#nein again

[utilitycaster]

actually kind of incredible realizing the entire campaign except for I suppose a little bit of Yasha's stuff is pretty solidly seeded by or during the Zadash arc! On a general level we get the initiating attack of the War of Ash and Light and their introduction to dunamancy and a lot of details about the world state, as well as seeding Lucien as the big bad. We know Fjord has some kind of sea monster patron and he doesn't know much about it; we know Beau ran away from the Cobalt Soul but now has a new assignment and supervisor; we get a Caleb backstory dump in a few episodes; we get the hooks for Nott's identity and goals ("so he can save me" was a few episodes prior). We get the Gentleman's introduction, even though Jester (and the audience) doesn't know it, and some Traveler scenes, and as mentioned, Molly's general deal. I know that the one-two-three punch of the Nein showing zero interest in working with the empire/Molly's death really changed Matt's concept of the campaign, but the core ideas and important politics and character goals were already there - we would not know this wasn't the intended campaign until the wrap-up.

[s-sputnik-k]

When they meet Cree in The Evening Nip and she recognises Molly and calls him Lucien, and Liam says 'this is just the first layer of the onion, there's 8 more names to come', the accidental Nonagon/eyes of nine foreshadowing in the early episodes is crazy

[teawyrm]

Okay, yes, I want to know the story of Essek's beacon heist, but more than that, I want to see the look on his face when the Nein describe their beacon heist.

[ariadne-mouse]

It's partly the benefit of full campaign context of what a beacon is and what it means, but tbh beyond Caleb's firm stance that they should kill Thuron, the idea that was most jarring in the party was Beau's - "let's kill him and pawn that thing in like 2 minutes". Like ma'am one does not simply PAWN a LUXON BEACON. One quietly trades it away for access to peer research from other evil wizards who do not hold up their end of the deal~

[bentobulb]

Caleb being the treasure inspector after each adventure

[wizzardkisser]

nott is such a good and complex character, everyone -specially molly- treats her like a child and belittles her and her wishes. the conversation they have with her in c2e13 is a perfect encapsulation of that. she defers to caleb not because she's too dumb to know better, but because she has already promised herself she will see him through everything it takes for him to become a great wizard. she understands perfectly the consequences of that and still has decided to devote herself to him (same way he devotes himself to her) without questions.

but because they can't speak that out loud everyone just assumes caleb is taking advantage of her. their codependency goes both ways, and by definition is inexplicable to anyone on the outside.

[teansouprmyjam]

WE'RE SO BACK

[kerosene-in-a-blender]

The Mighty Nein continue their tradition of visiting utter confusion on the people who end up crossing them. This drow woke up bound and stripped to a tiefling calling him "Theo", and later attempting to force feed him pastries. A man decided to demonstrate his lack of loyalty to the Empire by taking out a Crownguard helmet and pissing on it (followed by his cat also pissing on it). Another tiefling then charmed him into revealing sensitive details about the mission he went to the Empire on. The whole group then starts arguing about whether to kill him, turn him over to the Empire, or let him go. They eventually decide to give him back his armour and the sacred relic he went to the Empire to retrieve, and let him go on his way, after which he was promptly discovered by the Empire and executed. At least the Syphilis Bandits didn't have to deal with being reborn into a nation that considers these weird people to be heroes because they returned the same religious relic they almost stole from them in a sewer.

[fwwerabtry]

oooh, Caleb wanted to sleep with the Beacon because his anti-scry necklace would've shielded it as well. But no one else know he had that so it sounded insanely risky and a guaranteed implication to everyone else. And he still doesn't trust them enough to tell them about his shielding so he yields to their logic instead, because yeah, without the charm it is an objectively stupid thing to do. Foreshadowing and excellent character work.

[occidentalavian]

Nott: *Creates an illusion of the beacon floating into the air, inflating, melting, and then boiling away into steam*

Liam: I wish I could be a fly on the wall when those wizards hear this story from the Crownsguard, just like:

Guard: I don't know, it just flew in the air, grew big, made sauce, and then disappeared! It was just like that cat I kicked the other day. Wizard: Yes, very good, take a lollipop from the bowl and get out.

[hemisphaericas]

More Nein Again doodles!

[utilitycaster]

the piece of the overall conversation with the party (minus Caleb, and Yasha isn't here for this stretch either) in this episode that everyone remembers is Nott saying she is the parent and Caleb is the child but actually this entire conversation is fantastic, and like. ultimately, this is why this party works! They have a really tough and uncomfortable conversation and they've been together like a week, and while they have disagreements going forward I really do feel like this sets the scene. And it doesn't feel like therapy speak or forced! It's really just laying a very simple groundwork of "you can do stupid and selfish shit and that's fine, just, be motivated by self preservation so that everyone around you doesn't get destroyed by your choices" and from there they're able to build a party that genuinely cares about each other. You cannot skip that step! I mean it might look different for different parties but you do have to have something, and part of that is a messy conversation and you just. can't conflict avoid your way to closeness.

[s-sputnik-k]

Pumat Sol literally made clones of himself so he doesn't have to do customer service and honestly I respect that

[yashaslionett]

Episode 13- Watched 4/27/2025

• The party starts with combat in the sewers. They get loot after the battle including a dodecahedron. Molly casts devil's tongue on a Drow capturee who mentions they were sent to retrieve the Beacon from the Empire in Zadash.

• When the Crownsguard kill the Drow, the Mighty Nein takes the beacon.

• Later the party talks to Nott about Caleb trying to steal the scroll at the High Wrictor's. Caleb says he disagrees with them but trusts them and wants to work with them. He tells Nott that he was supposed to go to the Solstryce Academy.

• The party levels up to Level 4. They go shopping for a lead-lined box to put the dodacaheydron in. Jester and Beau go to the Evening Nip where someone thinks they recognize Molly as 'Lucien.'

Tumblr Post: Bidet friends! As we go through the Mighty Nein rewatch, I will be taking notes about plot elements. I LOVED Campaign 2 and wish I could have focused more on the plot when watching so now we're doing that. Check out this thread which I will update every week with notes.

Episode 1 - Watched 02/02/25

• 835 PD

• Start in Trostenwald, Western Wynandir, Part of Dwendalian Empire

• Nestled Nook Inn

• Caleb and Nott meet Jester, Fjord, and Beau in the tavern first. Mollymauk and Yasha come in and advertise their circus performance that night and Molly does a tarot reading for Jester. We learn that Fjord is in town to try and get into the Solstice Academy.

• During the performance while a dwarvish girl is singing, an old man stands up and, bones cracking, attacks a lady.

• After they kill the man, the Crownsguard question them. Tells them they are under investigation and says they could have the full might of the Cerberus Assembly after them if they misstep.

• Yasha says she can lead them to the girl, but runs off into the night.

[ariadne-mouse]

Molly, talking to Thuron about the beacon: how did you lose it in the first place that you needed to get it back?

Somewhere far away, Essek: *sneezing attack*

[thequeenofmyownscreen]

They really are the shiftiest group of shifty motherfuckers (affectionate) :