Episode 51: Season Four Prologue
00:01Well, hey there, family, if you love Old Gods of Appalachia,I want to help us keep the home fires burning,but maybe aren't comfortable with the monthly commitment.Well, you can still support us via the ACAS supporter feature.No gift too large, no gift too small.Just click on the link in the show description,and you too can toss your tithe in the collection plate.Feel free to go ahead and do that.
00:26Right about now.Old gods of Appalachia is a lot of,a horror anthology podcastand therefore may containmaterial not suitablefor all audiences.So listenerdiscretion is advised.
00:48So dark in thebranches splitand new blood flowsa ghost of a pastyou thought long buriedrise a home for youngthe shadow fallsjudgment comes
01:38treads off my friendThe mic, you're born, your worst you get what you deserve.Lacha.Will you ever be unblooded?Oh, mother, will your vestments ever be clean?Are we destined to stain you with our cold blackened blood and soot stained hands for all eternity?And how much of you will be left once we have taken our fill?or once we admit we will never be filled
02:56that we are the ever empty belliesthe starving mouths the broken teeth that will grind themselvesthe dust and pulp before they ever stop trying toconsumewho refuse to be weaned will drink these hills dryif you let us we fewwe wretched few we band of ragged brothersand sisters and kin
03:21will rattle on through these hollersAs long after the coal is gone and the jobs dried up, he stayed because you are home.Because you are all we know, Mama.Appalachia is a place that knows all about consequences.Both those we intend and those we cannot foresee over the eon she has watched her own mountains soften,be smoothed over and diminished and eroded by weather, by time,and of course by men.The actions of men have held far-reaching repercussions
04:08from Mother Appalachia and for her children,just asked Sister Wolfe.A brother Fulton, or hell, the folks still living over on the Kuala boundary,and what few remain, since their ancestors were driven from their landor killed by their fellow men,their mother has known little in the way of justice.has seen no divine retribution for the sins for those who have wronged her,though on occasion folks might put on a little show.
04:41An absurdist parody of crime and punishment,the kind of people who believe themselves righteous enough to stand in judgment of others.Often as not, they tend to have more secrets buried in the back 40 than just about anybody else around.Just such folks convened now.to bring another to task.In the many years he has walked this world,he has at times played the fool,and others the magician or the devil,
05:15even the hermit a time or two.And now friends and enemies,witnesses and accusers gather to decide his fate.The high priestess, the empress,The HierophonThe lovers will all have their sayAnd he doesn't play his car rideHe might just find himself
05:39Cast as the hanged manSo it goes familySo it goesAlong the banks of the riverThat feed into the deepest part of the valleyA young woman in the pains of childbirthflees in the direction of safetyWith those who would protect her
06:03The knot itself seems to pursueher as unseen things rattle and prowl in her wake driven on by their dead-eyed master.Safety is but a porch lot away of what follows.Patient and tenacious is accustomed to the lawn.In the verdant hollers that twist through the mountains, a young man returns to the land thatbirthed him after witnessing what his kind can become in the far-flung fields of war.hoping to lead a quiet life, a life unbothered by other folk,where he can just sit in the silence of the woods
06:52and try to forget the things he has seen and done.Man like that should be left alone.Folks know what's good for him, but folks seldom do.Now, there might be a dispute about who drew first blood,but there'll be no doubt who draws the last.In the shadows of the Blue Ridge, a fancy man at a farmer's market courts a young witch.Promises are the world and all its wonders, and we know the usual outcome of such honey-tongued promisespinned in the pages of love letters, but we can hope all the same.
07:39Yet when true love calls and the cock won't crow, and the cows won't milk,and the bees stop making honey,How sweet can romance be?A man's word should be his bondAnd a promise made has consequencesBe it kept or broken.These troubles and moreCan all be traced back
08:11To a singular being in one way or to otherOne who has planted his roots deepIn the not black soil of our landThe repercussions of his choicesTwined through time like Hudson vinescreeping insidiously through the woods of Appalachiauntil they clutch its beating heart in a stranglehold.Many bear the marks of both his curses and his blessings,
08:35and they'll have a chance to speak now.Many come to condemn him,but who might stand for such a man?The wheel of fortune spins,and they gather to decide his fate,those who would play justice have much to sayabout the consequences of his actions,and yet they possess no crystal ball
09:03that they might gaze into the futureand look upon those far-reaching outcome.And one such as he plays a long.You can bet your life on that family.They will gather a number from holler and glenthose who would speak for the beasts and the men.There'll be witches, of course,with axes to grind
09:35seeking the remedythey never could findshadows will risefrom the depths of the earthechoesand things never birththey will come toofor tis only fair
09:53the dark sendsthe stagwhen the green sends the bearfor all have been cheatedswindled betrayedand finally perhaps these debts will be paidlet them come to the rock and each plead their case and accuse the old serpent.For a man gets a trial as laid down by the pact,
10:21even if that man's not a man and the man's name.Well, hey there, family.Welcome to Season 4 of Old Gods of Appalachia Root and Branch.Now, it's been a while since we gathered here on the regular,in the name of the darkest mountains in the world,and it's good to see y'all.Whether you're Kenfolk we've known from back in season one,or if you just stumbled upon us
11:05because of that fancy new role-playing gamethat just come out from Monty Cook games,all y'all are welcome at the table as long as you behave.Now, we've been busy since last time we saw y'allto end of season three.Took the show out on a national tour,called it the Price of Progress, went all over the country.East Coast, West Coast, down south, up north, Midwest,
11:23you name it, we were there.So special shout out if you happen to join us,from one of those nights of music and fellowship and congregation.So this season is a first for us, y'all.As in a way, we'll be picking up from the events of the previous seasonand carrying on from there.So if you ain't caught up on season three,highly recommend you do that before joining us on the journey through season four.
11:47Our man, Jack, is in a mighty, sticky situation,and it's going to be a long and twisting ride to see where he ends up on the other side.And we're real excited to have you all along for the ride.If y'all want to keep up with our comings and goings, we encourage you head on over to Old Gods of Appalachia.com and complete your social media ritual.But I follow on all the platforms of your choice, be it Facebook, Instagram, Discord, or the rotting corpse of that thing that was once called Twitter but is not.If you'd like to join with us in a manner of financial as well as moral support, you can head on over to patreon.com slash old gods of Appalachia.And for a reasonable sum, gain yourself access to hours and hours of exclusive Patreon stories.and other goodies.
12:29And this is your beginning of season four reminderthat Old Gods of Appalachiais a production of deep nerd mediadistributed by Rusty Quills.Today's story was written by Cam Collinsand performed by Steve Schell.Our intro music,the brand spanking new season four theme song
12:46performed by Brother Landin' Bloodand our special outro music,Atonement, is by John Charles Dwyer.We'll talk to you soon, family.Talk to you real.soon.
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