History Podcast / VerbalComponent

''Verbal Component'' is an actual-play podcast using the Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition ruleset. It follows a party of adventurers through a homebrew world inspired by ''Planescape'': a city existing across seven planes of existence, connected by lightning rails and full of danger and mystery. As the party tracks down a kidnapped [[Main/TheFairFolk fae courtier]], they quickly find themselves embroiled in a plane-spanning conspiracy against the city itself.

The party consists of: Mairead, an albino Half-Orc [[Main/BarbarianHero Barbarian]] [[Main/TheBard Bard]]; Berruc, a [[Main/BeastMan Loxodon]] Main/WarriorMonk; Nora, a [[Main/RobotGirl Warforged]] [[Main/GadgeteerGenius Artificer]]; and the [[Main/PlayingWithFire Fire Genasi]] twin clerics [[Main/LovableJock Benji]] and [[Main/BadassBookworm Kel]].

* BareFistedMonk: despite technically being a [[Main/WarriorMonk Kensai]] monk, Berruc fits into this role for the first arc, fighting with his fists rather than his longswords.

* CityOnTheWater: The District Shining in the Sea, which is entirely built on large stone [[Main/StealthPun blocks]] excavated from the District Sparkling.

--> '''DM:''' You certainly could. [{{Main/beat}}] Would that help in this scenario, do you think?

* FantasyPantheon: Consisting of only four deities: Sahayoga, the Incarnate of Collective Action; Net’eyla, the Eidolon of Individual Pursuit; Intesha, the Incandescent of Novel Ideation; and [[Main/DisabledDeity Budhiko, the Exemplar of Practiced Wisdom.]] Kel is a cleric of Intesha; Benji, of Sahayoga.

* HumanityIsYoung: [[Main/PlayingWithATrope Played with.]] - Humanity isn’t younger than any of the other current humanoid species, but this ‘’batch’’ of humanoid species is the youngest of at least three.
* LeyLine: One powers the emergency portal system in Sparkling. It’s watched by a [[Main/OurGargoylesRock gargoyle named Slag.]]

* MechanicalHorse: Fifi the sheep.
%%* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[Main/InvokedTrope Invoked]] word-for-word by Berruc during the trial in the Gloaming Court. It was quickly clarified to be a joke by Nora.

** In addition, there's the naming of Ekatara's various districts: [[Main/ElementalPlane Glowing like an Ember, Sparkling like a Crystal, Shining in the Sea, Soaring through the Skies,]] [[Main/LandOfFaerie Dancing and Alive,]] Blind and Just, and the Prime Material. The party can't keep them straight, and occasionally neither can the DM.
* PolarOppositeTwins: Benji and Kel. Benji is the jock: athletic, well-meaning, and not too bright. Kel is a studious, quiet bookworm with a [[Main/CharmPerson penchant for enchantment magic.]]

* [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Warrior Race Girl]]: Mairead. She comes from a barbarian tribe that models their lives after polar bears.

* SingleBiomePlanet: Most of the planes Ekatara spans, by virtue of being [[Main/ElementalPlane Elemental Planes]].

* TheChosenOne: Mairead ''thinks'' she is supposed to be this, but she [[Main/RefusalOfTheCall Refused the Call]] years ago.

* TokenNonhuman: [[Main/AvertedTrope Averted.]] Nobody in the adventuring party is human, and they have interacted with very few humans in the story so far.

* Main/AntagonistAbilities: The only major enemy NPC the party has encountered so far, the Wolf-Helmed Individual, is a powerful monk. Judging from their footspeed and damage output, they are likely somewhere above level 12, while the party are level 4.

* Main/BareFistedMonk: despite technically being a [[Main/WarriorMonk Kensai]] monk, Berruc fits into this role for the first arc, fighting with his fists rather than his longswords.

* Main/BoisterousBruiser: Benji, very much so. He’s the captain of a sports team, a cleric of the War Domain, and a loud and gregarious individual all around.

* Main/CallARabbitASmeerp: Dinosaurs exist in the world of Ekatara. They are called thunder lizards.

* Main/CityOnTheWater: The District Shining in the Sea, which is entirely built on large stone [[Main/StealthPun blocks]] excavated from the District Sparkling.

* Main/ClockworkCreature: Modrons, Dungeon and Dragons’ archetypical Clockwork Creature, have been mentioned in the setting. Most likely, they reside in the District Blind and Just, which is built in Mechanus.

* Main/CombatMedic: as a War Domain cleric, this trope is basically Benji's stock-in-trade. Kel has some of it too, to a lesser extent.

* Main/DarkMessiah: The Burnt Apostle, as yet unseen but often referred to, seems to be shaping up to be this.

* Main/DeadpanSnarker: Most of the characters have their moments, but especially Kel.

* Main/EndlessDaytime: Late evening, technically, but this is the case in the District Dancing. This is due to the Feywild defying the normal natural laws - as long as you stay in one place, the sun never moves.

* Main/EnlightenedAntagonist: If they are really a monk, the Wolf-Helmed Individual could easily be this trope.

* Main/ExtraordinaryWorldOrdinaryProblems: It’s a world with magic, gods, faeries, and robot sheep. It also features family tensions, making enough money to run a small business, and managing time between schoolwork and adventuring.

* Main/TheFairFolk: The entirety of the Gloaming Court.

* Main/FantasyPantheon: Consisting of only four deities: Sahayoga, the Incarnate of Collective Action; Net’eyla, the Eidolon of Individual Pursuit; Intesha, the Incandescent of Novel Ideation; and [[Main/DisabledDeity Budhiko, the Exemplar of Practiced Wisdom.]] Kel is a cleric of Intesha; Benji, of Sahayoga.

* Main/GiantFlyer: The party successfully avoids an encounter with a Roc in the Feywild. It eats a unicorn instead.

* Main/HumanityIsYoung: [[Main/PlayingWithATrope Played with.]] - Humanity isn’t younger than any of the other current humanoid species, but this ‘’batch’’ of humanoid species is the youngest of at least three.

* Main/LeyLine: One powers the emergency portal system in Sparkling. It’s watched by a [[Main/OurGargoylesRock gargoyle named Slag.]]

* Main/MachineMonotone: Nora has one.

* Main/MechanicalHorse: Fifi the sheep.

* Main/NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[Main/InvokedTrope Invoked]] word-for-word by Berruc during the trial in the Gloaming Court. It was quickly clarified to be a joke by Nora.

* Main/NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Well, ''title'', but: Greenwarden Althenor of the Gloaming Court, Marquis of Mirthful Abandon, Mutability, Misgivings, Maladroitness, and Alliteration, [[spoiler:better known as [[Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream Robin.]] ]]

* Main/OverlyLongName: Susurrus Through the Aspen Wood. His name is almost immediately shortened to Susurrus.

* Main/PolarOppositeTwins: Benji and Kel. Benji is the jock: athletic, well-meaning, and not too bright. Kel is a studious, quiet bookworm with a [[Main/CharmPerson penchant for enchantment magic.]]

* Main/PortalNetwork: Ekatara has one. It is accessed by train.

* {{Main/Precursors}}: The first humanoids, although none of the modern races are actually descended from them. The Fae refer to them as “The first ones we had to deal with.”

* [[Main/ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Warrior Race Girl]]: Mairead. She comes from a barbarian tribe that models their lives after polar bears.

* Main/RedOniBlueOni: Benji as the Red, Kel as the Blue.

* Main/RoboticReveal: It was never actually a secret, but Nora’s player didn’t explicitly state that she was a Warforged until several episodes in. That Fifi, her robotic sheep, was manufactured was clear early on, though.

* Main/SchmuckBait: The party encounters a toadstool ring that seems to freeze time inside of it. Benji immediately does a backflip into it.

* Main/SecretWar: ''Something'' happened during the Second Shade War. All we know is that it caused the wall between the inner and outer planes to be erected, and that it had something to do with the end of the Second Ones.

* Main/SingleBiomePlanet: Most of the planes Ekatara spans, by virtue of being [[Main/ElementalPlane Elemental Planes]].

* Main/SupernaturalMartialArts: Being a monk in 5e, Berruc fits here. So does the wolf-helmed individual fought under the quarry.

* Main/TheChosenOne: Mairead ''thinks'' she is supposed to be this, but she [[Main/RefusalOfTheCall Refused the Call]] years ago.

* Main/TheQuietOne: Kel, all over. She often has to be prompted to share her thoughts and opinions with anyone except her brother.

* Main/TheUnfettered: Judging by their conversation with Mairead, the Wolf-Helmed Individual is this. They are totally focused on a single goal, more annoyed than set-back by the party foiling their plan, and leave without hurting her almost immediately when it becomes clear that Mairead will not be of help to them.

* Main/TokenNonhuman: [[Main/AvertedTrope Averted.]] Nobody in the adventuring party is human, and they have interacted with very few humans in the story so far.

* Main/TheWildHunt: Invoked by the Greenwarden against Nora, should she ever set foot in the Feywild again.

* Main/VillainTeleportation: Through what appears to be a ''Well of Many Worlds.''

* Main/VoidBetweenTheWorlds: What ''beyond shadows'' apparently is. The name is a direct reference to an astral realm in the old Star Wars Expanded Universe.

The party consists of: Mairead, an [[Main/HeroicAlbino albino]] Half-Orc [[Main/BarbarianHero Barbarian]] [[Main/TheBard Bard]]; Berruc, a [[Main/BeastMan Loxodon]] Main/WarriorMonk; Nora, a [[Main/RobotGirl Warforged]] [[Main/GadgeteerGenius Artificer]]; and the [[Main/PlayingWithFire Fire Genasi]] twin clerics [[Main/LovableJock Benji]] and [[Main/BadassBookworm Kel]].

* Main/DeadpanSnarker: Most of the character have their moments, but especially Kel.

--> '''Mairead:''' I could climb the trees and jump from one to the other...
--> '''DM:''' You could certainly try. [{{Main/beat}}] Would that help in this instance, do you think?

* Main/Precursors: The first humanoids, although none of the modern races are actually descended from them. The Fae refer to them as “The first ones we had to deal with.”

The party consists of: Mairead, a Main/HeroicAlbino [[Main/BarbarianHero Barbarian]] [[Main/TheBard Bard]]; Berruc, a [[Main/BeastMan Loxodon]] Main/WarriorMonk; Nora, a [[Main/RobotGirl Warforged]] [[Main/GadgeteerGenius Artificer]]; and the [[Main/PlayingWithFire Fire Genasi]] twin clerics [[Main/LovableJock Benji]] and [[Main/BadassBookworm Kel]].

''Verbal Component'' is an actual-play podcast using the Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition ruleset. It follows a party of adventurers through a homebrew world inspired by ''Planescape'': a city existing across seven planes of existence, connected by lightning rails and full of danger and mystery. As the party tracks down the kidnapped [[Main/TheFairFolk fae courtier]], they quickly find themselves embroiled in a plane-spanning conspiracy against the city itself.

* Main/LeyLine: One powers the emergency portal system in Sparkling. It’s watched by a gargoyle named Slag.

!! ''Verbal Component'' contains examples of:

* Main/TheChosenOne: Mairead ''thinks'' she is supposed to be this, but she [[Main/RefusalOfTheCall Refused the Call]] years ago.

* Main/TheChosenOne: Mairead ''thinks'' she is supposed to be this, but she [[Main/RefusalOfTheCall Refused the Call]] years ago.

* Main/NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Well, ''title'', but: Greenwarden Althenor of the Gloaming Court, Marquis of Mirthful Abandon, Mutability, Misgivings, Maladroitness, and Alliteration, [[spoiler:better known as [[Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream Robin.]] ]]