Critical Role - That's Just Right | 4-Sided Dive | Episode 9: Discussing Up To C3E40 & The Mighty Nein Reunited

Episode Date: December 13, 2022

Tis Critmas Season! Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe, Matthew Mercer, and Liam O’Brien celebrate the holidays with cozy pajamas, Critmas carols, gift exchanges, and this episode of 4-Sided Dive! 4-Sided Dive airs one Tuesday a month on http://twitch.tv/criticalrole and http://youtube.com/criticalrole Twitch subscribers gain instant access to VODs of our shows like Critical Role, 4-Sided Dive, and Exandria Unlimited. But don't worry: Twitch broadcasts will be uploaded to YouTube about 36 hours after airing live, with audio-only podcast versions of select shows on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Google Podcasts following a week after the initial air date. Twitch subscribers also gain access to our official custom emote set and subscriber badges and the ability to post links in Twitch chat! "Let's Roll (4-Sided Dive Theme)" by Peter Habib and Sam Riegel Original Music by Omar Fadel and Hexany Audio Additional Music by Universal Production Music, Epidemic Sounds, and 5 Alarm

Welcome to Foresighted Dive, Critical Role's monthly talk show featuring a roundtable discussion about the events and characters of our current campaign, alongside a heavy helping of hijinks. Foresighted Dive airs the first Tuesday of every month at 7pm Pacific on Twitch.tv slash Critical Role and YouTube.com slash Critical Role, with the VOD available on YouTube the very next day. And of course, each episode releases right here on the Critical Role Podcast Network one week after the initial broadcast. Let's dive into the chaos. Found a bubble bobble from my Commodore 64. What's a bubble bobble? Oh, a bubble bobble is like the game of the little dinosaurs that blow bubbles. Oh. Very festive.

But then it was under the tree. And then I went, oh! Oh my god. How old were you? I think I was like 38. Santa Claus was living in your parents' closet. Ho. Ho ho ho!

Hi. I guess we're doing a thing. Yeah, Merry Crimbo. This all went really well. You went really ball to Danny. Ho ho ho! Hi! I guess we're doing a thing. Yeah, merry crimbo. This all went really well. You went really fast, Danny. That's instant? That fast? That fast?

Okay, I'll take the puke dice. Keep my losing streak alive. I don't wanna win. Yes. Oh! What? Oh! Oh!

I ruled a six, how did I win? It was a two, a three, a four, and a six. You had it coming. You rolled first. That was awesome. It's about time! It's about time! You had it coming.

Oh god, careful. That's just right. Don't you even. That thing is so precarious. You can do it, Liam. I don't know how to do this. Okay, it says host, so that must be me. Season's greetings, Critters.

Tis I, your ninth tavern keeper on this very special four-sided dive where we'll be celebrating our hemisphere being angled really far away from the sun and we'll do so with song, motherfucker. On tonight's four-sided dive, we're gonna talk about when Laura Bailey sundered a tree. And on tonight's four-sided dive, we're gonna talk about when Laura Bailey saundered a tree.

And on tonight's four-sided dive, we're gonna chat about how Orym totally died. And, uh, and Laura Bailey saundered a tree. Also on tonight's four-sided dive, we're gonna spill some tea on how Taliesin

played as Kingsley. Orym totally died, and Laura Bailey Bailey sundered a tree. Oh, and on tonight's four-sided dive, we also touch on, what are we on, four? Yes. Mercer's Nine Mighties reunited. Taliesin played as Kingsley.

Orham totally died. And Laura Bailey sundered a tree. There you go. Ooh, lastly, on tonight's Four-sided dive We will have for you A silly gift exchange Game Mercer's nine

Mighties reunited Towson played as Kaylee Or I'm totally died Reality is an illusion Laura Bailey's under the tree. I'm holding for applause. Thank you! Thank you!

Someone with a college degree wrote that. Welcome to Before Sons Die! Let's fucking do a show! Welcome back. Happy holidays, everyone. Oh! That's okay. I feel so good with these big, chonky socks on and these long johns

because I feel like I'm wearing footie pajamas. I really want to play Nintendos. Are you trying to get your feet on WikiFeet? Why are you playing with your feet so much? They are. Boys or girls or whoever runs the website. Stop it. Stop it. Make sure to vote.

I feel like every time I'm on this show, we talk about WikiFeet. We're hoping for a sponsorship. That's what the show is about. Does that come with a butt flap? It does have a butt flap. Show everybody. Yeah, now I'm wiki butts.

Merry Christmas. Are you sure they do? It has a different name. Let's begin the night with our open discussion segment. What the happy holidays fuck is up with that? Mm-hmm. Boy, this is just where we talk about topics

about our show, right? Yeah. Yeah. Is that what you guys did when you did this? Yes. Yeah. Okay. I think so. I've kind of blocked it out of my memory. Yeah, a lot of therapy. Let's talk about Odohan.

Odohan. Odohan killed Eshteross. Which is a problem. Because I love Eshteross. He was like my favorite. Yeah, I do too. We haven't really had anything like that in a past campaign. Like you didn't sacrifice Allura or Sean or Essek or any.

You haven't really had a direct patron either, like a Professor Xavier figure necessarily. Charlie, so to speak. I've been dreading it for a while that you were gonna do that. What's funny is like, I mean, it's very much a possibility in any campaign, like Gilmore puts the ringer,

but like the way this narrative fell, a campaign, you know, like Gilmore puts the ringer, you know. But like the way this narrative fell, it made sense and it sucks. It's like anyone who's written a short story or a fanfic or something like that where a character they appreciate, you know, like dies

because the narrative calls for it because it makes the most logical sense for the story. It sucks. But, you know, the most logical sense for the story. It sucks. But, you know, it also can make for, hopefully, good character arc stuff. The minute we went to Whitestone, I was like, oh, God, damn it, he's not going to be around. It's a unique shading to this party in this campaign because they lost Bertrand.

They've lost Eshteross. They've lost Frontenorm momentarily and Ladna a little bit longer than that. So like there's been a lot of depth in there. They haven't been together that long. And so we've been together what like a month? No, more than that, right? In game? How long in game? I guess I'm real good at calendars. Probably like two months, three months, somewhere around there. Okay, nine days. Still, nine days.

Not very long. Not very long time for that much. Yeah. It's enough time in high school to know who your friends are. That's true. But it makes the... It's like Christmas break there.

Like, we're going to talk about Odohan as well and what we're going to do next, right? Yeah. So we can telegraph all of our plans to Matt here on the show. Oh, I've already thought about them all. It feels so, and obviously we're going to

march forward, but it feels, fuck to the tempo, it feels so hopeless. Like it feels way too big for us to handle because our fucking patron got murdered by the woman. I got murdered. A lot of murdered.

She was playing with us. Barely held on. The only reason all of us aren't dead is because she chose—what? What just happened? Is Santa here? Well, if he was, he went back up because I think only his beard came out of the... There's just now a tiny, tiny beard hanging by the... That's adorable. Continue, Laura, please. Yeah, sorry.

I'm terrified. Yeah, she was toying with us, right? Like, if she had wanted to kill us all, she 100% could have killed us all. That's how it felt. Possibly. That's how it felt. Possibly. It's interesting. The fight

was meant to be a very, very hard fight. In perfect circumstances. With sound tactics, with rolls that worked to an average degree. Everyone rolled like shit. Everyone kind of scattered at the beginning.

It was a lot of situations that led to a very, very deadly encounter and kind of just let it fall as it may. But it's something to work towards now. You know, now you know what you're up against if you decide to follow that path. Do we? And you can prepare for it.

Do we? Or not. Or you can just go home and get in the campaign early as everyone retires to a library cozy socks and pajamas from those hills i think we could just we could just roll carts by the side of the road for a few months and just you know enjoy the life of like unnamed npc i feel like they would come after us i feel like we can't well you for sure you're you're done if you guys are with me, we're off. Right. Yep.

Right. Dream location? Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Just because something seems like it's impossible or larger than you doesn't mean you don't try. It just means you fail spectacularly. I can do hard things. Yeah.

I saw this TikTok of this little kid that was trying to do something, and then he stopped and went, I can do hard things, and finished the task, this tick tock of this little kid that was trying to do something and then he like stopped and went i can do hard things and like finished the task and it was so freaking cute i love that that's a that's fantastic no he was like pulling a little mixing bowl out he was like cooking food and he was ronin sage i was trying to teach ronin that phrase i'm like remember ron you can do hard things you can do hard things and then later on i'm like what did we learn ronin i can do hard things. You can do hard things. And then later on, I'm like, what did we learn Ronan? I can do, and he went, nothing!

I mean, realistic. Smart kid. We all get there eventually. Yeah. No, I like that. I can do hard things. I was just enjoying the solid expectations of nothing. It's all up from there, really. That's true. You know, set the bar. Set the bar. Only climb from there. Or lay down. It's less of a bar and really. It's true. Yeah, it's at the bar. It's at the bar. You can only climb from there.

Or lay down. It's less of a bar and more of just some duct tape on the floor. That's true, yeah. It's really good. Yeah, I gotta goose the conversation along. I'm trying to think of where and what dimension... Oh yes, Hulse, help us. I know what I'm doing. I'm trying to think where in the timeline of our shows we are

and what I should be discussing. I think we're up to date. We're up to date. I knew that. I want to know where your mom is. Yeah, I do too. On the moon.

Are we discussing that? Is this part of what the fuck? No, I can talk about whatever I want. Mom's on the moon. Is she on the moon? Is, I can talk about whatever I want. All right. Mom's on the moon. Mom's, is she on the moon? It's moon mom. Is she in Eos? Is mom... It's moon mom eating cheese.

Is there more than us? It's red cheese. It's cow cheese. Red cheese. Are we just seeing like one place? Are there outposts? I don't know. Was a whole city like relocated to the moon?

Like Syngorn? I guess the city might have poofed there like Syngorn. Or is there, I want to know how long people have been up there. Is it a recent thing? Did Odahan do like a pop-up town? A pop-up shop? Does it transform into a giant robot like the Transformers movie? A giant golem?

A giant red golem that's with Orson Welles' voice. I don't know. Right. I'm just staring at Matt. And then to eat Exandria? For any kind of... Look, if Travis has learned anything in all the years you've been doing this, that doesn't work at all.

You can catch that. That's off. Ah, truth gas. Boo! I don't know, Travis swears sometimes he's caught some of your towels. Has he? No.

Travis does a lot of things. Yeah. Well, we're not going to figure out the moon today, Mom. Like the giant red Christmas ornament in the sky. You saw it, right? No, it's there. I did. I saw the figment of your imagination.

What we can do is go to Eos. Eos? So we're road tripping Eos with some stops along the way. Why don't we talk about the were-clan that we met? That was pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, were-clan.

They're all really attractive in different ways, especially in their animal forms. I know they were all really attractive, right? Was everybody thinking that at the same time? They were all very hot. And I kept thinking about, was it the Animorphs, which were all the action figures? The panther one, there's a line where it's like, wow, I'm into it. Yeah. I had those action figures. We had

panther, right? Panther. Bear. Bear. Tiger. Tiger. Boar. Tiger was cool. Boar, I really liked Boar. A couple other wolves. A couple wolves. Yeah, yeah, really liked boar. A couple wolves. Yeah, wolves. A couple wolves. A trout.

Yeah, where trout? Gary. I like the Finnish accent, by the way. You don't want to see me angry. Not as effective in battle. Stop slapping me! Okay, that's okay. That was a good joke. I'm sorry. Just wanted some love for that one. But we don't know much, that's okay. No, that was a good joke. I'm just making, I'm sorry.

Just wanted some love for that one. But we don't know much about that shit yet at all, except that they're sexy. If we're going to derail the campaign and just like hang out somewhere, this is the place to do it. Yeah, imagine if we just turned into like a dating sim and we never went any further than the Gorgonai.

Good, good. Yep. I mean, I guess Odtohan would show up eventually and be like, uh, I've been waiting on the moon. Are you coming? Give me seven minutes. I don't even know if Otohan would be like, this is a lot of hot, hot now.

I understand. Let's just have a moment. Let's leave him be. We appreciate this. Walk out. You know what it's just like, spend the next couple of years in the jungle and step out and everyone's like,

oh no, like Vox Machina fixed it all. I mean, they probably would have. They took care of it for you. Oh no, they all died. Whatever. A twist. Stuff happens. Vox Machina is so powerful.

Well, there's a side question to talk about. This is not on my syllabus that I am peeking at, but it was really cool to see our grandparents, which is us, to see Vox Machina. I mean, not these d***, but... Spoilers. To see... Wow.

Just bleep that. Bleep it out. Bleep it? Really? How many years has it been? It's even better if you bleep it. Yeah. It's not d***. It's it. Yeah. It's not bleep.

It's not bleep. Oh, man. But yes, it was fun. That was super fun. I mean, first, I love your one-man show like I always do. Oh, my God. It was so good. It was amazing.

Yeah, it really was. Have we talked about that on here yet? Talked about it a little bit. A little bit, yeah. I haven't. Oh my God. It was so good. It was amazing. Yeah, it really was. Have we talked about that on here yet? Talked about it a little bit. A little bit. Yeah. I haven't. Tell me more. Well, when I realized

as we were going, all I could think of leading up to us recording that next session was going, oh shit, I have to do multiple characters

of your characters in front of you to each other. Great. I was super stressed. How do you two rate his recreation

of your... Ten out of ten. Ten out of ten? Solid nine and a half. Yep. Yep. Always leave room for improvement. No. No. He knows. He knows to keep me in my place. Well, no, you know, it was, honestly, I will say that, like, it was perfection. It was perfection. Yeah. It was that, like, it was perfection.

It was perfection. Yeah. It was the closest I could get. No. The best I could. You can only be so mean, because there's only so much meanness in you. You really are worked at making that up.

There's also to the degree of which I want to be extremely horrible to your characters in a time of need. That's fair. Yes. But, no, I was quite pleased, and I was like, this is a very dark mirror. It was a big challenge, though.

Yeah, you were brilliant. There's a lot of fun, like, side, in my head, there's a lot of side conversations between them that you guys never saw. Because they didn't just, like, meet you guys and then scouted the four winds, like, you know. Like, the whole time he goes into the ritual, there's probably a time a person checked in,

they probably, like, knew that the issue was happening. Like, while you guys were in the ritual, there's probably a time that the person checked in, they probably like knew that the issue was happening. Like while you guys were in the dark space gathering Laudna, there was probably a lot of... Yeah. Bright faces, happy to help,

and a lot of anxiety and realistic conversations about like, if this goes sideways, we wipe them all out, right? Oh yeah. So much with the sort of defenses of Whitestone, is that something that you two have talked over a glass of scotch?

I mean, very expensive scotch and Coca-Cola, if I recall, would have been the... Oh, you fuckers. I didn't do that! We didn't do that. I know we didn't do that. It was porn for me. It was done to us.

No, I mean... We talked about it. We talked porn for me. It was done to us. No, I mean, we talked about it. We talked about it for the Tal'Dorei Reborn book, a lot of like how Whitestone's advanced since then and kind of where its priorities lie and how Percy has helped

kind of, Percy and Vex both have shepherded the defense of Whitestone because not only is it just a town of people, it's also like its greatest resource is coveted worldwide and so it has to keep itself very well defended it's a series of very very powerful resources all in a

very very small space so it requires and then it requires just an awful lot to keep it contained and then it also has uh one of the most paranoid people in exandria living there yeah which also helps also yeah where a member of the council of Tel Dorvi. Nine pins bowling evolved to ten pins bowling. Little known fact. Hmm? But no,

I mean, like we even talked about like there's, there's a, there's a street electrification. There's, there's like,

actually like night lights in Whitestone. Whitestone does not go dark at night. It actually has electrical... It has a whole... It's fuel in it.

Dex. It's that giant acid pit they found. It turned into a large, low-yield battery that runs... I'm trying to remember

exactly what gas it is that they use for the street lamps, but it's this very, very early tech that makes everything glow slightly green. It's very...

Oh, yeah. Percy's a monster. Yes. There's a lot of... And you've got a few people who work for you. There's some fun... There's lots of fun little secrets all over the city. Oh, I have a thousand questions.

For everything that I saw, I've been wondering about so much more. Percy's Lex Luthor. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I mean, you can take the demon out of the...

Slightly better. Well, it's Lex Luthor with better peers. Yeah. Does that make sense? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Better influences around him. He'd be broken by now. He'd be broken and horrible.

Between you, Keyleth, and the kids, it's kind of enough to keep him wrangled. He's got a good buffer. But Lex Luthor could have been. Yes. Yes. With better friends and better hair and much better hair.

A hair. Not a red. Just one white hair has to get some of this in. Just like Charlie Brown's a little bit. Like the last episode y'all called him,

like the last episode y'all were like, he's Batman Beyond and now it's Lex Luthor. Batman Beyond was a good thing. Batman Beyond is the energy that he presented to Vox Machina,

or sorry, presented to the Belltells. Lex Luthor is his average day. I just thought the juxtaposition was funny. It's that great Justice League run where Batman has the file of how to take down every other superhero just in case

someone breaks into it and knocks everyone out. His friends bring out his better angels, but his brain's still gonna do what his brain do. It's cool. Council Tal'Dorei's angels, but his brain's still going to do what his brain do. Mm-hmm. It's cool. Council Tal'Dorei's going to turn one day. Anyway, back to the new hotness, the Bell's Hells.

Let's talk about the flare from Ruidus and what the fuck is up with that. Yeah. Do you? What is that? I don't know what the flares are. I don't know anything. I don't know anything.

No. I don't know anything. I don't know anything. I don't know anything. Are you lying to us, though? No. Okay, she's lying. No, I'm not. I'm not. I don't know anything.

Okay. And what's causing them? Is it a DM, a question DM? Do those flares happen, like, every couple of years in the past? Through history, Ruidus has flared. And that's how the Ruidus-born are marked upon birth and have been since Ruidus has existed. But it happens sometimes once a month, sometimes every few months,

sometimes a couple times in a short time. There's no significant pattern to it, but it doesn't happen successively within a short period of time like it's doing now. This is an odd behavior and an escalating pattern of recurrence. So if you're born during a flare, that is rude, is it? Yes.

So you were born during a flare? Correct. Okay. As was Fern, it seems. As was Fern. So Taliesin and Laura, theories on what causes a flare. Is it gods trying to break out of a god jail? Is it gods fucking?

Is it Odahan trying to break open a god cage? I'm going to flare! I'm going to flare! Explains Chetney yeah that's why I can't stop himself

that itch it's a very horny wolf because if it's something that has happened intermittently oh that's a phone

through I was stepping on it that is a phone that's okay if it's something that's happened intermittently but now it's

happening more and more and more and we know that Otohan we believe Otohan is dancing around up on more, and we know that Otohan, we believe Otohan is dancing around up on the moon. I don't think Otohan's on the moon.

I don't think Otohan's on the moon either. I think Otohan is in communication with whatever's on the moon. I don't think Otohan's on the moon. That's an interesting call. I hadn't thought of that. I think she could be. I think that there's possibly technology on the moon, and they keep trying to break through the gate.

And those flares are whatever the energy that is Ruidus like leaking through or bursting through like steam. And that radiation hits the werewolves and makes them weird. That's some great euphemisms there. What if like when whatever those gods were that got trapped, right? What if it was like a whole city of people that worshiped those gods? And so in order to make the world forget about those gods, they just took the whole city and transported it to the moon and trapped the gods belief there. Right? Because belief in that God makes them more powerful.

Is that right? Could be. The more people, that's from the traveler, right? Because belief in that God makes them more powerful. Is that right? Could be. The more people, that's from the Traveler, right? The more people that follow a God, the more powerful they will become. Yeah, but belief, the willpower and belief of the immortal life

on scale can affect and enhance the powers of a divine being. What if, Oh, no. So what if, what if in, In our effort to Find out more about these gods that were locked Away we're causing them

To become more powerful again in our realm And therefore weakening The barrier that's that's kind of where I was about to go which is maybe Maybe Maybe Otohan is the hero And we're accidentally the villains maybe Otohan is the hero and we're accidentally the villains. And Otohan is, and, and whatever this squad is, is been trying to, uh, I keep going back to the last crusade, right?

The people who are trying to keep the, the, the location of the Holy Grail a secret. And so what if, if her whole purpose or wherever they are, their purpose is to keep it hidden. And when people like the Loomis twins are like, look at this, the moon's haunted, they get iced. Because you can't have the people back on Alexandria know. God fucking. What if we reveal it all? We just reveal it all.

We figured it out. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Oh, I'm not the host. Go on to the fucking moon. Hey, let's talk about the third group of heroes that we haven't gotten to yet, the Mighty Nein. We fucking reunited as the Mighty Nein.

It was the best. I love those assholes so much. It was a new combination of assholes. Yes, because Kingsley is so different. Kingsley is a different thing. I was excited. I was excited for that because Kingsley is a different vibe. And I was sad that I didn't get to really get into a lot of that last time.

In two games, yeah. In two games. He's a fighter, man. He's good. He is. And he also really enjoys being better at Ford's job than Ford is. Look. Very specifically, actually.

Look, Kingsley. Very specifically trying to undermine him at every moment. Obviously. Yes. Ford is a really good captain, you guys. Oh, he loves Ford. He's amazing. He was off because he was so stressed

about everything happening. Okay? Happens to all men sometimes. Um. It was a good time. I do feel bad. Oh, it's on here. Is it?

Kind of. I do feel bad that I didn't, like, try to contact Caduceus. i should have contacted caduceus i i think the reason i did it is because i knew you were there as kingsley and so like my brain was going well obviously caduceus isn't coming today so like i didn't make the effort but that's dumb on my part i would have immediately switched if anybody well here well here no i'm here i'm so sorry. Here. Yeah. Well, first off, I gave you the option

in which you wanted to play. You did. You did. So it was your choice. It was. It's all me. Yes. If you had messaged him, what would it have been

and what was his response? I can tell you right now. Yeah, go for it. Caduceus, there's Ukatos free and we need your help. Can you come, please? Because you're a healer, and I'm still a healer, but you're better. Hey.

Oh, wow. Yeah. Look, I'm kind of stuck here working on a spell, and my house, that needs to be fixed. I wish I could help. That's it. Yeah, Caduceus

other than the fact that, well, his house burned down six months ago, and thank you all for helping put that back together. I thought we did. You helped a little. It was great. It's actually in the middle of... Caduceus was tired.'s actually in the middle of... Caduceus was tired. He's in the middle of resetting the Blooming Grove, which also requires the casting of Temple of the Gods,

which takes every day for a year. You gotta sit and do it. That's right. So getting away would have been a little tricky. And yeah, getting him out of his house for like six months later would have been a little tricky. And yeah, getting him out of his house for like six months later would have been... It's a year? Every day for a year?

You have to do it in that same place? Same as in the teleportation circle. Wait, you have to do it in the same place or you have to just do the... Same place, same place. Every day for a year. It takes dedicated effort. Yes.

Type of effort that like, you know, somebody who was originally going to live in this place for their entire life and never leave can do. But getting away is possible, but it's very, very hard because then you have to have somebody cover or you have to have somebody who can do that cover and not fuck up. So, yeah, Caduceus was like, I was like,

I cannot justify him buggering out of home six months later. It was a little too, like, he had already kind of done the, well, he'd put in his time. He'll be back out. If we ever do it again, he'll come back out. Compliment you. I really liked Kingsley in combat. Thank you.

I loved the Errol Flynn duelist. Very good. Really got into, like, latched onto the pirate life. Like, that's kind of what happens to any of the Mollies or the Nonagons is they imprint really hard on whatever's around them. Like, that looks like romance and fun. I'm going to go that way. So last time it was like circus. So that looks like romantic.

It's romance, fun, and I have an audience. So it's like, oh, piracy, romance, fun, and I have an audience. So it's like, oh, piracy, romance, fun, and I have an audience. Great. And that's kind of the whole. So it was like, yeah, Pirate seems great. Should we talk about

the ooky tooty fight? The ooky tooty. Oh. Ooky to tooty. It took you a second. It's because my brain's on Nightmare Before Christmas. All I was hearing

was oogie boogie. Whoa. Yeah. That was a different game. Yeah. Awesome expensive mini. That fight was fucking amazing.

It was amazing. The miniature was ridiculous. That mini was so cool. And it was so cool to have a gigantic monster that was in different places around the battlefield. Trying to figure out

the best like the tactics on that was really fun props to tyler waple who did the design actual art design for the minnie so cool and uh iron test in ian of iron test did all the painting on it so it like i would love to have done it but i couldn't have done as good a job as him and i didn't have the time but he did a phenomenal job on it, and it was very, very exciting. That was one of those, that's the thing, when we finished Campaign 2, it was one of those things where it didn't make sense narratively for the flow of how things went

to close every single thread before you finished. Because some of them are long-term threads, you know. Law and order for 20 years in some cases. And this is one of those that's kind of like, you know, it was a mystery left to kind of hang in the wind there for a while. And then we thought about it for a while and then this campaign in the back of my head,

I was like, I want to bring him back again and see if I can find a way to make this up. A fun beat to return to. What if we would have failed? Because it felt like that was possible for a little while. Yeah, would Ukatoa have just been like free out in... I guess we all could have died

six months after. And then Vox Machina would have had to clean it up. They're really strong, you guys. They're basically gods. Here's the thing. Interestingly enough, Ukatoa is not some godlike entity that can destroy the world or wants to. It is a creation of one of the gods,

of the Cloaked Serpent. As you hear. But is a very powerful entity that for a long time, after the gods were sealed past the Divine Gate, essentially once his boss was locked away, went, well, I'm the god here now, and these are my seas,

and kind of claimed a large part of the city and ocean by the Menagerie Coast as his own and converted some of the Kinaw people that lived there to his warship and kind of became this tyrant of the ocean there until the servants of the cloaked serpent eventually pulled him into this trap and sealed him away. And so him being freed would have, it wouldn't have been like catastrophic apocalyptic,

but it definitely would have put a dark shadow over the entire Menagerie Coast and the surrounding Lucidian Ocean waters for a long time. So if you had failed to seal him, you know, he would just be out there now. And the whole Menagerie Coast would change. Lucidian Ocean would be much more treacherous.

That's cool. Like, all portion of that area would be locked off, essentially, to open waters. It would be a don't-go-here zone. Yeah. A gigantic don't go here zone. Would have been fun to lose. Here there'd be monsters.

Next time, think about that. Make bad choices and roll poorly. We tried to lose. We did, quite a bit. Yeah. Check. I know we have lots of ideas for the nine and doing things with them, but I hope that we

return to play more games with them because I really love those assholes. I'd like to as well. And, you know, kings are going to bugger off and go become a pirate king. So, you know, Caduceus will be back. Caduceus needs a break. He needs a break.

I have ideas. I have thoughts. We had to finish with the third topic. We didn't have to. We could have. No, I have to hit all three of the main points and the ones on the bottom, those are optional. Liam is a good student.

One of us, it's time for a pull from the Tower of Inquiry. Okay. One of us, it's going to be Laura, will pull a block from the tower. Read the number and Danny will tell us the corresponding question who asked it. It was left in quite a shit state from the last episode. Uh-oh. Okay, it's harder was left in quite a shit state from the last episode. Uh-oh.

Okay, it's harder now because normally I feel very confident playing these games. But having not seen the setup of this and not seeing the wibbly wobblies from the pools, now I feel uncertain. You should.

I want to just remind you, sis, if the Tower of Inquiry falls, consequences will fall on your ass. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Or anyone who knocks down the tower. I would move just in case. I think Frosty the Snowman better take a couple steps back. Come over here, buddy.

Good call. Good looking out there. No, it's, you know, it's it. Get your consequences. I'm just trying to see which way it looks like it's... I'm going to back up over here. I'm scared. Okay.

I accidentally bumped. Really? I'm gonna back up over here. I'm scared. Okay. I accidentally bumped. Really? I'm just seeing. Just push those blocks around like it's me. Palpate the region. Oh my god, it's so wobbly. I hate you. We told you.

Oh no! Merry Christmas, Bailey, you're fucked! I believe in you, Laura. You can do this. Fuck. You can't do it. You can't do it. What's really stuck? That's not the one. Okay, okay.

I need a bottle of beer in my hand to make this go better. Take one down, pass it around. Just perish, Laura. I take the entire rest of the show to pull this thing. We'll speed up the footage. Exactly. Oh, hi. Oh.

Oh. Oh. Oh my hi. Oh my goodness. You're committed now. I am. You are. Yeah, no, maybe. I don't know. Could be.

I don't know. There's a lot of pressure here on this little spot. There's a lot of pressure in general. Okay. I'm steady. I can do hard things. Yes, general. Okay. I am steady. I can do hard things! Yes, there it is! I love that!

Yay! What number is it? Oh, oh, right, 48, 48, okay. Now you gotta... Corresponds to a question. Now you gotta get it up there. Yep. Oh god.

Not done yet. Oh dear. Oh shit. Oh god. Oh shit. Oh god. Oh shit. It's unbalanced at the top. That was Sam, wasn't it? Yeah. Oh shit. Fucker.

Oh my god. That thing is ready to fall. That's so rough. Looks awful from this side. Oh my god. Awful. It's not okay. Looks awful from this side. Awful. It's not okay. Okay.

Here we go. Okay. If your character had a custom cocktail, what would it be called and consist of? From Rumsy. Oh, thank you, Rumsy. I'm sorry, I was expecting it on Twitter or something. Sorry, Rumsy.

Does it start with me or is it a roundtable question? Start with you. Since you're the one who successfully pulled it from the tower. Okay. Oh. Oh, well, wait. Should I make a drink up? Because I think a Dark and Stormy would be great. That's pretty good.

It's up to you. You can make one up or choose one. What if it's like a play on the Dark and Stormy, but it's like... But I want it to have a lavender infusion. That's cool. Would that be disgusting with a Dark and Stormy? Yeah, a little.

You could get one of those weird beers that it's not... I don't know. That would be kind of gross. It's a little gross. Wait, yeah. I'm sure somebody would like it. Gross.

Maybe you could get the head of the beer to be lavender colored, like a little stripe. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I'm sure somebody would like it. Gross. Maybe if you could get the head of the beer to be lavender colored, like a little stripe. Yeah, yeah. Maybe as much as I do not like aviations. That's the one that Marisha always drinks. Yeah, the one that tastes like potpourri. Potpourri. Yes.

It tastes like perfume that your grandma wears. She loves them. She loves them. I can't abide it. Don't understand it. No. I had to have one. It tastes like grandma perfume. It wears. She loves them. She loves them. I can't abide it. Don't understand it. No. I had to have one. It tastes like grandma perfume.

It does. She loves it. She really does. She loves it. It's purple. It is purple. It's very pretty. It's a very pretty drink.

That's loud and it smells like aviation. Yeah. Just shriveled up like a raisin in a pine box. Yeah. But aviation is good for Orem because they're made of flowers and he's a very flowery boy. And he takes to the wind a lot and has good friends that's just me

they make you too different from a fart that's a good one am I passing gas now yes or no no I don't think you would do it with a microphone on you just in case but I will. Boys, what you got?

I mean, I was trying to remember the name of this drink that we used to have when I was young, which is basically, I mean, we would make it in a trash can, but I'm sure you could just do it in a smaller container. In a trash can? In a trash can. It all involves clear hard liquors that are all poured together with fruit. And you would have to drink it quick out of a paper cup

because it would eat through the paper cup. And I'm trying to remember what it was called. But yeah, that's... It would just be an interesting mix of clear liquors. Don't put that in your body. A little late. No. That sounds like stone soup, but with poison.

God. It would eat through the paper cup. Like the Dixie cups. You'd get a Dixie cup and it wouldn't take any. Yeah, that would scream. A little vapor of a skull goes. Yep. You just throw in some fruit to give it some flavor.

That was a good question. That was good. Yeah. I don't care. It's like an NPC. Yeah. You'd like to know about a drink they would have? Sure.

What about that undead? The, what was her name? The cler undead, the, what was her name? The cleric lady? Yeah, what was her name? I have to have a guess. Weva? Yes. Weva.

She's got an absinthe vibe to me. Oh, yeah. Maybe not. I'd see her more as a fan of the corpse revive. Oh. Oh, my God. Pums, pums everywhere. Well, you know, we we got to mix things up.

Laura, pull another brick from the tower. You may not. Yes, I'm the host. I may go pull a brick from the tower. You may not. Is that a rule or no? Of course I can. I'm in charge.

This is my show and your hell. Is there a rule that a dog can't play basketball? Is there a rule that a dog can't play basketball? Is there any rule that a dog can't play basketball? I hate you so much. Can we double check? I know. Is there anything in the rule book that says that we can't have a dog play basketball? I am proud of you.

We don't have a rule book. I need you to understand we don't have a rule book. It's all for our pleasure. Wait, you air butted her. You full on air butted her. Well done. I'm not a little pleasure. Wait, you air butted her. You full on air butted her. Well done. See, now I'm also in the form of both Laura's anger and the tower. Why would you do this to me, Liam?

This is entertainment, Dani. Oh no, I left it so precarious. Yeah. I'm sweating. My palms started sweating immediately. Mom's forgetting. I'm so precarious. Yeah. Yup. I'm sweating. My palms are sweating immediately. Mom's spaghetti. I'm so sorry. Thank you so much.

She's so cute. It's okay, it's okay. You got this. Okay. It's, oh. I'm gonna cry. You can do hard things. I believe in you.

I believe in you. I believe in you. I love the love. She's gonna do it too, is the worst part. She's actually gonna pull it off. I'm gonna cry. You can do hard things. I believe in you. She's gonna do it, too, is the worst part. She's actually gonna pull it off. No, because he's just gonna make me do it the whole rest of the show. If another Tower of Inquiry comes up, you better promise me that I don't have to do another one.

I promise you shit. Sorry, I have no power here. I'm shaking, I can't. This is the best Christmas present I got this year. Oh! That tower just got happy. It's a little jenga beam. Oh my god, I'm still shaking though, okay.

You still gotta bounce it on top. Oh. Shut up. Well done on top. Oh, shut up. Well done. Ten. Well done. Nicely done, Laura Bailey. You can do hard things. I gotta figure out which side to place this on though, so it doesn't... I mean, when in doubt.

It is really shaking in the wind there, careful. You're gonna tell her to be careful? Yeah, she's gotta do this three more times, Annie. You're such an asshole! Well, a dog can play basketball. Taliesin, there's a question. Shouldn't have stolen my boots. Wow, wow, six years later.

Wow. The boots never die. Long con, long con. Oh, I love it. If phones existed in Exandrio, what would your character's phone case be from Lord of Walmarts on Twitter? One more case be? From Lord of Walmarts on Twitter. One more time, please.

Lord of Walmarts. If phones existed, phone device, what would your character's phone case be? This friend. Well, Orms would look like a blue, like a gemstone or geode or rock, like the sending stone. He does have a phone. I like that. Technically, you do have a phone. like gemstone or geode or rock, like the sending stone.

He does have a phone. I like that. Technically, you do have a phone. Speed dial. Calls one person. I can go. No, you go. I'm still thinking.

It would just be, I mean, I'm a big fan. It would be the classic phone, clearly with the screen cracked. And just duct tape rack, just to keep the whole thing together. Really, really nicely, very, very concisely duct taped rack to keep it just a little bouncy so it would be okay. Nice. I like that. It works great. Great for everything. Fractured. Laura?

Amagens would be full. Horse Girl. She would get a screen grab of Flora and blow it up and would get a screen grab of Flora and like blow it up and then like

get a custom case printed with her face on it. Would it be like the ones that have like the liquid glitter that like you taught and you're like

Yes. Okay, cool. She'd probably have glued some little charms on there too, you know. Like the little on the hanger?

Like the little like fake cake icing? Mm-hmm. I want a case like that. Oh, yeah, that'd be great. Yeah. What would Lord Eshteross's phone look like? Other than covered in blood.

Would it be like an old Nokia? It's a Blackberry. Oh, wow, actually. Hold on, someone's paging me. I mean, yeah, honestly. It's a Blackberry. Oh, wow, actually. Hold on, someone's paging me. Yeah, honestly. It's a blackberry, isn't it? I'll say a blackberry, but like the little stylus is made of silver

with a little ball on it. Oh my God, yes. Respect. It's pretty slow. Respect. Thank you, Rum Z and Lord of Walmarts for your excellent questions. And if you have an evergreen question

for our Tower of Inquiry, you can enter it at critroll.com slash tower. You're off the hook. For now. I hate you, Liam. And with that, let's slide into the deep end. Daddy! What fondries do you have for us on this cozy evening?

Well, I got tankards full of them. Oh, right, right, right got tankards full of them. Oh, right, right, right. Tankards to go with the mugs. And I feel so cozy. I think we should have pajama foresight at night. I think we should have pajamas. Daytime clothes is for suckers. We're going to take turns pulling questions

from our lovely tankards. And since I'm the tavern keeper, I'll be kicking this off. So I'm gonna reach in and pull a piece of paper out. Let me see. In regards to Ashton's conversation with him, how is Oram handling the weight of being the good one among the powder keg that his bells hells?

You know, not that I think Oram's not perfect at all. No. Plenty of problems, but everyone at the table keeps going like, he's going to crack, he's got a secret. I don't think so. He's just trying to do right. You're a good guy.

He's just an average guy trying to do right by doing 300 crunches a day, 200 pull-ups. That is definitely not compensating for anything or some sort of weird complex. Egg whites, lots and lots of egg whites. Yeah, that's not a complex at all. He can't do anything except for run and jump. And stab. And play.

And shove. Orm's feeling really, really overwhelmed by all of it. But it doesn't matter because he has a job overwhelmed by all of it. But it doesn't matter because he has a job to do. He's going to do whatever he needs to do. As hard as it is,

he really cares for this group. Yeah, they are all fucking crazy. But I don't think he sees a way forward without them. And he overheard all kinds of stories. I just imagine him being like a Secret Service agent outside the door, you know, in the White House and just overhearing bits of conversation

and hearing Keyleth and Percy like reminisce while they talk about, while they squabble over some sort of like, you know, inter-people squabble, that kind of thing. And I think he's finally thinking like, man, this must be what that's like. All those conversations he overheard. He really felt like a failure when Odahan fucking pinned him to the ground and killed him. Like him going out was like, I've totally failed.

Everyone important to me and the people around me. It really sucked. It really felt awful. But he's a dutiful little guy and is born to serve and wants to serve his people and his family and his husband and now his friends. So he has a little panic attack that he keeps to himself. He doesn't share a ton. He just kind of keeps to himself and just soldiers along. That's it.

Good answer. Do we, what do I tell you guys? Laura, pull a question for your cup. You could do that or you could go around in a circle. Let's go in a circle. Pull a question for your cup. I feel like I'm getting picked on tonight. You are.

You are the leader and you can go however you want to. Technically. Pull a question for me. I'll come, Laura B. Was waiting for it. Imogen's mother is alive! Oh. How is she handling that news and the fact that her mother won't see her?

Well, it's good and it's bad. I think Imogen is a little, like Orym, overwhelmed at the minute. Like, everything that's happened in the last couple days is just, like, nonstop good and bad and good and bad. And, like, I think I said in game, like, I'm not going to let that bother me because Ladna is alive right now. And it just feels like a roller coaster of emotions, like something terrible to something amazing to something amazing to something terrible. Through it all, I feel like at any minute in her brain, she feels like she might just break again, and she doesn't know how exactly it happened with Odahan and kind of wants to embrace whatever power that was that was unlocked within her,

but also at the same time doesn't know what that means. So yeah, it's just a lot of uncertainty right now. I love Imogen as a character. So, thumbs up. I find myself wondering what I would do if I were in her shoes. Like this ability, this power that is like surging in her is scary. And obviously is like tied to things beyond her. So much bigger than her.

So like part of you would be like, this is, I can't go down this road. It feels like I'm going to like crash into a wall at some point. But at the same time, how could you not? Want to explore that? Yeah. And like, I don't know, it would just feel like you couldn't deny fate

or your future or your mother or your, like, how could you not follow that road to the end to understand? Sure. Even with doubts of... But, like, everybody, so, like, you see this huge power in front of you, but everything that's been set before you to say what this power is, is telling you how terrifying and bad it is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right? And so you feel like, like, she feels like if she goes down that path, she will become a

villain. But she wants to see what it means. She wants to see why that would happen. So, yeah, it's hard. I like the conflict within. Mmm. I like it, too. I like turtles. I like turtles.

Alright, going in this is such a fun thank you tanker I'm so pleased with you yeah uh Ashton had a lovely

conversation with Orim about asking for help and pressure from the group what made them want to reach out to Orim and what did they mean by finally having some introspection

um okay a little bit of backstory, because why not? Stuff that may never come up in game, so I'll just bring it in. Orym is the reason that Ashton joined the group. Flat out.

Because of the, it's not as sweet as you think it is. No, it's because of who you work with. It goes to the word Ashari. Ah, he said the word Ashari. And that was immediately, he was like, okay, I'm in. Because that is as close to the word that Ashton knows about where they came from as they have. It's the first time he ever heard it.

I was like, all right, I'm going to get in and figure out what the fuck's going on. Because this is the first thing that has vaguely connected to my past on any level. So I'm in. And that was the original reason for sticking around and basically collecting some friend tokens from everybody. So that eventually when it was time for me to get my shit, I would have people who owed me. And then your shit went down and everybody died. And Ashton very reasonably started booking. You were the one that succeeded in the plan, really. Yeah. And then halfway through, stopped and went, fuck. And then everything went to hell.

But had at that moment realized that, shit, I'm actually invested. This is really awful. God damn it, this is really uncomfortable and hateful. So yeah, it's mostly been Ashton at that point trying to come to terms with actual human relationships or humanoid relationships. It's fantasy, it's hard. with actual human relationships or humanoid relationships. It's fantasy, it's hard. So yeah, it's just been an awful lot of,

I suppose I have to remember how to do this from back when I was healthy-ish. So there's been a lot of like, I'm going to have to actually talk to everybody and actually figure out where everybody is and remember how to not just assume that everyone was going to leave and, like, you know, have an opinion.

So that was the first one, was just making sure that the original person that kind of he was not taking advantage of, but was definitely, like, the person he was going to want to be indented to, that they were trying to, like, set that right to begin with, and also recognizes pressure. I loved Ashton coming over. I feel like the two of them have,

like, quietly been becoming more supportive of each other, particularly when they're in the middle of the shit. Yeah. Almost like a locker room talk. Just, are you good? Yeah. Okay, okay, you're over there. These women are crazy. Do you have eyes on that one on that one okay i'll take this one yeah quite a bit uh yeah that and like ashton's a little you know slow to physical contact so it's definitely been like okay okay we're we're good this is good i'm i'm you know slowly getting into that so yeah and you let that out uh at the table too and i and I remember as I'm going like then just retracing every memory back before then going oh

got it that's why the mask got grabbed immediately with some smack yeah I was like nope nope don't like it do not touch but yeah once someone's been around for a while it's like okay occasionally like that too hard but you know and again also said before,

fighting is when that turns off. Feels fine when you're punching somebody. Anyway, that's my, your turn, Mr. Parker. All right, all right. I pull in, start a dungeon master. Matt, what was the inspiration for the Gorgina and what is it like to get to explore a society of werewolves? More than just werewolves. No, the inspiration, like in my mind,

originally when I was kind of creating the Clariat Orders, like I imagined them, you know, to a degree scattering a little bit throughout the world as just time goes on, and, you know, some of them feel the need to help others who suffer under darkness, suffer under curses, suffer under, pardon me, in this case, like, entropy. Almost, like, pulled a Rick Sanchez there and was like,

that'll be good. It's about to turn. But yeah, so, like, that was just a loose thought in the past. And then when Chetney came into reality from Travis and kind of created this lycanthrop, you know, bloodhounder character who was traveling specifically to Marquette through his backstory,

it gave me the opportunity to build one of those offshoot societies, one of those small clans of, you know, previously of the Clary Order, but have now forged their own path on a distant continent. And what it would look like when they take the teachings from one culture that pertains to this one continent and then abscond from that area and kind of begin to create a new path on their own. So this is kind of like a variant aspect, a mutation of the Clari orders that has now been subsisting here in Marquette. And even they're like moving from place to

place until they find a place that they feel they can belong. And they found that in the gloomed jungles of a Shenador. And so like, it was really cool to kind of just in my mind discovered the logic behind its development, how they exist in this space and with other nearby societies. And to finally get an opportunity to kind of dig into that a little bit. It's been a lot of fun. And it's also like, one of the things I really enjoy is taking facets and elements that you guys tossed me in your characters' journey. Their goals, the things they're seeking.

And I said, for some of you, it's backstory. For some of you, it's personal things you're looking towards. For some people, it's mysteries that hang in their life or mysteries of the narrative that they're very invested in. And nothing makes me happier than taking a part of that and then finally getting to kind of like tease it and reveal it or put it in front of you and seeing that glimmer. And Travis, probably more than most, lights up like a lighthouse

whenever something gets thrown to him finally. And Chetney also is like, he's the long game character. You know, all of you have had facets of your story that have been very deeply built into the now and the story, you know, between like the Ershari and Keyleth and kind of like the narrative with the assassins. Like, you know, Orm definitely has a backstory that ties into, tragic as though it may be,

tied into the mainstream narrative here. You definitely have that, you know, it may be, tied into the mainstream narrative here. You definitely have that. Laudna, maybe not the main narrative, but also has had a very strong tether to her patron, and they've now been able to explore facts. Everyone's really had moments, you know, firm with her family. Everyone's kind of had elements of their story that's been very tied into this,

has kind of kicked into it, except for Chetney, because the narrative of his history is he's stuff in the past that's a long ways away, and now I'm just working towards this one goal here if we manage to pass by it. And so for me, it's a joy to finally get to, like, dig into something Trav-centric and kind of watch him get excited,

watch him just, like, become like a child on Christmas morning. You know. Trav. Travis can be super patient. Oh yeah. And it's fun to see his number. What, Taliesin? Are there wereherbivores? No!

There's no werecows. What about werepredators? Were sloth? They just eat shoots. There were at one time that they got eaten by the werewolves. Herbivores are predator to plants. That's true. Thank you. That's true.

I just acknowledged it. The screaming grass. Yeah, call that the Henry Crabgrass. Yeah. All right. We're going to do another round. Poor Henry.

That's where it gets at! We're going to do another round of in-depth questions. Oh, do it. I'm so happy the campaign has gotten to, like, the darker turns and the characters have been together long enough to know each other and care.

It's getting juicy, guys. Who would you kill first? Yeah. Fun questions. It was Orm's mind that Odahan read to discover that their patron was Lord Eshteross. How is Orm handling that in the wake of his death? Well, add it to the pile.

Because everyone's dying. I mean, he's a swordsman. He does not have any kind of magical defenses. He doesn't understand any of that. So he doesn't really blame himself for having his mind read. But they didn't get back fast enough. They didn't reach out.

Yes, we did. Did we? Yeah, yeah, yeah. My memory is like a fucking iron trap. Yeah, we told our shrews that there was somebody coming and he was like, I am very well protected here. You're right, yeah. Yeah, but he basically was like,

look, if anyone's coming after me, there is no safer place for me here. And if they get me here, there was nowhere else I would be safe. They would have gotten me anywhere. Yeah. So he basically, like, in an odd way, he began to believe it was his past catching up to him. And so he was sort of, like, facing it as like, well, if it's going to be this, let it, I'll, I'll need such an in. Can we get, I want like an Eshteross story.

I want to like, and I want to see that moment when he's like standing his ground in his house. Honestly, I love Eshteross and there's a whole bunch about his like backstory that never really came up. And like, I hope to talk about it at the end of this campaign, but like he's. The young hop prequel. Yeah. He's got a story in history.

Oh my god, can you imagine how hot he would have been? So fucking hot. He's pretty hot. That was way louder than I had intended it to be. I didn't mean to make Orc Daddy, but I'm here for it. It's cool. Oh, Orc Daddy. I love Orc Daddy.

He's pretty rad. I like that story so much. I'm sad he's gone. Last thing I'll say's pretty rad. I like that story so much. Who said he's gone? Last thing I'll say for Orm is I think that he just looks at, not that we're in an open war, but it's just, it's the cost of war

and it's not easy and people that you care about fall. And a lot of people have fallen for him and it's still happening now. So, you know, he's just caring for it. That's it.

Would you like to answer a question for the people watching at home for Christmas? Wow, I can't do that. Emma Jen has shown an ability to control her dreams, or at least her actions in her dreams. What does she think of FCG's idea that these dreams could be of her own making? I don't think that's true. She thinks that's stupid. Good question. Smile or die?

Yeah. Nah. Nah. Nah. Nah. Nah. Nah. I think her mind is an open doorway and things fly in and out.

I think that's what I think, too. I think she thinks there are other people that are having an effect. Oh, no, what if FCG's right? It's fine. It's not in her control. You're Imogen, not you, maybe you two, Imogen is a, like Charles Xavier or Jean Grey, is a triple A global level empath in the making, telepath in the making.

Oh god, that would be so cool. Reaches all the way to the moon! That would be amazing! I'd love to be a good telepath. Your turn, sir. Yep, yep. Your paper. That's all right.

Well, Ashton referred to themselves as a person who was professionally left behind, a heartbreaking phrase considering his backstory, and desire not to leave anyone behind. How does the root of being left behind affect Ashton and how they relate to others? Well, get rid of that. Yeah. and how they relate to others. Well, get rid of that. Yeah, boy. It's certainly, that's a big question. It certainly creates low expectations of people, is the easy thing to say.

And it certainly creates a very good situation that until you're way too invested where you can kind of go, well, people come, people go, people die, people don't. It's kind of just how it goes and it can make a very low-impact reality, which is kind of what they've been doing for all this time is working very hard to have

the most low impact reality possible with all of their intimate relationships were just mildly ironic, people you could kind of just be shitty with with the understanding that everyone loved and cared for each other, but just enough distance to make it safe. Everyone understood they wanted to keep that distance, right?

Yeah, it was a whole bunch of people who understood this is the best they get. And, you know, real and intense, but it is definitely designed to make something going wrong hurt a lot less for better or for worse, or in theory, doesn't really work. That doesn't really work, by the way. It's true. Yeah, so it is kind of, yeah, this is a lot of therapy for these characters going on right now.

Yeah, it is. Sure, yeah, you're now in deep impact. Yeah, and yeah, there's a lot of, there's a lot of dark mirrors happening right now in the group of like, oh, oh yeah, I should have taken care of that, shouldn't I? There's a, with an awful lot of dark mirrors happening right now in the group of like, oh, oh yeah, I should have taken care of that, shouldn't I?

There's a, with an awful lot of people. But, gotta get through eventually to almost everyone except Chetney about how much

they really appreciate them and care about them. And, you know, Chetney knows. Chetney's fine. I love Chetney so much.

Chetney's a ridiculous old man. Matthew, another one. Then we're going to do one more quick round all the way around. Speed round? This is not the speed round. This is the end of the regular round. Matt, Bell's Hells are on their way to Eos. What hints can you give us about this new city? Oh, yes.

Eos, the City of Flowing Light. Flowing Light? City of Flowing Light. Flowing Light? City of Flowing Light. You just made that up. No, actually, that's the title. It has a few titles, but the City of Flowing Light is the main known one. Yeah, it's a very illustrious city

in the middle of the Gloom jungles. It's built on a lake, like in the middle of a lake. Ooh. And is... Matt, tell us stories about Eos. It is rivaled only by Ancarelle in its places of learning and its kind of illustrious culture

of kind of open sharing of knowledge and presents itself, though, probably a little more stuffy than Ankarel in a number of ways. It definitely is a little up its own ass, at least the people in charge. Got it. The Lambent Path.

But yeah, it's fun. There is a skyport there, which I think you're heading towards eventually. Eventually. the Lambent path. But yeah, it's fun. There is a skyport there, which I think you're heading towards eventually. Eventually. It is. Yeah, eventually we'll get there. But it is based in largely orcish society.

It's like... Oh, that's right. Yeah. It's a mostly orc and half-orc erudite culture. And yeah, it's fun. I don't want to say too much. It's been built up for so long, I can't wait to get there. It's a fun place.

It's a fun place. I'm excited for you guys to get there. Oh, yeah. All right. Landing round, landing round. Let's get around real fast. I'm going to try to answer as fast as possible, make it a sad one.

Orm was chosen over Laudna for Fern's Revivify. How did that knowledge affect him, and what was it like to see Laudna get resurrected? Orm felt awful about it. And Orym's had a happy life and Laudna had so much hardship and didn't think that she deserved it. And it echoed everything that happened in the past where the important people were gone and he was not. But luckily, it got reversed. Yay, Vox Machina. Tell us about the emotional rollercoaster

of losing Ladna to getting her back. You have 60 seconds or less. What was that experience like for her? I'm just going to start writing y'all specific speed round questions.

No, this is good. Go, go, Laura, go, go. It was really awful. I was sobbing every single day about it. And then she's back, yay. Yay, great. Taliesin. Taliesin, how do you feel about Laudna's resurrection?

Cool. Okay, but really, that might be the next one that gets asked. How did Laudna's death and resurrection affect Ashen? That was the thing to see if it brought back in a divine way, as opposed to Ashen's own very different resurrection. I swear there are other questions in there. I worked so hard. Well, honestly, that's a conversation that's probably going to happen in game.

So I will definitely address that at some point. But, you know, you just want a little hint of it. Yeah, Laudna definitely didn't deserve the terrible things that happened to her. Ashton's feelings on his thing is very different. Anyway, there we go. Yeah. All right, quickie.

All right. Considering Laudna's death, how did it affect you? No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Matt, did you consider bringing in Essek to fight alongside the Mighty Nein? Good question.

Yes. It was less about me and more about what the story, I mean, I had Essek at the ready, but at the same time, this was your guy's adventure, and it was more like if it made sense in the time frame. And Essek isn't sitting in the closet of some, you know, tower somewhere just waiting for someone to call him to come help. Like, he's busy doing his own shit and trying to keep out of trouble.

And especially since it's still very much in that period of him just having narrowly dodged being executed as a traitor to Xhorhas, you know? It's brand new. Yeah, I thought he was in deep and hiding, and it was like, you don't contact Essek unless... For the most part, I mean, like, that's kind of where it's at. Like, he does, like, we talked,

like, he still, you know, visits when it's, when he has the opportunity to do so safely, and only, like, the cage. Oh, my gosh. So, like... Nick Fury can only, uh... Yeah, he's not in a quick grab, like, oh, hey, come help us.

Like that was, you know, but if there was a scenario where somehow shit got really bad in the adventure and you were like the only person who could help us through this is Essek and you had the right thing for me, I had him at the ready just in case. But yeah, this wasn't the kind of story where he like comes and pals with you guys on a ship in the sea to go fight Ukatoa, which was something that was so unrelated

to his experience with the Mighty Nein as well. Like, yeah. I didn't really consider it as something that was so unrelated to his experience with the Mighty Nein as well. Like, yeah. I didn't really consider it as something that needed to happen, but had him at the ready in case something happened where he suddenly was needed. How did Essek feel about Lothan's death? You know, it didn't really affect him that much. Strangely.

God. He was busy making muffins. No, but also, you know, I'm glad that towards the end we were able to bring him into the narrative for a little button. That was nice.

A lot of new things happening in this window of time. Yeah. Yeah, still a very fresh end to the campaign when this came around. So that was my innocence. Six months isn't that long.

No, that's like the very beginning of Essek and Caleb. Especially when you consider like the first three months of it likely where there was a lot of like tying up the loose ends, like starting Yor and Bo's pursuit of the slow chase of tearing down the Cerberus Assembly from the inside. You know, you all, you piecing yourself together. Oh, yeah. Kind of head start, but yeah.

Yeah. And then the rest of you just kind of like establishing your time in the sea. Like, it was a, yeah, it was a short window. Ford still hasn't proposed. What the fuck? You hear that, Travis? He's been carrying the ring around in his pocket, though, for like three months. He thinks he proposed already

because I'm wearing the fire ring. I think. Afraid of sea creatures and commitment. He thinks he feels like he did. That's just a class ring, though. Yeah. Technically, y'all only started dating towards the end of the campaign.

We've only been dating for like seven months. Yeah, like seven months. That's not a very long time. It's true. I feel like even for Jester, that's not like a long time. But we are living together, apparently. You are. You know what will make you feel better, though,

is getting up to pull from the Tower of Inquiry again. Ladies and gentlemen, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah. It is time to watch Laura sweat for a third consecutive time. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you. Are we going to have to make a rule after this? The Terrorists mind because the retribution will be complete. This is how dogs get stopped from playing basketball

in the future. If they do it once, then someone has to write a new rule to stop them from playing. You're gonna have to write a handbook for this. It's like the way Sandman had to change the rules. You know the rules. Someone, Laura, pulls from the tower, and we will answer the question

coinciding with the block. Laura pulls. the tower, and we will answer the question coinciding with the block. Badass. You have only made her more powerful. She didn't even flinch. I don't even know why she's mad. I'm just building her legend. This is a fun one. Oh, yeah, do your thing, and then I'll ask it. Tower of Bailey.

It's getting so tall that it's also hard to reach up there and not, I don't want to grab the table. It's going to shake. I'm on tiptoes, that's not cool. Okay. I believe in you, Air Bud. Oh god. Okay, this is fine. I'm pulling it out. That was the easy part apparently. Everything's fine. Okay, this is fine.

I'm pulling it. That was the easy part, apparently. Okay, stop shaking. Yeah, stop shaking. You've got this. Yeah, you've got this. This ain't nothing. Laura Bailey only wins.

Whoa. Laura Bailey don't give a fuck. I'm going to sit down because you're going to do it again. What's that question for us, Nanny? If your characters were dragons, what items would be in their horde? From A Immortal Trapped in the Astral Sea from Tumblr. Our characters are dragons.

Yeah, that's the Astral Sea, buddy. Oh, God. I don't even know if I should mention this. I have a friend who came up with a weird mini-game of serving a dragon who's a bit of a hoarder, and the whole mini-game is just using persuasion checks to get the dragon to let go of things that are clearly not treasure. Sorry.

Oh, no. That was the darkest. Yeah, that was a really fun, dark idea. I did not take credit. That was a friend of mine. But yeah, I don't know. It's just a lot of stuff that they should probably get rid of. I think that just things that are really not useful.

Strain. Packaging from iPhones. Not the iPhone, but like the packaging, just in case. You never know. Yeah. Caleb Dragon would sit atop a massive pile of flame-retardant books. Orm would be on a massive,

Orm Dragon would be on a massive pile of pies. And Vax would sit on a horde of days in the sun. Aww. That's so sad. Percy would sit on top of a giant mine full of money and magical rocks. Oh, wait a minute. I am a dragon. Yeah, Vex too. Just classic. Living the dragon life. have ex too. Yeah. Just classic.

Living the dragon life. Classic dragon life. Yeah. Jester obviously would be on top of a horde of sweets. Just all candy, donuts, sugary cakes. Delicious. I can't think of a single thing Imogen would want to... Got a horde of treats. Someone would try and sneak in there Bilbo style and grab one

and it just wouldn't move because everything's just stuck together like old candy like hard candy it's not been like wrapped up so they've kind of like condensed together it's just been warm enough that they've just started just a dragon just kind of licks the sides of it until it becomes one solid thing

Candy Mountain she'd be the cutest, though. Candy Mountain. She'd be the cutest dragon. Candy Mountain. Good dog, Candy Mountain. Would Imogen Dragon just be in a giant horse corral, nuzzling horsies? Aw. Pile of them.

Pile of horses. Pile of horses. Fine. Imogen Dragon would live out in a pasture. All right, I know. Yeah, she'd live out in a field of flowers is where Imogen Dragon would be. No.

I like that. That's a good question. Okay. What do we do? I didn't say anything. Look, she just went. Don't let me stop you. No, no, no, don't. She clearly wants to pull another brick

from the Tower of Terror. I just assumed if you want to change things up. Laura, would you do me a favor and ask me to pull a block from the Tower of Terror? You can do it, Matt. You can do it. You can do it, you can do it. No, you know what?

It's okay, it's okay. I know you can. This is valid. It needed to happen. Well done, well done, well done. It's the Tower of Inquiry. Matt is very good at this game. Terror, terror, terror. No. Terror. Don't, just don't smack it. Well done. Well done. Well done. It's the Tower of Inquiry. Matt is very good at this game. Terror.

Terror. No. Terror. Don't. Just don't smack it. It is. Don't do it. We just shook just by. Oh, don't breathe, Matt.

No, this is. One hand. You can't do it with two hands. Is that a rule? That's the rule. I was doing it with one hand the whole time. I thought you were just trying to show off. It's better with one hand anyway.

Shit. Oh, God, it's shaking. Oh, my goodness. This is bad, y'all. This is nervous. Oh, no way. No. That's not a good one.

That's not a good one. Is that illegal? Do we know that's illegal? No, it's just top three. It's three from the top. This is the fourth or fifth down. Four down, center, loosey-goosey it all? This counts.

Yo. Ooh. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. We have a lava, we have a lava. Gotta do the heist move. Oh, man. That's a problem.

It's gone. No, no. We're good, we're good. I got this, y'all. It's the remaining balance I'm worried about. Oh my God. Number, number, number. 36.

The whole thing shifted. Oh God. Whoa. How? Whoa. Wait, are we done? Whoa. How? Wait, are we done? Are we done?

Does that mean the next group has to? No, no, no. What are you talking about? I run this show. No, no, no. What's the question? Here, but Liam, Liam, Liam, wait. What's up?

Let me propose something to you. What's up? What's up, bestie? If we don't, if we stop pulling from the tower now, then the next group, whoever does Foresighted Dive, is gonna have to suffer the consequences of our actions. Right.

You're asking me to band together with you and turn on them. Yes. I'll take it into consideration. What's our question, Danny? It's Madman Hell. Oh, no. I like it. Is it a big challenge to keep elements of your character's backstory from other players until the reveal in-game?

From Fergal Gorman. Good question. What was the question? I was looking at the tower. Is it hard to keep our secrets or backstory? Backstory secret from other characters. Okay, okay, okay. Well, for me, I only talked to, for Orim, I only talked to Marisha because I didn't want to step on her toes with her idea of the Ashari and Keyleth as a leader and all that. So I spilled the tea completely. That's out of the ordinary.

I prefer delighting and or disappointing my friends at the table. No, not hard. No, I prefer, like, the in-game talks are too much fun. It's just like, sometimes there's some stuff where I'm like, ooh, ooh, this is cool, but it's always just more technical. I enjoyed briefly talking to Travis about Bloodhunters.

That was fun. You know what? Answer the question. Two things. One, I have to take a wee. I know that's out of the ordinary, and I'm the host. Two things. One, I have to take a wee. I know that's out of the ordinary and I'm the host. I'm sorry. And two, when I'm gone, please pull another brick from the tower. No, I'm not going to do it.

I'm not going to do it. You're not going to be here. You can't make me do anything. I'm the host. She can't defy me. I'm going to go urinate. Watch me. If you're not here, I'm not doing it.

Pull that brick! I mean, I... I do have a hard time not sharing my backstory, by the way. Just because I like to gab. Who do you talk to, Travis? I don't do it, but it's really hard not to. Oh, I see. I misunderstood. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I just, I really like, like as I'm thinking things through, like, ooh, you know, it'd be cool. And yeah, I want to tell somebody those things. You can always tell me. Can I? Yes! That's where I dump many of those things. You can always tell me. Can I? Yes. That's where I dump

many of my secrets. Taliesin tells me all of his secrets. That's actually a really good idea because then if our secrets overlap, because like,

you know, you want to make sure you're not stepping on anybody's toes, but I could just tell you and you would know if I was stepping on anybody. It's true.

I'm here for you. Also, I just like knowing secrets. She does. I don't blame you. I'm a big fan. Guess what? What? Viewers at home, I'm like knowing secrets. She does. I'm a big fan. Guess what? What? Viewers at home,

I'm not going to pull a block. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Ooh, wow. Resistance from within. Is that... No, I feel bad. We're not going to fight you. We're going to let it... Look, systems that are ineffectual are meant to be challenged and crumbled.

I'm here for the interior mutiny. Much like towers are meant to be crumbled. Laura, you don't have to pull a block if you don't want to pull a block. I'm going to go ahead. I'm overruling the tavern keeper. You've pulled like seven now. Yeah, it's a lot.

It's so many. We can just let it go by. It's okay. Save the thing on the plopter and then we can pretend it just... Yeah, we can just tell... He's not going to watch the show. He's not here. He's not going to watch the episode.ter and then we can pretend it just died. Yeah, we can just tell. He's not gonna watch the show. He's not here.

No way. He's not gonna watch the episode. Just tell him that we did it. We can make up a question. We can? Yeah. And we can just tell him that I did it? Yeah, we can just tell him that you did it.

We won't. Let's all together tell him that I did it and I was good. Yeah. Wow, look, the tower looks so different. I can't believe you pulled that off. Amazing. That was amazing.

Wow. That was crazy. Oh my god. I can't believe you pulled that off. Amazing. Holy shit. Wow. That was crazy. How is that thing still standing? I'm Gormin! Amazing. Such a clutch move. Amazing.

Thank you, immortal. Oh shit, what does it say? Thank you, immortal in the Astral Sea and, oh wait. That was last. Faragol Gormin. Faragol Gormin Faragol Gorman. Remember, if you have a light and frothy question for our Tower of Inquiry, I'm such a bad host,

you can enter it at careerworld.com slash tower. Tower. Tower. Tower. Tower. And Liam still isn't back from the bathroom, so maybe we should just take a break. Yeah.

Go ahead and take a little. Awoo! Awoo! Awoo! What the fuck is this? What is that? Awoo! What? What is... Well, how old do you do?

Oh no, the glasses. Over there, guys. A real wolf. Look at that. He's so cute. Definitely. He's so cute. Jaffe, I am no ordinary wolf. I'm the Winter's's so cute. Definitely. He's so cute. Jaffe, I ain't no ordinary wolf.

I'm the Winter's Crest Wolf. Clearly. Winter's Crest Wolf. What does that even mean? Yeah. Well, you know, I don't want to brag, but I travel around from town to town retelling the epic tale of Winter's Crest.

Would you curtain climbers like to learn the true story? Ooh, a suspicious Lordrop. I'm always into suspicious Lordrop. Let me just put my hat on. There we go. Use your glasses. Original Women's Cross hat. Can I fix?

I want to fix his little glasses. I'm keeping notes. I'm judging. Could you? Because I'm farsighted. Yeah, hold on. Let me fix your glasses, Wolfie. Yeah, thank you.

Wow. You're very lovely. You're so cute, Wolfie. You're very good with that tower. Thank you. All right, all right. Take your seats, kids. Get ready for story time.

I didn't fix him, did I? Nope, nope, nope. Blast her off. So, here we go. Long ago, this elemental mage named Everon the Rhyme Lord blanketed Tal'Dorei in an eternal ice and winter. Oh man, he was a real SOB and was trying to make the roads

more slick for the classic hot rods. I think these animators didn't want to animate mouth flaps. This is very... Oh man. I'm into cars. Wait, cars in Exandria?

No, there's not cars. He's kidding. There wait, cars in Exandria? No, no, there's not cars. He's kidding. No, there's cars. There are no cars in Exandria. Yes, of course there aren't cars. We're talking hot rods, man. Thank you. Tal'Dorei is home to some of the slickest rods

in all of Exandria. Get with it, Mercer. You're trying to tell me you've never eyeballed a three-window little boy deuce coupe with a traditional chop cruising around Whitestone? Hot. Yeah, that's what I thought.

So, anyway, this guy Everon, he's making Tal'Dorei his own icy parking lot for his rods, right? And hey, but I gotta admit, a lot of them were real cherries. I mean, top shelf shit. But you know, it's still a drag and all.

So anyway, everyone's flipping their lids because Taldori is looking like Antsville with all these rods. So someone's got to step up to Averon. But who and how? That, boys and girls, is where the big man in red comes in. Santa Claus, 13th Prime Day. Oh, no. Okay, no, okay.

That's not correct. Santa Claus is not canon in our world. That is not. I won't let this happen. Not on my watch. Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, Kevin Sorbet. No.

This is... Santa Claus. David, leave a heart technique over there, buddy. Continue, please. Santa Claus is 100% a part of the story. Are you kidding me? This guy changed the game? Oh, my God.

So Big Red would usually just pound this guy. But Tal'Dorei Law is, you gotta settle it on the track. No. So he knows he's gotta race him. Santa does what he does best. He gooses it right through the divine gate and pulls up on Everon. Magic. And let me just take the time to say Santa was a

real screamer. Has a real screamer. I mean. Santa was a real screamer. He's rocked. Hey, don't let me, don't get me started talking about what goes on. But he's hot rod. I mean, this thing could really burn rubber. He had a red 32 high boy roadster with the French front and baby moons. A real lead sled, you know what I'm saying?

This is so cool. I didn't know Santa was a prime deity. And that he was into hot rods, too. That's amazing. God, the worlds you build, they're so expansive. It's like just, there's so much to see. Why didn't you tell us about this earlier? So here they were.

Santa Claus and his lead sled. Everon in his icy blue 51 Hudson Pacemaker. With the California top and dog dish hubcaps ready to rip. Everyone from Craig, Hammer, and Singorn is here to cheer on Big Red. Hoping he's going to thaw out Tal'Dorei and Everon once and for all. And just like that, bang! The shot rings out, and they are off the line. Everon gave Santa the hit, but it wasn't much.

His rod is just too fast. He tears the road up behind him and takes the lead. Santa is close behind, trying to agitate the gravel. They're swinging in and out of turns, digging into icy roads, trying to get in each other's way, What? Santa's a screamer. only has one more chance to finish this. Little does Averon notice, Santa has an extra trick in his bag. The druids earlier hopped Santa's sled and rigged it with kits. Santa hits the gnaws and the flamethrowers

blast it right through to Averon to take the lead. Averon's engine is completely grenaded. I mean, the transition is completely launched. And Santa whizzes across the finish line and puts the gap on A Everon once and for all and That kids is the story of why we celebrate Winner's Crest So next time you're putting up lights and sipping on your hot cocoa You just remember the kits Santa was spraying on that fateful day. Man. All right, I should haul ass outta here.

I'm real gone with this local dolly and hoping for a game of backseat bingo if you catch my drift. I don't. Later, squares! Hello! Goodbye, Winter's Crest Wolf. No.

And your glasses. And we love you. Thank you for making Tal'Dorei so cool. So cool. I hate everything about this. That was a... All right, folks. Now that we all know the true meaning of Winter's Crest,

we're going to take a quick break and reflect on it. But don't go too far, because when we come back, we're going to be doing a little gift-giving exchange game, but with a four-sided twist. Ooh. I don't know what that means. I don't know either. But we're doing it. That's the win break. Ooh.

That's it for the podcast version of this episode of Foresighted Dive. In the video version, we wrap up each episode by playing some games, which don't always translate well to an audio-only format. Honestly, it's mostly yelling, truly. So be sure to check out the rest of the episode via the VOD for the full chaos. If you've enjoyed this deep dive into the campaign,

be sure to drop us a rating and a review on whatever podcast platform you're using. Your thoughts may just encourage a new critter to take the plunge. Foresighted Dive airs the first Tuesday of every month at 7pm Pacific on twitch.tv slash Critical Role and youtube.com slash Critical Role, with the VOD available on YouTube the very next day. And of course, each episode releases right here on the Critical Role Podcast Network one week after the initial broadcast. We'll see you again next month. Buh-bye!