#spoilers Mighty Nein

[somewhatsentientspellbook]

somewhere in zadash's premium smut shop:

meanwhile, caleb celebrating fjorester's engagement in nicodranas:

[otterlyart]

Live from London: Mighty Nien and Mighty Fine

[offbrandtoaster]

I love how Essek was originally perceived as the Nein's Allura, but watching him with Bell's Hells really shows he wasn't. He served a very different role in the Nein's chemistry.

But the Hells? He's 100% their Allura. Serves as a source of wisdom, had his own previous life as an adventurer, exasperated by but also enchanted by the bumblefucks he never intended to get involved with. I love seeing him in this role.

[kroovv]

Essek my beloved ✨

[realtalk127]

one day, almost a decade ago, the m9 - specifically jester - wouldn't take no for an answer when befriending a guy who turned out to be a traitor.

now, laudna gets a second chance at a happy ending, and it’s all because a little blue tiefling said ‘i want a hug’ to a war criminal and turned him into her friend.

i will never get over jester's impact as a character. she loves essek into redemption. she loves artagan into being a god. she loves the mighty nein into becoming a family.

it's the Being Saved by the Love of Your Friends show, and she's the star.

caduceus said ‘it’s love that saves people’ but it’s jester who did it.

[tasteoftaldorei]

How a few bad rolls in C2E56 may have resulted in the Mighty Nein's recommendation from the Bright Queen in C3E105:

When the Mighty Nein meet with the Bright Queen for the first time, Nott rolls a Nat 1 on a deception roll.

Nott uses her Fragment of Possibility to reroll, and fails again. Jester also fails her deception roll.

The Bright Queen recognizes that Nott used a Fragment of Possibility:

Then Lythir reveals that M9 attacked him in the Ashkeeper Peaks in C2E51. After Fjord's failed persuasion roll, the Bright Queen orders for their arrest. You can see that Caleb forgets how to breathe for a bit.

As guards begin to arrest them, Caleb walks to Jester's bag and pulls out the Beacon. Gods, I love the look on Matt's face in this moment:

The Bright Queen is lost for words, and the Mighty Nein are immediately released.

7 years later, the Mighty Nein are recommended by the Bright Queen herself to assist Bells Hells in the attack on Ruidus.

All because of Caleb "I can't go back to jail" Widogast.

[aleph-sharp]

Just did some math that gives an Interesting perspective on all the main CR campaigns so far:

By the time VM hit ep 100, they've been together roughly 3 years.

By the time MN hit ep 100, they've been together roughly 9 months.

By the time BH hit ep 100, they've been together roughly 3 months.

[littlefanthings]

When Fjord loses his powers and the first thing Caleb does is give him the fire glove and then the rest of the Nein start giving him weapons and shields and Travis (bc I’m pretty sure this is really Travis’s reaction and not Fjord) just goes “Oh no” and is clearly about to cry because friendship it just makes my heart very happy

[scattergoriesofevil]

I am 100% convinced the Bright Queen knows exactly where Essek lives. I assume she’s quite furious, at times irrationally so. But I also feel once she becomes aware he’s Caleb’s partner, it really changes the strategic calculus and she calls off the assassins.

She owes Caleb a great debt and respects what the M9 have done for the Dynasty. It’s entirely in the Dynasty’s best interest to watch from a safe distance while Caleb and Beau continue to hunt down corruption in the Empire. Wildemount is a better place for having the M9 around to reunite occasionally to fight something no one else could. They are a real asset as things currently stand. She is not interested in becoming their enemy. She could easily have thrown them into the dungeons when she met them. The power dynamic’s really changed since then. They’re incredibly powerful, and they have allies.

There’s no way she doesn’t have people scrying on the M9 occasionally for general situational awareness. Knowing what the M9 are up to is important, especially in times of chaos. Caleb and Beau’s ongoing business is definitely of international interest. They’re more discrete than the others, but not flawlessly discrete.

The rest of the M9 have zero discretion. Caleb tries so hard early on. “Where’s Essek? Is he coming with you?” “I have no idea what Essek is up to,” stern look, sounds aloof, changes the subject. It’s a lost cause. The M9 keep using their secret wizard’s real name in open conversation, no matter what disguise he wears in public. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who Seth is.

Most importantly, the Bright Queen is damn near immortal. She can afford to play a very long game, even longer than most elves. As long as Essek keeps his distance from the Dynasty’s affairs, he is safe as long as the rest of the M9 are alive. After that she has a wealth of time at her disposal to reassess.

TLDR The Mighty Nein are incapable of keeping their second wizard a secret, and the Bright Queen is no fool. In this essay I will

[heart-heart-heart]

From the Cooldown for Campaign 3 episode 104 'The Cradle's Convocation': Possibility for the cast to play as Vox Machina and Mighty Nein in episodes of Campaign 3.

[sky-scribbles]

Caduceus's vision at the end of his origins comic contains nine butterflies: one for every member of the Mighty Nein, counting himself and Essek.

Not only that: there's the purple and red one, representing Molly. And then... the colours don't come through so well in this picture, but there are two blue ones (Beau and Jester). Two are green and yellow (Fjord and Nott/Veth). One is silvery-blue and white (Yasha). One is orange (Caleb). One is lavender and white (Essek). And one is pinkish and green (Cad himself).

At the loneliest time of his life, the Wildmother promised Caduceus every last member of his second family, and showed him that he wouldn't just be visited by them. He'd be one of them.

[sivsii]

can i get an amen

[counterspelling]

[undead-knick-knack]

Not the dick drawings 😭

[drawsmaddy]

Silly little post-Echoes Of The Solstice comic, I like to think Essek was oblivious to the entire evil-wizard-making-threats-on-his-life situation

[ID in ALT text]

[sparring-spirals]

if im understanding the sequence of events correctly, cognouza successfully escaping the fall of aeor and surviving only to eventually get destroyed by the mighty nein is. sorry to say. kind of hilarious to me.

like. you flee the city as it is destroyed by the literal gods, like Actual Fucking Gods Meteor Storm-ing it up, you manage to escape with your skin intact, you float in the astral sea as a flesh city, but you survive, for a long time.

and then some idiots with a bright pink haversack and a dream (threatening) come in and beat you with the power of friendship and a manifestation of a huge egg dick. can you imagine. you survive the gods and then the mighty nein kill you. they fell ass over teakettle out of a huge tree. twice. they went to a fancy party and one of them spent the whole night high as balls and they still uncovered a huge spying plot that altered the course of a war. they tried and failed to do three-way rock paper scissors. twice. you were a part of aeor and escaped its downfall and survived the wrath of the gods and the betrayal of the betrayal gods and its aftermath. unfortunately the mighty nein had a friend who they miss dearly and some people they care about in a place you were threatening so. you know. game over.