Curse of Radiance Chapter 5, Episode 3 - Mired in Quicksand (Literally and Figuratively)

The exciting conclusion of the second Legend Lore flashback! Benjil Turcott, gnome mercenary, has just gotten done killing a guardian of Lathander's temple so he and his band can plunder the holy relics for the Zhentarim. However, one of the relics speaks to him- a sword with a ruby-quartz blade- and begs him not to go through with this job. There is much at play in this story, says the sword, and Benjil has an important role to play as well. Will this request- as well as the urging of an old friend- be enough to turn Benjil from completing his end of the deal? And if he decides to go through with it... can the Black Network even be trusted not to betray him?

I really like this episode. It was difficult to make- there were a lot of logistics going on behind-the-scenes that made this one a unique challenge- but after editing out all of the difficult bits I think the end product is fantastic. This is also an example of the kind of games we had to play with the existing canon of the Forgotten Realms- as much as possible I wanted to adhere to and involve the lore that existed, but in so many cases there's so little to go off of that I really had to stretch what little I could find. But, like I said, I'm happy with the result!

I hope you all enjoy the episode, and next week, tune back in for the last (and longest) of the Legend Lore flashbacks!

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Chapter 5, Episode 3: Legend Lore - Broken Promises

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Curse of Radiance is a member of the Uncharted North podcast network. For more of their shows, check them out at UnchartedNorth.ca! 

Curse of Radiance Chapter 5, Episode 2 - The Halfling, Benjil Turcott

We're back, with another episode of the Legend Lore story arc! This flashback will be a bit meatier than the last, so stay tuned.

In this week's episode, Torunn experiences the life of a halfling mercenary named Benjil Turcott, who has been hired to explore the ruined city of Teshwave with the other members of his troupe, the Steel Lions, to find a lost relic of the god Lathander. But in order to get to it, they need to traverse a dungeon full of deadly- and vaguely familiar- traps and hazards...

This episode was a lot of fun to make, and once again allowed Freeman some time to acclimate himself to the campaign before we get back into the main timeline. So I hope you all enjoy listening to it!

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Chapter 5, Episode 2: Legend Lore - The Forgotten Sanctum

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Curse of Radiance is a member of the Uncharted North podcast network. For more of their shows, check them out at UnchartedNorth.ca! 

Curse of Radiance Chapter 5, Episode 1 - A New Beginning

Everyone, gather 'round! We have some big changes to talk about.

First, the episode itself. In this week's episode, the three heroes have undergone a ritual that will give them information about the artifacts they've been collecting (two down, one to go) that will help them rid themselves of the cursed azure bonds. Fennec has felt his mind be catapulted through time and space, waking up as an elven soldier- one of the N'Vaelahr, the elite shadow soldiers guarding Cormanthor- as he and his squad are sent on a mission of utmost importance: stop the warlord Abiros, whose magical helm gives dominion over dragonkind.

But much more importantly, our roster has undergone a big change! As of this week, Jay has bowed out of the podcast, leaving big shoes in his wake. But one man was up to the challenge- and fill those shoes he did! We are joined by the inimitable Freeman Iceton, host of such amazing podcasts as Encounter This! and Stemming the Tide, and one of the founders of the Uncharted North Podcast Network, which graciously welcomed Curse of Radiance into their ranks before we even began. (Fun fact: Freeman actually suggested the name "Curse of Radiance"!) Freeman is a fantastic roleplayer and just an all-around great guy, and as sad as I was to see Jay leave, we couldn't have replaced him with a better person. I am confident you all will love the last few arcs of this podcast even more than the first few.

So, a huge thanks to Freeman for helping us out, and I hope you all check out his other works as well!

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Chapter 5, Episode 1: Legend Lore - The Weeping War

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Curse of Radiance is a member of the Uncharted North podcast network. For more of their shows, check them out at UnchartedNorth.ca! 

Curse of Radiance Chapter 4, Episode 7 - The End of an Era

One more tattoo down, one more legendary artifact up!

In this week's episode, the party has killed Fzoul Chembryl and found the Blade of Lathander, a sword forged to kill the possessing spirit, Tyranthraxus. (They also freed a bunch of slaves, incited some riots, met a famous adventuring party, yadda yadda yadda.) To figure out where to go and what to do next, they got some help from their old friends back in Phlan- after some magical testing and some speaking with the spirits of various magic weapons, they're going to attempt a ritual to get some information about these artifacts they've been gathering. Surely that'll go smoothly, right?

This is a bit of a bittersweet episode, for reasons that will probably become apparent next week. (The next story arc is going to be different, in a lot of ways.) There were also various parts of this episode that I went back and forth on as far as editing goes, with some changes being made to the episode as recently as two days ago (despite being recorded in the middle of last year)! But I am very happy with the end result, and I hope you are too.

That's pretty much all I have to say about this episode; next week, though, you better strap in.

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Chapter 4, Episode 7: Freedom at the End of a Sword

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Curse of Radiance is a member of the Uncharted North podcast network. For more of their shows, check them out at UnchartedNorth.ca! 

Curse of Radiance Chapter 4, Episode 6 - Behold! My Stuff!

Just what you wanted- another episode of mostly combat!

In this episode, the party has slain the High Inquisitor of Bane, just in time for Fzoul Chembryl to show up. But he isn't here to fight- not necessarily- because he knows the Inquisitor's pet beholder, Orox, is on its way, and it has been given instructions to kill everyone. So the party can either work with Fzoul to come up with a plan to escape the many eyes of this ommathur, or they can finish getting their revenge and likely die in the process. Decisions, decisions!

This was a tricky session to plan for, because as I've said several times in the past few episodes, I legitimately didn't know what the party was going to do! So I had to have at least some semblance of a plan for if the party worked with Fzoul, if they killed Fzoul on sight, if they tried to bargain with Orox, if they ran away... on and on it goes. (I alluded to it last blog post but I had been banking on the idea the party would lose the fight against Ginali and they would wake up in a jail cell, stripped of their belongings, and they would have to break their way out of prison. But alas, it did not happen.) I'm pretty happy with what we got, but like every good campaign, there's a million alternate universes where things went differently!

Also, fun fact: this episode marks the third time Ildana has gotten the blessing of a deity in this campaign! Will it be the last? Keep listening and find out!

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Chapter 4, Episode 6: Fzoul Chembryl of the Zhentarim

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Curse of Radiance is a member of the Uncharted North podcast network. For more of their shows, check them out at UnchartedNorth.ca! 

Curse of Radiance Chapter 4, Episode 5 - Tyranny Begets Tyranny

In this week's episode, the party has secured an audience with someone that may be sympathetic to their cause- Genali, High Inquisitor of Bane. But will an alliance with him help them take down Fzoul Chembryl, creator of their third tattoo? Or will it be a can of worms best left closed? Find out for yourself!

This was another one of those episodes that I had literally no clue how it was going to go before it began- I had to prep like four or five potential scenarios because there were at least that many different potential outcomes. I would be lying if I said I wasn't secretly hoping for one of the others (I had my fingers crossed the party might end up locked in a jail cell and they would have to figure out how to escape) but hey, the game did as the game does!

Thanks as always for listening, and catch you next time on the flip side!

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Chapter 4, Episode 5: The High Inquisitor's Demands

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Curse of Radiance is a member of the Uncharted North podcast network. For more of their shows, check them out at UnchartedNorth.ca! 

Curse of Radiance Chapter 4, Episode 4 - The Arena Episode

Our heroes are thrust into the arena (after coming up with a clever group name) and forced to fight for their lives. Will they survive? Probably. Will they attract the attention of someone that can help them take down Fzoul Chembryl? Listen and find out!

I don't really have a ton of banter about this episode- I remember it being pretty fun to record and I'm happy with how it turned out. Unfortunately this is the start of a string of several episodes that are almost entirely combat, so if anyone is particularly unenthusiastic about that sort of thing I apologize. But I assure you, there's still some fun roleplaying and characterization in there too!

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Chapter 4, Episode 4: Trial By Combat

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Curse of Radiance is a member of the Uncharted North podcast network. For more of their shows, check them out at UnchartedNorth.ca!