I want you to close your eyes and imagine with me: Imagine Realis Itself, the Radiant Planet at the heart of the Thousand Moons, that orb which lights the cosmos entire. Above it, the betrayer star, the Corpse Sun, red and sick and pulsing ill, small and fainter by the day. Below it, hungry and roiling, the Great Void, an abyss of voracious clouds. And in between, those thousand moons, countless except you know their number. Varied eternally, yet all dwarfed by the azure orb around which they glide.
And there, bring them to mind too: Four colorful moons, spinning and buzzing and twirling around each other.
Do you remember their names? The names of the Tetraspherica? The Speckled Quartet, the Marbled Quartenion? Those spinning, glorious jewels—unique even among all thousand of the moons of Realis? Let me tell remind you:
Placid Ulled. World of farms, of cultivation, of soil—and of what lies beneath it.
The Crux. A vast colosseum world where victory, glory, and power have been rendered equivalent.
Prismatic Principia: Home to the Endless Academy, whose halls house famed philosophers, eager alchemists, mages, and—it seems—the occasional ghost as well.
And Hypnotic Dokine, where mists mystify, clouds corrode, and the light always reveals a new truth.
For as Long as Long had been, these four vibrant moons have swung with dancer's rhythm around one another. Long before the great Powers spread their influence across the orbital sphere, long before the founders of Sphenic Polytechnic revived the Orphan Vessels, LONG BEFORE THE MOONFOLK UNDERSTOOD THEY WERE THE MOONFOLK, those who lived on the worlds of the Tetraspherica knew each other as neighbors, traveling through orbital shuttle, exchanging supplies and stories, marrying and moving and making lives together.
"True as the tetrad," the saying goes. A stable waltz. Four marbles in alignment. Eternal. Reliable. Unshakeable.
But today… in the shadow of an Ulledd mountain, in the keep of the Citadel Bein, where negotiators bicker and showmen entertain and lords gather for a feast, a treacherous conspiracy unfolds…
Hosted by Austin Walker (@austinwalker on bluesky)
Featuring Ali Acampora, Keith J Carberry and Art Martinez-Tebbel
Produced by Ali Acampora
Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)
Cover Art by by Oddesque
With thanks to Amelia Renee, Arthur B., Bill Kaszubski, Cassie Jones, Clark, DB, Daniel Laloggia, Diana Crowley, Edwin Adelsberger, Emrys, Greg Cobb, Ian O'Dea, Ian Urbina, Irina A., Jack Shirai, Jake Strang, Katie Diekhaus, Ken George, Konisforce, Kristina Harris Esq, L Tantivy, Lawson Coleman, Mark Conner, Mike & Ruby, Muna A, Nat Knight, Nich Maragos, Olive Perry, Quinn Pollock, Robert Lasica, Shawn Drape, Shawn Hall, Summer Rose, TeganEden, Thomas Whitney, Voi, chocoube, deepFlaw, fen, & weakmint,
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