When a human traveler wanders through a mysterious doorway, they find themselves on the threshold of a strange inn, lost in another world. Inside, they meet an old sprite named Grael – one part innkeeper, two parts storyteller, and one part deposed trickster god. The sprite uses a series of strange, interconnected tales to teach them about the twisted fairytale realm they’ve stumbled into… Only for the traveler to realize that Grael might not be as trustworthy as he seems, and the Echowood more dangerous than they could have imagined. Find out more about Tales of the Echowood here! Episode transcript here. This episode includes themes of imperialism and warfare, mentions of death, violence, and torture, dread, and implied body horror. Wandering the forest outside the inn, the Traveler stumbles across a broken sword, abandoned beneath the trees. Worried at what this strange artifact of war might mean, Grael tells them of the rise and fall of Etrius Oakheart: the first, last, and only emperor of the Echowood. Starring Sam Taylor as Grael, with original music by Jesse Haugen. Written and produced by Trevor Van Winkle, and made possible by our supporters on Kickstarter, Patreon.com/homesteadcorner, and ko-fi.com/homesteadcorner. Executive produced by Axel Allcock. For more information, additional content, and episode transcript, visit homesteadonthecorner.com/tote003 "Dark Emptiness" elements created by jalastram (https://freesound.org/people/jalastram/), Licensed under Creative Commons (CC 3.0 Unported: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) "Medieval City" element created by OGsoundFX (https://freesound.org/people/OGsoundFX/), Licensed under Creative Commons (CC 3.0 Unported: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices