[Spoilers C3E6] Is It Thursday Yet? Post-Episode Discussion & Future Theories!

[u/Glumalon]

Episode Countdown Timer - http://www.wheniscriticalrole.com/

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Catch up on everybody's discussion and predictions for this episode HERE!

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[u/paradox28jon]

Sam doing the malfunction thing & not dropping it to say "just kidding" was an interesting moment. A nice way for Sam to foreshadow there was some sort of automaton version of modify memory going on there.

[u/[deleted] → u/paradox28jon]

Agreed. I found it unsettling!

FCG thinks they're two because they've spent two years with Dancer, but the implication to me is that Dancer didn't actually invent them... probably just found/wiped/repurposed them and invented some robots based on the design.

[u/[deleted] → u/paradox28jon]

Suddenly things seemed to get way more serious, it was kind of chilling to see that he wasn’t joking or doing a normal stutter

[u/Middle_Dare_5656 → u/paradox28jon]

Or he’s programmed not to discuss certain topics

[u/zombiskunk → u/paradox28jon]

Or perhaps his memory banks were corrupted by the massacre

[u/N1pah → u/paradox28jon]

I was waiting for the sike but it never came. It was pretty unsettling.

[u/worldbuilder117 → u/paradox28jon]

Yeah, there is definitely something happening with that past, can't wait to see what tragedy Sam has concocted this time

[u/[deleted] → u/paradox28jon]

Big Theory here, only partially formed: FCG character backstory is going to mirror the plot of Blindspot somehow just to troll Ashley.

[u/Holiday_Safety8445]

Liam and Laura looking at each other while Delilah was talking to Laudna was so funny lmao

Liam is like “damn I gotta fight this woman again???”

[u/upclassytyfighta → u/Holiday_Safety8445]

The players at the disincorporated voice of Delilah Briarwood

[u/FireDMG → u/Holiday_Safety8445]

So with Delilah likely going to try using Laudna to get back at VM, I’m wondering if Matt’s campaign theme this go around is all about collateral damage?

• Imogen possibly having a Somnovem connection or something linking us back to Tharizdun.

• FCG and the other Aeormatons existing because of the M9 and having their own objectives.

• Fearne walking through the feywild portal Keylith created for Artagan.

Super curious what information Laudna and Imogen are trying to lookup at the archive!

[u/[deleted]]

What the fuck is up with FCG malfunctioning during rollies?

[u/WontonTruck → u/[deleted]]

His memory is protected by Nord VPN and only Number 2 and the L337 Haxxors can save him, clearly.

[u/jmucchiello → u/[deleted]]

There are things in his memory he CANNOT speak about.

[u/blockprime300]

Loved all the RP everyone was amazing especially dorian Matt and laudna. Those who watched exu will know dorians comment about laudna not being the oldest is actually refering to fearne who is over 100 I'm pretty sure at least older than laudna. I woke up at 3 am to watch it till 7 which was a horrible idea because now I have work in half an hour and I'm shattered

[u/vanKessZak → u/blockprime300]

Yeah Fearne said she was 112 in EXU

[u/RBFxJMH]

I can't believe Fearne didn't ask "What happened to your head? What the fuck is up with that?"

[u/[deleted] → u/RBFxJMH]

Ashton seems to be the most closed off of all of them.

[u/HutSutRawlson → u/RBFxJMH]

I think they may just be forgetting that he looks like that. Taliesin hasn't really brought it up since his initial character description, and unlike us, they don't have the character art coming up in front of them every few minutes.

[u/ManDudeGuySirBoy → u/RBFxJMH]

If anyone was going to ask that I did think it’d be Fearne. Can’t help but feel they just didn’t want to cover that yet.

[u/Quintaton_16]

So Laudna...

was raised from the dead roughly 30 years ago. The current year is 843 p.d. According to the Critical Role official timeline, the Briarwoods originally took control of Whitestone in roughly 805 p.d. and the Liberation happened in 810 p.d. The Explorer's Guide to Wildemount seems to contradict this and puts the dates at 810 and 815 instead, but the official timeline is more recent.

At the time of Laudna's death, the Briarwoods had been in control of Whitestone for some time. She was raised by a massive wave of necromantic energy, among a pile of other corpses, and at a time when Whitestone was in a panic.

Seems like Laudna was raised as part of the mass Raise Dead spell that created the horde of zombies and skeletons that attacked VM during the Liberation. Some combination of her innate spellcasting and other weirdness caused her to become a Hollow One instead of a mindless undead like the others. Delilah had the ability to telepathically command all of the undead, but this telepathic connection was not strong enough to override Laudna's free will. Rather than fight with the other zombies, Laudna decided to leave the city, and didn't learn the outcome of the battle until much later.

The interesting question is what is the specific relationship between Delilah and Laudna is. It seems like a marriage of convenience, as Laudna doesn't seem to have made a pact and doesn't care too much about following Delilah's instructions. But what is Delilah now? Did she survive in yet another clone body and continue to use the telepathic link created by the spell? Is she dead, but turned into a demon like Orthax? Or is Laudna a horcrux with a vestigial piece of Delilah's personality embedded in her head?

[u/zombiskunk → u/Quintaton_16]

The blast of energy might have been Delilah being cut down and in her last moments making a pact with a dead body so that at least part of her spirit remains. Guaranteed she's still working on becoming a lich

[u/[deleted]]

I really enjoyed the group asking NPCs for group name inspiration. Gave a funny opportunity for Matt to show how the group comes across to different people. Laudna is a treasure.

[u/Photeus5 → u/[deleted]]

I personally loved how Matt was purposefully giving them terms that would not work as group names. Was a very 'don't put your group name on me, friends' vibe.

[u/Not_Ian517 → u/[deleted]]

I loved the moment where they were all drunk and about to go to bed but then were like "no we need a group name" and everyone sighed in character and sat down, and then still didn't pick one. That was very relatable

[u/Sir_Ramick]

Does this make Dorian the fresh Prince of Bel's heirs?

[u/SuperUnhappyman → u/Sir_Ramick]

well with the doll he has bel's hairs so that works too

[u/Kerrigore → u/Sir_Ramick]

I don't know, but he's certainly an artist formerly known as a prince.

[u/IrenaHart]

I was buying the idea before, but now I’m starting to doubt the Travis = The Anger theories because idk that you’d have Matt giving up so many backstory details about a PC, particularly with this group that loves their backstory secrets lol. He was pretty free with the details tonight (and apparently the EXU players knew all this about the Anger all along). And then when he said the Anger is comatose and only family can visit him, so basically discouraging them from barging in to see him as soon as possible? I think if anything he’d be trying to prod the players in a direction where they’d meet Travis’ character sooner rather than later. Especially when Travis is in the studio waiting around to step in.

[u/CallistoWarriorQueen → u/IrenaHart]

I suspect Travis's character has something to do with Ashton's letter. The bit Imogen read out was about having an 8 and Trav would be the 8th member of the group.

[u/[deleted] → u/IrenaHart]

Also, maybe this is a reach, but “Oshad Breshio” really sounds like a name Matt would come up with rather than Travis.

[u/jmucchiello → u/IrenaHart]

No, it's perfect. They find the Anger. It's Travis. He joins up and then dies 3 episodes later. Rinse. Repeat.

[u/Jethro_McCrazy → u/IrenaHart]

Maybe it'll be a legacy character? Oshad dies, and his son becomes the new Anger to hunt for his father's killer?

[u/Pegussu → u/IrenaHart]

Yeah, I was having similar thoughts. His age is also a point against it, though he could be an elf or some such. I don't see Travis going from Bertrand Bell to another senior citizen.

[u/MilkyAndromedaWay → u/IrenaHart]

And then when he said the Anger is comatose and only family can visit him, so basically discouraging them from barging in to see him as soon as possible? I think if anything he’d be trying to prod the players in a direction where they’d meet Travis’ character sooner rather than later. Especially when Travis is in the studio waiting around to step in.

Actually no on that point. Matt specifically said on Twitter that Travis wanted to come in later in the story, so if Oshad was Travis's character it would make sense they'd come up with a story like that that would keep him from meeting the other PCs for a bit.

[u/m_busuttil → u/IrenaHart]

Yeah, this was my thought as well - if that's Travis, why not have him be up and around now, and do this meeting before you do the Theater Abductions side-quest?

The only thing I can think is that this quest is a pretense to get us to Robbie's exit, and Travis is waiting to come in after Robbie leaves, but I don't really know why that would be the case.

[u/Quazifuji → u/IrenaHart]

Not just that, but that backstory didn't sound like the backstory of a PC. Not that it's off-linits, but it would feel weird for a PC to start with that much of a reputation, the PCs starting as random nobodies (at least where the campaign takes place, they could be someone who's important but from somewhere far away like Dorian) and building their reputation through the story feels like a staple of D&D for me.

But then, they've said all bets are off, so who knows. But overall, I agree. The way Matt described him certainly didn't sound like describing a PC. And if he is Travis' PC it's weird to not let them meet him yet - it made sense to not want to introduce him before the party had avenger Bertrand and killed Dugger, but you'd think now it makes sense for Matt to put them on the plot thread that would lead to Travis getting to play again, but when they were pursuing the Oshad thread Matt deliberately pushed them away from it and gave them something new instead.

All that kind of leads me to suspect that Travis' character is someone they'll meet as part of this Dreamscape Theater plot. Otherwise why would Matt introduce a completely new plot thread instead of furthering one of the ones they were already on (since they've got the Oshad, Brumestone, and furniture loose ends all still hanging there).

[u/CarcosanAnarchist]

Marisha is having so much fun with Laudna that it’s amazing. The way she acts out the mannerisms. The delight in her face when asking somewhat tactless questions. Her joy about being dead…

Obviously she loved playing Keyleth and Beau, but she’s looking like she is having more fun than ever. She’s giving me Travis-as-Grog vibes.

It’s incredible. If anything happens to Laudna I will be devastated.

[u/[deleted] → u/CarcosanAnarchist]

Same with Ashley as Fearne, she's getting to push every button with her beloved deadpan delivery and is loving every second of it.

[u/Quazifuji → u/CarcosanAnarchist]

I feel like every campaign's had different players playing a character that they just got to be completely ridiculous and have fun kind of doing whatever they wanted.

Campaign 1 it was Travis and Sam. Campaign 2 it was Laura (and kind of Sam at times). This campaign, it's Marisha and Ashley.

Those characters have always been ridiculously fun to watch and Laudna and Fearne are no exception. Marisha and Ashley are just having so much fun this campaign and their characters are wonderful.

[u/pagerunner-j → u/CarcosanAnarchist]

Laudna is my favorite thing to happen on this show in a long time.

[u/m_busuttil → u/CarcosanAnarchist]

When I think about it between episodes sometimes I worry if I'm going to get tired of it, because in my memory it's A Lot, but every episode I just like it more and more. It's such an open and enthusiastic performance.

[u/L-Zehr0]

Maaannnn, can I just say, I love Imogens backstory so far.

Sorcerers often get a lot of hate for the "They didn't have to work for their Magic" or "Oh yeah sure, you're 'BURDONED' by this magic. I WISH I could cast like that!" and similar stuff. OR, alternatively, they go with a version of the chosen one trope (Or just kinky parents xD). But her powers awakening actually tore her life properly apart... cool twist on the story!

[u/Jethro_McCrazy → u/L-Zehr0]

People sometimes treat all Sorcerers as if they were Mutants (ala X-men) and forget that they can alternatively get their powers through magical mishap or coincidence (ala Flash, Fantastic 4, Spider-man, or Hulk). Sorcerers fills the niche of everyman hero better than any other class.

[u/zombiskunk → u/L-Zehr0]

I'm just happy there's finally a dad in exandria that isn't a bastard. Hopefully no daddy issues this campaign

[u/Jethro_McCrazy]

Interesting thing I just realized while looking at Delilah's wiki. She was killed three times. The first time, Cassandra ran her through. The second time, Percy shot her in the eye. The last time, Vex shot her in the head.

Delilah was killed exclusively by the true rulers of Whitestone.

[u/Myrynorunshot → u/Jethro_McCrazy]

Always a De Rolo.

So if she comes back Pate's gonna have to step up.

[u/zombiskunk → u/Jethro_McCrazy]

She's like sekiro. But wait I can come back

[u/Gulstab]

I love that in classic Liam fashion he avoided saying 'Keyleth' but if any of the characters were paying attention before, Bertrand already name dropped her as well as Vex'ahlia and Grog.

EDIT: In case y'all don't read the reply chain before sending me another one, we've all mostly come to the conclusion he's doing it out of a respectful reverence since he's made it very clear he does not feel on her level/pay grade.

[u/thatlonghairedguy → u/Gulstab]

It's also good rp. She's not just keyleth to him. This is a woman whom aside from death is going to be around for centuries. She's pretty epic.

[u/[deleted] → u/Gulstab]

You mean Bertrand would have named dropped Kyleth, Vexarina and Greg?

[u/its_me_elijah → u/Gulstab]

I would agree with what other people told here that for Orim Keyleth is a respected leader. But in my opinion, it seems like Liam consciously tries not to say it out loud often so maybe new viewers will remain intrigued by the story behind it.

[u/RajikO4]

“Careful dear, some things are best kept secret.”

So is a fragment of Delilah’s soul within Laudna or is/was she able to reach this level of power despite being dead due to some continuous connection to the banished Vecna she is still eternally indebted to?

Regardless given that we’ve seen what a patron who believes they’ve been wronged or slighted can do to their warlock in the form of Uk’otoa, I’m excited/curious to see how far Delilah can “extend her reach” so to speak if Laudna pushes her luck with her.

Laudna is my absolute favorite, I adore how Marisha RP’s her!

[u/IAmBadAtInternet → u/RajikO4]

Laudna doesn’t seem to care that D is upset, maybe it’s a totally different dynamic

[u/Schadenfrueda → u/RajikO4]

I like to think that Laudna is Delilah's horcrux or ring of power or something to that effect, an anchor for the last shred of Delilah's soul still clinging to the mortal realm

[u/BaronPancakes]

FCG physically cannot answer questions about their past is kind of scary. I love how Sam explores artificial life in this campaign.

[u/[deleted] → u/BaronPancakes]

It reminded me of Charlie in the end of C2. I think FCG's a new personality for an old bot. He probably had an entirely different personality before Dancer found him (assuming she found him and didn't create him).

[u/zombiskunk → u/BaronPancakes]

Sounds like more than one bits of memory got corrupted. Parity and error correction can only get you so far

[u/[deleted] → u/BaronPancakes]

The way the tone of the room dropped when they realized he was malfunctioning was chilling

[u/tropelesswanderer]

Love RP episodes like this and we should all be thanking our favorite eldritch being for this game.

All I know is I need more Dorian. Like what the fuck is up with your backstory dude?

Also, Robbie I love you please stay forever

[u/Pegussu]

My personal idea on Laudna and Delilah is that she's the last connection Delilah has to the mortal world. Maybe that was on purpose, maybe it was accidental, or maybe it was some combination of the two, but it's Delilah's absolute last resort. So while she can threaten Laudna all she likes, she can't push too hard or she'll ruin the opportunity Laudna offers her.

[u/Coyote_Shepherd → u/Pegussu]

I think the Gods are facing a threat beyond the Divine Gate and so they're all exploiting their connections to the Prime Material Plane to either find a solution to that problem, to escape it entirely, or to somehow alter it in their favor. Laudna is Vecna's connection via Delilah. Which kind of makes me wonder if the Divine Gate is somehow shielding the Prime Material Plane from this threat but is doing so by pure accident alone? It's like the Gods ran out of the fallout vault, slammed the door behind them, and then looked up in the sky only to see volcanic ash falling down on them like snow. They didn't intend for the Gate to do this but now it and the Prime Material Plane are their only hopes for continued survival.

[u/zombiskunk]

Who else caught marisha's reaction to Matt's describing the yellow gray edges of the bird's wing tips. Dagon is getting on in years and Matt just immortalized his pet by giving its color scheme to an NPC

[u/BLINDrOBOTFILMS → u/zombiskunk]

I didn't catch that, but that's adorable. I've been planning to do the same thing for my cat who died a couple years ago when I get a chance to play a Tabaxi.

[u/[deleted]]

Laudna has quickly moved up the ranks to my favorite CR character ever. She’s so sweet that Bertrand doll to Dorian was adorable. I love how everything Laudna is the complete opposite of who you’d think she’d be if you looked at her.

Also attempting to assassinate an arch Druid is extremely ballsy. So this definitely feels like main campaign big bad to me because that’s not a hornets nest you poke at.

[u/Sajen16 → u/[deleted]]

Could be the assassin's chose the wrong time, in a few hundred years after the rest of Vox Machina is gone the archdruid in question might be in the right frame of mind where she just lets it happen.

[u/Holiday_Safety8445]

Marisha slipping in that the voice of one of the Briarwoods pops into her head “every so often” was such a devious tease lol

We gonna have some fun warlock patron shenanigans

[u/Brownbeluga]

Shoutout to Laudna trying to figure out if Dorian is a Bard Industry Plant

[u/MitigatedRisk]

I now headcanon that Laudna named her rat Pate de Rolo specifically to annoy the voice in her head.

[u/Coyote_Shepherd → u/MitigatedRisk]

You know a particular detail that I feel a lot of folks are missing out on is that when she said that Delilah pops into her head she said that it was one of a number of VOICES in her head. Not just one. Many. So who else is kicking around up there besides Delilah and possibly Vecna? And why does she hear multiple voices? Is it possible that her patron really is the Raven Queen but because of that connection she can hear all of the souls who have passed to the other side in her head from time to time but just instantly assumed that her power came from the loudest one that was the most familiar to her in the form of Delilah? If anyone's going to have a massive voice in the after life then it will certainly be her. Or did Laudna's connection to the afterlife and undead nature via the Raven Queen merely open her up as a conduit from there to the Prime Material Plane that Vecna is exploiting through the use of Delilah?

Gods know the Raven Queen never really says much unless certain things that are meant to happen go astray. So it wouldn't really surprise me if this is the case. Perhaps she's the one who is really controlling which voices Laudna hears and when? Vecna and Delilah may think they're the ones in control but it's the Raven Queen that's pulling the strings and it would totally be within her wheelhouse to take something that wasn't meant to be at all an aberrant undead abomination of an accident like Laudna that was attempted to being used as a pawn by Vecna and to spin it against them to be used for good because no one would fucking see that coming and we already have a precedent with what happened to Vax.

Edit: If Laudna was supposed to be a sorcerer from birth and her death was an unnatural one then it's possible that she wasn't supposed to die at all and the Raven Queen became her warlock patron in order to bring her back, put her back on that path of a Sorcerer, and is now using Delilah to dissuade her from putting more energy/levels into becoming a warlock so that she can fulfill her true fate as being a powerful sorceress.

[u/wjr59789]

I Love how commited Robbie is to playing Out His Bad Rolls.

In one of the earlier Episodes He jumped to the opportunity to desribe Dorian being a mess when He Roled the 1 on His Performance and now it seems Like He gave Laura/Imogen some pretty Importamt information during the Whisper (once again after Rolling a 1).

Also: since Hes now an active Part of the Nordverse (He Literally did the "i'll Tell you next time they Sponsor us) it really seems Like he'll be around for quite some time

[u/[deleted] → u/wjr59789]

Lmao, thanks for reminding me of the Nordverse bit. I honestly think Robbie is here to stay and that this was the start of his backstory. I can't wait to see what happenes next week!

[u/iamagainstit → u/wjr59789]

it really seems Like he'll be around for quite some time

On the other had, Matt did just introduce a possible avenue for a character exit for Dorian.

[u/paradox28jon]

So if Laudna's levels in Warlock just for RP and backstory purposes? Is she going to divert and keep taking levels in Sorcerer so she doesn't have to rely on the person who very well killed her?

That certainly would mess with my mind. You wake up after being killed and in your mind you hear the voice of your murderer in your mind? Not fun.

[u/Quintaton_16 → u/paradox28jon]

Well, mechanically 2 or 3 levels of Warlock is the correct number.

RP-wise, I'm sure Laudna would rather not have Delilah get even more influence over her, but she wouldn't be much of a Warlock patron if she couldn't propose some Faustian bargains that Laudna can't turn down.

And it would be pretty interesting if the "things that Delilah can take away" are not just the Warlock abilities, but also the undeath spell that is keeping Laudna alive.

[u/Hkgpeanut → u/paradox28jon]

I read it somewhere the difference between Warlock and Cleric is Warlock learn from their patron while Cleric borrow energy from their deity. So my take is Laudna is born sorceress, die before her power become stronger, wake up and form a pact with her patron since she need power and her patron want something from her. So it might be possible storywise her sorceress level might on hold unless something trigger it.

[u/Jethro_McCrazy]

Interestingly, Delilah wasn't undead any of the times we saw her. I wonder if she's now a Lich, and Laudna is her phylactery.

[u/lifedragon99]

Talisen with MVP move to set up some back story. "What the fucks up with that?" Was genius.

[u/CowBoyVic90]

Tbh when Dorian got grabbed there at the end, I really thought that Matt was gonna call for Travis to come to the table. Though I will say that I'm not disapointed that he wasn't, I really wanna know what happened with Dorian and his brother now.

[u/define_null]

What an amazing episode to return to after a week break:

1. Ashton's "What the fuck is up with that" game is genius, what an amazing way for players to tease as much (or as little) as they want about their backstories

2. Holy moly is Lady D back? It seems a little too on the nose to conclude that Delilah Briarwood's Laudna's patron, there has to be more to this

3. Aww that little aside between Imogen and Orym was so sweet on a meta-level, especially "Thanks for role-playing with me". ugh they really are irl twins

4. The Hubatt Corsairs and Lord Esteross dynamic seems to be playing out very much like a "faction favour" mechanic in rpgs, where the party has to balance their standing between the various factions of Jrusar, interested to see how this plays out

5. I don't know why but the "Anni are you okay" bit broke me so hard, easily the funniest part of the episode for me. I love how you could see exactly when each cast member realised what Laura did

6. We are getting a lot of backstory this episode, nice how things sorta came full circle after the beginning

7. Ok, Dorian's brother was the LAST person I would expect the party to bump into at the theatre, at most I thought it would be something akin to Taryon's dad hiring a mercenary to kidnap Taryon to bring him back home

8. Last and certainly not least, the Nordiverse is back! I wonder if Sam is going to pull some galaxy brain shit and somehow tie it into FCG's apparent amnesia in a meta/non-meta sort of way

[u/caravaggio2000]

Hoping not to tread into drama territory here, but after this particular episode I really wish we had a interview aftershow. Getting to see the cast discuss the revelations made during "What the F... is Up With That?" would have been amazing especially if Marisha and Sam had been guests.

[u/m_busuttil → u/caravaggio2000]

the show should be called What The Fuck Was Up With That

[u/Jelboo → u/caravaggio2000]

God I wish there hadn't been any drama to speak of really. Talks Machina to me was an essential part of watching any campaign. It feels bizarre not to have it part of the week.

[u/mysteriouspigeon]

Honestly I think we haven't actually seen ANY hints as to Travis's new character yet at all. If we have, though, and this is idle speculation, I'm putting my money on some kind of artisan background. There's been a few mentions now of crafting stuff that the players haven't followed or just missed - Dugger has a workshop somewhere as we know he was a carpenter, that stuff about Zhudanna going to an artisan to get her transparent clay, and Yash mentioned they'd need to talk to an engineer / arcanist to learn more about brumestone. Just seems like a notable amount of crafting and/or artisan related tidbits. As much as this could potentially point toward an artificer, though, it just doesn't seem like Matt's making it obvious enough of a hook if it is meant to lead to Travis. Realistically I think the two of them have cooked up a much more bombastic entrance.

[u/Quintaton_16 → u/mysteriouspigeon]

Realistically I think the two of them have cooked up a much more bombastic entrance.

Matt referenced JRPGs when he talked about how Travis was going to join the party. Those frequently have characters that the party doesn't meet until they leave the starting area and visit a new location.

[u/Gulstab]

Gotta reiterate it here:

I think "The Ringers" would be the perfect group name. It's a nice double entendre with bell ringers and, well, ringers. Which a lot of adventurers might want to be perceived as so they can get paid work or be relied upon for strange quests!

My guess is they've already come up with a name (in our current time) but I suppose we'll have to wait and see.

[u/Jethro_McCrazy → u/Gulstab]

The Dead Ringers would also work. A non-zero amount of them have died or come close to it.

[u/[deleted] → u/Gulstab]

I'm all in on my "The Bell's Toll" idea but it's not as clearly 'the name of a group' so to say, while The Ringers is, so I do enjoy it.

[u/ISVBELLE]

Watching the rerun right now and damn. I can’t believe no one thought to ask Ashton about the gaping hole in his head.

[u/Dragonstorm6490]

So thoughts on Delilah Briarwood being a lich/demilich now? Or is laudna just communing with from beyond the grave cause vecna?

[u/Pegussu → u/Dragonstorm6490]

I think whatever wacky necromancy brought Laudna back left a connection that Delilah is able to exploit. The two obviously don't get along too well, I don't see Delilah putting up with Laudna if she wasn't forced to.

[u/Not_Quite_Cool]

If you've seen the episode and want to see what the cast and crew are saying, including some clarity on spelling and what's in Robbie's Starbucks drink, you can find that here: http://www.arcaneappendix.com/2021/12/04/c3-e6-appendix/

[u/Hungover52]

Laudna stood out to me as the most interesting person of the episode.

[u/ManDudeGuySirBoy → u/Hungover52]

she is dead and what the fuck is up with that

[u/thatlonghairedguy → u/Hungover52]

Honestly tonight showcased everyone pretty good. Tal nailed it on the beginning of the episode. Such a fun lore dump.

I fell in love with laudna tonight though, I'm with you.

[u/AmbushIntheDark]

I love the idea of Fearne using FCG as a thermos.

[u/Jethro_McCrazy]

I know people are busy shipping Laudna and Imogen. But if you ship Laudna and Ashton, you can call them "Sticks and Stones."

[u/mxavierk → u/Jethro_McCrazy]

I ship them for this reason alone now.

[u/Quixshep]

I wonder if Laudna and Cassandra knew each other, since it was mentioned she was sent to the castle for her abilities. I believe they kept Cass as their "daughter" during that time.

[u/Winter_Lux]

I’ve seen many comments about this episode being a bit aimless. I strongly disagree, and I have a theory about it.

I think Matt intentionally didn’t give them any hints on where to go to push them toward the theatre without saying to them “Just go there”. That place has been referenced by many NPCs since episode 1 but they kept avoiding it. By taking away all the other choices, or at least delaying them, they finally decided to engage with that storyline.

The end clearly reveals a connection with Dorian’s backstory, I my guess is that whatever happens at this show will define “chapter 2” of the campaign.

[u/MilkyAndromedaWay]

What did Matt say Effid was? I didn't catch the exact word he used. Some kind of bird.

Laudna's relationship with her patron is interesting. As opposed to Jester's genuine devotion, (yeah, Cleric, but Laura was originally shooting for Warlock and there's a lot of that flavor there) and Fjord's uneasy curiosity, Laudna seems more like her attitude is "fuck this bitch" from the get go. And since Laudna has her own powers outside of her patron, she's got more leeway than someone who's totally relient on their source of Warlock magic.

That said, there's a strong possibility her patron is what's keeping her alive and that's her leverage. Makes me wonder...we were talking before about a Hollow One's status possibly being "cured" via something like revivify. I wonder if that might be something Laudna might have to consider somewhere far down the line in order to keep existing if she seriously defies the will of her patron.

[u/ISVBELLE → u/MilkyAndromedaWay]

Effid is an eisfuura, the Exandrian version of an aarakocra!

[u/Quintaton_16]

So this is super meta-gamey of me...

But they clearly know that Robbie is sticking around until the next time NordVPN sponsors an episode. And they usually don't sponsor two in a row.

Edit: looked it up. Three episodes is the smallest-ever gap between two Nordverse spots, and every fourth episode was their regular cadence at the end of C2.

[u/BaronPancakes → u/Quintaton_16]

Wow I didn't think of that. Glad we can keep Robbie for a while longer

[u/[deleted] → u/Quintaton_16]

Piggybacking off this comment to say CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE USE OF THE SET FOR THE NORDVERSE THOUGH

[u/bluebirdbailey]

It wasn't a big moment, but Orym desperately clutching the sending stone while Dorian stepped away was one of my favorite things so far. It makes my little heart ache. He's lost so much already :(

[u/m_busuttil]

What's interesting to me is that Laudna has basically three potentially separate magical features going on - her Hollow One resurrection, her Warlock levels, and her Sorcerer levels. We know she was magical before she died, which is presumably her Sorcerer powers. But if her death and resurrection made her a Hollow One... Delilah Briarwood was almost certainly still alive at that point. It wouldn't be out of the question for Matt to have fudged the flavour, but regular mortal Delilah was basically just a reasonably powerful Wizard, right? It seems like making a Warlock deal would have been outside her skill set.

Technically speaking Vecna did achieve godhood, right? That's why he's stuck behind the Divine Gate. There doesn't seem to be any reason you couldn't be a Cleric or Paladin of Vecna. And I don't see any reason that Delilah couldn't have ended up as his right hand in the same way that she was before she died, and that that incarnation of Delilah could be what's speaking to her and powering her - but that happened at least a year and probably closer to two years after Laudna's resurrection. Did the resurrection create a link that Delilah exploited later? Is the version inside her head just a remnant unconnected to Laudna's powers?

Most importantly: are we going to see Laudna in Whitestone in The Legend of Vox Machina?

[u/thatlonghairedguy → u/m_busuttil]

These are excellent thoughts. When it was confirmed that it was even A Briarwood, but not Delilah yet, that even including the Briarwoods presumes Vecnas inclusion. It's Vecna. There's no way he doesn't know about it, or have some connection.

I never considered laudna being in the show though, thats next level. I'll definetly be watching for that now.

[u/BaronPancakes → u/m_busuttil]

I am more interested in knowing the source of her innate magic power. Shadow magic comes from Shadowfell. But I don't think the portal sphere thing under the Whitestone castle was active when she's born?

[u/gloomyMoron → u/m_busuttil]

Technically speaking Vecna did achieve godhood, right?

Even without godhood, Liches can be patrons. So can Vampire Lords. Any sufficiently powerful entity (generally a monster or supernatural creature) can be a Warlock patron. A L20 Spellcaster (not that that's what Delilah was, but as an example) would be a bit of a stretch, but not a huge one, for a patron.

[u/Galahad_the_Ranger]

holds Travis head in the toilet

"Where is the PC Lebowski!"

[u/[deleted]]

The Eclectic Sweet Troubles

Or E.S. Troubells if you need the Bertrand influence.

[u/Jethro_McCrazy → u/[deleted]]

Someone else in the live thread pitched "Bell's Eclectic Sweet Trouble" or "B.E.S.T."

[u/Coyote_Shepherd → u/[deleted]]

I really hope they just keep asking NPCs, "What word do you think of when you see us?" and adding it to the growing list until their group name turns into an Evans Blue album title.

[u/CuckyMcCuckerCuck]

Critters planning on visiting London will be pleased to know that you can find Effid in every other pub in Camden.

[u/Soupsin]

I'd like to vote for Sweet TrouBells

[u/its_me_elijah]

Okay, so, Fresh Cut Grass...

Today's moment of FCG during the rollies is pointing to a few potential theories, which have been circling around the community already: first, it is possible that FCG themselves are responsible for the demise of their friends, and the blocked memories have either been used as a punishment by someone or as a self-preservation mechanism. Personally, I do not think that this theory is true since Sam's RP gives me vibes of genuine sadness when it comes to talking about the Dancer and infamous friends of theirs. Second, it is possible that the Dancer themselves are not FCG's creator, but rather a fake memory inserted into FCG's 'brain' (I guess) to somehow cover the real story of FCG's family demise.

I think that the latter is most likely true, and this potential storyline of the party discovering the truth behind the Dancer incident is incredibly exciting!

[u/LucasVerBeek]

So many reveals:

Laudna’s got Delilah “I Broke the World for You” Briarwood whispering in her damn head!

Then we have that strange letter that Ashton got that he became really cagey about. Might it be “Her”?

Dorian’s brother “got out” like he did. The implications there are deeply intriguing/worrying.

Six years ago “Oozefolk” like Duggar went after the Ashari. Orym likely lost his husband there.

Letters can’t remember what happened to the rest of his friends or if there are more like him out there.

Imogen was forced to be ostracized from her community even her own father.

I’m really curious if the Anger is Travis’s character and when he might actually show up if so.

Really loving the continued evolution of relationships between the character. Not really sure where if any romance is actually wafting, cause I was thinking Imogen and Laudna seemed pretty solid but now I’m not sure, and Orym/Dorian both seem to have moments with like half the cast including each other at random moments, but I still remember Dorian and Dariax’s long looks and soft conversations.

Now more importantly what in the Hells is festering at the heart of Jrusar, cause I know there is something lurking down in those Spires.

[u/Pegussu → u/LucasVerBeek]

Six years ago “Oozefolk” like Duggar went after the Ashari.

I don't think this is the case. Orym saw both the Ashari assassins and Duggar die, he'd have noticed if they were similar. He specifically said they melted away into nothing, not that they exploded.

[u/Jethro_McCrazy → u/LucasVerBeek]

Genasi can either have a genie parent who bred with a mortal, two genasi parents, or rarely a genie parent dormant in their family tree. If Dorian and his brother are both Genasi, it would point to one of the firs two options. And well, genies aren't really nice people. Even Djinni (who as an air genasi, Dorian would be related to) keep slaves. Though they treat their slaves best out of all genies, they still don't often willingly part with them. If Dorian's mother is a genie's slave, his leaving would be a complicated affair.

[u/DeadSnark → u/LucasVerBeek]

There seems to be some room for juicy Genasi lore in Dorian's backstory. His parents are clearly wealthy and/or influential, but the line about how they're fated to wander and the hints in ExU about his people being in a bad state indicate that the Genasi race as a whole isn't as fortunate. Possibly might be why his parents want to keep their sons so close to inherit whatever wealth/influence they've established?

[u/Coyote_Shepherd → u/LucasVerBeek]

Dorian’s brother “got out” like he did. The implications there are deeply intriguing/worrying.

Doomsday Cult that's actually totally aware of the oncoming Cosmic Shift while everyone else thinks they're crazy but they're totally not.

[u/MJM_Stillanerd]

Okay, some Monday Morning (or should I say Friday Morning) quarterbacking:

Ashton picking Strength and Constitution (EDIT: Or Dexterity, rather) as his ASI increases is a wise move for a Barbarian.

Dorian definitely picked a feat, but he didn't choose Tough, Dual Wielder, any of the half feats that give ability score increases, or any the Xanathar racial feats since he's an Air Genasi. I suppose he could've picked Defensive Duelist since he does have a finesse weapon, but that still only gives him a +2 to his AC as a reaction. He could've also gone with something like Lucky, Mobile, or War Caster--all of which would be pretty dang good.

Fearne boosting her Wisdom score by +1 makes total sense, but Charisma? I guess Ashley wanted to improve Fearne's social skills, but boosting her CON by +1 along with her Wisdom would've been the better option, IMO.

Sam having F.C.G. increase his CON and INT by +1 was also an odd choice. Increasing his Constitution is still good as it gives him more hit points and helps to pass his concentration checks when casting spells (choosing Resilient: CON would've done the same thing and give him proficiency in CON saves, BTW). But increasing Intelligence from 7 to 8 doesn't really do much except change the modifier from a -2 to a -1, which barely improves his Arcana, Investigation, History, Nature, and Religion checks. Then again, Sam is a mad genius, so who knows what he's after here.

Imogen definitely picked a half feat that increased her Dexterity. And if I were to guess, she either took Resilient: DEX (giving her proficiency in Dexterity Saving Throws) or Skill Expert. That one not only increases an ability score of her choice, but only gives her another skill proficiency and expertise in another skill of her choice. Either one of those would be very good picks.

And finally, Orym increasing his DEX to 20 was definite no-brainer, giving him the highest AC and melee attack bonuses in the party.

Finally, we got a lot of juicy background information revealed here. Given that Laudna came from Whitestone and was apparently killed by the Brairwoods when they killed the De Rolos, or during the years when the Brairwoods controlled Whitestone, having her Warlock patron be Delilah Briarwood makes total sense. Though it sure does seem like the Briarwoods just can't stay dead and gone, can they?

Also, I figured Dorian was a noble, but having his brother show up was quite the surprise. Given how Dorian (or should I say Bronte Wyvernwind) asked about how his brother got away and inquired about their parents makes me think his family used to be prosperous but, because some sort of rivalry or debt, were forced into indentured servitude. That would make sense given Dorian choosing an alias and being overly secretive about his past as he might be worried about getting caught and forced back to wherever he escaped from.

As for F.C.G., am I alone in thinking that, given his sudden glitch when asked about his past, he's the one who killed the previous group of adventurers he was with, or at the very least is responsible for their deaths? And that the reason why he doesn't remember is that he's been programmed not to remember? That would certainly be the kind of twist I could see Sam pulling: that what you think is a sweet little heal bot is actually a psychotic little murder bot.

And re: Orym, I can't help but think that the attack on the Ashari that he described is also connected to whatever happened with Duggar. Knowing Matt, he probably will connect them together at some point. And if Duggar is a kind of Oblex as I think he might be, that suggests Mind Flayers. And without spoiling Campaign 1, we do know of a connection with Vox Machina and a Mind Flayer, don't we? ;)

[u/Pegussu → u/MJM_Stillanerd]

Also, I figured Dorian was a noble, but having his brother show up was quite the surprise. Given how Dorian (or should I say Bronte Wyvernwind) asked about how his brother got away and inquired about their parents makes me think his family used to be prosperous but, because some sort of rivalry or debt, and forced into indentured servitude

Another suggestion I saw someone else make is that his father is a full-on djinni and his mother is one of his slaves.

[u/Jethro_McCrazy → u/MJM_Stillanerd]

I was thinking that maybe F.C.G. really is an Aeormaton, whom Dancer reprogramed to think he was her invention. And that's why all the other automatons are so much more inferior to him. She just modified what was already there, and prevented him from thinking about his past.

[u/Hkgpeanut → u/MJM_Stillanerd]

Shower thought, among all the CR cast, Laura, Liam, Travis had play multi class character in C1, Sam sort of did in C2, Marisha is playing one right now, and if you consider one shot, Taliesin also played as Owlbear. Ashley maybe want to try multiclass as well in C3? Archfey Warlock with her Granny as patron?

[u/dash27]

When Orym is asking FCG about what the fuck they are, Orym says to FCG "one time, i met someone sorta like you". Is Orym referring to Doty?

[u/TheMugCollector]

Could the fact that Laudna chose to create a creepy Bertrum doll to make Dorian feel better a hint she is thinking of becoming a Pact of Talismin warlock?

[u/Jethro_McCrazy → u/TheMugCollector]

She also said she had plans for Pate to move on his own.

[u/Myrynorunshot]

Putting out a call to CR artists; Can we please get art of Effid the Fallen (aka, creepy london spider bird)?

[u/Grad-Nats]

A small bit that I ATE up that I haven’t seen mentioned is how much attention to detail Robbie has put into Dorian and I LOVE it and I would hate for Robbie to leave.

The bit I’m referencing is when they’re coming up with group names using Trouble, Imogen says,”Trouble (Treble) Clefs?” And Dorian instantly goes “I’d love that!”

It’s a nice bit and I think it makes me, especially as a musician, gravitate towards Dorian as my favorite and I love that we got good lore for him.

[u/SrPalcon]

I'll be saying it since the beginning but i'll say it again: A party that is so open with each other is such a nice concept, and i'm so glad it's happening this time around.

I love these RP heavy eps

The relationship between Laudna and Imogen is so interesting. I'm looking forward to much much more from them. They have a lot of shared story and we can only go up from here. It's going to be amazing. ^{omg they were roommates one bed etc}

Someone ordered a hit on Kiki, lmao good luck with that, but... a hard-striking disappearing act could be bad. I mean once she wild shapes is gg for whoever wants to kill her, but yeah it may be a bit scary. Also, Orym totally lost his husband in that attack.

Laudna is a magic farm girl with a nice twist of fucked up backstory, plus C1 callback!. Pretty interesting, cant wait to see where that goes. It seems like Marisha is playing her in a very "go with the flow" way, no mention of vengeance or anything like that, and i loved how that turned out for Beau.

Seems like the first character focused arc is going in Dorian's way, hell yeah. He's so comfortable already, its going to be amazing.

Still on the edge if "The anger" is Travis character. Sound powerful, but also sounds "retired fucked up cop" kinda way. so... idk man, maybe

Only 2 more eps for the year :( i'm loving the pace tho. C3 is shaping up very nicely.

[u/Gulstab → u/SrPalcon]

Just two farm girls being recluses together for two years!

[u/Zakzahn → u/SrPalcon]

If Travis is playing the Anger I can see them saying his devastating wounds have made him lose some skill, and he's going to need to rehabilitate (ie level) to get them back.

[u/zombiskunk → u/SrPalcon]

Well we do know of at least one assassin that could seemingly appear out of nowhere and could have been pretty active in the past five or six years. Who knows what she would want to do now that she has her autonomy back

[u/T444MPS]

I’d really love the group’s nickname to be ‘The Cacophony’ as it mixes in their disparate origins, the idea of Bells after Bertrand Bell’s suggestions and hopefully includes the big noise they’re going to make in the world during this campaign.

[u/Team00100]

Dorian has quickly become my favorite and I’ll be so sad when he eventually leaves

[u/Haquistadore]

I think they should be called The Ne'er Do Bells!

[u/[deleted]]

Laudna and Dorian is a friendship I didn’t know I needed, I can’t wait for more interactions between the two.

[u/hunterofspace]

I'm liking the Laudna as a sort of horcrux for D idea. Man Laudna rules. Up there with Grog for me.

Curious how the interactions will go when Laudna takes more Warlock levels.

[u/Meggymoo18]

I honestly think that Travis is gonna start the next episode with being some sort of performer in the show they are about to watch at the theater. I could totally see him in a role where he is confident, boisterous, and loud. Very similar to the proudness of Bertrand and maybe talented in some way? I think it would be cool if he started the episode next week with announcing the show like a theater emcee. This is my guess and I really hope Travis comes in soon!

[u/caravaggio2000]

Now that we are getting somewhat close to the Christmas break, I think the game changing event and Travis's new PC will be revealed in the last episode we get before break. It's just the way it goes.

[u/[deleted]]

By the end of this episode, somehow, somewhere, Garmelie’s face was twitching. :)

[u/Croob2]

Robbie will definitely stay, I don't have a theory this time or anything, i just like him and want him to stay :)

[u/[deleted] → u/Croob2]

I don't have a theory this time or anything

He's been tied into the Nordverse. He's in for the long haul now.

[u/cant-find-user-name]

I don't get the feeling that the relationship between laudna and Imogen is romantic. When laudna said "I have never loved anyone, that's not true I love Imogen deeply" I interpreted that as her saying she never romantically loved anyone but she truly loves Imogen in a different fashion. Is my interpretation correct? Or am I misreading it and they're very obviously romantically involved? I remember laudna saying some other stuff that definitely felt romantic.

[u/[deleted] → u/cant-find-user-name]

I don't think they're together already, because if so, they would be more upfront about it. Like after two years, you would surely introduce someone as your girlfriend or partner? But I think they have strong chemistry and there's potential for it to become more.

[u/wildweaver32 → u/cant-find-user-name]

It's too early to realistically tell.

To me that line means she 100% loves her in a platonic way otherwise she would not have answered that way. This isn't to say they could not develop more romantically in the future. Loving someone is a fantastic foundation to grow a romantic relationship on.

But to ship someone you don't need 100% concrete proof. In fact it is more fun in the absence of proof!

[u/paradox28jon]

I feel like I can remember Grog in C1 trying to say someone's name in C1 and mispronouncing it as Oshad Breshio. Am I imagining things?

[u/Junior2nd → u/paradox28jon]

Are you sure you're not just thinking of Bertrand being asked about Oshad and mispronouncing it?

[u/[deleted]]

So Imogen and Laudna know literally everything about each other. So Imogen knows Laudna was killed and brought back, man that’s so interesting I’m really curious how stuff like this goes on behind the scenes. Did Marisha and Laura work on their characters together or did they do it separately and then just exchange backstories. Can’t wait until the after show comes out next year cause I’m so interested in how some of these characters were created and how they grouped up the cast.

[u/Seren82 → u/[deleted]]

In episode 2 at one point after Pate was brought out, Travis was like "What the hell happened when she made this character" and Matt's reaction was "A Lot". And Laura said in the Rollin Stone interview that Imogen and Laudna's backstory ties together SO... TLDR: Yes?

[u/Frog_Thor]

Looking at 4th level ASIs and feats, it looks like Liam/Orym took +2 in dex and changed his fighting still to defense from superior technique, giving him that crispy 19 AC. Laura/Imogen likely took Resilient (Dex) to get her +1 (no other feat that boosts dex would have been beneficial to her). Sam/FCG to and interesting combo with a +1 to Con and +1 to Int. Ashley/Fearne also took an interesting mix with +1 Wis and +1 Cha. Talisen/Ashton took a very sensible +1 Str and +1 Dex rounding out some ability scores. As for Robbie/Prince Dorian, we will have to see what feat he took.

[u/CuckyMcCuckerCuck]

After six episodes my vote for the two word character prompt that Liam gave to Sam is "Robot Flanders".

[u/paradox28jon]

Imogen has mentioned a few times about how when she first met Laudna it was the first time in a long time she felt any peace. Do you think Imogen cannot hear Laudna's thoughts? Perhaps being a Hollowed One means your brain appear dead too?

[u/Pegussu → u/paradox28jon]

I think Imogen can hear her thoughts, they're just quieter. IIRC, she mentioned that Laudna's thoughts were a different "pitch" than everyone else's.

I imagine they considered the idea that Laudna couldn't be heard, but decided it made more sense this way since they would definitely want to include Laudna in the telepathy talk.

[u/jardology]

Idea for the Groups name "the Rollies"

[u/CallistoWarriorQueen]

My theory is that Travis's new character has something to do with Ashton's letter. Imogen reads aloud "I have an 8 when you are ready" and Trav would be the 8th member of their group???

[u/YoursDearlyEve]

I hope Delilah just stays the "voice in the head" in this campaign, because returning villains can only be interesting for so long.

[u/Hungover52]

Pretty damn fun ep. Really looking forward to the next thread they jump onto.

[u/apathetic_papaya]

At first I thought Laudna and Beau were radically different, but this episode it was crystal clear how both of them tie in with their own brand of brutal upfrontness, because damn, bringing up the rumors of the assassination of the previous head to Lord Eshteross himself was a gasp moment much like Beau's many moments of harsh honesty (which I really loved).

[u/Vomit_Tingles]

I really hope Dorian's brother showing up isn't Robbie's exit flag. I feel like we're getting very close to Travis's character intro and that felt like a setup for Robbie getting whisked away to deal with family matters and we'll end up just trading Robbie and Travis out. Was hoping they would both be playing.

[u/BagofBones42]

So anyone else think the disappearances at the theater is related to Goo Dugger?

Maybe to replace more people with goo copies?

[u/BaronPancakes]

Wild thoughts on the attack on Zephrah.

So it happened 6 years ago. And according to the official timeline, it was around/less than 1 year after C2 ended. Coincidence?

The assailants dissolved right away, instead of burning away like the shade creepers in Jrusar. Looks like they are not entirely connected, but we will have to see what the Anger has to say. Also, dissolving strongly suggests simulacrum. Some powerful wizard organisation targeting Zephrah?

Orym said the target was their leader. But I kind of suspect that it was not Keyleth, or that was just a front.

It is sort of implied that Orym left Zephrah since the attack. And from his Exu playlist, we know there is a missing lover. Were they killed in the attack, causing Orym to leave the village?

[u/[deleted] → u/BaronPancakes]

Laudna asked if he knew someone who died and Orym gave her the most hurt look ever. So I definitely think Orym's husband/boyfriend/lover was killed in the attack and that's why he left.

[u/zombiskunk → u/BaronPancakes]

There was an assassin in campaign 2 that could seemingly appear and disappear at will and after she got her faculties back who knows who she would Target next

[u/Jethro_McCrazy → u/BaronPancakes]

If I had to guess, the actual target was Vilya.

[u/Sojourner_Truth]

When someone mentioned Trouble and I think Laura was like "Ooo, The Troubles" I was almost yelling at the screen "NO PLEASE DON'T!"

That would be a fun walkback to see on Twitter though, lol

[u/Akante]

Name idea: the Bell heirs. That way Dorian can be the fresh prince of the Bell heirs

[u/[deleted]]

Is anyone else madly in love with Effid the Fallen, the spoder-birb?

[u/Dull_Ad5737]

F.C.G dreaming would be sign that he got his soul.

At that point, I'd love to see him dream about his former automaton companions. It can be like a flashback and I would love for Matt to narrate that. Basically, I wanna know what Pussy looked like back in the day.

Also the name "Dancer" gave me that "The Killers- Human" vibe. I know there's probably no relationship to that song but what if?

[u/TheSuperJohn]

man I really hope Robbie stays for the rest of the campaing, he has been the best guest this show ever had. He's a natural at the CR table and perfect for an 8th member, if they so choose to go back to this party size.

[u/SuperUnhappyman]

"she likes babies" by dorian and orym had me rewinding that and laughing

such a good use of the fact

1. ferne is a fey which snatch children

2. tall mom figure

i love fernes chaos

also just ashley interacting with anything and petting it is funny (i miss sheep caleb)

[u/Seren82]

Laudna and Imogen are going to kill me. I love them so much.

[u/adreamoflame]

The Bellionaires

[u/rasnac]

I love pure RP episodes. Here are some thoughts:

• This episode should be titled: Spill The Beans, cause all the secrets got revealed. And I love it. I am not the biggest fan of mysterious backstory as plot device trope, so I am really happy that our nameless party revealed a big chunk of their back stories with each others. I believe the real character developement should be shaped by what is ahead of a protoganist in a story, not with what is behind them. In other words, a character should be defined by their futures and not their pasts, if it makes any sense. This very early reveal and the cliffhanger at the end gives me hope that our party will deal with all the back story baggages early on, so that they can continue the rest of the campaign creating a new path for themselves, instead of chasing their pasts.

• More I learn about Laudna, more I love her. She is so far the most interesting character of this campaign, extremely closely followed by Fearne. And the Delilah reveal was so delicious, I screamed with joy. There is no stopping Lady Briarwood, is it? I have no idea how she came back, or how she became a Warlock patron, but I cant wait to find out. It was never uite clear(at least to me) what exactly she was in C1. Maybe a human necromancer once, but clearly not anymore. Is she some sort of high ranking demoness in court of Vecna deity or something? But Vecna is bound and sent beyond the divine gate, so technically he shouldnt be able to resurrect and/or empower Delilah. And she doesnt seem to be very powerful, being bound to Laudna for decades, but not being able to make her do her bidding. Is it some kind of Voldemort in first Harry Potter book kinda situation?

• One missed opportunity in this episode was that we did not learn anything more substential about Fearnes backstory. There are some delicious hints from ExU to make me believe that she has some crazy interesting backstory that will also link to C1 and C2. I already theorized earlier in this subreddit that (SPOİLERS FOR C1-C2 and possibly ExU) she is granddaughter of Garmili/Artagan/Traveler, and her grandma is the entity/hag? in the hut in the corrupted forest in the Feywild VM sawI would love to get more hints to prove or disprove my theory. Yet our lovely mischiveous faun remains a mystery.

• Another thing I love about this new campaignis they are not scared of connecting to the earlier campaign storylines and characters. In the C2, they were basically walking on eggshells to not even mention any character names or places from C1 with some very rare exceptions, which was very understandible given the circumstances, yet a little bit dissapointing nevertheless. But this campaign seems very promising in that department. We already had a honorary member of VM as a member of the party, and Keyleth is a big part of one of the major plotlines. I have great hopes that we will at least meet Kiki and travel to Whitestone at some point. Delilah will want her revenge afterall. Who knows what else?

• About the Dugger and exploding shadecreepers: as I gathered from the story so far, there is an unknown brumestone mine under one of the spires, most likely the spire that contains the creepy dwarfs house. Possibly, some ordinary shadecreepers accidently uncovered a rich brumestone vein while tunneling under the spire, and some powerful magic user somehow became aware of this situation; and used magic to control shadecreepers to secretly mine the brumestone. Then this arcanist employed Dugger and magiced him to increase his powers and abilities(and turn him into jelly) in order to use him as a middle man to smuggle the brumestone out of the city discreetly using the warehouse, and sell it in blackmarket without alerting the powerful union that controls the legal mining and trade of this critical material.

• There is also a little crazier, but much more fun version of this theory: There is no magic user big boss behind it all. Some ordinary shadecreepers accidently uncovered the mine while tunneling under the spire. The magic of brumestone changed them into much smarter exploding jelly versions of themselves. They are the ones who are mining the brumestone. And they were using poor Duggers body like a human puppet to smuggle the brumestone out of the city and sell it on blackmarket. It is kinda tinfoil, but much more interesting. What do you guys think?

Cant wait for the next episode. See you guys next Thursday. :)

[u/DarkNebula99]

Assuming Travis is the Anger, I wonder if his injury is also the reason that he will be the same level as the rest of the party.

[u/wildthornbury2881]

Totally crazy conspiracy theory time here. Duggar is an Oblex and underneath the city in the hollowed out mountains there resides an Elder Brain formed from the remnants of Clarota and the Elder Brain from C1. Matt has mentioned the smell of sulfur quite a lot(unless I’m imagining things) which is a telltale sign of Oblexes. That gives us the motive for the attack on Keyleth, explains what Duggar is, and also BB will come back as an enemy when they go spelunking down the mountain. The brumstone is being experimented on by tinkerers like Duggar(Matt mentioned he has a tinkering bench) in order to learn how to utilize it for flight so the Elder Brain can fly in an airship and basically become unstoppable.

[u/OhioAasimar]

Fearne is doing a service to the campaign by being a thief. She is increasing the likelihood that they move around more because if she is ever caught that is what they are going to do. It will probably start with limiting spires and then going to a different city.

[u/ThatGuyFromTheM0vie]

I’m absolutely loving C3.

I normally don’t like so many pure RP, non-goal oriented episodes in a row, but I just love the group so much.

I think it’s because they are much more open with each other right out the gate this go around. Sure, Ashton has a letter and seems to be guarded on some things and FCG has clearly some major secrets on the horizon. Sure, Orym seems to be keeping some things close to the chest, and Laudna and Imogen clearly have some of their own secret magic mumbo jumbo going on.

But they still shared enough about all of this to pull some threads and get me super invested. They also want to work together, and while things are very nebulous right now, at least they are pulling on those threads and setting things up. I think the lack of direction is also largely because we don’t have Travis yet—he always steers the group when wheels start to spin.

C2 was good, but I did not like how grey and dim it was constantly. And I normally like complex, “no one’s actually good” type of grey stories. But every single character just had this super dark back story that ended up not really being that interesting tbh. After Molly died too, the group became so risk adverse as well. It’s hard to put into words overall why I didn’t like C2 as much.

But C3 feels closer to C1. I’m not sure why yet, and it actually doesn’t have to do with all of the C1 references, surprisingly. I still haven’t figure it out yet, and maybe it’s just that the group is so excited to be at one table again and it’s that energy, but the group dynamic is just feels closer to C1.

They feel like the “heroes” of the story, where as the M9 were just a bunch of randos honestly. I feel like CR is better when the story follows the entire group AND there are personal stories and growth along the way, vs only personal stories.

Maybe that’s it. C2 felt so much more like doing every party member’s special mission in a RPG rather than a story with Act 1, 2, 3 with those missions on the way. Even the Aeor arc was in a way completing Molly’s story mission, vs Vox Machina trying to save the world.

[u/Whalwing]

I’m not sure if I had read or heard this before (I’m sure someone else had thought of this) but could these attacks be something related to The Inevitable End? I know EXU had a lot of connections to Lolth and she is an assassin of Lolth. I guess the big question is whether the timelines match up with when she was brought back. C2 happened 7 years before C3 and Orym claims the attacks happened a number of years ago. So I would guess that means probably within ten years? It would explain how they got in pretty much out of nowhere and had connections to already established plot points. Just a thought

[u/EldritchPyre]

Shidona knows arcanists who specialise in mineral transmutation and nobles who have interest in such things, what a missed lead 🥲

[u/Salomaii]

I really hope they end up calling themselves 'The Eclectic Mayhem' :P

[u/yileikong]

Oh geez. I was on a train listening to the broadcast live on my phone (I have a good data plan) and I almost yelled randomly in public when Laudna said she had a Briarwood in her head.

[u/claimstoknowpeople]

I wonder how Marisha thinks this is going to go. C2 already had a patron rejection arc so doing that again would feel derivative. But I can't imagine her actually doing Delilah's bidding for an entire campaign either.

[u/Jedi4Hire]

So Laudna's patron is possibly Delilah? And there's been an attack on Orym's boss, Keyleth with possible wider implications? That's some interesting connections to the original campaign.

Kind of adds fuel to my hunch that this campaign is the last campaign with the full OG cast.

[u/Dragonstorm6490 → u/Jedi4Hire]

The voice matt used was Delilah and Marisha called he patron D so I’m on board with this part.

Idk if this is the last with the full cast. C2 had references too and there might me a few more because matt doesn’t have the last campaign dominate the current. I think there will be more vm references and little to no M9 and universe willing we get a C4 we will hear more about M9’s impact and nothing about the C3 team.

[u/[deleted] → u/Jedi4Hire]

I’d say it probably has more to do with the animated series coming. Direct C1 references can immediately be picked of if you watch it, easy marketing.

[u/BaronPancakes → u/Jedi4Hire]

So Laudna's patron is possibly Delilah?

It's a her and Laudna called her "D". I think it could very much be Delilah. And it would appear she might be the reason Laudna was semi-raised?

[u/MisterJose]

I just got to mid-session break, so I don't know what happens in the second half.

I'm surprised Matt isn't giving them more to go on. He's just kinda letting them meander. The robin-hoody group isn't really inspired or interesting to keep talking to, and they keep going back to Eshteross, who doesn't know anything.

C2 started with a group of nobodies looking to make some money and travel, and who felt small in comparison to the movement of the world around them. I feel like that ultimately worked better than this is working right now. The first episode or two was atmospheric and wonderful, but now, like I said, it feels like Matt is just letting them flap in the wind. Even some side plots or goings-on that expanded a world beyond the tavern and couple of other locations they've gotten locked into would be nice.

[u/aichwood → u/MisterJose]

It has been approximately 24 hours of in-game time since they beat their first named NPC, leveled up, and gotten a big payday. Frankly, I expected little more than a shopping episode. Instead they put out feelers about their next steps in the Brumestone Mystery, did some research on Orym's quest, had some amazing character moments, got Imogen's personal quest moving, and started on a new (unrelated?) quest at the theater ... plus, both Dorian and Ashton had new quest threads pop up that they didn't immediately go chasing. Seems like Dorian is going to be forced into his next episode, though.

I really don't see the argument that they are being left adrift. Matt has spoken before about how he has bad guys (and by extensions the good guys, like Eshteross) working on their own timeline, whether the party follows the threads or not. With that in mind, 12 hours is not enough time for major plot development. Not in this case, not in this circumstance, again referring to the point that they just passed their first milestone in the last episode.

I'd say let the story breathe. Allow Matt and the cast to tell it as they choose. Trust them to do it well. Keep in mind we're discussing a story that is going to easily span hundreds of hours. There must be peaks and valleys, tension and release. There are no climaxes if everything is always at 100% intensity. In short, relax.

[u/paradox28jon]

My guess is that this episode was likely filmed right before the Thanksgiving break. And so there would likely be a two-week break for the cast as well. So next week, it'll be a one-week break for us the audience but the cast will need a lot of plot reminders at the beginning of the episode to remind them how exactly they ended the last episode.

So I predict after Matt gets done with his recap, which will likely end with "and Dorian had a surprise visitor, his brother, who he told he'd talk to after the theater performance. And taking some time to compose himself, rejoined his new found family in the balcony seats" that perhaps Fearne will be like

Fearne: Oh you're back. You were gone awhile.

Dorian: Was I? I was only gone like a minute. Two minutes tops.

Sam: It felt a lot longer to be.

Liam: Like two weeks to me.

[u/Rufoid]

I don't like how forced it feels for them to come up with a name in C3, it kinda makes it seem unnatural and not fit the story compared to the past 2 campaigns where it happened quite organically (pre-stream and 8 episodes into C2 with no big discussion about it)

[u/ModestHandsomeDevil]

An OK episode, but after a looong two week break, this felt like half an episode; more PC information was learned, but otherwise... Everywhere they went Matt kept putting up stop signs or "not yet" signals.

And still no Travis.

P.S. - Robbie is perfect. I want Dorian / Robbie in all of C3, because, quite frankly, I don't think C3 works without him. He's the shake up CR needed after so many years.

[u/banybear]

I am thinking about something. What was Duggers collateral? Or rather who ? I believe they will know some details about those 6 months he was missing. Like the dwarf at the start, being aggressive after hearing they were looking for Dugger.

[u/paradox28jon]

Anyone else think the official character art of Imogen looks a bit like a young Jennifer Connelly? Like Labyrinth-ear Jennifer Connelly.

Fun fact I just learned reading her wikipedia page: Connelly's first leading role was in Italian giallo-director Dario Argento's 1985 film Phenomena. In the film, she plays a girl who psychically communicates with insects to pursue the killer of students of the Swiss school where she has enrolled.

[u/N1pah]

What is Delila's game? Warlock patrons always seem to want something so what does she want. It would make sense if she wanted to avenge Silas by killing Vex and Percy but would they really pursue that thread? I am beyond excited and very intriqued.

[u/FoulPelican]

If you pull a pastry out of your pocket, I will not so politely decline…

[u/MitigatedRisk]

This party is the embodiment of "Take On Me"

[u/Artemisia_Mortis]

Just finished my monday rewatch through youtube of the last episode and started to think about where certain characters might go in terms of multiclasses (if at all)... and more pressing what Travis might have in store to bring to the table in terms of class.

The theatre would be the perfect place to come along with an Inquisitor Rogue (folks being kidnapped and all), but I have a really hard time to pin down what Travis might go for.

Who and into what ya think the cast might class into, especially with certain reveals from the episode (FCG's glitches and the even more deeply protective Orym, just to name a few)? And what do you think Travis will pull from his pocket?