#volstrucker

[crtakespropogandist]

It's buck wild to me that it's so popular to imagine a Bren-who-didn't-break in a romance with Essek, or in a version of the Blumentrio where Astrid is the worst influence.

When Liam said Shadowgast Killing Eve AU, he wasn't talking about Villanelle and Eve parallels, and he definitely wasn't talking about Darth Bren. When Liam explained Caleb's instinct to manipulate Essek, people somehow took said explanation to mean that Bren was specialized in honeypotting/seduction, which, no. Bren the Volstrucker would be way more inclined towards a different kind of heat.

In the "Waldhexe" narrative, which Liam confirmed was analogous to Trent and the Blumentrio, Astrid lost one eye, whereas Eadwulf lost "much of" his brain, and Bren lost his whole heart. Astrid shared a final meal with her parents, whereas Eadwulf gave his a confrontation, and Bren killed his parents without entering the house, no thought spared for the family cat. Astrid defied Trent during the final battle, whereas Eadwulf had to be neutralized, and Bren would have killed Trent in his sleep for not abdicating to him soon enough. Every bit of content screams that Astrid is the best influence on Volstrucker Blumentrio, ambition and all. Without Caleb's new perspective, Astrid's view of the world is the most nuanced, and she is the most open to change.

I know it's not comfortable to imagine one moment capable of consigning Caleb's character to heartlessness, especially when that moment was sprung on him as an abused child. Especially when Astrid and Eadwulf's experience of that moment didn't define their respective capacities for redemption. Especially when Essek, having committed worse sins under less extenuating circumstances, is easily saved.

But the reality of a disordered mind is far from comfortable, and Caleb's struggle, as per Liam's comments, is one I know well. Caleb's OCD is much milder than mine given how he's now plenty functional and happy ohne Drogen (idk German), but one of the hallmarks of the diagnosis places Caleb "Magical Thinking" Widogast amongst the multiple CR PCs who are also puns*.

"I was so sure, and then I wasn't." OCD made it impossible for Bren to tolerate that whisper of doubt the way Astrid and Eadwulf could. The implications were universal to Bren, all encompassing. He had to embrace that doubt as valid, or reject it as impossible. His mind failed to do either right then and there, and it broke him. When he was restored, that whisper of doubt was confirmed, and an OCD spiral of rumination entrenched in soon-to-be-Caleb the conviction that he is Bad and he deserves Bad. Nothing he does can ever reflect well on his true self, but cognitive dissonance sure rears its head when he joins the Nein, because Caleb is very smart despite OCD not caring about that.

OCD, like the Sith, only deals in absolutes. Bren the Volstrucker would not be among the jaded-but-resigned, morally grey operatives Astrid and Eadwulf became. Bren, having rejected that whisper of doubt, would rationalize away anything incongruent with the conviction that he is Good and he deserves Good. Nothing he does can ever reflect poorly on his true self, and cognitive dissonance would be kept at bay by well-articulated justifications that seamlessly build off of Trent's core teachings, because Bren is still very smart. Essek isn't still that hot, though. Cricks are enemies, and enemies are disgusting. The OCD, however mild, is stronger than the peen.

*Fjord "Texblade" Stone, Ashton "Punk Rock" Greymoore, Fresh "One" Cut "Eyed" Grass "Monster", Imogen "Imagine Tumult" Temult

[artofcarmen]

Caleb Widogast - The Butcher of Rexxentrum

Evil AU art of Caleb (Bren) if he was neutral evil, met Essek while he was a full scourger, and instead of healing each other, fed into their darkness and conspired to remove the rest of the Assembly and Kryn elite from their way.

[saribrum]

More colored doodles of my angy guy~

He’s toxic and I love him

[amsayshi]

Okay.

Hear me out.

I have this idea that hasn't left my head since the end of C2 and I need to let it out. I am of the mindset that the intricate web of wizard spies were kind of overlooked and underpowered towards the end of the campaign AND I can't stop thinking about them. Like they were spoken of as if they were an urban legend... So what happened to them in the aftermath? They were basically mist. How could they possibly catch all of them?

So here's some prompts that I want to write but have never gotten around to or can't write because of my disorganized head.

Prompt #1:

What happens next.

Volstruckers in the aftermath of Trent's capture. What happens to a shadow network of wizard spies when their leader is taken into custody? Do they surrender, slink back into the shadows, or reorganize into an independent spy network?

Prompt #2:

So pretty much the same as the above but cozy second chance romance for a bunch of assassins.

Haha So we follow a volstrucker who disappears into the shadows and reemerges as a tavern owner who refuses to look back on their time as an assassin spy until a familiar face pops into their tavern for a drink.

Anyway I still am fascinated by the wizard spies and wish we spent like...so much more time with them.

Give me an EXU series on former volstruckers finding their way in this worlddd. Would they all be ludinus followers!? Would the leftover volstruckers be on the moon?!

Ugh... Every few months I get wizard spy brain rot and it takes a while to push through the hyper fixation.

[mendokayalways]

I’m doing a rewatch of CR C3 just cuz I’m in paralysis mode when it comes to new shit so I’m just rewatching stuff so I just realized that Predathos was sealed away due to an accord between ALL THE GODS and THE PRIMORDIALS and Team Issylra could’ve used that to warn Abedina and the villagers, who clearly hold more faith in the elemental and primordial nature of Exandria than the divine, about Ludinus and the Ruby Vanguard and their message so they would be cautious about this fucking god eater because clearly if the Primordials were scared of it enough to join up with the Gods, it was a threat to existence in general. Those people deserve to keep their faith and not be swayed into something destructive. 

AND ANOTHER THING....the Grim Verity talked about how Liliana grew frustrated with lack of answers from them until she was recruited and Otohan and the Cerberus Assembly.............which brings me back to the lightning bolt markings on Imogen and Liliana that seem to be the arcane focus of their sorcerous abilities WHICH brings me to the absolute faith Liliana seemed to have in Ludinus in the Hellcatch Valley showdown. Based on the timeline and the character’s ages, Liliana was only maybe 10 years older than Caleb when she left Imogen and her dad. She was said to be found by the “Assembly” not Ludinus specifically. But even if Ludinus was the one she directly answered to but was still within sight of other members of assembly say someone like Trent Ikithon who went on to develop residuum based arcane tattoos and experimented on children to create the Volstrucker program......am I going too red string theory or is the math mathing folks???? You decide if Trent Ikithon was inspired to conduct his experiments because of Ruidus Born Markings.

[countrynerddancer]

It is nightblogging time.

Opinion for critical role: i think that calling the Blumendrei that was a missed opportunity to call them the Volthrouple.

[demenior]

trick or treat! for anything fealty and/or volstrucker related 🫶

i'm still working on it, but bc of this i started writing up a whole thing about the volstrucker and how i think they function/work

here's a sample

The Residuum:

I consider residuum to be, effectively, fantasy magic cocaine (yes, functionally, that’s suude, but that's made from residuum so i'm doing a same-same here). It should not be ingested, but ironically, that’s what most people do with it. Absolutely addictive.

Volstrucker are walking around with a small fortune implanted within them

They keep the knowledge of these implants secret not only to protect their identities, but to keep them from being targeted by black market operatives who would steal the residuum for resale

The activated implants function in several mechanic ways (a reskinned Bladesinger, iirc), and I’ve added a little extra in my writing. I figure there should be some really good payoffs for all of the training and getting shot up with the fantasy coke that could kill you from using it:

Rather than a 10ft boost to walking speed, I treat it like being hasted

This comes with the round of exhaustion when it ends, but! The trick is that it's not held to the 1 minute spell time, the Volstrucker can control when it ends

They can keep their implants active until the residuum is burned out, but, how much strain can their bodies handle?

Activating the implants also heightens their senses

Mechanically this would be some boost to perception checks

I write it like they’ve had a veil on, and the residuum hitting takes that away. Colors are brighter, sounds are louder, the world moves slower (because of the haste). This is all good for being alone and moving in on an assassination target.

Amplifying spells

Mechanically, what I call Amplifying allows for casting a spell at a higher spell slot, while spending a lower spell slot.

It is extremely taxing on the body and so can’t be done often (a once per long rest or smth like that)

In writing this means getting to decide to boost just how damaging your spell is going to be

Components

In a pinch the implants are expected to serve as emergency spell components. But due to how expensive residuum is, the expectation is that  Volstrucker should be carrying all of the spell components they require

Trent does not like this, but the Volstrucker discovered that you can burn your residuum at low levels (not a full activation) to push back fatigue.

This is important if you’re working deep in enemy territory and can’t afford to sleep for a few days, but need to maintain your senses

There is a price to pay on the other side—the lethargy that hits is even heavier than the usual fatigue, and often amplified depending on how many sleeps you are in deficit

By keeping the residuum “on low”, you burn through it faster

Restocking

If a Volstrucker lives long enough (5-8 years, depending), they will burn through their reserves

By this point, their body is so dependent on having residuum that if they do not get another round of implants they will go into withdrawal

This has a high likelihood of death, and so is to be avoided

In theory they could be weaned off of the residuum safely, but due to the nature of everything going on with the Volstrucker, this has never happened

This round of implants has a much faster recovery time. Most Volstrucker recover at home, with no need to be drugged as their bodies are accustomed to the excess of residuum and they can control it, so they are not expected to accidentally kill themselves

No Volstrucker has lived long enough to need a third round of residuum implants

[nipsu22]

Drew a character inspired by Caleb Widogast and the Volstruckers from Critical Role's Mighty Nein campaign. Proud with the design I came up with. The Image quality here is not that good. It got blurred a bit. To those who came for the two disco elysium drawings, I hope you will like some of my other things too.

[harpymin]

Exandria B, Bren and Essek

from the fic series reflections and other illusions of control by @atlasarcana extra tidbits and process gif under break :D

total time: 50ish hours (i didnt measure exactly lol)

as soon as i finished reading this series, i knew i had to draw something. i mightve gotten possessed in the process, this is the most detailed sg painting ive made in a WHILE a lot of aspects in esseks design was inspired by this piece by zmees with some of my own elements added in bren's design was mostly my own ( i have a double breasted vest i made like his thats blue :3)

[revvethasmythh]

you know, it really does make perfect sense in retrospect why ludinus was not only okay with trent's volstrucker program, but also admitted to finding it useful for his own means. when imogen asked liliana how ruidusborn are awakened (exalted, presumably, for the purpose of being a potential vessel for predathos), liliana responded, "through turmoil. and training."

that's....not very different at all from how trent created the volstrucker. the only real difference is that ludinus' exalted ruidusborn are for an even worse, potentially world-ending purpose

[ariadne-mouse]

Regarding the initial confrontation between Essek and Astrid, the tone of the situation, and what exactly Astrid's stance is right now, I have a couple of thoughts:

Astrid has presumably not joined Ludinus because she is currently hiding in a smut shop. She also presumably hasn't joined the Exandrian Accord because, again, she is currently hiding in a smut shop & the Accord is sending missions after her. Maybe she disagrees with Ludinus but feels she can't safely outright oppose him. We don't know yet! Provided she isn't rooting for Ludinus, it's very possible she could be enlisted to help (I hope this happens btw), but Astrid is first and foremost a survivor and ambitious achiever who has gotten to where she is now by working within the greater system, not against it, even when she disagrees with it. She remained a Volstrucker until Caleb and the M9 turned the tide against Ikithon, and she later took on the role of Archmage that Caleb refused, continuing her original trajectory ("race you to the top!"). She has a great deal of power now and we don't have much information about what she does with it. I am very curious, though, Astrid please tell us your secrets.

"Bren sends his regards" - we don't know if Caleb told Essek to say this, but whether or not he did, I do think it was meant to convey "this is all with Caleb's knowledge and direction", for whatever measure that means to Astrid, most likely "you are safe for the moment". The purpose of this encounter is to have a conversation instead of a fight. And Essek's intent in saying it does seem to be to disarm Astrid, but his presentation puts some layers and edges on it that are likely independent of whatever Caleb might be feeling on his end (other posts have summarized the juicy possible layers well so I won't cover all of that here).

More high level on Essek's angle: even if "Bren sends his regards" was meant to signal to Astrid that she is safe in this encounter, one of the very first things Essek does is declare Astrid as Trent Ikithon's "successor", which Astrid of course disagrees with ("I'm his usurper!") but nevertheless this is an insult and condemnation coming from Essek. The subtext reads to me like "I don't like you or agree with you and you're on thin fucking ice how I see it". Is she safe from physical harm? It seems so, for now. Is she safe from bitchy comments and thinly veiled judgement? Certainly not.

Notably, Astrid tried to bamf out after hearing "Bren sends his regards", so the mention of him or what that message would mean coming from Caleb is not enough to get her to play ball by itself. This is perfectly reasonable to be honest; shit's all fucked up now and Essek basically cornered her with a squad of unfamiliar adventurers. But her skittishness despite the "friendly" signal implies a great deal of tension in her position, and Essek's behavior shows tension on his part as well, separate from whatever Caleb might be feeling offscreen and the purpose of this little mission for the Accord. I am very eager to hear the conversation that comes next!

[saribrum]

Vee and her backstory NPCs!

From left to right we have Vee (originally known to the group as Victor), Charlie, Foxtrot, Glyph, and Juliet. They were in a group called Project Primordius, and were a mesh of elemental genasi (plus one hellfire Tiefling) and were a branch off of the Cerberus Assembly, under the Volstrucker. This is them all now, but back when they were children, none of these kids were treated like anything other than soldiers and experiments. It was a rough existence for them all, with a lot of bloodshed and anger. Most of them were forcefully taken from their families when they were younger, all of them were taught that society would only ever see them as monsters, and that’s partly why they stayed. That and it was all they ever knew.

Now in our game, Vee is doing everything she can to help them. She was rescued from the facility, but she will always feel guilty for getting out when they couldn’t. Fox and Charlie have proven to be good allies to the Fabled Few so far, Juliet seems a bit on the fence on whether she is friend or foe, and Glyph is just a straight up bbeg to us right now. Only time will tell what happens with these maniacs. I’m excited to see it all come to a head.

[flashhwing]

my life for a Volstrucker book. we have the Caleb backstory comic but that only gives a very cursory view of the blumentrio only. I wanna see more, more of the training, the work and dynamics of full fledged scourgers. who are these guys when they're not being ~Mysterious or specifically Astrid and Eadwulf in an incredibly specific and narrow scenario that is not at all indicative of the rest of the bunch

[jibril-thelibraryangel]

I love the fact that Braius’ tragic backstory that was the result of the Mighty Nein’s reckless actions wasn’t about:

- The entire Cobalt Soul temple Yasha slaughtered

- The massacre at the water plant the Nein did for no reason

- The entire ship they sank

- The atrocities they committed at the asylum

- The time they accidentally helped release the champion of the god of torture, that then went on a murder spree across Exandria

- The whole ass war Essek started because they wouldn’t give him a grant

No, it was about the time Jester painted dicks on a church. That’s the thing that created the champion of Asmodeus and it’s possibly going to change the course of Exandrian history

[utilitycaster]

I need to let this cook but it feels like the D20 fandom's tendency to reduce all messages within the story to fit within a fairly flat understanding of modern US-based leftism, and the CR fandom's tendency to project homophobia onto villains are very linked. Like, both feel like people are saying "I need to have very clear lines of who is a Good Person and who is a Bad Person and I don't want to have to think about why they may be categorized as that let alone that things are far more complicated than Good/Bad, so I'm using things I know are bad, like capitalism and bigotry, and if a character falls outside these buzzwords I don't know how to assess them."