We thought it'd be fun to take some time to chat about Michael's experience with the Unearthed Arcana Mystic class so far. We cover the highs, the lows, and ideas for where Wizards of the Coast might want to think about adjustments.

What do you think? We'd love to hear from you about it, too!

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Stack o' Dice is an official affiliate of Dice Envy. Use this special link, https://diceenvy.com/?rfsn=2189820.f8fe99, to buy your next set of dice, and you'll also help support our show!

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 [email protected].

Ep 43: A restless night leads to a stomach-clenching morning. Battle looms with an army somewhere across a great stretch of grassland. What lies in wait for the Heroes of Arden? Listen now to find out!

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Stack o' Dice is an official affiliate of Dice Envy. Use this special link, https://diceenvy.com/?rfsn=2189820.f8fe99, to buy your next set of dice, and you'll also help support our show!

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 [email protected].

Our thanks for the week:

• Thanks to the Anne Arundel County Public Library system (@aacpl on Twitter) for running this year's Comic Con. We get to participate, and if you're in the area, stop by the Odenton Branch on 18 May. We can't wait to meet you!

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We used some Creative Commons sound effects and music in this show. For the sake of attribution, we list them here. The following were taken from freesound.org, a fantastic resource for completely free sound effects.

Sound effects that fall under the Attribution license:

• Ambient battle noise: swords and shouting is a copyright of pfranzen

Sound effects that fall under the Attribution Noncommercial license:

• 06250 dizzy bolt spell.wav is a copyright of Robinhood76

We also 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:

• Ancient Chamber - The Final Portal - Score Music, by César Pineda

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

Join us as Tira reaches level 6. A day of activity leads to some downtime. As Tira sits at a war camp's fire on the eve of battle, she discovers a new dimension to her relationship with her ghostly mother.

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Stack o' Dice is an official affiliate of Dice Envy. Use this special link, https://diceenvy.com/?rfsn=2189820.f8fe99, to buy your next set of dice, and you'll also help support our show!

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 [email protected].

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We used some Creative Commons sound effects and music in this show. We used sounds taken from freesound.org, a fantastic resource for completely free sound effects.

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

Ep 42: Bash's daring leap yields unexpected results as he flies over the distance between the monastery and the distant mountain that might be one of the pillars mentioned in the songs from the Jewels of Edelenn. What will the friends do in the face of new danger? Find out now in our latest episode!

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Stack o' Dice is an official affiliate of Dice Envy. Use this special link, https://diceenvy.com/?rfsn=2189820.f8fe99, to buy your next set of dice, and you'll also help support our show!

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 [email protected].

Our thanks for the week:

• We have a friend in Barbados! Thanks for listening!

-----

We used some Creative Commons sound effects and music in this show. For the sake of attribution, we list them here. The following were taken from freesound.org, a fantastic resource for completely free sound effects.

Sound effects that fall under the Attribution license:

• Minor Key Music Box is a copyright of DarkWaryurMC

Sound effects that fall under the Attribution Noncommercial license:

• Walking through dense grass with backpack.wav is a copyright of shredder10

We also 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:

• Elven Village - Ascending the Vale - Score Music, by Kevin MacLeod

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

A couple weeks ago we mentioned the possibility of sharing a rough cut of an episode. This special behind-the-scenes peek is it! We saved off the audio before touching it up, spliced in some prefatory comments, and served it up piping hot. We really hope you enjoy this, and if you have questions about any aspect of our production process, please be sure to share them via Twitter, Instagram, or email (see below).

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Stack o' Dice is an official affiliate of Dice Envy. Use this special link, https://diceenvy.com/?rfsn=2189820.f8fe99, to buy your next set of dice, and you'll also help support our show!

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 [email protected].

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

Toward the beginning of our journey together, Tira, Bash, and Peter found an ancient text that pointed them to the four Jewels of Edelenn, cities of learning that contained more information to help fight against a growing evil in the world of Vardalon.

The third Jewel was the city of Tuo Nue, a beautiful mountainside place located along the eastern ridges of Dao Huin. In an isolated monastery above the city, the friends learned more about the mysterious pillars through a holy chant called The Inner Light.

This special episode provides the text in a standalone format for easy reference. Here's the text:

Holy chant - The inner light 

All light is divine 

In the high mountains 

Lying on my back, 

A stream bubbles by; 

From here I can see 

Across the gorges 

It rises high; light 

Two more such I know, 

The first was eastward 

Far north the other, 

These all stood in light 

My heart grows cold 

One lay to the north 

An uncouth people 

The other I found 

Here the pillar stood 

I fled these places, 

My lesson, my son: 

-----

We used an excellent Battlebards music track. 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:

• Monk Monastery - Union of Body and Mind - Score Music, by David Suarez Torre

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

Toward the beginning of our journey together, Tira, Bash, and Peter found an ancient text that pointed them to the four Jewels of Edelenn, cities of learning that contained more information to help fight against a growing evil in the world of Vardalon.

The second Jewel was the city of Ebendele, a major port city in the geographically diverse country of Muwaka. There the friends discovered What Happened When the Skies Fell, a written form of a verbally transmitted story.

This special episode provides the text in a standalone format for easy reference. Here's the text:

What happened when the skies fell  

Once, long ago, Crow and Butterfly were the best of friends, but they were not as you know them now.  

Crow loved her beautiful white feathers and her voice, which was sweet and delicate. With her song she could bring things to life, and turn ideas into reality. One day, eight singers overheard her as she sang, and they begged her to teach them the power of her song. Flattered, she agreed, and taught them how to shape their thoughts into that which could be felt. So these eight became the true singers, powerful men and women who had the power to shape the world.  

Butterfly was ugly but very strong. He used to fly about looking for new things to learn, but only rarely would anyone talk with him. As Butterfly traveled the world one day, he saw Crow teaching the singers, and stopped to listen. Enthralled with the sound of beauty, he sat and listened. When Crow was done with her teaching, she was quite tired, so Butterfly offered to fly her home. She agreed in spite of Butterfly’s ugliness, and after that service, they became good friends.  

After they formed their friendship, Butterfly and Crow were flying through the skies one day when they saw two figures fighting. A figure of light wrestled with a figure of darkness. As they fought, their voices rang out in song, a song that twisted and fought along with them. At last the dark figure won, breaking the light figure into pieces, but in the process he exerted himself so much that he, too, split into pieces. Many innumerable pieces were small and rained down onto the world below, but both split into four large pieces each and began to fall quickly.  

Saddened by the destruction, Butterfly guided the glowing pieces of light down to the land, helping to set them in place without further damage. Two he placed in lands of ice, one he guided to the islands of the rising sun to the east, and one he settled in Daween of the setting sun.  

Crow was also distraught, but was more affected by the song of the dark figure, which she considered sweeter. So she guided the pieces of the dark one down, though where these ended up is lost to time. 

Once the great pieces were in place, they glowed for a short time, and the essence of their beings lingered long enough to pronounce a curse each. The being of the light pillars cursed Crow for aiding the dark being, reducing her sweet song to a pitiful croak and turning her feathers black. The being of the dark pillars cursed Butterfly for being strong enough to preserve the remnants of his foe; he would now be short of life, prey to all birds, and delicate. 

But they also both had just enough energy for a blessing as well. To Crow, the dark figure gave a wisdom and cleverness greater than all other birds. And to Butterfly, the light figure granted a beauty above all others of its kind, as payment for his service. As the light of the pillar-like pieces died, the true singers moved to comfort them, each falling asleep at the foot of each.  

And so these things are to this day. Now you know, my child, how the Crow came to croak in her black feathers, and Butterfly came to bring such beauty to the world in spite of his shortness of life.

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We used an excellent Battlebards music track. 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:

• Nature Claimed Ruins - The Raven City - Score Music, by Raphael Bellamy

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

Toward the beginning of our journey together, Tira, Bash, and Peter found an ancient text that pointed them to the four Jewels of Edelenn, cities of learning that contained more information to help fight against a growing evil in the world of Vardalon.

The first Jewel was the city of Jama, the capital city of a desert country. There the friends discovered The Desert Sage, a traditional story in the style of that people's wisdom literature that pointed to some new ideas.

This special episode provides the text in a standalone format for easy reference. Here's the text:

From The Desert Sage 

In the shade of the fireblossom bush sat the sage. He pondered its branches, a welcome relief from the sun. “Why do you flourish when all else is waste?” Here was no cool breeze, here no racing stream, only mile upon mile of flowing sand. The hot wind blew, stirring the branches, and in their stirring he heard a reply. 

“I gain my strength from the spreading root, the feet that grab beneath the ground. My arms reach up toward the sky, the smile of the sun. My thorns are sharp and pierce the hungry, to keep my blossoms safe. My blooms roll open in the dawn and drink deep of nightly damp. 

“So must the people of this land be, if they are to survive: strong of foot, embracing the sun, fierce against foe, making much of little. Only in these things will they find length of days. The wise will heed.” 

The Desert Sage found comfort in the desert, feet burned black by sun-bleached sand. No music of the flute to distract from thought; the wind in the sand was music enough. No laughter and merriment to divert from contemplation of suffering; the sun’s dance on the dunes was happiness itself. No call of the merchant to entice the eyes with shining things; in the full heat of the sun a bowl of rice and handful of water become treasure enough. 

I came to him then, sitting by him to hear his tale. In his wanderings the sage roamed far abroad. He left the sands, forsaking the land of his birth. His feet walked distant ways, to the ceiling of the world, to the waters of its end. He spoke to me of things unthought, unimagined, wondrous things no merchant could ever hope to sell in the souk. 

But how his eyes danced in the shade of the fireblossom bush when he spoke of the pillars, tall and crystalline, clear as glass, yet without life. They stood at the four corners of the land, upholding the ceiling of the sky, the realm of the one true god who once wrestled daily with his greatest foe. The pillars, the gifts and remnants of god and foe, master of the sky and usurper, protectors of their being. Those who awaken them, he said, will restore the power of the former music. 

His voice faltered, then resumed. Tall and crystalline, he said, stones fallen from the stars, but their shadows stretched afar, and hid much in their reach. In this world of ours, where there is light, there is shadow; they are intertwined, inseparable. He took my hand, his eyes aflame. Light, shadow, shadow, light; one is not one without the other, yet both are distinct. The wise will heed. 

In his journey, drawn as he was to the pillars yet without knowing, he found pieces thereof, shattered arms of the stars, teardrops of the fallen god and his darksome enemy.  

I sought clarification of these words, but he fell silent. And so we watched the passage of the sun, there in the shade of the fireblossom bush.

-----

We used an excellent Battlebards music track. 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:

• Sheikh's Tent - Enchantress of the Sands - Score Music, by Wesley Devore

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

This last week was a huge challenge for keeping up with our recording schedule. We're taking a short break from the ongoing story due to life events, but in the meantime we want to share this combination lore segment and a personal challenge with our Stackers. Check it out and let us know what you think!

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Stack o' Dice is an official affiliate of Dice Envy. Use this special link, https://diceenvy.com/?rfsn=2189820.f8fe99, to buy your next set of dice, and you'll also help support our show!

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 [email protected].

-----

We used some Creative Commons sound effects and music in this show. For the sake of attribution, we list them here. The following were taken from freesound.org, a fantastic resource for completely free sound effects.

Sound effects that fall under the Attribution license:

• Bullet passbys.wav is a copyright of Audionautics

Sound effects that fall under the Attribution Noncommercial license:

• Highflow River is a copyright of CaganCelik

We also 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 - Temple to the Grey - Score Music, by Luka Lebanidze

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

Join us as Peter reaches level 6. Moved by what he just witnessed outside the mountain monastery of Tuo Nue, Peter is inspired to take his advancement in another direction!

-----

Stack o' Dice is an official affiliate of Dice Envy. Use this special link, https://diceenvy.com/?rfsn=2189820.f8fe99, to buy your next set of dice, and you'll also help support our show!

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 [email protected].

-----

We used some Creative Commons sound effects and music in this show. For the sake of attribution, we list them here. The following were taken from freesound.org, a fantastic resource for completely free sound effects.

Sound effects that fall under the Attribution license:

• RAM_Mouth Hawk_rev_v1.wav is a copyright of reidedo

We also 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:

• Echoes of the Past - The Past Whispers, by Phil Archer

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