#with PROFESSOR SUMAL

[fear-ne]

no no no you don’t understand. there is just something about ashton “i punch things for money” greymoore (who has been reduced by circumstance into being a tool for brutality, who has LITERAL stone hands and a glass hammer and a hardened heart, who is the product of years of cycles of violence) taking a look at other people and being ineffably gentle with them

[crystal-lillies]

Am I the only one who thinks that with the vague senses and feelings in the vision Liliana shared with Imogen that it's a shared hivemind thought put together by Ludinus and Otohan, or something?

It just seems like the woman who told Imogen to run far away and the one who's drunk the Kool-Aid have two different vibes and it smells awfully like mind magic.

[kerosene-in-a-blender]

With the party and Ludinus both in Aeor, and Ludinus making the opinions and lives of Aeorians relevant by showing the party Aeorian security footage, I'm reminded of something he told to FCG back at the Malleus Key in episode 51: "You? You are not given life by any god, but by the hands of mortal creators like us." Ludinus at that time could not understand why someone who doesn't owe their existence to the gods in any way would fight for them or worship them; he finds no value in the gods and cannot understand why someone else would. And this lack of ability to understand any perspectives that fall outside his own in a constant theme in his actions and rhetoric.

Ludinus' notes that Team Wildmount found in Moleasmyr included massive sections of him picking apart what he saw as inconsistencies and fallacies in the rituals and practices of worship; he saw no value or reason in worshiping beings who he believed had abandoned the world and could not understand how these practices might be meaningful to others. He never moved on from the trauma he experienced as a child at the end of the Calamity in world ravaged and then, he believes, abandoned by the gods; he doesn't understand that the world by and large is moving forward and rebuilding with the Calamity a distant memory. He encouraged Imogen and Fearne to follow the pull of Ruidus to the Malleus Key before the Solstice apparently genuinely; he didn't understand that his actions against the Grim Verity, including destroying the mind of Professor Kadija Sumal in front of them, had already soured them to his cause. His speech at the Malleus Key had him positioning himself as a great liberator who was going to free the world from the shackles of an oppressive force; he has no comprehension that this might be a biased view of the gods rather than the objective reality. He is insisting now to Bells Hells that they need not be enemies, that they can still join him; he doesn't understand that they are so committed to opposing him because they've seen the ruin he's left in his wake in his single-minded bid to destroy the gods.

Ludinus Da'leth is, objectively, a very smart and driven man, he has to be, to have built up his plans for as long as he has. But he is remarkably narrow-minded, especially, it seems, when it comes to the topic of the gods. Any perspectives that don't fit with his own are either flat-out wrong, or misguided and in need of being given more information. He is SO convinced that he's right that he believes everyone will see him as right if given enough time and evidence, regardless of how negatively his actions might have effected a given individual. He is so stuck in his own perspective and trauma and that he has zero ability to understand the perspectives (and traumas) of others.

[revvethasmythh]

Have you witnessed discoursing about Orym in the past several months? Would you like to be more well-informed about the subject matter? Well, then, do I have a post for you! As a reference for myself and potentially for others:

A Comprehensive Write-Up Of Relevant Times And Contexts Where Orym Has Brought Up His Dead Family While The Group Discusses The Vanguard/Predathos--With Receipts

Disclaimer: these are all of the instances in which I was able to find independently through the Critical Role transcript search, not from rewatching everything. It is therefore possible there are some instances unaccounted for.

Episode 34. Post-resurrection after being killed by Otohan Thull, he brings up the fact that Otohan had a hand in killing his family to emphasize to Imogen how dangerous Otohan is and that she may potentially continue to be an issue for her specifically due to her apparent interest in Imogen (exalting her during the battle in the previous episode)

2. Episode 46. An early God Talk™️, prompted by Ludinus using (presumably) Feeblemind on Professor Kadija Sumal. He holds his opinion until the very end of the conversation, after entertaining Imogen's idea that "they make some good points" and listening to the group discuss if the gods are good or bad for several minutes.

"I don't need to debate it. I lost my husband and father to these people, I'm not on board. Some of the gods are terrifying, and some of them have put their thumbs on the scales for people for centuries, even in the last few decades. Who are they, who are we to decide who lives or dies, god or mortal or otherwise? I don't think they have any good points."

3. Episode 49. He brings them up combatively ("Well, Imogen, I wish. my family didn't have to die for their brighter tomorrow"), against Imogen's statement of, "What if it's not that bad? [...] What if what we're doing is just fighting change?" after she solely received a vision of a Utopia-like future from her mother. Imogen backs down quickly after his reproach and acknowledges that the vision was likely a part of cult brainwashing.

4. Episode 61. Orym pulls Prism aside, after she asks the party and Elder Abbadina if Predathos would cause a world-ending event, or if it would only be bad for some (the Elder did not know anything about Predathos at all), to say, "I don't think we know anything [...] The only thing I have to go on is the track record of the guys trying to bring Predathos out. And that track record is not very good." At further prompting from Prism about if he ever thought the Vanguard's ideas were right, he says, "Prism, I don't understand the gods. I don't know anything about the titans. I don't know an eidolon from eyeliner. [...] But I'm a widower, because of the people who want to bring this about. So it's hard for me to wrangle with the other side."

5. Episode 61, pt. 2. Orym listens to the party converse with Elder Abbadina for a little while longer before silently sneaking out "to go think about his dead father and his dead husband."

6. Episode 77. Another God Talk™️ with the whole party, prompted by FCG asking what everyone's motive was in going to the moon. For his reasoning, he says, "We don't know what's going to happen to any inch of this world if Predathos is unleashed. Yeah, this started with my husband and my father. It's so much bigger than that. If my life can secure the lives of everyone who comes after us, well spent."

7. Episode 92. After the death of another loved one to Otohan Thull, in response to Liliana's statement that temples might hunt down Ruidusborn in the theoretical event that Ludinus' plot is foiled, "Cold comfort for my family in the ground."

8. Episode 92, pt. 2. In response to a throwaway, thoughtless comment Ashton made that, "I hope [Liliana] is right. I really do. I hope her ends are fucking great because these means are just not forgivable." Orym has Chetney bring out Otohan's sword, jams one into the sand and declares, "This is the sword that killed my father and my husband. She is not right."

UPDATE: 8/14/24

9. Episode 102, during the confrontation with Ludinus. Interjected during the ongoing conversation, specifically during some bantering between Chetney and Ludinus as to the last time they met (when Chetney attacked him as a werewolf). He says, "You put a hit on my family, a successful one, fuck you. Fuck you." Ludinus later apologizes for the deaths of his family, claiming Otohan was "overzealous in her methods." Both Imogen and Laudna respond immediately that he was responsible for Otohan's actions.

10. Episode 103, during yet another God Conversation. Orym tries to redirect conversation about Ludinus and the gods, stating that they are different topics. Ashton concurs, and Imogen states that she agrees with Orym that Ludinus doesn't get to decide for everyone. Dorian then interjects, "But the gods do?" Which prompts Orym's blunt response to him specifically that, "If Ludinus had sent people to your home, and taken brother and your father and countless others, how philosophical would you be about it, Dorian?"

-

So, with all of the information in front of us, what conclusions can we draw from them? When asked by others to assess if the Vanguard has valid points, Orym repeatedly abstains from having an opinion. Whether or not the Vanguard has a reason to be upset is irrelevant to him--what is relevant is the loss of life they have incurred along the way. Orym takes no stance on the gods, he repeatedly states he doesn't understand them or know anything about them or harbor much of a connection to them. As far as he is concerned, his role in this is to oppose the violence being done to the people of Exandria. Why waste your time debating the merits of a cult's ideology when you know, in the end, you will have to fight against them to end the slaughter? To protect people?

And for what it's worth, in almost every instance, Ashton has effectively taken the same side as Orym. I have not included all of these moments, but they are easily located if you wanted to search up these moments on your own. The continual focus on de-legitimizing Orym's opinion seems strongly tied to the fact that he has a personal reason to hate the Vanguard. But facts being facts, Ashton hates them just the same--and he has no love of the gods, either. He hates the Vanguard based on their actions, same as Orym. In fact, Ashton and Laudna have both expressed outright dislike for the gods, and all other Bells Hells except for FCG expressed ambivalence. This is not about the gods. Not for Orym, not for the others who remain. This is about no more bodies on the pyre of Ludinus' machinations.

P.S. if you know of any other instances this topic has come up that I have not included, please feel free to let me know! I want this post to be as comprehensive as it can be, but I am fallible and may have missed something. Don't be afraid to tell me about a scene I missed!

[masterqwertster]

Adding a little to the "Liliana you had Choices to go home, you just didn't take them" arguments:

Liliana was with the Grim Verity first.

You know, the friendly researchers who Ludinus was having hunted down so they couldn't learn the truths about Ruidus and the Ruidusborn because that knowledge might allow them to ruin his plans. The researchers who did not want to push into dangerous, shaky territory with those powers.

Hondir, the goblin Verity guy working with Ollie and Birdie, said he last saw Liliana 12 years before Bells Hells. And Professor Kadija Sumal said Liliana came to the Grim Verity research project 10-ish years ago. That is at least half of the time Liliana was gone. That is a decade where only Liliana's own travel choices kept her from backtracking to Gelvaan to check on her family. Only her own determination to have answers kept her away.

Because you can't convince me that the Grim Verity, who was being cautious of what they were prodding, wouldn't allow Liliana to walk away to see her family. They let others back out when they became uncomfortable with the research. They let her walk away with Otohan, after all.

[cassafrasscr]

Hear me out. Orym absolutely has a type, and it’s himbos.

For the sake of clarity: Himbo = big, strong, kind, and dumb as a post. 😂

To be clear, I know Orym’s INT stat is nothing worth writing home about at 13. He’s technically above the civilian NPC average of 10, but he only gets a +1 modifier. HOWEVER... when you compare Orym to the rest of his friends, he's consistently among the smartest in terms of stats. He's literally tied with MISTER for the highest INT in the Crown Keepers, lol.

Will - Granted, we don't really know very much about what Will was like, but we can extrapolate based on a few crucial details. Will trained in swordsmanship with Orym, and they were in the Tempest Blades together - meaning Will's class was probably Fighter (maybe multi-classed with Druid, but definitely at least a Fighter). If that's the case, INT was probably his dump stat.

Will was half-elven, so probably tall (not that the bar is very high for Orym at 3'3"... literally).

He probably also had decent strength. Especially if he was anything like Derrig, who had a STR stat of 18.

Dorian - Sweet, gentle, and charming. Tall (around 6 feet), with surprisingly high STR for a primary spellcaster (College of Swords Bard, baby!)

Not unintelligent per se (he's technically above the civilian average of 10), but not especially bright by PC standards. Has an INT stat of 12, which is 1 less than Orym’s. Definitely at least an Honorary Himbo, if not a True Himbo. Plus, his brother Cyrus is definitely a himbo, so clearly it runs in the family.

Ashton - I think most people wouldn't classify Ashton as a true himbo, and I am inclined to agree. Himbos are typically nice to people, and Ashton is not particularly nice before you get to know them. That said, Ashton is kind, particularly to people in unfortunate circumstances ("Never steal copper", how gentle they were with Professor Sumal after Ludinus scrambled her brain, etc.)

As Orym said to Ashton in e79: "Despite your stony exterior, you have a soft heart."

Ashton stands at 5'10" in his regular form, and just shy of 8' in his newly revealed Titan form, so he ranges from tall to Xtra Tall. And as a Barbarian, STR is naturally their best stat. Ashton actually has pretty decent intelligence for a Barbarian, with an INT stat of 12 (same as Dorian), but it is also still lower than Orym’s by 1.

Dariax - I'll be honest, Dariax is really only here because Orym once confessed to checking out his butt and liking what he saw, lol.

ANYWAY, Dariax has peak Himbo Energy TM. He's a little chaotic, sure, but Dariax is friendly, affectionate, and surprisingly charming. His STR is actually decent for a Sorceror at 14. Plus, with an INT of 8 and a WIS of 9, he is officially in Dumb-as-a-Bag-of-Hair territory, lol. Dariax isn't super tall, being a Dwarf, but Dwarves are still taller than Halflings by around a foot on average.

So yeah. Orym likes men, and he likes them tall, strong, nice, and none too bright. 😂

[non-binary-smurf-nerd]

Re-watching c3E45 and I really liked how gentle Ashton was with Professor Sumal, capable of kindness to strangers like when you find someone who's really drunk and you help them get to a taxi or back to their friend group.

I also like to think a big "oh" moment for Ashton (other than the mutual pick-pocketing) was landing in the Feywild and looking at Fearne's creepier exaggerated features going "oh she's actually pretty fucking goth, always wanted me a big titty goth girlfriend...wait...what? Oh. Oh fuck no. I like her more!"

Finally, Matt said welcome home to Fearne, and Fearne said she can feel the happy warmth and touched her chest and Laudna attemted to feel for it too goes so well with Laudna deciding that love was warm in c3e78 🥰

[piratespencil]

Ashton being so gentle with Professor Sumal... ;_; I love how soft Ashton can be at times, and I feel like there was also an element of "I've been there, too"...

Ashton post-fall almost definitely had memory issues and his "what do you remember? it's ok if you don't remember" really hit...

[lunarrolls]

37. feeblemind with ashton and orym?

this prompt then proceeded to haunt me for an entire twenty four hours. i wanted to write some good ol’ mindfuckery, but my instinctual need to make the scenarios of these prompts make sense simply could not fucking justify a feeblemind being thrown at either of these guys. if you REEEALLY want that mindfuckery, masterqwertster wrote an ashton feeblemind/greater restoration ficlet on this same prompt list! HOWEVER. i did write something. i’m stretching the list a bit here, but i had the idea after hours of puzzling and i HAD to get it down. SO. hopefully this is a suitable replacement!

•

Feeblemind is an eighth-level enchantment spell on the bard, druid, warlock, and wizard spell lists.

You blast the mind of a creature that you can see within range, attempting to shatter its intellect and personality. The target takes 4d6 psychic damage and must make an Intelligence saving throw.

On a failed save, the creature’s Intelligence and Charisma scores become 1. The creature can’t cast spells, activate magic items, understand language, or communicate in any intelligible way. The creature can, however, identify its friends, follow them, and even protect them.

At the end of every 30 days, the creature can repeat its saving throw against this spell. If it succeeds on its saving throw, the spell ends. The spell can also be ended by Greater Restoration, Heal, or Wish.

•

“Do you ever think about that professor?”

Orym starts a little at the question. It’s been a quiet watch, nothing much going on tonight, and for the most part him and Ashton have been content to simply sit in comfortable silence while the rest of their friends sleep. The sudden inquiry comes out of nowhere, and Orym has to think for a second to answer it.

“Yeah, I do,” Orym says. “The lady in Yios?”

Ashton nods. Orym notices that they won’t meet his eyes—their gemstone gaze stares off intently into the distance. “Kadija. Kadija Sumal, that was her name.”

He trails off into silence, obviously working at whatever he really wants to say. Ashton’s jaw always tightens when he’s got something to say but isn’t sure whether to say it. Orym’s noticed that he usually errs on the side of silence if interrupted, deeming the sentiment pointless after a moment, so he waits quietly for his friend to chase the threads that tangle behind the glass encasing his opalescent mind.

“She—she was ruined, Orym,” Ashton says.

Orym is caught slightly off-guard by the tightness of their words, mirroring their jaw—it’s uncharacteristic of them to be openly bothered by someone they’d only met once.

“Ludinus just—“

They make a grandiose hand gesture.

“I dunno. He just—he just waltzed in there and—and broke her like it was fucking nothing, Orym. She didn’t do anything.” They blow out a breath and roll their shoulders, staring down at the ground with a familiar angry expression. “I’m not making any goddamn sense. Whatever. She just—she’s just on my mind, is all. Random thought.”

Orym sits for a moment, tilting his head and trying to recall exactly what had happened at the Seminary. Ashton had vanished for a while, off on some random mission with an acquaintance from a million years ago (which, honestly, Orym was surprised that hadn’t happened more often given the sheer amount of random and strange people Ashton seemed to know all across Exandria), and then reappeared on the steps. Together with Chetney, they’d blackmailed the lady at the front desk and threatened her with a ladle (which was very funny, honestly, Orym had been a little sad that the Crown Keepers hadn’t seen how he’d handled that, he had a feeling they’d approve), and then ventured up to the classrooms only to find Imogen, Laudna, F.C.G., and Fearne crowded into a small office room, surrounded by a chaotic mess of fluttering papers. Orym had immediately thrown himself into searching for clues, making sure Ludinus wasn’t coming back (though, at the time, none of them had any goddamn idea who that asshole was).

But he remembered Ashton’s impromptu interview of the professor. The blankness of her stare. The childlike placidness she displayed, sitting alone and small in that room.

Ashton had offered her water, asked her what her name was, been gentle and even kind to her. Orym’d almost never seen them like that—even when they were at their softest, admitting affection for Chetney and F.C.G. on the deck of the Silver Sun, he’d never seen them act that way any other time. Even though the professor’s name hadn’t stuck in his mind the way it clearly had Ashton’s, he remembered the moment very clearly.

“Are you worried about her?” Orym asks, attempting to mirror Ashton’s distant stare into the middle distance. “Or… something else?”

“No, no, not worried about her,” Ashton says. “That fuckin’ place was absolutely crawling with mages. She’s probably fine now. Just—I hate Ludinus for that.”

Orym swallows his own white-hot rage at the mention of the name. He feels his expression harden.

“She was just a teacher,” Ashton says. Orym sees their fists clench out of the corner of his eye. “And he shattered her. Completely robbed her. She didn’t even have a way of fighting back, didn’t fucking threaten him or anything. She was just briefly in his way.”

Another pause. Orym hears Ashton shift across from him, curling in on themself, a hand on their hammer.

“We only got away from the Key at all because of Keyleth,” Ashton says bluntly, “because of that asshole buff lady and the fucking wizard guy who knew about my head. If they hadn’t been attracting his eye, who the fuck knows where we’d be now. You saw how he broke them too.”

And, oh, did Orym see it. He sees it every time he closes his eyelids, every time he gets too comfortable.

“We can’t ignore this,” Ashton continues. “But I—ugh. Fuck. I don’t know.”

“You don’t want to be broken again,” Orym says softly.

“No,” Ashton replies, finally glancing down at him, “I don’t want you all to be broken. And he can just fucking shatter us like fucking eggshells.”

Orym considers this. Lets it wash over his skin like an ice bath. Breathes deeply. Ashton’s right on some level. Some rational, horribly pragmatic level. Ashton is often right on that horrible, annoying level. It’s one of their strong suits.

Orym can’t fish up the right words to comfort his friend because, well, for all he pretends to just be the muscle of the group, Ash is surprisingly insightful. He doesn’t like to be lied to. So Orym won’t try. He would hate being lied to, in Ashton’s place.

“You’re right,” Orym says simply, almost absently, “we’re fucked.”

Ashton nods bitterly. “Fucked.”

“But,” Orym continues, gesturing out to their sleeping friends, “they’re strong. They’re stronger than us. If we’re shattered, like Sumal, I think they’ll pick up the pieces. I know they will. Who knows what happens after that, but they’re strong, at least.”

Ashton sighs and shifts again, curling tighter, his glassy eye poking just above the ridge of his kneecap. “…right. Right. They’re the best of us. I’m just—worried, I guess.”

“Too much time to think, huh?” Orym teases, his gaze sliding over to them directly.

“It’s a dangerous fucking pastime,” Ashton quips. “Nothing good comes of it. No idea how you or Chetney stand it.”

“Did you just imply that Chetney thinks? As a pastime?”

“Oh, fuck off. If you tell him any of this, I swear—“

[c-kiddo]

oh wow i love the brief description of the reilora that professor sumal gave. .and ik it doesnt entirely fit but all i can picture them as is like lightning sprites.. they look like this in my brain from now on

[Image ID: two photos of red lightning ‘sprites’ very high in the dark night sky. the lightning branches down with a flame shape on the top. the first photo is farther away and the second photo is different and zoomed in. end ID]

[blazingstar24]

Lowkey wondering if the reason why Ludinus went so hard to get the book from Professor Sumal is because he’s highly aware that the other two, Otohan and the Unseelie, are planning on backstabbing him.

He’s not a fool. He’s got to be used to things like this from being in the CA. He probably survived so many coworker betrayals. Ludinus had to have anticipated this. For one, he’s not Ruidusborn so his standing in this group is already shaky. But what would be interesting is if even despite that, he’s actually not lying about being able to speak with Predathos. He was able to tell the level of difference in connection between Fearne and Imogen. So he has something that helps him be in tune with it all. Which personally my theory is he has a Reilora trapped in the necklace he wears.

But this is the first time we’ve seen him make such a big play. And he’s already saying that he’s moving up his plans sooner than he’d like. So I wonder if he has some other back up plan ready for the event that Otohan and the Unseelie backstab him and getting the book is part of it. Because with the book, he has the lost lore and the list of the Ruidusborn. That’s bargaining power for any backstabs but also that’s stuff he can use for his own goals.

Because we know that the Ruby Vanguard wants to unleash Predathos to kill the gods, but is that what Otohan and the Unseelie want? The Unseelie wouldn’t really give a fuck about what happened during the Calamity. They were safe on another plane. Otohan hasn’t expressed anything but a sense of superiority in being Ruidusborn. It seems like the plan of killing the gods is more Ludinus’s goal than those two. I would bet their goal is more to bind Ruidus to all the planes so the power gained from it will increase. And make more Ruidusborn

There’s a big possibility that Ludinus’s goals are not aligned with the other two’s and that’s why they are trying to remove him. But what if he’s already removed himself. What if the first failed attempt with the Moontide crown had him already making a secondary plan? He’s smart enough to see that if it was so easy to halt their plans just by stealing one object, then this plan is already on hinging on nothing going wrong.

So what I’m thinking is what if his true plan is to tether Predathos’s power to himself? Because if say he’s already been able to bind a Reilora to himself, he could feasibly be able to bind a bunch more to himself to gain power on par with a true Ruidusborn. Because the one lets him see how potent the seed is in another. What could gaining more do? And the book he stole specifically had the list of the other Ruidusborn.

Now how is he able to do this? Well Ludinus also was studying the Beacons. A artifact that is all about preserving the essence of another and putting that in something else. Is dunamis truly the only thing Ludinus learned from the beacon research? Or has he figured out how they are able to store a soul and redistribute?

What if the reason why Ludinus is letting Otohan build her army of Ruidusborn is because he wants there to be a stockpile of tethers he’s going to snatch? That’s why he invited Imogen to the North, fully knowing she wants to stop them. He doesn’t care. As long as hoards of Ruidusborn show up there on the Solstice, he’s going to get his power, either through the god eater itself or by taking everyone else’s.

The ultimate false prophet

[captainsspnanon]

C3E45 reaction

No comments in regards to the dnd drama at large.  I have mixed thoughts, mixed thoughts in regards to CR’s statement, and just everything.

How was this episode only three and half hours, I feel like we got so MUCH!!

I have speculation - the first of which is I wonder if Sam out of game spoke to the group between last session and this and said that he really wanted FCG to have a chance to meet with the professor.  It’s quite possible that this was just the roleplay, but it did change between last episode seeming like they clearly were not stopping for it, with the change to definitely stopping for it this time.  Possibly same with Laura re: Imogen and Kadijah Sumal - but that one feels more like just roleplay initiative as I know Laura’s aware of the time she’s had in the spotlight and I can’t see her pushing for another section while she’s still in the thick of it.

The second speculation is I’m 95% sure that Matt ran a one on one for Taliesin, at least on some level.  Maybe not a full session, but there had to have been some back and forth and rolls involved in that.  It SOUNDS like how a fast paced one on one could go, but it also sounds like a combination of Taliesin and Matt’s ideas, so I’m not 100% sure.

Speaking of: Ashton’s absence.  I’m really glad that it got brought into the narrative the way that it did, it gave Taliesin some information that the party didn’t have (or at least tied him into aspects of it) allowing him to feel like he was being helpful even if Ashton was absent.   Also, Taliesin’s masterful having Ashton approach in disguise, pulling one on the players instead of the PCs.  I’m not sure how much they bought into it, but it seemed like at least a few of them were seriously wondering if he brought a new PC.

Not too much new for FCG but a nice confirmation of what they already knew, plus the addition that their model was designed for caring and guiding.  Love how Sam is playing into the indecision and the fear/stress that FCG has about having to determine their own path rather than just having it stated for them.  Matt’s NPC?  AMAZING.  GLORIOUS.  I LOVE EVERY SECOND OF IT.  Don’t remember the name at all, Indvol?  WHO KNOWS.  I hope he’s a reoccurring NPC though.  In my mind, THIS is the Victor/Zorth/Orly of C3.  This is the first time the voice has cut through so much of the table!

Also - easy bake oven.  what the fuck sam, also this is amazing, but also what the fuck.

AND THEN FUCKING LUDINUS DA’LETH WITH IMOGEN AND FEARNE OH FUCK OH FUCK OH FUCK

One - Khadijah Sumal = fantastic, love her.  The quiet paranoia played perfectly, but sadly not paying off.  Ludinus coming in is one of the events which I wonder if Matt had on a timeline.  If the party hadn’t stopped by Khadijah’s today, would Ludinus still have gotten the papers now and hit her with the spell?  I suspect so, this seems like a somewhat fixed timeline - whenever the party got to Yios, that’s when Ludinus would be there, if they interacted with Khadijah or not.

I don’t remember Ludinus too much from C2, but I vaguely remember him being more genial?  Maybe that was just because he was in the Empire at the time, and was dealing with Cobalt!Beau and Empire!Caleb (and CharmingConfusingPutsYouOffBalance!Jester).  I’m only starting e66 on my rewatch, so I feel like I’ve got a decent bit of episodes before they have their next/first real interaction with Ludinus.

FEYWILD FEYWILD YES YES YES YES

Possible controversial comment!  My C2 rewatch has only shown to me how much more alive the locations and settings for C2 felt versus the ones for C3 (for me).  They felt much more varied and rich and lived in, whereas I’ve struggled with the feeling of that for C3.  I think the Heartmore Hamlet felt fleshed out, as well as Bassuras, but a lot of the more landscapy areas (the journey to and from the Heartmore, the travel over the Wilds in the airship) have felt more generic or rushed, like this campaign is much less about travel and exploration than C2 and a lot more of Big Storyline.  But the Feywild completely felt alive and living and rich and detailed.  I have two theories as to why.  One - Matt not only gave a description of the area, but immediately had the opportunity to have a location interaction with the players (the flowers and the trees).  I’m finding that similar to some of the C2 descriptions, where the locations will be described and then a much smaller tighter aspect will be interacted with.  That’s both on Matt and on the players, if that’s what’s causing it.  The other theory (and this is super controversial I know) is that I know Matt has had several co-creators for Marquet, and likely several cultural consultants.  I wonder if this means that when he is describing a location, he feels more pressured to really describe how it is on the sheet (so opening with a very long detailed description that while fun ends up getting lost quickly) and maybe a bit more reluctant to improv areas or descriptions of it.

NANA MORRI.  I love her and watching Ashley be so thoroughly delighted by every aspect of the Feywild and her home and her grandmother is the BEST.  Not a hag though!  Or at least not one that I’m familiar with!

[crystal-lillies]

Also like, next time the Bells Hells gang has a moment of like oh what have the gods ever done for us, what good are they??

Well gee, without godly power y'all wouldn't have gotten Laudna back with Pike (or anyone) so there's one, Chetney receiving spiritual aid from the Wildmother in his werewolf form, Orym "the gods are watching!!" getting a special blessing from the Wildmother as well, and that's just off the top of my head from the point where I started watching the campaign.

Ashton and Orym laying down the hard truths always are amazing but if they stopped to think at the very least like, without divine power, Laudna would have stayed dead, that's gotta mean something in the favor of the gods to them right?

Just rewatching the Monster Werewolf Chetney fight again and the Resurrection of Laudna again makes me feel like, huh did y'all forget that??? 🤣 even if it was months irl time those are some pretty big moments

And yeah context and emotional tensions running high. It's just. Djdkgd I want to cradle their heads gently and softly shake them while calmly explaining that selfish beings everyone godly or mortal may be, they have definitely all benefitted and would be unwise to forget that.

But then also yes, the actual Predathos psychic magic cult gang are just people doing awful things to other people and are being shitty in general and that's more than enough of a reason to stop them. And Otohan literally killed half of them gleefully with no remorse. And Ludinus is a bastard they saw feeblemind an already terrified Professor Sumal before their eyes.

[shadowwolf146]

Awww Ashton is so soft! Such a teddy bear with Professor Sumal. 🥺🥺🥺🥺

[terresdebrume]

Abruptly realizing that despite Marquet's inspiration being like. The Middle East, Khadija Sumal and professor Isham are the only Middle Eastern names i remember hearing in this campaign so far?

Which is like. A missed opportunity i think :/

[c-estmabiologie]

tidal (my own hell to raise) | Critical Role fic

I wanted to read pre-canon rarepair fic of Liliana and Otohan as Grim Verity research subjects and it didn't exist so I here I am, writing it for myself before CR3 makes it to Yios and messes up my headcanon

Also on AO3

When Liliana was bored with her studies, which was more often than not lately, she’d tilt her face upward and look at the ceiling. The ceilings back home had been nothing to look at, all wood beams and plaster, dust and the odd cobweb, but whoever had built the Aydinlan Seminary had clearly cared about what the ceilings should look like. She could spend what felt like hours (but was probably minutes) looking for a mistake in the symmetry, a tile that didn’t fit just right, and never finding one. Sometimes she gave a tile an exploratory telekinetic prod, like maybe she could wiggle it out of its mortar like a loose tooth. She never had any luck, but she didn’t press it too hard, either. There was some small fear — that she’d be guilty of ruining something beautiful — that held her back.

Yios, with all of its precise architecture and tesselating tilework, could trick you into believing in impossible geometries. Walls met the floors neatly but could fool you into seeing otherwise; archways and alcoves that you could see in your peripheral vision would disappear into walls as you turned your head. Everything was immaculately constructed. It made Liliana feel messy. 

She was used to this feeling of not fitting neatly. At the same time, she’d never stood out. She would never say she’d been sheltered, exactly, but the city she’d grown up in had been crowded enough to swallow her up and make her faceless no matter that no one else seemed to have her abilities. More than making her feel special, the invitation to the seminary had made her feel like she was meant for something that only few people — people like her! — could be meant for. She’d felt then like a single door had been opened and she expected that more would open soon, automatic and in sequence. She’d never have to think about the future.

Her neck was starting to hurt.

She looked back down at the work laid out in front of her and realized that ink was smeared up her hand to her wrist.

She didn’t love everything about the seminary. For one, looking inward and trying to match her feelings against the charted paths of celestial bodies didn’t come naturally. She’d start a note and regret it as soon as the ink wicked into the parchment. She’d write something vulnerable and cross the line out as soon as she pictured someone else reading it, or else she’d write what she thought she should be feeling and the dishonesty would make her feel queasy. She’d let her words crawl all over each other and around the scratched-out bits, resisting the urge to start a new page unless the current one had truly become illegible.

Next to her, Otohan wrote like their journal could become a technical manual. 

It was just a funny coincidence that she and Oto had proven themselves early to be exemplary. Nevermind that the only things they had in common were a shared room, a shared dream, and some uncanny talents. Even the research team seemed to see them as a set: Oto and Lili. Lili and Oto.

They were interesting to the researchers because in practice they were opposites: Oto was all concussive power and quick, martial cunning. Professor Sumal claimed that the aim of Otohan’s training was to hone control, but Liliana could see that for all of their brutality, nothing Otohan did was the slightest bit uncontrolled. If they were instructed to strike a target and the wall behind it cracked open too, it certainly wasn’t unintentional.

Lili, on the other hand, was a psionic scalpel: precise and unerring in this one way only. Without even having to think about it. 

She really should be writing some of this down.

Another blob of ink escaped her pen and Liliana felt a new pang of guilt. Surely Professor Sumal would hire a scribe to transform her notes into something useful. She put her head down on the desk and listened to the methodical scratch of Oto’s writing, letting her mind drift to other things. The sun through the window made her scalp sweat, but she wasn’t about to move now that she’d given up on the assignment.

“What are you thinking about?”

Oto had closed their notebook but marked their place with a thumb tucked between the pages. Lili snorted into her elbow.

“You’re asking?”

They’d been boarding together for nearly a year, and boundaries had been an issue from the start (meaning that Otohan just didn’t have any). They did not read thoughts gently, and Liliana had had to accept that that was just what they were like. Oto liked conversations to be honest and unyielding and like any other thing that happens enough, the blunt force of their telepathy had eventually become familiar. Still, it was nice to see them make an effort for once.

Oto’s smile was wry. 

“Do you want me to pry it out of you?”

Liliana hated what her heart did when Otohan said things like that. 

“Of course not, it’s just really not that interesting,” she folded down the corner of the page she’d destroyed with her journaling. 

It was an open challenge. Of course, it was taken up immediately. 

She could feel Otohan pushing into her head like clumsy fingers. She bit back the urge to ask them to slow down. (Some things were just too much to ask.) Besides, she wasn’t immune to how greedy Oto was to know her; she just wouldn’t let them in so easily. Instead, she laid bare the most mundane thoughts she could summon: the texture of the bread she’d eaten earlier, the sound of Otohan’s soft snores sawing through the shadows at night, the bland but not unpleasant date she’d gone on with some visiting farmhand last week. 

Oto’s smile evaporated. 

“Don’t be boring.”

“Serves you right for poking around where you shouldn’t,” Liliana laughed. 

“I’m serious.” Their tone pulled Liliana upright. More than serious: Oto was clearly pissed.

“What, did you tell him that you’re a student here?”

Oh. The date. 

She’d told him she was a research assistant, actually. If she were being completely honest, she’d panicked when he’d asked her what had brought her to Yios, and she was doing research, sort of. In the moment she’d cast about for a better story, one that would make her seem charming and maybe a little mysterious, but all she could hear was every conversation at every other table in the tavern. Students bemoaned flawed theorems, incomplete datasets, and deadlines and professors haggled with each other for resources. She might have been able to parrot their conversations convincingly enough, but she’d found the idea exhausting and not especially compelling for a first date. 

Instead she’d smiled prettily and rolled her eyes and said “Oh, you know” and then she'd asked him to talk about himself. She hadn’t gone on many dates back home because she’d hated small talk, and she’d hated the uncertainty of talking about herself more. As a city of scholarship, most of the people to meet in Yios weren’t actually from Yios. It made conversations easier because everyone was eager to share their story. Her date wasn’t any exception. He was in Yios to study almanac forecasting. She’d let him describe advances in predicting weather and planting seasons using celestial events, how he’d bring this knowledge back home, for over an hour. She'd nodded and mm-hmmed in all of the right places. The way his voice rose and fell in a pattern of passion had blended seamlessly with the music of the other conversations around them.

She’d listened, absorbed in a way that had reinforced for her just how completely naive she was to his world and how she’d never make a real effort to become a part of it. Still, it had been nice.

“It was just a date.” And dates were fun, normal, a little awkward, and something she planned on doing again. 

“I just don’t get why you’re bothering,” Otohan sneered (gods they were actually sneering over the idea of a date). “You, of all people. It’s not like after this is all over you’re going to go settle down with someone and raise a family.”

That stung. Oto had no right to say that. They had no way of knowing because Lili hardly knew what lay ahead. She hadn’t thought about leaving Yios one day with someone; she’d barely even thought about leaving Yios at all except to figure that it would have to happen eventually. That next door hadn’t opened yet. 

Tension stretched between them like a tether. Liliana got the feeling that if she said something now it might snap and hurt one, if not both, of them. Neither was in the other’s head anymore. Oto’s expression had shuttered and she had no interest in rapping on the window of whatever thoughts they might be sheltering.

“Nevermind,” they said finally, scraping their chair back from the table. “I’m late for my meeting anyway.”

Liliana didn’t stop them; it would have been pointless to try and continue the conversation. Better to let them simmer on their feelings and to come to a better place on their own. Maybe they’d even open up to the alchemy students they’d been meeting up with lately. She was grateful that Oto finally seemed to be making friends that weren't her.

Lili caught the brittle sound of something cracking underfoot. The sound didn’t stop Otohan from leaving, if they’d even heard it at all.

On the ground was a perfect pentagonal tile, broken neatly in half. It must have fallen recently, maybe even while they’d been talking, but surely if that were the case they should have heard the sound of it letting go and crashing to the floor.

When she looked up she couldn’t pick out the imperfection that the fallen tile must have left behind.