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Language:
English
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Pod_Together 2021
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Published:
2021-08-26
Completed:
2021-08-26
Words:
10,582
Chapters:
16/16
Comments:
9
Kudos:
62
Bookmarks:
5
Hits:
561

the universe, ever expanding (and you race to meet it)

,

Chapter 16: Memorials

Chapter Text

Download MP3 here

Image description: a granite statue of a woman carrying two short swords, a bow and quiver slung across her back. She’s looking over her shoulder, her expression determined. Behind her a massive wolf is preparing to leap. The statue has been placed on a square of grass in the center of a city. People move around it. One kid is leaning against the statue, writing in a notebook. 

Image description: a weathered wooden statue of a woman. Her skin is textured to look like bark. The wood on one of her arms is charred, and a crack runs from her upper arm down into her chest. Another split runs vertically down her torso. The wood inside is scorched and ragged. She’s kneeling on the ground in front of a fruit tree, her hands outstretched and resting on the trunk. The ground around her is thick with grass and wildflowers. No one else can be seen. 

Notes:

Text & Original Art - DuskDragon39
Audio, Tarot Spreads & Derivative Art - Hagar

Audio Credits

Music in the single-file version is Mark Eliyahu's Through Me.

The following sounds from freesound.org were used under the CC Attribution license:
- 117930 dn-kp radio band switch 03
- 262267 gowlermusic radio static
- 411791 inspectorj door wooden close
- 69330 juskiddink birdsong march
- 61075 pogotron tape recorder (CC Sampling Plus)

Art Credit

All tarot images are from the Transparent Tarot by Emily Carding. Non-tarot art is by DuskDragon39.

DuskDragon39's Notes

This story owes thanks to a small village of people.
 
First and foremost is Hagar, who worked closely with me to develop the story and the world of Arna, Eft, and Qualia. She was the one who suggested the tree and the three generations of women associated with it, and we just bounced ideas off of each other from there until we had a story. The Tarot art she did for each section/story is gorgeous and ties so well into this work's themes, and I'm still in love with how she brought it to life through her voice acting and soundscaping. She was also responsible for uploading this to AO3 and dealing with all of the coding that makes this story work the way it does.

Thank you also to:
- vertianblue, for her beta-reading work on every story here and making sure that this thing actually made sense - your comments were always a joy to get. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
- GodOfLaundryBaskets and A., for working out the code magic that makes the evidence board both clickable and mobile-friendly.
- Spiza, for the encouragement, advice, listening to me rant about puzzle stories, and beta-reading for Ash-Wolves, Knight-Errant, Bedtime Story, and History Book.
- Vasa, for her advice on Ash-Wolves and for encouraging me with this story.
- Mattie, for diving knee-deep into every shadow monster in the Player's Handbook when I asked for one to include in History Book.
- Rhys, for the line in it never feels the same as before that inspired the title.
- Hagar, again, for writing the parts of Alternate Universe that I couldn't. You've gotten me hooked on Tales of Arcadia now, thank you.

World Credits:
This isn't quite on of those hundred-fandom works you sometimes see floating around, but oh boy were a lot of different worlds referenced in this.

- The Ash-Wolves features an original universe, loosely inspired by the Septimus Heap books.
- Knight-Errant features Elsewhere University, which can be found at the Elsewhere University Tumblr.
- Bedtime Story, Journal, Rules, Table, and Home feature an original universe developed by Hagar and I.
- History Book features my long-running D&D universe, with thanks to my extremely patient players and the Forgotten Realms wiki.
- The Dragon's Legend and Second-Sister feature the same original universe developed by Hagar and I, with worldbuilding elements (and a squirrel) pulled from Norse mythology. Parts of the Dragon's Legend were loosely inspired by T.A. Barron's The Great Tree of Avalon.
- Memorials and Breaking News feature the Tales of Arcadia universe (indirectly) and an original universe.
- Stranger at the Front takes place in an original universe. I know the constructs came from somewhere, but hell if I remember where. The image I had for them was definitely pulled from ToastyGlow's sketch animation "Okay".
- Preparation features Alcor the Dreambender, from Gravity Falls' Transcendence AU. He can be found over at the Transcendence AU Tumblr.
- Alternate Universe features characters from multiple universes, including: Tales of Arcadia, the Transcendence AU, Elsewhere University, Ephemeris Coast (a ttrpg written by ErrorMarigenous), and my own (and Hagar's) original universes. It takes place in the Tales of Arcadia universe.

Thank you for reading/listening.
- Dusk