#and we don't know if FCG has it prepared

[stars-of-radiance]

Reminder from the Office of the Rules Public Defender that lycanthropy is classified as a curse and therefore can be removed by remove curse (a third level spell that is available to clerics). In other words, if FRIDA doesn't want to be a werewolf, Deanna or FCG can remove lycanthropy no later than first thing in the morning.

[utilitycaster]

As a bit of a tangent to this excellent meta, once you acknowledge that this is the campaign, I think the cast has adapted quite well. There actually aren't a ton of major hanging threads outside the main plot that would feel unsatisfying were they not addressed. This also doesn't mean they won't be addressed! The way to great post-canon one-shots as we've seen with Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein are those smaller items; everything tied up neatly with a bow is the kiss of death. But currently, we stand as such:

Orym, Imogen, and Fearne's initial goals evolved into something entirely integrated with the Ruidus plot.

Ashton and Chetney have both addressed their main goals (find out what was up with the Hishari; find the Gorgynei). Both have minor threads they could pursue, but nothing pressing.

FCG similarly addressed most of their goals; more backstory items would have come out in this current trip to Aeor had they not died, much as Ashton's story was also woven into the larger plot as a crucial sidequest in preparation; presumably Braius was created with the understanding that he is a late-game character.

The only major unresolved point outside of the Rudius/Predathos/Vanguard plot is Delilah, and I would note that there's strong precedent for leaving a reduced but not entirely vanquished secondary villain for post-canon resolution, though it's also very possible she'll be dealt with during the course of the campaign.

A lot of the PC-driven stories in prior campaigns were generated from earlier PC-driven choices, and the structure of that campaign makes that less likely. This again isn't a problem - it's just a choice. It provides for some fun one-shot premises (what do we do about Chetney being hunted in Jrusar? What if we found Dorao? Do we want to go to Hishari and piece together precisely what happened, or is Ashton satisfied with what they've learned?) but nothing here is absolutely crucial to end C3 in a satisfying manner.

I'd also like to point out that one of the biggest plot hooks I myself pointed to late in the game of C2 was Molaesmyr, and while that does remain, the Mighty Nein cleaning up Molaesmyr would probably have destroyed the plot of C3 entirely! Sometimes a plot hook is left open for a reason, and especially since we don't know the nature of a Campaign 4 or if there will be one, unresolved threads that would be enticing to explore narratively are a very good sign.

[waltwhitmansbeard]

so i just read a post explaining why the op (and, according to the op, a lot of other people, even tho the post in question only had 32 notes, some of which were from people who disagreed with them) didn't like the cut to the crown keepers in last week's episode. while i'm totally on board with people not jibing with stuff that just doesn't work for them, i wanted offer some reasons why this seemingly hard pivot to people who are not the main characters of the story being told was a good decision to make (note good decision, not inherently the best decision, which i believe no one, including the dm, at a ttrpg table should ever be expected to make).

matt had an extremely powerful, extremely unexpected character decision dropped in his lap in the final moments of the previous episode. we don't know exactly how much time matt has between recordings, maybe a full week, maybe not, but either way, there's a very real chance that matt just did not have enough time to fully prepare a session to deal with fcg's death and what comes next.

sam now has to create a new character that a) is of a level with the rest of the party and b) makes narrative sense for him to be there. that takes time for both him and matt, and they might just need some space to work on that. when laudna died, marisha was willing to sit away from the table for several weeks because she knew that she wanted laudna to be resurrected, but sam may not want the same thing, and that's okay!

matt may want to fold the crown keepers into his main story, some or all of them—particularly dorian, whom both liam and the fans have been asking to return for a while now. dorian is clearly important to orym and the story that liam is trying to tell, and bringing the crown keepers in may be matt's way to do that.

matt—and dms generally—has always had to straddle a very fine line of making sure that his players are the main characters of their story who feel like their actions have real consequences and effects on the world, while also understanding that in reality, it doesn't make sense for half a dozen chucklefucks to have such an outsized effect on major cosmological goings-on like *checks notes* the potential release of a god-eater. this becomes especially true when you're on your third campaign set in the same world, and your players' previous ultra-powerful pcs are still around and definitely more adept and connected than their current pcs are. i, personally, think matt does a great job at walking that line, and one of the things he does that i appreciate is that he doesn't shy away from the fact that a) his players are powerful but not the most powerful and b) his players aren't the only one who care about what's going on in the world and who are taking actions to effect change. the current plotline re: ruidus is absolutely world-shaking and is causing all the divine girlies to cower in their demiplanes, so of course even the evil ones are going to be calling on their champions to help out. it makes more sense for opal to be involved (which, btw, matt has been hinting at for a while now) than not.

matt might need a fucking break! he's been doing this consistently for nine years now, and shit is complicated! handing over the reins to aabria for a week or two or three may be what he needs to not get burnt out.

dnd is an emotional game, and the entire cast might have been rocked hard by fcg's death. some space away for a week or two could help them process and regroup to get back into a story that is otherwise very stressful and action-packed.

or it's none of these! what do i know! i'm a random idiot on the internet! matt doesn't consult me on these matters! (though my dms are open if he wants to chat, i do have ideas)

i think it's tempting to think of the decisions made in and around critical role (or any ttrpg show) like those made for a television series, because the episodes are serialized and we love them so much. but this show is, first and foremost, a group of friends playing a game together, and not a carefully constructed narrative with the primary goal of entertaining an audience. the audience always has been and, frankly, always should be second to the wishes and fun of the people around that table. matt would not have asked aabria to step in and dm a crown keepers side arc if he didn't think it was a good decision for him and his players, and that priority is the correct one. we are being invited in to watch these friends have fun together, and that's a privilege that we're super lucky to have. as long as the cr story isn't doing things that are outright abusive or harmful to the cast or the audience, i don't think we should begrudge them the choices they make in the name of their own game.

again, it's okay if you're not vibing with the crown keepers! i didn't love the aeor arc of c2! not everything is for everyone! but i think accusing matt and the cast of narrative malfeasance is a bit much when, tbqh, they don't answer to us. they answer to each other.

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 110

Oh no. Sam's in the mask again. He's a cat ... gods help us ... fuck ... the cat's in HEAT?!!! Suddenly Robbie is VERY AFRAID ... O.O ... a litter? It's getting worse ... who else is this? they're trouble, clearly ... Ashley: "Why are you doing this?" Sam Cat: "I think you know the answer. I'm a cat." Oh boy ...

Ah! Blood vomit! Always a nice place to start ...

Dad jokes ... great ... don't encourage him ...

Oh yeah ... Laudna's just letting it AAAAAAAALLLL hang out ... XD ... not that Imogen minds, I'm sure ...

Ahhhh ... the "Suck List" ... yeah ...

Yeah, it's so good to hear that Laudna truly is now entirely FREE of the curse that was that heinous bitch.

Ashton: "How WAS the Gwar concert?" Laudna: "Front row seats!"

Skyships! Ooooooooh ... what memories this brings back ... it's a little maudlin in a nostaglic way, if I'm honest.

Random D20 roll? "For the hell of it"? WHY, Matthew? Don't toy with our nerves this way ... 13? Hmmmm ... I hope that's good ...

A Message to Keyleth ... Allura's at the Platinum Sactuary? Okay, then ...

Awwww, Imogen ... SHENANIGANS!!! LOL

What ... try Speak With the Dead on the Titan? O.O ... not sure THAT would be the smartest idea ...

The Communal Death God Mask ... hmmmm ...

Imogen sends a Message to Liliana? Interesting ... I wonder how THIS is gonna go ... "I love you ... and I trust you ..." Okay ... A RESPONSE!!! Phew ... sounds like she's in a very fraught place ... trying her best but VERy alone in her resistance right now ...

To the Platinum Sactuary, then ... and EVERYBODY is tense ... the mood is ... fractious ... preparations for the coming battles ...busy busy busy ...

Oh, who's this? HOLY SHIT!!! Captain Xandis! Oh my god you sweet tiefling! Yay! I'm sorry ... Keybane? He has A TITLE now? Oh, that's cool ... Oh my, it sounds like he had quite the adventure ... but he lucked out, clearly ... a new ship? The Key Breaker! Cool ...

Yes, they have indeed been to the Moon!

Oh yeah, Xandis is definitely still VERY DUTCH. XD ... I love it.

Naming the Titan's butthole ... yeah ... LOL

Ah ... yeah ... FCG ... that's right, he doesn't know ... kind words, though. That's sweet.

"Smiley day" indeed ... :3

A temple of Asmodeus? Oh no, I really don't think there would be, no ... but yes, Fearne's got a point, might be a good idea to get the opinion of at least ONE Betrayer god ...

The thread! That's right, Dorian touched a thread! That's gotta have some bearing right there, that ...

Oh ... yeah ... Opal ...

Goodbyes? Yeah ... I mean, of course ... Orym has a point ... wht they're going into, there's no guaranteeing everybody's gonna make it through this ...

Preemptive eulogies? Intriguing idea ...

More jokes about the Titan's browneye ...

Allura! Hi!

Summoning Coriolis ... yeah ...

Wait ... CAN Braius speak to horses? Oh, so ... Speak With Animals? Hmmmm ... WHY does Matt make this fancy sky horse seem SO unsettlingly creepy like the more ODD horses do? And yeah ... OF COURSE that didn't work, Braius you DUMBASS ... LOL

So yeah ... WITH LUCK the Unseelie won't be an issue ...

I love how even now, after all these years, Allura's STILL the mom friend. XD ... it's so very reliable of her ... and she's so NOSTANGLIC too ... but then she has been the common thread throughout ALL THREE campaigns now ...

The state of play ... yeah ... O.O

So we all need to move SOON, then ... so not much time left for shenanigans ... hmmmmmm ...

THE MIGHTY NEIN?!!! Oh boy ... O.O

Making solid plans, then ... okay ...

Ah yeah, the classic Bag of Holding ... oooooooh! Goodies! Potions, lovely ... yeah, always good to have some Healing Potions to hand ...

Is Chetney really trying to EXTORT ALLURA FUCKING VYSORAN for cash? Yeah, no GEMS is what you need, dumbass! Diamonds and such! Stones! Maybe even one or two that COULD come in useful for Resurrections ...

Flamespeaker Cerkonus? Hmmmm ...

Oh gods ... slipping into New York New York ... did Matt do that on purpose just to trap them?

Yes. Go shopping for BIG diamonds ... that's exactly what the doctor ordered, folks. Get on that shit ...

Team Purchase and Team Titan? Cute ...

Where's Rome? I wasn't aware of any Exandrian city of THAT name, Chetney ...

So CHETNEY'S the big miser of this party, then ... I shoulc have known ...

Dorian casts Charm Peron on Chetney? Oh boy ... THIS is gonna be fun ... NICE. XD ... oh yeah, this is already adorable ... Dorian, you're a genius ... and now Chetney's being unusually GENEROUS ...

Team Shopping, then ... a Perception check? Why, Matthew? O.O ... oh gods ... that's not good ... are they already cleaned out? That's problematic ...

Cidrick's Shines & Keepsakes? Interesting ... why does Cidrick remind me of "Beardo" the tailor in Deapool & Wolverine? He's out? Hmmm ... oh, Braius is onto him ... YEAH, I figured as much ... his "bling"? Hmmmmm ...

PERFECT assist there, Chetney ... XD

"Weird forgery machinery"? Oh boy ...

Brewing supplies ... oh, does he make potions too? Yeah, definitely sounds like it ... anything else they can find that might be useful here?

More Whispers? Hmmmmmmm ...

SPICE?!!! Seriously? Come on, guys ...

Wow ... 200 gold for the half batch, then ... CHETNEY BUYS DRUGS ... great rolemodelling there, Travis! XD

Yeah, definitely sounds like Cidrick's dead and that guy was TOTALLY selling all his stuff ... O.O

Dorian's off on his own, just drinking it all in ... By Popular Demand? Hmmmmm ... oh, so he's doing the wandering minstrel thing ... awwww ... :3

Oh my gods DORIAN IS SINGING THE BALLADS OF BELLS HELLS!!! That's so sweet ... :3

Wow ... this particular piece of background music is SO FUCKING UNBELIEVABLY WELL TIMED!!! O.O

You'e a hell of a bard, Dorian ...

Here we are, then ... the Titan ...

Honestly, it sounds like quite a homely place actually, up close ... I could get used to a place like this ... and THIS is where we take a break? Okay, then ...

So ... a strange kinship for Ashton ... sounds about right ...

Laudna ... you KNOW you don't have a way with kids ...

The Shanks Cantina? Is THAT what the arse tavern's called? Oh, MORE Whispers ... hmmm ...

A toll? Oh they have NO IDEA who they're messing with ... oh here we go ... Laudna pulls a Beetlejuice on them ... XD ... yeah, I saw that coming ...

Oh my fucking gods, this is gonna be a LONG CLIMB, you sure you guys are up to it?

Yeah ... okay, this place is starting to seem a bit more ... ramshackle, maybe, now we're seeing it up close ... hmmm ... yeah, as I thought, it's definitely a rougher neighbourhood here ... but then I guess these are definitely more OUR people, so ...

Somethings inherently FAMILIAR here then, Ashton? Interesting ...

Oh, wow .. little pockets of genuine natural BEAUTY scattered throughout ... that's quite poetic ...

Abjuration wards ... oh, so they're about KEEPING this big buggar nice and fully DEAD ... yeah ...

Big open space? Oh, here we go ...

Laudna full-on Spiderclimbs onto the ceiling looking for a geode or too ... ooh, that's some pretty rubbish treasure-hunting there, Dead Girl.

So here, in the Heart, is better for what they want? Okay then ... settling in for a bit, with a fire ...

Ashton tries "feeling his way" into the ground without thinking about it too much ... and his hand is SINKING IN now ... okay ... oh, now his WHOLE ARM'S in this thing ... this is getting a bit trippy ...

Oh, full titan form? All right then ... in he goes, then ...

Interesting ... so he's NOT ACTUALLY DOING THIS, it just FEELS LIKE he is ... that's kind of FASCINATING ... boy's on like some weird elemental vision quest ...

Whoa ... so the Titan IS still kind of in there with him? O.O

And now he's talking with it ... okay ... so it's not just ONE entity, then ... more like some weird elemental hivemind ... hmmmm ...

"Lost"? Oh man ... this doesn't sound too promising ...

He's being crushed by a humongous fist ... great ... oh ... okay, this is has some potential ... "We are lost ... you are NOT ..." Interesting ...

Memories? Oh ... that's good, right?

Ashton: "Not broken, just ... in motion." Hmmmm ...

The Titan: "Remake yourself. Never ... stop ... changing ..."

And now he's awake again ... okay ...

"A talk with Exandria"? Trippy shit ... Laudna: "Exandria's a SHE?!!! I knew it!"

Trust Ashley to make it sound vaguely sexual ... XD

Go to Shank's? Okay, then ... a drink would be good ...

Shank's is a tiny dive bar ... OF COURSE it is ... this asshole is very tight, clearly ... XD

Laudna gets an impatient head-call from Imogen ... oh, that's embarrassing ... but also kind of adorable ...

Oh my gods the booze sounds AWFUL ... holy shit, that's gotta be the worst moonshine I've ever heard of ... 2 bottles? 2 and a half gold? Hmmmmm ...

Okay, Fearne's trying to negotiate ... if anybody could it's her ... maybe you should flirt with him, Calloway ...

5 silver and he has them all sign the wall? Weird ...

Matthew Mercer you have a filthy mind ...

Meeting up at the Silver Talon's Reach, then ... so a Short Rest and some fine crafting from Chetney and Braius while they wait ...

Braius: "Did you just have sex with somebody?" Dorian: "I had MUSICAL sex!"

Prime crystal magic materials, then ... nice ...

Kryn Dynasty soldiers? Interesting ... what's this about, then? Oh ... a female golblin? Hmmmmm ... she sounds very fancy and venerable ... must be a big deal, whoever she is ... oh yeah, this is definitely for us, then ...

A gift from the Dynasty? Okay then ... oh, so Chetney's the LEADER now, is he? Imogen audibly scoffs, as she should ...

Crystal vials? Hmmmm ... and an orb ... okay ...

Identify, then ... go for it, Fearne ...

2 Potions of Possibility and ... ooooooh, a card! So the sphere is something FANCY ... Sphere of Dunamantic Restoration? Cool ... so it's like a dunamis grenade, then ...

Allura again ... sweet ... oh ... potential goodbyes, then? Oof ... give the old girl a hug, guys! :3

Leeta? Cool! And Maeve! Also cool. Yes, nice, reunions then. And Orym catches up with home ...

Oh! Going through a tree, then? Yeah, smart ... oh yeah, Fearne's gonna have to learn THAT trick sometime ...

Dense forest, a bit warmer ... yup ... back at the lake, then ...

So, preparations have been made, meanwhile the others are on the way ... okay ... time to wait, then ...

Laudna hunts for Ropey ... :3

The boat! And the rope! Yay!

Orym's family really are the best, at least HE got to have the right homelife growing up. He deserves ALL THE HUGS ...

Now he gets Imogen to send him mum a Message ... awwww ... and she sends one right back. Yay! Pie heals all wounds, I swear ... :3

Orym: "Imogen Temult, I appreciate you." Imogen: "I appreciate you too, Orym."

And finally Imogen sends one to her father ... oh man ...

Yay! Butthole booze!

Braius pulls Dorian away for a private talk ... ah, advice, yes ... set this idiot straight, Dorian. PLEASE ... and WOW ... what advice it is ... O.O ... yeah ... IS Braius being honest right now or is he just twisting Dorian right round his little finger? He's too good a liar, we just can't tell ...

Yes, that's the trick. Dorian's got it ... Braius needs to learn it's "US", not him and "them" ...

Oh yeah ... yeah, it'll use up another spell slot, but Imogen and Laudna SHOULD say goodbye to Zhudanna ... which will PROBABLY give the old girl a heart attack ... oh boy ... yeah, maybe not, then ... O.O

Ashton makes up with Dorian ... which he maybe doesn't really NEED to do ... hmmmm ... I mean Blue Boy's pretty chill, after all ... and now they're discussing Opal ... oh boy ... just rip my guts out, why don't you ...

Oh! New arrivals? Hmmmm ... is this good or bad?

There's SEVEN of them ... okay ... cue chaos as they try to work out how they're going to greet them ... wow ... they're really not very good at this ... you're all such dorks, I love it ... XD

Oh wow ... so Matt's having THEM tell what the Nein see? Cool ... and we hear them all doing the original voices ... NICE ... oh wow! Nott's back! Sweet!

Fuck, I am in HEAVEN right now ... :3

Holy shit ... Fearne meeting Jester is THE BEST THING to have happened so far this campaign, I swear ... LOL

Matt's busy geeking out when he calls it a night and I can't balem him ... the next episode's going to be a FUCKING TRIP, I swear ...

[12pt-times-new-roman]

"Sleight burst in time" excuse me?? what does that MEAN, matthew?? (I'm sure it's just hand-waving the time disparity, which is totally fine, but I wouldn't be surprised if this actually meant something)

"You're abstaining from being undecided?" "Yeah!" Never change, Ashton.

That's the thing, though. FCG is the only one who's staunchly pro-gods, yes, but everyone else is undecided -- they don't have the information they need. Chetney is right, history is written by the winners and the gods have almost always won, they don't know the other side of the story; but when the other side of the story is something that the Ruby Vanguard wants, you'd think that would be a moon-sized red flag. The issue is that the Bells Hells are not grasping or being reminded that the Vanguard is the fucking problem.

They need information they don't have, and now that they're in a place as ancient as Zephrah, they might finally be able to find it. Questioning Predathos' badness is, well, questionable, but not unreasonable; when the Ruby Vanguard wants it, it's probably bad. But questioning whether Ludinus is evil or not, like Laudna just did? Nah. That's not a fucking question, it's not a gray area. And I also just noticed that no one has mentioned Otohan during these arguments in at least a dozen episodes, which is.... concerning.

They continue to head farther into the Gray Valley. They pass by a massive patch of desecrated ground where the ghosts of soldiers still drift, like in the Barbed Fields. "A part of history forced to relive itself over and over again." Beyond that, a hill with a massive cleft down the middle with a structure that's emanating a smell of burning meat.

is.... is that the worst group stealth check they've ever had? 7 fails against 4 successes?

Time for combat! 2 vrocks descend on them.

It's definitely interesting that Matt isn't putting them in initiative order. This is a pretty easy encounter for their level, and maybe it's because of that or because it was a failed stealth check (hence why he doesn't have a map ready), but iirc last time they tried to do combat without initiative order it did not go well, so this not being an absolute clusterfuck is a testament to their skill tbh

They continue to approach the hill. They see a stone fort, very well-built but heavily damaged, at the base of the cleft. There are a few small plumes of smoke rising from it.

Orym recognizes this as the Erudin Bastion, an extension of a temple to Bahamut built in the center of the Gray Valley to keep watch on the demonic activities here. It acted as an early warning system for abyssal incursions from the area. But Chetney, using grim psychometry has a vision, red, like he's looking through a stained glass window. Not long ago, this structure was active, people walked it; then, shouts, flames, dark energy. One by one, the screams are snuffed. Not more than a few days ago.

Well, I don't think Matt could make this any more clear to them.

The team splits up. Half of them climb up the hill with the intent to feather fall down, while the other sneaks up on the ground.

From above, they see the remnants of a terrible battle, bodies and limbs put up on pikes as decoration. Little impish demons fly throughout. A few larger figures walk about this demonic "encampment," warriors with massive swords and wings, keeping watch and looking around. They also make out three iron cages that hold humanoid captives. Lastly, on a stage-like platform, some imps are drawing multiple large ritual circles -- they're building something, preparing something.

Hey, remember last time we saw this happening? Remember how those demons were making ritual circles intended to bring more demons through? Remember how they were working for Tharizdun?

oh so that's why this episode is 5 hours long. that's big map

And, just to top it all off, a massive demon with fur and little wings lands from above.

FCG casts tongues so they can understand them. The larger demon speaks: "hurry, I must feast soon. Prepare, then celebrate."

From an alcove, something grabs one of the sentries, there's a burst of flame, and the sentry doesn't come back out. A figure emerges -- a humanoid, deep red skin, a mane of grayish hair and a beard, handlebar horns, and leathery wings. It seems like this is a fiend (possibly a devil of some kind, based on the red skin) who's taking out these demons. (the way I thought this was Ryn at first--)

Ashton putting the immovable rod in the hammer is so fucking cool!!! That's so sick. Tal really channeled Percy with that one.

Matt is good at miming??? (Also, who gave Sam access to verbs?)

Now we roll initiative. I get the feeling that this combat will take up the majority of the rest of the episode.

In one of the cages, Orym sees two figures: a female soldier with a broken arm, and a small gnomish figure with tattered Tempest Blade armor.

Fearne makes it to the seemingly-friendly fiendish creature. "Who are you?" "A friend." They, with a 30 persuasion check from Fearne, steps into the light. "I have no friends. But for now, we are not enemies." They step past Fearne and raise their sword.

Matt's using the Obann mini, so I'm assuming this guy is some kind of devil. Which has some fucking wild implications regarding the Betrayer Gods right now, if devils are actively fighting against abyssal holds on Exandria.

FCG gets stress points from using bonded blessing?

Imogen casts minute meteors! (I've always pronounced it minUTE, not MINute, but whatever.) this is one of my all-time favorite spells, and I think it's what widogast's web of fire was based on.

Their devil non-enemy flies over to one of the demons, and their sword does radiant damage! They deal a shit ton of damage (84!), and they're a fucking paladin multiclass who can cast 7th level spells.

Laudna using form of dread, unlocking the cage, shouting "you're free!", then immediately climbing into the cage herself is peak comedy.

Oh hey! Ashley remembered enhanced bond!

The devil takes more strikes against the demons. They get a flanking bonus with Chetney, so they are -- at leash mechanically -- considered an "ally." They deal 56 damage with 2 attacks, and Chetney flirts with them.

Chetney gets a kill with bloated agony! To the devil, "now, the big one." "Do not give me orders."

After three disarming strikes, Orym finally disarms the largest demon, and sends its sword spiraling to the ground.

Some vrocks come flying in, piling on. At this point, it's pretty clear that Matt intends for them to release the people in these cages so they can help, because this encounter is far more than the Bells Hells can handle alone.

FCG's spell save is 15?? That's so fucking low, what the hell? At level 10, their save should be at least 17.

Ohhhh, that's also an interesting rules interaction! Because Ashton's subclass is custom, I can't comment on it as extensively, but. One of Ashton's abilities pushes the creature they hit 5 feet away, breaking the grapple the creature had on them.

Imogen goes down, and Laudna challenges the demon that did it. "Let's go, bitch."

Orym makes a devastating blow against the main demon creature in protection of Laudna and Imogen and everyone in the cages.

Gods, Laudna just throwing everything into this one turn after the demon knocks Imogen unconscious, unloading all her spells trying to get away and deal damage........ cinematic glory. AND THEN Marisha using a nat1 to reinforce their love, to just simply stand between Imogen and the demon in her form of dread? peak pining lesbian romance. peak "oh god I'm in love with my best friend and I can't let the rest of the friend group know" energy. FCG gets Imogen up with a healing word, she prevents it from taking reactions, and she quickens invisibility on both her and Laudna. what a fucking turn, Laura Bailey--

"In her head, she hears, 'run away.'" "I say back, 'you do the same.'" And Imogen, because the demon can't take an attack of opportunity, just fucking bolts away.

The devil paladin takes their turn again, pumping a divine smite into their attack. They kill one demon with 77 points of damage, then darts to another one.

A voice enters Chetney's mind. "Take what you have taken. Together, we will do great things." Achievement unlocked: Travis gets a sentient sword

and the main demon teleports away. Orym, holding on to it, falls to the ground. It attempts to make an escape (♫ make an escape ♫). However, the people within the cages begin to make their way out.

As combat winds down, Fearne gets the HDYWTDT on the primary demon leader. Her spell glitters over them, causing lots of pain while looking like an absolutely beautiful display of vines and glitter.

The threat, in the moment, is quelled. Ashton checks, and the power being directed to the ritual circles is interrupted, and they are broken. The Bells Hells breaks open the rest of the cages -- in them, there are two members of the Tempest Blades (Jennis and Errana) and Bearnie, Orym's sister, tending to a dislocated shoulder. Orym bolts into a run toward Bearnie, who runs and gives him a hug. "Take it slow, take it slow." There's a heaping sob before she pulls away from Orym. "I knew they'd come for us, but I didn't think it'd be you." "It's just chance... the Tempest sent us out, just in time, it looks like." "I think so."

The devil lands nearby and approaches. "I am Tevon Klaust... I am one of the many champions of Asmodeus; some watch his domain, and others, like me, act in many realms. To some, I am known as the retribution of the Hells -- an infiltrator, assassin, and scout. To me? I do what is necessary. To whom do you owe fealty?" "Myself." "You... you are outside the knotted weave. While I know not the details, something brews in Exandria that has left my lord shaken, and me with the unique orders to, unless aggression comes to me, work with those who work under the Prime Deities or outside of them. You are lucky today that we meet on common ground; the future does not hold so much grace." "So you're working to help the gods?" "I'm working to help my god. And in some ways, all of the gods, in this moment. Remember they are brethren... this armistice has historical precedent, so do not feel nervous. Enjoy it while it lasts -- lest you seek new interests in your future? There are many gifts that are granted on certain paths."

Fearne holds his attention. "What does that entail, if I were to follow Asmodeus?" "An eternity of purpose, strength, and pleasures for those who fall under his shadow. You walk in the mud of the lowly demon princes. They are outside the divine order and likely stir in the wake of these times; pay them no mind. They are chaos without meaning." He takes Fearne's hand and kisses it. Her hand burns -- but burning doesn't frighten her. On her center knuckle, there's almost a tattoo of a black horned crown (the holy symbol of Asmodeus). "We are allies today. Perhaps, in the future, we will be allies again. The path is open; all you need to do is ask for his aid. Do you accept these terms?" "Let's do it, I'm in." "The pact is sealed... we will meet again." "Promise?" "Unbindingly."

I'm--

Oh no.

He flies up and speaks down to them. "The sky goes red to the south. I think our destinies are entwined." He teleports away.

This just made it so fucking clear that the Bells Hells know criminally little about the pantheon for people acting like they have any kind of authority to decide whether they live or die.

Bearnie led the expedition and expected to use the Bastion as a place of safety, unaware that it had fallen. The survivors were kept for a celebratory feast, for when they brought through the rest of their group. The main demon called itself Extevass the Gluttonous, a servant of Vrudaulin, a demon prince.

They scavenge for materials and head out into the Gray Valley. Bearnie leads them to a hillside, where she magically carves a cavern and closes it behind them for an enclosed campsite.

[platypusmonstah]

C3E77

I don't ever participate in discourse or discuss anything plot-wise to any shows, movies, or any other entertainment media, because, well I just don't wanna. I try to keep my opinions to myself and just enjoy (or hate) things on my own.

Before I go into this I will admit, I am not a fan of Ashton, don't hate the characters, I am just indifferent to them. I don't care about the pity party we have been watching for the past 2 years, them being left behind, the savior complex, and whatnot. I admit, that I am not so versed in the punk scene and what it's about (I am pretty sure it's not about feeling sorry for oneself, but I could be wrong) so perhaps this is where my indifference comes from? I don't know, they are not my cup of tea that I would enjoy. I do admit that the character has changed since we first saw them, for the better.

That being said, Taliesin plays them VERY well. So much so that sometimes it is hard to see where one starts and one ends. You can't tell if a fuck up is from Ashton doing Ashton or Tal misunderstanding what's going on. I don't know.

Personally, I am a bit miffed (just a tiny bit, it actually kinda passed because, well, this show is not created for me, the whole thing is Matt building this for them so who the fuck am I to judge what they do, I'm just here for the wild ride), because yes, the 3rd campaign is 2 years in, but in-game its only been 80 days. They had that shard for 1 day. Just 1 day. They were about to go on a scouting mission on the fricking moon. This mission is not gonna be a big bad boss fight. So using the shard was not the number 1 priority. And even if in the end Fearne refused it, there are other party members, or even other characters that could have absorbed it. I digress.

I do think Matt went too easy on Ashton and Tal. Yes, he presented the red button, but that button was glowing and had multiple warnings pointed toward it. Whether he went easy because he was not prepared for this, or he went easy on it because he didn't want to fuck up the party and campaign, we will probably never know. It would have halted the campaign, had Ashton died. People are praising Taleisin for doing this, and how it was so brave, but I wonder if they would have thought the same if it backfired and Ashton died. Who knows.

The second half C3E77 was stressful af. There were a lot of instances in all 3 campaigns that were stressful and made me almost pull a Marisha and perch. Characters doing stuff that made you wanna throw something at them. And in the end was worth it. It helped the party, it pushed the story forward. This will also. What soured it this time for me, was the gloating at the end. Taliesin gloated, not Ashton. Ashton would have been dead dead had it not been for Fearne, FCG, and that ring. Tal gloating was jarring, and for that, I hope they gave him shit after the episode.

But ultimately I am happy it worked out in the end. Because if it didn't, I'd feel horrible for Ashley. She was the only one who knew what was gonna happen. She already had to choose once who lived and who died, and she felt like shit for weeks afterward. I don't even wanna entertain the idea of how she would have felt if Ashton died.

[samuraiko]

You should write the hells trying to replicate Eshteross’s cookie recipe

Well, now they HAVE his recipe, but... :D

"Too Many Cooks"

The members of Bells Hells pored over the recipe intently with as much focus as if it had been a treasure map.

"It doesn't look THAT complicated," Laudna said eventually. "And we did get those spices from his kitchen."

"But do you think that the galley has the rest of the ingredients?" FCG asked. "I mean, I don't eat, so I don't know how common a lot of these might be."

"Hmmmm..." Orym rubbed the back of his head and looked thoughtful. "Well, we can give it a shot, at least. It won't be perfect, but at least then we'll know that we definitively need these specific ingredients."

"And we can always make a 'travel' version," Imogen suggested. "For when we're on the road and we might not have everything."

"Good thought, Imogen," Laudna said with an approving smile. "And FCG, I know you said you were wanting to try to cook, so let's go see what Denalia has in the galley."

Off they went to the galley, which was already cramped as it was, but now even moreso.

"You know what, I think I'm just gonna hang out up on deck," Ashton commented. "Fearne, you probably should, too."

"Why me?" she asked with a pout.

"Because you're also fucking big and it's really fucking cramped."

"That's a good point. Okay. But make sure to save some for me, because I want to try them."

"We will, we will," Orym assured her.

"Don't you worry, Fearne, I'll keep you company," Chetney told her, and he swaggered out after Fearne and Ashton.

"He is so out of his league," Imogen said after a moment.

"Let him dream," Laudna chided her. "All right, now... ingredients, ingredients..."

It took them a couple of minutes to get everything sorted out and on the counter.

"Wait, should we double the recipe?" FCG asked. "I mean, especially if we're gonna share with the crew..."

"No, I'd say let's just try it as-is, because if it doesn't turn out well, we don't want to waste the ingredients," Orym replied. "We only have so much food stocked onboard, anyway."

Whisking the dry ingredients together was the easy part... and then they got to the part where they had to mix things together.

"You know, maybe this would go faster if I were to hook something up to my arm like an attachment," FCG mused.

"No offense, FCG, but just how much control do you have over things like rotation speed?" Imogen said slowly, but it was too late. The automaton had already swapped out the bolt thrower on his arm for the mixer, revved it up, and lowered it into the bowl.

Immediately, the contents of the bowl went all over the galley, covering the walls, the counter, Imogen, Laudna, Orym, and FCG.

"Ummmmmmmm..."

"Okay, so maybe we don't do that next time," Orym sighed as he combed the dough out of his hair with his fingers.

"I'm so sorry, everyone!"

"No, no, no, this is a learning experience," Laudna reassured him. "Now we know. Next time by hand. But I think we should clean up the galley first, we don't want Captain Xandis so mad at us for messing up things that we don't get to try again."

"At least we didn't set the galley on fire," Imogen remarked, which had Orym instantly re-reading the recipe to find out just what the actual baking would entail.

"Yeah, I'm thinking that when we get to that part, I'll take care of things. Anyway, let's get this cleaned up."

By the time they were finished, however, Denalia had returned to the galley to start preparing dinner, and the four of them left.

"Okay, so we'll try again tomorrow, FCG," Imogen said. "Don't worry, we'll figure it out. And besides, we'll need to ask Denalia about how to keep stuff cool, since we have to let the dough chill for a while."

"I could always Chill Touch it!" Laudna said brightly.

"Maybe we should save that just in case we do set the kitchen on fire."

"Your confidence in us is overwhelming, Orym..."

[hayleysayshay]

OKAY i have watched c3 e33 (yes i post memes about spoilers i haven't watched what about it lol) and this is probs the first episode i've watched in one sitting. I have THOUGHTS.

Honestly, it didn't feel... right? like not in a bad way. Even considering that they have FCG and revifify which wasn't there for Molly, it seems like Matt didn't seem to be taking the deaths as seriously as he could be, he's having fun,

So, maybe:

a) Matt said all bets were off this campaign, and has mentally prepared himself to kill all the characters at any point, so he just isn't reacting like he used to

b) Matt KNOWS they can get out of this fairly easily due to something that will be revealed next episode

c) the whole thing is a dream Otahan is putting in Imogen's head to show her what could happen (or something) and no-one is actually dead.

I'm not convinced by c honestly because I don't see it being all a dream on dnd principles, but I'm SO excited to see where this goes.

I'll say I'm glad that everyone seemed to be having fun. This wasn't Molly's death where Tal was visibly upset and angry. They're all confused, but Liam says 'great game Matt' and Ashley is begging for like ten more minutes. So tbh they all seemed to have fun, and that makes the episode actually watchable. The whole episode was kind of rad, but of course it's one episode in the grand scheme of a massive planned epic arc, so we shall see what it means in the long run!

[vethbrenatto]

People immediately jumped to the “oh this is fcgs evil murder bot side!” but theres so much to unpack in those 2 minutes that proves that this is probably not the case at all starting with the stress points. The more stressed fcg is the closer they get to that breaking point. Them being practically abandoned by dancer pushed them past it. (This is abit of a long ask sorry)

There’s a few things we know about this state: fcg didn’t wake up and started attacking for no reason chet did hit him and in the state that he was in they saw him as a threat. Also something that alot of people seemed to overlook is the fact that fcg only retaliated against those who hurt him first, he could’ve yelled at the entire party but they didn’t. Ashton did grab fcg but didn’t cause them any harm and fcg didn’t retaliate at Ashton at all.

This is more on the theory side of things but the whole saying there insecurity things at them was probably a way to get the party to run away from him, saying things that they don’t like to hear would drive them away from them so that they wouldn’t get hurt anymore.

the funny yet sad thing is the party probably could’ve talked him down, they weren’t saying or doing anything to those who didn’t hurt him so if they just let fcg be grappled and stay there maybe they would’ve been able to talk to them. Also the violence made it much worse, since fcg seemed way more stressed out the more they got hurt.granted there was a lot more going on so not gonna blame anyone but hopefully one of them /probably Ashton/ will want a much different approach the next time this happens or just say it in preparation

hi same person who wrote the massive fcg anon sorry if that was abit long i just have alot of thoughts about this character and wanted to hear your own thoughts! /also im not the biggest fan of the "oh fcg turned evil" thing /

i'm assuming these asks go together! and no worries, i don't mind hearing people's takes as long as it's not like "you should have this opinion about this"

personally, i kind of disagree with this. i think FCG in the state they were in couldn't have been talked down- mechanically, it seems like they had been triggered in some sense and the only thing that would've stopped them was probably a successful save, being knocked out (like they were), or possibly a calm emotions (this was also tried, but only after FCG was knocked out).

i think you're right it's obviously deeper than "murderbot" because FCG's personality that we've gotten to know doesn't seem to be malicious, but the stress points and the backstory of FCG being triggered by other's negative emotions and absorbing their pain (a metaphor for unhealthy coping mechanisms) to me doesn't make it... not murderbot? it's just a reflavoring and recontextualizing.

also i think i agree that I don't think FCG means the things he said, he said them to be the most hurtful he could. it seems like from the narrative we're being give, those negative emotions he's swallowing from others fester in him, so that's obviously what comes out when he "turns"

to me at this point i think the most interesting thing that could happen (other than this all being a fakeout- that FCG wasn't the one-eyed monster, which i think is 10x better a twist than him being one, but i also don't think that's going to happen) is going to be learning FCG's Aeorian roots. what about their time with Dancer led to this "malfunction"? did she just program him to be a helper bot and being of his advanced intelligence he, just like a real person, couldn't live for just other people's emotional wellbeing. he has to learn to live for himself and consider his own feelings and now that i'm typing that out, it does feel like that is probably the most predictable outcome of all this and it kind of bores me dfgfjdklgkl so um. i hope something else happens? idk

[nochiquinn]

campaign 3 episode 32: braeuch

UGH twitch won't let me re-sub with prime until the 29th bc I missed the ONE DAY it was available

I have adhd, this is ableist

liam stop that

I always picture the aunt from coraline chiseling at the taffy bowl

letters is an scp

no dis a ssem ble

I've been making arcane gifs, so: sevika

cyborg ladies >

ah. family trauma.

"it was old" impossibly old. old as balls.

fcg whispers!

WhisperCam

orym

matt using this as an excuse to get a drink

"hold me"

Bad Cop

"we're level 7 and I wanna use it"

the way he paused after "it's been a while"

[sprays fcg with a water bottle] you! have! autonomy!

you are an AUTOMATON it is IN THE NAME kind of

this all hurts

laura inevitably giggling at "pussy"

not looking forward to "dancer is an irredeemable villain" takes

she's just. kind of a not-great person who is also facing probably the most traumatic event of their life? I wouldn't be at my kindest either

fcg :(

"you always do better when you talk" put me in the ground

weird steam-powered giraffe subunit

"you're always asking for more shopping"

somebody in chat said fcg makes the usb device noise when he swaps arm extensions and now it's all I can hear

it is now safe to remove your buzzsaw

travis did not prepare for this information

YES AND, BITCH

(I'm gonna have to hunt that down and make a gif)

"we're fucking at joe's?" "joe wants to fuck me?"

liam

"I didn't mean it like that" "yeah no sure you didn't"

this is how they get taken off twitch

"SAM. what's WRONG WITH YOU."

liam

…so he's rearranging fcg's guts

"only one thing looks purple in the whole world" the fandom trying to connect everything together

WOW

"delilaaaaah, make yourself usefuuuuul you stupid biiiitch"

she did not

sigrun's rune scars

(please read edda-earth)

I got distracted by tiktok (title of my autobiography) (that I didn't finish) (guess why)

the KAREN CULLING

"you cannot say words"

"where the FUCK is aeor"

"unchosen bits" folk pop band name

god time GOD TIME

does fcg become a changebringer cleric bc that would be cool

"guns for tiny monkey hands" is unchosen bits' debut album

"black powder" I miss viktor

love that ashley has a little mister prop now

ashon is that guy who flung the walmart pallet one-handed

is laudna's arm weaker at the elbow or at the shoulder

I have processed Nothing why are we stressed

fearne

they're gonna know

I always feel bad zoning out bc like. this is not much of a reaction post if I don't fucking pay attention to react

…..wooden hats

the faun can detect magic! I didn't know she knew how to do THAT.

cerberus assembly is the new uko'toa (uko'toa)

"everybody knows spartans don't exist!"

"we need someone fast" "and furious" "I could go" "you're neither of those things"

"I've heard people say 'brewch'" "they were wrong"

taliesin why was that so menacing

they are single-handedly going to change the popular pronunciation of the word "brooch"

travis

life is short, do something to a bagel

"first branch of a very big tree" [squints]

"be the best broken thing you can be"

newly refurbished chamber that was once bad

chetney why are you so HORNY

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 73

It's always more suspicious when there doesn't seem to be anything off to start with ... oh, yes, here we go. So it's humiliate Mercer time ... Matt: "WHAT ARE YOU, RIEGEL?!!!" Sam (weeping profusely): "I'm nobody!"

Laura: "Oh, I love a skit that doesn't outstay it's welcome." XD Yeah ...

How is it that Laura CONSISTENTLY manages to tank her openings? I mean it's adorable. :3

"Dead .. men ... tell ... no ... tales ..."

Wow ... way to derail the game in the opening moments, Riegel. With a t-shirt no less ...

"I believe I can Scry!" XD

Raving sbout Beau's abs ... I love it ...

Laura (angrily, at Sam): "Don't show it! DON'T SHOW IT!!!" Travis, the CEO (cringing): "I did wonder what you were thinking."

Sam: "So what do I roll?" Matt: "Nothing! You don't ROLL for Scrying!" Travis: "EIGHT YEARS!!! EIGHT YEARS we've been playing this!"

So where IS D at? Aside from just on the Menagerie Coast? Sam rolls SHITE for perception. Matt: "Somewhere nice."

Laura: "You don't deserve this." She confiscates the Gilmour Dice. Travis: "Ooh, lost privileges!"

Ghost tattoos? Intriguing ...

Chetney: "I have ink." Imogen: "You have paint." Chetney: "What's the difference?" Taliesin: "Half the audience just groaned in pain."

Ashton's trying to smooth talk his way into a free tattoo ... persuasion check! 12? Hmmmm ... on one condition? Ah ... oh, he WANTS IT to hurt? Okay ...

Ashton: "Honestly? If it doesn't hurt it's kind of YOUR fault."

Now Orym's suggesting THEY ALL get a tattoo to commemorate all this shit ... oh, Chetney DOES have ink? Okay then ...

Bertrand's face? Matt: "Like the Steve-O tattoo?" LOL

No, they're NOT scared. These folk have SEEN SOME SHIT ...

No mutiny. Bad idea. At least wait until AFTER you get where you're going.

Is this the first the rest of them have heard sbout Delilah still being there in Laudna's head? Oof ...

No, she did not actually EAT ANY CHILDREN, Fearne.

Laudna thinks the soul-eating might be "problematic". Insert Nic Cage meme: "You don't say!"

Oh, "Keith"? Hey! Laudna: "Hi, Kevin." Kyle (deflating): "That's okay."

Whispers for Fearne! Again Sam has nothing prepared. He is becoming an embarrassment. XD

Oh my gods that is such an unconvincing speech, Kyle (or whatever your name is).

Imogen: "Do we want Delilah to get stronger?" Hmmmmmm ...

Ashton: "I believe in sacrifices, not casualties."

Yes, I like that idea. Chetney should make Kyle a name tag.

Aha ... planning tattoos ...

Taco Bell? Laura: "Live mas and check you Gmail." XD

Scrying on Delilah ... oh boy ... it's a bust? Hmmmmm ... ask the Changebringer? Or look into Laudna's dreams? Oh boy again ...

Imogen actually suggesting letting Laudna suck a little bit of her soul to stir Delilah ... yeah, I dunno how I feel about that ... I mean it's incredibly romantic, but still ...

So it's a surreal bust after all ... good or bad sign? I don't know, and I don't like it.

Fearne tries to get into the Captain's Quarters ... oof ... might be better if she CAN'T get in there.

Peeing ... OVERBOARD? Lovely ...

A flirty persuasion check? 21? Oh boy ... so ... is that a date? I'm so confused. Apparently so is the Captain ...

Ooh ... Cyrillia again ... she really is creepy ...

FCG's tattoo is basically ETCHED ... XD

Captain Novos: "The Moon's out." Oh, so here we go then ...

Completing vengeance ... oh, ENDING BLOODLINES?!!! Oh boy ...

Dusty musty bed, but ... Nice ... oh, here we go ... so he's ACTUALLY in the mood for something more? Novos: "You offer some of your warmth?" O.O Oh, so this is JUST a ghostly bootie call ... and that's actually kind of sweet ...

Oh dear ... has she killed the mood? Say goodbye? Persuasion check ... 26 ... hmmm ...

Great, that bloody talking sword again ... wait ... it didn't speak to the Captain? Hmmm ...

Wow ... oh, so she's ACTUALLY DOING THIS ... Novos (nervous): "It's been a long time." Oh, she's just gonna spoon him? Ye gods ... oh, I love that he's actually ENJOYING being the Little Spoon ... Ashley: "... where are we going with this?" LOL

A con save? Seriously? Magical effect? Hmmmm ...

Oh she is going to "relinquish the warmth she promised" ... blimey ... oh shit ... is this gonna be a problem? Oh my ...

PERMANENT 5 point hit point reduction? Shit ... and another think that Matt will discuss with her at the break? Fucking hell, Ashley!

Cyrillia is SHADOWING the Captain? Interesting ...

Orym is STEALING her spyglass? Really? Laura: "It's a running theme."

Whoa ... is Cyrillia JEALOUS of Fearne and the Captain? Interesting ... "You gave him WARMTH?" Oh shit ...

Oh no, is this about to kick off? Cyrillia: "The Captain's MINE ... charge!" O.O

How does Ashley KEEP cocking her persuasion roll? 7? Crap ...

So ... has Fearne just made an enemy?

Fearne: "I did not take anything from her ... Orym." Orym: "... oddly specific."

Whoa ... awkward wake-up call ... Novos: "Maybe you need to work through the nausea and then it gets good." Fearne: "Oh, I've heard that one before."

Imogen's fucking with Cyrillia with the voice in her head ... but in a kind way? Oh boy ... "Offer your warmth ..."

Wow ... is Fearne actually playing MATCHMAKER for these two right now? Oh my gods it's actually working ...

Fearne: "You are a queen, and I want you to go in there and take what you want."

OH ... MY ... GOD!!!

Cyrillia: "Captain, perhaps we stop dancing around this thing and just ... make our own fire." OH MY GOD!!!

And that's a break! No shit ... O.O

Oh, they're gone FOR A WHILE?!!! Oh boy ... Holy shit ... there's like STEAM and stuff coming out and everything ...

Laudna's sending Pate in to spy ... oh boy ... ah, just a really really STEAMY WINDOW ...

I love how Pate is disappointed Laudna won't let him get inside fir a closer look ...

"I'm fucking Kyle" ... hmmm ...

FCG: "Did we Pleasantville this ship?" Orym: "Either thar or there's a new Captain." XD

Steam pouring out ... Cyrillia is coming out with a "gentle, confident waltz"? Wow ... and the Captain is confident too ... and LIMPING ...

Keeping up appearances ... :3

Novos: "I don't like hoe easily you dismiss my aggression ... but I respect it."

Oh my gods Cyrillia has him so whipped now ... XD

Wow ... they're really making a full blown dance party ...

Is FCG really putting the All Minds Burn drugs into the brownies? Is he about to kill or at least seriously traumatise everybody?

Laudna's gonna do FACE PAINTING ...

FCG turns himself into a remix box while Fearne plays dulcimer and pan flute a-la Bob Dylan ... Matt's trying to find some party music ...

Oh, "I'm Kyle, you fucks!" That's more like it ...

Oof ... Orym damn near got rumbled there ... eep ...

Dancing! Yay!

Ah ... landfall means the end of festivities ... nuts ...

Novos: "There was ... no ... LIMBO." XD

Crap ... overboard? Oof ...

They really are the most adorable crew of cursed ghost pirates I've ever encountered. :3

Awwwww ... Fearne made a new girl friend ... I love it.

Oof ... that's brisk ...

Kalutha ... okay then ...

Signs of abandoned civilisation? Interesting ...

Marisha sneezes and gives herself a brainspasm ... Matt: "Wow, I've never seen her sneeze and only part of her come back up."

Is Ashton vibing with this place? Maybe ...

Ooh, driftwood for Chetney ...

Laudna sends Pate to explore the caves.

Nice, pretty seashell ... :3

Pitons? People have been here before, clearly ... oooh, looks like this could be a smart route.

Weird jungle landscape ...

Ashton's already checking the other cave out. Orym goes with, as he should.

Just a little recessed cave, but with another campsite. Okay then. Ooh, tools ...

Orym: "Chet, you need a whetstone?" Chetney: "No, I'm always sharp." Oof ...

Trying to climb up ... oh dear, Orym somewhat embarrasses himself ...

Whoa ... so even WITH a rope those are some MISERABLE rolls ... ouch, this is just AWFUL ... whoa, a point of EXHAUSTION? SERIOUSLY?!!!

Chetney sniffing the cave out a bit ...

A nice citrus smell? Oh, that's like SO unbelievably suspicious ...

Moving rocks? Oh for fuck's sake ...

Scales and slithering? Great ... that can't be good ... some kind of worm? Crap ...

Bollocks ... even though he's invisible it's encircling him ... not good at all ... Horn of Silent Alarm? Okay then ...

Chet gives Imogen a headache. "He's in trouble!"

"Sicilian"? But spelt different ...

Trouble! Crap!

FCG casts Death Ward on Ashton.

Fuck, this thing is NIGHTMARE FUEL ...

Chetney tries to wolf out as quietly as possible ... and somehow actually MANAGES IT too ... oh, but it doesn't work? Crap ... ROLL INITIATIVE!!! AAAAAAHHH!!!

Battlemap time! Yay!

Matt has LOST THE MINIS, ladies and gentlemen. Oh my gods Mercer, that is UNBELIEVABLE ...

Oh good, he's finding them now ...

Awwww, Sprinkle! Laura: "I missed him!" Travis (Sprinkle voice): "What fresh new hell is this?"

Ashton runs into PITCH DARKNESS and winds up bouncing off walls to get to him. RAGE!!! Yay!

Fearne is ALSO just feeling her way round ... oh, okay ... she casts Daylight. Nice! Here we go ...

Mister is CHUCKING FLAMING SHIT!!! And it falls short ... crap. Literally ...

Yay! Turmoil! Chetney takes a swipe at the heads ... both hit! 12 and 9 altogether, including fire damage. Great ... and he takes 12 points of acid damage in return? Crap ...

FCG uses Misty Step for the first time using the staff ... oh, he takes damage doing it? Ouch ... and he Sympathetically Binds himself to the others ...

The thing takes 2 mandible attacks ... misses Chetney ... but HITS FCG ... 22 points of slashing damage AND 7 points of acid damage? Wait ... oh what the FUCK IS THAT?!!! Oh that is HORRIBLE!!! Gods, Mercer ... oof ... another 34 points of acid damage ... AND IT'S PULLING HIM IN?!!! FUCK!!!

Oh my gods they're showing each other stuff on their phones of the creatures that really do this ...

Fuck me, this thing can SELF HEAL?!!!

Form of Dread! Yeah! Laudna Chill Touches the fucker ... barely hits ... 6 Necrotic damage, but also can't regain hit points for a turn ... Nice.

Imogen casts Hungry Torrent? Whoa ... oh, now that is pretty cool ...

Orym attacks FROM A DISTANCE with Seedling ... nice ... CRIT!!! Yes! 20 slashing damage! Sweet ...

Travis: "There! The crevasse! Fill it ... with your mighty juice!"

Ashton BOOSTS EVERYBODY'S ATTACKS for the next turn? Full advantage? AND inflicts 38 points of damage? Holy shit ... and another hit ... another 22 points of damage! Go barbarian go!

LAIR ACTION?!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!

Oh gods, a RAIN OF LARVAE?!!! And now it's just RAINING acid damage, essentially.

Fearne casts some Scorching Rays ... Nice, ALL THREE hit ... six D6 of damage ... 28 points? Oh, nice ...

And now Mister with his little gun? Cool ... 7 points ... oh well, every one counts ...

"Anime shockwave blast"? Sweet ... Chetney inflicts 18 points of Thunder Damage with Turmoil AND casts Blood Curse of Bloated Agony! Yay! AND he amplifies it too ...

Sam: "But I wanna cast MORE THAN one spell per turn." Matt: "Yeah, I know."

FCG uses Misty Step to jump away again, then uses his action to hide because he can't do ANYTHING ELSE.

Oof ... dextrous fucker ... slithering away ... attacking Ashton now ... and it misses ... meanwhile there are MANY Godfather jokes ...

Oh, essentially it manages go KNOCK ITSELF BACK!!! And then does its disgusting stomach attack again ...

Fearne takes 36 points of acid damage ... also Imogen and Laudna? Crap ... AND they're pulled towards it too ... NOOOOOOO!!!

Laudna casts Blight and it Crit Fails! Yes! 45 points of Necrotic damage? BEAUTIFUL!!! And it's Frightened of her too! Yes ... and now Chill Touch TOO?!!! Sweet ... AND SHE CRITS!!! OH MY GODS!!! 20 points of Cold damage! YEAH!!!

Imogen throws 3 Psychic Lances at it ... 7 D6 of damage? Oof ... 25 points of Psychic damage! Yes! And it's incapacitated ... then she Quickens a spell to shoot Mind Sliver at it ... another 7 points of Psychic damage!

Orym jumps ON TOP OF IT?!!! That means he's TAKING ACID DAMAGE while he's attacking! Goading Attack ... second hit ... Pushing attack ... 18 points of slashing damage ... Action Surge! Go Fighter boy! Another 14 points! Yeah, he is FUCKING THIS THING UP!!! One more hit ... another 11 points!

Ashton delivers another 21 points, then another 28 ... and gets the HDYWTDT!!! YES!!! One if its heads just EXPLODES before it just bleeds out while trying to escape ... phew ...

So Pate didn't see it? Crap ... "I don't have eyes!" Bugger, that's right ...

It's still twitching so Ashton hits it again, taking dome more damage while he's at it.

Orym is a mess ... yes, they all need some serious healing! Best get to it.

Checking the rest of the tunnel ... another noise? Is that more slithering? Crap ... oh thank fuck, it's just an underground tidal river ... phew ...

Okay, clearly there are so many abandoned camps because this thing has been EATING all the explorers.

Ooh, loot! Yay ... crap, Chetney's fancy spell broke some of the weapons. Nuts ...

Woe steel? Interesting ... sacred to the Ossended Host ... a natural plus1 weapon? Intriguing ...

Weird brown stone pendant in a little cage? Hmmm ... a Raito Charm, of the Aishio Culture. Woof ... this is all fancy shit ...

Taking a short rest ...

Ah, some fresh bones for Laudna. Big hog skulls ... interesting.

Grim Psychometry! Cool ... oh, poor bastard.

Yes. Get to the surface. Enough of this unpleasant stinky cave.

The creeping jungle valley of Kalutha. Nice. Very pretty. To the mountains, then. And the tree.

And that's it ...

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 68

It always concerns me when the plug starts without any obvious gimmick ... Matt: "There it is." Ah yes ... it's gonna be about D&D monsterfucking isn't it? Oh dear ... and he's roped Liam into this too ... "I'm confused, is this what you think romance is?" Honestly, I think we're ALL concerned about what SAM RIEGEL thinks romance is ...

Liam: "I'm getting Death To Smoochy vibes over here!"

Holy shit! Robbie got an action figure! Dorian! Sweet!

Oh yeah, the sexy demon paladin ... XD

Preparing for rest in the cave, then. The Butcher's Bib? Oh gods ... what is Chetney planning here? And Imogen's fallen in the Hole ...

Ah, spoils ... so what IS the thing with this sword, then? Graz'tchar, the Luminary Blade? Hmmmmm ... oh, yeah, I'm totally not buying this shit for a second ... I bet it's really evil. Matt is DEFINITELY giving Travis another cursed sword ...

"Romance the sword! Romance the sword!" XD

Six inches wide on a 3 foot blade? This thing's like a fucking ANIME sword, isn't it?

And now FCG is attacking Chetney ON REQUEST ... Sam rolls a 1, just jams it in the CEILING. Yup ...

Ashton doesn't trust it. Ashton is all of us, clearly ... now it's offering HIM a bond? Okay ... the Council of Tal'dorei? Hmmmm ... yeah, he's just WEIRDED OUT and I don't blame him ...

The sword is now reeling off a story of its previous wielders ... and Ashton's commentary is very amusing ...

FCG casts Legend Lore? Ooooooooh ... "the Light is false"? Oh, okay then ... yeah, definitely a cursed sword! And FCG keeps it yo themselves. "Here you go Chetney!" Oh boy, here we go ...

NOW he's trying to convince Chetney NOT to trust the sword? AFTER giving it back?

Laura: "Chetney would totally fall for an Internet scam!"

Chetney: "It's just a sword, if it turns out to be evil we can just throw it in a lake and let someone else deal with it."

Romantic smut fiction action for Fearne, courtesy of Sam's flask ... ye gods ... LOL

Orym (to Baernie): "So this is the crew I run with now." XD

Making plans for getting back in the morning. Hmmmm ...

Ashton: "Chet, you get the least bit weird, I'm gonna crush your hand." Chetney: "Define weird." Ashton: "No."

Everything's gone red after they go to bed! Not good! Not good!

And now Imogen's having another storm dream ... great ... and now her mother's telling her to run! Definitely not good! Wisdom save ... Nat20! Nice!

Going to check out calm spots in the red stormscape ... herds of beasts running through valleys? "There's an ecology here ..." Whoa ... a presence behind her? It's her mother ...

She REALLY IS freeing Predathos ... Lillianna: "You deserve to be free." Imogen: "But at what cost?"

And she's BOOTED out of the dream ...

FCG communes with the Changebringer in their sleep? Or a spell? Hmmmmmm ... "Are you scared?" She is ... oh boy ... FCG: "Okay ... I'm coming."

Everybody completes a long rest. "YAY!!!" XD

Is Chetney dead? Has he DIED in the night? He has to ROLL to check? Oh boy ... yeah, he's still with us ...

He's calling the sword Char. Cute. Snd now he's attuned to it ... yeah ...

Heading out, then ... ah crap, there's a few demons scattered around. Time for stealth, then ... oh yeah, Pass Without A Trace! Good job, Fearne ...

Imogen remembering the dream ... and she's sick of it. She just wants it to go away, so she's on the side of the gods, looks like.

Once again, all signs are pointing for them to go to the moon ...

Now it's "Sir Chad"? Oh boy ...

Oh shit, it's heard of Ludinus ... crap ... it didn't trust him? Hmmmm ... the Matron of Ravens? Obviously it knows HER ...

Group Stealth Check ... here we go ... oh wow, Laura manages to roll a 1? Oof ...

Aha! A suitable tree, then ... time for teleport, then ... what, put folk in the Hole and then EVERYBODY goes at once? Seriously?

Oh wow, they're actually doing it ...

And now there are creatures coming ... everybody on the Hole! Now TELEPORT!!!

"Soaking"? Seriously?

Oh thank fuck that worked ... okay! Let them out of the Hole! Phew ...

FCG says hello to Scuffy ...

Leeta's deeply relieved to see Baernie alive ... yup, that's nice. :3

Nel? Oh, hello ... such a sweet reunion! D'awwwwww ...

Fixing up the cure ... here we go ... and they go heal her! Okay ... just in time, then ...

Ooooooh ... and it's WORKING!!! YAY!!! Yes, Keyleth is getting BETTER!!!

Yeah! Voice of the Tempest is BACK, baby! Oh nice! She is full on MENDED!!!

Kiki thanks Orym snd OH MY GODS this so clearly means THE WORLD to him right now. Oops ... okay, she's still not ALL the way back, but on the way, definitely.

Imogen Prestidigitates Keyleth's hair so she doesn't have bedhead any more. :3

Oh sweet! The Mantle! I love it ...

Yeah, I agree. Nice to have a win ...

Oh man ... Orym's being offered a chance to JOIN Keyleth on the balcony! Sweet! And he's being LAUDED!!! Oh my gods that's so awesome!

Oh yeah, Orym's like TOTALLY a hero to his people now. "Kaitiake!" YES!!! So cool!

Nice, time for a party! Yay!

Oh, they're meeting with the Voice NOW?!!! Okay then ...

Time for a break? Okay. Seems the smart time.

Sweet, Chapter 2 of Candela Obscura looks equally cool ...

And we're back ... so, the meeting! Here we go ...

Time to watch Marisha especially closely as this gets ever more meta for her ... XD

Ludinus went to the Dwendallian Empire? Hmmmmm ... grrrr, the Cerberus Assembly ... great, JUST what we need ...

Oh boy ... Orym's gonna tell her about Vax screaming in the Orb, isn't he? Crap ... yeah, he is ... oh fuck, here we go ...

The raven's perch? It's empty ... oh man! Tears! Tears, I swear ...

Yeah, she's got BEEF with the Matron. That's only fair ...

Oh wow, Fearne fawning over the demon paladin is just weirding Keyleth out, isn't it?

Imogen: "There's people on Ruidus!" Wow, she just blurted that right out there ...

Oh, okay ... Imogen Summons her Crimson Shade. Yeah ... oh, that's a lot more intense than last time ...

Whoa ... crazy muscular red shark man! That's just MENTAL ...

Yeah, Keyleth is FREAKED and it makes sense ...

And now Imogen's communicating with it ... it wants to SERVE HER "until her Binding is done"? Okay ...

A vision of a pale grey flower with a gem in it ... that's its NAME? Hmmmmm ...

Oh snap ... is this something they want or not? Hmmmm ...

Predathos is the PROGENITOR?!!! What the actual ...?

Wow, and now it's just GONE ... oh, and turns out Keyleth was totally ready to KICK OFF ...

Ah, so they want something MORE out of their lives, then ... that's ... interesting ...

Yeah, no shit Keyleth's been through this kinda shit before ...

Okay, so potential allies ... ooh, is she thinking about calling in the rest of Vox Machina? Yeah, that would be cool ...

Who else COULD they call on?

The Hishari? Here we go ... and Ashton mentions his origins ... yup ... oh okay, are we getting proper Ashton origin story revelations now? Go, Kiki!

Ooooh, this is gonna be good ...

Ashton is of TITAN BLOOD?!!! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!!!

Whoa ... seriously, this is some QUALITY fresh infodumping ...

Keyleth: "The fact that you're standing here and functioning is a testament to your willpower." Yeah, no shit ...

So it looks like Ashton might basically have been the end result of what the Hishari were trying to do ...

The Shattered Teeth? Whoa ...

Keyleth admires FCG's optimism. :3

Marisha and her ridiculously convoluted notes strike again and its beautiful ... XD

Yes, the Gau Drashari ...

Yeah, the gods might well be a prickly issue with the Primordials ...

Ashton talked to an Earth Elemental ... oh yeah ... and Keyleth just nods knowingly ...

Wait ... Keyleth went to the Shattered Teeth once? Oh, I see ... when she was trying to free Vax from his debt? Hmmmm ...

Jirana? "Like a therapist"? Hmmmm ...

XD Travis trawling for a MAP of the Shattered Teeth ... oh, so they MOVE?!!! Hmmm ...

Showing Keyleth the Harness and Funnel and all of Ludinus' notes ... wait, so he's using this to MIMIC Keyleth's extended life thing? That's fucked up ...

"The Root" is at the base of the neck? Hmmmm ...

Ragging on Marisha's note taking ... XD

Sweet, the Whispered One ... yeah, Vecna gets a namedrop ...

Fuck ... hearing that name gives Laudna a VERY SPECIFIC chill ... O.O

Yeah, honestly it doesn't really make sense to think that Ludinus would actually be SEEKING godhood given what he's actually DOING ...

No, I don't think giving in would be a good idea, Imogen. PLEASE don't do that ...

Sweet, digging away at Percy, I love it ... XD

FCG tries to Scry on D. Okay ... somewhere on a coast ... the Menagerie Coast? Cool.

What, try Dancer instead? Hmmmm ... nor sure that's actually gonna work out too well ...

So he's gonna try it anyway, like a glutton for punishment ...

There she is ... just asleep on a random room ... no help AT ALL ...

FCG's gonna try asking the Changebringer who would be the better choice to help them out ... okay ...

The one they're "most bound to"? Well that's not very helpful at all ...

Trying again then ... oh this is ridiculous and we love it ...

Matt can't get past the idea that it's going through Sam's "arse mike" ... LOL

More vagueness ... oof ... yeah, Sam is just BURNING spell slots trying to get this to work ... yup, once again it's a total bust ...

Keyleth: "I'll tell you a story about a goldfish one day." OH MY GODS!!! LOL

Yeah, she needs a break, anyway. Best call it a day.

Keyleth tries to help Orym find a little peace and chill ... it's really quite sweet. "I see a bravery in you that matches the immensity of your heart." :3 This is just so adorable ... gods, she is being SO KIND AND COMFORTING TO HIM AND IT'S MAKING ME TEAR UP ...

Yeah, she needs a rest. Time to go, guys.

"Saviour Blade"? Sweet ...

Oh yes, tattoos could be cool ...

Demon concubine, maybe? I like that one ... XD

Yes. Good place to call it a night, Matt. Nice chill place to move on for next time ...

[12pt-times-new-roman]

s3e46

No DDB sponsor tonight :)

"Her monstrous form, both faces and all" terrifying. horrific. absolutely nightmarish. I adore her.

Oh, so FCG knows that bats aren't birds but not that Exandria is round.

When Morri responds to Imogen's mind messages, she sounds like seven or eight different voices as she responds.

Ashton's head reacts like a plasma globe to Morri's touch, and Ashton starts to get flashes of memories.

The Harrowcall Fens is the name of the region where Ligament Manor resides.

Morri's cocktail gave everyone darkvision!

Morri made the scatterscope lens for the Nightmare King because she already owed him a favor.

"I can't change fate, that is the Matron's domain... I, when no one's looking, can add a tangle or two to the skein if I so choose, and I just like to see who's getting tangled." She watches the web of fate, but can't really affect it majorly, and it is so incredibly tangled right now because of all the people doing things in preparation for the solstice.

The Feywild malleus key, kept in the Shiver Keep, is apparently what's been keeping Ruidus in the sky of the Feywild. "It seems to carry a chunk of [Ruidus'] essence here, at the very least." Like splitting a river.

"For some, hundreds of years go by in the blink of an eye." I'm out here talking about consecution, but Ludinus could've just hidden out in the Feywild to escape the fall of Aeor and fast-travelled to Molaesmyr.

"That glint in your eye, that passion -- that's one of the things I collect." um

To Morri's recollection, Fearne wasn't a favor or a payment, she was a gift "for safekeeping." Morri had also looked over Birdie for a while in her youth, hence why she was comfortable putting Fearne in her care.

From Fearne's window, they can see a series of thin, needle-like mountain peaks, and hovering above them is a glowing red sphere. Except the sphere is in front of some of the mountains.

Morri's collection room has walls completely covered in shelves, with a spiral staircase up the middle. There are hundreds and hundreds of orbs, jars, figurines, fleshy faces stretched across petrified fruit, long-dead and dried faeries on cork board, eyes and dried herbs, flayed bodies that have been tanned, strips of organic material with faces on the end that smile as the Hells walk in. "It's a room where everything has a story, and you're not sure you want to know any of them."

She's most proud of "the heart of the lion guard," a massive, purple and black, wet, disembodied heart that's still beating. It belonged to the champion of the guard, long-famed legendary protectors of the midlands between courts. The champion is still around, and as long as Morri keeps the heart safe and intact, they will continue to live. (sound familiar?)

Morri touches Ashton's head again, and a purple nebula cloud emanates from the glass. "Oh, no no no. I'm not touching that... what is it, what is it? I don't know that sensation... Whatever magic resides in that crystal feels very new, yet very old."

Ashton's "hyper rage" for the time build increases their movement speed to 90 feet, allowing them to move up to 180 feet in one round (or increases it to 60 feet if Ashton can somehow use their bonus action to move with a barbarian feature I don't know about).

The insight check Fearne beat Ludinus at revealed that he is not Ruidusborn, and is in fact very jealous of Imogen and Otohan because they are.

"Are the gods really... all that great?" "We don't know. Have we ever met a god?" (Orym, who has indeed met a god: *silence*)

"Who are they-- who are we to decide who lives and who dies, god or mortal or otherwise?"

Laudna and FCG appear in Imogen's dream as glowing orbs that radiate a familiar energy.

The nearer she gets to the red glow she sees, the more it looks like a gateway, like a little window.

Imogen goes through the opening and arrives in an endless, rolling landscape of mountains pushing through brambles and undergrowth. Turning around, Imogen sees Ruidus where the doorway was, like she had "just stepped out of it." It seems small, though, not distant; like the one they saw from Fearne's window. It's like an optical illusion -- from some angles it looks like a solid object, and from others, like a concave gateway.

Going back through the gateway, Imogen is on the familiar surface of Ruidus, after thinking of her mother as she went through.

As she concentrates on memories of her mother, she feels an instinctual yearning in a particular direction, which all three of them follow. Eventually, they come to the precipice of a wide, deep crater. There are sections of scaffolding, elements of platforms and cranes and structures on the outskirts. As Imogen drifts over it, there is a draw downward, like the course of a river, the flow of a driving energy that sweeps them into it. They see shadows, shades, like the imprint of people burned into space but not made of material.

Deep in the pit, they find old, old structures. It's not large enough to be a city -- it's a ruin of something. Towers being excavated, clusters of shades, signs of massive constructions moving through and carrying things. In the center, there are curved, pointed structures that are intentionally built towards a central point. One mighty tower drives upward like a three-pronged fork; here, along the base of it, there is a familiar structure: a telescope-looking device. Dozens of shades wandering in and out, some brighter than others -- most dark, some with a faint red glow. One, Imogen sees very clearly: a woman with deep lavender hair, braided down the back, a long coat. Liliana. She walks through, inspecting things.

Imogen reaches out to touch her, and she turns. "You shouldn't be here. You have to go." She raises her hand, and suddenly, Imogen is dragged out of the dream and into darkness. (A banishment spell, maybe.) FCG feels the same thing, but Laudna remains.

It's harrowing for her, but Laudna does manage to pull herself out of the dream, and they all wake up at the same time.

I love that Sam took the chef feat for FCG, it's a great character choice, but holy shit it is a terrible fucking feat mechanically.

Morri gives the group 3 Harrowcall Veils, which will make the group invisible (or significantly more stealthy) while they aren't moving.

She also gives Fearne a very well-made gloomscale breastplate, presumably made from the scales of a gloomstalker.

"The Unseelie are cruel, unrelenting, and have memories as long as time. [The Calloways] knew that they would go after the thing they prized most, so they left you in my safekeeping. They know better than to come to my manor -- a few have tried, and now they adorn my garden."

Lastly, Morri gives them a glass jar with a dark green-yellow paste in it. Putting it on their foreheads will make sure that the time dilation is minimal when they go through the gateway back to Exandria.

"For one round, you want them to... don't."

Ashton rage build update: when Ashton's possibility rage build is active, they gain an additional reaction ability called "dreadful misfortune." When something misses them with an attack, they can use their reaction to force it to roll again against their own AC, potentially causing them to hit themselves. If they hit, the damage they take is halved.

[12pt-times-new-roman]

I've made a post already and you know what actually, no, I'm not done talking about this.

The actual timeline of events in this encounter feels off. Otohan was fuckin' stacked, yes, but that didn't make the fight unbalanced — that made it difficult. This was a very difficult fight, to be sure, but I'm confident that the Hells had a chance here if they had grouped up. However.

Otohan had a goal. She went into that fight wanting to break Imogen, wanting her to surrender to her nature, wanting her to unleash the storm in her chest. Matt kept describing it like the same feeling as what she felt in her dream.

The dust storm rolled in at this precise moment, just as the Hells were trying to come up with a plan and searching for a distraction to get Treshi.

The mammoth crawler got attacked at this exact moment too, by masked and deliberately unrecognizable assailants.

And Otohan was just.... standing up there on a balcony, watching it all, as members of her organizations dropped like flies and everyone inside the compound was panicking and chaos was erupting everywhere. The walls were coming down from gunfire, explosions destroyed the mammoth crawler and presumably the majority of its contents, the dunamis potions were spilled and incredibly easy to steal, one of the crates marked with the symbol of the Cerberus Assembly just got picked up and carried off in a skirmish crawler.

In the middle of a goddamn siege assault, the back door to the compound was not only unguarded and unmanned, but it was also unassailed, and apparently trivially easy to open from the inside. And yet, none of the attackers had scaled the wall to open the (unguarded!) door for the rest of them, and none of the Paragon's Call had gone to guard it. I find this super unbelievable, and it's something that I highly doubt Matt would've ever overlooked.

They leave the gate, go along the wall of the Seat of Disdain, find Otohan standing immediately outside of it (a corner of the walls was on the map!), and...... suddenly everything else is gone? No more explosions, no Paragon's Call people or assailants running around or darting through the streets, no gunfire, no sound of the crawlers? What the fuck is up with that?

Otohan was not trying to get Imogen to surrender to her, to give in to her, to go somewhere with her — she was murdering her friends right in front of her to build up that hatred and rage and white-hot fury so that the storm would be unleashed and Imogen would realize her "true power," her "true purpose." And she hasn't only realized it — it's now impossible for her to deny it. But what did that actually achieve? Are we about to see another Care and Culling, where all the "realized" Ruidusborn have a switch in their head that Otohan is gonna use the solstice to flip?

I don't think this is a dream sequence. Not in the traditional sense, at least. I don't think any of these people are asleep right now. But I also don't think any of them are permanently dead. For starters, if FCG gets Fearne up then Fearne can get Orym up. We know FCG has revivify, and Fearne always has it prepared because it's a circle spell for her. IIRC they have more than one diamond. About 3 rounds have passed since Orym's death if I counted right, so there's time. And Laudna still has one death save left, which means that they have time to get to her with a potion or with spare the dying (Ashton has a potion they didn't use, they're up, and they're fast). I also think that all of this was set up in advance by Otohan, because she knew exactly what she needed to do in order to get Imogen to break (hence the unguarded door). Also, Imogen still has a piece of the gnarlrock, and can you imagine the angst of a newly-powerful Imogen not only giving up this piece of safety to bring Laudna back to life, but also intentionally strengthening Delilah Briarwood in order to do it?

This fight is still going to have consequences. There is still going to be a chance that some of these people will die. But I do think that this fight was intentionally very difficult because Matt has something up his sleeve. Maybe it is a dream sequence, or an illusion, or all in Imogen's head. Maybe it's something similar to the way Matt introduced Yasha's rage beyond death ability. Or maybe they just got transported to a place where the revivify time limit doesn't matter anymore because time stops and matter does not age, and now they have to survive the night to get their spells back or go find another diamond somewhere. Or maybe the reason for and intent of Imogen's implosion — fear at losing someone she loves, needing to protect her "favorite," needing to protect her friends and her loves and the lives around her — will break through the anger that Otohan has instilled in her, will overcome the base nature of her power, and will bring everyone back by sheer force of will (which would be incredibly cinematic, by the way, and which would totally fit with the themes of the campaign. It also would not wholly erase the impacts of the deaths, because these guys are most definitely going to play out the repercussions and the trauma of dying if they come back).

I dunno. With the deaths, I think it could go either way. But I am absolutely certain that this is not over yet.

[utilitycaster]

Bells Hells: Level 7

As always: corrections on outright inaccuracies/major omissions are welcomed. If I did not list every single spell or feat or implication of something, it's because it's not relevant to do so and if you want to list them out in full, make your own post. Additionally: your wild speculation is, at best, as good as mine. If you have different speculation than I do feel free to say it in the notes, but do not state it as though it should be a fact, do not expect a response from me, and do not send it to my ask box as a correction.

Finally, I am using the D&D Beyond Blood Hunter class as it currently stands, but Matt has been updating it, so if things change, don't @ me.

The non-multiclassed full spellcasters (FCG and Imogen) get access to 4th level spells and a 4th level spell slot.

Ashton: Gets Feral Instinct: they now have advantage on initiative rolls. Also, he can act normally on the first turn of surprise combat, but must enter a rage as the first part of the turn.

Chetney: With another level in Blood Hunter, he gains another blood maledict, can use blood maledict twice between rests, and can swap out the one he currently has (blood curse of the marked) for a different one if he wants, though blood curse of the marked is an all-around good curse that plays very well with his rogue level and he probably shouldn’t. He also gets Brand of Castigation, aka “the thing Lucien did to Fjord’s tits pecs”, which means he will know the direction of a branded creature and said creature will take psychic damage if they attack him or his allies while in his line of sight.

Fearne: I watched this on my phone and am at work modifying my draft post from when they last leveled, so I'm not sure what she took or if it was even stayed. If she took another level in druid, she can prepare an additional spell. She also can cast spells through Little Mister when he is summoned, and while he is summoned, she gets a bonus to healing spells and fire damage spells. Finally, Little Mister’s HP goes up by 5 (as it does every level-up). If she took another level in rogue, she gets cunning action (dash, hide, or disengage). Cunning action does work in wildshape. Regardless of what she picks here, I do not think Fearne should take more than two levels total in rogue.

Fresh Cut Grass: They can prepare another spell per day and get access to the 4th level spell list for their class, as well as domain spells, but we don’t know the domain spells.

Imogen: Imogen gains one more sorcerer spell, one more sorcery point, and two psionic spells from her subclass: Evard’s black tentacles (will likely be reskinned with lightning, but it’s an area of effect spell that deals damage and can restrain enemies) and summon aberration (which...summons an aberration; this also may be reskinned, or she may choose to replace this with divination or enchantment spells).

Laudna: Laudna receives her boon for her existing pact with Delilah. Given the prior discussion of Pâté, my guess is it will be Pact of the Chain, which means he can act as a familiar (he can also technically attack but I don’t think that will be worth it), but she could do Pact of the Tome instead - fitting, for someone with a wizard as a patron - and get even more cantrips. Or she could do pact of the talisman for the d4. Blade seems unwise with her stats. Additionally, her warlock spell slots are now second level, and she learns another warlock spell.

Orym: Orym learns two more maneuvers and gets another superiority die. He has a lot of options, but some that I think fit him well are Distracting Strike, which deals a bit of extra damage and gives his allies advantage on the next attack on that creature; Maneuvering Attack, which lets an ally move as a reaction without provoking an opportunity attack from the target of the attack; and Parry or Riposte, which let him either reduce damage to himself or attack a creature who misses him on their attack - given his sky-high dex and AC, he’s got a good chance of significantly reducing damage or being missed.

[12pt-times-new-roman]

initial thoughts on the lore drops from 3x17:

Laudna was Vex's body double who the Briarwoods hung from the Sun Tree. Vindication. And veeeery interesting that Delilah has decided to inhabit her head, given that Vex was the one who killed her twice.

Ashton's skin wasn't always made of stone — it started changing when they were 11-12. I'm not versed enough in genasi lore to know whether this is something that usually happens, but it could be, and it makes me very interested to know what their lineage is.

Orym's husband, Will, died in the attack on Zephrah, which is part of why he's so invested in finding out what happened. He has a tattoo of the moons to represent him — "big moon, little moon." Interesting that Orym uses Ruidus to represent himself, indicating that he doesn't really view the moon as an ill-omen but rather as just another satellite like Catha.

According to Milo, FCG has "long, long accumulated buildup" in their joints. Which basically confirms that FCG was built in Aeor, not two years ago. But from what we know, and given that they were found in the Oderan Wilds, I think it's more likely that Dancer was an explorer who found FCG, repaired them, and brought them back to the wilds. If FCG was repaired and then given a directive that was contrary to their original programming, could that be why they're having such cognitive dissonance? And what the fuck is up with them vibrating? Is that what those "two points" were, some kind of arcane buildup of energy?

The last post card that Fearne got from her parents was from Aeor. So her parents had some kind of reason to go to the ruins in search of something. And the Wilds appears to have a significant fey presence. What if Fearne's parents were the ones who found FCG and woke them up, then brought them back to the wilds to investigate/deal with whatever's drawing the fey to the jungle? What if one of Fearne's parents is Dancer?

Imogen.... honey..... I'm so afraid for you. And again with the stone feeling so much like a beacon. It being in her hand, offering her a "different path," the storm explicitly being described as "hungry," her mother warning her away from the storm but the stone calling her to face it... and we really get to see a side of her that we haven't yet: she is afraid. She's afraid of losing control, of taking a chance that could lead to that loss, even in the alluring face of being free from her nightmares.

We also saw FCG's memories, their sense of belonging with their troupe and Dancer, and then their deaths — "a figure darting off into darkness." Not into the night, but darkness — so possibly the darkness of a dense jungle, or of a cave/mineshaft. Also, they were "bloodied" — but automatons don't bleed, do they? So they would've had to have been pretty damn close to the blooded members of their party. I'm starting to lean into the idea that FCG and their automaton buddies were the ones who killed Dancer, and then began to kill each other until only FCG remained.

Honestly, I love the mutual detect thoughts thing. I don't know if that's a homebrew of Matt's, or if it's in the RAW somewhere, but I'm 100% integrating that into my games. And I'm super curious about what would've happened if FCG failed that initial roll and they felt like they were being drawn into an ouroboros loop of thought. Laudna should also have access to Detect Thoughts, since it's a sorcerer class spell, so if she decided to prepare it she literally could see Imogen's dream like she said she wanted to.

FCG is taking a lot of necromancy spells. Like. Mx?? Why?

Ruidus is about a month away from its zenith. That's the third time Matt has mentioned that. Like, sure, in astronomy "zenith" just means "highest point in the sky," but......

(Also, given given that we know the current date, two approximations of Ruidus' orbit (either 11 or 12 Exandrian months), how far away it is from its zenith, and exactly where the party is on the globe, one could, in theory, create simulations to reverse-engineer where Ruidus would be in its orbit at any given point in time with reasonable margins of error.)

(I may or may not be working on this. Updates will be provided.)