#I love how supportive orym was through this conversation

[otterlyart]

Jealousy is a purple-haired sorcerer

[nanyoky]

Okay sorry if I just missed it but I haven't seen people mention it and it made my ears prick up as I try to catch up-

Prism bringing up going to the shadowfell for the ascendency festival REALLY felt like a deliberate drop that Matt gave her when they talked between episodes about what she could bring into the conversation. Which supports MY theory that we (and by we I really mostly mean the hells) are getting way too distracted by whether we think the gods are nice or not and are not paying NEARLY enough attention to all the pieces of this puzzle coming back to birb mom.

Am I the only one getting the vibe that both the Raven Queen and her followers, but also KEYLETH have a plan B that's already well into motion??? Perhaps the same plan?? Facilitated by my goth birb son mayhap?

Something about when they checked on the RQ temple in uthadern- they seemed much calmer there than any other worshippers and said something about "trusting in the matron's plan." Which, yeah, she's the goddess of fate that makes sense. But she's not the goddess of fate in the "everything that happens is her will so bad or good, it's what she wants and we can't question it" kinda way. She fucking loves Vax because he was someone who fought tooth and nail against the way things seemed to be going when he didn't like it.

And then in the scry on Keyleth we got, didn't she mutter something like "it wasn't supposed to be like this..."? Which again, yeah, you could def say "well duh- she was supposed to have the love of her life for longer than like three years, she was supposed to have more years of leading her people in peace after saving the world once already. A LOT of things were supposed to be different." But Matt usually doesn't give them *dialogue* in a scry, does he? So it REALLY rang !!!!THIS IS A CLUE!!!! alarm bells for me.

And it would make sense, right? Cuz I don't think we saw other Ashari come with Keyleth to the desert, did we? And she was a bit cagey with Orym about how she couldn't bring that many forces. If the Raven Queen, Vax and Keyleth all *knew* what Ludinus wanted to do- use Keyleth as bait to get Vax- it would absolutely make sense for her to be like "get beat up a bit, my already dead boyfriend shows up and chills in an orb for a hot minute, birb mom pulls the ace and we have the upper hand, no one else gets hurt. Sounds like the best plan." But then things are already SO BAD. and it's not like letting more people in on this mystery plan would really help that at all?? Only just put it in danger? But she'd kinda been trying to contain and control the chaos, and there's only so much of that you can realistically do. And she's a great leader, and a great leader doesn't *like* keeping things from people who are scared and looking for guidance, but sometimes compartmentalization is necessary.

AND THEN that's not even mentioning Mor in exu. And how she seems to be on a mission from the Raven Queen without being consciously aware of it. And how she was sent by Nana Morri - the FATE STITCHER - to exandria. Birb mom is making moves quietly through others and the evidence is scattered all over this story, but it comes back to her every time.

I'm just !!!!!!!! PLEASE SOMEONE TALK ABOUT "FATE" AND THE RQ INVOLVEMENT MORE I'M BEGGING THESE HEROES!!!!!

[blazingstar24]

Something I love so much about Orym is the kindness he puts out into the world. By all rights, he could have been bitter and jaded. Hell, I wouldn’t even fault him for being so. Someone murdered his loved one and got away with it. That’s enough to make anyone bitter.

And yet, there is so much love and kindness stored in this halfling. Orym never fails to be kind and still just sees so much good in everything. He cares so deeply about the people around him whether it be the Bell’s Hells or the Crown Keepers. He’s always got their backs and it’s not even just in combat. Orym is also an emotional support to these groups. He’s always checking in on everyone’s wellbeing. And he’s incredibly attentive to their personalities and how to effectively communicate with them.

He knows Ashton doesn’t like to answer personal questions all at once. He asks Imogen how to help her when the crowds become too much. He thinks about Laudna’s past and refused to treat it as trivial. He makes sure FCG is taking care of themself first. He made an effort to get to know Chet and find a common interest in woodwork. His whole relationship with Dorian and Fearne! Orym puts out so much love for his friends and is not afraid to do so.

Orym being a guard would have already experienced so much of the terrible unfairness of the world. It would make all the sense in the world for him to be hardened and closed off to these kinds of things. Why become close if they could die just like his friends in Zephrah? But he decides to instead “live with his eyes wide open”. And by extension, his heart. That line from Orym just takes me back to his conversation with Melora in the jungle. She asked if he would keep going, keep seeing this wide, wide world. And of course Orym said yes. Yes for Will.

That line isn’t just Orym’s way of coming to peace with his grief. It’s also something he’s decided to live by. He continually chooses to love, to open his heart, to be kind. He believes in the good in people. He doesn’t let the evil win by choosing to continue to be kind and love.

This is what makes Orym’s quest to find Will’s killer so interesting and different from a revenge quest. Most revenge quests give you the stereotype of a dark brooding character tearing their way through the world to kill the one who took away their loved one. But Orym? Orym determinedly is on the trail of the killer, but he does not brood nor leave a trail of carnage behind him. He just puts a bit more kindness and love out into the world while trying to find justice.

There’s something beautiful about a person both stuck in the past trying to right a wrong and yet also moving on and growing beyond. Stereotypical revenge quests are about a character emotionally stuck on one terrible moment of the past. Orym’s quest is learning to grow beyond but also to get closure not revenge.

[professorthaddeus]

as sort of a follow-up on my post about fcg’s pseudo-therapy style, i think the contrast between their conversation with laudna and orym’s conversation with imogen was a really interesting look into the difference between saying the “right things” (programming!) and speaking from a place of experience

a quick disclaimer since i’m talking about therapy-adjacent stuff: i’m not a mental health professional (yet :p) and i’m not trying to make any judgments on what fcg and orym did right/wrong here—while fcg’s general angle of wanting to fix people is definitely flawed, i honestly think he handled the conversation with laudna in this episode pretty well! i’m more interested in how his purpose as a Help People Robit translates into how he actually tries to help in complicated (human!) situations, and oh man, the way his approach juxtaposed with orym’s in their respective conversations was very 👀

so from what i got, fcg and orym’s advice to laudna and imogen essentially boiled down to the same thing: when you’re ready (and in laudna’s case, when imogen’s ready), talk to your friend. but the way they each got there felt vastly different—fcg seemed to go about it in a step-by-step way, and you can almost see those steps progressing in the conversation: 

1) assess the situation (fcg asks about what happened with an emphasis on laudna’s perception of it—e.g., “and you think she’s upset at you?”); 2) have the patient talk about her feelings (”do you feel any better having told me?“—which is also pretty indicative of the methodical way fcg’s proceeding tbh); 3) find an underlying cause (”are you jealous of imogen in any [subconscious] way?” “for having a heartbeat?” definitely no projection going on there); 4) provide affirmations/sympathy (”that’s a very noble thing to want for someone” ”i’m so sorry you’re going through this”); 5) get to the solution (”I could try to arrange a neutral space, a safe space where you both could talk“)

orym's talk with imogen, on the other hand, felt much more like a natural conversation between two friends (and ofc part of it is that orym’s reaching out to imogen in concern while laudna explicitly goes to fcg for help—and aah i love that and i love what laura and marisha are doing; it makes so much sense that imogen needs to be prodded before she can vent while laudna is desperately looking for advice in her distress). orym sits back and listens while imogen expresses what she’s been bottling up, and when he interjects, he does so from a place of personal observation (with the recognition that he could be wrong because he hasn’t known them that long)—”i watch you and laudna together, and you guys are so close”; “I see you get down on yourself”; “that dead lady’s got a lot of love in her heart”—as well as with an air of speaking from experience—”when you have a falling out with a friend...”

and really, hats off to sam and liam, because it fits so well that fcg, who only has 2-ish years of memory and is a literal robot, follows a flow chart of how to help someone in need, while orym, who has clearly grown up with emotional maturity and a great support system from at least his in-laws, speaks gently and with an understanding that these things are complicated (and that everything feels even more tangled, more dire, when the relationship is so important)

[yashley]

But my head rolls with the multiple layers of orym's intent in asking fearne “are you with me?” And then upon fearne validating that outreach, immediately putting it to fearne that she’s “going to be the one who has to… do the thing”. god knows orym trusts fearne but I honestly do believe that he knows enough, not judgmentally at all, to know fearne and know that as much as kindness can be in her nature, her nature is chaos. And it can’t be lost on orym with his perception to have caught those moments when imogen tests how brazen she can go, that fearne doesn’t oppose it at all but instead blithely joins in those moments. Yes, orym’s entire motivation is stopping the people who killed his family, stopping the end from swallowing all of the people he still cherishes in his world, his motivation and intensity is absolutely justified in its desperation, that he has the humility to acknowledge that he can support but he can’t be the only one jumping into the position of most danger for once. that orym tells fearne “YOU HAVE to be THE ONE” and assigns that severity of responsibility to an irresponsible (affectionate) fey creature of nonchalant chaos and blasé violence, it’s so much more than just a sudden “it’s on you”. he’s not just tapping fearne on the shoulder to have them suit up to stop imogen together if it comes to that, the way orym watches fearne, and watches. fearne. WANT. to dismiss his level of concern and plea to her; it’s like orym testing fearne, testing her reaction, testing her resolve, and while I believe he sincerely wants to trust her and he does trust his connection with her, orym wouldn’t love fearne completely if he didn’t also love her nature. In all its dangers. And I just love that if it wasn’t just a simple “we’re gonna do this, and YOU have to do THIS”, there’s like a splintering of more love orym has for his best friend because it’s like “I am asking you to be something other than who you are, but I will love you though my heart will break for you even if you can’t”. like this conversation was less about orym devising a contingency plan to keep imogen out of initiative and more so genuinely and so orym-ly confronting fearne about how much he needs her on his side, even if that breaks his heart to put that clearly unbearable task specifically on her shoulders, explicitly telling her “I am RELYING on YOU to potentially take out someone who appeals to your nature, a friend”, it’s like orym can be better prepared if he also needs to consider the depths of how much fearne’s nature silently aligns with her desires in the upcoming altercation. And it’s like this degree of discomfort he deliberately (though not lightly) puts on fearne actually could help her in making whatever decision she’s going to make and not make it as lightly as she might have before. orym, who was there when fearne first started to feel experiences so deeply, who has been through everything of sincerity and companionship, looking her in the eyes and pleading her to willingly choose the harder path. even though he knows just how painful it’s going to be.

[darkdisrepair]

cr meta: laudna, imogen, and rebirth

hello hello here are today's friday topics: SPOILERS OF COURSE

imogen's ritual contribution | laudna and growth | changed group dynamics | our father who art in heaven, [redacted] | and probably some miscellaneous things too

imogen's ritual contribution

first of all i will say that sam's idea to compel laudna back was smart mechanically, if it had worked, but horrible (not a horrible from him, but from fcg) to take away the agency they had just worked so hard to gain for laudna.

i'm glad imogen called him out on that, and gave laudna every choice she could have. i'm glad she didn't try and force her to come back (which, as debated by many critters) could have been very real as well. and very in character.

but no. she leads with this beautiful perspective of love, and purpose gained, and without saying it that is so much worth living for.

but with her low roll- i'm almost positive that laudna would not have heard her. yes, she heard them in the dreamscape. she remembers that. but i don't think she heard everything imogen said in the ritual, and that's so so so sad, though the sentiments of "i'll be there for you" rung so true throughout their time in whitestone.

imogen's "you know you saved my life," more than her "i love you," was heartbreaking and has stuck with me for so long.

it says more than i love you- it says in so many ways i love you and more, it says the same as percy's plea to pelor- "she is my heart and my judgement and the future i have chosen" because what is more romantic than being the person who helped someone find reasons worth living for?

but also- it's a glimpse into the huge breadth of sadness imogen carries with her, and continues to carry- the solitude. and i think we have a lot to explore with her mental health moving forward.

also, god bless critical role for letting marisha and laura hug each other and hold each other i just ;-; i was sad when they switched back but the CONTENT WE GOT when it was happening was perfection. a beautiful layer to the story.

laudna and growth

back when laudna said "the worst thing that could happen to me has already happened" it felt like she had processed a lot of her trauma- but seeing the episode today, i think this was her chance to make that sentence really ring true.

watching her walk through whitestone, and repaint those memories, holding the hands of her friends, feeling their support as she faced where she died- all it was beautifully done by matt and marisha and such a beautiful tribute to sharing trauma, but not letting it bury you- to let that growth take you further.

seeing her connect with whitestone, with the sun tree- it's a step in the right direction.

there are a lot of conversations that should be had. i wish the group had talked more, and dealt with shopping and catching the de rolos up less, but that means that there will be plenty to pick apart later.

but i can name so many conversations that will be heartbreaking later: laudna/fearne, laudna/ashton, laudna/orym especially. seeing fearne and ashton's quiet, almost timid love for laudna was a great touch as well.

it's interesting that as it stands, laudna's backstory, if it had a progress bar, is probably the closest completion. she's on the path to processing her trauma, and delilah lacks a connection she once had (whether she's still around is a great debate). i can see the last checkpoint be sealing delilah away for good, or restoring laudna's body to how it was before she died originally.

but that being said- she is also undeniably tied to imogen's journey. i can see her becoming a mentor, of sorts. they've been to laudna's home, and imogen was there every step of the way. when they travel to the taloned highlands, and imogen has to face her father, and the plains where she stands in her dreams, i know laudna will be there.

changed group dynamics (i lied it's mainly about imogen and laudna lmao i'm nothing if not an imodna stan first)

as a little aside to laudna's return- the group feels so complete and yet so different. especially laudna and imogen's relationship.

in many ways, they've switched places. laudna is the one outwardly showing her hurt- struggling to process trauma right in front of her eyes, needing support from her friends, reticent and unsure of herself.

and it's imogen, who provides the comfort. imogen, who advocates for laudna in the castle where she died, imogen, who holds her hand, imogen, who checks up on her.

imogen, who hides her pain from laudna.

because she doesn't tell everyone about the dream, at first. she hides her terror, of seeing eshteross in her dreams, because there is so much to do and people to contact and she can't let herself cry, because how could she put all of her sadness on laudna, when they're still in whitestone, when she was only dead a day ago?

she leans on fcg, this time, with her dreams, and it's strange, and laudna sees this and she's quiet. because she sees how imogen has grown. she can see that the group did things and grew ties to each other when she was gone, and it makes her wonder- what place does she have in the group, now?

finally:

our father, who art in heaven- lord eshteross

i love our orc grandpa and ill miss him so terribly. what a way to close out a halloween episode- i was terrified.

kudos to him for putting up a good fight, and for being so generous, and compassionate, and i hope he rests peacefully.

cr needs to post the cookie recipe though.

but more than that- otohan is becoming so SPOOKY, with her assassinations. she's so terrifying. so powerful, and deadly, with the toxin, and it's terrifying not knowing when she'll appear again.

because she's such a source of group pain. i don't think she's the BIG bad, because i think they'll be playing around with gods at some point, but damn she's putting up a good fight for that title.

overall, my favorite parts- imogen and laudna reunion, laura and marisha reunion, our milf lady vex'ahlia.

[sparring-spirals]

You know, my takeaway from Imogen in the last episode actually went a bit differently. She approaches Orym and Laudna about what they think of the whole thing almost as if she's asking permission to be uncertain. And the Hells try to reassure her, and confirm that they're doing what they have to, but no one ever actually asks how she's doing, how she feels about it (maybe they did and I missed it). It's one thing to do what you have to, but Imogen may be feeling a bit alone right now.

I mean, if it helps, that entire last post was specifically in reaction to the conversation directly after the encounter with Liliana- the tone of the interaction and conversations between then and the conversations at the end of the episode are, I think, drastically different.

That said, while I agree that Imogen is no doubt feeling burdens and choices weigh down for a whole host of reasons, and is probably feeling isolated in it- I don't think they're at a juncture where asking her how she's doing, or how she's feeling, more than they already have been- would help, or even be what Imogen is seeking out.

(I'm also not sure that, at a certain point. Its a fair thing to ask of them, especially given well. Ongoing events. Recent worries. I think they try, anyway- Laudna does explicitly ask- but there is so much weighing on them as well).

They have asked Imogen, how she's doing, as things got worse and worse and more personal, and generally gotten "No im. Fine." which I recall mostly because I've enjoyed making memes about BH going "hey are you ok" and Imogen, clearly Not great, going "Im FINE what why do you even ask whaaat". Within the conversation with Laudna itself! There's a "how are you feeling", and Imogen says "Good" and "You don't have to lie to me" then "No this is terrible" and a laugh because- the world is ending! the world is ending. none of them are fine. its all bad.

I think what both Laudna and Orym try to do in their conversations- try to reassure, meet her where she's at, answer her questions and offer their own support for whatever she chooses. Is its own form of kindness, that registers that uncertainty in her and tries to provide help for that, in particular. And I don't think Imogen is the kind of person to not be cognizant of that. It is a form of care, I think, and moreso when the world is ending, and everyone is their own version of wrecked and fighting through it, and there are no shortage of questions.

I think Imogen probably does feel a little alone, isolated, right now, and I also doubt that further inquiry into her mental state or her emotions would alleviate that particular sensation.

But seeing that doubt, that fear, that worry, and offering: My love and meaning has not been irreparably tainted by this, no. I'm not worried about you. Try not to beat yourself up. You have this choice. Its yours. Whatever you choose, I am with you.

It's not fixing everything, because I don't think anything can. but on the list of things to do, in situations like this- its not nothing. Far from it.

[utilitycaster]

While you're fielding Imogen/Laudna questions/sharing opinions: My biggest issue with them/their relationship so far, and you've talked about it a bit in the past is less "I need them to kiss/I ship them romantically" and more "you two say you're best friends, but are y'all sure you're even friends?" Like. Outside of The Rock Incident I can't think of any meaningful conversations or even just 1-on-1 moments Imogen and Laudna have had together. I don't need them to be a romantic relationship, but man, when it seems like there's deeper platonic relationship between FCG & Imogen and a better chemistry between Luadna & Ashton, I gotta ask: does the narrative even support them being best friends at this point??

Hey anon,

In my opinion? It does! I don't think it's necessarily the most healthy friend relationship, and I don't know if they'll end the campaign as either romantic partners or best friends, but I do think that they still think of each other that way as of now.

Here's the thing we know about Imogen and Laudna: prior to meeting each other, they were both incredibly lonely, and had been for quite some time. Imogen feels that Laudna saved her life, and as we don't know the details I've seen this interpreted - validly - as a commentary not on a literal fight or anything like that, but on Imogen's mental state prior to meeting Laudna.

For what it's worth: there are two people who used to be in my life who I became friends with, or became much closer to, when I was in the midst of a depressive episode. I am, as the past tense indicates, not close to them anymore. The thing is, when one is feeling hopeless and desperate and incredibly alone, you are probably going to want things that are not necessarily good for you in happier and healthier times, and so, the person who pushes you to go out when you should, but your brain is saying "no, everyone hates you" is sometimes a person who doesn't realize that they need to respect your boundaries once you're doing better. The person who likes that they get to pick all the activities might not take kindly to you when you start to assert your own preferences. And, as always, misery loves company, and if you become less miserable...the company may not care for you as much.

Obviously the above is my personal experience, and I think given that both Imogen and Laudna were suffering at the time, it's not an exact equivalent, but I do think it's fair to say that a friendship formed because you were all that the other had might not be one where you set healthy boundaries or felt like you could express yourself honestly.

And so, the fact that suddenly, upon joining Bells Hells, Imogen has found FCG, who can relate in part with her empathic powers and who actually has suggested tangible steps she can take, rather than reassurances Imogen might not actually feel, is relevant; as is the fact that Ashton is not someone Laudna feels like she has to protect and who can relate very much to being physically changed in a potentially off-putting way in a way that Imogen cannot. (For that matter, Orym and Chetney have asked Imogen some of the tough questions Laudna cannot while asking for nothing in return, and Fearne shares Laudna's exuberance for life in a way Imogen doesn't). Now that they have others, it means they need to actually think about their relationship as something other than the only lifeline.

They're also not the same people they were at the start. I talked about this a little here, but Laudna just got some meaningful closure regarding her death in Whitestone due to Percy's apology, and Delilah seems to at least be quiet, and she knows how far Bells Hells would go to save her. Imogen meanwhile still doesn't have a ton of answers, has even more things to worry about regarding her powers, and her mother still being alive means some of her metaphorical wounds have been opened anew. They quite possibly have some really messy, ugly feelings and don't know how to talk through them because their relationship rested on "you're all I've got" and so they've been playing it far too safe for over two years.

I still think Imogen and Laudna are incredibly important to each other, and I think Imogen's grief over Laudna was incredibly real, but it does feel like there might be a natural drifting apart for all of the above reasons. Imogen may still dream of baking cookies with Laudna, but that's one moment, not a lasting basis of a deep friendship or romantic relationship, and I wonder if they might be realizing that now that they have other options, there are things they prefer about those other options. Which is a good thing! Like, consider Caleb and Veth, or Fjord and Jester, both of whom started and ended the campaign very close but who were more distant from each other for a time in the middle. This is really why I liked the gnarlrock fight and was disappointed that they didn't ultimately address anything; a good honest blowout fight might help them understand where they are and know each other better, but I think instead we're getting a slow, quiet, deepening rift, and yeah, eventually, best friends might not be the right term for them. But they were best friends for a long time, even if the circumstances were complicated, and that's still worth remembering and acknowledging. (For what it's worth, a quiet, deepening rift is a really interesting development too and I'd enjoy seeing that played out, since it's very true to life.)

[lesbeauien]

I love how well they’re accidentally thwarting Dusk’s plans by being emotionally supportive, good at sparring, and gay.

Erika was texting Matt and writing through the whole Imodna conversation, which makes me think they were planning to eavesdrop until Orym asked to spar. Dusk figured that the Laudna honeypot wasn’t working bc Imogen and Laudna were being honest with each other, so after Orym kicked their ass, they tried it on him, and got rejected.

It’s like. All day Dusk has been collecting evidence that the Bells are incompetent idiots, but in that idiocy, they’re doing everything they can accidentally do to fuck up Dusk’s whole deal.

[utilitycaster]

You mentioned your opinion of jester changed a lot throughout campaign 2. Do you mind explaining how and why that happened?

Not at all!

I think I put this thought about Jester in my tags on my post about Orym being the “wet blanket” archetype. It’s my opinion that every D&D party needs if not a wet blanket per se, a pragmatic person who is willing to bring up the difficult or dull perspective; and they need a doer, a person who drives the story forward in a believable way. I love doers, and Jester’s story is that of becoming one.

I’m not a big fan of chaos. It doesn’t mean I dislike chaotically aligned characters or that I dislike wacky shenanigans but sometimes they can feel really artificial and forced, in a “uh don’t you have shit to do?” kind of way, especially in a not-explicitly-comedy show like CR; a lot of memes online about D&D leave me, a DM and a die-hard “doer” both in D&D and IRL, absolutely cold because it’s like no actually I don’t want to court chaos, I want to let the dice lay out the chaos for me. I want a good plan that goes awry because of weird rolls, not a plan that was always designed to be ridiculous.

So, unsurprisingly, early Jester, who was very much about chaos for its own sake (even if her reasons for that were valid), who was very sheltered and pampered, very innocently inconsiderate of people around her, and who had a fairly vague goal in mind, was less interesting to me than the more pragmatic Caleb, Fjord, and Beau, or the more clearly goal-oriented Nott, even though everyone in the party engaged in some degree of chaos. By the end, though, Jester was one of the people pushing the party forward and that was a huge factor (as was the incredibly well-acted portrayal of how she got there).

I think the first step towards me liking her more was the first job the group did for the Gentleman in Siff Duthar’s study; that was the point where I feel the Nein truly gelled as a party such that even if there were members I wasn’t as invested in, I still cared about them in the context of the group. For Jester, specifically, after that, it was also her facade slowly crumbling over time. I think her actions caring for the drunk group in Hupperdook and her relationship with Kiri were a strong start, and then obviously the aftermath of the Iron Shepherds affected her - and for that matter Fjord - very deeply. Both of their slow, weird, messy breakdowns over the entire pirates arc, in Jester’s case punctuated by The Gentleman’s dismissal of her, culminating in the aftermath of the dragon fight, pushed her a little more to the forefront in my mind.

I don’t have strong thoughts on the Xhorhas arc (an arc I honestly need to revisit) but Jester’s response to Yasha being taken and her quiet internal growth, her tentative forays into letting the mask slip and expressing negative emotions, and her deliberate attempts to act more mature all made me like her much more throughout the entire Angel of Irons arc, even though one could argue she still was pretty chaotic (see: the downtime in Rexxentrum episode).

The post-hiatus arcs, though, are what made her one of my favorites by the end. I loved her during the entire Artagan reveal/Rumblecusp arc, in which she had to grapple with leadership and immense responsibility. Jester was defined throughout the campaign by a deep love for and loyalty towards her friends, but as a result even her starring moments were often as support (something something utility casters); the cupcake moment was ultimately for Veth. With Rumblecusp she had to deal with betrayal (she never saw Yasha’s departure in that light, even though it was a valid reading) and external expectations far harsher than those of the Nein or her mother, and even the much smaller but still very real experience of having someone just dislike her for no good reason. I know some people dislike the Rumblecusp arc but in many ways I see it as one of the strongest arcs of the show, particularly in terms of character moments and even more particularly for Jester’s character development.

Then comes the final part of the story - Eiselcross, the interlude back in the Empire/Nicodranas/The Plane of Fire, and Aeor. That whole experience is something of a meat grinder for everyone, and the clerics in particular are the ones who I think have the strongest sense of the stakes (Aeor is one of my favorite Caduceus arcs as well for that reason). Jester moves into that role of the doer that she first explored in Rumblecusp - but this time it’s not for the god she has been friends with her entire life, it’s for the fate of the world.

There’s a reason why there’s a throughline in Jester and Fjord’s conversations from very early on about just going away somewhere quiet, as the stakes grow higher and the story gets darker (starting with the conversation on the Mistake shortly after their kidnapping and Molly’s death, continuing through their conversation at the Kiln just after Yasha falls under control, and then in Eiselcross after Jester enters the circle and a little more in the Blooming Grove before their final return to Aeor). Jester always wanted to see the world, but she learns it’s much harsher than she expected, and I loved seeing her come to terms with that and trying to change it rather than trying to avoid it. In the lead-up to the final fight with Lucien, she’s dealing with something she does not expect to survive it but she not only does it anyway but is one of the people pushing the others forward. While the idea of self-sacrifice isn’t a particularly original one in D&D, for Jester specifically to go from where she started to that position is an incredible yet wholly believable journey.