#pike and scanlan are friends they work well together they helped each other heal

[wizardnaturalist]

I think pikelan is rly cute but I Also support the divorce bcs it's funny

[sparring-spirals]

“i can wait no longer” TLOVM liveblog s1 ep 10 time!! :O

me, initially: hey percy is this a bad idea- me, after watching the flashback: no no keyleth, he has a point.

this is very besides the point to the intense “should we kill her” discussion but i forgot Pike wasn’t ACTUALLY there so having her glowing like a little lantern in the group shot was kind of hilarious

OKAY but also, the little cut to the entire group (sans Vax/Cass) after Percy says “then she dies.” is very very nice, everyone has different expressions with varying levels of concern and fear and determination, and its good.

“gotta deal with this smoke thing man, its getting real fucked up” “not this again” says percy with exasperation, as though its a “stop leaving toilet seat up” argument vs “you are LITERALLY leaking smoke and getting SUPER merciless towards people at the randomest moments” argument. listen,,,, percy,,,,,,

me: oh pike is gonna take a look thats nice :) orthax: burning ball of flame almost entirely consuming percy. me: oh. okay, less nice. kind of alarming, actually.

dramatic effect important but also YOU ALL ARE SNEAKING INTO A CASTLE, PLEASE STOP YELLING

 “your concerns are appreciated, truly, but-” “as soon as this is over i will sort it out” yeah i can see why he and vex pair well huh

again- the cutbacks to the group shots when percy is doing His Thing are so good, each individual has their own expressions that make sense. also like the one shot where vex and vax have the same look of 🤨

zipper-twat indeed. 

“it all makes sense” “it does?” “no not really” me at work

“i don’t trust a word she says” “then trust... me.” listen I know they’ve been real busy but like. have they actually questioned Cass yet. Or was it a “been a rough couple of years, i remember nothing” and an “ah thats rough, makes sense”? I somewhat doubt that Vex would hold back on interrogation just for that, (although it IS Percy’s sister so....)

*Stares at shot of Percy and Ripley* narrative parallels....? naaaarrative parallelssss? also! “you’re at the bottom of my list” HEY i know that line

man i really go “aw they’re gonna die” every time i see a large cluster of civilians now. woof.

“i know who i am now.” “well duh, you’re my best friend. except now, YOU GLOW IN THE DARK.” look no one fully prepared me for how much I was gonna love pike and grog together, holy shit

ahh.... siblings. the interaction of vex/vax right before percy/cass.... mmm.

well, we had ancestor-ash-eating in episode 4, might as well go right to ancestor killing.

AND no one told me about how good the Grog Vax dynamic was either :D

“i don’t trust her” “you don’t trust anyone” “well... except you.” “funny way of showing it sometimes” oh? OH??? OHH?????????? *shakes the twins* OH???

yeah THANKS KEYLETH (love you keyleth)

oh. that doesn’t seem good.

OH. THAT DOESN’T SEEM GOOD EITHER.

THIS IS ACTUALLY VERY NOT IDEAL, I THINK.

Vax is really getting Yasha’ed by the Briarwood mind control huh (Yasha’ed means Not Doing Good On Wis Saves, love u yasha)

s...siblings........ sib lin gs... separated..... nice. :D (i mean, VERY bad, but like, nice, you know)

“Oh, an acid trap. REAL FUCKING ORIGINAL” pike ilu and also same

“anyone have a plan?” “Vex?” Vex, currently dealing with 3 billion emotions and a Severe Lack Of Vax, cursing how she made herself de-factor leader: “WHY are you looking at me” *turns to the other person being shell shocked by a sibling betrayal* “percy? a little help?” 10/10, everybody.

im joking but also i guess “stop the acid” and “stay out of the acid” are really the most solid plans in the room, so she’s still doing a great job

“cmere. you noodle” someone use that on me the next time i suffer a great betrayal and stop responding

grog jumping in acid for his friends.... pike healing him immediately... percy needing to team up with ripley.... scanlan shredding away...... <3

also grogs eyes must be BURNING, my god

*chants* TEAM UPS TEAM UPS TEAM UPS

1 - grog has a nickname for his dick (And balls?)  2- pike knows it and uses it with full familiarity. :D

ziggurat.... big.

overall:

ORGh i love 1- narrative parallels and 2- Vox Machina working together and we got BOTH in this episode in spades, i feel very lucky.

Really though, the parallels clearly drawn between Vex/Vax and the Percy/Cass were iiiinteresting, and along with that, the Percy/Ripley lines. hmmmm.

anyway im so *vibrates about the twins*

Big fan of the way they would cut to the group shots in this ep, each character clearly reacting differently to Percy’s state, and it shows.

I still think that the more extended/dramatic speeches don’t hit quite the same way as some of the standalone lines, but it’s hard to say if that’s a thing of writing or delivery or just me being a menace about Speeches(tm), especially in a more heavily scripted format like this. The speeches still hit hard! But I’m still favoring the little throwaway/background banter kind of lines atm.

scanlan BEING the background music for the acid trap sequence was eeeexcellent. :D

[ladyladybuggg]

vax’ildan vessar x oc #1 - kiss my boo boos

The most recent battle was... tough to say the least. Grog had decided to go on a rage and fight the cyclops head on. He bit off a bit more than he could chew, which left Pike, Keyleth, and even Scanlan trying to heal him.

The giant needed a miracle, a gift from the Gods, something Nina couldn’t provide. As well trained as she was, she can’t reassemble a shattered humerus while trying to stitch together the carotid artery.

Nina, the daughter of Dr. Wenmas Hunkruek and Dr. Milly Hunkruek, grew up in Emon. The two were some of the most decorated and respected healers in Tal’Dorei, and they expected their daughter to study to be the same.

So she did.

After finishing primary and secondary school, she applied and was accepted into Emon’s top ranked college for healers, where both her father and mother studied.

Everyday she made the trip Southeast from the Cloudtop District where her and her family lived, to the Erudite Quarter where she studied.

After many years of studying and attending hours of classes, Nina finally graduated, and at the top of her class, by a long shot.

She got the opportunity to work alongside her mother and father at Tal’Dorei’s biggest infirmary, seeing dozens of patients every day, saving lifes, and. restoring families.

Nina was well respected in Emon, anybody who was anybody in the healing world knew her family.

So how she ended up patching up a half-elf rogue after battling a cyclops to the death with 6 other mercenaries? Your guess is as good as mine.

Helping Vex was easy, one bandage and a kiss on her boo boo was enough to do the job. But Vax?

It was nothing she couldn’t fix of course, I mean she saved a man's life after he was stampeded by his own horses for the Gods’ sake, but that doesn’t make it any easier on her own heart.

She hated hearing Vax hiss as she cleaned his wound, pushing away his torn, blood soaked tunic.

“Would you stop wiggling?! The more you wiggle the more it’s going to hurt.” she chastised Vax, who had a sheepish smile on his face.

“My apologies Dr. Hunkruek, how ever could I forgive you?” Vax teased.

This mutual teasing had been going on for far too long. Months and months of the two flirting back and forth, being way too touchy for just being friends, and almost kissing each other after playing drinking games with Grog, only to be interrupted by Keyleth vomiting. 

Oh and then there was the nicknames. Sweets, peach, dear, sweetheart, darling, the list goes on. Every damn time he called her them, her heart skipped a beat. 

“Well you can stopping wiggling and take your shirt off.” she instructed, pointing at his torso as she went to get a clean cloth.

“If you wanted to see me naked you could have just asked, but usually I would take somebody to dinner first.” said Vax, the smirk evident in his voice.

“Oh shut up you,” Nina said, trying to hide her blush, “I just need to stitch up the two split lacerations on you sternocostal head and then address the puncture wound by your infraspinatus.” Vax began to lift his shirt and it took every ounce of Nina’s concentration to not stare.

HIs chest was strong and littered with scars, yet somehow smooth and sculpted. Fuck being a half-elf, this man was a God. Nina imagined herself leaning back on it with his arms wrapped around her. She was snapped out of her selfish daydream by Vax’s voice.

“What?” he says, confused, “Are you speaking Zemnian? Sylvan? We’ve been through this before sweets, just because I’m a half-elf, that doesn’t mean I speak Sylvan. Sure it’s similar to Elvish bu—”

“I’m not speaking another language!” she interrupts, “I know you’re a half-elf and that Sylvan is not the same as Elvish. Plus Zemnian is an ancient language, and I’ve never even been to the Zemni Fields!” she sighs, “Just let me do my shit.”

Vax begrudgingly complied, laying down on the cot. Nina took out the sutures and began to sew the wounds shut, focusing so as to not do a poor job and leave bad scarring.

“You know you’re so pretty while you patch me up.” Vax confessed as Nina blushed.

“Are you sure that’s not the blood loss talking?” teased Nina, searching her mind for why he would say that.

“No it’s not peach, you look beautiful while you patch other people up too...” he stated, before mumbling something she couldn’t hear.

“What was that?” she asked, focused on tying the last knot of the second wounds sutures, “Now lay on your stomach.” she ordered, before Vax even had a chance to respond.

Vax turned unto his front, hissing from the pain in his shoulder, but Nina wasn’t really paying attention to that. She was looking at his seemingly rippling shoulder muscles, imagining jumping into his arm after a tough battle and hugging him like he was a life line.

The wound on Vax’s back was a puncture wound and it wouldn’t need any stitches considering it didn’t damage any ligaments or tendons. Wounds like this could be stitches for cosmetic purposes, but Nina didn’t wanna waste suture thread and she knew Vax didn’t give a damn.

“So what was that thing you said?” she asked as she cleaned the wound and prepared bandages. Vax hesitated.

“I said you look beautiful all the time.” he whispered, his voice muffled by the cot.

“I would say the same, but you keep getting yourself all cut up when we have a job, making me fix you up. A real good use of my education.” she grumbles. 

Nina patted his shoulder to show she was all done. Vax flipped back over and leaned back in the cot, now facing Nina.

“I’ll throw myself in that fucking pit of acid under Whitestone’s Castle if it means I get to be close to you,” he confesses, “If it means you get to take care of me I’d do it in a heartbeat.” Nina blushed fiercely, her dreams coming true in front of her. 

“I don’t think Vex would be very happy with you if you did that.” she said, standing to put away her medical supplies. 

“Fuck Vex,” he said simply, standing from his cot, “I would be happy, so fuck her.”

“Keyleth was right,” Nina teased, walking back towards him, “You only care about yourself.”

“Ah ah ah,” he sings, placing his hands at Nina’s waist, “that’s where she’s wrong darling. I don’t only care about myself, I care about you too. I literally just said I would throw myself into a pit of acid for you, is that not enough?” Vax teased. 

“I hate when you get hurt,” Nina admitted, “I love doing what I do but I fucking hate when it’s you. Seeing you hurt hurts me. I can’t lose you.” 

“Well that just means you’ll have to kiss my boo boos,” Vax teases with a smile on his face, “In fact... my lip did get a bit cut in the fight so it looks li—”

Before he could even finish the sentence Nina threw herself at him, kissing him like her life depended on it, like he was a life elixir. Vax pulled her closer to him as she ran her hands through his jet black hair, softly massaging his scalp. 

Vax felt that electricity flow through him once again as their lips connected. Her lips were soft with the taste of herbal balm whilst his had remaining blood. His right hand rose to her cheek as the other wrapped are her waste, pulling her to his bare chest. 

His thumb ran across her skin and he nearly gasped. Her skin was so soft, like the finest furs in all of Tal’Dorei. 

Nina slightly parted her lips and Vax took this as an invitation to sloowly slip his tongue in her mouth. This lit a fire in the two of them. Nina began to trail her hands down his bare chest, grateful she made him take off his tunic. 

Vax was about to lift her up in his arms before a crash separated the two. 

“Scanlan you dumb fuck how did you knock over that vase?!” whispered Vex, obviously trying to spy on the two. 

“Vex! We talked about this!” said Vax, referencing a conversation that was obviously had a numerous amount of times. 

“Sorry! We had to see who won the bet.” Vex stated simply. 

“Speaking of which...” said Pike, “Pay up bitches!”

“You had a bet going on?!” yelled Nina, hiding her face in Vax’s chest. 

“Of course!” yelled Keyleth, “I’ve been shipping you two since that one time I threw up on Nina’s shoes at that tavern in Kymal.”

“Oh god please don’t mention Kymal.” begged Percy, rubbing his forehead. 

“Oh that was fun!” yelled Grog. 

“Grog you literally were charged with public indecency and we had to pool our money bail you out.” scolded Nina. 

“I don’t remember that?”

“That’s because you were piss drunk.” said Percy. 

“Exactly! It was fun!” exclaimed Grog. 

“Can you all fuck off?!” yelled Vax.

“Alight, alright, we’re going!” Scanlan said, raising his hand. 

Nina leaned her forehead against Vax’s chest, sighing.

“Aeorian.” she said.

“What?”

“Some of the words I was saying were Aeorian.”

Vax used his pointer finger and thumb to lift up her chin. 

“I don’t care what language you are speaking,” he whispers, “As long as I am with you and you can kiss my boo boos.” 

“So you’re saying you want to do this again?” she asks hopefully. 

Vax cupped both of her cheeks with his rough hands, smiling down at her. 

“Every bloody day.”

[megabees]

extraordinary magic

Their love is magic. 

Hers, divine. His, some learning and some passion, but never a solid answer. 

His, harnessed through song, hers through prayer.

Throughout their lives, though they seem to blend into each other. His music, a form of prayer, her devotion, almost a song.

 -----------------------------------

After the defeat of Vecna, after everything calms down, Pike still works at the temple. It’s a sort of peace she gets there, despite being the Chosen of Sarenrae, despite knowing she can call for her intervention whenever needed. There is an odd form of respect inherent in a temple, a calmness and a comfort in the idea that things are bigger than you. 

Pike yearns for that quiet some days. Her bad days usually find her there at the temple, searching for just something to calm the mind, calm the racing thoughts, make the heart stop beating as if every single threat is coming towards her, like she will have to watch all of her friends die and not be able to save a single one. She already couldn’t save one. Anxious. Afraid. Alone. 

In the temple, she is never alone. Sarenrae is always with her. 

Scanlan’s bad days take a different form. 

Scanlan has never been good with a loss of control, a loss of knowledge, not having the upper hand. He’s done a lot of stupid shit, he knows that his actions have consequences, but his worst moments come when he can’t control what people think of him, or when he can’t change other’s minds. On his bad days, he replays Vax’s death over and over again, knowing that he could have controlled this loss, knowing He Could Have Saved Him. In this case, he didn’t have the upper hand. He couldn’t outsmart a god. 

When the crushing weight of his lack of control hits him, when the grief is overbearing and there is nothing he can do to change it, the only option for him is to sleep. For Scanlan, there is no “working through the pain”, no easy solution to help him find peace. Music becomes too loud, light becomes too bright, nothing can bring him numbness other than sleep. It is the rawest form of escapism, the truest form of freedom. 

Pike knows this. Usually, on one of Scanlan’s bad days, she will allow him to sleep as long as he needs, until the sun begins to set and he needs to eat. She will bring him dinner, and then they will sit in bed and hold each other, knowing that the pain may be everlasting, but the current wave is only temporary. 

On one of these such days, Scanlan wakes before Pike brings him dinner. For some reason, the grief isn’t as crushing as it usually is when he rises, so he sneaks out to the kitchen to surprise Pike. He is unprepared for what he sees. 

Pike, lit by the setting sun, her white hair reflecting orange and gold and pink. Haloed almost, how fitting, he thinks, and she is breathtaking. She’s humming a small tune, softly and under her breath, shaking her hips in time with her own little beat while stirring a pot of stew. In this light, Scanlan has never been more in love with her. She is capable of healing with magic, but for him, in this moment, her music, it makes him whole. 

-----------------------------------------------

Occasionally, when Vasselheim or Emon’s temples come calling, Pike has to leave Scanlan in Westeruun to go assist with a resurrection or rebuilding or some other form of clerical duties. 

They don’t like to separate. Scanlan would like her to tell all of the other religious figures that he’s her constant plus one, but Pike knows that if they were to go together, she wouldn’t want to do her duties, she would just want to cause chaos with him. It is a hard life to constantly be devout. 

For her, leaving reminds her of loss. She has missed so much, she has been unable to save her friends so many times due to not being there. She has been so saddled with responsibility that she isn’t always able to help, she has been gone so often before that home didn’t feel like home. You go away for a time, and when you come back, everything is the same, but everything is different. There are events you miss, and jokes you can’t be a part of, and even if people miss you, everything is not the same. 

But what do you do when that happens? You still have a duty, you still must serve, you made a commitment. Pike loves her goddess, this is a fact, but she also loves and has loved so many others. She can not be like a dragon and just hold all that she holds dear to her close. 

So she serves, and she goes to Vasselheim, and she goes to Emon; whoever, wherever needs the Champion of Sarenrae. Her problems, her feelings of loss and missing out do not compare to other people’s problems, so she leaves Scanlan, and teleports out with Allura, or Keyleth, or whatever magical authority needs her at that moment. Perhaps it will be a short trip this time. 

Scanlan hates it when she leaves. He is so afraid for her safety, so worried that something will happen and she will dedicate herself to saving someone else, rather than save herself. She will fight, rather than run. She is brave like that. 

It’s not that she’s not incredibly powerful, because he has seen what she can do, it is just that she is so selfless. She is so good. That’s why she’s needed, after all. He can not have her all to himself, she needs to help. She needs to be needed. 

But everytime she leaves, Scanlan trusts in the one thing he knows has Pike’s interests at their heart. Other than Grog and himself, the only person Scanlan trusts is Sarenrae. Although he is the Champion of Ioun, and isn’t a big “God Guy”, Pike loves Sarenrae. So every time she leaves, whether it be early morning or mid-afternoon, Scanlan sees her off and then walks to the shrine they have built to Sarenrae in the backyard, prays for Pike’s safety, and then goes on with his day. 

It is one of these early mornings that Pike discovers Scanlan’s prayers. She headed off to Zephrah with Keyleth, then promptly forgot her mace at home, and had to go back to get it. While rooting through their adventuring gear, tangled up as it is with Scanlan’s instruments and swords, she catches a glimpse of Scanlan, arms up to the sun. Grabbing her mace, she heads out to speak to him, overhearing what he is saying. 

Please, keep her safe. I can not do it all on my own, and you know she will never admit weakness. Show her that leaving does not mean abandonment, and that there is a way to heal from a distance. Touch her with the rays of the sun, with every freckle that appears, it is just a sign of our love. Guide her, provide her hope, and when she is done, bring her back to me. 

-----------------------------------------------

They tell all their friends about the baby coming at the same time, at a picnic thrown on the anniversary of all of them meeting. It has been long enough that the occasion, while still sad is not riddled with grief over Vax, and is one of the few times that Keyleth will come in from Zephrah and the De Rolo’s (all of them!) come in from Whitestone. Grog is overjoyed, and the announcement provides for an excuse for them all to get together again in four months for a shower, and three months after that to meet the little tyke. 

It’s a tough pregnancy, mostly emotionally, for both Scanlan and Pike don’t have much to go on for parenting, and certainly don’t know how to prep for an infant, but both of them have always done better in crisis rather than in stasis, so they make it through okay. 

And when she is born, little Wilhelmina Juniper, she is the cutest thing they’ve ever seen, with lungs of her father and the fierceness of her mother. 

They settle into domesticity with Mina pretty quickly, but one thing they learn about their child is that she, much like her mother and father, is prone to wandering and escaping and staying awake because there’s just too much to do during the day. Suffice to say, she’s a bit rowdy. Vex describes her as a little terror, and Grog is thrilled but exhausted by the whirlwind that is the littlest Shorthalt-Trickfoot. 

There is one thing that is guaranteed to put little Mina to sleep though, and it is a lullaby sung by both of her parents. Passed down by Wilhand to help put Pike to sleep, it is a hymn from Sarenrae’s temple, one of returning home, of seeking redemption, of compassion for all. There is no place where the two of them feel more at home than singing over their child, showing her the intersection between music and the divine. 

It is one of these such nights, with the two gnomes holding hands over Mina’s bed finishing the song, when they notice faint sparkles in the air. Shocked, the two look down at their child, watching sparkles explode from her hands as she clapped. 

With Mina having magic, they learn quickly how to stop a firebolt in its path, as well as how to control a child who does not know how their magic works, and eventually, she goes off to learn how to control it at a school and becomes very powerful, as expected. 

The Trickfoot-Shorthalts have two more kids, all who grow up incredibly loved, and they sing the same lullaby to all of them, each one growing up knowing that music can be a source for divine magic. 

------------------------

A bard, a sorcerer, a monk and a wizard sit in the front row of the Temple of the Sarenrae, the Everlight in the early morning. They are celebrating the renewal of vows of Pike Trickfoot-Shorthalt and Scanlan Trickfoot-Shorthalt, Champions of Sarenrae and Ioun, and they are the children of the lucky couple. Kaylie, the bard, attempts to appear as she is not crying, while Mina, the sorcerer, is openly weeping. The monk and the wizard, the two youngest Trickfoot-Shorthalts, grin, watching as their parents descend from the front of the temple. Others are there, Vex’s eyes bright clutching Percy’s hand, Keyleth wistful, Grog right behind Pike on the altar, but the two gnomes at the front have eyes only for each other. 

As they descend, without any warning, a breeze blows both of their hair back and a sunbeam seems to illuminate them in golden light. A chorus of violins begins to play, and they suddenly find themselves floating above the crowd. Giggling, the gnomes hold hands and wave, noticing how shocked some of their guests look at the show, despite no one seeming to cast anything. 

It makes sense though, for Pike and Scanlan. After all, their love has and always will be magic.   

[punkrockgenasiashton]

Critical Role Campaign 1 Ep1-27 Recap

So, a friend of mine recently got into Critical Role and after talking to her about the absolute dumpster fire that is Orion Acaba she found herself unable/uncomfortable watching/listening to episodes with him in it and asked me what happened through the Underdark arc because I told her Orion aside I liked it a lot. So I started writing. And kept writing. And kept writing. And basically below the cut is a pretty in depth recap of everything that happens before Orion leaves the show for anyone who is curious/or have friends who you want to have a more complete Critical Role experience when getting them into Campaign 1

For easy future reference:

Vox Machina=VM=The Party

Vax= Half Elf Rogue

Vex= Half Elf Ranger

Percy= Human Gunslinger

Grog= Goliath Barbarian

Scanlan= Gnome Bard

Keyleth= Half Elf Druid

Pike= Gnome Cleric

Tiberius= Dragonborn Sorcerer There might be some color/opinions, but here we go:

Okay, so. The adventures of Vox Machina as we know them start in the city of Kraghammer, a city of dwarves in the northwest area of the country of Taldorie beneath the Cliffkeep Mountains. Kraghammer is a pretty reclusive city, wary of non-dwarves, who are disallowed from entering the city except for official business with the Greyspine Quarry, one of the most prolific mines in Exandria (the world), so as they arrive Vox Machina stick out like sore thumbs. Their mission is to find Lady Kima of Vord, a well known paladin and close friend of Allura Visoren, an  arcanist the party is close to. Kima had gone missing in the Greyspine Mine beneath Kraghammer. After some investigations, the party learned that a whole mess of 'stitch monsters' have been attacking the mines from deeper beneath, and after killing one (a Naga with 2 extra Naga heads stapled on that Scanlan blows up with cock lightening) with the owner of the Greyspine Mines watching  they were granted access to investigate the mines and beneath proper.

The party then stumbles through and finds a small goblin camp/city that had been razed and they find goblins that have had their brains sucked out through a round hole in their head. They then meet my personal favorite NPC maybe ever, Clarota, a feral illithid who had been cut off from his hive because of his ability to use magic (huge taboo in Mindflayer society, apparently). They agree to help Clarota and Clarota agrees to help them to defeat the bbeg who has taken up residence in Clarota's city (Yog Voriel), an entity named K'Varn.

The party then go through a Duargar (Dark Dwarf) War Camp where Vax one shots an illithid using a combination of expert sneaking and goblin shit and they interrogate a duargar general. The  General tells them Kima is being held in the City of Emberhold, the duargar stronghold deeper within the Underdark. At the center of the city is Fortress Emberhold, defended by a magma drip that pours magma over the top of it in such a way that the only way in is through the front door or a secret exit on the left side of the fortress. VM finds a way to open said secret exit, and find Kima being tortured in the dungeons. Kima is grateful for the rescue but is immediately wary that they're working with an Illithid. The party then debates whether they should trust the lawful good paladin and best friend of their ally or the chaotic evil feral illithid, but eventually talk Kima into just letting Clarota hang around until they deal with K’varn.

The party then decide to take out the nobles of Emberhold because it’s become clear that the Illithid and Duargar (who historically hate each other) are working together under this K’Varn and anyone who works with them is a threat. During the battle they kill the Durgar King but the Queen charms Grog and escapes, blowing the ceiling, attempting to burn VM alive in magma. The party just escape, Vax losing most of his foot to the lava.

Keyleth and Kima have a very serious argument about whether it’s the party’s place at all to be involved down here. Keyleth pointing out that A. they’ve murdered a lot of potentially mind controlled people and lost Grog in their attempts to rescue Kima and B. before they’d entered the underdark they’d never heard of K’Varn so who are they to be inserting themselves in the conflict? Kima arguing that K’Varn has a power that will allow them to take the surface over and it’s their responsibility to stop them and take that power away from an obviously evil creature. The party eventually agrees with Kima’s argument that even if it wasn’t their place before it is their responsibility to stop K’Varn.

The party track down the Durgar queen, regain Grog, and while Vex is interrogating the queen the queen’s mind is taken over by K’Varn who taunts the party, inviting them to the temple he has taken residence in,  before killing her. The party then moves further into the underdark, through a sea of bone that tries to eat anyone who touches it, where they do battle with another stitch monster, this time an impossibly fast elf with tentacles for arms and legs. They then finally reach the Illithid city of Yog Voriel, an ancient ruin they’d taken over within a fungal forest surrounded by a giant lake. Investigating the lake the party finds a shipwreck Percy and Tiberius repair and go sailing around the island looking for a potential back entrance to K’Varn’s temple. They find some caves, investigate, get chased by a cloaker (giant bat) on the water.

They decide to take a rest on the shores to the north of Yog Voriel where Keyleth decides to attempt to scry on K’Varn, to find out where in the tempe they are and to finally find out what they are. The scrying reveals that K’Varn is a beholder with a strange horn attached to their head. After some discussion it’s worked out that the horn is one of two “Horns of Orcus” Orcus, an evil god of undeath, his horns make the holder/wearer a somewhat avatar of Orcus himself, crazy but also incredibly strong with necrotic power.

The following morning the party sail to the island Yog Voriel is on and find a formorian (an evil giant) and mind control him. Then, after a lot of planning, and a lot of bullshit by Tiberius because Orion metagamed a ton (the party in character had never heard of a beholder but Tiberius openly refused to set foot in the temple because Orion knows that Beholders lairs are dangerous as fuck), the party decides to drop the mind controlled giant from the top of the cavern through the glass ceiling of the temple, destroying a device that kept the Illithid under K’Varn’s power by trapping the Illithid hive’s Elder Brain.

Fight ensues, Tiberius true to his word doesn’t enter the temple and doesn’t help with the fight at all, Vex gets the final kill on Living K’Varn. During the fight K’Varn used a petrify ray to turn Kima into stone.Then, using the Horn, K’Varn rises as a zombie beholder. Tiberius gets the final kill on Zombie K’Varn. Claorota double crosses the party, and the Illithid attack Vox Machina as they escape using a teleportation circle that takes them back to their home city of Emon.

VM returns to Emon late at night and decides to go on a bar crawl with their stone Kima. (It should be noted here, in case you’re concerned, over the past couple days, using some really high rolls and homebrewing, Pike has been slowly healing/regrowing Vax’s foot and finally finishes doing it after about 5 days in game when they get back to Emon). After some debating the party decides while it’s not necessarily prudent, it’s necessary to inform the rest of the council of Emon as well as Emperor Uriel Taldorei himself about the Horn of Orcus they plucked from the dead K’Varn. After that discussion they unstone Kima.

Before the meeting starts Emperor Uriel asks a messanger to make sure a Lord and Lady Briarwood are made to know about something trivial. The mention of the Briarwoods sends Percy into what looks like a silent panic attack that everyone else misses.  During the meeting, it’s decided that the Horn is unsafe in Emon and Emon is unsafe as long as it’s there and that it should be brought across the sea to the West to the city of Vasselheim. Vasselheim is basically the Vatican, Mecca, Jerusalem, and Mahabodhi all rolled into one. It is the high religious city of every major good and lawful god in the civilized world, and there, the Horn would be locked away under the eye of the Platinum Sanctuary, the largest and oldest temple to Bahamut in the world and kept safe by Highbearer Vord (Kima’s...master? The head of her order of Paladin). Following the meeting Percy asks the Emperor about his correspondence with Lord and Lady Briarwood, Percy explaining that the Briarwoods are old friends of his family and asks to be kept updated on the Emperor’s correspondence with them, and that if they’re in the city to please let him know. As Vox Machina are members of the council, this is totally acceptable to the Emperor

Before the trip, during a few days of downtime, Vax goes on a date with the party’s favorite shop keeper, Shaun Gilmore. This isn’t really important but you should know the name Gilmore because he’s an essential NPC who crops up a lot, and Vax’s relationship with him becomes important later, so it should be known that they have a quasi-dating relationship. (It should also be noted that they’re not really dating and there’s a whole lot of subtext and lowkey stuff that points to the idea that Vax is also interested in Keyleth)

On the way to Vasselheim on a skyship the party is harried by wyvern riding pirates. Keyelth turns a Wyvern into a Chicken using polymorph at 500 feet up, one of the best kills in the show imo. While in Vasselheim, following the sealing of the Horn, Grog has a fight in a fighting pit known as the Crucible, losing just barely to the standing champion, an half orc named Kern. Also while in Vasselhiem, because she’s played by Ashley Johnson and Ashley lives on the east coast most of the year, Pike is called to rebuild a temple to her god, Sarenrae and leaves the party. The city wall closest to them is then attacked by a hydra. Vox Machina goes, hunts down the hydra, and kills it. While fighting it another party comes and claims VM are “scags” taking their contracted kill.

Once the Hydra is dead it is discovered that within Vasselheim there is a hunters guild known as the Slayers Take and the hydra was a quarry of theirs and by killing it without a license VM had broken the laws of Vasselheim and they’re given the choice between either joining the guild and retroactively killing the hydra for the Take or face trial. They choose to join the Take. I highly recommend trudging through Orion during the Trials of the Take episodes because it’s basically a 4 parter where the party is split (so Orion’s only in 2!) and they have a couple of really good guests in. (Including Wil Wheaton, Will Friedel (Eric from Boy Meets World), and Felcia Day.) Following the trial they are introduced to the true leader of the Slayers Take by Huntmaster Vanessa Syndriol of the take (basically the second in command), a sphynx named Osisa. It’s also revealed that the Take is a  quasi-religious order dedicated to Ioun, the Goddess of Knowledge and Osisa watches the world through a type of Scrying Eye. 

After the Trial of the Take Mini Arc the party takes a trip to the village of Pyrah, a few days travel from Vasselheim and located in a semi-active volcano. To condense a lot of information into a very short bit: Keyleth is a member of a tribe known as “The Ashari,” The Ashari are broken into 4 clans (Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire) and spread throughout the world to defend parts of it where the elemental planes bleed over into the prime material, every generation a member of each clan goes on a pilgramage known as the Aramente to be tested by the other clans to become the headmaster of their clan. Keyleth is Air Ashari and is on her Aramente to become the leader of the Air Ashari because the last person to attempt it, Keyleth’s mother, had never returned, leaving her father as acting headmaster. Pyrah is home to the Fire Ashari, and the party accompanies Keyleth on her trial. They go to the Fire Elemental Plane where they evade an ancient red dragon (foreshadowing for much later, remember this dragon) that would have decimated the party, and then fight the headmaster of the Fire Ashari, Cerkonos, and 3 other fire ashari while the ashari and Cerkonos are beast shaped into fire elementals.

Following that Grog has a rematch with Kern, beats him, and the party returns to Emon where they are informed the Briarwoods will becoming to Emon for a feast with the Emperor and because of Percy’s request and the party’s standing as council members they are given an invite. Once the party returns to their own keep, known as Greyskull Keep, Percy reveals that the Briarwoods murdered his entire family and took over his ancestral home of Whitestone, and the reason he is Lord Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Kollowski De Rolo III is because he is the rightful Lord of Whitestone.

Again, even though Orion is in them I really recommend watching Episodes 24-26 because 24 and 25 are very plot important and 26 is just hysterical, skip episode 27 (Orion’s last episode and generally considered by many a very uncomfortable watch due to Orion making a very off color comment about Laura (Vex) giving him (Tiberius) a boner and Travis (Laura’s IRL husband) being livid about it) and then watch from episode 28 onward and you’re right near the start of what’s lauded as the best arc of the series.

[dancerwrites]

reflection and refraction

2.5k words Characters: Pike Trickfoot, Allura Vysoren Set between episodes 86 and 87 [Technically for CritRole RS Week Day 3 (which was, like, two months ago, but  I was busy then, so here it is now ^_^)] Summary: It’s her second night in Emon, and while sitting on the docks she is joined by a familiar figure, blue robes gliding smoothly across wooden planks. [AO3]    

Pike spends her days healing the sick, repairing homes and reuniting families - generally being the light that people need to see in the ashen aftermath of Thordak’s reign. She works with Kima in the temples, and helps Allura with some of her duties. Pike assists those who have no coin to spare, and, every so often, makes rounds of the city streets, simply looking for tasks that need doing.

(she knows that recovery is a slow process, that it can take days, weeks, months, years, for any full restoration to be found, and she wants needs to stay busy)

Pike spends her evenings at the port, watching the sun set over distant waves with a strange longing in her heart. When the ball of light finishes sinking below the horizon she closes her eyes and smells the scent of salt on the air, feels the breeze on her face. She remembers the freedom and immensity of the ocean, the unendingness of the expanse, but also the forgiving nature of the rolling waves, where one can sail for days and find nothing but water and sky and horizon.

(part of her wants to feel that openness, wants to jump on the fastest ship she can find and catch up to them, but she has settled herself in Emon once again, and she can’t bring herself to leave, not so soon after… everything)

It’s her second night in Emon, the third since she’d drunk herself into a stupor with Vax, the second since a blond man who was too tall and too opulent for words strutted into Whitestone alongside her friends, and while sitting on the docks she is joined by a familiar figure, blue robes gliding smoothly across wooden planks.

“Allura,” she greets, carefully keeping her eyes fixed on the horizon, where the sun is close to disappearing for the day.

(she tells herself she does not want to miss its passing)

“Pike,” Allura replies, sitting down next to her and propping up what looks to be a bottle of whiskey between them. “Would you care for a drink?”

Pike opens her mouth, fully intending to accept the offer, but her throat catches and her heart seems to seize and she can’t say anything for a long moment, except:

“Maybe after the sunset?”

(part of her longs for the burning she knows it will bring to her throat, while another part of her knows that the warmth it carries is not the kind she’s looking for and desperately craving these days)

“I can wait,” Allura says, and together they sit in silence save for the rush of waves against the shore and early evening work crews finishing their jobs before heading home. The men and women chatter and joke and argue about which tavern to take an evening meal at - the one still standing, or that which was destroyed with dragonfire weeks prior.

Pike watches the sun and tries to forget, drowning herself in the rapidly descending sphere.

(part of her wonders if she should force herself to blink, as her eyes can't seem to be drawn from the shimmering orb,

It doesn’t take long for the sun to disappear below the horizon, leaving only smears of dark orange and red painted below an inky midnight blue expanse where stars are starting to peek through.

Red sky at night, sailors delight, Pike thinks to herself, memories of voices speaking the phrase echoing a chorus in her head.

(there are several tunes and colloquial sayings that have stuck with her for the past year or so, ever since departing the Broken Howl to find her land legs again, and she surprises herself sometimes with how quickly they return to the front of her mind)

Pike finds herself staring at the stars that have started to appear, and she gazes at them for a long while, imagining the pictures Papa Wilhand had always pointed out to her in her youth. She’d told the same stories to Grog when they would spend nights out in the fields, never returning home until late, and she would point out the pictures she could see, though he never seemed to see them in quite the same way.

“I have cups, if you’d like a drink,” Allura says, breaking Pike out of her thoughts.

Looking down, Pike sees a fine bottle of whiskey with a familiar label, and she remembers the smoothness from what feels like decades ago.

(she wonders where Allura got such a bottle, what with the city-wide destruction, but doesn’t feel the need to ask)

Pike looks up and meets Allura’s eyes, which are neither pitiful nor concerned, and she nods, a not-quite-smile pulling at her lips.

“This is a good one,” she says, and she feels her lips quirk as Allura seems to produce two fine wine glasses from nowhere, opening the bottle of liquor and pouring a decent measure into each.

“So I’ve heard,” Allura replies, handing Pike a glass and lifting her own into the air. “Shall we toast to something, or get a little buzzed first?”

Pike downs her helping of the drink in response, appreciating the gentle burn down her throat even as Allura chuckles. She holds out her glass for more, and Allura (after downing the contents of her own glass) fills it full almost to the brim, then repeats the motion with her own cup.

“To no more Conclave,” Allura proposes, and Pike raises her own glass, then sips obediently, holding the drink in her mouth for a moment to appreciate the flavor. There's a hint of apple amidst the berries in this particular bottle, but it's the same drink Vox Machina had shared during their first meal all together at the newly-finished Greyskull Keep.

She remembers returning to Emon on the Broken Howl and wandering back to the Keep around midday, only just peeking into the temple before her name was shouted and Keyleth picked her up and spun her around in a hug. Keyleth was quickly followed by Grog, and then everyone else in a row, and Gilmore had been invited over for dinner and he’d brought the whiskey as a housewarming present.

(she remembers that they drank all of the liquor in one night, but that was nearly two years ago, and things were very different back then)

Pike thinks she should make a toast, that it’s her turn, and she looks up to the sky, where more and more stars are peeking out from behind a black veil.

“To the sea,” she says, lifting her cup high as her gaze follows the sky down to where it meets the sea’s water, still glowing from the setting sun.

“To the sea,” Allura murmurs in echo, raising her own glass.

They take a sip together.

Allura takes a long time thinking about her next toast, long enough that Pike glances up at her and sees the arcanist swirling her whiskey in the cup, watching the liquid rise and fall on the sides of the glass.

(she remembers that Scanlan used to preach about swirling your wine before drinking it, to “release the flavor”, and remembers Percy’s pained smile coupled with an affirming nod)

Pike swirls her own glass and inhales deeply, picking up scents of walnut and oak as she does so.

“To living,” Allura says finally, and Pike can’t not drink to that.

She lifts her glass in the air again and sips from it once more, the taste more complex on her tongue, though she’s not sure if the alcohol is getting to her or if it’s actually because she swirled the drink in her cup.

“To friends,” Pike says quickly, before her throat can close on the words.

She empties the remainder of the glass as she drinks, and she sits there for a moment, glass in hand. She finds herself biting her lip, blinking back tears for a moment, and once again she’s not sure if she can attribute her feelings to the alcohol.

(she’s sure it’s just the alcohol getting to her - that’s it, no harm done)

A deep breath of salty air clears her thoughts.

Looking up to Allura, she sees the taller woman carefully studying the waters in front of them, lowering her glass after taking a long, slow drink.

Allura’s cup is also empty, Pike notices.

(she remembers that not everyone has been as lucky as Vox Machina - Kerrek’s comments were proof enough of that)

Pike waits a moment for Allura to come back to herself, but it takes a little too long, and Pike grabs the now-half-full bottle of whiskey and pours a generous amount into each cup.

Allura blinks at the horizon, and Pike stares off as well, feeling a creeping unease as the silence draws on. She’s never felt as unsure of herself as she’s sure Keyleth does, but she’s never been particularly confident in her words like Percy, or Vex, or… others…

So she keeps her mouth shut, swirling the whiskey in her glass and taking another small sip, wetting her lips with the bright taste.

“Where’s Kima?” Pike asks, wincing as curiosity takes control of her tongue for a moment.

“Around,” Allura replies simply.

Pike chances another glance up to Allura’s face and she sees the hint of a smile, which is ridiculously, wonderfully comforting.

“I thought she might want some whiskey,” Pike says, flicking the side of the glass so a note rings out.

(it’s just one note, and it doesn’t hurt as much as she thought it might)

“She was helping people tear down some ruined homes, last I saw,” Allura says, glancing over her shoulder to the town. “But she promised to make dinner tonight, so I’m giving her a head start, and thought I might enjoy some company while I’m at it.”

Pike feels a bit of a weight off her chest at that statement, and she grins at the thought of Kima cooking - doing anything so domestic, really.

“Is Kima a good cook then?” she asks, and she turns to Allura, not feeling quite as drawn to the endless sea as she had been.

“Gods no,” Allura says with a laugh, snorting a bit. “She tries, she really does, bless her, but for all the martial skills and magic she learns at the temple of Vord, cooking is not high on their list of things for their paladins to know.”

Pike grins at that, and the small, unintentional movement is freeing in an entirely different way than the vast sky above them and the waters beyond.

“So what does Kima know how to cook?”

“Oh, she can put together a rather nice stew,” Allura says, leaning back on one hand, the other swirling her drink before she takes another sip. “And her bread rolls are actually quite nice. But anything more complicated than that is a bit of a disaster. Oh, I remember the time that she tried to surprise me with a pie and she almost burnt down my tower.”

“Your magical, stone tower?” Pike asks, trying to find some clarification.

“That’s the one,” Allura says, turning to look down at Pike, still relaxed into the hand supporting her from behind. “It turns out that the sugar looked a bit too much like some of my alchemical ingredients - which are on a different shelf from my baking supplies, mind you - but she was quite close to blowing up my whole home.”

“At least you managed to save it?”

“Oh yes, I caught her before she actually put the pie in the oven, when the concoction would have caught fire and potentially incinerated her.”

“Lucky,” Pike says, the grin back on her face.

“Indeed,” Allura says, a wry smile on her lips.

(she wants to ask why and how and what for and if, but she’s too scared and too much of a coward and imposition is something she’s hyper-aware of right now, and she’s not sure if she can-)

“Would you like to come over for dinner?” Allura asks, and Pike blinks for a moment, wondering if that was her imagination, or if Allura can potentially read minds.

“I-I wouldn’t want to-”

“Well, I wouldn’t want you to eat in Greyskull all by yourself, either,” Allura states plainly.

Pike has never been so happy to have a decision made for her.

“I suppose then, if you don’t think Kima would mind…”

“She won’t,” Allura says, surety bolstering her words. “And she always makes enough for a battalion. You might as well come and save us from needing to keep leftovers or throwing out the extras.”

Pike opens her mouth, closes it, and pushes aside the bead of lingering doubt in her chest by breathing in another lungful of briny sea air.

“I’d be happy to join you,” she says instead, then takes a swig from her cup to feel that fortifying burn course through her. “Though I suppose we should save the rest of the bottle for her? Just to be fair?”

Allura grins. “If she drank that whole third of a bottle herself she’d be well on her way to being completely sloshed.”

“Ah, three sheets to the wind?” Pike asks, the phrase coming to her from the deep recesses of her memory.

When Allura looks intrigued and mildly confused, however, she clarifies.

“A sailor’s term,” she says, gesturing to one of the nearby boats, though none are quite as large as the Broken Howl was. “When someone started losing their sea legs after one too many drinks they tended to behave much like the sails with a strong wind behind them.”

Allura laughs, loud and clear. “Three sheets to the wind sounds like an apt turn-of-phrase,” she agrees, raising her glass.

Pike toasts with her and they both down the remainder of their whiskey together.

“I think it’s been enough time - shall we check in with Kima?” Allura asks, though she doesn’t make an effort to pick herself up off the dock.

Pike looks out at the waves, the water, the sky, the stars, and then turns back to the arcanist, holding out her empty glass.

Allura takes it and uses Prestidigitation to clear the last couple of drops of whiskey from the inside of both glasses, then stores them away in what Pike is sure is a bag of holding.

“No time like the present,” Pike says, getting up, and Allura smiles, picking herself up and dusting herself off with the highest decorum

“Then let’s be on our way,” Allura says, corking the bottle of whiskey and storing it away as well. “The sooner we can get back, the sooner we can all be drunk together.”

“Well said,” Pike says with a nod, walking in step with Allura as they start to head back through the rebuilding city, masked by dusk, to the temple district. It's there where Kima and Allura are renting a house that’s abandoned, but still standing, a couple streets down from the temple of Sarenrae.

Just before they step out of view of the pier, Pike has a thought and she turns back, imagining her friends on a ship, their first night at sea (at least, most of them).

“Fair winds and a following sea to you,” she says, and Sarenrae willing her quiet words will carry however far Vox Machina has already travelled.

And, content for the moment, Pike nods and turns back to follow Allura, warmth buzzing through her veins and a pleasant hum lingering in her mind.