#❀╟❖╢◕⋘::Keyleth::⋙◕╟❖╢❀

[agarthanguide]

The next thing in my Bells Hells historical art styles series is coming along nicely.

[telpelote]

Shapechange a.k.a. 9th level scary dog privilege

illustration from ep. 93, closeup under the cut 🖤

[scythlyven-art]

alright

[utilitycaster]

@disastergenius re your tags about how additionally, Keyleth is permitted (somewhat misdirected) anger against the Raven Queen for 30 years for something that was ultimately far more complex/Vax's choice, but Orym isn't permitted, to be perfectly frank, 3-4 months of anger given that he didn't find out it was specifically the Vanguard who attacked until after Campaign 3 had begun - yeah! The difference is incredibly stark and it becomes obvious the issue is entirely "well I think that killing Orym's family was a justified action on the way to the Noble Pursuit of Killing the Gods, so he should obviously get over his inconvenient feeling, whereas Keyleth's feelings are debatably compatible, so I'll let that slide."

The argument for Ludinus is often that he just wants to be understood and I think it comes from a place of really worryingly failing to understand that if you kill someone's husband they won't listen, because those people are like "but my Noble Pursuit?" and can't or won't comprehend that many people (I'd even say most) might write you off entirely on the basis of your actions alone, and will not care about your thought process. I also think that Orym represents a population and a question that Bells Hells do not adequately engage with/explore throughout the narrative - it's not just that he brings up the possibility that the overall process of killing the gods could lead to immense harm to the population of Exandria and that he doesn't want to pursue something without knowing, he did lose people as collateral to this goal and doesn't want that visited upon others. And he mostly gets ignored for his attempt to think beyond himself.

The thing is, I think it is true that Ludinus wants to be understood - you could even, if you wanted to really get into the sympathetic interpretation, argue this is a function of how in the immediate aftermath of his loss there probably wasn't anyone to sit with him and help him process or even specifically grieve alongside him. But a consistency in his characterization is how throughout his entire life, he constantly pushed people away and isolated himself and thought himself better, and it's only now, when he knows his time is almost up, that he bothers to say "man I wish the people I looked down on and treated as expendable tools understood me." like idk you could have tried this 500 years earlier and maybe Molaesmyr would still stand. It's a classic villain trope, and a good one - they try to get some kind of connection with the heroes because they have no one else left to connect with - but it's a classic villain trope in that it underlines how empty this person has made their own life.

And what's interesting to me is that it's also very valid (I'd even say objectively correct) interpretation to argue Ludinus's family was also innocent collateral in the service of a goal much larger than them. I don't dispute the idea that Ludinus and Orym are parallels - in fact I think it's incredibly true! And that's the issue: Orym's response within a mere few months of knowledge and less than a decade of mourning is infinitely more mature, wise, and kinder than Ludinus's millennium-long murder tantrum, and what's more, Ludinus created him. Ludinus not only visited his exact pain on someone else (for reasons, I might add, that veer into "this was unnecessarily murderous and cruel" re the anti-resurrection poison, which literally is one of the Great Dropped Threads/Plot Holes of C3 but that's another post) but the person he harmed responded with a grace Ludinus never once possessed, and nothing stings more to a self-pitying egotist than looking into a mirror and seeing someone do better in every possible way.

[zancorvid]

Critical Role Gathering @ Fanime 2025 (Fri 05/23)

[asexxxualerotica]

Keyleth lurched at that—Vex and Pike, in her same position… “F-fine! I accept!” she exclaimed, waving her hand at the contract. “I accept the terms of your contract, as long as it means saving my teammates from this place.” She was being hasty, perhaps a bit careless, but she couldn’t imagine her teammates going through what she just had.

Open RP Starter: Keyleth’s Hellish Fate

And here she thought their trip to the City of Brass couldn’t get much worse. First, they had been caught trying to steal the Plate of the Dawnmartyr, and then they’d been conscripted to assassinate a fiendish lord in order to earn it. When that had failed, also, and they’d been assailed by the city’s guards, she’d sworn they’d have no choice but to flee—and when her teammates instead chose to stand and fight, she could do nothing but watch as they were beaten, and all of them taken in chains.

She’d assumed that was the worst of it. She was wrong.

“Now then, my fine fiends and fiery fellows, our next prize up for bidding is a beauty indeed,” the sneering tone of the Cambion up on the stage rolled over the raucous jeers tossed up to her, making Keyleth shudder in the sheer slave silks she wore. “Half-elven maiden, young and fair—and only lightly used, it seems. She will make a fine addition to any collection! With that in mind…shall we start the bidding at, say…5,000 gold pieces?”

[wcrldcffantasy]

@ask-the-monster-nest

"...Oh by the Maker..." Keyleth breathed out before she was turning around and covering her face, dropping her staff for a moment as she felt her freckled cheeks heat up in warmth at the sight of the shirtless man, "S-sorry! Sorry!"

[solelleart]

The Champion’s Curse 🍃

You can get a print of this illustration here!

[itsberru]

I'll never be that far away 🖤

[counterspelling]

Endless TLOVM

[saccharinescorpion]

has anyone seen the preview from that new artbook... does anyone else uh. does anyone else. umm.

[erandraws]

All three Liam O’Brien romances??? ending happily??? in this economy??

[daisyann-jpg]

two mimir

[oddthesungod]

Courting the Tempest 💜💚 honestly whomever first thought of a Verin/Keyleth ship was absolutely cookin', Verin would treat Kiki right 🤌

[utilitycaster]

you know, re the previous post a really interesting point to make is that Vax was basically brought back because Marisha wanted a very specific interpretation happy ending for Keyleth, over seven years after Vax's death in-game and 30 years in-world, and god forbid you criticize that as a narratively unsatisfying choice that undercuts significant aspects of Campaign 1, but apparently Orym should definitely be completely over his husband's brutal murder six years ago.

[zancorvid]

Critical Role Gathering @ Fanime 2025 (Fri 05/23)