Episodes
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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 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! -
Missing episodes?
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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! -
It's been a little while since Aetherdrift released, but we've finally caught up with K Arsenault Rivera to talk about the experience of writing the story for Magic's racing set! We talk about the similarities between Aetherdrift and March of the Machine, writing despicable villains, and the importance of the Fast and the Furious films.
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! -
This week we're answering a question that has certainly been on the minds of Vorthosi since Tarkir: Dragonstorm hit the shelves: What even is a dragon? How has Magic created their own concept of dragonkind? We talk the influences behind Magic's dragons, their different morphologies, and a little bit of Dragon Lore.
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! -
It's that time of the set again! We poured over the pages of Tarkir: Dragonstorm cards to find the best stories we could find hidden among the art, mechanics, and flavor texts of the set. If you found any flavor gems of your own and want to share, leave a comment and let us know, or just hop into our Discord and join the conversation with your fellow Vorthosi.
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! -
We're joined this week by the incredible Cassandra Khaw! Cass has written for Magic before Tarkir: Dragonstorm, but this is their first time writing the main set story, to huge success! We talk about returning to writing Magic story after a long break, how they captured fan-favorite characters so perfectly, and how fun it is to make characters suffer.
You can read a sneak peak at The Library at Hellebore, Cassandra Khaw's upcoming novel, here: https://torpublishinggroup.com/sneak-peek-for-the-library-at-hellebore/
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! -
With the stories finished, we can now delve deep into the world of Tarkir as it is now, a world ruled by five clans once more, but very different from both the world before the dragonlords and the world that never was. Each clan's identity has evoled tremendously, so we go deep into the Planeswalker's Guides to give you an overview of who they are, how they work, and what roles they play in the new world of Tarkir.
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! -
It's our final episode covering the stories of Tarkir Dragonstorm, and this time we're wrapping up the side stories! We're talking Sultai, we're talking Temur, and believe it or not we're talking Mardu, too! How do these side stories help tell the overall story of a Tarkir finding its past? Well, with the help of three excellent authors they do it very well!
Read "Sultai: Betrayal" by Marcus Terrell Smith - https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/tarkir-dragonstorm-sultai-betrayal
Read "Mardu: Where Lightning Tells our Story" by Seanan McGuire - https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/tarkir-dragonstorm-mardu-where-lightning-tells-our-story
Read "Temur: Together Survives the Pack" by K Arsenaul Rivera - https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/tarkir-dragonstorm-temur-together-survives-the-pack
And Chris' final thought, Dominarian Plowshare - https://dominarianplowshare.substack.com/ -
We've reached the end of the main story of Tarkir: Dragonstorm, and what an ending it is! Our heroes find something terrible and awesome in the heart of the Meditation Realm, and the actions of our favorite blue mage brings and end to the Dragonstorm Arc. What's next when we blast off into the Edge of Eternities? We don't know yet, but we speculate!
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! -
We continue our discussion and summary of the Tarkir: Dragonstorm story this week with the first two side stories, centered around the lives of the Abzan and the Jeskai, and episodes 4 and 5 of the main story! A lot is happening on Tarkir (and elsewhere) and you won't want to fall behind with this story, which is sure to reshape the multiverse as we know it.
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! -
The story for Tarkir: Dragonstorm has started, and we're jumping right in this week with the first three episodes! We return to the world of Tarkir where the clans have reasserted themselves against a thousand years draconic dominance. But while the clans have achieved independence, not all is peaceful for the world of dragons. Storms are brewing that threaten not only Tarkir, but all of the multiverse.
Read the first three episodes of Tarkir: Dragonstorm by Cassandra Khaw for free!
https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/tarkir-dragonstorm-episode-1-stories-and-their-bones
https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/tarkir-dragonstorm-episode-2-omens
https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/tarkir-dragonstorm-episode-3-what-the-past-devours
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! -
Last week we glimpsed a Tarkir that never was, and now we will see what truly became of Tarkir. Five ruling clans of dragons control the plane, with humanoids as little more than servants. But these dragon clans were shaped around the past, and what they share in common with the humanoid clans they once conquered is as fascinating as what they have rejected from the past.
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! -
This week we're existing in a state of being and non-being, living in a canon that is dead, exploring the potentiality of what once was. What I mean is we're talking about the clans of Tarkir as seen in the set Khans of Tarkir, all of which was wiped out of reality by time travel! But these clans give us insight into what the new Tarkir may look like.
You can read more about the new world of Tarkir in the planeswalker's guides! The first one is available here: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/planeswalkers-guide-to-tarkir-dragonstorm-part-1
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! -
This week we're using data from MTGLore.com to answer the question: What is the most popular Magic story? While it's a very self-selected sample of Magic players, we can glean some insights about what stories are popular with enfranchised readers and see some of the connections between them.
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! -
We're hitting the refreshments stand at the Ghirapur Grand Prix and coming away with a heaping armful of delicious flavor gems! Aetherdrift is a set that goes full speed with racing tropes, but there's more to this set than blue shells and pileups. We talk legends, story spotlights, and cards that really show off the worlds of Avishkar, Muraganda, and Amonkhet!
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! -
We're rapping up our recaps of the Aetherdrift stories this week with the side story, "Like No Other Beast" by Zachary Olson, and the final three episodes of the main story by K Arsenault Rivera. We also share our thoughts about the overall direction of the story, how well the ending came together, and what might be coming with Tarkir: Dragonstorm.
As always, reading the story explains the story! We love recapping the events and sharing our thoughts, but the stories are better than we can ever explain them so you should go read them!
Like No Other Beast by Zachary Olson: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/aetherdrift-like-no-other-beast
Episode 4: Little-Guy Shortcuts - https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/aetherdrift-episode-4-little-guy-shortcuts
Episode 5: First Over the Line - https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/aetherdrift-episode-5-first-over-the-line
Episode 6: The Bloodless Revolution - https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/aetherdrift-episode-6-the-bloodless-revolution
And don't forget to follow us on BlueSky! We are no longer active on the other site. You can get updates when stories and episodes go live: https://bsky.app/profile/thevorthoscast.bsky.social
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! -
This week we're discussing the first half of the Aetherdrift stories: Main set episodes 1 through 3 and the Amonkhet side story, Hour of Restoration. We give a recap of each episode and discuss some of the ways author K Arsenault Rivera's writing captured the feel of a high-speed race while keeping time for the quiet, emotional moments.
As always, it's not enough to just listen to story recaps! Go read the story on the Magic Story website to let Wizards know you value free web fiction!
Episode 1: The Dashing and the Desperate- https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/aetherdrift-episode-1-the-dashing-and-the-desperate
Episode 2: Pit Stop - https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/aetherdrift-episode-2-pit-stop
Episode 3: Go! - https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/aetherdrift-episode-3-go
Hour of Restoration by Hadeer Elsbai - https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/aetherdrift-hour-of-restoration
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! -
This week we return to the desert plane of Amonkhet! The last two times we saw this plane, it was destroyed by Bolas and then destroyed by the Phyrexians, but with two years to recover, the people of the plane have found new gods and new purpose, creating a society where the living and undead stand side by side. We cover the history of the plane, some of its most notable inhabitants, and how things have changed and stayed the same since our last visit!
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! -
This week begins our coverage of the worlds of Aetherdrift, Magic's multiplanar racing set, and where better to start than the starting line: the plane of Avishkar! This new name isn't a new place, though, as the world formerly known as Kaladesh has undergone a lot of change since we last visited it in Aether Revolt. We take you through the history of the plane, talk about the changes that birthed a new and better world, and run through some legendary names you might see on the track or in the stands during Aetherdrift!
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! - Show more
