MILES vV, Host: Good morning! I'm Miles, here with guest host, Cynthia Magusdotter.

CYNTHIA: Hi hi!

MILES: She's here with us today to share her mind-bending interview with author T.L. Greybeard, right?

CYNTHIA: Sure am! Excited to share!

MILES: Then let's get into it! This is Jump Start.

[Jump Start theme begins]

MILES: My guest host today shares her interview with prolific Seaperson author T.L. Greybeard about their newest book and thoughts on Elven politics.

CYNTHIA: Then, reporter Mo Lrey'fal gives us a look into a border city, once in crisis, and how an unusual ranch is saving it - and saving a species from extinction.

MILES: Lasty, surprise concessions in oceanic blockades - how a change in regime is opening peace talks and a potential return of the Depart of Settlements and Survival.

[Jump Start theme fades]

MILES: Cynthia, I'm sure most of us already know T.L. Greybeard, but for those of us who read little more than the news... what can we expect?

CYNTHIA: T.L. Greybeard is one of many great authors to come from the Seaperson Blockade, specifically from one of the "painted vessels", which serve as a type of... artist commune within the Blockade's central ring. They started with short stories and poems and a decent novella, all about the water and undersea combat, as most do, but they gained recognition enough to join the painted vessel from an unexpected stunt: Arch.

MILES: Oh! I've heard of that!

CYNTHIA: I expect so! Surveys from that year found that almost 70% of anyone with a scrying mirror had seen it live! That's almost three in every four, Miles!

MILES: For the youth who may not be familiar, it was a performance art piece where this quite frail looking person held two ships together by the top of their masts. Spun in circles for days while chanting some... poem I admit I'm not familiar with.

CYNTHIA: It was an epic they wrote themselves. Over 18 thousand lines, spoken from memory. They had actually pierced holes in their palms years earlier to prepare for the hidden wire.

MILES: Was that how they got passed the magic detection?

CYNTHIA: Yes, it really was entirely magicless! It- ah, I should move on, but I urge you to research it.

MILES: We'll start a Spellcast.

CYNTHIA: I'll hold you to that! Anyway! T.L. pivoted from performance art pretty quickly, but it clearly left a mark on them as much as it did the world. Their next novel, Truer Depths Unexplored, won several awards and remained a best seller for months!

MILES: Was that the one with the gnome in the dive helmet?

CYNTHIA: You're thinking of the.. less-well received movie version.

MILES: I often am. The hair in that was...

CYNTHIA: Tragic. Luckily, T.L. has continued to create incredible works of fiction despite that... mistake.

MILES: So what sets this one apart?

CYNTHIA: Well, this is their first attempt at a political thriller, and they chose to write about Elven politics, but based in the Traveller's Eart. I have a clip here of a few questions I asked T.L. Be warned, they are in the middle of a new long-term performance piece and you may need a few moments to understand fully.

[Ship creaking fades in]

CYNTHIA: T.L., what can you tell us about your new book, Boughs Above?

T.L.: What? What's going on? Oh, yes, I'm... good, thank you. Sure, we can begin ah... whenever you're ready I guess.

CYNTHIA: Could you give readers a few insights into your new novel? What do you think will help a reader get into for your take on Eart?

T.L.: Oh, well... its... out now! You can get if you want that sort of thing I guess. Insights? No, I try not to have any of those. So... I don't think I should share any either.

CYNTHIA: I...see! Many reviews of your work state it as insightful, would you say that's not the case?

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

T.L.: I try a more naturalist take on Eart than most authors, I think. I mean, I don't know, have I read enough to claim "most"?

CYNTHIA: Sorry?

T.L.: I wouldn't know, I pretend not to read those.

CYNTHIA: Wh- ahhhh. Alright. Well, it is pretty clear that there's a lot of discussion of the way Elves cover politics written in this book, both inside and outside the Empire. Where did you draw your inspirations from?

T.L.: Don't worry, take your time.

CYNTHIA: I hope that was a good answer! Is there a connection in your book to your past... and present... in performance art?

T.L.: Is there any inspiration? I couldn't possibly know with all the influence everything has on everyone all the time. Don't you find it oppressive?

CYNTHIA: I d- ah. What I mean to say is, how do you feel about the positive audience reception both here in the Blockade and in the Empire?

T.L.: Yes! Yes you are starting to understand! Well, I would say that my past can never leave me. Of course it does, but I don't believe you need such an artistic reading of it. My work... it's just for fun now, you understand?

CYNTHIA: I do, I see Glamr and Cauldrn notifications in my sleep! But did you spend any time in the Empire or studying Elven history to write your story?

T.L.: I can't stand it. I do not understand why anyone would read what I write. It is dreadful, self-indulgent, silly, artsy nonsense. I detest it, yet I cannot stop making it.

CYNTHIA: It's apparent that you haven't quite left the performance art world. Would you mind discussing your current piece?

T.L.: Yes and no. I watch a lot of Elven media when I'm not writing. It's empty but space filling. It keeps the voices quiet. [Greybeard laughs] When I was young, though. I was raised in the Empire. That doesn't leave you either.

CYNTHIA: You don't like that others enjoy your work?

T.L.: I would love to. It's to our point already - we are so influenced. Surrounded by attention grabbing fetishes and charms. I speak in this way to create some more space in the world. I want to slow down, and think a little.

CYNTHIA: [CYNTHIA laughs] Me too. That makes a lot of sense.

T.L.: I absolutely cannot understand the reason for it. Why should any of you care it is nothing but selfish cries for attention wrapped in a sorry excuse for art. What I care about is the feelings it leaves you with after, not these details like who is reflected in what.

[Ship creaking fades out]

CYNTHIA: You can hear the rest of this challenging interview later this week!

MILES: Incredible! And the whole interview, just like that?

CYNTHIA: You know, Miles, you start to get used to it after a while. We're talking about writing a book of interviews, though they are still one question late on that!

[MILES laughs, then CYNTHIA laughs, then both laugh at once.]

[Transition Jingle]

MILES: Now to reporter Mo Lrey'fal from member station WMFT on a little place known as Reef Ranch.

MO: Here off of Leyline 220, near the border station and little else, is a tiny town lodged in a magicless swamp known as Marshall's Martial Marshes Marches. Most of the town had moved out with the mundane logging industry to greener forests in the Empire.

MO: Those who've called this town home the longest, composed of Elves and Pixies who's owned the land for millennia, remained to tend the remaining marshlands. Stripped of the natural resources due to the predatory Human contracts, the town began to fall to ruins.

MO: However, a community effort to save another native of the land would turn that around.

[Crunching of footsteps on gravel fades in.]

PIRR: Yeah, it was like... like most of this? Crumbling and rotting, dilapidated as all get-out.

MO (VO): I spoke with Pirr Nees, one of the town elders, who took me on a tour of old Four M, as it's known to locals - then later welcomed me into his home for some of the best tea I've ever had.

PIRR: Once was bustlin'! But no more. We had markets and whatnot, but it all went. Dried up some centuries back. Grew up playin' with dozens o' kith and kinderen and some of them Human kids even, all the way up to where the Pot O's was workin'. Now I'm the only one of them kids here. Rest moved away and took all our trees with em.

[Gravel fades out]

MO: "Pot O" was the "Pot Of Green" logging company that once dominated the regional industry and the economy of Four M. Now, however, it's a new set of kids that are saving this town. I spoke to Reef Ranch's spokesperson, 260 year old Pat Lyertis for more.

[Wooping and wet roaring heard faintly in the background]

MO: Pat, what in the hells am I looking at right now?

PAT: [Chuckling] Hard work, Mo. You're looking at years of hard work in action right there.

MO: Sure, but I'm asking literally. It appears that there is a young woman riding a horse, currently attempting to lasso an astonishingly fast shark.

PAT: Sounds like you got it then! That's Maizy, she's actually staff. All of the "staff" here have lived here their whole lives, and everyone who lives here in town is on the Reef Ranch staff.

MO: Even Mister Nees?

PAT: Yeah, the old man gives tours to visitors and keeps the town history alive. We all think that's worth enough to be staff and get an equal share.

MO: Incredible, all decisions made as a group?

PAT: As a business, a town, and a conservation effort. And with a few volunteers here and there. Some kids, they come fix up a house, take it as theirs for a year or two before deciding what to do with their adult lives. Usually took a few of our summer programs, but now they come take care of their favorites while they sort out next steps.

MO: Favorites... of the land sharks?

PAT: Of course! That right there is Lainy, my personal favorite and a little show off. We feature her for our traveling school programs. Twelve hundred pounds of muscle, hard cartilage, and pure heart.

MO: Heart? Not "teeth"?

PAT: Believe it or not, in my years working with these creatures, I have not seen one take a single bite out of anyone it knew and trusted. They're predators, no doubt, you have to be careful with them at all times. But they're not murder machines and they can be sweet as a familiar.

MO: Not everyone sees them that way, you know?

PAT: Of course, and yknow that's what got them to such low numbers. Forced from their homes by the logging. Hunted for fear of a little cattle-snacking. Our herd, they've been rescued from hunting and vehicle accidents, and then they're given a second chance here where they can be safely seen and understood by someone who might, next time, call us instead of backing up over 'em.

MO: Brutal. That feels too specific not to be a story.

PAT: It happens more often than you imagine, Mo. We think of it as a reflection of the Empire, and it shows in how the kids in our program are treated.

MO: Yes, let's talk about them. Are those them in the green suits, lined up by the fence?

PAT: Correct! All ages of troubled youth. We're not a set-straight camp, but we give them something to care for and respect. If you can't take care of a one and a half ton shark, how can you take care of you, you know?

MO: I do not.

PAT: Well maybe we should getchu on a horse?

[Ranch noises fade out.]

MO: Full confession, I did not "get me" on a horse that day. With EFPR partner WMFT, I'm Mo Lrey'fal.

[Transition Jingle]

MILES: Last, a quick update on a surprise development you may have heard about over the weekend.

CYNTHIA: Due in part to a change in leadership within the mysterious dredging platform that serves as the capital, a seat at the Pirate's Congress has opened up, allowing an interesting new opportunity here in the Empire.

MILES: Experts are saying that this foot in the door has tipped favor for the Empire within the dredge platform that may allow new settlement and trade vessels to once again travel through the Seaperson Blockade.

CYNTHIA: The Blockade, which began as a single vessel but now hosts a population equal to, if not greater than, several small nations bordering the Empire, such as Marinopoloiana or the Werepublic.

MILES: Passing this glot of sails would open up options to attempt settlement once more. Listeners may remember the special we did with naval commander Rip'lio-Che a few months ago, which covered the cost and effort to maintain the ultra-long distance vessels built specifically for such a purpose over three hundred years ago.

CYNTHIA: EFPR will have further updates as they develop.

[Transition Jingle]

MILES: Lastly, here's a few things to get a jump on your week ahead.

CYNTHIA: Rain at last! Check your local apothecary for rain summoning potions as logistics complications ease in the Werepublic.

MILES: Then, a new spell reveals potential Far Watcher locations. How can you honor Him? What status does He prefer?

CYNTHIA: This Friday, look forward to our story on how fast food just got a little faster - and how many people it may put out of a job.

[Jump Start Theme fades in]

MILES: Thanks to EFPR's executive producer, Malik First of His Line, editors Portia Marti' and Xip, with technical support by the Lov'vovk brothers. Our theme was composed by Drip the Inspired. This is EFPR's Jump Start.

CYNTHIA: Jump Start is sponsored in part by contributions of listeners like you. You can show your support by casting the EFPR app, available on most devices, and by joining EFPR Next.

MILES: Thanks again to guest host Cynthia Magusdotter. Thanks for coming!

CYNTHIA: Thanks for having me!

MILES: Have a good week everyone.