

Follow all of Standing Stones' projects @stones_standing

Episode Notes

We have been in Low Road for a scant few hours and already I can feel the pulse of the city humming just out of earshot. This is a city built on waterways and trade so it is only natural that the current of its people never rests.

But beneath it all there is a silent, deadly thread of stagnation.

It is more noticeable here than it is in a city like Tommerby, who has to fight to survive on their own. Low Road, for all its commerce and information networks, is one that relies on things working in an exact way. Always the possibility for things to tip one way or the other, but never enough momentum to topple the structure.

Bodahn Liis wants to throw himself at the unsteady fulcrum, and he thinks that Marcel Sharpe is the piece that will weigh the odds in his favor. We have been given six hours to convince both him and Janek the risk that comes with toppling the gameboard is worth it, but there are better ways than the Sharpes to get what you want.
- From the investigation notes of Elżbieta

Cast:
Bitmap as Ksana the Spear
Cory as Apricus the Luminary
Jade as Viidra Matei
Mab as Elżbieta Wrona
Zachary as The Game Master

Produced by: Mab
Theme song: "Stray Not, And Be Safe" by Zachary Frederickson.
Sound effects: zapsplat and Freesound user jfm

Find us on Twitter at SunlessReach, Tumblr at SagasoftheSunlessReach, and Bluesky at SunlessReach
Don't forget to post about the show using #SunReach.

Follow all of Standing Stones' projects @stones_standing

Episode Notes

When an organization such as the Dawnbringer University suddenly shows a deep and invested interest in a local culture, you know they already have drawn up plans on how to bring that culture under its heel. There won’t be anything recognizable about the mess that is left once they get what they want. Eventually, even the stories will stop being told.

When I was looking for samples of the plant in question, I hadn’t known why it would be of interest. But after hearing Lumi’s story (the same one told to the botanist Calanthe, the same one told to the University’s representatives), the scope of it became obvious.

There’s an opportunity for the Errols, the full blooded vampires, to use this plant to avoid any harm from the sun — and the accusations we threw against Aldrich would no longer stick. A lot of our initial momentum after Ruel relied on the irony of the anti-monster sentiment from the Errols now being turned back in their faces. Never mind how it would impact people like Stanislaw and myself. The more important thing was that it would rally the people against the Errols.

If they get their hands on the Midnight Fern and Sofia is able to produce a solution, then the entire foundation of our rebellion fails.
- From the investigation notes of Elżbieta

Cast:
Bitmap as Ksana the Spear
Cory as Apricus the Luminary
Jade as Viidra Matei
Mab as Elżbieta Wrona
Zachary as The Game Master

Produced by: Mab
Theme song: "Stray Not, And Be Safe" by Zachary Frederickson.
Sound effects: zapsplat and Freesound users Matucha and plus-one
Other music: Kevin MacLeod and Ovani Sound

Find us on Twitter at SunlessReach, Tumblr at SagasoftheSunlessReach, and Bluesky at SunlessReach. Don't forget to post about the show using #SunReach.

Follow all of Standing Stones' projects @stones_standing

Episode Notes

They say ‘if you want something done right, then do it yourself’ — which, believe me, I would love to not be in the negotiation room. I am not a negotiator; that is Ksana, and she’s asking us to do the hard work of reading people for her. I’m a bounty hunter and an investigator, and I do my best work when no one else knows I’m there.

Stanislaw, for all his ability to be stealthy and melt from shadows or a crowd, does not seem to have as keen an eye for evidence gathering as I would have hoped. Between the Dawnbringer boat at Fort Pointer, and now with Sharpe’s and Nico’s rooms, he brings me back big picture details but nothing that I can turn into a solid lead.

We don’t have the time for me to slip away from the table now that I’ve made headway on both Sharpe and Janek. As willing as Viidra was to cause a distraction, or Stanislaw to put the toughs to the knife, we have committed our focus to the negotiations.

Sleight of hand tricks only work when their attention is elsewhere.
- From the investigation notes of Elżbieta

Cast:
Bitmap as Ksana the Spear
Cory as Apricus the Luminary
Jade as Viidra Matei
Mab as Elżbieta Wrona
Zachary as The Game Master

Produced by: Mab
Theme song: "Stray Not, And Be Safe" by Zachary Frederickson.
Sound effects: zapsplat, Yellowstone National Park Sound Library, and Freesound user eminyildirim

Find us on Twitter at SunlessReach, Tumblr at SagasoftheSunlessReach, and Bluesky at SunlessReach. Don't forget to post about the show using #SunReach.

Follow all of Standing Stones' projects @stones_standing

Episode Notes

Content warning for suicide threat

“Don't you know anything about vampires?”

The question has been looping in my head since he asked it, and I can't snuff out the spark of irritation it caused.

I am a dhampir: a human mother and a vampire father. But I've spent my entire life rejecting the half of me that was wrong. I never could lie to myself, to pretend I was fully human, but it was always my secret to bear until Ruel.

Now, though… “Don't you know anything about vampires?”

My knowledge of my own ancestry is on par with Apricus’ in that it is purely academic. Do I want to know anything about vampires? About myself?

Aldrich offered to teach me, not that I was tempted. I would reject Dragomir's offer the same way if it was ever given. I don't need an uncle to suddenly find me interesting — not after what happened to my mother. Not after what happened to Stanislaw.

But something about that question feels far more pointed than it has any right to be.
- From the investigation notes of Elżbieta

Cast:
Bitmap as Ksana the Spear
Cory as Apricus the Luminary
Jade as Viidra Matei
Mab as Elżbieta Wrona
Zachary as The Game Master

Produced by: Mab
Theme song: "Stray Not, And Be Safe" by Zachary Frederickson.
Sound effects: zapsplat, BBC Sound Effects Library, Soundbible user Tony Phillips, and Freesound users julianmateo, eminyildirim, treyc, and fastson
Other music: Kevin MacLeod and Ovani Sound

Find us on Twitter at SunlessReach, Tumblr at SagasoftheSunlessReach, and Bluesky at SunlessReach. Don't forget to post about the show using #SunReach.

Follow all of Standing Stones' projects @stones_standing

Episode Notes

We have a lot coming up quickly upon us — the Tursa cranberry bog and its spider problem, the Last Fool Standing tournament, and all the bits and pieces that fall between them.

But now all I can see is the bloodless, decomposing face of the mortic on the ship. All I can think of is why have I not looked closer at the Anglers? There are pieces falling into place, and my usual propensity to not delve into an ally’s secrets are coming back to bite me in the ass. Let them keep their secrets, as I have kept mine, I would say.

There are two ways that this can go. The first is that it could be as Stanislaw said, and he freed the Anglers from Sofia’s clutches; these people on the ships were ones less fortunate or more dedicated to her cause.

The second is that I have made a terrible mistake.
- From the investigation notes of Elżbieta

Cast:
Bitmap as Ksana the Spear
Cory as Apricus the Luminary
Jade as Viidra Matei
Mab as Elżbieta Wrona
Zachary as The Game Master

Produced by: Mab
Theme song: "Stray Not, And Be Safe" by Zachary Frederickson.
Sound effects: zapsplat user Alan McKinney and others, and Freesound users other_kat and licorne_en_fer
Other music: Kevin MacLeod

Find us on Twitter at SunlessReach, Tumblr at SagasoftheSunlessReach, and Bluesky at SunlessReach. Don't forget to post about the show using #SunReach.

Follow all of Standing Stones' projects @stones_standing

Episode Notes

At last we have met the final two players of the Delta’s power structure: Daria Sangelue and Mama Tursa. Not under any circumstances I would have preferred to meet them, but I’ve long since anticipated for nothing to go the way I would prefer.

It wasn’t until we arrived that we even realized that the Sangele had moved in to fix the Tursa’s problems while we worked elsewhere. But based on Viidra’s investigations, the Sangele might have moved in even earlier to instigate the problem in the first place. Can’t fault her for shrewd business practices, even if it comes at our expense.

I still feel confident about our decision to approach Low Road first. I do not like the alternative timeline where we rid the cranberry bog of weevils, but lost our chance at securing a solid route out of the Delta.

(There’s a clever thing to be said here about tactics with regards to this card game I’m learning. We have one final play left before we can win the hand, I think.)
- From the investigation notes of Elżbieta

Cast:
Bitmap as Ksana the Spear
Cory as Apricus the Luminary
Jade as Viidra Matei
Mab as Elżbieta Wrona
Zachary as The Game Master

Produced by: Mab
Theme song: "Stray Not, And Be Safe" by Zachary Frederickson.
Sound effects: Soundbible user Tony Phillips and zapsplat

Find us on Twitter at SunlessReach, Tumblr at SagasoftheSunlessReach, and Bluesky at SunlessReach. Don't forget to post about the show using #SunReach.

Follow all of Standing Stones' projects @stones_standing

Episode Notes

This whole time, I’ve pushed to be taken seriously as a contender. I’m treated like a child by my own party, I’m seen as naive by kin, and I’m otherwise ignored by every other player in the Delta. Even Stanislaw, whom I hoped might see me as an equal despite my ignorance of family politics, keeps things from me.

And now I feel like I am earning that disregard. All my calls are backfiring. All my ill-earned confidence turning against me.

Our advantage, the trust and faith we have gained, the surety that we are on the right path: I’m questioning all of it now. Nothing is what we thought it was.

Does it count as a victory if this is the price you have to pay to earn it?
- From the investigation notes of Elżbieta

Cast:
Bitmap as Ksana the Spear
Cory as Apricus the Luminary
Jade as Viidra Matei
Mab as Elżbieta Wrona
Zachary as The Game Master

Produced by: Mab & Zachary
Theme song: "Stray Not, And Be Safe" by Zachary Frederickson.
Sound effects: zapsplat user Still North Media and others, Soundbible user Tony Phillips, and Freesound users halleck, julianmateo, kirkpatricklive, & eminyildirim
Other music: Ovani Sound

Find us on Twitter at SunlessReach, Tumblr at SagasoftheSunlessReach, and Bluesky at SunlessReach. Don't forget to post about the show using #SunReach.

Follow all of Standing Stones' projects @stones_standing

Episode Notes

I have to keep the truth from everyone for as long as I possibly can. I don’t know how much Stanislaw knows. I don’t know if he can see through me because at this point I feel like every lie I tell is so transparent that it’s a wonder I’m even visible at all.

Does he know I’ve figured him out? Have I figured him out?

Things I know are true, or at the very least, I have solid evidence for:

• That was him fleeing the bogs after the Sunken Tune took Paavo.
• He is the one who pushed for the fight against Big Bill and the destruction of the fort
• All we have is his word on what he found in the Dawnbringer ship, Nico’s rooms, and Sharpe’s rooms. (None of which is concrete.)
• He did not grow up alone in Coronant like he claims
• His Anglers bear strong resemblance to the mortics we found
• He genuinely hates Dragomir with every fiber of his being.

I don’t know how much rope I have left at this point, but I hope that it’s enough that if I fail, I can at least take him down with me.
- From the investigation notes of Elżbieta

Cast:
Bitmap as Ksana the Spear
Cory as Apricus the Luminary
Jade as Viidra Matei
Mab as Elżbieta Wrona
Zachary as The Game Master

Produced by: Mab
Theme song: "Stray Not, And Be Safe" by Zachary Frederickson.
Sound effects: zapsplat, Soundbible user Tony Phillips, and Freesound users augustsandberg and cgeffex
Other music: Kevin MacLeod & Ovani Sound

Find us on Twitter at SunlessReach, Tumblr at SagasoftheSunlessReach, and Bluesky at SunlessReach. Don't forget to post about the show using #SunReach.

Follow all of Standing Stones' projects @stones_standing