Mushrooms of the Underworld

There is a tall tower to the north. A warlock once lived there. Now the tower is abandoned. But that does not mean is it safe.  Genre: Horror, Mystery   Excerpt: There was a story told…of a little girl who went into the tower and came out unscathed... The bard who told the story sang in sweet and rising notes of how the girl was protected by her innocence.  But when in the history of this tricksome world has innocence ever protected anyone from anything?  This isn’t her story. It’s mine. I went into that tower.    NOTE: There's a tech issue with my hosting platform where only the most recent 300 episodes are available from my feed. They're working on fixing it. In the meantime, all episodes are available from my podcast page: Storyfeather Podcast. (10/2/25)   What story or stories am I revisiting in this episode? Each Season 8 episode is a standalone story, but it’s connected to or inspired by a previous story through a character, a place, an object, a concept, a continuation of events (ahem, sequel), and so on. This story was inspired by another story about a dangerous warlock, “Dragons of Verandering.”   MY FIRST BOOK (yay)Ever wonder how I’ve gotten all these hundreds of stories written?  I have a method. And I talk all about it in my book called Fictioneer’s Field Guide: A Game Plan for Writing Short Stories. It’s now available from Amazon as an eBook, paperback, and hardcover. You can also get there from my Store page: STORYFEATHER STORE   The Store page also has sign-up forms for my two email newsletters: Storyfeather Gazette (if you’d like to keep up with the fiction I create) Fictioneer’s Field Guide (if you’d like writing tips and guidance from me) Choose what you want. (Either way, you're choosing high jinks.)   MERCH!Interested in merch, like mugs and notebooks, featuring my artwork? Please visit my Store page for info on where you can buy: STORYFEATHER STORE   CREDITSStory: “One Wicked Warlock” Copyright © 2021 by Nila L. Patel Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:  Nila L. Patel   Music: “Devasted” by NICHOLAS JEUDY (Intro & Outro) “Abstract Vision #5” by ANDREW SITKOV (Outro)   Music by NICHOLAS JEUDY (Dark Fantasy Studio)* “Incantation” “Ghosts” “At the gate of hell” “Once” “Orbs” “Abyss” “Darkest quest” “Devasted” “Well of souls”   All these tracks are part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market.   Music by Nicholas Jeudy and Andrew Sitkov is licensed from GameDev Market Changes made to the musical tracks? Just cropping of some to align with my narration.   Find more music by Nicholas Jeudy and Andrew Sitkov at gamedevmarket.net Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com   Episode Art Description: Digital drawing. At center, the shadows of two figures cast against a stone wall. The figure at left is reeling backwards, arms outstretched, left leg raised and bent, chest pierced with a long spiraling horn, neck entwined with a segmented whip-like tail ending in a stinger. The figure at right stands upright, face in profile, right arm outstretched, holding a vial out above the first figure’s face. The vial is filled with a glowing substance. A green glow appears at bottom right. The left and right frames of the image depict the faint outlines of brickwork. Watermark of “Storyfeather” along right leg of figure at right.

When Anushka was cursed to only repeat what others said, her only hope of escaping the curse was the only person who seemed to remember the curse. Genre: Fantasy   Excerpt: Because Anushka could not convey her thoughts in any way that others could understand, it seemed to many that she did not have any thoughts of her own. But Mitra always told her cousin. “You are the bright one. And the quick one. Like lightning. Like your true name.”   What story or stories am I revisiting in this episode? Each Season 8 episode is a standalone story, but it’s connected to or inspired by a previous story through a character, a place, an object, a concept, a continuation of events (ahem, sequel), and so on. This episode is inspired by two stories about girls who are cursed and strive to find a way to break their curses: “The Cursefall” and “Auroramorphosis.”   MY FIRST BOOK (yay)Ever wonder how I’ve gotten all these hundreds of stories written?  I have a method. And I talk all about it in my book called Fictioneer’s Field Guide: A Game Plan for Writing Short Stories. It’s now available from Amazon as an eBook, paperback, and hardcover. You can also get there from my Store page: STORYFEATHER STORE   The Store page also has sign-up forms for my two email newsletters: Storyfeather Gazette (if you’d like to keep up with the fiction I create) Fictioneer’s Field Guide (if you’d like writing tips and guidance from me) Choose what you want. (Either way, you're choosing high jinks.)   MERCH!Interested in merch, like mugs and notebooks, featuring my artwork? Please visit my Store page for info on where you can buy: STORYFEATHER STORE CREDITSStory: “The Misfortune of Repetition” Copyright © 2021 by Nila L. Patel Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:  Nila L. Patel   Music: “Dwarven Settlement” by BENJAMIN CARR (Intro & Outro) “Abstract Vision #5” by ANDREW SITKOV (Outro)   Music by ANDREW SITKOV (MuzStation Game Music) “Adventure Track #1 (looped)” “Ice and Fire (peaceful part)” “Medieval Track #1” “Magic Within” “Secrets of Kingdom” “Journey into Fog” “Knight Rising”   Music by BENJAMIN CARR (Scythuz) “Dwarven Settlement” “Mystical Forest” “Ice Cavern” “Underwater Temple” “Crystal Caves” “Ancient Ruins” All these tracks are part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market. Music by Benjamin Carr and Andrew Sitkov is licensed from GameDev Market Vocal effects created with Audacity Changes made to the musical tracks? Just cropping of some to align with my narration.   Find more music by Benjamin Carr and Andrew Sitkov at gamedevmarket.net Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com   Episode Art Description: Digital drawing. At center, two little girls. The girl at left stands a head taller, with her right hand on her hip and her left arm around the other girl’s shoulder. She wears a skirt, a quarter-sleeve pullover, a band around her left wrist, and a barrette in her hair. The girl at right holds a book open in her right hand, and touches a page with her left. Sparkles surround the book. She wears a dress with a pleated skirt. The girls smile and gaze at each other. Behind them are lines of script with random letters bordered by a lightning pattern. Watermark of “Storyfeather” along outer edge of book cover.

The living do not belong in the underworld. But all the paths of escape are horrific, save for one…the mushroom. Genre: Mythology   Excerpt: There were a number of ways for the passage to be made—flesh-wrenching spells, maps that could only be read by those who had spent a lifetime studying magic, or aid given by the sovereign’s own siblings to some favored mortal, all of which were giving way to a new and much easier means…mushrooms.    What story or stories am I revisiting in this episode? Each Season 8 episode is a standalone story, but it’s connected to or inspired by a previous story through a character, a place, an object, a concept, a continuation of events (ahem, sequel), and so on. Two stories inspired this one. One where a wizard uses a special mushroom to brew a rare spell, “A Potion of Uncertain Fortune.” And another where a young man on a quest wakes up in the middle of a fairy ring, that is, a ring of mushrooms, “The Isle of Mist and Gloom.”   MY FIRST BOOK (yay)Ever wonder how I’ve gotten all these hundreds of stories written?  I have a method. And I talk all about it in my book called Fictioneer’s Field Guide: A Game Plan for Writing Short Stories. It’s now available from Amazon as an eBook, paperback, and hardcover. You can also get there from my Store page: STORYFEATHER STORE   The Store page also has sign-up forms for my two email newsletters: Storyfeather Gazette (if you’d like to keep up with the fiction I create) Fictioneer’s Field Guide (if you’d like writing tips and guidance from me) Choose what you want. (Either way, you're choosing high jinks.)   MERCH!Interested in merch, like mugs and notebooks, featuring my artwork? Please visit my Store page for info on where you can buy: STORYFEATHER STORE     CREDITSStory: “Mushrooms of the Underworld” Copyright © 2021 by Nila L. Patel Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:  Nila L. Patel   Music: “Scroll of the wind walker” by NICHOLAS JEUDY (Intro & Outro) “Abstract Vision #5” by ANDREW SITKOV (Outro)   Music by NICHOLAS JEUDY (Dark Fantasy Studio) “Whispers” “Between two worlds” “Underworld” “Scroll of the wind walker” “Inspector” “To Falgalown” “A place where evil lives” “Evidence” “The forest” “Ancient gods” “Compass”   All these tracks are part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market.   Music by Nicholas Jeudy and Andrew Sitkov is licensed from GameDev Market Sound effects from AudioJungle, and GameDevMarket, and Soundly (through Hindenburg) Vocal effects created with Audacity Changes made to the musical tracks? Just cropping of some to align with my narration.   Find more music by Nicholas Jeudy and Andrew Sitkov at gamedevmarket.net Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com   Episode Art Description: Digital drawing. A humanoid figure at center, from the waist up, wearing a cap and opaque lacy veil, with two mushroom caps emerging as sleeves from the left arm. The figure’s right hand is raised up, fingers snapping. Patches of different types of mushrooms grow on either side of the figure that represent or resemble real mushrooms: inky cap, cage fungus, split gill, pixie cup lichen, and others. Watermark of “Storyfeather” along the figure’s right forearm. The rectangular image is made square with top and bottom borders with cloudy swirls of color that match the hues of the main image.

To rescue her brother, a woman jumps into what she believes is a dimensional rift generated by a device that he has invented.   Genre: Science Fantasy   Excerpt: “You come from within the margins.  Where there are well-defined boundaries... Reality.” "Isn’t this also real?” “It is for now.”   What story or stories am I revisiting in this episode? Each Season 8 episode is a standalone story, but it’s connected to or inspired by a previous story through a character, a place, an object, a concept, a continuation of events (ahem, sequel), and so on. I’ve written a lot of stories about inventors inventing things. This week’s story was inspired by a weird dream I had, and by a the episode called “Jukebox Time Portal.”   MY FIRST BOOK (yay)Ever wonder how I’ve gotten all these hundreds of stories written?  I have a method. And I talk all about it in my book called Fictioneer’s Field Guide: A Game Plan for Writing Short Stories. It’s now available from Amazon as an eBook, paperback, and hardcover. You can also get there from my Store page: STORYFEATHER STORE   The Store page also has sign-up forms for my two email newsletters: Storyfeather Gazette (if you’d like to keep up with the fiction I create) Fictioneer’s Field Guide (if you’d like writing tips and guidance from me) Choose what you want. (Either way, you're choosing high jinks.)   MERCH!Interested in merch, like mugs and notebooks, featuring my artwork? Please visit my Store page for info on where you can buy: STORYFEATHER STORE   CREDITSStory: “The Margin Alien” Copyright © 2019 by Nila L. Patel Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:  Nila L. Patel   Music: “Puzzle Pieces” by LEE ROSEVERE (Intro) “Start the Day” by LEE ROSEVERE (Outro) “Abstract Vision #5” by ANDREW SITKOV (Outro)   Music by LEE ROSEVERE “Awkward Silences (version b)” “All the Answers” “Introducing the Pre-roll” “The Secret to Growing Up” “Puzzle Pieces” “Here’s the Thing” “Everywhere” “Start the Day” “Snakes” “Under Suspicion” “Knowing the Truth” “Decompress” “Not My Problem”   Tracks by Andrew Sitkov are part of music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market. Music by Andrew Sitkov is licensed from GameDev Market Music by Lee Rosevere is licensed under CC BY 4.0 Sound effects from AudioJungle, and GameDevMarket, and Soundly (through Hindenburg) Changes made to the musical tracks? Just cropping of some to align with my narration.   Find more music by Andrew Sitkov at gamedevmarket.net Find more music by Lee Rosevere at freemusicarchive.org/music/lee-rosevere and leerosevere.bandcamp.com Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com   Episode Art Description: Digital drawing. Left half bottom, a woman in a plaid shirt and wearing a parachute harness seen from the waist-up, glances up and over her left shoulder. Right half, a translucent tree with two branches. An eagle with rainbow-colored feathers perches on one branch, wings partly extended, gazing down at the woman. Bars of light cross around the woman and the eagle. The ground is a hazy. Sparks and hazy bubbles are dispersed everywhere. Watermark of “Storyfeather” along bar of light at center left.

Using alchemy and electricity, a man builds a doorway that’s meant to isolate the mind of anyone who passes through it. Genre: Horror, Mystery, Science Fiction   Excerpt: “A whole twisted into a new shape that does not remember the old. A whole slowly sliced into pieces that do not know how to come back together. And so they move farther and farther apart. That is what your doorway has done to me.”   What story or stories am I revisiting in this episode? Each Season 8 episode is a standalone story, but it’s connected to or inspired by a previous story through a character, a place, an object, a concept, a continuation of events (ahem, sequel), and so on. This story is inspired by another one I’ve written where someone uses “arcane practices” to build a device intended for good, only to later realize that the device has unexpected and dangerous effects: The Mirror of Displacement.   MY FIRST BOOK (yay)Ever wonder how I’ve gotten all these hundreds of stories written?  I have a method. And I talk all about it in my book called Fictioneer’s Field Guide: A Game Plan for Writing Short Stories. It’s now available from Amazon as an eBook, paperback, and hardcover. You can also get there from my Store page: STORYFEATHER STORE  The Store page also has sign-up forms for my two email newsletters: Storyfeather Gazette (if you’d like to keep up with the fiction I create) Fictioneer’s Field Guide (if you’d like writing tips and guidance from me) Choose what you want. (Either way, you're choosing high jinks.)   MERCH!Interested in merch, like mugs and notebooks, featuring my artwork? Please visit my Store page for info on where you can buy: STORYFEATHER STORE   CREDITSStory: “The Doorway of Disarray” Copyright © 2021 by Nila L. Patel Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:  Nila L. Patel   Music: “Whispers” by Nicholas Jeudy (Intro & Outro) “Abstract Vision #5” by ANDREW SITKOV (Outro)   Music by NICHOLAS JEUDY (Dark Fantasy Studio) “Monochromatic stain” “Unsolved” “Inspector” “Evidence” “Whispers” “Prisma” “Experiment 3” “Experiment 6” “Experiment 7” “Unclassified” “Ghost hacker” “Investigation day” “Profiler” All these tracks are part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market.   Music by Nicholas Jeudy and Andrew Sitkov is licensed from GameDev Market Sound effects from AudioJungle, and GameDevMarket, and Soundly (through Hindenburg) Vocal effects created with Audacity Changes made to the musical tracks? Just cropping of some to align with my narration.   Find more music by Nicholas Jeudy and Andrew Sitkov at gamedevmarket.net Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com   Episode Art Description: Digital drawing. Slightly left of center, a man in a suit seen from the back steps toward a detached doorway into a hazy light. Sitting up at his left is a dog with tongue lolling out, gazing up at the man. To the right is a portable generator.  Wires lead from the generator and wrap around the doorframe. The dog, man, and generator cast shadows. Right foreground, another dog seen in profile from head to top of chest, with red eyes, notches in the ears, and red spittle dripping from the mouth, stares at the man. Faint outlines of shelving are seen in the background. Watermark of “Storyfeather” along left side of doorway.

Once, a colossal egg floated in space.  It was the size of a planet, and it orbited the twin stars of a system somewhere in a galaxy far from our own. Genre: Mythology, Science Fiction   Excerpt: Many things have hatched from many eggs. Some terrible. Some wonderful. Some massive.  Some minuscule. Was there not a poet that spoke of the egg’s perfection as a container?  No hinge, no edge, no keyhole, and yet, the newest and weakest of creatures can break through, and in doing so, prove themselves worthy of entering the world.   What story or stories am I revisiting in this episode? Each Season 8 episode is a standalone story, but it’s connected to or inspired by a previous story through a character, a place, an object, a concept, a continuation of events (ahem, sequel), and so on. I’ve written so many stories that I now have more than one story about eggs.  More. Than. One. Is…too many? Here they are if need to binge-listen to episodes about eggs: “Finden’s Egg Pocket” “The Iolyran Serpent” “This Egg Is Not an Egg”   MY FIRST BOOK (yay)Ever wonder how I’ve gotten all these hundreds of stories written?  I have a method. And I talk all about it in my book called Fictioneer’s Field Guide: A Game Plan for Writing Short Stories. It’s now available from Amazon as an eBook, paperback, and hardcover. You can also get there from my Store page: STORYFEATHER STORE   The Store page also has sign-up forms for my two email newsletters: Storyfeather Gazette (if you’d like to keep up with the fiction I create) Fictioneer’s Field Guide (if you’d like writing tips and guidance from me) Choose what you want. (Either way, you're choosing high jinks.)   MERCH!Interested in merch, like mugs and notebooks, featuring my artwork? Please visit my Store page for info on where you can buy: STORYFEATHER STORE   CREDITSStory: “Many Things Have Hatched” Copyright © 2021 by Nila L. Patel Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:  Nila L. Patel   Music: “Space Discoveries” by ANDREW SITKOV (Intro & Outro) “Abstract Vision #5” by ANDREW SITKOV (Outro)   Music by ANDREW SITKOV (MuzStation Game Music)* “Freedom” “Space Discoveries” “Abstract Vision #3” “Unknown Terrain” “Abstract Vision #6” “Abstract Vision #9” “Abstract Vision #4” “Dark Side” “Among the Stars”   All these tracks are part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market.   Music by Andrew Sitkov is licensed from GameDev Market Vocal effects created with Audacity Changes made to the musical tracks? Just cropping of some to align with my narration. Find more music by Andrew Sitkov at gamedevmarket.net Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com   Episode Art Description: Digital drawing. At center, an egg whose translucent surface reveals a reptilian creature curled within, facing right. The creature’s head in profile shows a closed eye and a mouth with a beak-like upper lid. Four small limbs protrude from the torso, on which scales are faintly visible. The creature’s tail curves back under its head. The egg floats in a primordium with two tiny glowing bodies at top left. Glowing cracks with crystalline nodules run along the shell’s surface. Watermark of “Storyfeather” curves along the egg at right.

An astrobiologist gathers and assembles clues from across time to help solve a cosmic mystery that threatens to doom Earth.  Genre: Science Fiction, Mythology     Excerpt: From the depths of the cosmos they come…warping all around them as they go. Time. Matter. Energy. Will. Shifting between the unknowable and the knowable. Per our current understanding, the entity moves through the cosmos and through dimensions, through all levels of existence, differentiating like a cell, gaining specific characteristics, (maybe gaining awareness…   What story or stories am I revisiting in this episode? Each Season 8 episode is a standalone story, but it’s connected to or inspired by a previous story through a character, a place, an object, a concept, a continuation of events (ahem, sequel), and so on. This week's episode aims to answer some unanswered questions I left in a Season 4 episode called “Professor Gadston.”   MY FIRST BOOK (yay)Ever wonder how I’ve gotten all these hundreds of stories written?  I have a method. And I talk all about it in my book called Fictioneer’s Field Guide: A Game Plan for Writing Short Stories. It’s now available from Amazon as an eBook, paperback, and hardcover.  You can also get there from my Store page: STORYFEATHER STORE   The Store page also has sign-up forms for my two email newsletters: Storyfeather Gazette (if you’d like to keep up with the fiction I create) Fictioneer’s Field Guide (if you’d like writing tips and guidance from me) Choose what you want. (Either way, you're choosing high jinks.)   MERCH!Interested in merch, like mugs and notebooks, featuring my artwork? Please visit my Store page for info on where you can buy: STORYFEATHER STORE   CREDITSStory: “Doctor Spencer's Fallen Star” Copyright © 2021 by Nila L. Patel Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:  Nila L. Patel   Music: “Connecting dots” by NICHOLAS JEUDY (Intro & Outro) “Abstract Vision #5” by ANDREW SITKOV (Outro)   Music by NICHOLAS JEUDY (Dark Fantasy Studio) “Complexe Mind” “Connecting dots” “Cold case” “Connected” “Compass” “Cyber” “City”   All these tracks are part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market.   Music by Nicholas Jeudy and Andrew Sitkov is licensed from GameDev Market Sound effects from AudioJungle, and GameDevMarket Changes made to the musical tracks? Just cropping of some to align with my narration.   Find more music by Nicholas Jeudy and Andrew Sitkov at gamedevmarket.net Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com   Episode Art Description: Digital drawing: A mask-like face at center with sharp angled eye holes, a mouthpiece shaped like jagged teeth, and a beak-like nose. Instead of a body, an amorphous form flows out and up from behind two small ears, where the neck would be expected. A wake of glowing light flows out from the face’s jaw, indicating movement at great speeds. Below and behind the face, bottom half of image, the translucent hint of a planet and a large continent. Watermark of “Storyfeather” along border of visible continent.

A merchant vessel enters a system with rigid laws about visitors, and almost succeeds in making a lucrative delivery, when it encounters a potentially deadly obstacle. Genre: Science Fiction    Excerpt: We had obtained the means of shielding certain sections of engineering and the crew quarters. Cargo, I was happy to be transparent about. But there were things aboard my ship that I needed to hide. And I couldn’t expect the crew to remove every questionable item. Our chief engineer would have disembarked if we didn’t fly with a sufficient supply of his favorite snack, mokkie-bars.   What story or stories am I revisiting in this episode?Each Season 8 episode is a standalone story, but it’s connected to or inspired by a previous story through a character, a place, an object, a concept, a continuation of events (ahem, sequel), and so on. This story is connected to the Year Seven story entitled “A Tale of Nine Lemons,” in which a young man, whose parents have given his siblings all manner of wondrous parting gifts to help them make their fortunes in the world, is given a basket of lemons to make his fortune. That story was the result of a writing prompt about…lemons.  MY FIRST BOOK (yay)Ever wonder how I’ve gotten all these hundreds of stories written?  I have a method. And I talk all about it in my book called Fictioneer’s Field Guide: A Game Plan for Writing Short Stories. It’s now available as an eBook, paperback, and hardcover. The book title takes you straight to the book on Amazon. Or you can visit my Store page: STORYFEATHER STORE   The Store page also has sign-up forms for my two email newsletters: Storyfeather Gazette (if you’d like to keep up with the fiction I create) Fictioneer’s Field Guide (if you’d like writing tips and guidance from me) Choose what you want. (Either way, you're choosing high jinks.)   MERCH!Interested in merch, like mugs and notebooks, featuring my artwork? Please visit my Store page for updated info on where you can buy: STORYFEATHER STORE   CREDITSStory: “The Lemonuclear Conductor” Copyright © 2020 by Nila L. Patel Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:  Nila L. Patel   Music: “Neon god” by NICHOLAS JEUDY (Intro & Outro) “Abstract Vision #5” by ANDREW SITKOV (Outro)   Music by NICHOLAS JEUDY “Them droids” “Neon god” “Reloaded” “Negociation” “MDK” “Bio hazard” “Men in black” “Under the mask” “Trojan horse” “Master” “Virtual reality”   All these tracks are part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market. Music by Nicholas Jeudy and Andrew Sitkov is licensed from GameDev Market Sound effects from AudioJungle, and GameDevMarket, and Soundly (through Hindenburg) Changes made to the musical tracks? Just cropping of some to align with my narration.   Find more music by Nicholas Jeudy and Andrew Sitkov at gamedevmarket.net Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com   Episode Art Description: Digital drawing of a humanoid person with a long-haired mohawk and scaly skin at left, facing away and looking at multiple glowing holographic displays with various readouts. The person points at the main display, which shows a containment or reactor vessel. Some text is readable. The word “engineering” at top, and “Lemonuclear Conductor: LNC Version 5.5.” Horizontal rectangular image is made square with borders at top and bottom with a textured pattern of square confetti and vertical bars in the same orange and yellow colors of the main image. Watermark of “Storyfeather” along left side of reactor vessel.

An excited apprentice attempts to make a planet for the first time, having watched the making of hundreds. But watching is not the same as doing. Genre: Science Fiction, Science Fantasy   Excerpt: Nebulous gases shimmered as they swirled past me. Particles crashed and fused. Vapors thickened into plasma and then into liquid. Specks became pebbles. Pebbles became rock. Rock collided with rock… The layers of the sphere began to close into one sphere, imbued with a strong enough measure of gravity to draw a fine cloak of dust around itself as it spun into place.   What story or stories am I revisiting in this episode? Each Season 8 episode is a standalone story, but it’s connected to or inspired by a previous story through a character, a place, an object, a concept, a continuation of events (ahem, sequel), and so on. The story that inspired this one, from way back in Season One, is called “Heliotrope,” about a device built by hopeful human hands. Fun fact: The character Proto is named for the term “protostar.” The character Ring is named so because I have an affinity for ringed planets. (Aside from Earth, my favorite planet is Saturn.)   MY FIRST BOOK (yay)Ever wonder how I’ve gotten all these hundreds of stories written?  I have a method. And I talk all about it in my book called Fictioneer’s Field Guide: A Game Plan for Writing Short Stories. It’s now available as an eBook, paperback, and hardcover.  The book title takes you straight to the book on Amazon. Or you can visit my Store page: STORYFEATHER STORE   The Store page also has sign-up forms for my two email newsletters: Storyfeather Gazette (if you’d like to keep up with the fiction I create) Fictioneer’s Field Guide (if you’d like writing tips and guidance from me) Choose what you want. (Either way, you're choosing high jinks.)   MERCH!Interested in merch, like mugs and notebooks, featuring my artwork? Please visit my Store page for updated info on where you can buy: STORYFEATHER STORE   CREDITSStory: “RIng Planet One” Copyright © 2021 by Nila L. Patel Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:  Nila L. Patel   Music: “Abstract Vision #5” by ANDREW SITKOV (Intro & Outro) “Cosmic Drifting” by LEE ROSEVERE (Outro   Music by JONATHAN SHAW “A Tale of Peace”   Music by LEE ROSEVERE “Cosmic Drifting” “Puzzle Pieces” “How I Used To See The Stars” “Musical Mathematics” “I Believe in You”   Tracks by Jonathan Shaw and Andrew Sitkov are part of music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market.   Music by Jonathan Shaw and Andrew Sitkov is licensed from GameDev Market Music by Lee Rosevere is licensed under CC BY 4.0 Changes made to the musical tracks? Just cropping of some to align with my narration.   Find more music by Jonathan Shaw and Andrew Sitkov at gamedevmarket.net Find more music by Jonathan Shaw at jshaw.co.uk Find more music by Lee Rosevere at freemusicarchive.org/music/lee-rosevere and leerosevere.bandcamp.com Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com   Episode Art Description: Digital painting. At center, a planet with a dark smooth surface. A pyramidal section has been cut out to show three layers beneath the planet’s surface. Two glowing rings surround the planet. Amorphous, plasma-like material swirls around the planet. Watermark of “Storyfeather” curves along planet at bottom.

Following their queen and captain into exile, the crew of the Echidna build an experimental engine, to keep surviving and striving, and to one day establish a new colony.  Genre: Science Fiction THIS IS EPISODE #400. I have put out 400 podcast episodes by my lil old self. Mwahaha! Tell me this means I cannot be stopped!   Excerpt:“Queens growing old without growing wiser. That’s not what we need. That’s not what I seek to be.” Those were the last words that Captain Navaso spoke before she went into exile, breaking from the Unified Colonies, along with 899 loyal members of her colony.   What story or stories am I revisiting in this episode? Each Season 8 episode is a standalone story, but it’s connected to or inspired by a previous story through a character, a place, an object, a concept, a continuation of events (ahem, sequel), and so on. This story is a direct prequel to an episode from Season Three, “The Adventure of the Goliath,” in which a couple of agents who investigate unusual phenomena follow a distress signal coming from an unusual source.   MY FIRST BOOK (yay)Ever wonder how I’ve gotten all these hundreds of stories written?  I have a method. And I talk all about it in my book called Fictioneer’s Field Guide: A Game Plan for Writing Short Stories. It’s now available as an eBook, paperback, and hardcover. The book title takes you straight to the book on Amazon. Or you can visit my Store page: STORYFEATHER STORE   The Store page also has sign-up forms for my two email newsletters: Storyfeather Gazette (if you’d like to keep up with the fiction I create) Fictioneer’s Field Guide (if you’d like writing tips and guidance from me) Choose what you want. (Either way, you're choosing high jinks.)   MERCH!Interested in merch, like mugs and notebooks, featuring my artwork? Please visit my Store page for updated info on where you can buy: STORYFEATHER STORE   CREDITSStory: “The Last Voyage of the Echidna” Copyright © 2021 by Nila L. Patel Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:  Nila L. Patel   Music: “Drive With Me” by ANDREW SITKOV (Intro & Outro) “Abstract Vision #5” by ANDREW SITKOV (Outro)   Music by ANDREW SITKOV (MuzStation Game Music) “Abstact Vision #3” “Abstact Vision #6” “Drive With Me” “Be a Hero”   Music by NICHOLAS JEUDY (Dark Fantasy Studio) “Particle Voyager” “Connected” “Prisma” “Connecting dots” “Pursuit” “Killer Escape” “Autopsy” “Black light” “Genetic marker”   All these tracks are part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market.   Music by Nicholas Jeudy and Andrew Sitkov is licensed from GameDev Market Sound effects from AudioJungle, and GameDevMarket, and Soundly (through Hindenburg) Changes made to the musical tracks? Just cropping of some to align with my narration. Find more music by Nicholas Jeudy and Andrew Sitkov at gamedevmarket.net Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com   Episode Art Description: Digital drawing. A ship shaped like a submarine appears at bottom half, moving toward a glowing anomaly at center. Lightning, sparks, and gases emerge from the anomaly and stream outward. A zigzag pattern with nodes at each junction glows on the ship’s hull and is reflected above and below the ship, but darker in color. Lightning also bursts from two thrusters on the ship’s dorsal hull. Watermark of “Storyfeather” on hull of ship along left thruster.