Levian is a sweeping fantasy epic about a nobleman who takes to the sea after his sister’s betrayal. And they’re crowdfunding! Support them here: igg.me/at/levian-podcast.
Transcript is below the cut!
Transcript adapted from original script by Ria Couoh.
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INTRO:
HANNAH
Hi, everyone! Hannah here.
We’re most of the way through our crowdfund, and we’re so thankful to those of you who have been able to contribute, but we’re not the only ones crowdfunding.
Today we’re happy to bring you the first episode of another incredible fantasy podcast that’s crowdfunding right now!
Levian is a sweeping fantasy epic about a nobleman who’s forced to go to sea after his sister’s betrayal. It is absolutely gorgeous, and it’s written by the mind behind another one of my favorite shows, Desperado.
Please give Levian some love, this show is going to be fantastic.
You can contribute to their crowdfund at igg.me/at/levian-podcast.
We’ll have a link in the show notes too.
Now before the episode begins, be advised that Levian is much sexier than anything we usually put on the Inn Between feed and contains some homophobia. Please take care of yourselves.
And enjoy!
LEVIAN.
Loud, harsh waves and winds, with seagulls singing in the distance. A harbor.
Background music fades in, strings and occasional brass. An epic pirate-like theme.
Steps running closer.
Door creaks open.
Crowds talking in the background, laughing and chatting.
VALENTIN
(laughing)
(joyous)
Evening, Meadow!
MEADOW
And a glorious one indeed! What can I do for you gentlemen?
VALENTIN
Oh, we’ll need a room for the night.
MEADOW
Of course! Anyone’s company you seek?
VALENTIN
Each other’s will do just fine.
Keys jingle softly.
MEADOW
First floor then.
Hurried footsteps over wooden floors. A door opens and shuts. Heavy breathing.
VALENTIN
You’ve yet to give me a name.
BEAU
Tonight I have none, sir.
VALENTIN
(pouting, flirtatious)
Oh, borrow it if you must.
BEAU
Why does it matter?
VALENTIN
Because you’re going to move your hands down my waist, as such…
Fabric shuffling.
VALENTIN
And then you’ll deal with my belt.
Belt unbuckles.
VALENTIN
Unravel me.
Fabric shuffles. Pants fall.
BEAU
(gasp)
VALENTIN
And then you’ll kneel. And-
(firmly)
Not yet, not yet. Only when I say so.
BEAU
(pants)
(breathily)
What will I do next?
VALENTIN
You’ll take me with your mouth. Entirely. And twist my soul around the tip of your tongue but- no! Not yet, I said.
BEAU
Please.
VALENTIN
Not until you give me a name. To whisper. To cry out.
BEAU
(desperately)
Beau. Call me Beau.
Panting, rhythmic thudding.
Door slams open.
VALENTIN
(gasp)
GUARD
In here, my lady.
VALENTIN
What is the meaning of this?!
Heels against wooden floor. Dainty but certain steps.
TANATHEA
Brother.
VALENTIN
Tanathea…?
TANATHEA
(coldly)
Seize him.
VALENTIN
A step further and you’re a dead man, captain.
TANATHEA
Drunk and bare against a city knight and you think yourself a threat?
GUARD
There will be no bloodshed tonight, my lord. Despite your… affliction, Lady Tanathea seeks a fair trial for you. Surrender yourself quietly and we shall-
TANATHEA
Enough.
Sharp sound of a blade drawn.
TANATHEA
Valentin Tellari, you stand accused of perversion and debauchery, you’ve debased our name and our family’s legacy. Accept this trial or I will strike you where you stand.
VALENTIN
(chuckles)
You don’t want me as a foe, Thea.
TANATHEA
I hardly wanted you as a brother. Seize him.
Heavy steps and light struggle.
VALENTIN
Will you trial this tall whore you’ve sent for me as well? He was quite convincing!
TANATHEA
Excellent work indeed, Beau.
Coins jingle.
TANATHEA
Begone now.
VALENTIN
(angrily)
Unhand me you cretin! Where are you taking me?
(fading out)
I said unhand me!
Waves fade in then fade out.
People clamoring and whispering. It’s a multitude.
Judge’s wooden hammer strikes against a hard surface.
JUDGE
Silence!
Noise fades out. Only the fire crackling remains.
JUDGE
The court calls its first witness.
Heeled footsteps over tile.
JUDGE
Your name.
MEADOW
Meadow.
JUDGE
Swear yourself to the truth, Meadow.
MEADOW
My word is my blood, and my blood bound to the sea. If I betray the one, may I drown in the other.
As Valentin speaks, the sound of the tide rises.
VALENTIN
(solemn and quiet)
I look at them. The three judges that will decide my fate.
A merchant prince on the right, ancient and distorted in both mind and body. His pockets full of my sister’s gold.
Coins jingle, Thanatea laughs. Glasses click together.
VALENTINE
A justiciar in the center, young and full of himself.
Wooden hammer strikes.
VALENTINE
All chin and no guts. Tanathea’s venom drooling from his lips.
And on the left, laid back on her chair, gazing out a window, is a captain. A lady. Blue coat and white shirt, scorched by the sun, scraped by the salt, blessed by the sea.
Whale song.
VALENTIN
The dark tentacles of her hair unfurling down her back. Her eyes seem a little too big for her face, part of her left ear has been clawed by… something, and the scar across her nose looks like she shouldn’t have survived it.
She had looked at me once, as the guards had dragged me into the courtroom. Then never again.
Together they were the three pillars of our society. A pile of gold, a zealous whip, and the heartless sea.
Tide fades away into the quiet.
JUDGE
Lady Meadow! Do you recognize the accused?
MEADOW
Valentin Tellari. A familiar face in my establishment.
JUDGE
Which establishment?
MEADOW
I own the Leaning Lighthouse, the… tavern on the south docks.
VALENTIN
Tavern is what we’ll call it today?
JUDGE
Quiet! – You will speak only when I command it.
VALENTIN
(laughs)
The tide rises once more.
VALENTINE
Two of them were caught in my sister’s web and the third one did not care if I lived or died. This was no trial, it was theatre.
And I could feel its playwright’s glee as she sat in the audience somewhere behind me.
When Tanathea is… sated – because happy isn’t the word- she crosses her hands behind her back and rubs her fingers together. She curls and stretch her toes, reveling in secret, squirming like a leech.
But most importantly she doesn’t smile. She keeps up the role of the perfect young widow, struck by yet another tragedy.
Tide fades.
JUDGE
Lady Meadow. Did sir Tellari ever entertain company in your establishment?
MEADOW
Why, yes of course, such a charming fellow cannot keep his own company for long.
JUDGE
What kind of company?
MEADOW
All kinds. Though, while my girls have always delighted in his stories, none of them were ever taken upstairs to hear the end. That’s a privilege he kept for the young men I shelter, or the occasional sailor.
VALENTIN
And yet this remains my trial?
JUDGE
Silence!
Chair drags against the floor.
VALENTIN
(harshly)
I will not sit here and be condemned for a sin she harvests!
JUDGE
Enough!
Metal shifts.
VALENTIN
I see the guard standing beside me tighten his grip on his sword.
Leather tightens.
JUDGE
Another word and I will have you muzzled like the beast you are!
MEADOW
(slightly nervous)
We are merely a tavern, Sir Tellari? How our guests entertain themselves is at their discretion.
JUDGE
Thank you, Lady Meadow.
MEADOW
Your highness.
Footsteps walking away.
Tide rises once more.
JUDGE
The court calls its next witness! State your name and swear yourself to the truth.
VISSIAN
My word is my blood, and my blood bound to the sea. If I betray the one, may I drown in the other.
My name is Elena Vissian. I was the Tellari’s physician until their parents passing.
Tide fades.
JUDGE
What fell Lord and Lady Tellari, lady Vissian?
VALENTIN
I’m looking at him with my eyes wide open. And under my breath, I can’t help it, I whisper:
(distressed whisper)
What is this…?
VISSIAN
Sailor’s fever, your highness. The entire family and most of their servants. Valentin and Tanathea were amongst the few survivors.
JUDGE
Why do they call it Sailor’s fever, lady Vissian?
VISSIAN
It was brought to us by prisoners and seamen from across the horizon.
JUDGE
Did the Tellaris ever entertain the company of sailors?
VISSIAN
I cannot speak on the matter, your highness.
Chair creaks.
VARDEN
Never.
VALENTIN
The third judge has stirred awake, I’m almost surprised when I don’t hear him creaking like an old tree, as he locks eyes with me.
VARDEN
The Tellaris were wiser than that. They knew Levians, but no Sailor.
JUDGE
I was taught Levians cannot suffer men’s ailments.
VISSIAN
That is true, your highness.
JUDGE
How then, do you explain the coming of this disease into the Tellaris’ domain?
VARDEN
The whore has already spoken. The only soul vile enough to seek plague-ridden lechers, is standing in front of…
Chains rattle.
VALENTIN
(loud, murderous growl as he lunges)
JUDGE
Guards! Seize him!
Crowds gasp.
VALENTIN
(hoarse, angered screaming)
I will have your head! All of you! I swear it on the stars and the sea and everything in between!
Crowd rises in volume.
TANATHEA
Valentin, please!
VALENTIN
Enough of this masquerade, Tanathea!
TANATHEA
(gasps)
VALENTIN
Hand my sister a weapon! Someone! If she wants me dead, then put the blade in her hand and let me settle this!
A loud thud.
Judge’s hammer strikes down repeatedly.
JUDGE
Order! Take lord Tellari back to his cell, this madness is adjourned!
Hammer strikes once, it echoes and fades.
Tide clamors.
VALENTIN
I hear the breeze of sympathies for Tanathea, as it blows across every lips in the room. I look at my sister and I see that for once she’s looking down.
But I know. I don’t need to see her hands. And she’s too clever to look at me because if she did, she would start barking with laughter like a fucking dog.
Tide fades away.
Heavy, rhythmic footsteps and rattling of chains. A loud thud. Metal gate opens and slams shut.
Heeled footsteps echoing in a chamber. Metal shifts.
TANATHEA
I am to speak with my brother alone.
Footsteps depart.
VALENTIN
Make my heart sing, Thea. Tell me you’ve heard my plea.
TANATHEA
If I wanted you dead, you would never have known.
VALENTIN
Disgraced, then? You think this little farce will…?
TANATHEA
(interrupting)
I want you free, Valentin. But I won’t suffer your mistakes any longer.
VALENTIN
And thus you’ve decided to make your own.
TANATHEA
Oh, spare me your cleverness, Valentin-
VALENTIN
(talking over)
You had me dragged out in the street, bare and in chains-
TANATHEA
(talking over)
Kneel and repent when the judge demands it…
VALENTIN
(talking over)
Thrown out in a cell, for 3 days and nights…
TANATHEA
(talking over)
And you’ll be spared execution.
VALENTIN
(talking over)
With all but a bucket in the corner and chaff on the floor!
TANATHEA
(talking over)
You will be sentenced to wash this stain from our name until you are deemed worthy of return!
VALENTIN
Until the rest of my days then? At the end of your leash! After you’ve dug our parents from the grave and smeared their blood all over my hands?
TANATHEA
(sighs)
This needn’t be so tedious.
Two short steps.
TANATHEA
(calmly)
You’ll be allowed to stay in the domain, under watch, and I will ensure your recovery.
I’ll handle your appearances and mend the ties you’ve neglected. I’ll take charge of the mills, sit at the merchant Council. All your titles and obligations will fall onto me.
You’ll get to enjoy the fruits of my labor without any of its burden. All you have to do… is comply.
VALENTIN
And what then? Once the ghost of my name has opened the door for you. After your web is spun and my shadow forgotten. How do I die then, when you no longer need a puppet?
TANATHEA
It will be your decision, Valentin.
Footsteps walk calmly out.
VALENTIN
(breathes in)
(breathes out)
(laughs despairingly)
(sighs)
The tide rises and clamors, water roaring against the shore and itself. Thunder cracks. Strange, ominous music with bells and horns plays.
VALENTIN
My name is Valentin Tellari. I was raised on a barren rock called the Drumming Isles.
Sea storms rage against our cliffs for half the year, while the sun keeps a spiteful eye on us the rest of the time, like it awaits an apology and hates the elderly.
By all means, this place is uninhabitable. But we are a proud, and spiteful people, with centuries spent fighting hurricanes. Our ancestors were masters of a gentle sea, who ventured a little too far from shore. A little too close to the great deep and its monsters.
A bird like creature cries out. Another creature hisses. Strong winds and rain rise.
VALENTIN
A storm pulled them towards a raging ocean where the luckiest of them drowned. And the few that survived were spat out the other side.
Heavy wood cracks and falls.
VALENTIN
Remained only the worst of us. Enduring, cunning, undying. In this land we ventured to hunt the biggest game we could find.
Creature thrills. A bullet flies with a sharp noise and hits meat.
VALENTIN
And stole their dens. We dug coal and ores from down below and we started building, forging.
Metal tools clack together rhythmically. A fire rages.
VALENTIN
Burning and killing till it stopped being a struggle.
Sharp, metallic strike.
VALENTIN
Till it became our nature. We survived and lived and loved to live. Our breath grew deeper, our frames wider, our voices like thunder.
Thunder roars.
VALENTIN
Generations after generations, we nurtured that spite into strength. We built vessels and raised captains and we sent them to free us from this wretched land. From the hundreds that were sent only one returned.
One, proven worthy of the ocean’s blessings. Our very first emperor, chosen by the water itself, the all-mighty mother.
He was the first of his kind and he called himself… a Levian, for both the blood of man and monsters that ran through his veins. And he became our salvation. The spearhead of an army that ventured overseas. To seek and find all that we were missing in far-away lands.
Birds chirp and sing.
VALENTIN
And we did. We discovered gentle skies and fertile soils. But we were not welcome. The men there could not recognize us anymore.
Bird song fades.
VALENTIN
They did not want our knowledge, our strengths. They were frail and lazy; they were barely human. They did not deserve to keep what we had lost.
(darkly)
So, we took back what we were owed.
Metal clangs against each other. Echoing, distant screams of men.
VALENTIN
They tried to stop us, but no one could stop us, no one was more alive.
To this day, the empire still grows. Our vessels are now the size of castles and Levians are hundreds!
But nowadays life on land has been made easy, and few are the ones still braving the ocean. Why would anyone send their children to face its rage anymore? The ones that still choose the sea are either young enough to think they’ll never die, or prisoners on death row.
Both desperate souls with no other choice. For even the worst of us, the wicked and sadists, even they remain children of the tides. And if the right to be judged by the all-mighty water were denied to any of us…
The isles would be sunk by the ocean’s wrath.
And thus, for reasons of old and new, the empire remains hanging by a thread. It needs more meat, more soldiers and Levians… It needs children.
To deprive the empire of its glorious descendants, is a crime against all of my civilization.
And thus, my trial.
Background tides grow quieter, then fade.
Heavy, armored footsteps. Metal key clicks. Gate opens sharply.
VALENTIN
And the intermission ends.
People chat and clamor.
VALENTIN
They’ve all come to get their pound of flesh. Old friends and enemies alike, their lies and their truth equally wounding. One of them, in particular.
Judge hammer strikes. People quieten.
ANTHONY
My word is my blood, and my blood is bound to the sea. If I betray the one, may I drown in the other.
JUDGE
Speak my Lord and speak well.
VALENTIN
Anthony. We grew up like brothers. I admired his manners, his humor, I reveled in his laughter.
And as we grew into ourselves, I became so content with our bond. Delighted every time he would wrap an arm around my shoulders, as if to tell the entire world of how lucky we were to have found such… friendship.
ANTHONY
(nervously)
I’ve known Lord Tellari since we were boys. Valentin, I thought, was an upstanding gentleman.
VALENTIN
He had once said he envied my eyes.
And many years ago, as a storm raged on the island my father forbid him to return home, insisted he must spend the night.
Distant storm rolls in.
VALENTIN
A room was arranged for him but the both of us stayed awake through most of the evening.
It had been a cold night so instead of parting ways to our quarters we huddled in the same bed.
(bittersweet exhale)
And we weren’t sure what to do with ourselves once it grew quiet. What to do with… our hands.
I had shivered, I think, and he had pulled me closer.
Fabric shifts.
VALENTIN
But closer wasn’t enough, there was, there was… Hunger. Something that made me want to bite until I drew blood.
More shifting. Soft panting.
VALENTIN
Something that made him grasp onto my hips as if he had wished to tear me apart.
And I wanted him to try because I knew it could never break me. It would make me.
A surprised exhaled, then laughter.
VALENTIN
I remember the exhale I let out as he straddled me, and with the full weight of his body, pushed me against the mattress. And I…
ANTHONY
I wanted my children to know the same friendship I had known. But he’s robbed my family of this joy.
Leather and metal shifting.
SIBI
(interrupting)
The same friendship, my lord?
ANTHONY
Yes, Lady Sibi?
SIBI
Levian Sibi.
ANTHONY
Levian Sibi. I wanted them to know loyalty and honor, to learn from each other that-
Strange, deep rumbling and slimy crawling. A heartbeat.
SIBI
Lest you wish to further test my patience, I’d suggest you find your seat.
ANTHONY
Your highness…?
JUDGE
Only I may dismiss the witness, Levian.
Soft growling and flickering.
SIBI
Well.
VALENTIN
She barely smiled at him, and the judge’s attempt at wrath was blown off like a candle.
She had offered him just a glimpse of the shark teeth behind her lips. He tried to play it off but… all he could muster was a nod towards Anthony, compelling him back to his seat.
I looked back at the Levian, who held my gaze for a moment, then returned to her idleness.
JUDGE
(clears his throat)
The court calls upon its next witness.
Heeled, certain footsteps. Whispers. Wooden chair creaks.
TANATHEA
(solemn)
My word is my blood and my blood bound to the sea. If I betray the one, may I drown in the other.
(her voice wavers, saddened and distressed)
A few nights ago, a loyal soul came to me. They came to tell me my brother had lost his way, but that I already knew. I thought I already knew. There’s seldom a tavern in this town he hasn’t been thrown out of.
(despairing)
The insults made to our closest friends I’ve had to quell, the debts of honor I had to pay, the gold wasted I’ve had to account for- But none of this was the matter. What I witnessed last night I could not bear.
JUDGE
What have you witnessed, my lady?
TANATHEA
(close to crying)
My brother. In a room he paid for with the gold in our name.
VALENTIN
(snorts)
The gold in our name over the blood in our veins!
Wooden hammer strikes.
TANATHEA
In a bed… laying with a man…!
VALENTIN
(disgusted)
Is that where your loyalty lies, you rawboned vulture?
Hammer strikes more urgently.
JUDGE
Enough!
TANATHEA
Under the cover of darkness! Making a mockery of the sacred act that binds us all!
Slam against wood.
VALENTIN
(angrily)
Tell them what you saw!
Tell them how I rejoiced and worshipped on an altar of beddings! I renewed my devotion to the All-Mother’s creation! But your defiling eyes know nothing of reverence!
Sharp hammer strike.
JUDGE
Stand then! Stand and speak! Seal your fate if you’re so eager to! Swear yourself to the truth and let us be done with it!
Ominous music rises.
Chair creaks. Chains rattle.
JUDGE
No need to weight your words, Tellari, you’ve confessed more than what…!
VALENTIN
(solemnly)
I choose the sea.
JUDGE
What?!
SIBI
(laughs)
The quiet crowd starts clamoring, talking and shouting all over themselves.
VALENTIN
She started laughing, the Levian.
(aloud)
I will not be judged by torpid minds cradled by the land. And I won’t kneel before this farce of a throne built on sanctimony!
TANATHEA
Valentin!
VALENTIN
I answer to no one but the All- Mother!
(darkly)
I choose the sea.
TANATHEA
(to the judge)
Adjourn the trial! This instant!
Heavy metal clamor. The same growling as before as Sibi rises. Heavy fabric falls.
SIBI
An oath to the tides cannot be undone.
(beat)
Welcome aboard, Lord Tellari.
Ominous strings and drums play.
CREDITS:
Soft, melancholy strings play.
SAMY
Thank you for listening to Levian.
This episode was written, produced, and edited by Samy Souissi, with performances by Feliks Mathur as Valentin, Beth Eyre as Tanathea, Erika Sanderson as Mara Sibi, Chris Magilton as Judge Garson, Jumoké Fashola as Doctor Vissian, Anna Harris as Meadow, Will De-Renzy Martin as Anthony, Giancarlo Herrera as the Merchant Prince and your truly as Beau.
Transcripts for this and every episode can be found on our website.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this episode and stay tuned for more!
Music ends.
EPISODE ENDS.