Legends of Bilgewater: Tall Tales of the Deep Sea – Anthony Reynolds

A multi-part League of Legends audio drama, Legends of Bilgewater: Tall Tales of the Deep Sea consists of a series of interlinked stories by Anthony Reynolds that are equal parts superstitious sailor tales and moral stories. In a busy dockside bar in Bilgewater, old seadog Lars spins stories of meeting legendary figures like Nautilus and Tahm Kench in exchange for keeping him in his cups. Though he keeps his audience entertained with fantastical stories of his youthful exploits, there’s a darkness running through his tales – these legends of the sea rarely end well, after all.

Of the six parts, four are stories while the first and last are bookends, quickly opening and closing the overall piece with a rather strangely accented narrator. In told there’s a little over 25 minutes of audio, and while it’s split into distinct sections it works nicely as a single overarching narrative. It’s a smart conceit – the hoary old seadog telling tall tales, scaring the children and reliving his past – which works perfectly in audio. It’s not exactly a full-cast audio as for the most part it’s just Lars talking, but there’s enough atmosphere created through other audio elements for it to be way beyond a straight-up audiobook.

Lars’ tales are a little heavy on the old sailor clichés but still very enjoyable, and the (sadly uncredited) voice actor makes for an entertaining storyteller, doing justice to Reynolds’ writing with only a little help from some unobtrusive SFX and suitably nautical background music. These are simple, straightforward stories told in a believable and engaging fashion, and while it’s mostly possible to enjoy them as harmless tales of seafaring myth and legend, there’s also a sharp reminder that Runeterra – and Bilgewater in particular – has its dark side.

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You can listen to these audios either on the League of Legends Universe website, or on Youtube. I found Youtube to be the best bet, as you can take advantage of the playlist function to set the first video going and then leave it running to take you through all six in order.

If, like me, you’re not entirely familiar with Bilgewater and its inhabitants then you might also want to check out the Bilgewater section of the Universe website for more information, then take a look at this awesome little animated video and have a read of this short story. It’s all pretty dark stuff, but very cool.