nothingborg

[nothingborg]

you know she just HATES being a dnd npc

I'll hate on Steel every chance I get. That said, if I were Steel, then I'd be fucking pissed by the end of book one. [The story from Steel's perspective below]

Imagine you killed your friend and then kidnap and groom her kid into the perfect child of the citadel. You give her all the tools to shape the world to her whim. As a contigency, you curse the only two witches in the world who would have the context to nip it in the bud. But no instead of following protocol, the girl you've raised goes on a wild goose chase for no decernable reason. No worry, it all works out and you get some crazy tech that supresses great spirits.

I mean sure the locals are reintroduced to the old ways but that can be dealt with, and now you have the witch and a spirit that seems serviant to Suvi in your custody. However that spirit has broken the curse, and now the Witch of the World's Heart is back in play. No worries, except now a cooky clarvoiant is giving them guidance. You quell it. Oh shit, the witch and the spirit escape in the middle of a martial lock down. No worries, the witches want Ame dead, and there is a conclave. This is the perfect setup for espionage, and maybe the witches will deal with Ame.

You send Suvi on a warship with a highly competent and loyal crew. You set up Suvi with an almost impenetrable plan. The Witch also vouches for the citadel. Suvi gets out with minimal casualties, and the witches don't get superpowered. You also manage to take a copy of unbelievably powerful ancient tech. Now you've got a super weapon and everything shoulf go smoothly... Wait never mind Suvi touched down in a warzone.

But she survives and manages an unbelievable extraction mission. But something's going on with her and you can't quite figure it out. Welp it turns out she's gonna try to get a glimmer of the truth after you just merc'd a great spirit. Oh no she's defecting, but you capture her and these wizards can certainly stop Ame and Eursulon. Nope, the wild one is no where to be found, and the witch learned to fly. But there's no way they could break Suvi out befor you modify her memory. Nope, they swoop in the last moment, make a grand escape, and now spirits are escaping the Kasov Collection.

You're Steel and your shit has been absolutely fucked.

[nothingborg]

okay everyone, listen up. there is no comfrey macleod without the wizard steel, sword of the citadel. for all of you cloudward ho enjoyers out there who are losing your minds over the beautiful sexy complicated mother figure that is comfrey, know that over on worlds beyond number we have the blueprint. we have the original spell with its base components. come over here and join us and let the original morally ambiguous mommy take you for a ride

[nothingborg]

Steel as the false knight

I know I've already talked about it and made a comic about it but the fireside chat reminded me I'm not done talking about the Curran/Steel Parallels- Because how crazy is it that when asked to describe a character their young selves trust and look up to, a knight in shining armor, Lou and Aabria both made the choice to describe them looking like Brennan, and these two characters ended up as such fascinating foils?

We all remember this quote from Sir Curran-

"There are some, I should say, brave spirit, who give themselves this name falsely. There are some knights who move through the world believing that their birthright is that-" And you see, he points to the sword which he left on the side of the road. And he turns his shield around, swiveling it on its point, this kite shield. Swivels it, shows his crest, and he says, "but this is the mark of a knight."

It's the perfect set up for the second time we see Steel, and Brennan describes her to Eursulon as a knight- he asks her "are you a knight?" and she says "In a manner of speaking, yes". Steel is the one Curran warned about, the knights who give themselves this name falsely, who think their birthright is the sword and not the shield.

They both give Eursulon a tool and a title- Curran gives him the pauldron and calls him sir, Steel tells him to pick up his sword and calls him a soldier. When Eursulon comes to the Citadel, and she trains him with a sword, and gives him a title and a cloak of the Citadel, she is doing him an honor, in her own way- what could be a greater honor than being trained to be a soldier of the Citadel? The way she was raised, the way she tries to raise the daughter of her friends who 'lost their mind' when they wanted to give this up?

Curran says ''At their best, a knight is a warrior, which is to say one how prizes danger for themself over the thought of danger for another" In Steel's mind, that's what she does- she does the dangerous, ugly and brutal things the Citadel demands, she shoulders this duty for the good of the empire. Curran says "to a brighter world", Steel is trying to make a brighter world, but her perception of it is twisted and cruel.

personal detour here- around the time arc 1 was wrapping up I was DMing a short campaign where I had an NPC inspired by what i imagined young Steel to be, who was an Imperial official and a controversial figure for the PCs- some hated and distrusted her (with good reason), some liked her, one girl ended up sleeping with her by the end of the arc. I tried to make her charming and sociable while also being completely devoted to her goal at any cost, even if it takes some sacrifices. And she was a paladin. It was this early in the story and already well established- The most dangerous things about Steel are the defining aspects of a paladin- her unshakeable faith in her cause, and her charisma.

Brennan said it was important for him to show that the trio are heroes and their path is heroic, but none of their stations in inherently better or worse- there are good and evil wizards, good and evil witches, good and evil wild ones, and I think that in the metaphorical sense, this symbolism of Steel shows that there are good and evil knights. It's such a rich symbolic vein for Eursulon's growth as a knight, to have two opposites ideals of knighthood, one he aspired to and one he opposes with all him being. It reached it's beautiful culmination when he chooses to keep his shield and not his sword while fighting Curren, without missing a bit.

But the sword isn't inherently evil- Eursulon doesn't wish to destroy the Citadel, 'the knife at the heart of the world', just defeat the ones who wield it for evil. Wavebreaker was given to Eursulon first by Suvi and then by Naram, a gentle spirit who tells him "I hope that my sword, and not my spear, strikes true". He uses his sword without pleasue, but he does use it. The tools are not as important as the intention of those who wield them. Eursulon, the spirit of freedom, makes his own path to the brighter tomorrow.

[nothingborg]

“Am I invited to live in a moment of great history? Am I invited to live in a moment of upheaval and turmoil where my club might be called upon? Are there battles for the fate of the world at hand? Do not live in fear. Smell the sweet honey of purpose you are called to. Yes, I get to live in a time that matters. Let us tell, as we did in ages long ago, a great story written by our actions.”

—Brennan Lee Mulligan, Fireside Chat 54

[nothingborg]

I have a lot to say about the fireside but my immediate thoughts and love is how unforgiving Brennan is towards Steel.

As a Steel enjoyer, I find it really refreshing how Brennan is like, yes, there is nuance and circumstance, but Steel is evil.

And we can see just how evil she is because of how good Suvi is.

Suvi had the same information as Steel and chose to be better.

[nothingborg]

shout out to the best character arc in dropout history that is vic michaelis starting the season by being the heel of one year later and getting negative points, to the american girl doll shoe ad that took over the world, and then WON the dropout presidency. story of a generation

[nothingborg]

THE DICE ARE REAL THE DICE ARE REAL THEY HAVE THEIR OWN STORIES TO TELL. WONDERFUL NAT 20. WONDERFUL THANK YOU

[nothingborg]

Obsessed with the contrast between Suvi "touching the world changes you" and Steel "No. We touch the world. We change it."

It immediately made me think of the end of Arc 2, when Suvi says:

"I cast mage armor. And the light that reflects and refracts off of her, over her, if you knew, if you watched the interplay of Aurora Borealis lights dancing across the invisible glass, you would know that that is Steel's armor. This is a wizard of the Citadel, and she is coming, with all the strength of her home behind her, and she looks out and forward, and any bit of snow that touches her clothing, or her face, or her hair melts away immediately, I will not be touched by this world, or any other, without my permission again."

When Suvi tried to avoid being touched by the world, it is specifically Steel's armor that she dons. Well before we knew explicitly that that was Steel's worldview, it was being demonstrated by the actions of the characters. This is a) such an interesting ideological divide, and b) an incredible demonstration of the way this group of storytellers is building their characters, other characters, and the world itself in parallel through their choices. I'll never get over how incredible this storytelling is.

[nothingborg]

Inflict wounds

[nothingborg]

Suvi in CA Ep 1 and Ep 54: fleeing the citadel in the middle of a fight to save it, teleporting with her parents magic

Eursulon in CA Ep 1 and Ep 54: a knight in a golden pauldron speaks to a spirit about honor and protecting those who can't protect themselves, and the spirit crosses over to the mortal world

Ame in CA Ep 1 and Ep 54: welcoming new guests into her house that need shelter, and they will become part of her Home

[nothingborg]

Big Wbn relisten feelings this is gonna be a ramble and maybe mean nothing

lots of thoughts on suvis line after the bath scene of “I made him different and now he can’t go home” and how that directly parallels the finale and how each of suvi and eursulons story’s mirror each other

i think it’s really interesting how the importance and goodness of being apart of the world and changed by it is a central theme of the story but is often portrayed as negative. It essentially bookends and runs through the whole story, -eursulon being cursed by the well intentioned kindness of ame and suvi in giving him food home and a bath, steel comparing the change in suvi from her connections to ame and eursulon to a sickness- but even in the final discussion between eursulon and the Great Bear he saids ” you have undone the mistakes you have made, you have completed a quest…” and what what mistake has eursulon made? is it really just believing in the ideals he saw in Sir Curran? wanting something he wasn’t supposed to know to want? outside of the isolation of the world he grew up in? i can’t look anywhere in this story without absolutely drowning in parallels i’m so not normal about this

[nothingborg]

Ugh I love these guys :,)

[nothingborg]

The Wizard The Witch and The Wild One is one of the single greatest pieces of media I have ever witnessed. This is my Lord Of The Rings I will refuse to ever be anything but honest about this podcast and I mean it from the bottom of my heart that this is straight up improved my every day. from the fireside to the podcast. And I’m so hyped for anything and everything to come

[nothingborg]

may all of your journeys end with pancakes amongst family and train tickets to anywhere

[nothingborg]

‘She and Soft touched something in the world… there’s just something out there that drives people crazy.’

It’s called touching grass, Steel

[nothingborg]

Actually incredibly considerate to not have a D20 episode this week, because I will need several days to crash out after the Worlds Beyond Number finale

[nothingborg]

Brennan really went: "yeah our heroes are in a good spot, with things to move towards and allies slotting into place. *pulls back curtain to reveal a red string board with so much on it* Did y'all think I forgot about all this though?!?! We got so much shit going on!"

I was halfway expecting some terrible cliffhanger, instead we're standing on a path with full awareness of everything that's in the woods ahead.