Roll, Ponder, and Play - Dramatized Solo Roleplay

Queen of Shadows Podcast - About

Welcome to my very first ever podcast, the Queen of Shadows, a multi-part and as of 2025 ongoing episodic (and epic) work of fiction where I, Jared Hess, your friendly neighborhood game master, solo-player, author, and narrator bring to life the story of our protagonist, Eilwen, a huntress from the faraway settlement of Frostbridge in the Veiled Mountains.
Ways to Show Support:
Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
Give the show a positive review
Share the show with others
Reach out to me and say hello
Attributions:
- Music by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.
 

Queen of Shadows Podcast - Episode (Session) 0

Previously:
In my previous upload to this podcast (I can't call it an episode really), I described the origin and impetus for the Queen of Shadows podcast series. And now, onto episode 0 where we will discover our character and do some world building.
Ways to Show Support:
Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
Give the show a positive review
Share the show with others
Reach out to me and say hello
Attributions:
- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

Queen of Shadows Podcast - Prologue

Previously:
In our previous episode (our "Session 0" if you will), we met Eilwen, our main character and protagonist, a young huntress of Frostbridge in her late teens. We found out that Frostbridge, Eilwen's settlement, is a failing mining settlement deep in the cold and snow-ridden wilderness of the Veiled Mountains. We learned that Eilwen is daughter to her mother, Arwed and to her father Cadfael. We found that she has twin brother, Aron, her only sibling. We did some world building and decided on the truths for our version of the Ironlands. The most notable custom truth that I came up with is that demons of bone and blade termed "Heralds of the Night" came through a cleft in the sky, invading the old world. It was they who forced Eilwen's forebears to flee to the Ironlands generations ago.
And now, the Prologue for Queen of Shadows.
Ways to Show Support:
Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
Give the show a positive review
Share the show with others
Reach out to me and say hello
Attributions:
- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.
- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

Queen of Shadows Podcast - Episode 1

Previously:
In our previous episode, the prologue, Eilwen and her twin brother Aron were both only 15 years of age. They discover that Eilwen's ailing mother has kept in her possession for many years, a finely carved box, and in that box is a cloven crown of gold with a crimson ruby shorn down the middle. This is the lost crown of the royal line of Queens from generations ago when these lands were first settled by her forebears. Eilwen finds out that she is in actuality of the royal line as was her mother before her, both are displaced queens to a lost kingdom and throne. Her mother urges Eilwen to seek the other half of the crown, promising her that the lands will unite under the one of royal descent who bears the two halves. Aron, with some convincing from his mother, vows to protect Eilwen in this quest. Eilwen's mother promises to answer her daughter's questions but upon sleeping, never awakens and dies in the night.
Ways to Show Support:
Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
Give the show a positive review
Share the show with others
Reach out to me and say hello
Attributions:
- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.
- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.
- 'Just Run Adventure Cinematic' by Roman Gim (whvle) on Pixabay, used in accordance with Pixabay's royalty-free Content License (https://pixabay.com/service/license-summary/).
This episode was sponsored by Friends & Fables.

Queen of Shadows Podcast - Episode 2

Previously:
In our previous episode, Eilwen her twin brother Aron, both 18 years old, find out their father and Chief Mabon have not returned from their morning hunt. Eilwen vows to find them and she and Aron gather supplies in preparation. Before they can set out however, a huge silverback bear enters Frostbridge hoping for an easy meal. In the ensuing fight, two members of the community are slain by the bear before it retreats into the snowy wilderness of the Veiled Mountains. Eilwen and Aron continue their preparations and overhear conversations between the dark-hearted Belvan and his cronies talking ill about their family and planning something. Eilwen decides to do something about Belvan once they find their father. She takes the finely wrought box with the crown and its strange iron disks and brings it with them. Disks she doesn't reveal to Aron, disks her mother taught her to read.
Ways to Show Support:
Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
Give the show a positive review
Share the show with others
Reach out to me and say hello
Attributions:
- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.
- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.
- 'Just Run Adventure Cinematic' by Roman Gim (whvle) on Pixabay, used in accordance with Pixabay's royalty-free Content License (https://pixabay.com/service/license-summary/).
This episode was sponsored by Friends & Fables.

Queen of Shadows Podcast - Episode 3

Previously: 
In our previous episode, Eilwen and her twin brother, Aron, meet with Drystan, a member of the Frostbridge community. They manage to convince the large man to aid them in their search for Mabon, the missing chieftain of Frostbridge and Cadfael, their missing father. Drystan agrees and brings his sleds and dogs so they can travel more quickly over the snow. During their travels, Eilwen hides her mother's wooden box containing the crown and the iron disks in a cleft. After traveling for some time, they located the hunting grounds where Mabon and Cadfael should have been. There they see signs of a struggle and many boot prints that lead southward to the next settlement, they begin to make their way south in pursuit. After surviving an avalanche, and spending the night huddled together with the dogs, they arrive at the Green Grip, a vast swath of greenery thick with tall pines in a huge valley. The grip is rumored to be haunted. While Aron and Drystan set up camp, Eilwen goes hunting, attempting to recover their meager supplies. Instead of finding hare or doe or fox, she sees a tall slender figure whose features she could not make out under the shadowy boughs of the thick pine trees. It speaks not and only watches her. She tries to return to her brother and Drystan, but discovers that the game trail she had just been following was inexplicably gone, completely hidden from view, fresh needles and snow obliterating all traces of her previous route. With nowhere else to go, she decides that following after the strange figure who had retreated deeper into the trees is the only way she'll be able to get clear of this strange forest.
Ways to Show Support:
Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
Give the show a positive review
Share the show with others
Reach out to me and say hello
Attributions:
- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.
- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.
- 'Just Run Adventure Cinematic' by Roman Gim (whvle) on Pixabay, used in accordance with Pixabay's royalty-free Content License (https://pixabay.com/service/license-summary/).
This episode was sponsored by Friends & Fables.

Queen of Shadows Podcast - Episode 4

Previously:
In our previous episode, Eilwen chases the retreating figure and ends up in a clearing where she finds ancient stone blocks and two strange iron pillars. She investigates the pillars and to her surprise realizes she can read at least some of the angular runes on their faces. She remembers how her mother had taught her the skill through a deep study of the iron disks. At the base of one of the pillars, she discovers a panel which she presses it, it springs open spewing out a large cloud of white dust, dust that she realizes with growing horror is likely dried bones ground to dust from a sacrifice a sacrifice of a little girl made to some power. She mourns such loss and vows to find out if her mother was affiliated with such a cult, and if so to stamp them out. Upon making the vow, she finds the way back to her brother and Drystan revealed. She spends the night in the forest and dreams of the child who tells her thank you. The next morning, she returns to Aron and Drystan and they resume their journey towards Rockriver to find Mabon the chieftain of Frostrbidge and their father, Cadfael.
Ways to Show Support:
Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
Give the show a positive review
Share the show with others
Reach out to me and say hello
Attributions:
- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.
- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

Queen of Shadows Podcast - Episode 5

Previously:
In our previous episode, Eilwen, Aron, and Drystan arrive safely at Rockriver, however they find that the town has been attacked and half burned to the ground, its inhabitants dead or missing. They aid one of the wounded survivors, a man named Kyffin. He tells them that the town was attacked by none other than Uzak an erstwhile and now exiled member of the Frostbridge settlement who has raised his own warband and terrorizes the country side, calling himself clan chief of a Wolf Fang clan. Kyffin doesn't know if Uzak has captured Mabon and her father, Cadfael, but he tells Eilwen that if they want to get ahead of Uzak's raiding party, there is a shortcut through a nearby mine that takes them directly through one of the mountains and should position them on the far side. He warns them, however, that the mine is rumored to be haunted and have strange creatures. He gives them a map. They decide to go through the mines, seeking whatever advantage they can in their quest to quickly save their Cadfael and Mabon. They make preparations for the journey through the mine.
Ways to Show Support:
Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
Give the show a positive review
Share the show with others
Reach out to me and say hello
Attributions:
- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.
- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.
- River sound is from ZapSplat (Zapsplat.com) and used in accordance with their standard license.

Queen of Shadows Podcast - Episode 6

Previously:
In our previous episode, Eilwen and Aaron leave behind Drystan behind in Rockriver with instructions for him to care for Kyffin so that they can move more quickly through the mines and get ahead of the Wolf Fang warriors and their prisoners. They find the mine entrance one valley over to the west and enter it about mid-morning. In the timeless dark, they find a large underground lake and a strange skeleton of a creature they have never known, an ancient skeleton that starts to crumble in places when moved. A shield and nearby helm are rusted beyond all usefulness. They resume their journey and come to a half-rotted bridge over an underground chasm of peerless depth where they hear roiling river rushing through the bowels of the mountain within. With some ingenuity involving some barrel staves and some rope, they make it safely across and finally at day's end, they exit the mine, now on the southern end of Mount Hingsworth.
Ways to Show Support:
Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
Give the show a positive review
Share the show with others
Reach out to me and say hello
Attributions:
- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.
- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.

Queen of Shadows Podcast - Episode 7

Previously:
In our previous episode, Eilwen and Aron find a sheltered spot with an overhang, largely obscured from view where they can see the valley below. They prepare for the Wolf Fang raiders to circle the mountain and come into view. Eilwen goes hunting and nearly falls to ruin when she encounters a pack of hungry wolves that chase her onto an slippery log over a ravine. She manages to escape and returns to camp. From their hidden overhang, they spot the Wolf Fang encampment in the distance with tents and cookfires and cages and sleds amidst a field of huge boulders that had sloughed off from the mountain's face eons ago. When Eilwen hears the cries of the children and the women in distress, she wants to go and help, but Aaron thinks it foolish to attempt to rescue everyone, and they argue. She vows to someday free the captive women and children.
Ways to Show Support:
Join my patreon for free at https://patreon.com/rollponderandplay or as a paid subscriber and get additional additional content
Give the show a positive review
Share the show with others
Reach out to me and say hello
Attributions:
- 'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley (www.scottbuckley.com.au) - released under CC-BY 4.0.
- Various tracks by Tabletop Audio ( https://tabletopaudio.com) - released under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Minor modifications (fading/splitting) made to support this podcast format with written permission from the creator.