Audio Play / The Mage and the Knight

The Mage and the Knight is a Heroic Fantasy audio drama posted by the Youtuber WorldOfCadence from November 3, 2018 to October 13, 2020 (plus an additional blooper video posted a year later on October 25, 2021), with a script written by Scott Houston Paterson. It consists of two 13-episode long seasons, posted across 20 videos ranging from around 12-20 minutes long each (Season 1 combined two episodes per video except for its bonus 13th episode). The voicework for almost all the female characters is performed by Cadence herself, with a few guest voice actors to perform for additional characters.

A Mage arrives at a local guild hall looking for work as an adventurer, but has little luck joining a party until being chosen as a partner by a Tsundere female knight named Audrey Andrea Silverwind. After finalizing the paperwork, the duo set off on their first mission to eliminate a necromancer in the nearby Maple Valley region, which turns out to be the start of an adventuring career together where they will learn more about each other and face their share of trials and challenges.

This audio drama provides examples of:

• Action Girl: Audrey Silverwind, being a lady knight and the daughter of a war hero.
• Adventure Guild: The story opens in one.
• Affectionate Nickname: In Episode 11, Audrey starts calling the Mage "baby" when they're alone together.
• Anger Born of Worry: The Mage blows up at Audrey in Episode 17, even going so far as to yell at her because he is concerned her quest for vengeance will get her killed, as it already almost did in the previous episode.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: In Episode 23, Audrey tearfully promises the mind-controlled Mage that she will always love him and only him as she is laying helpless in Lyzette's ritual circle that will mindwipe her as well.
• Anti-Magic: Magic nullification restraint devices prove to be the Mage's weakness on more than one occasion. Fortunately they are not physically durable, allowing Audrey to smash through them.
• Arc Words: "I really do know how to pick 'em." Audrey says this about the Mage several times throughout the story, most notably when she is about to make love with him the first time in Episode 10 and when he breaks out of his mindless tranquil state in Episode 23.
• Armor Is Useless: Averted, Audrey boasts about her armor being strong enough to withstand hits from rusted weapons in Episode 3. In Episode 15 it becomes a double edged sword when it takes a blow from Myrtle's earth magic hurling a rock at her. In Episode 16, it turns out the impact broke her ribs and punctured a lung, and she needs to get her chestplate off before breathing gets any more difficult for her.
• Babies Ever After: The finale of the series shows that our protagonists have a newborn daughter named Valda, and are considering having another child in a few years.
• Back from the Dead: Myrtle is revived by the Necromancer after the Mage kills her in Episode 19.
• Badass Normal: Audrey is the one regular character of the cast who has no magical abilities, but she can hold her own with just a sword and shield.
• Battle Couple: Audrey mentions her parents were this, as her father was a war hero and her mother was an archer who had his back during the war. Unsurprisingly, she and the Mage also grow to be this as well.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: The Necromancer Lyzette and crime boss Myrtle serve as the villains of the story.
• Blood from the Mouth: In Episode 16, Audrey realizes her injuries are much more serious than she thought when she goes into a coughing fit and spits out blood.
• Bounty Hunter: Audrey and the Mage act as this for their first job together, as they remove the Necromancer's threat by capturing her and turning her into the Adventurers' Guild for a monetary reward.
• Break-Up/Make-Up Scenario: A major theme in Season 2. In Episode 17, the issue of Audrey's grudge against Myrtle and her adamant decision to keep hunting her down despite how close she already came to death leads to a major argument between her and her husband, and he ends up walking away from her. In Episode 18, they argue again over the issue, and he resigns himself to the fact that he can't stop her. However, the argument comes back to a head in Episode 20 when they try to return to normal life after he killed Myrtle. Once he starts picking at her past and trying to understand what truly motivates her, she admits she feels she's become weak and a disgrace as a knight because she's his wife, and she ends up walking out on him. Although she comes back later that day to apologize, it's too late as Lyzette has kidnapped the Mage.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: In Episode 15, when Audrey confronts Myrtle again, the latter admits she truly doesn't remember Audrey since she imprisoned so many people in her fighting pits, the only ones who were memorable were the ones who made money for her, which Audrey didn't do. It isn't until Episode 19 when she finally remembers who Audrey is.
• Can't Hold His Liquor: The Mage is a major lightweight, as shown in Episode 14 when he's already feeling tipsy after one glass of wine. Audrey pokes fun at him for this as she's on her third glass and hasn't felt a thing and she ends up carrying him to bed.
• Creepy High-Pitched Voice: Myrtle's voice is this, and Audrey herself points out she is a creep in Episode 7.
• Curse Cut Short: Audrey's threat to Myrtle in Episode 15 to "cut your head off and shove it up your-" is interrupted when Myrtle suddenly unleashes her previously unknown earth magic powers.
• Damsel in Distress: Audrey in Season 1 when she is captured by Myrtle's thugs and taken as a slave to a fighting arena. Again in Season 2 when she foolishly goes to confront Myrtle alone and gravely underestimates her fighting prowess.
• Darker and Edgier: Season 2 compared to Season 1, with our heroes being in greater peril and also facing more interpersonal problems as they start displaying serious character flaws. The longer runtime of the episodes also allows for more fleshing out of their personalities compared to the more basic presentations of the first season (as Season 2 has dedicated videos for each episode as opposed to Season 1 combining two episodes per video for the same runtime).
• Declaration of Protection: Audrey decides to seek additional training from her father in Episode 11 as she wishes to protect the Mage, remarking that while it's typical for a man to protect a woman, times have changed and a woman can do the same for him.
• Dem Bones: Episode 3 opens with Audrey defeating hordes of skeletons as they break into the Necromancer's lair.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Earth magic turns out to be Myrtle's specialty in Season 2, making her a far more dangerous villain than how she seemed in Season 1.
• Distressed Dude: The Mage gets captured by Lyzette on three occasions.
• Drowning My Sorrows: The Mage ends up turning to drink on a couple occasions in Season 2. In Episode 18, after the Mage and Audrey have another serious argument over her grudge, he goes to a nearby bar to get a drink. Dr. Weishaupt happens to be there as well, and they end up talking about Audrey's past and how she always seemed to have something to prove. Ironically enough, the Mage ends up not drinking his order as he listens to the story and then leaves. In Episode 20 he ends up drinking himself into a stupor after Audrey walks out on him, which leaves him vulnerable when Lyzette and Myrtle invade his home and kidnap him as he's passed out.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: The Mage and Audrey go through many tribulations, particularly in Season 2, both physical and emotional, but their relationship survives the fire and the series ends with their relationship stronger than ever, proud parents of a daughter and ready to continue their family and adventuring careers.
• Emotional Powers: The Mage reveals to Audrey in Episode 25 that his supercharged magic in Episode 23 was a result of him unlocking the strength within him after he made some inquiries with fellow mages. Dianthe's last letter reveals that it was a power only pure emotion could unlock.
• Evil Sounds Raspy: Lyzette's voice is this.
• Exiled to the Couch: Audrey playfully threatens the Mage with this several times in Season 2.
• Experienced Protagonist: Audrey has already been adventuring as a knight for five years when the story starts. The Mage has also taken on solo contracts prior as well, though how long that has been going on is not mentioned.
• Family Versus Career: Zigzagged throughout Season 2:
  • At the start of Episode 13, Audrey has retired from adventuring to focus on homemaking and being a good wife, but upon receiving word Myrtle has been spotted, she is quick to redon her weapons and armor and go off to hunt her down.
  • Episode 17 reveals this was the reason why Audrey's relationship with Dr. Weishaupt failed, as he didn't take the constant time apart due to her quests well, and it fizzled out.
  • Episode 20 shows this coming to a head when she admits she feels her weakness has made her a failure as a knight, she blames the Mage for having domesticated her, and she walks out in tears. She later regrets what she said and comes back to apologize.
  • In the series finale, while she is happy to be a retired adventurer and focus on being a mother, the call of adventure is still strong for her, and she and the Mage discuss about making a compromise where she can accompany him on some of his adventures on occasions when her parents take care of their child.
• Fantasy Metals: Episode 6 sees the protagonists taking a quest to gather frozium ore from a snowy mountain. The Mage ends up using a supercharged fireball to blow up in a cave, exposing a large vein of frozium that will ensure them getting a big payday. Averted in Episode 15, when Myrtle is trying to rebuild her fortune by mining plain old copper.
• Fate Worse than Death: Lyzette in Episode 19 threatens the Mage that dying won't separate him from her, as she is a necromancer and will have him one way or another, whether in life or death. In Episode 21, Myrtle tells him Lyzette is preparing a special ritual that will destroy his will and turn him into a mindless love slave for her, and they will both ensure he lives in a perpetual hellish existence.
• Featureless Protagonist: For the most part, the Mage does not have any identifying characteristics. He is not even identified as male until the end of Season 1. Other than that, the Mage talks a bit about his background to Audrey in Episode 2 when he reveals he's the son of a prominent mage family and that he never really wanted to become a mage, other than to avoid disappointing his parents. He is also mentioned to be rather attractive by most of the female characters.
• Forced to Watch: In Episode 23, Lyzette makes Audrey watch as she kisses the mind-wiped Mage in front of her. Audrey bitterly observes there's no love there, only a desire for control.
• Foreshadowing: Throughout Season 1, references by women to the Mage having an... impressive staff should make it less of a surprise when Episode 11 confirms he's a man.
• Forgotten Anniversary: Season 2's first episode starts with the Mage having forgotten that it was the 2nd anniversary of his and Audrey's wedding. The finale has Audrey being the one to forget their 3rd anniversary.
• Gaslighting: Lyzette engages in an extended version of this in Season 2 when she has the Mage captured and bound in her hideout, constantly trying to convince him that Audrey no longer loves him and that she is the only woman who will ever love him.
• Gender-Inclusive Writing: A subversion. Most of Season 1 goes out of its way to avoid mentioning the Mage's gender, with Audrey referring to the character as "runt" at first and later on her "partner" while everyone else simply says "the Mage," even in odd sentences where a pronoun would work better. This may have been because the initial concept of the story was to have the mage be an audience surrogate for either gender, but the drama later abandons the concept by the end of Season 1 when it makes it clear the Mage is a man.
• Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: In Episode 24, after getting home having defeated their enemies and gotten their bearings together, the Mage and Audrey have a long talk about their relationship over a bottle of wine. The Mage takes a rather buzzed Audrey upstairs to their room to sleep it off, but while relaxing in bed she confesses that she wants to make love to him, as being so near death led her to realize she hasn't left much of a legacy in this world, and makes it clear she wants to have his children. The next episode reveals they completely destroyed the bed that night.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: In Episode 23, the Mage's eyes become flaming when he breaks out of Lyzette's mind control in Episode 23 and his fireball is now strong enough to melt stone.
• Great Offscreen War: In Episode 2, Audrey offhandedly mentions her father Marco is the great hero of the War of the Eternal Darkness.
• The Guards Must Be Crazy: Lyzette claims in Episode 8 that she got out of prison by simply charming the weak willed guards with promises to turn a new leaf and maybe even let them marry her. They have learned in Season 2, and Episode 16 shows when she starts rambling about her "darling" again, the guard simply taps on the bars and sternly warns her to shut up. She still ends up escaping, but not because of anyone's incompetence.
• Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Inverted, as Audrey is the swordswoman and the Mage uses magic.
• Helicopter Parents: Marco Silverwind as Audrey describes him in Episode 10. According to her he still hasn't come to terms with the fact she's an adult and quite capable of taking care of herself. Season 2's premier shows Audrey is still grumbling about the fact that apparently he drops by a bit too often to check on how she's doing even though she's been in a relationship for 4 years and married to the Mage for half that time.
• He's Back!: The Mage in Episode 23 when he reveals he hasn't fallen under Lyzette's mind control spell.
• Indy Ploy: In Episode 9, after the Mage finds Audrey in the fighting pits, he reveals he has no real plan on how to get out. Despite their situation, Audrey is a bit amused and remarks he must be one of those types who lives in the now.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: Audrey declares she needs something strong in Episode 23 when she and the Mage return from the final battle.
• The Informant: Dianthe Vetra, the scout at the Adventurers' Guild, also serves as an info broker Audrey hires on the side. In Season 2, she is the one who feeds information on Myrtle's whereabouts to her.
• It's All My Fault: Audrey laments how it's all her fault in Episode 21 that the Mage got kidnapped thanks to the terrible things she said to him in their argument. She admits it out loud to him in Episode 23 that all the trouble they're experiencing was because of her selfish vendetta and that she hasn't been a decent wife to him.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Audrey Silverwind, as expected of an heir of a great national hero. Season 2 shows the cracks in this facade as she starts displaying her hidden insecurities and stubborn nature.
• Law of Inverse Fertility: Inverted. Audrey and the Mage make love in Episode 24 with the express purpose of conceiving a child. In the next episode, which occurs about a month later, she is overjoyed to tell him that he successfully impregnated her that night.
• Loan Shark: How the Mage is acquainted with Myrtle, as he owes her an extravagant loan for his mage college tuition and she has been extorting him for years.
• Love Potion: In Episode 8, Lyzette has captured the Mage and intends to destroy his mind using a special mind-control potion so that he will love only her.
• Made a Slave: Audrey is captured by Myrtle's henchmen in Episode 7 to serve as a slave fighter in underground fighting pits she runs.
• Magic Staff: The Mage carries one, although he has to trade it away in Episode 9 to an arena fighter to get information on how to save Audrey. In Episode 14, Audrey gifts him a new staff for their wedding anniversary. Seems to be just for appearance's sake, as he doesn't actually need it to cast spells.
• Mundane Utility: In Episode 6, the Mage uses a fire spell to keep them warm while they take shelter in a cave from a snowstorm. When the storm passes, he reveals he had to keep charging the spell to keep the fire going and he can't just dissipate the energy, so he throws the fireball into the cave to get rid of it, which accidentally and fortuitously exposes a large vein of frozium ore. Then in Episode 8, the Mage uses a Mind Control spell on Lyzette solely to make her reveal where Audrey is being imprisoned.
  • Season 2 reveals that Myrtle's illegal underground fighting pit has managed to evade detection for so long because she dug out the place using her earth magic to get it done much faster than normally possible without any outside help or heavy equipment, allowing it to practically appear overnight without any authorities noticing.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: In Season 1, Myrtle seems to be just an unscrupulous scammer and manager of an illegal slave-using fighting ring. Season 2 reveals however, that she is actually a powerful user of earth magic, and she simply had no need to use her powers against the heroes when she had them under lock and key. In Episode 15, she nearly kills Audrey with her abilities when confronted in a copper mine, and then reveals she can see right through Dianthe's invisibility spell, much to the latter's shock. Then in Episode 16, she breaks Lyzette out of prison by collapsing the earthen walls of her cell while under the guise of a prison visit.
• Not the Fall That Kills You…: The Mage has survived a long fall on more than one occasion thanks to having a Featherfall enchantment.
• Only One Name: For the longest time, the series villains Lyzette and Myrtle seem to be this. Their last names, Redthorn and Tavish respectively, are only revealed in the end of the story from a letter cleaning up some loose ends.
• Parrot Exposition: A regular occurrence in the series, as a necessity due to the main character being unvoiced and thus other characters speaking to him need to phrase their words so that the audience understands how the conversation went.
• Relationship-Salvaging Disaster: In Season 2, Audrey having to go out and rescue the Mage when he is kidnapped by Lyzette and Myrtle makes it so that they have to confront their personal problems head on, and also forces her to accept how badly her bullheaded choices have damaged their relationship.
• Rescue Romance: In Episode 9, after the Mage breaks Audrey out of her cell in the fighting pit, just before they take off, she kisses him and thanks him for saving her. She is then promptly amused by his Luminescent Blush and wonders if that was his first kiss. It turns out in the next episode that it was.
• Rescue Sex: In the end of Episode 10, Audrey shows her appreciation for the Mage saving her from the fighting pits, which doubles as Their First Time, and also overlaps with Confession Triggers Consummation as she also whispers that she thinks she's in love with him.
• Retired Badass: Audrey is retired from knighthood at the start of Season 2, and then again in Episode 25. In Episode 26, the Mage has her old armor repaired and refurbished so that she can accompany him on adventures again.
• The Reveal: Dianthe Vetra, the cheerful scout at the adventurer's guild, is revealed in the series finale to have been a spy working for an otherwise undisclosed organization tracking Myrtle and Lyzette. She also reveals that Myrtle's true goal all along was to unearth a lost eldritch stone golem that was buried during the War of Eternal Darkness.
• Revenge Before Reason: The major conflict in Season 2 is driven by the fact that even after four years living a happy and stable life, Audrey still has a burning hatred for Myrtle after what she put the two of them through in Season 1. The moment she receives notice from Dianthe that she has been located, she almost immediately suits up in her old armor and weapons and leaves without a word while her husband is still asleep. The only reason he has a clue what has happened is because she left the note from Dianthe behind. The Mage after he reunites with her clearly gives her an earful about this, but she reacts with indignant anger. Even after Myrtle very nearly kills her, with injuries so bad she needs surgery to save her life, she still refuses to let go of her grudge. It isn't until Episode 19 when she realizes her relentless pursuit of vengeance has put her husband in grave danger as Myrtle has teamed up with Lyzette again and set her loose on him, and in Episode 20 she admits to the Mage how foolish her stubbornness has been.
• Sequel Hook: In Episode 12, Audrey mentions that when the underground fighting pits were raided by the authorities, Myrtle wasn't found.
• Sexy Discretion Shot: The drama ends its episodes when Audrey and the Mage start to make love in Episodes 10 and 24.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: Audrey furiously denies being the Mage's girlfriend in Episode 5 and again in Episode 8, both times in response to Myrtle's needling.
• Shield Bash: Audrey hits Myrtle with her shield when pinned down by her in Episode 19. Myrtle is aghast & shocked that one would use a shield as a weapon like that.
• "Shut Up" Kiss: In Episode 23, the Mage does this to Audrey as she is apologizing to him for everything she's done. Again in Episode 24 when she is lamenting her self-perceived weakness as a knight, telling her he just wants her as his wife.
• Skewed Priorities: Played for drama in Episode 16. Slowly dying from a punctured lung, Audrey's last words for the Mage if she dies is not that she loves him, or hope that he can still live a happy life without her, but rather that he promise to kill Myrtle, showing the depths of her grudge against her. It is only after Audrey is forced to confront how selfish she's been over her near-obsessiveness that in Episode 23, when it looks like she is about to be mindwiped by Lyzette's magic ritual, this time she whispers that she'll always love him.
• Silent Protagonist: The Mage, naturally, being an audience self-insert.
• Spiteful Spit: Audrey furiously spits at Myrtle in Episode 19 when she is pinned down under her boot.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Attending a magical college isn't cheap, and the Mage had to take a sizable loan to pay his tuition.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Audrey furiously denies being a tsundere in Episode 3.
• Taken for Granite: Lyzette is capable of using a petrification spell to immobilize her opponents.
• Terms of Endangerment: Lyzette obsesses over the Mage by constantly calling him "darling."
• Time Skip: Episode 12 jumps forward two years, with the Mage and Audrey now living together in their own home. She has also improved her domestic skills, particularly in preparing giant bear sirloin steak. Season 2's premier jumps forward another two years, with the couple now officially married after he proposed to her in Episode 13's finale.
• Took a Level in Badass: The Mage in Season 2, as he has been taking on many more adventurer contracts solo since Audrey has retired after marrying him. Episode 14 has Audrey playfully ribbing him for how weak he used to be, as he didn't even have enough physical strength to carry her during their honeymoon. In Episode 16, he ends up carrying Audrey to safety over desperation of her injured state, and despite how badly hurt she is, she still manages to express some surprise at how strong he has become. Episode 20 opens with him having completed a fourth quest in a week, to the point that there are literally no more contracts available to take. In Episode 23, he unleashes a much more powerful side of himself, and in Episode 24, he has also improved his alcohol tolerance where he can outdrink Audrey now.
• Tsundere: The series is outright titled as a tsundere roleplay. Audrey is initially brusque and dismissive of the mage but starts to soften towards him. By Episode 5, after they successfully capture the Necromancer Lyzette, she stands up for him when Myrtle tries to extort money from him, and offers to buy him a drink and get him as many contracts as he needs to pay off his debts.
• Villain Killer: In Episode 19, the Mage simply kills Myrtle with a sword. While it doesn't take, in Episode 23 the death is for real after he completely incinerates her upon awakening his powers after throwing off Lyzette's mind control. And then shortly after that, after he gives Lyzette one chance to walk away if she promises never to threaten them again, the necromancer goes on a raving rant on how she'll never leave them alone, prompting Audrey to take her sword and just kill her for good.
• Villainesses Want Heroes: Lyzette is lusting after the Mage from the moment she encounters him in Episode 3. All of her actions after that revolve around trying to win him over to her, with no regard for his feelings in the matter.
• Wham Episode:
  • Episode 16: Audrey's little tussle with Myrtle ended up hurting her much more badly than she realized and she nearly dies. The first seeds of marital conflict between her and the Mage also start showing.
  • Episode 19: The Mage has had enough of Myrtle's threats and swiftly kills her with a sword, stunning Audrey as he takes her home. But Lyzette recovers the body and revives her.
  • Episode 20: The Mage and Audrey have a rough argument and it ends with her walking out on him.
• Where It All Began: In Episode 18, Audrey confronts Myrtle again at the same underground fighting pit where she'd been imprisoned in Season 1. And in Episodes 21-23, the final confrontation against Lyzette happens in her cave in Maple Valley where they first fought in Episode 3.
• Why Did You Make Me Hit You?: In Episode 21, Lyzette slaps the Mage while trying to convince him Audrey no longer loves him, and immediately becomes apologetic for hitting him but that it was necessary.
• Why Won't You Die?: Myrtle actually compliments Audrey in Episode 19 on how hard she is to kill.
• Wizarding School: The Mage graduated from a mage college as part of his backstory, and Episode 5 reveals this is how Myrtle has such a grip on him since she paid his tuition as part of an exorbitant loan she scammed out of him.
• Working with the Ex: Audrey's internal injuries in Episode 16 are beyond the Mage's ability to heal beyond the simple surface wounds, and he has to carry her to the nearby village of Ash Roads to find a medical professional. In Episode 17, Audrey reveals that the doctor, Weishaupt, was her ex-boyfriend from eight years ago when she was still a rookie adventurer, however it's clear whatever they had ended long ago, and he's quite glad to see that she's found a husband who dearly loves her.
• Yandere: Lyzette is this, being violently obsessed with the Mage the moment she lays eyes on him and determined to make him hers with no regard for how he feels about it. Spending four years in prison only makes her obsession even worse.
• You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: In Episode 16, when Audrey realizes her injuries are much more severe than they appear when she begins coughing up blood, the Mage clearly begins panicking. She first calls him "baby" as usual but then calls him "Mage" which calms him down. In the next episode, she calls him "partner" for the first time since Season 1 after their argument as he is walking away, but he doesn't react to it.