How is your loyalty earned? It is of course demanded often, a coveted and valuable thing to many. And it can be lent, or faked, or retracted, a temporary boost or slight in a long line of alliances. But when you offer it for keeps, when its strength outweighs the memory and obligation of any other, what price has been paid for it? Stability, perhaps? Perhaps it is something you expect in return, tit for tat, giving as good as you get. Perhaps you draw it to you like a light in the darkness, like...
Aug 10, 2019•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 29
What makes a legend? The iconic Jolly Roger long outlasts its captain. The history books cherry pick the notorious and the bombastic to remember from a vast trade of mercenary sailors. But the kraken and her sisters still haunt the waters below, still weave their bodies around the edges of the map. The pirates of the golden age inspire story and song, and are kept alive as long as their names are uttered and flags flown. Long after, there will still be creatures feasting among their shipwrecks w...
Jul 19, 2019•59 min•Ep. 28
Where do you place your faith? When hard numbers err and machine gods falter, when their prophecies speak to the untenable, you might put your trust in the knowable fallacies of the human heart. When legacy and traditions are tried and found oppressive, hegemonic, poisonous down to the roots, you might hesitate to bear any coat of arms but your own hide. But a thin skin can barely protect its owner, much less their friends; and a mortal moral compass won't guide you through the long dark. When a...
Jul 12, 2019•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 27
How is power measured? If you bring down the moon, can you call yourself stronger than someone who quells a generational fear? If the magic in your heart commands the sea with a gesture, are you worthy of more respect than someone with nothing but luck and guile on their side to pull the tides ashore? Who is the source of influence: the face all eyes watch and the voice all ears hear, or the hands wrangling pullies and favors in the shadow cast by the spotlight? If all the world is a stage, then...
Jul 05, 2019•57 min•Ep. 26
What has more value: companionship, or clout? All things being equal, or ceteris paribus as they'd say, far above the worries of hunger and war, when your biggest concern is impressing your contemporaries and grading undergrads, and you find yourself with either the esteem of your institution at your back or the steady presence of a friend at your side, but not both: is it worth throwing away what you have, just for the chance to grasp at what you need? Perhaps instead, you could merely dismantl...
Jun 28, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 25
When you die, what hand will guide you from your body? Let's make the assumption that there is something beyond this flimsy world. Let's assume whatever life or afterlife awaits you, you will meet it fully deserved. Now, the psychopomp who leads you there: what are they owed? A gold coin for the trip across the river of course, prayers and well-wishes granted to you by whoever saw fit to have you buried with honor and rites. But let's say you weren't buried; that you didn't die with honor; that ...
May 19, 2019•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 24
What does a town need? Why raise a mansion no one lives in? Why fit a jail door with a lock that shines? What landed gentry goes to seed that does not rot the roots? Speak as soft as you want, but if you carry a gun, people expect you to use it. The same goes for wealth, and reputation, and fear. Why push for a future that no one wants? Why fight for a nostalgia that has left you dry? There's enough of both to warrant a stampede and a gut wound. What does a town need? Not roads, or street lights...
Mar 25, 2019•46 min•Ep. 23
Did I know THIS was going to happen? Not in so many words, no. But did I see this coming? I’ll put it this way: unlike some people, I know where the right place, and when the right time, will be. So, yes, when the two of them found me, I was right where I needed to be. They threw around earnest promises of a brighter day, and there wasn't a single tell, not a note out of place that said Bartholomew Lacks was lying to me. Well, except that their mouth was open. Something about her, though. She di...
Mar 10, 2019•1 hr 58 min•Ep. 22
Previously... Osedax Roseus, pirate-without-a-ship, enlists the help of old friend Somniosidae and sea-witch And the Queen Bore Upon Her Shoulders Thousands of Chittering Insects, Vindictive Servants of Light and Life (or [Vindication]) to free their friend Village Crumbled Under Leviathan's Weight, Serpentine and [Victorious] from the hivemind trance of the prison guards at the edge of the oceanic trench. Part 2 of 2. The track "Golden Threads in Mist" is by Michael Boykin. Find him on twitter ...
Mar 01, 2019•58 min•Ep. 20
On a clear day you can see it from the city limits: a silhouette through the sea snow, perched on the very edge of an oceanic trench. But... that’s all you can see, really. The maelstrom between here and there keeps curious minds from confirming their theories, and there are lots of those to go around. From mer-kind gone feral and acidic to a secret technology kept at safe distance in case it malfunctions and erupts, to the idea that the worst criminals in the ocean thrive in that shadow, far fr...
Feb 22, 2019•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 19
It's my birthday! Happy birthday, me. It's also the two-year anniversary of the production of Spindlewheel. This time in 2017, I was crunching through the first two weeks of february to make a twine game for my birthday. I've linked a thread in the description talking more about that if you're interested. This episode isn't about that, though. See, it's my birthday today. I'm not doing a lot to celebrate, but I am putting this episode out, because this was a treat for me, from start to finish. I...
Feb 15, 2019•52 min•Ep. 21
Previously... The Reader has spent their entire life studying among the first fully sapient AI, Deep Sleep, who has opened their arms to Ion, a perfect machine in contention with an errant branch of themself. Jinx, a mischievous diagnostics program turned agent of chaos, is trailed by a former grift named Airlock, in service of the corporate giant known as First Mornings. Part 2 of 2. (Content Warning: sexual language) Follow James on twitter @babydeathclaw . Follow Sasha on twitter @sasha_renea...
Jan 04, 2019•42 min•Ep. 16
The singularity occurred within living memory, and my entire career since has been spent talking to an inch of its existence. Digital sentience was a miracle the way penicillin was a miracle; with the divine guiding hand of evolution throwing every possible combination at the wall and hoping something will stick, a hundred million monkey paws slapping keyboards for a hundred years to finally type: I AM. My sponsors believe there is a turnkey somewhere here, a clean explanation that will fit in a...
Dec 21, 2018•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 15
Previously... Tamarind, scientist and unwitting leader, creates a new mold from which to make things. Vinnie the Vigor, ghost of a broken and forgotten time; Demerit Delour, pillar of the strange force known only as the Witch; and the many sharp blades of Aledoth at guerrilla fighter Veth's hip, follow Tamarind's developments with bright and frightening interest. Part 2 of 2. The track "Golden Threads in Mist" is by Michael Boykin. Find him on twitter @MeAndAmpersand . Follow Amp on twitter @MeA...
Dec 08, 2018•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 14
They are always watching us, there, behind the veil. I’ve only met their gaze a few times, only by necessity--a gift of the Witch demands to be used once it’s given--and it’s always me who flinches first. But, I don’t need to see them to feel their gaze upon me. They vibrate in the dark occlusions, thrum in the cold-edged blade, hiss in the burning dross. What they want, doesn’t matter. Who they serve seems to shift from moment to moment. Who they were… they are always begging me, pleading me, t...
Nov 30, 2018•59 min•Ep. 13
Previously... Trapped below the Marlen House with antiquities enthusiast Virgil France and actor out of work Terrace Mavelle in a bizarre labyrinth of gothic hallways lined with occultist runes, Reggie Marlen, assistant and understudy of business tychoon Leonid Mavelle, and Solomon Ash, spouse of Leonid's daughter Dr. Q Mavelle, try to make sense of the late Leonid's strange video messages before the Vultures repossess the property. Will they understand Leonid's desires in the shape of a will in...
Nov 23, 2018•30 min•Ep. 12
A woman with a broad hat and a dark thin coat stood on my doorstep and told me, with condolences, that a man I'd never met had died. She told me this, having seen my name written as one of his next-of-kin on a less-important document they had found while looking for a more-important document in the shape of a last will and testament. I'd already known where his house was, and which aisle to find his company's products at my local grocery store, but I'd never visited, or bought, his property, bef...
Nov 16, 2018•55 min•Ep. 11
There are people at this very bar who remember when the Heights Casino was a half-rate pit stop on the way to the real gambling dens on the coast, but that was back when we had a coast. Ask any of ‘em and they’ll ramble on about how prepared and sustainable everyone was, until the tide came in and swept away their best-laid plans. Now, the Heights Casino’s saving grace is the hill it was built on. That’s it. The only thing to do here is for the old fogies: sit on a barstools and make bets on the...
Nov 09, 2018•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 10
The ship hurtled away from the molten light, leaving me terrified and alone as my chassis cooled and contracted down into a single state for the first time in decades. my optics took their time adjusting to the relative dark of space, scraping together meager reflections of color instead of the torrential starlight I’d become accustomed to. For the first time in decades, I shivered. Coordinates locked, engine humming, I allowed myself one last look at the star. There it was. Under the solar flar...
Nov 02, 2018•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 9
Previously.... Venn, a retired monster hunter and newly adopted parent of several hundred freshly awoken automata, attempts to reckon with the Vampire up in its castle for its heinous crimes against the thieves-town below. Fragile Flesh Dressed In Stone, once the only waking automaton in the town, is delighted by the resurgence of automata, the tonal spaces between words filled once again by their old language; a wide-smiling Fool automaton buys out the town's private libraries; a Scholar automa...
Oct 26, 2018•35 min•Ep. 8
No one remembers what these structures were for in their heyday; but today, they serve a nobler cause supporting our lean-to’s and clotheslines. The inscriptions that once covered them have been chipped off and now circulate as a kind of currency, traded or pick-pocketed from each other’s coats, as needed. When you’re rich, you can rest easy within that circle of glyphs, breath unstolen and throat unpunctured. But no one here stays rich for long, and soon you’ll be just like the rest of us sorry...
Oct 19, 2018•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 7
To Holy Armiger, ey of starfire and sand, defiant captive, root and blossom of all life: I drank Rowena's potions, as your priests require. It sits heavy on my bones, but the flower of my eye buds without a bloom; a promise I fear won't deliver in my time. There is enough light in the afternoon to make a few moments out of bed worthwhile. Though uncoiling the vines wrapped vicelike around my legs takes some doing. Every day, the distance between desk and bed extends by a small mile. Today, as ev...
Oct 12, 2018•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 6
The belltower of that dreadful church is the first landmark to break the horizon on the return trip across the river. He spends every waking minute straining his ears to hear its bell over the choppy waves, the groaning wood, and the whining passengers. But even that is not a comfort, but the promise of even more dull-eyed figures desperately waiting to rush his boat and shriek if he so much as pauses to stretch his aching back. Just imagine if he could take a break. That crooked spine pulled st...
Oct 05, 2018•59 min•Ep. 5
The final part to the story. Strain of Solstice by Mike. Follow Sasha on twitter @sasha_reneau . Follow Mike on twitter @MeAndAmpersand . Follow Spindlewheel's development @teacabbage . Check out the open beta at https://tinyurl.com/spindlewheel-openbeta.
Sep 21, 2018•55 min•Ep. 4
I worked the stone in a dull haze, my ears still ringing as I shaped the frieze depicting my grand appointment to divine artisan, following the treachery and swift execution of my predecessor. The tools were still warm from his hands. I remember it rained hard that night, flooding the stone gutters and hissing steam off the bronze pipes that lined the halls of the labyrinth god. His vast face watched us all. Without thinking, I'd carved it into my own figure on the tableau. And then, a flash of ...
Sep 14, 2018•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 3
You look out on the western sea and it's hard to imagine, thousands of years ago, that broad horizon was broken up by mountains and jungle. The library's inscriptions speak of this and more of the old world, full of wonders and technologies that would be pointless in our stilt-legged city. But, for all the floral language about their alien passions and anxieties, we still can't find the words that describe how they kept the sea at bay for so long, or what crack finally split the walls of their g...
Sep 07, 2018•43 min•Ep. 2
When we talk about magic--and we're not just telling fairy tales or parlor tricks--we don't usually talk about it like puberty. But when it returned to the world, it returned in fits and spurts, horrifying and impulsive and stupid, and there really isn't a word more apt. Alas, some of us are still hoping against hope for a graceful transition, a slow ease of the public into the idea of holding fire in your hands, or negotiating the opinions of a river. We still believe we can instill safety prec...
Sep 05, 2018•39 min•Ep. 1
