The Vorthos Cast

This week we're joined by the incredible Seth Dickinson, author of Exordia, The Traitor Baru Cormorant, and most notably for us, the story for Edge of Eternities. We talk about the process of writing a brand new universe for Magic, the genesis of the End Stone's narration, and how Mallowmass became the economic structure of Pinnacle. Seth also shared with us some really incredibly cool designs commissioned as inspiration for the Seriema, which look very different from the art direction of the set. You can see an example in this episode's art. If you want to support the Vorthos Cast, you can! Go to Patreon.com/TheVorthosCast and contribute as little as $1 a month to get access to our Discord server, as well as early episode releases! And for $3 a month, you can listen to episodes recorded live on Thursday nights at 7pm Eastern time! We'd love to have you. Our Patreon supporters keep the podcast free and ad-free.

This week's episode is a special panel discussion! We have guests Henn (@iwriterobots) and Valerie Valdes (author of the Lost Caverns of Ixalan and Bloomburrow stories) alongside host Loreley as panelists to discuss the act of writing personal fiction, fanfiction, and even paid IP work, including the importance of a writing community. Want to find the MTG Writer's Discord? Go follow Henn on Bluesky at @iwriterobots.com. And you can follow Valerie's blog at https://candleinsunshine.com where you can learn all about Witch You Would and Valerie's Chilling Effect Sci-Fi series! There are some audio errors in this episode, but that's what happens when you record four people across the internet. If you want to support the Vorthos Cast, you can! Go to Patreon.com/TheVorthosCast and contribute as little as $1 a month to get access to our Discord server, as well as early episode releases! And for $3 a month, you can listen to episodes recorded live on Thursday nights at 7pm Eastern time! We'd love to have you. Our

This week, we're delving deeper into the Edge and talking about the metacosmology of this universe outside of the multiverse. How does the Edge exist in relationship to the Multiverse? What makes a star? How does faster than light travel work within Magic's outer-outer space? These are just some questions we answer in this episode. To support the Vorthos Cast on future missions in the Edge, please consider joining our Patreon at Patreon.com/TheVorthosCast, where members get access to the podcast Discord channel and early episode releases.

We're putting a spotlight on a member of the greater Vorthosium this week with special guest Henn (@iwriterobots) to talk about robots in Magic! The Edge was full of delightful mechans, so we asked friend of the show Henn on to talk about what it means to be a robot, why robots in the Edge are so cool, and if you should be kissing them (yes). To support the Vorthos Cast on future missions in the Edge, please consider joining our Patreon at Patreon.com/TheVorthosCast, where members get access to the podcast Discord channel and early episode releases.

Our expedition through the Edge has brought us to Sothera, where we have conducted extensive research into the planets and peoples that make up this supervoid system. Last week, we explored the different lifeforms in all their complexity, and this week we are delving into the depths of the planets themselves to learn about the secrets they hold and the organizations that vie for control of them. To support the Vorthos Cast on future missions in the Edge, please consider joining our Patreon at Patreon.com/TheVorthosCast, where members get access to the podcast Discord channel and early episode releases.

With the stories behind us, we may now confidently embark on our mission of mapping the world(s) of the Edge, starting with an overview of the lifeforms we may find out in the exoverse. From Astelli to Vaar, the space outside of the multiverse is full of diverse life, and we're covering all the ones encountered within the Sothera system. To support the Vorthos Cast on future missions in the Edge, please consider joining our Patreon at Patreon.com/TheVorthosCast, where members get access to the podcast Discord channel and early episode releases.

It's time for your routine sustenance break! Nutrients will be delivered via audio signals. Yum! It's our regular Flavor Gems episode, but now in space! Edge of Eternities provided us with so many incredible cards telling their stories through mechanics and art. We covered as many as we could, but there are still so many discoveries to be made. To support the Vorthos Cast on future missions in the Edge, please consider joining our Patreon at Patreon.com/TheVorthosCast, where members get access to the podcast Discord channel and early episode releases.

This week we're finishing up our discussion of the side stories of Edge of Eternities with a story about a Monoist struggling to accept the gravity of her actions, and a Drix who has become wrapped up in a tangle of loss. We also give our thoughts on the overall impact of these side stories, and the joy of loving a Magic setting. To read the side stories, go to MTGStory.com! And, if you want to read the short article by Ethan Fleischer mentioned at the end of the episode, you can find it here: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/edge-of-eternities-design-allusions-vs-tropes To support the Vorthos Cast on future missions in the Edge, please consider joining our Patreon at Patreon.com/TheVorthosCast, where members get access to the podcast Discord channel and early episode releases.

Greetings weftwalkers! With the main story of Edge of Eternities behind us, we're now locked on to the side stories. This week's mission is to cover the first three side stories released alongside the main story of Edge of Eternities, incuding a bit of space horror, a heist, and a coming of age bug's life. To read the side stories, go to MTGStory.com! To support the Vorthos Cast on future missions in the Edge, please consider joining our Patreon at Patreon.com/TheVorthosCast, where members get access to the podcast Discord channel and early episode releases.

This week's the end of our summary and discussion of the main story of Edge of Eternities by Seth Dickinson. If you can't tell, we really loved it! We cover episodes 9, 10, and 11, and we give some thoughts on the overall story, its themes, and the parts that really stood out. To support the Vorthos Cast on future missions in the Edge, please consider joining our Patreon at Patreon.com/TheVorthosCast, where members get access to the podcast Discord channel and early episode releases.

Thank you to Wizards of the Coast for our free preview of Edge of Eternities! We have two really fascinating common creatures that bring depth and intrigue to two factions found in the Edge: The Illvoi Galeblade of the Uthros Combine and a Hullcarver from the Monoists of Susur Secundi.

We return to orbit around the main story for Edge of Eternities with episodes 5 through 8, following our heroes (or villains?) as they carry the mysterious artifact found on Sigma's Reach through Kavaron and beyond. Haliya and Alpharael clash once more, but now Sami and Tan are caught in the middle, and looming over all of this is the mysterious Metalman with his own objectives... To support the Vorthos Cast on future missions in the Edge, please consider joining our Patreon at Patreon.com/TheVorthosCast, where members get access to the podcast Discord channel and early episode releases.

We're entering into orbit around the main story of Edge of Eternities by Seth Dickinson. For our first mission, we are exploring episodes 1 through 4, providing a summary and discussing key parts of the narrative. As you join our boarding party, we remind you that it is vital to familiarize yourself with the story at MTGStory.com, including the Planeswalkers' Guide. Once you have prepared for boarding, please dress in your red shirt and proceed to the Podcast. To support the Vorthos Cast on future missions in the Edge, please consider joining our Patreon at Patreon.com/TheVorthosCast, where members get access to the podcast Discord channel and early episode releases.

MagicCon Vegas gave us a first look at the upcoming set, Edge of Eternities, and then immediately afterwards we were given the Planeswalkers' Guide and first episode of the Edge of Eternities story! The Edge of Eternities story is now live, with updates every day for the next couple of weeks. So today, we're giving our first reactions to the guide and story, talking broad overviews of what we've learned so far, and mostly just getting really excited for this incredibly different, strange universe of Magic. We forgot to do a Patreon plug for this episode, so it's important that you read this text! We have a Patreon! Joining our Patreon is as cheap as $1 a month (that's like, two packs of a Magic set per year!) and you get access to our Discord server and you get early episode releases! For $3 a month (or less than one collector booster a year!) you can listen to us record our episodes live! Join at Patreon.com/TheVorthosCast

The Story Circle has gathered on this day in June to hear a story from Henn @IWriteRobots, a Theros tale of tragic love between Pavios and Thanasis, two men trapped by fate. "Emonberry Red" by Clayton Kroh is a heart-wrenching tale, and it contains within it heavy content, including depictions of suicide. It also contains within it beauty, longing, love, and loss. Take care when listening. If you'd like to hear more audio stories from Magic's past, please consider supporting us on Patreon at Patreon.com/TheVorthosCast, where $1 a month gets you access to our Discord server, as well as early releases of the podcast! $3 a month gets access to our live listen, where you can hear episodes recorded live!

The Story Circle offers up the delicious tale of Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar and her time spent as the executive chef for The Dark Lord Vincent, where she wrote the most famous cookbook in all of Magic history. Looking for a recipe for ogre toes or cubed unicorn? Gather and listen to the story of the "Chef's Surprise" by Sonia Orin Lyris, originally published in the Distant Planes anthology edited by Kathy Ice, released in 1996. If you'd like to hear more audio stories from Magic's past, please consider supporting us on Patreon at Patreon.com/TheVorthosCast, where $1 a month gets you access to our Discord server, as well as early releases of the podcast! $3 a month gets access to our live listen, where you can hear episodes recorded live!

This week, the story circle has gathered to share a tale from Kamigawa's past. Master Dosan shares the parable of Iname, the first kami to create life in the form of the first kami child. A family drama among the spirits of Kamigawa, "Thankless Child" is emblematic of the original Kamigawa block's vignettes, visions into the world through the stories that are told there. Music from the official soundtrack to Kamigawa Neon Dynasty, "The Neon Riverside," by insaneintherain. If you'd like to hear more audio stories from Magic's past, please consider supporting us on Patreon at Patreon.com/TheVorthosCast, where $1 a month gets you access to our Discord server, as well as early releases of the podcast! $3 a month gets access to our live listen, where you can hear episodes recorded live!

Welcome back to the Story Circle, our Magic fiction audio series! Our first Story Circle story for 2025 is "Expeditions to the End of the World" by J. Robert King from the Colors of Magic anthology, read by Jay Annelli. This story begins with Captain Crucias, a mostly reformed pirate running a cruise to the edges of Argoth during the Brothers' War. It's a bit of a tearjerker with some heavy topics, including childhood illness and death, so be prepared to laugh at the start and cry by the end. If you'd like to hear more audio stories from Magic's past, please consider supporting us on Patreon at Patreon.com/TheVorthosCast, where $1 a month gets you access to our Discord server, as well as early releases of the podcast! $3 a month gets access to our live listen, where you can hear episodes recorded live!

Welcome back to the Story Circle, where we share stories from Magic that we believe deserve sharing. This year, we're doing things a little differently. For this first week, you'll hear our intro explaining what's different this time around, as well as some Vorthos news, and then we're jumping right into the story. For this story and future story episodes, we will also be posting the audio of just the story independently, in case folks want to just hear the story. Our first Story Circle story for 2025 is "Expeditions to the End of the World" by J. Robert King. This story begins with Captain Crucias, a mostly reformed pirate running a cruise to the edges of Argoth during the Brothers' War. It's a bit of a tearjerker with some heavy topics, including childhood illness and death, so be prepared to laugh at the start and cry by the end. If you'd like to hear more audio stories from Magic's past, please consider supporting us on Patreon at Patreon.com/TheVorthosCast, where $1 a month gets you access to our Disco

Last week we asked you, our lovely listeners, to send us questions about Magic lore and story, and now we're here with our 10th mailbag episode to answer those questions! We got questions ranging from asking about the peculiars of Ixidor's magic to what it means to get brunch in the multiverse, and we answered them to the best of our abilities. Thank you all for your questions! If you'd like to join our Discord server to talk all things Magic, sign up for our Patreon at Patreon.com/TheVorthosCast, where everyone who pledges a dollar or more a month gets access! For $3 a month, you get access to our live listen, where you can hear the show recorded live on Thursday evenings!