Sinopsis
Friends at the Table is an actual play podcast about critical worldbuilding, smart characterization, and fun interaction between good friends. Find us (and a listener guide) @Friends_Table on Twitter.
Episodios
-
PALISADE 07: The Canvas of Dreams Pt. 2
21/04/2023 Duración: 01h44minThe Isle of the Broken Key sits in the northern Whisk Sea, shrouded in mist and mystery both. Tonight, one of its oldest structures, a stately seaside fortress, plays home to a revolutionary masquerade party. Its hosts, informed by both RSVPs and the glass-etched predictions of a broken oracle engine, anticipated many visitors, including some from beyond Palisade itself. But there is, nevertheless, an unannounced visitor tonight. And it has an invitation of its own. This week on PALISADE: The Canvas of Dreams Pt. 2 Regardless, my pictures / well they don’t line your mirror Regardless, you know that / I'll still wait for your call Dossier Organizations Violet Cove: The Dim Liturgy claim to have seen the Divine Devotion's arrival coming in their sacred text: A battered and corrupted backup of Crystal Palace's final predictions for the future. Now the two cults work together to oust the Bilats... and perhaps to do more intriguing things, as well. People “Gem” (she/her): Codename given to the target of Operation
-
PALISADE 06: The Canvas of Dreams Pt. 1
14/04/2023 Duración: 02h09minThis episode carries content warnings for the discussion of civilian deaths and the discussion of kidnapping. In typical fashion, the mission has a name as ostentatious as its object is mundane. “Operation Midnight Lapidary” is meant to be, in its most bloodless version, a sort of intimidating hit-and-run—though out-and-out wetwork would also be acceptable. The target, rumored to be a dealer in diamonds, rubies, and other precious gems, is en route to the Duchess’ coronation, and must be stopped. Why? To what end? These are the sorts of questions left for those in leadership. For the members of the Blue Channel, there’s only the mission. Well, the mission, and an invitation to an important meet-and-greet. This week on PALISADE: The Canvas of Dreams Pt. 1 Lights off / Nightlights Dossier Organizations Bilateral Intercession: One of two factions vying for leadership of the Principality, comprised by Stels Kesh and Nideo, and lead by the so-called Peaceful Princept, Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh (he/him), who took co
-
PALISADE 05: I Would LIke to Help You Pt. 2
06/04/2023 Duración: 01h51minThis episode carries content warnings for the discussion of blood and uncanny bodily manipulation. With one mission behind them and a new one approaching quickly, the crew of the Blue Channel finds time to relax in the most unlikely of places. But, as the colorful clouds gathering above remind us, no clear day lasts forever. This week on PALISADE: I Would Like To Help You Pt. 2 ...by this river... Dossier Organizations The Twill: Though many groups have lived on the world of Palisade over the years, the Twill can trace their time on the world back the furthest. Though a first glance appraisal might make one think that their defining trait is the moss that covers much of their bodies and allows them to live on sunlight and water alone, in fact their most unshakable cultural trait is a practice of collaboration, aid, and acceptance. When groups like Advent, Kesh, the New Earth Hegemony, and the Divine Principality left Palisade behind, they often left behind the disaffected or unwanted. It was often, if not alw
-
PALISADE 04: I Would LIke to Help You Pt. 1
30/03/2023 Duración: 02h24minThis episode carries content warnings for the discussion of blood and uncanny bodily manipulation. Having placed the confusion of the Fundament Node behind them, the crew of the Blue Channel begin a slow tour across the few friendly ports in Palisade, refueling, resupplying, and escorting the displaced Twill into new, albeit temporary homes. All the while, there is an open breath, and an opportunity to converse, collaborate, and connect. It is downtime on Palisade. This week on PALISADE: I Would Like To Help You Pt. 1 Show me the tree / and I’ll shoot down the figs. Dossier Organizations The Twill: Though many groups have lived on the world of Palisade over the years, the Twill can trace their time on the world back the furthest. Though a first glance appraisal might make one think that their defining trait is the moss that covers much of their bodies and allows them to live on sunlight and water alone, in fact their most unshakable cultural trait is a practice of collaboration, aid, and acceptance. When gr
-
PALISADE 03: Today Is a Monday
24/03/2023 Duración: 03h48minThis episode carries content warnings for death. The sun rises on Palisade and the work week begins. Delegates move quick and quiet through the back halls of Kesh palaces while their lords plot and scheme. Nidean settlers pray to their Divines and then take up their shovels to do the work of civil expansion. The most determined Frontier Syndicate technologists woke up hours ago, beating the sun’s rise just like Exenceaster March says to do in his popular entrepreneurial handbook. And in a castle on the southern continent, the occupation’s leader thumbs the trigger of her horrible device, as if the sun itself could see the gesture and would leash itself appropriately. This week on PALISADE: Today Is a Monday I trust I can rely on your vote. Dossier Organizations Bilateral Intercession: One of two factions vying for leadership of the Principality, comprised by Stels Kesh and Nideo, and lead by the so-called Peaceful Princept, Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh (he/him), who took control of the faction from the Curtain, a
-
PALISADE 02: Into the World Pt. 2
17/03/2023 Duración: 01h42minThis episode carries content warnings for body horror, descriptions of violence and injury, gun violence, death, and blood. It is said that in the lowest depths of Diadem, deep below the surface of Palisade itself, there exists a network so ancient and so important that the people who named it were right to call it the Fundament. Most who know its name believe that it controls the Diadem itself, and could be key to bringing the long dead city back online. Others suspect that it connects to the train and power lines that run across the planet’s continents. And the most superstitious—those who know the Afflictions by name (and claim to know the proper prayers to say to keep them at bay)—believe the Fundament’s power goes beyond even that: to the seas, to the skies, to weather, and life itself. It is at the door to this mythical place that the crew of the Blue Channel find themselves now, entwined in battle with Bilateral interlopers and desperate to finish the job they were sent to do. This week on PALISADE: I
-
PALISADE 01: Into the World Pt. 1
10/03/2023 Duración: 02h54minThis episode carries content warnings for ecological disaster, bodily transformation, and death. 5,000 years ago, the Divine Principality sprouted, and immediately began to grow in size and power. Founded on the world of Palisade, at the edge of the Twilight Mirage, the Principality spread across the stars and leaving its roots behind and forgetting their “homeworld” as it was lapped by the colorful clouds of the false nebula. New Divines were born. Old Divines were resurrected. Rivals were conquered or courted. Soon, the only enemy remaining were the Branched, a post-human society from the Golden Branch, whose influence and control spread to the oldest homes of some Principality states. Ten years ago, Dahlia, the Glorious Princept (born to Kesh, then kidnapped by Nideo, then rescued and raised into adulthood by Apostolos), declared themself leader of both Stel Kesh and Apostolos alongside a stunning revelation of the Principality’s crimes against Apostolos. Kesh called these claims an Apostolosian ploy for p
-
Bonus Episode: Romeo + Juliet (+BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS!!!)
04/03/2023 Duración: 04h34minHey everyone! Welcome to a uhmmm A BEEFY MP3!!! As a reward for our marathon live stream for the National Network of Abortion Funds, we said we'd record a podcast about William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (1996) and BOY DID WE! Enjoy approximately three hours and fourty five minutes of Austin, Ali, Art, Jack and Sylvi chatting about Forbidden Love! Kisses! Fashion! Pools!!! BUT BEFORE THAT, we have some announcements to make about our show and our patreon. FIRST AND FOREMOST, PALISADE IS STARTING ON MARCH 9TH!!!!! WE ARE GOING TO BE DOING A DEBUT STREAM AT TWITCH.TV/FRIENDSATTHETABLE AT 8 PM ET!!!! COME HANG OUT AND BE EXCITED WITH US!!!! (The episode, of course, will also be in the feed at 8 PM!!) Second, IF YOU'RE READING THIS (THANKS) ON MARCH 4TH OR 5TH, go check out twitch.tv/rollplusbond, support Trans Lifeline and hang out while they stream some great tabletop games!!! Third, we're finally making some adjustments to our patreon! We talk about it (AT LENGTH) in this episode, but here's all the cha
-
A Quick Pre-PALISADE Update
17/02/2023 Duración: 23minHey eveyrone! This is not PALISADE 01, as I'm sure folks are hoping it will be. But the feed's been dry for a few weeks so I wanted to quickly hop on and say hello and give everybody an update. See you in PALISADE! LInks Mentioned FatT on Youtube FatT on Twitch FatT on TikTok FatT on Cohost FatT on Twitter Secret Samol 2023 AMCA Plays Going Rogue with Jess Levine
-
The Road to PALISADE 20: City Planning Department
20/01/2023 Duración: 02h39minThis episode carries content warnings for distorted and layered vocals (00:30 - 01:10), discussion of workplace injuries, discussion of medical debt, and discussion of slavery and indentured servitude. For three years, the Bilateral Intercession has held Palisade under blockade. The Pact of Free States holds just beyond Nideo space, waiting in the dark for an opportunity to strike. The Qui'Err Coalition's fleet hovers at the edge of the Mirage, a flock around the Brink. Millennium Break's strike force hides in the shadow of Palisade's moon, Travertine. Something must give. Someone must move. And that is when Perennial whispers into an ear she’s taken as her own, giving the Witch in Glass a new task and reminding her of an old law: Everything that has happened before will happen again. And so she moves. The Witch in Glass is fearless, and after all, she has two Divines on her side. The revivified corpse of Past and, of course, the Adversary herself. So she leads the Reflecting Pool (and its many attack wing
-
The Road to PALISADE 19: Upstairs & Downstairs Pt. 2
13/01/2023 Duración: 02h37minThis episode carries content warnings for slavery and indentured servitude, kidnapping, discussion of taxidermy, blood, injury, physical harm, death, and the discussion of sports-related injuries. Here, in Somerset House, drama of the most unlikely kind is afoot. With the family fortune withering away, the Solstice clan plays host to a pair of powerful Pact dignitaries: the data-magnate Exenceaster March and the notorious Admiral Bel’Agos Bloom. They aim to draw March away from his loyalties to the Columnar with an exquisite retreat prepared by the house’s staff, featuring hunting, fine dining, and other entertainment. But one after another, the unpredictable has become the occuring: A terrible accident among the hedges. The discovery of an explosive device. And next, the return of an absentee member of the household… Can Solstice House’s staff turn the situation around and save the day? Or is something—like the mysterious, dark pall that surrounds the estate—due to break? Records Recovered from the Divin
-
The Road to PALISADE 18: Upstairs & Downstairs Pt. 1
06/01/2023 Duración: 03h02minThis episode carries content warnings for slavery and indentured servitude, kidnapping, discussion of taxidermy, animals bred to be hunted, blood, injury, physical harm, death, and the discussion of sports-related injuries. It is often noted that the Bilateral Commission (formerly the Curtain) is mostly comprised of people from Stels Kesh and Nideo, and likewise that the Pact is largely made up of Apostolosians and Columnar. Room is made for exceptions because, in many cases, such cases are all the more important. Thus could be the case of Exanceaster March, Columnar data magnate and long time friend of the (ever diminishing) Solstice family of Kesh. Today, the troubled aristocrats bring their powerful ally to their estate for a visit, during which they hope to persuade March to leave the Pact behind. For the Solstice family, this could be everything they need to be catapulted back into the upper crust. For their servants, it will be just one more hellish event left for them to clean up after. This week on t
-
The Road to PALISADE 17: My Way
21/12/2022 Duración: 03h22minThis episode carries content warnings for physical harm, death, and the discussion of sports-related injuries. Even as Stels Kesh and Apostolos began to fall into war, the in the year 1423 of the Perfect Millennium, the Divine Principality held the the Summer Passage of Arms on the world of Partizan, moon of Girandole. There, poets competed in verse, the Providence was run, biathletes strutted their stuff by land and by sea, and pilots wrestled their hollows against each other along the coastlines. In one such hollow was a grappler whose vision saw beyond the shore of that ill-fated moon. A man who dreamed of being something more than a athlete. A man who dreamed of being a superstar. This week on the Road to PALISADE: My Way Records Recovered from the Divine, Arbitrage Factions Principality Wrestling Association (PWA): The largest professional hollow wrestling organization in the Principality. Tours each Stel. The PWA’s current active roster includes Caden "The Sensation" Davis (they/them), Vlad “Bone Daddy”
-
The Road to PALISADE 16: Serious Reading
12/12/2022 Duración: 01h42minThis episode carries content warnings for the use of real life news audio recordings of protests and riots, cruelty, discussion of medical and student debt, discussion of combat injuries, layered conversations and heavy crosstalk. In all societies, but especially in one as vast as the Divine Principality, people are separated from history as it is made. No one can be everywhere all at once, and even if you are at the heart of a protest, in the backroom of a political dealing, or on the carrier ship as the bombers launch, presence often clouds as much as it reveals. But our only alternative is to have the world we are in coalesced and presented towards us, mediated and curated by one industrial force or another. Text books, documentaries, the nightly news, and of course… the dreaded political panel podcast. This week on the Road to PALISADE: Serious Reading Records Recovered from the Divine, Arbitrage Factions The Bilateral Intercession: This faction, made up primarily from Stel Nideo and Kesh assets, was form
-
The Road to PALISADE 15: Orbital Pt. 5
10/12/2022 Duración: 03h25minThis episode carries content warnings for cults, depiction of a missing child, gun violence, hallucination, imagery made from blood, and non-gory but uncanny body horror. Floating at the very edge of the sunset-hued safety of the Twilight Mirage, the Brink hums and pulses, a beacon of community and solidarity in an age when both are under threat. All aboard the station, staff, civilians, and visitors work side by side to maintain a sanctuary that faces ever sharper threat. Practiced pilots ferry shipments. The starships-turned-station districts groan and clank at regular interveals. Giant mechanical bodies—of shapes recognizable and imagined—are repurposed, exchanging civil processes for military procedures, And when those here in the Brink—bartenders and gardeners, fixers and musicians, assassins and preists—see these machines from the corner of their eyes, they find themselves wondering: Can this nebula of peace and egality they've built remain safe in its orbit, far above the dirt and muck of the world th
-
The Road to PALISADE 14: Orbital Pt. 4
02/12/2022 Duración: 02h26minThis episode carries content warnings for cults, depiction of a missing child, gun violence, hallucination, imagery made from blood, and non-gory but uncanny body horror. The announcement was bright, loud, and unilateral: the Twilight Mirage would not allow the Divine Principality—in any of its forms—to move one step further. Now, though, in the afterglow of such a vibrant declaration, reality has begun to sink in. General Mourning attempts to sift through fact, opinion, and advice. Pushy, Mustard, and 3T head to Devotion’s retreat—each bringing their unique vulnerability with them. The assassin who goes by “Deutsch Synchro” pursues a risky side objective. And as many Troublemakers heed the belligerent call of their idol, Paris France and his rival False Fruit rush to stop the innocent from being caught up in the wake. This week on the Road to Palisade: Orbital Pt. 4 Records Recovered from the Divine, Arbitrage Factions The Curtain of Divinity: Largely aligned to Stels Kesh and Nideo, the Curtain of Divinit
-
The Road to PALISADE 13: Orbital Pt. 3
23/11/2022 Duración: 03h03minThis episode carries content warnings for cults, depiction of a missing child, assassination, description of a wounded corpse, and non-gory but uncanny body horror. Despite the best (and worst) efforts of those aboard, matters on the Brink have remained frayed and taut—but no pulled rope stays unbroken forever. Some, like Paris France, busy recruiting more members to Brink Proxy, prepare for what is to come. Others, like Mustard Red and Pushy Cheal—diving deeper into their cult investigations—hope to cut off the worst of it before it arrives. And for a rare few—like 3T and the undercover assassin named Lament—the chaos to come is not an obstacle at all. It’s the first step. This week on the Road to Palisade: Orbital Pt. 3 Records Recovered from the Divine, Arbitrage Factions The Curtain of Divinity: Largely aligned to Stels Kesh and Nideo, the Curtain of Divinity is made uup of those loyal to Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh, the Peaceful Princept, and who desire the Divine Principality to continue on as it has for mi
-
The Road to PALISADE 12: Orbital Pt. 2
11/11/2022 Duración: 03h30minThis episode carries content warnings for assassination, colonial violence, death from visual stimulus, kidnapping, and missing people. The Brink continues to spin towards crisis. Even as individuals continue to vanish mysteriously, the increase in visitors to the station have led the halls to be more cramped and supplies to run ever thinner. Pushy holds an assembly to address the apparent cult. Paris hunts for a rare and dangerous magazine, while Mustard flirts with accepting an offer from a riskier supplier. Deutsch Syncrho--aka the assassin Lament--tracks down a target. And 3T prepares for the largest concert of his career. This week on the Road to Palisade: Orbital Pt. 2 Records Recovered from the Divine, Arbitrage The Divine, Arbitrage At last, I take the stage. Factions The Curtain of Divinity: Largely aligned to Stels Kesh and Nideo, the Curtain of Divinity is made uup of those loyal to Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh, the Peaceful Princept, and who desire the Divine Principality to continue on as it has for m
-
The Road to PALISADE 10: Orbital Pt. 1
04/11/2022 Duración: 03h36minThis episode carries content warnings for the discussion of colonial violence, discussion of death from visual stimulus, and the discussion of industrial and workplace industries. For the last five millennia, the Divine Principality has expanded its reach across the stars. But in the Twilight Mirage, those 5,000 years were only felt as 500. For those in the Mirage, led by the Qui Err Coalition, life has been stable and if not utopian, then at least a type of living that is aspirational in only the best ways. But today, as the space station known as the Brink orbits towards the edge of the false nebula, those 5000 years come rushing in. This week on the Road to Palisade: Orbital Pt. 1 Records Recovered from the Divine, Arbitrage Factions The Curtain of Divinity: For generations, the Curtain of Divinity operated in the shadows of the Principality, partly as intelligence agency, partly as shadow government. Now they have been dragged into the daylight, and serve as one of the two ruling factions of the whole Pr
-
The Road to PALISADE 10: Lancer Pt. 3
28/10/2022 Duración: 03h17minThis episode carries content warnings for discussion of displaced and unhoused communities. The news is sour. The revolutonaries known as Millennium Break will be no one's savior today. The Ashen of Saboria, of Harborview, have only each other as their protectors. And as they huddle below, sheltered in the shuddering mountain, the enemy arrives from above. The mission is clear in both objective and absurdity: Zark Vapor, Teasel Fauna, Martia Häske, and Narmine Te'Ketch must simply hold the Pact at bay long enough for a miracle. This week on the Road to PALISADE: Lancer Pt. 3 Records Recovered from the Divine, Arbitrage Factions Hypha & Ashen: The former were a culture of galactic nomads, guided by a paranatural force called the Strand which they could commune with using technological devices built into their antlers. The latter are their descendants, their routes broken by the Principality’s expansions and occupations, their culture ripped from them. Stel Columnar: Famously “courted” by the growing Prin