#critical role C2 post-campaign

[otdderamin]

Fiction C2 Post-Campaign Essek’s Mobility Aid

I appreciate that Matt didn’t want to make Essek disabled and fall into the disabled villain trope, but as a disabled person I love the idea that Essek’s floating is a disability aid and that ableism played a role in isolating him and pushing him into over-achieving at all costs. Essek’s such a complex character, I don’t think he falls into simple tropes like that.

Story

After Essek goes on the lam, he often has to walk without magic. He was partly lying about floating being a trick he got stuck with as an expectation. It was also that, but the real reason he learned to do it was the debilitating joint pain he developed in early adolescence. Having to walk again rapidly exacerbates it again, with an extra century of age on top.

He tries to keep it to himself since he was accused of faking it as a kid, punished for it, pushed harder, or excluded for not keeping up. Especially compared to his athletic brother. The doubt in his overall ability was one of the things that had pushed him so hard to prove himself at every turn, and ultimately led him to some really awful behavior he didn’t want to return to. But eventually, it becomes so debilitating he can't hide it. At least not from Caleb.

He'd get to Caleb’s house and more than anything just need to sit down and rest. The pain was cascading into general nerve pain that made all touch into an over-stimulated agony. A silent internal war from nerves that want no sensation, and a heart that wanted the soothing grounding of being held by this man who somehow loves him so deeply. But the pain in his face and the flinching he can’t stop eventually give him away.

Caleb is gentle with him and understanding. He opens up about the torture Trent put him through with the embedded residuum. Going to class with long sleeves pretending to be fine when he could barely hold a pen. Sometimes the scars still have a stabbing ache. How lonely it was when touch of the only people who knew and cared was too much. They talk about inadequate pain scales. There is comfort in that shared understanding.

They brainstorm what Essek could do. On the road alone he can still float. It's cities that are the problem. For his safety he already tries to stick to solitary remote research but supplies and contacts are always needed. They consider different mobility devices. Essek's only hesitation is that the ones that meet his needs would be expensive, custom, and distinctive, making them more identifiable even as he changes disguises and personas and could give him away. The same reasons why he's had to give up the sleek and fashionable clothes he loves for plainer ones people don't notice.

That leads them to the idea of modifying Essek's floating magic to essentially function like a series of braces. He could still look like he's walking without aid, but the magic would take the actual weight off his joints. It proves trickier than just floating, with more concentration and more exhaustion, but it’s harder to detect and easier to disguise to keep his cover. It’s harder to keep his balance this way and does find a plain cane makes it much easier, even if it rarely supports his weight to protect his arms.

Caleb asks for Essek's help with a second kind of slower cover. Now that he knows the floating was a mobility aid, can Essek teach it to him so that Caleb can teach it to his disabled students and others in the community? It could help many of them with quality of life (especially the Academy's inaccessible buildings). And over time if they teach the technique and encourage it to be retaught, it will be less unique and identifiable. One day it will be safe for Essek to float in public again, and he'll get his best mobility tool back.

Slowly things get easier. Essek is able to travel more easily again with fewer bad pain days and come back to the house of green beans without wanting to collapse. The brace magic gets easier for him to manage over time. It’s still a little easier to use a cane, but he can forego it for short periods if he needs the extra stealth. Caleb and Essek teach both the floating and the bracing and find each works for different disabilities and injuries better. It takes some decades for it to be widespread, but his floating technique is eventually widespread enough as a mobility tool that it’s safe to use. While he still prefers floating, he uses both with different personas to throw off the trail.

Every time he comes across another disabled person using this magic he developed in his room, alone in pain and trying to hide through an impressive trick, and now commonplace, it’s a reminder that for all the lives he hurt causing the war, there are now many others his magic has helped to live fuller more accessible lives. And that is a great comfort through the rest of his life.

[hello-eeveev]

Essek: “Gesundheit. I learned that from my partner as well.”

Travis Willingham, known Essek lover and shadowgast shipper:

[the-kaedageist]

As a proud connoisseur of bitchy Essek since the year of our lord 2020, I'm so glad to see him thriving. He's two seconds from rolling his eyes at every moment. He cattily argued with his partner's ex in the back of a smut shop. He hasn't been filled in on half of what he needs to know while traveling with these chucklefucks. He wears his sleep mask while camping. He's back in the location of his honeymoon playing babysitter. At some point, he's going to have to verbally identify an Aeorian beast as a sex monster. Every day, Essek Thelyss wakes up.

[noctiferdrawsstuff]

Since I almost finished watching campaign 2, I wanted to celebrate by drawing the moment they all met; they've all changed and grown so much since then...

[leafmebeeplease]

[undead-knick-knack]

[exandrianpunk]

right around 2:05:00 in c2e122, after Caleb shows the Nein 3 of the 'memory' rooms on the 8th floor of his tower

Veth jokes about 'definitely not' needing proof there's a memory of where she first met him

Beau comments on how gnarly rooms 5 and 6 likely are, to which Caleb responds "maybe another day"

and then Yasha, amidst a bit of group chatter, says "I can't wait to see what's behind the other doors one day"

that was precisely when i fell in love with her. she knows what it's like to have those doors. to hold onto painful memories that are probably holding you back because how dare you even think of moving on? but slowly starting to show those doors to people and eventually letting them peek inside.

not only is it acknowledging her comfort within the discomfort that those 'rooms' and their memories/traumas entail, but that she's looking forward to sharing more of those moments with him as well

she's just the sweetest

[ludinusdaleth]

while im still bitter about the discourse surrounding artagan during the travelercon arc, and how people could not comprehend the idea artagan was not an abusive groomer but rather a nuanced fae who made severe mistakes coming to terms with love for his friend, i am extremely grateful for his arc as a precursor to the events unfolding now. in a way, artagan's genuine act of selflessness breaking the idea fae were damned to selfish endings prepared folk for all the nuances that Can Be.

i could not imagine the backlash morri would have gotten for the way she is "possessive" over fearne if we didnt have a fae character who broke the "mother gothel" idea. i could not imagine the backlash ira would have gotten for his move to just save fearne if we had no previous story showing the way a fae began a path to care by hinging onto someone above all others, and how you can expect him to be blunt about what cruelty he wears, but also able to change. and of course i could not imagine how badly folk would misunderstand fearne & her tale, how the fae love she was raised with made her selfless, how she is the prime example of how fae are not born entities always meant to be deceitful & cruel, and the nuances of the possessiveness of fae love and the differences between holding someone tight vs forcing them to your whim. i think having an archfey set within a continent that had far larger, mortal concerns than him was such a good precursor because we got to see his "humanity" (for lack of a better term) unfold without bearing the brunt of all the fae's baggage at once.

[jullkz]

felt like painting Caleb and Frumpkin

[nellasbookplanet]

Actually loving how the different critical role campaigns exist in relation to themselves, each other, and the world at large, and how their different narrative structures ripple outward.

Campaign 1 was story driven. Not to say the characters weren’t deeply important and dynamic, but their growths were largely driven through and by the plot. They were on a mission and grew along with that mission, and as a mission driven archetypically heroic party they also left very few loose threads by the end.

Campaign 2, meanwhile, was more insular and character driven. Where Vox Machina traveled all over the world and planes outside the main setting of Tal'Dorei, the Mighty Nein largely stayed in Wildemount, allowing for a more intimate and political look at it’s cultures. Instead of story and characters revolving around plot, plot revolves around character. We only got to see Yasha’s tribe in the epilogue, because her growth didn’t require facing them. We didn’t face Uk’otoa, because Fjord’s arc culminated in embracing the Wildmother, not in facing his former patron. Similarly, while the entire Assembly was an antagonistic force, only Trent was dealt with directly, because he was the only one directly tied into one of the pc's arcs.

The larger world building let us know about Molaesmyr and Ludinus, about the Luxon, even about Ruidus to some extent, but the Mighty Nein weren’t a typically heroic party here to save the world and solve every mystery, but a group of broken people finding it in themselves to heal, and to end their journey ready to face greater threats in the future. They were still getting the Assembly and Uk'toa, they just weren’t doing it in the main narrative, because they were irrelevant to the growth of the characters. Of course, that also left a lot of threads hanging, which brings us to campaign 3.

By now, it seems pretty clear that campaign 3 is another plot driven story rather than the more meandering, character driven narrative of c2. That leaves the cast free to pick up on the many larger mysteries in world building left in the wake of the last campaign. What is the nature of the Luxon? Of Ruidus? Of Aeor and the aeormatons? Half the party was just plopped down not far from the ruins of Molaesmyr, Ludinus' former home - will they go there? One of them is tied to the Luxon and dunamancy, another to Ruidus and Predathos - will we get to know the true nature of these entities?

Much like c1, the characters of this campaign are driven and shaped by events rather than shaping their own events. The difference is, c1 began as a blank slate, whereas c3 has history. Powerful allies and enemies alike are tied to former campaigns because such is the nature of the world. Mysteries left to solve were introduced earlier but approached only now because this is a campaign whose narrative and characters are served by approaching them. The world is dynamic. Alive. One story merges into the next, and new heroes are born on the shoulders of the last, ready to be shaped by their own narrative.

[12pt-times-new-roman]

c3e60

"That's the story of a wizard, right? My magic is all work." I'm feeling some kind of way about Prism's bitterness about this

"See, scrying is like--" "This one I know. This one I know." So Ashton is familiar with scrying, but Orym is not.

Chetney giving everyone gifts also inadvertently gave them scrying focuses, because those items were technically created by Chetney. If that was intentional, that's a genius move on Travis' part.

Prism is from a thusfar-unmentioned Cobalt Soul branch in Emon! She hails from "Ablieras"? I didn't catch that name. But this means that she knows about the Cerberus Assembly -- she knows just about as much as we do -- but not anything specific, like she would if she was an apprentice at the Valley Archive or the Rexxentrum Archive.

They find a road and a sign. One side points west to Endovar, and one points east to Hearthdale. In older ink, the sign also points east to Othanzia, which is the northeastern part of Issylra of which Vasselheim is the capitol. Dynios identifies the road as the Outer Walk.

On the way to Hearthdale, at a crossroads, they come upon a ruined, long-disused gallows. That always bodes well.

Matt described the leylines as being "caught by the continuing Apogee Solstice."

As they grow nearer to the village, the taste of the air changes to metallic and the hairs on their arms stand up. It feels the same as their approach to the excavation site, and they see that they are approaching a leyline nexus hanging above it.

The locals of Hearthdale seem to be afraid of talking about the nexus, and when the Hells ask about it, they're interrupted by a guard. But someone points them toward two people they can ask about it.

They notice that all of the guards they can see are wearing symbols of the Dawnfather, despite religion-based "police forces" being extremely rare (mostly only found in and around Vasselheim). The town also has an uncharacteristically large temple to the Dawnfather.

They head to Prolef's shop; he tells them that the town lost 11 people, and they didn't have anything obvious in common. The temple has been in the town for a while, but in the past few months, Vasselheim sent guards and specialists to the town because of its proximity to a nexus point. There have also been a lot of Othanzian agents, including at least one Judicator, passing through.

People in this town are of the Loam and the Leaf, led by the Elder Abadena and her family line who communes with the spirits of the hill. It's a more druidic, "pagan" existence, in tune with nature, listening to the spirits of the world. Othanzian agents built the temple to encourage its residents to convert to Pelor's faith; the religion is not forced upon them violently or physically, but its presence in the town is oppressive, and the people have been becoming more and more afraid.

Every single person in this town heard Ludinus' voice. It wasn't telepathic, it came from the sky. So everyone in Exandria could have heard it.

The temple was constructed 20 years ago, but it only increased its guard presence in the past few months ahead of the solstice. They didn't used to walk the streets or listen in on conversations, but the solstice looming changed that.

"Do you have a wizard here?" "Oh, we don't have anybody here from fancy, learned colleges or anything." there's the balance to Prism's bitterness.

Bor'dor buying a very strong laxative has the same vibe as when you're rewatching C2 and Jester buys the dust of deliciousness

THATS what's so familiar about this. The Bells Hells view of the gods is the same flavor as the Mighty Nein's early view of the Kryn. Except the Bells Hells justifying the destruction of the gods is so much more frustrating.

Also, this campaign is kind of the epitome of "the enemy of my enemy." Maybe it's because there are two distinct stances and

"Wizards don't give a fuck about copyright." Liam O'Brien, 2023

(Reminder that we have absolutely no confirmation that the texts that were stolen from Vasselheim by the Grim Verity were not stolen from the Cobalt Vault, the Vasselheim branch of the Cobalt Soul.)

Laudna/Marisha theorizes that the people who were teleported were moved because of their proximity to a nexus, not because of any other common trait. This falls apart at the seams a little bit, because we don't know whether there was a nexus above Emon or the Cyrios Mountains, but it does apply to the Bells Hells themselves and the people in Hearthdale. This would also explain why Frida and Deanna were not teleported, since it tracks that Eiselcross' anomalies would interfere with that.

They arrive at the Knotburrow Cottage, a two-story wooden estate that's wrapped in vines as though nature itself is embracing the structure.

Abadena answers the door, and, when they tell her that they just appeared here, comments that the Bells Hells were "caught up in the winds of the solstice." She is a tall (6'5) half-giant woman in her 60s or so, with long gray hair woven with trinkets. She has deep gray-brown skin and faded tattoos on her arms.

Orym druidcrafts a big white flower. "I know we might be strangers... but that doesn't mean we can't be friends."

Bor'dor speaks giant! Because he's said that he has been in the Cyrios Mountains for most of his life, this implies that there is a pretty significant population of giants, half-giants, goliaths, or firbolgs in that region.

Point of order: We cannot be sure whether Matt means half-giant or goliath here. Because of her tattoos and grayish skin, Abadena fits the physical description of a goliath, but Matt specifically called her a half-giant. "Half-giant" isn't an official race in D&D 5e (the only ones I could find were homebrew), so this may be another case of Matt using his own descriptors in place of Wizards of the Coast intellectual property, which goliaths are (and which he has also done for multiple other lineages, like aeormatons (warforged) and eisfurra (aarakocra)).

Abadena tells them that all magic is amplified beneath the leyline nexus. The people of this town look to her as a spiritual advisor, because she can communicate with the denuthur eidolons, the spirits of the land.

"What do you think of the entities that call themselves the Prime Deities?" hhhhhhh

Orym has the right idea, 110%. The followers are the problem, not the gods themselves. "The problems I'm seeing here, in your home, are a response, an overreach."

ohohoho, a circle of spores druid!

Orym inhales the spores, and Abadena recalls Orym's memories. The key, Keyleth, Otohan, a cluster of experiences until he can't help but cough. (Sounds like detect thoughts to me!)

"We are born free people. It is only those with money and power and wills to exert that rob us of that freedom. And if history has proven anything, there is no higher form of government and control than what begins at the temples of Vasselheim... The nature of existence is to fight, is to struggle. And, yes, should one government fall, history has shown through our nature that another will try to rise. But maybe things need to crumble before they can be rebuilt. I would take a vacuum and the banishing of the greatest oppressors for a chance to remake things better, than to remain under these shackles that have held us down since we were created, yes? Someone with vision has taken steps that I can feel the gods quake at. The first mortal since the Matron ascended to truly fill them again with fear. That is worth something, yes? Is that not an opportunity?"

Orym is having none of it. Like Ashton, like Team Wildemount, Orym wants his friends back.

Abadena exits the house, and points to the north, toward the temple. "You help me free my families... and I'll help you return to yours. Come with me to a meeting. I think you'll hear what you need to hear there. We meet at the brewery in about 15 minutes."

Okay I get the sense that this is going to be way too much dialogue for me to transcribe, so I'll do my best but take it all with a grain of salt. (edit from future Note: incorrect. I'm pretty confident that at least 85% of my transcription is accurate.)

Upon asking how they can trust Abadena, she opens a secret door leading to a bird bath-type construct. Prism notices that it's a scry well, and Abadena says that they can use it upon the completion of their "mission." "There has been a rich history of outsiders promising things and then leaving us... so forgive me for my reticence." She has only had the time to scry on 3 missing members of her village: one lay adrift in the ocean, one walks through the outskirts of a swamp, and the last is amongst snow in the northern edges of Wildemount." With a nat20 insight check, Prism believes that the scry well is working correctly.

(A slight insight to my own thoughts right now, as someone who knows frankly way too much about Exandria (blame the adhd): Orym is the only person here who is differentiating between the gods and their followers. Everyone else is blaming the gods themselves, not the followers of the gods, for the actions of the followers of the gods, which is frankly fucking ridiculous when they are not also questioning the source of Prism's or Bor'dor's spellcasting. Sometimes neither the end nor the means justifies the casualties, and Orym seems to be the only one who knows that.)

Like, I'm not kidding. Every single person at this meeting is right -- the presence of a temple, guards who worship Pelor, and Judicators are oppressive, stifling, and imperialist. But there is absolutely nothing to prove that these actions were of Pelor's command -- and, actually, there is more evidence (via Deanna) to support that all of this is the reaction of Vasselheim itself, not the gods. Of the clerics, the paladins, the worshipers of the gods, not the gods themselves.

Anyway, the Bells Hells attend the meeting that Abadena invited them to.

Locals are complaining about their fear, about the sense that they'll be rounded up, about guards flirting with spouses.

Inside the room, there are about 80 people -- just below 10% of this 1,000-person town.

(Prism is comorbid adhd/asd solidarity and, as someone with both, I stand by this)

In the crowd, there is anxiety and pressure, an emotional crowd, people mourning loss, people afraid it was all a part of a plan. But all of these things are the fault of Vasselheim and Ludinus, and none of them necessarily are the fault of the gods themselves.

Elder Abadena takes the stage at the meeting, leaning on a staff. It appears to be a quarterstaff-like walking stick, but there are runes burned into it.

"We all stand here in the echoes of a terrifying event. We've lost some we care for, some perhaps not until we missed them that they be realized we cared for. I've found a few threads, and some, I can confirm lie safe, if lost. I will continue to bind my will with the eidolons, to bring them home. But now more than ever the ominous shadow of the gods' oppression pushes down upon us, and there is a sense, a growing fear I think, that this was engineered, if not by them then to be bent toward their interests and will. Many of you can feel the growth of possibility, the very vibration of what can ignite change in this world. You heard the voice, such as I did, and looking around, we are not alone. Many people across Exandira begin to awaken. Many who have felt powerless and hopeless stand up for the first time. And the reason that they loom and press and stare and beat and threaten is because they are as scared as the gods that brought them here. For once, the world can sense the fear of us, and we realize their demands are meritless. This opportunity in the solstice, and the distraction holding their eyes and ears across this world cannot be squandered. By the ancient elemental, Eideurns (?), with whom we share the lands, who has long hid from the judgement of the gods since the founding -- I wish to know if we all think of like mine, to seize this moment and drive teem from our homes... I know there is fear in your eyes, but this is the fear we will live with every day, should we not take this moment where the spirits are heightened, where our protectors are stronger than they've ever been. We do this when they are focused to their north, and their retribution will be swift and absolute. We do nothing, and we submit to their will, for we are nothing but resource gatherers for their pockets lined with gold. We do something now -- either we fall with pride, or we take back this hill, we take back this valley, and perhaps, if we are not alone, we take back this world. And we will all be free once more."

"Are there are any in our way? Those who would stand aside, there is no shame in not standing by our side, but I would bid thee, stay safe, while we bid fire to the walls of the unwelcome." Some back away, to the back of the room -- people with children, elders, people with doubt in their eyes. "By outsiders, us being here at this meeting means that we're in." Ashton.... bb....

Bor'dor has never killed anyone. Prism has only killed plants. Everyone else steps up. Prism does too, though she's invisible.

Abadena comments that the Hells are "walking the path of the solstice... and if they walk the path of the righteous, then they walk with us. Lend them your strength, as I am sure they will lend theirs... we can use [pathways] to approach the temple unseen, then, with mercy, we give them the option to leave of their own accord. Should they refuse, should they hear where they are unwelcome and raise their weapons or deny our demands, then we take the temple." Someone notes that the "recent god-amounts," the recent armed Bastions, number 6 within the temple, but 3 are on the opposite side of the village and would not have time to participate in this parlay. Meanwhile, Kiro, the Flame Guide (the head of the temple) resides within, and there are two judicators that have been cited within the town.

The name of the town's guards are Bastions.

With a high history/religion check, they realize that "Flame Guide" is a title usually given to someone who has proven themselves in both combat and politics, which is why they're perfect missionaries.

Essentially, the Bells Hells have agreed to accompany Abadena on her crusade to drive the temple of Pelor to go away. A parlay is on the table -- it's possible that the temple will simply concede and go away, in the face of 60 people (of whom 10 are trained in combat, 30 are farmers with weapons, and 20 are teenagers trying to prove themselves) -- but Prism is not optimistic that it will not end in a fight.

Abadena also notes that the town has had people convert to Pelor's faith, and she refers to them as dissenters and traitors.

Bor'dor offers to talk to the guards at the front, to distract them with alcohol and tabaco. Utkarsh playing into the high-charisma low-int low-wis build is my favorite thing, I stg--

YESSSSS Orym finally pulls the card. People from Vasselheim do not agree with Da'leth, and the Bells Hells have a direct line of communication as well as information from the center of their greatest fear that they can leverage against Vasselheim. Orym is really getting to the heart of it -- the Bells Hells are not fighting against Vasselheim, they are not fighting against the gods, they are fighting against the Ruby Vanguard and anything they can possibly use to gain an advantage there is a possibility.

"Roll up with a wagon full of fun, just to soften the pill of 'we've come from the front line.'" man, thank the fucking gods for Orym, the voice of reason. It's so nice to have a group with an actual voice of reason.

The Bells Hells create a plan that involves distracting guards with booze and weed. Abadena notes that others among them have similar experiences, but she does so unconvincingly.

Prism has an "illegal spell" -- a "really big, unstable distraction" -- which is summon greater demon. But Orym offers a different plan: if they can convince the guards that they should be in Marquet, not here, if they want to do something. So the Hells will go first, before everyone else, and they'll "fuck around... then everyone will find out." The Bells Hells resolve to lead this initiative, so they are the front line, trying to get the people in the temple to leave before the fighting starts -- and the faces of the crowd confirms that they would prefer this.

This is so reminiscent of the Legend of Korra s1, it's insane

Abadena takes a drink. "Gather your armaments, the resources you have... for tonight, the children inherit the world."

Bor'dor and Orym approach the temple under the guise of wanting to convert their faith. An offer of spirits and tobacco (and/or weed? unclear) eases the guards for a moment, as Orym tells of the tension and hardship of themselves and of this town.

THERE IT IS. Bor'dor puts the bottle of laxative into the drinks he pours for the guards, before passing drinks around.

"It's very much appreciated, for you to bring us gifts from the glorious Dawnfather... here's to another sunrise to bring sun to the crops, heat to the world, light to the unjust."

"I come from across the ocean, from the front line of the threat your order fears. I've seen first-hand, with my own eyes, what has transpired, what's taking advantage of [the leylines.] I desperately want to communicate what it is we've seen, and to help your order do what it means to hold up the Dawnfather and the sanctity of their crop. But it must be, must be to whoever's in charge here, because it is of importance." With a 22 persuasion check, Orym convinces the guards that he's serious, he's for real. They agree to go get the Flame Guard, and give another two barrels of alcohol to the scouts on the ramparts.

With Orym's passive perception, he notices two things. First, the mist that shifts and moves on the outside of this temple, almost like it has a consciousness. The thorny bushes and trees that surround the temple begin to grow and press against the walls. Secondly, there are two large groups of people -- the villagers, and the rest of the Bells Hells -- lying in wait outside the temple walls.

In the meantime, Prism has cast invisibility on her familiar to find the Flame Guide, and placed the manifest mind (an order of scrolls ability) within visual range. She tries to prepare a casting of summon greater demon, but does not have the material components -- the same problem that plagued Fjord in almost the same episode of C2 (it was C2E79, IIRC).

With a double nat20, Prism's familiar is absolutely unseen while invisible as it sneaks through the temple and find the Flame Guide. In the central worship chamber, the familiar sees a stained glass depiction of the Dawnfather holding down what can only be assumed to be the Lord of the Hells, as his head burns like a sun.

In here, too, there is research and study, a frenetic energy. There is also a humanoid figure standing 8-10 feet tall, with muscular arms, swirling tattoos, and where their face would be there is a dark, metallic mask with designs moving in a water-flow-type pattern. A Judicator. Prism does a whole series of held actions that will both create her manifest mind within the chamber with enemies and will allow her to cast arcane lock on the door to said chamber.

And yet, the Bells Hells notices one of the rampart doors open, and the Flame Guide exits it. She's a woman in her late 30s, short black hair, a severe expression; a scar that runs behind her eye down to her chin. "So! You have come to our temple this hour, given my men alcohol, and made promises of great reveals. Tell me what it is you wish to say in the next minute, or my men will throw you from this village and prevent you from ever returning."

Orym lays bare what they all saw, lays bare how Ludinus Da'leth is looking to tear the gods to the sky, lays bare how the enemy of his enemy is his friend -- so they are friends, and share a common goal. "Where you want to be, where all of Vasselheim's forces want to be, is the Hellcatch Valley... and you and your order's time is best spent across the ocean, rather than putting your boots on the necks of farmers." To aid, Laudna uses silent image to make Ruidus burn as bright as the burning sun, to allude a sign from the Dawnfather himself.

Liam rolls a 10 on both a Catha and a Ruidus die, both with the same modifier. With a semi-successful roll, the Flame Guard asserts that the Bells Hells and their companions will be brought to Vasselheim to plead their case. They all find this distasteful, and as Prism shoots a magic missile, Orym successfully grapples a guard and slams them into the wall.

Combat begins between the Bells Hells and Abadena's forces against the forces of this entire temple, against a fucking Judicator

As they hear dozens and dozens of war-cries from the villagers surrounding the temple, we end the episode.

[veliseraptor]

was going to go to bed at a responsible and reasonable hour but then jester died and i had to wait and see if she was going to be revived or not before i could sleep. is what i'm going to tell work when i'm exhausted on monday because i didn't get enough sleep over the weekend

[the-kaedageist]

I can't BELIEVE the first time Essek ever saw him, Caleb was covered in dirt and shit from the street in Asarius, dressed in bondage gear, and carrying one of Essek's stolen beacons. Meet-cute of the century

[noctiferdrawsstuff]

Beau has a new helper for her research! He doesn't help much but he's cute and that's enough

[captainofthetidesbreath]

The campaign has been actually rather light on the ship warring and discourse, for many reasons, and it seems to be finally turning into those waters. But, at least we're not yet at the point of creating giant posts of screenshot projecting onto Travis's every expression to "prove" he supports OP's preferred ship yet, so I guess we're still fine.

[undead-knick-knack]

Me and Essek have this in common