Way of the Swordguy | 4-Sided Dive | Episode 28 Discussing Up To C3109

Summary

Critical Role Podcast Summary: "Way of the Swordguy | 4-Sided Dive | Episode 28 Discussing Up To C3109"

Release Date: October 11, 2024

Welcome to Episode 28 of "Way of the Swordguy" from Critical Role’s "4-Sided Dive." In this special Halloween edition, the team delves deep into the ongoing campaign up to Chapter 3109, exploring pivotal moments, character developments, and intricate plot twists that have captivated both players and listeners alike.

---

Opening Banter and Costume Fun (00:00 - 08:10)

The episode kicks off with the hosts, Robbie Damon, Liam O'Brien, Marisha Ray, and Ashley Johnson, dressed in their Halloween costumes. The conversation is light-hearted, focusing on the creativity and effort put into their outfits. Robbie shares his experience of feeling "kind of tricked" due to last-minute costume changes, leading to humorous exchanges about their character portrayals.

Notable Quote:

• Robbie Damon (04:27): "What if there's an opportunity here to..."

---

Campaign Discussion: Memory Mods and Ethical Dilemmas (08:22 - 26:41)

The hosts transition into a serious discussion about recent campaign events, particularly focusing on the concept of memory modifications ("memory mods") and the moral implications of their characters' decisions. Ashley reflects on Caleb Widogast’s struggles with modified memories, emphasizing how the current mission overrides personal histories for the greater good.

Notable Quotes:

• Ashley Johnson (11:07): "Memory modification had a stank on it."
• Robbie Damon (21:40): "Did you ever roll better as an NPC than when you were rolling that night..."

The conversation touches on the emotional weight of sacrificing friendships and the internal conflict characters face when actions taken in-game reflect deeper ethical questions.

---

Character Arcs and Emotional Weight (26:41 - 57:58)

The discussion deepens as the hosts explore the emotional journeys of their characters, particularly focusing on Orym and Fearne. Liam O'Brien elaborates on Orym’s guilt over actions taken against his father and the ensuing strain on his relationships. Marisha delves into Fearne's struggle with her past and her relationship with her parents, highlighting moments of vulnerability and growth.

Notable Quotes:

• Marisha Ray (28:08): "What if there's an opportunity here to..."
• Ashley Johnson (38:24): "She looks like Taliesin Jaffe cosplaying as Taliesin Jaffe dressed as Ashley Johnson."

These segments reveal the intricate interplay between character development and plot progression, showcasing the depth of storytelling within the campaign.

---

Gods and Cosmic Horror (57:58 - 109:53)

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to discussing the role of gods in the campaign, especially in the context of cosmic horror. Liam O'Brien shares insights into the evolving perceptions of deities in Exandria, emphasizing the unreliable nature of historical narratives and the complex relationships between mortal characters and divine beings.

Notable Quotes:

• Liam O'Brien (58:40): "The gods of Exandria are not the gods of Earth."
• Ashley Johnson (99:28): "I don't want to kill my friend..."

The hosts debate the ethical challenges posed by divine interventions and the blurred lines between good and evil, highlighting the campaign's mature themes and philosophical undertones.

---

Integration of Previous Campaigns and Future Directions (109:53 - 131:54)

The conversation shifts to the integration of characters from previous Critical Role campaigns, such as Vox Machina, into the current storyline. Liam discusses the logistical and creative challenges of bringing established heroes into new narratives, emphasizing the continuity and lasting impact of past adventures on the present campaign.

Notable Quotes:

• Liam O'Brien (119:56): "I'm pumped to bring Vox Machina back into the story."
• Ashley Johnson (130:13): "This feels like the end of an era."

This segment underscores the interconnectedness of the Critical Role universe and sets the stage for future crossovers and collaborative storytelling.

---

Audience Engagement: Tower of Inquiry and Rapid-Fire Questions (131:54 - 133:46)

In the latter part of the episode, the hosts engage with their audience through the "Tower of Inquiry" segment. Fans submit questions related to character motivations, plot decisions, and world-building elements. The hosts provide thoughtful responses, offering deeper insights into their characters' psyches and the overarching narrative.

Notable Quote:

• Marisha Ray (88:32): "How does Fearne feel towards all her various parents?"

The interactive portion fosters a stronger connection between the creators and the audience, allowing fans to gain a richer understanding of the campaign’s intricacies.

---

Closing Remarks and Future Teasers (133:47 - End)

As the episode winds down, the hosts reflect on the multifaceted nature of their storytelling and express excitement for upcoming episodes. They tease future campaign developments, hinting at significant plot twists and character evolutions that promise to elevate the narrative further.

Notable Quote:

• Liam O'Brien (118:27): "It's gonna be so good."

---

Conclusion

Episode 28 of "Way of the Swordguy" is a testament to Critical Role's commitment to deep, emotionally resonant storytelling within the realm of tabletop roleplaying. By intertwining personal character arcs with grand, cosmic narratives, the hosts create a rich tapestry that engages both dedicated fans and newcomers alike. This Halloween special not only celebrates the creative spirit of the community but also sets the stage for exhilarating developments in the ever-expanding world of Exandria.

Transcript

[Robbie Damon]

The kind of burgers you get today tells you a lot about yourself.

[Liam O'Brien]

You're either someone who settles for sad.

[Robbie Damon]

Same old, same old burgers, or you're Edit Carl's Jr obsessed with a tangy OG Western bacon cheeseburger demanding a house.

[Liam O'Brien]

Made guacamole, loaded guac bacon fired up.

[Robbie Damon]

For the insanely hot El Diablo or craving a classic Charbold Famous Star. Give in to your flavored cravings. Do your mouth to Carl's Jr Big.

[Liam O'Brien]

Burger good Burger when it comes to getting your hair cut, don't go just anywhere. Visit the specialists who live and breathe.

[Ashley Johnson]

The styles you love at Sport Clips. At Sport Clips Haircuts stylists undergo special training to be experts in masculine hairstyles.

[Liam O'Brien]

Making them masters of mullets, finessers of fades, and understudies of the undercut.

[Ashley Johnson]

It's easy to have confidence in your look when you're in the hands of a pro.

[Liam O'Brien]

Just another way Sport Clips helps keep.

[Ashley Johnson]

Your head and your hair in the game.

[Liam O'Brien]

Sport Clips It's a game changer hey.

[Ashley Johnson]

There Critter Podcast listeners. We have a special new membership service at Beacon TV where you can get early access to all new podcast episodes including Critical Role. For the first time ever, Beacon members also get things like live event presales, merch discounts, access to a private community discord, and new exclusive series like Critical Role Cooldown. Think of it as our Critical Role land. Head on over to Beacon TV to check it out for yourself and start a seven day free trial. Thank you so much for your support for being a podcast listener and for being a part of our community.

[Liam O'Brien]

Hey there critters. We are so excited to share with you our brand new podcast from the world of Exandria. The Re Slayer's Take. In this audio adventure, you'll be guided through the wild continent of Isilra, home to some of the most dangerous creatures. Here, the Slayer's take is the most notorious monster hunting group in the realm, but when previously slain creatures start returning from the grave, it's up to six misfit mercenaries to band together and reslay these supernatural threats as the Reslayers take. So come follow along these audio escapades as the second coolest monster hunters this side of Exandria battle a growing undead army of dangerous creatures. The party is led by a duo of game masters, George Primavera and Nick Williams, with the main cast including Jasmine Bular, Caroline Lux and Jasmine Shion. Listen to new episodes every Monday anywhere you stream podcasts or become a Beacon member and listen to the Podcast two weeks early and uninterrupted by ads.

[Matthew Mercer]

Welcome to Four Sided Dive, Critical Role's.

[Marisha Ray]

Monthly show featuring a roundtable discussion about.

[Robbie Damon]

The events and characters of our current.

[Marisha Ray]

Campaign alongside a heavy helping of hijinks.

[Matthew Mercer]

Four Sided Dive usually airs the first.

[Robbie Damon]

Tuesday of every month at 7pm Pacific on our Twitch and YouTube channels, with.

[Matthew Mercer]

The VOD available on YouTube the very next day. And of course, each episode releases right.

[Robbie Damon]

Here on the Critical Role Podcast network the following Friday. Let's take a dive, shall we? Welcome back. Yeah. Let's begin the night with our discussion segment. Does this mean I'm hosting? Am I hosting?

[Liam O'Brien]

I think you're hosting a yes.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

Okay.

[Marisha Ray]

That's how it works.

[Ashley Johnson]

Happy Halloweenies, though.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

Happy Halloweenies. We're all dressed up kind of. Yes. I'm not sure. I mean. Well, the next segment is. What the is up with that?

[Liam O'Brien]

Okay, so is this.

[Robbie Damon]

Is that a gentle segue into what we're wearing?

[Marisha Ray]

I mean, isn't it so obvious who each one of us are?

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah. 100.

[Marisha Ray]

So I don't know why we need to tell people.

[Ashley Johnson]

They're excellent. Just like jokes.

[Liam O'Brien]

Good point.

[Robbie Damon]

Moving on.

[Ashley Johnson]

Just like jokes. You spend 20 seconds explaining after the fact.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Those are the best kind of jokes. That's what you learn in comedy.

[Ashley Johnson]

You're just robbed me on Saturday, right?

[Robbie Damon]

Not kind of. I'm actually feeling a little bit tricked in this episode because you guys told me, high concept, low effort. So I made a book, and I have a map and a backpack, and I'm supposed to be a liberal arts major who just got back from a semester in Italy.

[Liam O'Brien]

I think it's great.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah, it's really working.

[Ashley Johnson]

I just can never put the book down.

[Robbie Damon]

I'm like, real person, low effort. You guys. You guys are critical role. You're wearing a wig. You are very.

[Marisha Ray]

What are you talking about?

[Robbie Damon]

This is a real costume.

[Marisha Ray]

This is how I just cut my hair today. This is a lot.

[Ashley Johnson]

This side is. I just look like I'm an Apple. Watch. Guys, here, look. Ready for the. For the bit.

[Robbie Damon]

Yep.

[Ashley Johnson]

Done. Or I'm in Caddyshack. But this side of the table is so much. There is so much information.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

What are you dressed as?

[Marisha Ray]

I am not a be.

[Ashley Johnson]

Wait, I want to guess. Are you Fritz or Kurt from the Von Trapp family? Are you. Are you Ralph Wiggum? Are you. Are you a fusion of you and Taliesin Jaffe?

[Marisha Ray]

I know. Wait, what did you say earlier? You said I look like Taliesin Jaffe's Childhood.

[Ashley Johnson]

You look like Taliesin Jaffe cosplaying. You look like you're cosplaying as Taliesin Jaffe dressed as Ashley Johnson.

[Robbie Damon]

Oh, but auditioning for a trix commercial in 1989.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yes.

[Robbie Damon]

Yes. Okay, I've got it.

[Marisha Ray]

I am. Wait, what is it again? I'm a B movie, not Jerry Seinfeld.

[Robbie Damon]

You're a B movie movie.

[Marisha Ray]

I am Macaulay Culkin and my girl. Get it?

[Liam O'Brien]

Who?

[Robbie Damon]

Spoiler alert.

[Liam O'Brien]

Therapies.

[Marisha Ray]

Therapies. And even when I asked for clarification on the joke, I had to ask twice because I didn't know. Understand.

[Liam O'Brien]

It's perfect.

[Marisha Ray]

It's a B movie. Cause I was like, hey, my girl's not a B movie. I love that movie. But there's B's in it. And then I didn't understand the Jerry Seinfeld part, but he was in a B movie as well, so. Matt.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yes.

[Marisha Ray]

What are you?

[Liam O'Brien]

I am someone with strong opinions of the Last Jedi. No, I am. I am. The prompt was sword guy. And, you know, while you were off getting laid at parties and drinking, I was learning the way of the sword and the other way of the sword.

[Marisha Ray]

It's so spot on. We know this guy.

[Robbie Damon]

I've really worked hard on this show to up the stock of fedoras, and I feel like you're just tanking the stock right now as I can't tank.

[Liam O'Brien]

What'S at the bottom.

[Ashley Johnson]

B.

[Liam O'Brien]

Sorry, my baby.

[Robbie Damon]

Don't do it. Don't do it. I love it. But we're. We're here to. We're here to hang out and chit chat.

[Marisha Ray]

We're here to hang out and chit.

[Robbie Damon]

Chat and have a chill. Have a chill show.

[Liam O'Brien]

Right?

[Robbie Damon]

Because you guys go big on Halloween. Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

Extremely chill.

[Robbie Damon]

Okay.

[Marisha Ray]

Extremely.

[Ashley Johnson]

I think, you know, for the. For the episode of the game where we dress up, we're being a little more labor intensive. That's true.

[Liam O'Brien]

A little bit. Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

Than this.

[Robbie Damon]

This. That's a book.

[Liam O'Brien]

You look far more comfortable than any of us, though.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

You're the winner.

[Robbie Damon]

Well, I am leaning on a backpack. We'll see how long it lasts. All right, well, let's talk about the show a little bit.

[Marisha Ray]

Let's get into it.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah, I mean, I know this is really why people tuned in is to see your My Girl outfit.

[Ashley Johnson]

I gotta take a call. Hold on a second.

[Marisha Ray]

Are we allowed to use it?

[Ashley Johnson]

Okay. No. False line. Go ahead.

[Robbie Damon]

Wait, are you still the Apple Watch? Is that what's happening here?

[Ashley Johnson]

Oh, that's insane. Hold On a second. I gotta take a call.

[Liam O'Brien]

Hello?

[Ashley Johnson]

Wait, hold on, hold on. Hold on a second.

[Robbie Damon]

Hello?

[Liam O'Brien]

Man.

[Ashley Johnson]

Wait one sec, one sec. It's just a second longer. Hello?

[Liam O'Brien]

Stop this.

[Ashley Johnson]

Hey, wait a sec.

[Liam O'Brien]

Stop this madness.

[Ashley Johnson]

I can't talk right now. I'm watching Apples. Yep. Yeah. On the show. Yep.

[Liam O'Brien]

I cannot.

[Ashley Johnson]

Okay, cool. That was Apple. Apple help.

[Liam O'Brien]

Apple care.

[Marisha Ray]

Apple help. Yep.

[Liam O'Brien]

You must stop this. Your universe, Keith Baker, does not abide by this.

[Marisha Ray]

Oh, boy.

[Liam O'Brien]

Oh, this is already great.

[Robbie Damon]

Is there any more structure to this? I don't know.

[Marisha Ray]

I think that's it.

[Robbie Damon]

You guys gave me about as much notice as being the host as you did. What outfit I was supposed to wear?

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah, that's what we do here, okay? We like to keep each other on our toes.

[Robbie Damon]

Let me just put down the map of Barcelona and see what we've got here.

[Liam O'Brien]

What's on the menu?

[Robbie Damon]

Boy, we're supposed to talk about stuff.

[Marisha Ray]

This guy.

[Robbie Damon]

Let me see if I've learned to read yet. Fey fighting with Fearne's Fam. It's alliteration. Woo. I think that's what we're supposed to be in. We're gonna talk about the memory mods a little bit right off the bat.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah. How do we feel, guys?

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

Well, we had such a well orchestrated plan going into all of that and then came out of it and still breathing, I suppose. Don't look to me for answers.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah, I mean, we had a. We had a little bit of. We did have a plan, but that was.

[Robbie Damon]

You were hyper focused on the plan.

[Marisha Ray]

Yes.

[Robbie Damon]

All three episodes.

[Liam O'Brien]

You did your part.

[Marisha Ray]

I was hyper focused on the plan where I almost couldn't get out of the plan. But then when it wasn't going well, I was like, we have to pivot. We gotta do something else.

[Robbie Damon]

It was like someone put you in a box. Like some kind of cage. Yeah, I was like some kind of force cage where you can't get out.

[Marisha Ray]

Yes.

[Ashley Johnson]

It was like you were in a Von Trapp.

[Marisha Ray]

It was like I was in a Von Trapp. I really should have spoken to the manager.

[Robbie Damon]

Oh, yeah, there it is. But actually, we had to mess with those guys minds in order to kind of get our mission done.

[Ashley Johnson]

Boy. It's funny because in the last campaign, the previous campaign, just because the framing of the narrative, like my character, Caleb Widogast.

[Robbie Damon]

Who's that?

[Ashley Johnson]

Caleb Widowgast.

[Robbie Damon]

Oh, okay. I'm not caught up.

[Ashley Johnson]

He's an Apple watcher. He. His whole life was fucked by memories being modified. So memory modification had a stank on it. For the whole campaign. Maybe rightfully so. But this time we're like, we've gotta get the job done. Didn't matter different framing or fuck widow gas. The fate of the whole planet is on the line. So I guess just we're gonna get in there with a whisk and make whatever whisk that shit up recipe happen that we need to have happen.

[Robbie Damon]

Isn't it kind of weird though how like when you're playing a game, the things that you can do in the game are like, you know, fun and silly and goofy or objectively horrible. You can, you can throw someone into a giant ball of flame. You can throw them off a cliff, you can stab them with your sword. But then some things we find objectionable based on like our root humanity. And somewhere in your head you're like, it's wrong to mess with someone's reality.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

Like that is maybe more objectionable than just throwing them into. Freezing them until they burst into pieces.

[Marisha Ray]

Never feels right.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

I think it depends on the surrounding context. Because we've seen someone get hit by a fireball and have it be like oh no. And we've seen someone get hit by a fireball and it's hysterical. It depends on the like the. It depends on if the moment is Tom and Jerry or no country for Old Men. Just depends on the day, I guess.

[Robbie Damon]

I try to watch those back to back whenever they come on. Just get the real palate. Cleans up.

[Liam O'Brien]

Weirdly enough, shared universe.

[Robbie Damon]

Not enough people know.

[Liam O'Brien]

I know.

[Robbie Damon]

Just letting you guys know they're an alien.

[Liam O'Brien]

Go back, go back and look. The clues have been there the whole time.

[Ashley Johnson]

You go back and you just see that air tank with the grownups feet as they walk around.

[Robbie Damon]

I got you in new toy there's.

[Liam O'Brien]

A few Diamond Jerry characters didn't show up after a few episodes. And you wonder, you wonder what happened to Spike?

[Ashley Johnson]

The dog got spiked.

[Robbie Damon]

But we succeeded. I have to know though, Matt.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yes?

[Robbie Damon]

What? Have you ever rolled better as an NPC than when you were rolling that night and it was against his own self interest? You were like a politician of rolling. You were just getting him to slowly kill himself based on his own roles.

[Liam O'Brien]

I know, I want. Look, fades are sticky when it comes to magic. And I didn't, you know, I didn't know what plan you guys were gonna go in there. The whole point of a GM for me is like to set up challenges and maybe think of a few possible victory conditions, but largely just leave it open and see what you guys come up with. And that excites me as a gm. And then sometimes the plan is a really solid plan. And then the crux of it lies on an opponent that you accidentally made extremely resistant to magic. And you have to sit there and hold them down and try and try and try and try and try and try and try until eventually you're like, it.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

It's like, come on. I'm like, I'm in your guide's corner. But also that's how the rules of the game go. And I don't want to ever bend that. So it's like, yeah. And then I don't know why I rolled so well.

[Marisha Ray]

You really did. That was. That was crazy.

[Liam O'Brien]

I showed you. Like, I was like, look, as a.

[Robbie Damon]

Player, I was crushed. The emissary was my boy.

[Liam O'Brien]

I know.

[Robbie Damon]

I thought. I thought he was our linchpin. He was our key.

[Ashley Johnson]

Rough shit happened in this string of.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah. There's been a lot of stuff that has not felt good to do.

[Ashley Johnson]

No, not at all. From. I mean, I know there's different things we want to talk about here. I don't know whether they're talking about all at the same time, but taking out Fearne's dad, just soul crushing crushing. Making it to the arch heart and having been like, it doesn't really matter. Everything you've been doing doesn't really matter. She's like, well, it's split.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

While another God seven seconds ago was like, take this and fight. Like, it just feels like the floor went whoosh.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah. Yeah. No idea what to do. I still don't know what to do.

[Robbie Damon]

Google it.

[Marisha Ray]

Guess that's the episode.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Thanks for joining us. Worst host of all time. It's over in 10 minutes. Well, speaking of something that was potentially painful. Nana and breyess. Damn, that hookup was awesome. Unexpected.

[Marisha Ray]

It was unexpected.

[Robbie Damon]

Where was it? I don't know.

[Ashley Johnson]

I don't know. Sam sees a challenge and likes to tackle it. So that's true. It wasn't that surprising to me, but it was delightful. I just wanna know how things worked with the two faces.

[Liam O'Brien]

I spent a moment contemplating and realized I have far too vivid of an imagination and had to just had to back away. I was like, no. You know, this is gonna be one of those great mysteries of life that I will keep on the outskirts of my brain. Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

I have so many answers.

[Marisha Ray]

I mean, I can think of a couple things for sure.

[Matthew Mercer]

I have answers. Don't worry.

[Liam O'Brien]

I trust Danny.

[Matthew Mercer]

I've already been writing.

[Marisha Ray]

Yes. Give me the smud Dani.

[Robbie Damon]

Oh, man.

[Ashley Johnson]

Back that thing up.

[Matthew Mercer]

The plop.

[Liam O'Brien]

I wasn't expecting that sort of a dynamic with her. But also I love making Sam uncomfortable at his own place. It's fun.

[Marisha Ray]

But I also like the fight between Iraq breas not fight, but just sort of the vying for her attention, which was a fun little bonus that we were seeing.

[Liam O'Brien]

She's a queen, man. Mort.

[Ashley Johnson]

Queen.

[Liam O'Brien]

She owns her realm. She's great. Breus should be lucky.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah. Yes, he should be.

[Ashley Johnson]

Maybe she'll add him to the wall someday. But like his backside.

[Liam O'Brien]

There you go. Yeah. Just other parts.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

You can't see this, can you?

[Ashley Johnson]

No.

[Robbie Damon]

Because that was the perfect segue. No. My God. I don't know. You can watch the apples, but you should watch me. Let's talk about watch of and his recent makeover.

[Marisha Ray]

What do we think, Matt?

[Robbie Damon]

How's freaky?

[Marisha Ray]

That was so cool. It was fucked up. And it was everything that I feel like I would ever want Nana Mori to do. And in that world that was just. It was so dark and I loved it.

[Liam O'Brien]

What's funny is I had written in the breakdown of Ligament Manor in the basement is where she kept her loom. And that's all I wrote about it. I didn't know what it was gonna be until we got there.

[Ashley Johnson]

You were just winging it day off.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah, but that sounds like the start of a great horror short story where that's just the first sentence. In the basement of Ligament Manor is where she kept her loom. And that's enough. You can write a whole short story based off of that. And you did just on the fly.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah, in a horrible, horrible way. I should get therapy. I really do have.

[Marisha Ray]

Did you well on that, did you have any idea that that's where you were going to take it?

[Liam O'Brien]

I know since the previous game had kind of revealed that. Oh, no, no. Because he was still alive at the top of that game. And so it wasn't until he trying to escape and killed on the way to the living manor. So I was like, okay, well they're not gonna be able chance to interrogate him alive unless they really want to try and bring him back. And the consensus was, nah, we'll leave it up to Maury.

[Ashley Johnson]

That was a very fun way to explore all that stuff. And it's one of the things that I love about you because I've said this a hundred times. You're one of the most empathetic, kind, patient giving people that I know. But there's also just this strange, rotten brained gremlin that lives inside a cage at the back of your head. Just the most strange bizar horror and weirdness.

[Liam O'Brien]

You know, I've loved Alien and Predator since I was 8, which explains a lot. And I was very much raised on like dark themes and dark horror fantasy and sci fi media. And I love exploration of terrifying, nightmarish things. I don't mean like grotesque gore things like, you know, I can appreciate that to a point. But I'm not like a big torture porn horror film fan at all. Eli Roth can kiss my ass. And it's on, it's on video. Come for me. I'm ready with two swords.

[Robbie Damon]

He doesn't stand a champ.

[Liam O'Brien]

Trust me. I've been studying since I was a child. Yeah, I've always loved that kind of darker, grim fairy tale aspect of the Fae. Even the Unseelie is dark, but it's very classically the Dark Mirror to the Seelie Court from the Light and the Dark Fae. But Mori sits and Aira as well sit in those weird or nightmarish outskirts that in my opinion are probably more terrifying than anything that Unseelie can create. And the fact that you made a character rooted in that space has just been a lot of fun to explore and show how wonderful and colorful and welcoming and motherly that she can be. Should she have that sort of interesting connection and then how terrifying she can be when it comes to her own devices and those that cross her.

[Ashley Johnson]

God, I love it. Which is so cool about Fearne that she's this like. She's beautiful but so strange herself and like this strange child raised by a very strange parent, parental figure. It's so cool. It's so fun.

[Marisha Ray]

I just. I love it so much. I love it so much. It's such a weird little world that you've just put together. It makes me so happy.

[Liam O'Brien]

Well, it's all based on what you put together too. At the beginning, like Fearne's backstory. You described part of her upbringing and some of the creatures she grew up with. And I was like, okay, yeah, this is exactly where I was hoping you were gonna go. Yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

You had said early on when we were starting this campaign that you wanted to explore elements of cosmic horror and some body horror stuff and get into those darker elements. And having a sequence like that and then looking back on where we've been and what we potentially have to face in the future, do you feel like that's something that you've explored as much as you wanted, or do you feel like you've walked that path and strayed a little bit into more classic fantasy. What do you think at this point?

[Liam O'Brien]

I think honestly a lot of the cosmic body horror stuff really got out in Campaign 2's crescendo. In this it's more cosmic horror in the sense of the grandiose scale of cosmic horror. Entities that are beyond the comprehension of the modern mortal mind. And kind of like the scale of where the gods are from and the cosmology beyond. Just, you know, the ground floor perspective on reality.

[Ashley Johnson]

Sorry. You saying this shit and that get up is just.

[Liam O'Brien]

Sorry. So as I was saying, it was more of an exploration of the cosmic facets of Exandria. I don't know. I don't know if this is beyond you at all. Please let me know if you're starting to feel a little lost. We're talking of extremely intelligent above board themes. Much like Rick and Morty. You have to have a certain level of genius to really understand it some.

[Ashley Johnson]

Wow, you're exorcising all the demons.

[Robbie Damon]

Don't do that to me.

[Liam O'Brien]

I don't give a shit.

[Robbie Damon]

It's Halloween. I've heard it all down.

[Ashley Johnson]

Let me distract with an actual question. So Papa Fae went down. Dragon.

[Robbie Damon]

I've been waiting. I remember him.

[Ashley Johnson]

Oh my goodness. So Zitherda went down and Gloamglut scooped him up. Was Gloamglut about to blast off?

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah, he was going to grab him and flee with him.

[Ashley Johnson]

Okay.

[Liam O'Brien]

And he would have lived to another day and come back to another point like that was. That's the thing too with the scenario that was set up here. The Fey are tricky and not just in their magical aggressions, but they're slippery. So when any opportunity began to arise for them to try and escape through their short form teleports and fleeing, they were going to do so. And that's part of the challenge of dealing with a type of entity like the Unseelie. And so I was from thinking their mindset. It was like seeing when they'd come to consciousness. Utilize that moment, any moment that no one's paying attention to them to try and vanish out, teleport and flee. And that was when it came to him. And Gloamglot was just waiting in the sides for any sign of him leaving the temple. It was just like camouflage into the nearby trees. And I was fully expecting, unless something crazy happened, that he was going to go ahead and get grabbed and then taken away. And then would have been just this looming threat or ally or whatever the hell you were turning him into. As time went on, this. This weird dynamic that was building between the two of you. And then. And that's not how it went down. It was really like interesting and climactic.

[Robbie Damon]

A 400-year-old gnomish toymaker threw a chisel in the back. In his back. Isn't that what eventually took him down?

[Liam O'Brien]

No.

[Robbie Damon]

On the sprint out. No, it was.

[Liam O'Brien]

Well, no, no, no. The sprint made him unconscious, then gloom.

[Ashley Johnson]

So he got knocked unconscious. And what would have happened is he would have done death, but Gloam Glut. Everything about the last couple of episodes has just made Orym feel bad, sad, awful. Like everything terrible. He was hyper focused on Keyleth and the Ashari. And all our allies and friends are about to go mount an assault on this place and a whole second army is going to show up. So the whole time I'm thinking, can't let that second army show up. Everything was about making sure that this situation, this pushing back the unsealing, getting them to leave the situation happen. So the whole time I was like, nobody can leave. Please, all the people who are smarter than me, please think of a magical way or a way to make this happen. It just kept getting worse and worse and worse. And it just kept seeming like someone was going to go. And I was like, that dragon is going to take him. And then I cannot control the message. I can't control. Control what happens after this. So that's why. And I hated doing it. Or Aurum hated doing it. I hate it a little bit. But Orym really hated doing it. And then afterwards was just like. But the mission was to stop anyone from leaving. They accomplished it at cost. Quite a cost.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah. Yeah. It didn't feel good at all.

[Ashley Johnson]

No.

[Liam O'Brien]

That's kind of like part of the growing themes in a lot of this campaign too. When it isn't such a good versus evil easy division. And there are many different interests vying for kind of similar outcomes. And you yourself being put in the position, have to make those choices. How challenging it can be to come to a consensus, let alone to justify how much violence for the sake of the choice to be made or the protection of your friends. That was kind of the intent of a lot of this, and it makes for some really tough choices. And please, if it ever gets too weird or anything gets uncomfortable, once again, please let me know. But it's been really fascinating to explore these more muddled waters.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah, well, you do a great job of when we're balancing the table, not just for that being that many people There, but not just the combat, but giving everyone the opportunity for agency. And that, to me, feels like almost an immeasurable task. Bigger than just making sure everybody gets their moment to fight or to make sure that the encounters are balanced. Like that choice was in your hands for a moment and then later on it was. Or earlier than that. I can't remember struggling with the sequence of events.

[Ashley Johnson]

When he was running, it was Chetney threw a chisel, he went down unconscious. He would have once around, done death saves, but Orym immediately got two of his death saves off. Then it came up on his turn and he rolled and failed the third. And that was it.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah. And then once we got him back, you had to make a choice too, about what was to be done with. Done with. And I think everybody at the table said, that's your choice.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

I don't know if we were going to try to bring him back somehow.

[Robbie Damon]

Nobody can make that choice but you.

[Marisha Ray]

I think that was so hard making that decision.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

So I'm like, well, what if there's. What if there's an opportunity here to. I don't know. There were so many possible ways that could have gone.

[Robbie Damon]

Do you think your. Do you think your player brain and your character brain were competing in that moment? Because somewhere in the back of your head you have to know, maybe I could be totally wrong, but that Matt might have had a bigger plan for dad.

[Marisha Ray]

But as well, that is something that. Taking in where it's like, is there something here that Matt is planning a conversation? I don't want to cut off a narrative yet. That I don't know if there's more to it, which there could be, probably, depending on what our choices were.

[Ashley Johnson]

We had that line for years. Whether, like, oh, is there something that is expected to happen now?

[Marisha Ray]

Yes.

[Ashley Johnson]

Or do I do this thing? My brain's like, this is what you do.

[Marisha Ray]

Yes.

[Robbie Damon]

And ultimately you chose what Fearne would choose.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where I was like, I know, I know. He's not really a great guy. Like, his intentions.

[Liam O'Brien]

What do you mean?

[Marisha Ray]

At least. Yeah, yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

I think you two would hang out the Swordmaster.

[Ashley Johnson]

Does it help us all here and at home? Does it help us if we imagine Zathru wearing this?

[Liam O'Brien]

Yes, I think so.

[Marisha Ray]

It does. It does. Much easier decision, actually.

[Robbie Damon]

Despite the swords, I think this guy might actually be relatively harmless.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

I don't know. You should come up on the weekend and meet the rest of my Polycule. No.

[Robbie Damon]

I immediately have to leave this party.

[Ashley Johnson]

No, I don't want it.

[Liam O'Brien]

I'll Specify it.

[Robbie Damon]

Hey, this would be a perfect. Yes.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yes.

[Robbie Damon]

You're a character. I have a character.

[Marisha Ray]

Yes.

[Robbie Damon]

Great time to change the subject. It's upside down, isn't it? Hey, let's talk about your papa's sweet dragon, who's now, for the moment, a good boy.

[Marisha Ray]

He's a good boy.

[Robbie Damon]

It seems that way.

[Marisha Ray]

He's a good boy.

[Robbie Damon]

Set him free.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah, it was so sweet.

[Marisha Ray]

I just. I feel like. Oh, and Matt, the way you played him and just like all of your noises of just like the. When he would stretch his little jaw out, like just. He was such a perfect little creature. I just loved him, but I felt. It felt weird sort of trying to keep him. I don't know. It didn't feel right. I know in the future, I'm sure we're going to regret not having something that powerful with us, but I mean.

[Liam O'Brien]

I mean, yeah, it could have been a helpful, you know.

[Marisha Ray]

Of course it would have.

[Liam O'Brien]

But at the same time, like, what I saw in your face when you were going through this is like something that has been bound to service for war and violence.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

And then an opportunity to kind of let it make its way.

[Marisha Ray]

And I don't know if he wants to do it anymore.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah. It was very, very sweet.

[Robbie Damon]

But you learned a little whistle, though, right? Like a little dragon. Like a caca.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah, it was like.

[Liam O'Brien]

How'd that go again?

[Marisha Ray]

I don't remember.

[Liam O'Brien]

There it is.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

I know that dragon, though. For months or whatever time is in the fey is going to, like, wake up in the night and be like. And look for his daddy and for you and there's going to be no one there. That's super sad.

[Marisha Ray]

No, but maybe nod, he'll go to his family and get to be a free boy and live and do what he wants to do.

[Ashley Johnson]

Maybe he'll mate with a waterfall and make babies.

[Marisha Ray]

You know what I do feel like really influenced my. Yeah, my decision on that. This is such. Has nothing to do with what was the game, but I watched Chimp Crazy. Anybody watch Chimp Crazy?

[Liam O'Brien]

No, it's Jim crazy.

[Marisha Ray]

Chimp Crazy is a new documentary made by the guy who made Tiger King.

[Ashley Johnson]

Okay.

[Liam O'Brien]

Okay, sure.

[Marisha Ray]

And it's about. It's about chimps. I mean, we shouldn't keep these things. So I think there was a little bit of, you know, it was. It was. There's like a story with that where it's like, such beautiful creatures, but, like, not supposed to have them.

[Ashley Johnson]

Nope.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yep.

[Ashley Johnson]

Kick your ass.

[Marisha Ray]

I was thinking. I was feeling that with gloamblood I was like, I love you, but.

[Robbie Damon]

You.

[Marisha Ray]

Gotta go be free. You don't need a master.

[Robbie Damon]

But you're so dialed into your character, though, that is. That's so on brand. It's not outside of choice. And I have a unique perspective on this because I was away for a while, but for me, that is exactly the fern that started out so innocent. And whatever's led her to this point right now are the same two choices. We did. We did this forever ago, but it was in exu. We were in some bowels of some. Something. I think it was a boat or something. And we came across a horrible creature. Do you guys remember this?

[Liam O'Brien]

I do.

[Robbie Damon]

It was some kind of, like, baby insectoid monster.

[Liam O'Brien]

Giant. Yeah. It was in, like, a crate. It was in a cage beneath.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah. And we had an opportunity to mess with it, and we never did. But all you wanted to do, your first. What was it?

[Matthew Mercer]

Zenon gag.

[Robbie Damon]

There it is.

[Marisha Ray]

Yes.

[Robbie Damon]

Your instinct was to let it free and make it your pet, and it was trying to murder us through the cages. And we all knew we weren't leveled to deal with anything like that. No, but that's so fearne. But that fern that was alive in you when you were just finding her is still there nearing the end, so it's awesome.

[Marisha Ray]

I think there's a lot of just, you know, she was kind of kept in a bubble, and so she very much wants to. Doesn't want anybody else to have to feel that. Even just creatures around her also.

[Ashley Johnson]

Does she? You love furry creatures, but you also love mandibles and.

[Marisha Ray]

What are other words?

[Ashley Johnson]

Probosci. Is that word Antennae?

[Marisha Ray]

All of it. I mean, I personally love animals so much. I think they're so funny. I think they're just such. It's so fun to watch anyway.

[Robbie Damon]

Talk about a seamless segue.

[Marisha Ray]

Watch Gym Crazy.

[Robbie Damon]

I think that moves us on to a new segment here. If my menu provides. I don't know what this is, so I might need some help. This just says Saving Laudna. Do we know what this is?

[Ashley Johnson]

I think that might be.

[Matthew Mercer]

That might be old. It's meant to be about the art chart.

[Ashley Johnson]

An old title that didn't get changed. I think just go with the bullet points.

[Robbie Damon]

This is.

[Marisha Ray]

Okay, okay, listen, I'm gonna just go.

[Ashley Johnson]

With the bullet point.

[Marisha Ray]

It was a special from Another day special on the menu.

[Robbie Damon]

This is just like Comic Con when you left Sam's name up on the scripts. I'm having flashbacks. Incredible.

[Marisha Ray]

That was the best. I forgot about that.

[Liam O'Brien]

Look.

[Matthew Mercer]

Trial by Firing.

[Robbie Damon]

Come on, guys.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yep, we're saving.

[Matthew Mercer]

I just spilled.

[Ashley Johnson]

We're saving Laudna for later.

[Liam O'Brien]

Oh, no.

[Robbie Damon]

Danny.

[Matthew Mercer]

Why did I come in here? Why am I here?

[Robbie Damon]

All right, so that means I need to come up with a new topic on the fly. These have all been alliteration, Fey fighting with firms, fam, memory mods. We're gonna do all about Abu.

[Marisha Ray]

Yay.

[Robbie Damon]

All about that one. That's the new sequence. Yeah. That's literally the next subject.

[Marisha Ray]

Yes, it is.

[Robbie Damon]

Yay.

[Ashley Johnson]

Arch heart eyes.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah. That was awesome.

[Marisha Ray]

How great is he?

[Robbie Damon]

Where did that idea spawn from? When did it happen?

[Liam O'Brien]

So it was actually a little over a month ago. It was after Downfall. It happened and we were just kind of talking and catching up afterward, and he was just like. He was so still, like, buzzing from the experience. And he was asking questions about the cosmology of exandria and, like, where he would be today. And I was like, you know, well, here's kind of the things that are happening right now in modern day exandria with Bell's Hells, and began to describe, like, the dynamic between, like, Predathos and the gods and kind of, kind of what sort of experiences are shaping the gods now versus where they were then. And he kept asking a lot of very interesting questions and having interesting perspectives. And it was each question he would ask for answer for me about how the arch heart would feel about things. I would say, well, how do you think they'd feel? And so as opposed to me just giving him answers, I was like, well, you've lived in his shoes for a bit in their shoes. Like, you know, what would your perspective be as the arch heart on these events in history and how this is happening and what this is? And he kept answering the questions in a very meaningful way. And it began to change my perspective on some of the dynamic with the gods currently, because I'm spending so much in the weeds of larger scale things. And I have my ideas of where certain gods of the pantheon sit on the scale of events happening. But talking with him about the arch heart post Downfall, it opened up even more from what I had initially thought of. And I was like, okay. After like an hour and a half of talking to him and racking up way too long of a long distance bill that Marisha got texted by him was like, what the fuck is this, man? I was like, nothing.

[Marisha Ray]

Who are you talking to?

[Ashley Johnson]

Sorry, is that your polycule in London?

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

He'S never left the state.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah, yeah, that's not true. I've been to Fresno Um, but. But at the end of this conversation, I was like, I have a weird thought. Were there ever to be a moment in the story where the arch heart would commune with Belle's hells. Would you be interested in coming in and writing that? And he was like, don't even. Don't even offer that. Like, do not. Like, that's. I would be there in a second. I was like, good to know. And then the next day, I talked to her. Our producer Kyle, was like, hey, so, weird idea. And Kyle was super down for it. And it was about just getting the budget approved to secretly fly mountain. Let anybody know that was happening. Yeah. And just kind of keep him in the wings. And then me and him, we had lunch the day before for hours and just talked more on the state of the campaign and where things are. And it wasn't me telling him what he's supposed to say or do anything. It was me just informing him the details around it and then asking him how he feels about it and where his position would be and where he would come in on this. And that's kind of where he came to it from the natural mindset of where he felt the arch art would be in the story. And I was like, great. So then here's the only things you need to know about the world where they are, where some of the characters and the rest is up to you. And just kind of let the seat be his for an hour. And he was incredible and so brave.

[Ashley Johnson]

Because there's a bajillion little nuances that Abu has not been privy to for all our time together at the table. And some of us were poking him about those things that he knows nothing about, and he just roll. Rolled with it.

[Marisha Ray]

And with Wild. He's never done that before.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah, he's played many times.

[Marisha Ray]

Never DM'd a lot.

[Liam O'Brien]

Never DM.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

Which is. He was amazing.

[Robbie Damon]

You gave him a great boon in a storytelling standpoint because you made your gods potentially omniscient, but not omnipresent. So, like, if you were to give him a real, like, the idea of a monotheist God that knows everything, then you got a problem with him as your gm.

[Liam O'Brien]

Right.

[Robbie Damon]

But you've got an isolated God that's got a perspective and a standpoint and enough knowledge to answer the thematic ideas, but doesn't have to worry about all the nuance of these players that are trying to poke holes. So granting him that from a storytelling standpoint on, like, a position where you're at, where you have to be like the lore God as well as running the game was a really kind thing to do and he took it and was just rolled.

[Ashley Johnson]

It actually played to the strengths of his God character who all the time was just like, tell me more, darling.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah, so great.

[Ashley Johnson]

You know, we have a Santa Claus sized sack of stellar memorable moments from the history of critical role, but that is easily one of the highlights of the entire decade. It was so shocking. It made no sense that he would be here in the States. Didn't know how in depth or what it was going to be or what you got up and I was like, looks like he's going to get a person. He's not going to get a. And his just his voice and his presence are nah. Incredible. It was, it was such a fun, fun moment was backstage listening to him.

[Liam O'Brien]

And like just kind of cheering on the whole time and just also being like.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah, there is a little bit of that.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah, that warm hug of a vocal texture. Oh yeah. It was so fun. And I'm. It was. You know, there is a certain level of trust that goes in there, but he's also one of the people that comes to such a point of respect and care and has the right training from an actor's perspective to know how to ask about, to build the tent poles of a character's perspective and ask the right questions to fill the places he doesn't feel comfortable in and ask for questions on how to feel comfortable stepping into a space like he did and he just knew the right questions to ask. And yeah, we just, we riffed for hours and at the end of it it was like, yeah, I think, I think you're going to be good to.

[Robbie Damon]

Be able to make that assessment too and to be able to do it, you know, like most of us have, you know, been doing it literally our entire lives or one. But, but, and know a lot of actors, a lot of performers, a lot of creators, but to put someone in that position and ask them to do something like that from an improv standpoint, to do improvised scene work for an hour with a group of other people who do it all the time in the same. That is a massive.

[Ashley Johnson]

I don't think in a universe where so many people care.

[Robbie Damon]

Correct.

[Ashley Johnson]

Correct about it.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah. And to have him go in and not only hold his own, but hold the room in his hand is really, I mean I cannot think of many people who could do it. It's an impossible task and he crushed it.

[Liam O'Brien]

And I wouldn't have asked him. I checked in with him to make sure he Was comfortable with it. So I was like, I know this is a big ask, and there's a lot of potential anxiety and concern around being put in this position. So it wasn't like me pushing him to do it. It was asking him if that was something he wanted to do. And at any point he felt any sort of discomfort and, like, please tell me and either we can scrap it or, you know, what can I give you to help you feel supported in this space? Very little was needed. He just.

[Ashley Johnson]

He reminds me of someone who it is I'm thinking of, but someone I.

[Robbie Damon]

Feel like I'm being watched.

[Marisha Ray]

Being bird watched. Dorian was not a fan.

[Robbie Damon]

Dorian was not. Well, that was an impossible task.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

Because not only was I in love with him in that seat, but the minute I saw him, he was in one of my favorite shows of the last 10 years.

[Marisha Ray]

Wait, and you hadn't met him at all?

[Robbie Damon]

No, I'd never met him before. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, right? He was father and raised by wolves. Right. So that show was one of my favorite. I'm a huge sci fi nerd. That was one of my favorite shows of the last 10 years. I loved it top to bottom. I mean, I just thought it was so criminally underrated when I got pulled. Me too. I thought it was amazing. So when I first saw him on set before, I was like, oh, that's amazing that he's there. And then when you show up in person, I was like. Like, I had that moment of like, yeah. And so. But. But it's a challenge because, like, we have to stay in character. And I'm, like, entranced by him. But, like, my character does, and I wanted to be open, but. But, like, I didn't. I didn't like him and I didn't like the things he was saying. So. So I had to just stay in character. So afterwards I was like, I'm sorry I was so mean to you, Dorian.

[Liam O'Brien]

Dorian brought, like, brought a fire, a combativeness, and not just an aggressive standpoint, but like a. I'm going to challenge the logic of this God's perspective, because I know why I don't believe what he's saying.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

And it was awesome. Like, ah, I love that complication to where, like, certain people will agree and see that perspective and others won't and in the same group, what kind of interesting tension that will sow and.

[Robbie Damon]

Well, but then. But in the end, it worked because in the end, once you got to the nitty gritty of the plan, as long as Our loved ones, from my character perspective, as long as my loved ones got what they wanted and everyone was in agreement, then it feels like, well, maybe that's a fair deal, but it's not my decision to make. But I could, with a clean conscience, go with that route because of what that God said, not because of who that God was.

[Liam O'Brien]

Right.

[Robbie Damon]

So then that's a tough standpoint as a player and as a person, when you're dealing stuff with God. I try not to dip into the chats. I try to stay way out of it. But watching the discourse of people navigating their own conversations on the audience side about the relationship of gods, people conflating the idea of your gods with the idea of religion with the idea of God, God or whatever they may think has really. The conflict among the audience, I think is a positive thing. In a strange way, I completely.

[Liam O'Brien]

Therefore, I agree.

[Ashley Johnson]

It's so messy because people. People in the audience, just like us at the table, are bringing their. They're bringing their perspectives on religion and God and existence. And sometimes they're able to, like, separate the two or. And sometimes they're confusing the two or putting the framework of the real world and, like, organized religion on mega space aliens visiting a planet. And I don't know that there's a right or wrong way to see it all, but it's such a weighty subject that it's hard not to be influenced by your already ingrained perspective.

[Liam O'Brien]

I knew it would be emotional.

[Robbie Damon]

It's emotional, too.

[Liam O'Brien]

Of course.

[Robbie Damon]

I think people have complicated the relationships with whatever they view to be spirituality, and they can take that from their fiction, and they can superimpose their own values on top of it. And then it's hard to separate that from the idea that maybe it's just a game. And then some people are like, they're talking about the gods too much. So you're like, that's a big thing to talk about. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

It's a big theme of the campaign. And then, like, the whole. One of the overarching themes that I wanted to build with this was after establishing so much lore in exandria and history, known history, sure, it's the law of what happened, but, like our history, it's an unreliable narrator, because the people that write the history books are those that are in power.

[Robbie Damon]

Sure.

[Liam O'Brien]

And so taking all these established facets of lore and then beginning to show cracks in it and show that maybe things aren't as you think, maybe things are close, but they're different than you originally anticipated, sometimes they're completely off. And sometimes you have to reevaluate your place and ethics, along with how history has transpired and those that have been exposed. Control and like, I think religion, I think faith is an incredible thing. And I don't think the gods are bad. And I'm not trying to, you know, kill off all the gods because fuck religion. I've seen a couple of them. I'm like, no God, not at all. I think faith is incredible. I am curious to see a world in crisis to this degree about where this is going to go, because in my mind, there are multiple different paths at Exandria's future lies. And all of them have very unique positive paths. That will be a lot of humanity and all the different people of Exandria wrestling with the new age. This is the end of an age in my head. Regardless of where this goes, whatever happens here, things change. And regardless of how it goes, it's going to lead to a lot of interesting conversations. It's going to lead to a lot of societal shifts outside of just getting back to returning the cycle to what it was and lock it all down, which is a possible path. Like, something's gonna. Something's gonna shift irrevocably.

[Robbie Damon]

What's the name of the artifact that Ludinus has? The recording device? What was that?

[Matthew Mercer]

The occultist Thalamus.

[Robbie Damon]

Okay. Imagine that in our real life, where we got a slice of life about something that happened from a religious text and we saw it for real. It was undeniable.

[Ashley Johnson]

A year and a half lead up to the death of Christ. And after.

[Robbie Damon]

Sure, absolutely.

[Ashley Johnson]

We got a video that showed that would, like.

[Marisha Ray]

That would change everything.

[Robbie Damon]

Give me three days. That happened right before the Buddha found enlightenment and what he really did to get there. Yeah, I mean, like, I don't know. It could be anything.

[Ashley Johnson]

Video of the Earth when it was created 6,000 years ago. Like, the sky's the limit.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

On what could happen.

[Robbie Damon]

Oh, man. When they hid the dinosaur underground to trick us all.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, you have to.

[Liam O'Brien]

Get on the other side of the flat pancake to get that artifact, though.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

Like, I love those questions. And it can be complicated and it can wrestle with a person's perspective if you overlap it onto the current discussions. And I don't think it's a bad thing, but. Yeah. This is not a commentary on religion. This is not a commentary on those facets of faith. I love what faith can do and bring people, and I have that all throughout Exandria, but everything is Complicated. And the gods of Exandria are not the gods of Earth. And they have their own unique paths and purpose in life. And we'll see where it takes them.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah, it's more of an exploration of. I mean, it is what. Those things, but it's an exploration of history like you've been alluding to.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah, I don't have your level of philosophical knowledge, sir, but.

[Liam O'Brien]

Well, you know, no doubt.

[Robbie Damon]

But I think you've given us all an opportunity as players to like, make our own choices based on those things. And it's no surprise that we haven't fully aligned yet. But I don't know, the more info we get, we're getting there.

[Marisha Ray]

I keep going like this, though.

[Ashley Johnson]

Painful onion to.

[Marisha Ray]

I can't.

[Robbie Damon]

Speaking of which, we do potentially. This is a. This is. This is a topic of. I remember. Okay. It is. We do have a technical plan that we were offered a pitch as players about what we can do. And you. Yeah, you.

[Ashley Johnson]

Very adamant.

[Robbie Damon]

You are a stubborn little guy.

[Ashley Johnson]

Orym is very adamant. Yeah, well, no one, no one can give him any assurances that it's a bomb. It'll end the war. What happens where it drops like there? You know, maybe it's a big maybe. Maybe that thing will come out and be like, I've just come for the gods, nom, nom, nom, nom, nom. And then I'll fly off into space and we're all just left going like this. But there is history and there is recent record of massive powerful entities stomping their ass all over the world and many people dying. So it just doesn't seem believable to me to Orym, that creation, that living creatures will get off scot free if that thing is let out. So, I mean, whatever happens happens. But that's. That's where Orym's coming at it from.

[Robbie Damon]

But wait, that's Liam saying, whatever happens, happens.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

I don't. But is Orym. Is Orym capable of that?

[Ashley Johnson]

On a parallel note, I'm so glad that we got the moment of Fearne's dad being turned into a throw blanket and talking to us like, that is incredible moment. That's Liam going, fuck yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

Orm was like, so. Yes. Yeah. Whatever happens happens. I'm cool to watch things burn.

[Robbie Damon]

I'm not gonna let you go on this one. I'm even gonna switch my. I'm even gonna switch my legs. Yeah. He's gotta be hurt. My pores. Are they. What? What's it. What's it gonna take for Orym to stop digging his heels in? Like what's, what's his bottom line cost? Like, I mean like what, what, what, what is the bargaining chip that hurts the most for him? The idea of is it just loss of human life? Is it, what is it, is it just responsibility?

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah, he is. He's a. But he still, despite all the heartbreak of the past few episodes, he. His purpose in his mind is just to protect her. Protector to voice of the Tempest. Protector to his friends in the Bells hells. Protector to people who are small and alive like he is. So he's hearing so many people in vantages of power talking about like prom, making promises and guarantees and they're all conflicting. So how do you believe anything? So this, what feels the safest to him is maintaining what exists currently, which is not opening that can of peanut brittle because you can't. There's no predicting what's going to happen really. And the people who are trying to make it happen, they're doing really terrible, terrible things to make that happen. So like they're not helping their argument with that. You'd have to tell me like what's a thing that could. I am having trouble imagining a thing that could appear and convince Bells Hells, like with irrefutable evidence that Predathos is just a big hungry kelp eating whale that would not bother the people of the world.

[Robbie Damon]

So back to the plan though that we were offered the ability to control it. Does Orym think that's a pipe dream? Because you seem fairly resistant to that idea too.

[Ashley Johnson]

That's one entity telling us that other entities have told us, other gods have said opposing things. The wild mother has shown a scene of horror and then souped up the sword in his hand.

[Robbie Damon]

To do what with in your mind if you were given a weapon and how do you, I mean, how do you wield it? Do you wield it for the status quo?

[Ashley Johnson]

What he took it to mean was fight to not let that thing unleashed again.

[Robbie Damon]

All right, interesting.

[Marisha Ray]

I was like looking at Matt whenever.

[Ashley Johnson]

You say stuff like this, that's fun.

[Marisha Ray]

See if I can see a twinkle of anything.

[Ashley Johnson]

I mean I'm not trying to solve Travis territory, Matt's puzzle. I'm just taking it as Orym reacts to things.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah, no, it's curious that insight a little bit. I know it's like this is, this show is the ultimate like over the table conversation. But it's something that, you know, I've been wondering as a player next to you, you know, and I'm not gonna use this in my roleplay, but it's informative of the choices that you're making as a player, and I find it super interesting. But. Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

Well, we know, we believe, like history tells us, and we've just finished saying history is not reliable. But the gods went apeshit and flattened the world. And just in the last couple of decades, a dude became a God and flattened huge stretches of the world. So there are just repeated things to look behind at and say, anytime something of that magnitude just let loose. It was dreadful. And so I don't know why he's not supposed to think that it would be dreadful. They've only seen examples of existential crisis with things of this size.

[Robbie Damon]

So that does it for you, Mr. Steadfast. Ms. Wildcards. You're part of the plan, too. What's Fernie think? Does Fernie think they can control Predathos with maybe the help of Imogen? Like, what do you think about the pitch that was offered to us?

[Matthew Mercer]

Imogen or Fearne?

[Marisha Ray]

Imogen Orphern.

[Robbie Damon]

Together or separate or potentially either. There has been a pitch from Imogen to sort of try to find a way to copy co tame this thing.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah. Be like this right here.

[Liam O'Brien]

They have this.

[Marisha Ray]

Yes. Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

The spit roast. Predathos.

[Robbie Damon]

Walk it out with Predathos, can you? Wobbly angel?

[Matthew Mercer]

Man, I don't like the sight of you, Matt.

[Robbie Damon]

It wasn't Italy, but I've seen an Eiffel Tower.

[Marisha Ray]

Oh, man.

[Robbie Damon]

Too much.

[Liam O'Brien]

We're adult.

[Robbie Damon]

You started it.

[Liam O'Brien]

I ain't judging.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

I can't judge from this seat. Yeah, continue, please.

[Marisha Ray]

I feel like it changes who we talk to. Like, what ideas I have. I'm like, okay, I think this is the right thing. And then we'll talk to somebody else. And I'm like, maybe that wasn't the thing. Maybe it's this. And then I think also after talking with. Talking to the arch heart, I kind of feel like. I don't even know if I want to say this. Maybe I will. Where am I right now? I feel like Fearne is thinking, well, maybe we would be strong enough to take it in and be able to.

[Robbie Damon]

Hey, together, anything's possible.

[Marisha Ray]

Together, the two of us could take it.

[Robbie Damon]

I believe it.

[Marisha Ray]

I think that we could really overcome and overtake and I don't know how to not say anything. It's all good thoughts all over now. We're all children. We're all five.

[Liam O'Brien]

The temple of Laura Bailey.

[Marisha Ray]

Yes.

[Robbie Damon]

Yes.

[Matthew Mercer]

Can I ask the question?

[Liam O'Brien]

Yes, please.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Matthew Mercer]

The R chart did say that it would be a. That it would require a sacrifice, though. How does Fearne feel about potentially being that sacrifice?

[Marisha Ray]

I didn't remember that. Listen, I think, and I do feel like this about everybody in the party, that everybody is willing to be the sacrifice if they need to be for the betterment of the world.

[Matthew Mercer]

And then I'll take that same question and say, and how does Dorian feel about potentially sacrificing Fearne or Imogen or both for what he thinks is the better option?

[Robbie Damon]

Oh.

[Marisha Ray]

Oof.

[Robbie Damon]

Nah. Empty head. No thoughts.

[Marisha Ray]

See, that does feel like even more of a sacrifice. Saying like, okay, yeah, I'm okay with my friend being the sacrifice. Yeah, that's a harder.

[Matthew Mercer]

If only it would be the way. At least the way that the art chart talked about it. And Matt, please correct me if I'm wrong, but the way that he was talking about it seemed like it was that either Ludinus might do this, he might be the vessel. Another exaltant might be the vessel that Ludinus then can control. Or it would be Fearne, or it would be Imogen.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah, I mean, like an exultant or a Ruidus Born is required to be right.

[Matthew Mercer]

Then he can't be Ludinus, so he's not Rudeness. Ruidusborn. I'm sorry. Rudinus born. But it did seem like it needs to be an exaltant to be a vessel. So it would either be someone that Ludinus can control, one of his exaltants, somebody like Liliana, or to the R charts point, it would be someone like Fearne or Imogen or both. But that it would still be a sacrifice.

[Marisha Ray]

But I don't think Fearne is an exultant. She's not.

[Liam O'Brien]

No. She is a Rudisborn.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

But exaltation. How do I put this? Exaltation is not a defined thing, necessarily. In taking in a Titan shard within you, you've become something wholly different than anything that's ever existed. You are both a Ruidusborn and an entity that carries primordial Titan spirit with it. I wouldn't say you're an exultant in the classic sense, like Imogen or Liliana, but whatever the fuck you are is still powerful.

[Marisha Ray]

I think I can take it. I think I can take it.

[Robbie Damon]

To answer your question, it's like Ashton and the shard.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah, I can take it.

[Matthew Mercer]

What if Ashton and Fernandez. Never mind.

[Marisha Ray]

What'd you say?

[Matthew Mercer]

Nothing.

[Robbie Damon]

I don't think anybody, and I don't speak for Anybody else in the party, but the vibe is, including myself, would choose to sacrifice any of their friends. I think what you're saying is right. I think there's a lot of people to be comfortable with self sacrifice, but that's not the way for Dorian. Well, now I'm wondering how much I want to say.

[Marisha Ray]

I know, I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

You don't have to think anything you feel would be contradictory or revealing a hand of what your interest is.

[Robbie Damon]

Don't have to, no, no. I would just say, I guess it was funny. Like I think I caught some heat because I said, when I said that would be a deal that I'd be willing to make, but everybody missed a part where I said, if this is what we decide to do, that's a deal I'd be willing to make. So I would never make that choice for anybody else, of course, especially in the role that I've played in this up to this point. So for Dorian, I've never done anything for the greater good outside of protecting you guys. That's always been his main concern from top to bottom. So I asked the question of whether or not you'd be okay with sacrificing someone that you loved. I did ask that. I asked that of Imogen and Laudna because that was my wondering if we were ever there. And they both said yes, so. But they're lovers, so they get the chance to say that. Yeah, but, yeah, but for each other who are friends in this together, I mean, we'll have to see the truth of our actions once it really comes down to it, right? Everybody says that, right? They're like, if somebody broke into my house and I had to defend myself, I would kill them in a heartbeat. I was like, yeah, well I hope you never have to have that experience. So if it ever goes down, we're going to find out where everybody's loyalties lie.

[Ashley Johnson]

That's what I was just thinking as you're talking. It's like I could say I think Orym would let this happen or he would never let this happen. But honestly it's just like that I would do this and that there's really no predicting because we also don't know the fuckery that Matt's gonna surround us with and the choices that we're gonna be faced with, the choices are impossible.

[Robbie Damon]

Too because like one of my first combat episodes back, you went down and like the only as a player, the only thing I wanted to do in that whole combat scenario was to self actualize in combat and there's no way I could let myself not protect Orym in that moment. And that's not even a choice that I could break against as a player. I just couldn't do it. I couldn't. Even though I wanted to do that as a player, I wouldn't. I couldn't do it. Yeah. So, yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

It's funny how this game does that works.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

That night I was like, I don't want to kill Fern's dad.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah, I didn't either. I didn't either. But I also, like so much of. I mean, it's a collaborative game. It's hard. Like, you want to make risky decisions because those are so fun when someone, like, makes a really strong decision and you all just have to go with it. But there's also that extra level to it where you're like, well, the decisions I'm making are going to affect everyone here at the table. So, like, I want to make sure everybody's into it.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

And, like, everybody's on board for whatever that decision is.

[Ashley Johnson]

A tightrope. And sometimes as a tightrope, I think all of us have at times erred on the side of I just don't want to rock the boat and rocking the boat really fucking hard. It just depends on what kind of a hair is up your butt that night.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah. It's walking in tightrope with your seven to nine best friends.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah, exactly.

[Marisha Ray]

Exactly.

[Robbie Damon]

Hey, talk about strong decisions. I'll make one segue. We're going next. We're gonna move away from the R chart. We're gonna keep on talking a little bit on the gods train. But before we do, Cups up to Abu Cheers. What an amazing job. Oh, my goodness.

[Ashley Johnson]

Come back soon.

[Marisha Ray]

Yes.

[Robbie Damon]

We got another God. We got the Matron Ravens in the house.

[Marisha Ray]

Dang.

[Liam O'Brien]

Planning to go. Oh, man.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah. How did it feel playing another God after watching somebody else play a God?

[Liam O'Brien]

I mean, I've been to Matron before, so.

[Robbie Damon]

Oh, yeah, of course. Okay.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

It's been a bit, though, so it's kind of like stepping into old. An old familiar outfit.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

We got a lot more than I thought we were gonna get.

[Ashley Johnson]

Same agree.

[Marisha Ray]

Which was so exciting.

[Ashley Johnson]

I think that speaks to how pressed they are, how extreme the situation is.

[Marisha Ray]

Yes.

[Ashley Johnson]

Cause I was like, oh, we're getting the whole thing. We're all going into the blood and we're all getting the mask off. But like, there in the. We're in final days, weeks before whatever this universe changing event is, however it plays out. So all bets are off. Like, we said from the beginning, and the guy, she's making moves.

[Marisha Ray]

She's making moves. Was it Laudna that showed the image of Amira?

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

Did that change? Was she like, that shifted things? Okay. Yeah. Cause there was a shift there.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah. I mean, there were a bunch of different opportunities to kind of adjust the tower dynamic of that whole scenario. Dorian, even in his dazed state, stumbling into the thread and having these visions like this was all a test. As it is with gods sometimes. But. Yeah. And with Abu stepping in as the arch heart, there is the thought of Laura stepping in as the matron of ravens. And I've talked about this a little bit online, but it's a challenge in the scenario when the player is present in the story and the knowledge that is to be conveyed or experienced or discussed in that scene, you want the player to experience it with everybody else. You know, if Laura wasn't one of the players, then I would love to have had her. Been the matron done with her, headed for Abu, but also didn't want to rob her of the experience of being Imogen in that moment and learning and processing and asking questions and interacting with. I felt that was more important. Yeah. It was fun to set up and show an additional shade of perspective from the pantheon, given the circumstances they are. It was fun.

[Robbie Damon]

Bloodpool. So cool.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

And that's a vestige from Campaign 1, right?

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah. It was a massive moment of my character Vax, who he had already been pulled into this dynamic with the God and he didn't know what was up, so he went for answers. And Matt, priests of the temple directed him to walk into the pool of blood and give in. And it led to him meeting her for the first time. And it was this one on one, mind blowing, oh my God, I'm a bug on a windshield moment at our table. I love the matron. I'm still so. Cause you've held back so much from us. Rightfully. And I'm so curious about her true motivations. And the woman that she was was not the one, not the one that she resurrected into to do their stealth mission and downfall, but the woman that she was. Yeah. I don't even want to say. I just have questions.

[Marisha Ray]

I do too. Questions maybe we'll get to the more we got. I was like, wait a minute.

[Matthew Mercer]

This was just to have those answers is absolutely wild.

[Marisha Ray]

Yes. Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

What we got was it's fun because there were so many facets of her story that I'm the only person who's known for years. And then talking With Laura, preparation for Downfall, I got to peel back a little bit of that curtain for her and got to watch her go, like, what really? And even collaborate with her on a few things.

[Marisha Ray]

So cool.

[Liam O'Brien]

And then for the purposes of this story, based on how the combat and the challenge was going to go and the choices that were made in that and the observations that you all showed, essentially proving yourselves in her domain, it allowed her to pull back the curtain even further for you all, for whatever her purposes may be.

[Robbie Damon]

All right, you're in the kitchen, you're cooking in your space. You've got 1 billion minis to choose from, pieces to cobble together and make amalgam terrifying creatures. You've got a trial by fight in mind. How do you end up with our three combatants? I mean, obviously there's some spooky psychological character beats there, but those three were such an interesting combo to see in space.

[Liam O'Brien]

I started with a long list. I listed a bunch of things that could be interesting to throw into this, and I basically cobbled it down to those three. Partially because Vespin represented the first true folly in the path that she carved through history. Her ascension into the pantheon and the destruction of the previous God of death. What she accomplished as a mortal became this. This moment in history that all other powerful mages saw as the pinnacle and wanted to follow in that same footsteps. It's what led to the harshest era of the Age of Arcanum and what eventually led to the calamity and all that era, like Vespin was trying to follow in her footsteps to a certain degree, is what started all that. So for her, having Vespin present was kind of to show those of you that were present in that area a reminder of where this all started and why. All of this tension and conversation around the gods and where they sit in the future of Exandria is important. And then the other facets were people that were still lingering unknowns on where they sit on the chessboard of current, you know, moments in history that are, but also deeply tied to each of your perspectives in one way or another? And whether or not you had the wherewithal to realize that, one, this is not truly them, and two, even with that knowledge, would you be able to do what needs to be done to ensure the choices that need to be made are made? Because if you don't have that, then what good are you? You know, from her perspective and the.

[Ashley Johnson]

Gods, it was interesting. Like, there was some debate, like, do we go after, like, our friend and I, as Orym, believe like this is. They are not real. We just have to stay alive. They are not real. But opposed to Imogen facing her mother and having that faltering step of I'll go with you. And then she immediately got rocked. And it was like a joy buzzer sting for not being willing to go the distance in that moment. That's how I read that.

[Robbie Damon]

Anyway, I don't want to psychoanalyze our friends characters, but even after that, she really never engaged with her in combat. She focused almost entirely on. She was fighting. Who?

[Liam O'Brien]

Vespinet.

[Robbie Damon]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. Vespinace.

[Ashley Johnson]

But I love that about the character of Imogen, which is just. Just edging, just riding the line with standing up and doing what's better for all, or it's a powerful call. Your family, your friends in the moment. It's hard to deny it wasn't a.

[Liam O'Brien]

Kind trial, but the matron is not known for kind trials.

[Robbie Damon]

It was nice to have because of the setting that you set up. It felt like a trial. But then to flip it over, you sort of in the dying moments of Opal and you made these weird moments of clarity where there was the possibility that this was not a trial. That was really fun. And I think it's just sort of raised the hair on the back of our necks and went, oh, this is a God. What if we're wrong? What if we just teleported our buddy here and you know, this is somebody.

[Ashley Johnson]

Who put a couple of sentries outside of a door that Laura and I just stealth killed from afar as Vex and Vax. And they were some of our best friends in the world, just tied up with like helmets on. He does leave shit out for you to step on rakes. Yeah, from time to time.

[Liam O'Brien]

I'm sorry, I'm fucked up, y'all.

[Robbie Damon]

And it still did make us kill the visage of our best friends and parents. No, exactly. Yeah, yeah. So it's. It's. Yeah, yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

It was intended to be a non kind trial, but also a means of either proving that you couldn't do what needed to be done, or a way of teaching you to prepare for what needs to be done, more or less.

[Robbie Damon]

Dani, I'm going to need some help with the very last one in this section. It's got lore beyond my depth.

[Matthew Mercer]

What's up?

[Robbie Damon]

It's about learning her past. She didn't challenge the God of death. This is the matron of ravens. They were Lovas. Lovas. That's a lot of caps. It's all in caps.

[Matthew Mercer]

I don't know why Kyle added the caps, but that's because we're very excited.

[Robbie Damon]

Lovas, help me with this final question. So.

[Matthew Mercer]

Well, we just wanna know because for so long, the matron was considered to be a woman of great ambition. To be a woman, a wizard who had been the most ambitious of all, the most powerful of all. To take down a God. To destroy a God. It was all seen. It all seemed to be that she was in it for the power. And instead we find out that she did it all for love and that she did it because she wanted to help the person that she loved.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah. Now, she was an ambitious woman as well. Don't be.

[Matthew Mercer]

I'm not saying that the ambition was a part of it.

[Liam O'Brien]

Right.

[Matthew Mercer]

But the details matter.

[Liam O'Brien]

Of course.

[Robbie Damon]

We hear you. Love and kindness is evil. Got it. All right.

[Matthew Mercer]

She says engaged.

[Liam O'Brien]

Congratulations.

[Robbie Damon]

I guess some questions are meant to be answered and some aren't. And some are meant to be answered in the tower of inquiry. Baby, it's time for a question. Is this a game we played before?

[Marisha Ray]

Yes.

[Robbie Damon]

You might remember. It's very simple. We're gonna take turns pulling blocks from the tower. Danny reads us the corresponding fan questions and then we each give our own answer. And if for some reason the tower should fall, who cares? This is a low effort stream.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh, I'm way too close to. I can't get past. I can't get through here. So I'm gonna actually just ask the question from my little dad.

[Liam O'Brien]

That's fine.

[Robbie Damon]

Okay. How do we decide who goes first? I can't remember. I get to choose. Okay. I'm just kidding. It's you.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

There you go. While you're doing that, I'll just follow up on the last question. It was very nice to find a moment in the story to reveal that. That part of her history. And there's a lot I look forward to talking about post campaign about it as well. Or maybe a exploring and some other story stuff. I'd love to. And now that more things have been revealed, to explore more of the matron's history.

[Matthew Mercer]

But those of us who have been Matron of Raven Truthers since day one feel so vindicated. I knew it was for love. I knew there were more reasons behind it.

[Robbie Damon]

You're cranking out day one. You're cranking out novels like nobody's business. It's time to do the pantheon of the Gods, baby.

[Liam O'Brien]

Nobody's business. One may be a yes.

[Matthew Mercer]

Six.

[Robbie Damon]

What is that? Six. Let's do it.

[Matthew Mercer]

Alrighty.

[Marisha Ray]

Well, you Gotta put it on top. Lemurs.

[Robbie Damon]

I've decided to take off my final piece of my costume. That's it?

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

Now it's not accurate.

[Marisha Ray]

I don't know who you are, lemur.

[Matthew Mercer]

We'll get you an aperol spritz. You'll feel better.

[Robbie Damon]

Perfect. These swords will go nowhere.

[Ashley Johnson]

What's the question?

[Matthew Mercer]

It is from Exandrian moonlight on Tumblr. Shout out to Tumblr.

[Robbie Damon]

Tumblr.

[Matthew Mercer]

What is the biggest surprise the DM has thrown at you? That was tied to your backstory for DMs. What was the biggest PC backstory? Swing, slash, curveball.

[Ashley Johnson]

Biggest prize.

[Robbie Damon]

Surprise, surprise.

[Matthew Mercer]

It was tied to backstory.

[Robbie Damon]

Super easy for me. I'll do it. Cause I'm a new guy. Brohim coming into the picture. When you bring an NPC to life, that was part of your backstory. That was meant as a vehicle. I could not have been more thrown for a loop. I knew there was going to be some kind of method for me to make my exit early in the campaign, but I didn't know what it would be. And when you brought Cyrus to life, that was. I was, like, flabbergasted. I had no idea where that was going. That moment when we went down into the theater and he put his hand on my shoulder, I was like, what fuck is this? I was like, I think he's gonna merc me. And I was like, what, brother? It was an unhinged thing to do, and I loved it. Yeah, that was it for me.

[Liam O'Brien]

That's so fun.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

Do you know one?

[Marisha Ray]

I mean, go ahead.

[Ashley Johnson]

All right, I have one.

[Marisha Ray]

I can tell.

[Ashley Johnson]

I mean, for this campaign, it was taking what I thought. And you did this campaign, too, as well, where I had a. My backstory, I was like, so in the corner of the story, there's this little wizard school. And it really did him dirty. And then went front and center. But even more so in campaign three. I'm like, okay, so Orym is just a bodyguard with the Tempest, blades with the Ashari. And someone does a hit, tries to. Someone attacks Keyleth. They could be traveling somewhere, it could be anywhere. And I lose my father and my husband. And it became the whole, whole plan of Ludinus. At the linchpin of the campaign, dead center. I was like. When it happened, then there were multiple things going on there. And you dropped vax at the same moment in time.

[Marisha Ray]

So, yeah, that was a surprise.

[Liam O'Brien]

They made him a ball brain outside of my ear.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yep.

[Marisha Ray]

The vax going into a ball. I know that doesn't have to do with my backstory, but that was some. Something that blew my mind because I was just like, whoa, wait, what are we doing here? So. So, like, the other characters are coming in here and. Oh, my God.

[Ashley Johnson]

And then it was just kidding. He's a plot device.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So great. Yes. God. I feel like everything's been a surprise. I feel like Nana Mori was the best surprise. Because I just told you. I was like, I feel like her nana's a hag. She's just. She's just a hag. And then when you introduced her, it was just everything. Everything. And also Zathuda. I mean, I knew that there was going to. I knew her parents. After some time, I'm like, something's up here. Something feels like, these are not actually her parents, or one of them is not. I can't tell. But that was a surprise for this campaign. But there's been so many. You surprise us all the time. And I think that's what's so fun about playing with you. Cause you like surprising us.

[Liam O'Brien]

I do.

[Marisha Ray]

It's my favorite scene, and it feels nice. Cause it's like, oh, he's our friend and he's giving us a surprise.

[Ashley Johnson]

He thought so hard for us.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah, he did.

[Liam O'Brien]

It's my love language.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah, it is.

[Liam O'Brien]

Torture you with your creativity.

[Marisha Ray]

I love it.

[Robbie Damon]

You might be allergic to bees, but are you allergic to these?

[Marisha Ray]

Wow.

[Robbie Damon]

I don't know. I don't know. I told you, it's a low effort. Stream.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah. Either was born in advance.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah. So long, farewell Off E to send. Goodbye.

[Liam O'Brien]

I will have all of your glasses by the end.

[Marisha Ray]

I'm gonna do this one.

[Liam O'Brien]

Give it to me. Nice. Nice. Well done.

[Marisha Ray]

Aight.

[Liam O'Brien]

Ait.

[Robbie Damon]

Ocho. Aight.

[Ashley Johnson]

Acht.

[Matthew Mercer]

From will Clansack. Animals often have unique names when they gather in a group, such as a herd or a swarm of bees or a murder of a herd of cows. I think a herd of cattle. Sorry. A swarm of bees or a murder of crows. If there was a large gathering of only your character, what would it be called? For example, a group of vaxes could probably be called a brood for a conspiracy of rape.

[Ashley Johnson]

Brood of vaxes. A group of a specific character.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah.

[Matthew Mercer]

Like if it was a group of ferns.

[Marisha Ray]

Feather of ferns.

[Robbie Damon]

Like 30 or so orms.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh, this Dorian's dream.

[Robbie Damon]

Pretty funny.

[Matthew Mercer]

Hey? Sorry. Quiet now.

[Liam O'Brien]

What would you call a group of orms?

[Ashley Johnson]

I think I got to think.

[Robbie Damon]

I got to think, too. That's a tough one.

[Ashley Johnson]

That is tricky.

[Marisha Ray]

A Fancy of ferns.

[Robbie Damon]

Oh, fancy of ferns.

[Ashley Johnson]

Perfect.

[Liam O'Brien]

Pick an NPC for me.

[Robbie Damon]

I was about to say pick up. Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

Gilmore.

[Liam O'Brien]

Gilmore. Oh, my goodness.

[Marisha Ray]

Gilmore or Elora.

[Liam O'Brien]

I think be like a spectacular of Gilmore's.

[Marisha Ray]

That's pretty good.

[Matthew Mercer]

A glory of Gilmore's seems a little.

[Liam O'Brien]

Too on the nose, but I like it.

[Matthew Mercer]

I'm never, if not the least interesting option.

[Liam O'Brien]

No, that is untrue.

[Marisha Ray]

No, no, no.

[Liam O'Brien]

I will fight whoever says that.

[Robbie Damon]

Even if it is you. I think I would say a deluge of Dorian's.

[Liam O'Brien]

I like that.

[Ashley Johnson]

I'm gonna skip the alliteration and say an orempai.

[Marisha Ray]

Aw, that's cute.

[Liam O'Brien]

Hell yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

If you don't remove that tower piece with the sword, I will be grossly disappointed.

[Marisha Ray]

Let's see.

[Liam O'Brien]

I will do my best.

[Ashley Johnson]

I want you to pull it from.

[Robbie Damon]

The hill and right back in.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

The whole thing is a diagonal.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

Oh, no.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh, no.

[Robbie Damon]

Uh. Oh.

[Liam O'Brien]

You said.

[Robbie Damon]

Oh, you can do it.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh, no.

[Ashley Johnson]

Come on. It's just like billiards.

[Marisha Ray]

Wait, you already touched the other one.

[Robbie Damon]

It doesn't matter. He's like.

[Liam O'Brien]

The whole big move.

[Robbie Damon]

There's no challenge she won't accept. There's gotta be a soft one.

[Marisha Ray]

Oh, wow.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah. He's gonna do it.

[Marisha Ray]

Okay.

[Robbie Damon]

He's gonna do it. That's good for me.

[Liam O'Brien]

It won't go all the way through.

[Robbie Damon]

You can pull. You can pull from there.

[Ashley Johnson]

He's starting to believe.

[Marisha Ray]

He's starting to believe.

[Robbie Damon]

Boo. Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

With this.

[Robbie Damon]

Believe it with this.

[Ashley Johnson]

You guys, Mercer's fighting the Jenga Tower.

[Robbie Damon]

25, 25, 20 Ferb 25.

[Matthew Mercer]

This is a great one for Halloween. I love this happenlunar on Twitter. What kind of cryptid or creature from folklore would any of your campaign characters be a believer of if they were from our world?

[Ashley Johnson]

The vault. Hex. Ooh. Easily.

[Liam O'Brien]

The vortex.

[Ashley Johnson]

She's out there.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah. So, like, would Fearne be really into Bigfoot or something?

[Marisha Ray]

Oh, I see.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

Okay, okay, okay. I feel like Fearne would really like the Loch Ness. I think it's kind of cute. Nessie and want Nessie.

[Matthew Mercer]

I feel like Imogen would like selkies and kelpies.

[Marisha Ray]

Yes.

[Matthew Mercer]

Kelpies specifically. Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

Yes.

[Liam O'Brien]

I think Aira would be like, a snob about cryptozoology and find really obscure shit like the Flatwoods monster and be like, oh, I'm only into the really interesting rare creatures.

[Ashley Johnson]

Is this question focused on real world?

[Matthew Mercer]

Yes.

[Ashley Johnson]

Make believe creatures?

[Matthew Mercer]

Yes. From Earth. Not exandria.

[Robbie Damon]

Planet Earth Cryptids.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yes, Planet Earth Cryptids. If orym came to planet Earth and he got to hang out. Would he be really into the Jersey Devil or would he not be. No, I know. I got you a pin.

[Ashley Johnson]

Orym would raise jackalopes.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh, that's perfect.

[Marisha Ray]

That's really cute.

[Liam O'Brien]

Heel Jack.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah, there's a. I've kind of talked about this before because there's like a Norwegian folklore, kind of Swedish called Skogsru, where. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where they're like these beautiful women and the forest and they sort of lure the men in.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

And then some of them have like. If they turn around, their backs are hollow like the inside of a tree and they're just like. And they turn into just little like weird, strange creatures. And then you can never leave the forest. I feel like Fearne would also really like that.

[Ashley Johnson]

Do you know the. What culture is it from? Rusalka? Do you know that old folk kind of December. I know it because the December wrote a song about it. But it's basically a water spirit. And it's from. The song is from the point of view of a man who's just wandered out into the woods and finds it and he's happy to get drugged down into the dark. And it's just with her hair like an alien bloom. Is my favorite lyric in this song.

[Liam O'Brien]

Usually about the selkies. Like the more modernized version of it.

[Robbie Damon]

I just did a 12 mile woods hike in outside of Kron, Germany, in the woods. And I was like, oh, this is where all the fairy tales come from. Because there's just bogs and shit and the tree line is high and it is a scary place. And I understand why you would not want your children walking around there by yourself. And there are wolves, definitely. And there are real wolves. That's a good point. They're all just allegories for wolves. Keep the kids out of the woods.

[Ashley Johnson]

I really want to do a show in Germany someday. I don't know if it's possible.

[Robbie Damon]

Be fun. Dorian would be into Mothman.

[Matthew Mercer]

Nice.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

Just cause he's got a sneaking suspicion he's hot.

[Marisha Ray]

Pleasant.

[Matthew Mercer]

Dude, that Mothman statue has a great ass. Yeah, tell him you look up the Mothman statue that's in Point Pleasant. Great ass.

[Liam O'Brien]

The new Wolf man's got nerds. Mothman's got cakes.

[Matthew Mercer]

Nothing will ever replace Wolfman's Got Nards.

[Ashley Johnson]

Statue in Point Pleasant, New Jersey.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah, that's where the Mothman was originally cited was Point Pleasant, Virginia.

[Ashley Johnson]

Good job, New Jersey.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah.

[Matthew Mercer]

West Virginia. I'm so sorry.

[Robbie Damon]

Good job. To exandrian moonlight will Clancek and Cap Lunar, thank you for the questions. And if you have a question out there for our tower of inquiry, you can enter [e-mail] Tower all right, it's time to slide into the deep dive where lorekeeper Danny Carr passes out mugs filled with questions.

[Marisha Ray]

Oh, shoot. Tanker, bring forth the mug.

[Matthew Mercer]

This was the thing I needed to do.

[Robbie Damon]

Can we bob for questions?

[Marisha Ray]

Is that the way that it would.

[Liam O'Brien]

Have to like beef bag em out?

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah, just get your tongue in like a kangaroo, see what comes out.

[Robbie Damon]

I don't know if I would lick anything in this studio.

[Marisha Ray]

I'm not sure.

[Liam O'Brien]

Probably would think I already have everything.

[Robbie Damon]

It's how you claim all the dice.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah, yeah. No one come in here. That broom just a little sticky.

[Robbie Damon]

Whoa. Oh, God. This one's mine. Oh, okay.

[Marisha Ray]

Oh, that one's cool looking.

[Ashley Johnson]

That looks like a little drawing for. Yes.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah. And it also says laxative on it for some reason.

[Matthew Mercer]

Thank you.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

Okay, mother, who wants to go first? You go first. You have pulled yours. What do you have?

[Robbie Damon]

Oh, Jeffrey.

[Marisha Ray]

Oh, this is very. How does Fearne feel closing the door on the life she could have had with her father? Zathuda. What is her feeling towards all her various parents?

[Liam O'Brien]

Sh. Louise.

[Marisha Ray]

What?

[Matthew Mercer]

It's the deep dive.

[Marisha Ray]

It's the deep dive.

[Liam O'Brien]

Well, I've got.

[Robbie Damon]

Cause we got glue on my face.

[Liam O'Brien]

Little bit right there.

[Marisha Ray]

Why don't you let me know over here.

[Robbie Damon]

His mustache, it's got. It's cold foam from my cough.

[Marisha Ray]

There you go.

[Robbie Damon]

You got it. I'm foaming at the mouth of the thought of the mothman.

[Marisha Ray]

That was a sentence. Boy. I think, yes. I mean, as I think we could see in the game, I think Fearne was. Is really wrestling with how to deal with and how she should feel about her father, her real father. Trying to think of how much I should say here. I do think that the way that it was handled and I think sort of having Nana, the one person in her life that has shown her love and taken care of her, even if it has been in a weird, fucked up way, I think having Nana be like, no, no, no, this is how we're going to take care of this situation. I think for Fearne, having him there as a picture, knowing that she can always go back and talk with him now feels like the right thing that could have happened. And such a Fae opinion.

[Liam O'Brien]

It really is.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah. Like, I think now she can go back and if she has something that she wants to talk with him about or ask him about.

[Ashley Johnson]

Wow.

[Matthew Mercer]

Now he has to talk to.

[Marisha Ray]

Now he has to talk to her.

[Ashley Johnson]

Skywalker.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah. Yeah. And as for her other parents, I feel like that love will maybe grow. I don't know. I don't think she has any hatred towards them. I think now learning the whole big picture of what her life was for or what her purpose was supposed to be for.

[Robbie Damon]

So you think you can have more honest conversation with your dad in the state that he's in now? Yeah. What a crazy metaphor for stripping a potential abuser's power away before you can actually converse with them in an honest way. Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

Interesting.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah. Anyway, yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

Deep dive.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah, that's what we're here for. Deep dive.

[Ashley Johnson]

Creepy deep.

[Marisha Ray]

Creepy deep.

[Liam O'Brien]

So, Matt, tell us about your inspiration for the matron's backstory. How did it feel to finally reveal her true connection to the original God of death? I was wondering if it was ever going to come out. I was excited to talk about it. And honestly, parts of it were a collaboration with Laura Bailey as well. There was threads to it and a structure to it that I had. But in talking with Laura about the matron for Downfall, she had some ideas, too, to kind of add to it. We kind of, you know, buttoned up some of the loose facets of it that I. Because I hadn't really had an opportunity to sit down and have a reason to kind of develop it fully. And so I had, like, the general idea for it. And then she started asking questions about it when we were preparing for Downfall, and I was like, you know what? Kind of like a boo. What do you think? And we started, like, riffing on it. And so, yeah, the idea was always meant to be that she did not destroy the God of Death out of malice or out of pure ambition. That the secret. One of the secrets that she kept, because few would believe it and because at a certain point it's out of her control, was that she developed the right with the God of Death, where it wasn't that she, like, developed a way to ascend and destroy a God because she wanted to become a God. Likely she didn't really want to become a God necessarily. She might have a curiosity, like anybody of her power and ambition might have been, but she wasn't driving for that. She just spent a lot of time talking with this God in their isolated fortress of solitude, if you will, and asking them about their existence and the secrets to the universe that she could learn, that it could progress. It was a very cold, why have you shown up at my house? Type of initial encounter. And she stayed there and wouldn't leave very much like the student that shows up outside of the master's domain and won't leave the step until he takes him in. Then, over time, the two opposing forces began to warm around each other, and this lonely death God finally found a kinship with her, and they became very close friends. And emotion read from there and then through that space. Eventually, the God of death decided it didn't want to be there anymore and needed her help to be free.

[Robbie Damon]

Wow.

[Liam O'Brien]

And she. They developed it together. And in freeing the death God, she took its space, for better or worse, and has lived in that spot since. And her perspective on that is a unique one, both when it started and where she is now.

[Ashley Johnson]

I can't think of a more fitting story for a woman, for a character who holds the moniker of Goddess of Death, for her story to be about helping someone let go, which is really what the matron has been to me from the beginning. That just feels full circle.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah. It's always been kind of the intent. And then Laura. They work together to shore up some of the details I hadn't got a chance to do yet. And hopefully more down the road.

[Robbie Damon]

It's so cool.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yep.

[Ashley Johnson]

Oh, right. Let's see. What did Orym think about being tested by the Matron after his experiences with the wild mother and the arch heart? Well, I feel like Orym just got punched around in so many different directions on the way to the matron that. I mean, I'll speak. I'm not sure how to answer this specifically, but I'll speak to Orym's state of mind overall, which is he feels like he's eaten a lot of grief the last few days and, in typical Orym fashion, has just eaten it and is walking forward and not complaining about it. He doesn't know who to believe. He doesn't know if they're to be believed. The events with the arch Heart really just. And the matron and wildmother in rapid succession hammered in the lesson. And he already felt this, like, he's not like, I could have gone paladin. I could have multiclassed in a cleric. I resisted the whole time. Because he's not like a lover of the Pantheon. He's just more like, I'm tending the garden and they're part of it. But the events of the last few chapters of this story have hammered home the fact that while they are drastically more powerful and unreachable to us, they are just like us. They are just as scattered and. And in disarray with opposing Opinions like, there is no master plan shared between those three gods at all. And so it has just left him with more questions at this late stage of the story. And that only leaves him to do what he knows. Right. What you know, which is to protect the people around you. Cause that's the only thing that makes sense to him in all this. There you go. There's your answer. Happy Halloween.

[Robbie Damon]

Watching you all answer these questions, looking the way that you look is maybe my favorite thing about the evening. It's very enjoyable for me. All right, I got one. That's long.

[Liam O'Brien]

That's long.

[Robbie Damon]

Wow. I'm okay. How was it coming face to face with Dorian's dad to be allowed to grieve for a moment and stand up for himself at the same time? In addition of accepting the blade? Wow. I mean, we talked about surprising moments, about backstory and family that Matt crafted for us and the possibility that he might be there. Was in the back of my head when we first arrived, because it made sense from, like, just a tactical, like, lore standpoint. And Matt's not one to let those things go unnoticed. But I also. In the back of my head, I was like, no way. He won't do that. I was like, surely it won't be the whole fam. And when it went down and then you rolled that great perception check and got the whisper, that was such a cool method for that to be delivered, too. Instead of just being like, peek a boo, I'm your dad. I'm here. Let's work out all your shit. It was just. It was poignant and important and got the opportunity to RP with you a little bit, which is always fun. And some unexpected things came out of it, I think. I think some things came out unintentionally about, like, the nature of a father and a father's acceptance and what that means and for what it means to someone who hasn't gotten that. And. Yeah. And I don't know about our personal perspectives, but for me, like, I've got a really good dad. I've got a really good father, and he's my stepdad. And he came into my life when I was a young kid, about 8 or 9, when I really needed it. So to be able to say, to express those things that maybe I realized that I needed so bad as a kid in game with someone who didn't provide that for me in a backstory for a fictional character, and to get to apply that into some RP without doing any wound picking from an acting standpoint was very fun. And for Dorian to get to hash that out, it gave me a way to move forward from where we left off in the rest of the game, because I was feeling a little bit stuck about, like, not being able to express the feelings about what got me here yet, because of the world was so big. So I think that that gave me permission to play my character and move forward with the rest of the group. And I think that's something that I've been longing for for a couple of episodes. So it was really nice. Yeah. Wonderful. Wonderful.

[Liam O'Brien]

Europe. Me, me, me. Oh, let's see what we heard.

[Marisha Ray]

How did Fearne and Orym feel having to fight Opal? Orym kept telling himself that it wasn't real. How did Fearne feel?

[Matthew Mercer]

That question is for both of y'all.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah, okay.

[Ashley Johnson]

No, Terrible, terrible, terrible. And we're all the three of us are worried about. Like, we're doing this huge thing, and then there's someone else who's very, very important to us, and we have no idea. Don't have eyes on. No idea. And we spent so much time with her, and she meant so much. It just doesn't feel cool to cut that person down, even if it's a simulation.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah, I felt the same, too. I was. You know, but there was also that element of we were all like, this isn't real. This isn't really them. Right. You know, it was just that level of we just. You know, which I think was on purpose. But, like, I. I was so scared to hurt her. I didn't want to. And I know that that was part of the test, but I think that's why I was just pumping everything into, you know, someone Fearne didn't know of. Just like, well, I'll fight that one over there, you know, with Vespin. But that was hard.

[Ashley Johnson]

I think I went to Opal to get it done with, like, Orym's brain was like. And he was not happy about it either. It's like, this God is. This is fucked. This God is testing us. This hurts. This is the one that's gonna hurt the most. Get it done. Go to the next. Go to the next. Go to the next third. There was no, I'm gonna avoid my. Or go to my mom, because it's my mom. It was just set him up and knock him down and get the fuck through this, because we have shit to do.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah. I think there was also a little bit of. Fearne was mad that that was the test of, like, fuck you.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

I don't. I don't want why does this have to be the test? Like, why do we have to further hurt people that we love or that we care about? Like, why does that have to be. Like, how does. How are we proving it in that way? I don't know. And I. That was stressful. That was really stressful. Yeah. Yeah. But I couldn't figure out a way to say it. And I was like, well, maybe later.

[Robbie Damon]

I was on that one. Yeah. The anger was there a little bit.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

And actually made it easier. Adoring was fucking into it. That's like, the first time where he felt like it was actually easy. Cause he didn't want. Maybe it's more of his relationship with the gods, but he didn't want the matron of Ravens bastardizing the idea of his very real friend. Like, he's like, don't fucking touch my friend in this way. Feels bad. So, yeah, I was ready. I was ready to scrap on that one. Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah. Interesting.

[Robbie Damon]

Motivating. Don't look smug in that costume.

[Liam O'Brien]

I can't not. It's in character. It is built on smugness. You returned to Vasselheim and you were once again in control of numerous PCs, many of which have been seen in previous campaigns. What was it like to return to the city and those characters? Did you have a favorite to embody? Again, it was really fun and extremely stressful to keep my mind wrapped around the events of how these meetings were to translate, transpire, who was present, their opinions on things, when they would break in, what bits of information were important to convey with these scenes in a natural way, but also letting people interject in a natural way that I didn't prepare and involve and just kind of build the through line and then just kind of see what happens as we go. As well as collecting some of these older PCs because they are now movers and shakers in the world too. Vox Machina are these great heroes of old who have now kind of fallen into semi retirement or, you know, local politics or, you know, with Vexalia and people in the council, you know, kind of broader politics, but they're, you know, they're present in these spaces. And so it's not me going like, I can't wait to cameo. It's me going, the logic stands that they would be present. And then because of that, I can't wait to cameo. And then I get to step into Vex Alley while looking at Laura Bailey and going like, I'm so sorry. I hope this makes you happy. You know? Yeah, I really enjoy it because it's Like, I've said it before in here, like this. This is a gift to my players as well. This is to show that the choices they made and the things they did, you know, so many years ago continue to have an impact on the world that they've now continued to live in. And hopefully love the way I do. And it's something I've wanted to do since I was a kid. I wanted to have players and campaigns in the same world over time and be able to weave something like this together.

[Ashley Johnson]

So this really reinforces to us that, like, what we've made together matters. And it's just logical, like you said, that these figures would grow in the world and it makes the world feel real and the people feel real. And, like, I can think about Caleb or Pike or Grog or Imogen and think about, like, once I know, like, what the end beats of our campaign story is, I still think of them living in, you know, they live in my head still and I wonder about them because there are babies.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah. It's like Vox Machina are the Avengers of. Exactly.

[Robbie Damon]

I can't wait until it's Campaign 182065 and Matt shows up. He's like, it's me, Poo Matt. Remember me, kids? It's gonna be the best.

[Liam O'Brien]

It's gonna be so cool. It's gonna be a lot easier to do too, when it's just my head in a jar. Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

Oh, man.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah. I love it. I just. I don't know. I love this shit.

[Robbie Damon]

Your turn.

[Ashley Johnson]

This one? Definitely this one.

[Liam O'Brien]

Are you sure?

[Ashley Johnson]

Nope. Seedling was blessed and Orym saw Wyll again. How does Orym feel about the encounter once more in the Wild Mother's realm, as well as seeing the terror of Predathos firsthand? Well, let's talk about Predatho first. Reinforcing Orym's extreme reservations about cracking open the walnut and letting that out. The gods terrify us. We're ants and that thing terrifies them. And like, I think I threw out at some point recently that, like, I'm worried about, you know, that I, orm. Have stepped on ants and didn't know it. That's what I'm worried about. That's what I'm worried about. As far as seeing Will again, I think there was a bit of peace to it that he appreciated. As conflicted as his feelings are about the gods right now. Appreciated? He doesn't feel. He didn't feel like that was an illusion. He felt like that was a window. Could be wrong, but it really Just reflects where Orym at is at his journey, which is, you know, we're all going to be light of the luxon in the end anyway, rejoined together. So I know that I'll be returned to Will in whatever sense that is that we don't understand yet. And I. You know, it charts his progression of the loss of his husband from the backstory to the beginning of exu. To the beginning of the campaign to where we are now. It's been many years, and Will's left his mark indelibly. Is that the right word to use? Irrevocably On Oram's heart and soul. And, boy, if they survived the end of the world, he could start living again. We'll see. Tpk.

[Robbie Damon]

Ooh, Shorter. Dorian allowed himself to drown.

[Matthew Mercer]

Of all questions to do that voice.

[Liam O'Brien]

Continue, please.

[Robbie Damon]

Ed deprived himself of air for the first time in his life. How did that experience affect him? Yeah, I mean, I guess that's one of those in the moment choices that you make where you go, well, what would I do? I would see what this is all about. So, I don't know. I think you gave us a hint about maybe the nature of how a gateway opens to something magical. And if I were given that in the real world and I had a way to circumvent it via my own cunning, I would try to. I want to know how the sauce is made. And that's just in my nature. And I think that's part of myself that I put it in Dorian, which is curiosity. And so when I thought, oh, fuck, I've got unending breath. I'm gonna see if what he said is right. And he really wants us to die. So I'm gonna allow myself to sink and see what happens to my friends and understand if this is the truth. And then I guess that allowed Dorian to make another set of choices where he allowed himself to be a part of the group. So even though he had a way to get out, he said, I'm in it to win it. Never mind, I'm going to. Never mind, I'm going to die for my friends. So, in a sense, it felt anticlimactic to just let it go, but I think that's what he needed to do as a character and I needed to do as a player. Yeah, don't be clever. Just join the group.

[Marisha Ray]

I wonder if anything would have happened.

[Liam O'Brien]

It's funny because when you brought that up, I was like, interesting. In my head, I began to logic out all these different things that could happen as that transpired and there were a couple of things that could have happened.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah. Fucking.

[Marisha Ray]

I was like, it's like the jaunt.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

The Stephen King short story.

[Robbie Damon]

Oh, yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

Of like, when you were just like.

[Robbie Damon]

I don't know that. And I'm like, I'm a constant reader and I don't know.

[Ashley Johnson]

It's a short story.

[Robbie Damon]

What is it from?

[Ashley Johnson]

From the Bachmann books. It's from collection.

[Robbie Damon]

They're not my favorite.

[Ashley Johnson]

It's a very short. I recommend just this one.

[Robbie Damon]

Okay.

[Ashley Johnson]

It explores. It jumps back and forth between past and present. Of the story of teleportation and how teleportation is used for interplanetary travel. But that you must not be awake when it happens. And what goes wrong if you are scared.

[Robbie Damon]

I'm literally embarrassed. I'm a huge Stephen King reader, and I've never.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah. Somebody that is like, well, I want to test this. What happens? Stay awake.

[Liam O'Brien]

I read this a long time ago.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah. We've talked. I feel like we've talked about it a lot because it's so. It's like, well, I want to see the people behind the curtain.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

It's the. It's the urge to do something destructive, but you're so curious that you resist common sense. But for any. I mean, like, if I could circumvent drowning, like, animal instinct would be like, I'll meet gills if I can do that.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah, of course.

[Ashley Johnson]

So it became a more of a measured decision for him.

[Marisha Ray]

Right?

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah. Yeah. It was. It was a leap of faith. But you had parachute on. And then if you let everybody. If everybody around you going down. I don't know. It's literally, if your friends jumped off a bridge and drowned in a pool of blood, you would too. And I guess you're like, oh, okay.

[Marisha Ray]

I guess this is what we're doing.

[Ashley Johnson]

Just like the abyss. Just breathe in. Breathe in.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

Oh, so stressful.

[Robbie Damon]

But the. But the method to get where we got was so, so sick. But I had to take a peek.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah. Yes.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah. Yeah. And be. And be. And it was nice to be at peace with it, too, because watching in my. I always kind of, like, put my eyes up here while I'm thinking about what you're describing and try to picture it. And watching the struggle of drowning, watching people go through that, that would be terrifying. And knowing that that's your fate. Yeah. To make that choice is disgusting.

[Liam O'Brien]

It's funny each time I've described that. I remember as a kid, my mom describing to me how she drowned when she was a kid. And was thankfully recovered. But, like, she was. I remember her telling me, like, it was the most intense panic and fear she'd ever experienced in her life. That almost instantly became the most gentle, welcoming embrace. No, I was like, that is the scariest thing ever. And I hadn't thought about it for so long until the first time back in that pool. And I was like, oh, boy, we're going here. Okay.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah, Yeah. I think the scariest depiction of that ever is another blood thing is in whoever's ever seen the Gray, the Liam Neeson movie based on the novel where they crash the plane and they're being hunted by wolves. I know what movie you're talking about. I won't blow it for you. There's a sequence where someone's bleeding out and Liam Neeson knows it. And the guy's like, oh, what do I do? What do I do? He's like, you're going to die. And then he just talks him through what it's like to bleed out. And it's one of the most impactful, terrifying scenes I've ever watched in the movie ever. Anyway, go watch it. It's a great film.

[Liam O'Brien]

Hey, speed round.

[Robbie Damon]

Let's not talk about death anymore. We got one more round. We're gonna go quick. Let's knock these questions up.

[Liam O'Brien]

I don't know how much longer.

[Ashley Johnson]

Hold this.

[Robbie Damon]

Lee said, we're gonna die.

[Ashley Johnson]

What a great scene.

[Matthew Mercer]

To that news, all the questions are about done.

[Robbie Damon]

All right, let's speed through it. It's not scary at all.

[Marisha Ray]

Okay. What was it like to bond so heavily with Glome Glute? Did friend consider keeping him? Does she hope to call on him again someday? Kind of talked about this. Bonding with him was so incredible. I feel like I didn't quite know what that would be, but I was like, well, maybe if I play the kin and family, maybe that'll work.

[Liam O'Brien]

Definitely change the dynamic from a combative standpoint.

[Marisha Ray]

Yes, I think, yes, I would love to keep him, but like we were talking about earlier, I don't think that's Fearne's. I don't think Fearne wants to keep anybody prisoner that doesn't want to stay there. And does she hope to call on him someday? Yeah. Yes. I think anytime she goes home or anywhere, she. She will just constantly be looking for him, just for getting a glimpse and seeing if he remembers her. Of, like.

[Ashley Johnson]

I wonder if he sort of, like, settles into the skies around Nana Mori's. That's like home base.

[Marisha Ray]

Like, maybe has babies and they live there and, you know, in the heracle fence or you know, and yeah, of course. I hope all of that. I think if she goes back to the fey, she will constantly be looking for him and thinking of him.

[Liam O'Brien]

I love that.

[Robbie Damon]

You know what, sword guy, your aura is just too powerful. I think we've got to break the circle. I don't think as host I should be the last question. You're going to have the last question. I'm going to skip you and go to Orym.

[Ashley Johnson]

Oh yeah, I'm now.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah, we're going to pull one too much amber.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah, yeah. We need your light at the end to shine.

[Ashley Johnson]

I get it. Hmm. Yeah, sure. I've alluded to bits of this already. Orym seems to feel very guilty about attacking Zathuda and being the one to end his life. Does he worry about how this may affect his friendship with Fearne? 100%. Absolutely. He feels like he has committed a very deep sin and particularly painful because the death of his own father in a war that Orym didn't know existed was world forming for him. So to be fighting this fight that they're in and to say I have to make sure that this happens right. At any cost to take down your father in the way in. In a weird. It's not a one for one, but there are parallels to the loss of Derek was just gutting, gutting, totally gutting. And I think that even with Fearne sort of signaling to Orym it's okay and the way things went, it doesn't really matter. Orym has now just added a chain to his shoulders and it's like another 20 pounds heavier to walk forward. Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

What you got? What you got?

[Robbie Damon]

Oh. Tell us about the inspiration for Coriolis and what the magically clan horse means to the Wyvern winds. Yeah, that came in a fever dream. No, actually that came from Aabria. We were looking for ways to sauce up what would happen in the crossover episodes and she was pitching out spell ideas when we were sort of just chit chatting about how I could have maybe leveled up since being away. And she brought that up. And then I said ooh, that sounds fun and I marked it in my notes. We never did anything with it. So then we came back to the main campaign. It's been in my spell book since day one and there was just never felt like the right moment that felt too overshadowy or too weird or any or it just never felt right. And when you have those more high level spells that could be used for effect outside of combat, I felt like, that was the most poignant moment. And then when I was challenged to not be a diverter and to summon my own strength, then the idea of what we'd done early on about Dorian humming this mysterious tune, there was never a purpose for it. So in the moment, I just put the pieces back together, and I said, owe you. Been talking for 10 minutes. This requires a somatic. He's been humming something in his head. He hums when he's nervous. And then what if he accidentally casts a spell? Because he never knew that was the family tune that was the means to channel in the equine dragon. So I had chosen the form already, and the idea of what it would be if it ever came out, and then it's just like, oh, it's gonna be a Celestial. I picked my stats. We agreed on some Griffin stats, even though it was a little special, and we worked on what it would kind of look like for a long maw or that type of equine dragon to appear. And it just felt right. And I knew he has use in the future, and he has. He finally got to pop up and help provide an escape and. And a means for us to get the. Not the emissary, but the guard back to the Unseelie in an easy way and. Yeah. And then also to be able to tie in family lineage and making that a positive in a moment of being tested. I think that just fit into the story, and it was just. It felt like a right moment. It was a good, nice moment.

[Ashley Johnson]

Awesome.

[Liam O'Brien]

I love it. My turn. Okay, Matt, what is the process like of bringing in others to portray gods, particularly when it came to Downfall and to Abu's appearance? Why didn't Laura play the matron, for instance?

[Matthew Mercer]

Pick another one.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah, I already talked about it.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah, we already did it.

[Liam O'Brien]

I already talked about that one. You know what I mean? Boo.

[Matthew Mercer]

Who wrote these questions?

[Marisha Ray]

Boo.

[Liam O'Brien]

Matt Vox, Machina and the mighty Nan are being teed up to reenter the story in full force. Can you talk to us about preparing for this crossover and what it's like to bring these three campaigns together? Yeah, it's super exciting, and it's also a lot of work because I have general ideas, especially post Vasselheim of. Okay, this is the plan that was being set up. This makes the most sense for everyone's power set. It's all leaning up to allow Bells Hells the best chance they have at succeeding at this ultimate goal that only really they can do, given their experience, knowledge, and the rudest born within them. So it's like having all their old groups now playing support for their current group, which is a really, really cool moment. And so breaking all that out and preparing for all these different encounters that will come along the way, the timing of these certain things. It's a lot of math and theoretical chess in my head. So while it's a lot of work, though, it's super exciting. I can't fucking wait. I'm loving this so much. And there's so much I can't wait to happen and to show you and fight you with and. Oh, it's gonna be so good. It's gonna be so good. That's all.

[Robbie Damon]

I knew you were the right one to answer the last question. And that's it for Deep Dive, which means we're almost done for this very lazy Halloween four sided dive. But before we go, it's time for one more round of questions from the tower of inquiry.

[Liam O'Brien]

Oh, my God.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah, we gotta do it again.

[Marisha Ray]

You haven't picked yet.

[Ashley Johnson]

Okay, just like that. That was easy.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah, he didn't pick last time. So he has to do two this time, right?

[Robbie Damon]

What? No, that's not how it works.

[Marisha Ray]

I'm pretty sure that's how they work.

[Robbie Damon]

What are the rules? Can I touch anything?

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah. No. Whatever you touch, you have to.

[Robbie Damon]

Missed it. Lost all my aura right at the end. 23.

[Matthew Mercer]

Let us see.

[Liam O'Brien]

Hi, I'm sword guy.

[Matthew Mercer]

All right. From just some guy, 1991. Who is your favorite character that you have played outside of the three main critical role campaigns, either from one of the one shots or even from the home game?

[Ashley Johnson]

Favorite one shot. Specifically one shot or just outside of main campaign.

[Matthew Mercer]

Outside of the three main critical role.

[Ashley Johnson]

Campaigns, either one of the one shots.

[Matthew Mercer]

Or even from a home.

[Marisha Ray]

Fern, I'm going to go with, because I actually really liked the build and I feel like I didn't really get a chance to get into it. Was Damian from Darrington Brigade.

[Liam O'Brien]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's a fun character.

[Marisha Ray]

Damn fun character. And a very, very fun build and fun backstory that we didn't get to.

[Ashley Johnson]

I love all my small characters so much. Hmm. The way I'll answer this question is I'll say that also from Darrington. I really miss Buddy the Ogre. Just because, you know, I think for a while before the world was beset with pandemic, we thought we were gonna be spending more time with Darrington. And I was like, this is my goofball character. This is my grog, this is my jester. I'm gonna have fun. And I did. And Then we didn't do it anymore. So I. And I had already. And Orym was planned so far in advance, and I was not gonna veer off of Orym, who is not a Goober. So I've lost my shot at my Goober.

[Marisha Ray]

Are you saying the world took your.

[Robbie Damon]

Joy saying that in your outfit?

[Ashley Johnson]

I mean, didn't it?

[Robbie Damon]

Didn't it?

[Ashley Johnson]

Did you take yours away too?

[Marisha Ray]

Yes.

[Robbie Damon]

My favorite was Dink from the Legend of Zelda one shot. Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah, that was a good one shot.

[Robbie Damon]

I remember when you, like timidly asked me if I would want to do a one shot. And you were like, it's Legend and Zelda themes. And I was like, look at my arm. I was like, yes. And my scariest moment was pitching Dink to the production team. And I was like, he's a Goron, but he's gonna be dressed pretty much like Link. And they're like, Nintendo's gonna say no. And they're like, nintendo said yes. It was such a force of nature that, oh my God, what a fun game. It's fun to do some goof em ups.

[Liam O'Brien]

Sometimes I think for me, I don't get to play very often, but I do think back to the escape from the bloodkeep that I did with dimension 20 under Brennan, where I got to play essentially my disaster gay Nazgul character. Like, it was great. It was all the whole. The only view starting the series. It was essentially like all of us were playing more or less like villains under Sauron. But the story begins as they're all planning to take over the world and then the ring gets destroyed and Sauron loses. And so the game begins with like basically Mordor crumbling around us and trying to figure out what to do. And my character, who is a powerful think 17th level, like Hex Blade Warlock was just like a badass character. But I. I rolled so poorly the whole game that he just became like just this butt of every joke, this character that failed at everything he did and was just this sad sack of a man, a ghost man. And it was wonderful to the point where he got the shit beat out of him by what was essentially Samwise Gamgee repeatedly, who was apologizing to him as he was beating him up like, oh, he so sorry. I'm just gonna, like, come on. It was. It was great. I had so much fun with the character. I really did. It was fun.

[Robbie Damon]

Very fun. Do we. Are we supposed to do more or less? Supposed to do more.

[Marisha Ray]

Who's the timekeeper? I should pick another one.

[Robbie Damon]

Again, you're giving double punishment. Okay, I'll do it.

[Liam O'Brien]

All right.

[Ashley Johnson]

It must be the way.

[Matthew Mercer]

I'll leave it up.

[Marisha Ray]

It's got to be the way.

[Matthew Mercer]

Not a timekeeper. I'm a y'all pick another one.

[Marisha Ray]

Speak to the manager. It's a Karen wig. That's what's happening. Karen slash.

[Liam O'Brien]

Children of the corner, you are a brave man.

[Matthew Mercer]

Truly.

[Robbie Damon]

37. 27. 37, 37.

[Ashley Johnson]

37.

[Marisha Ray]

4 to 7.

[Robbie Damon]

37. That's it for me. I'm out. Okay.

[Marisha Ray]

Okay.

[Liam O'Brien]

The rest of us get one each.

[Marisha Ray]

No, we don't need to do that.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah, we'll do lightning around too.

[Matthew Mercer]

Juniper, the writer 22 on Instagram. If your character could wild shape like Fearne, what weirder whacky animal would they turn into? Oh, and Ashley, you can pick either Yasha or Pike.

[Marisha Ray]

Okay, what about like myself, Ashley, or just you? Okay.

[Liam O'Brien]

I'm gonna answer for me.

[Robbie Damon]

I'm gonna answer for me too.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah, let's do that. Great question. We're gonna. We're gonna tweak it a little bit.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

What animal would we.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah. Cause ourselves, Caleb did turn into it.

[Marisha Ray]

It would be so fun to turn into animals.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

Really? Truly. I would be stoked.

[Liam O'Brien]

What's top your list?

[Marisha Ray]

Something that could fly. To start, you have something.

[Liam O'Brien]

I would probably. I'd probably go with like a red tail hawk or something cool. Something, something. Something that has a large enough wingspan that could ride like the upper winds. And that perspective up top would be incredible.

[Robbie Damon]

How cruel of the gods to make a hairless primate creature that instinctively all we want to do is fly anything. Why? It's all so real.

[Matthew Mercer]

I know.

[Marisha Ray]

It's a rule.

[Liam O'Brien]

That's why we made the ornithopter.

[Robbie Damon]

I'm same though. I'm a big bird guy and I'm like a omens guy too, but I kind of want to be an ill omen just to fuck with people. So like, I really. I really love an American lore. The owl. And it's also. The owl is just a terrifying creature. It flies silently. It's an apex predator. It barfs out the bones and beaks of its enemies. Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

Badass.

[Robbie Damon]

And so much of my life is like being a dad and you gotta go potty kid and like taking care of people. And then at night, I could just turn into a terrifying murder machine. Sounds amazing. Sounds great. And I get to fly. That's the best.

[Liam O'Brien]

That's a great idea.

[Robbie Damon]

That's the best. Yeah. Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

Even split between a flying squirrel. So I could Be like sail and a full silverback gorilla a la Caleb.

[Marisha Ray]

I was gonna like to be a.

[Ashley Johnson]

Big, powerful primate and be able to like, climb up a tree like it's nobody's business. And then just like. That's cool. You know, let out pent up aggression. Not that I have any.

[Robbie Damon]

This is fantasy. What about a flying gorilla that's got skinfold sail?

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

£800. No.

[Liam O'Brien]

He'S at peregrine falcon speeds.

[Robbie Damon]

Just whipping it down.

[Liam O'Brien]

They only fly once.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

Oh, my gosh. Oh, man.

[Liam O'Brien]

What you got?

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah. Come on.

[Marisha Ray]

You're the biggest gorilla was up there.

[Liam O'Brien]

Oh, really?

[Marisha Ray]

Oh, yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

Oh, yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

I love gorillas. I just love. Oh, I think they're so cool. I like. My dream is to be held by a gorilla like I'm its baby. Yeah. But you heard me, folks.

[Liam O'Brien]

If any of you out there can help us make this dream come true.

[Marisha Ray]

I would never, like, go visit those places where you can see them up close. I don't.

[Liam O'Brien]

Kyle, bring them out.

[Marisha Ray]

No, I don't. Any of that.

[Ashley Johnson]

Talking about how people should not mix with certain animals.

[Marisha Ray]

No, we shouldn't. And I don't want to. There's. I don't have a. I. I mean, just in like a fantasy world.

[Robbie Damon]

Sure.

[Marisha Ray]

Of just like being able to just live with.

[Robbie Damon]

Just to clarify, don't throw you into the grill or enclosure. Okay.

[Marisha Ray]

I don't believe in that of like keeping them in captivity. Any of that. But yeah, I would. Gorilla's really high up there. I think just because it would be cool to feel so powerful. And also like a jaguar, so you could, like run super crazy fast. I feel like that'd feel.

[Robbie Damon]

Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

I don't really want to pick. I just want to be keyleth and just be able to.

[Marisha Ray]

I wouldn't want. It's too hard to pick. There's so many animals that I think would be so fun.

[Liam O'Brien]

Big cats, though. Big cats are cool.

[Marisha Ray]

Big cats would be cool. Yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

Even goldfish has got its perk.

[Marisha Ray]

Even a goldfish swimming around in the water sounds nice.

[Ashley Johnson]

Not a lot of baggage.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

Don't have to think about much.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

Awesome.

[Liam O'Brien]

That's true. Breaks water. Well, no.

[Marisha Ray]

A fainting goat make people laugh.

[Liam O'Brien]

Hell, yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

I'd really like to be a long haired miniature doc. Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

I mean, and a dog would be so fun too. And you get scritches.

[Ashley Johnson]

I miss my dog.

[Robbie Damon]

I feel like we're all dressed as different things this evening. We've just discussed the different things that we could be. Joy has been sucked out of Liam's Life.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

My ogre's gone.

[Robbie Damon]

Oh, no. Let's bring him back.

[Ashley Johnson]

My baby ogre.

[Liam O'Brien]

Let's bring the ogre back.

[Robbie Damon]

You're such a sweet boy.

[Ashley Johnson]

He's such a sweet boy.

[Robbie Damon]

But this has been, like, super fun. I think it's a good spot to let this lazy Halloween go. Go.

[Liam O'Brien]

Okay.

[Marisha Ray]

Okay.

[Robbie Damon]

Are you sure?

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah.

[Robbie Damon]

Okay. We wanna say thank you to just some guy, 1991. And Juniper, the writer. And again, if you have questions for a tower of inquiry, you can enter them at critical role or sorry. Critrole.com Tower. Now I get why you do that. It makes sense. And that's it. That is it. For Lazy Halloween Four Sided Dive special. We want to thank our guests, Ashley Johnson, Liam O'Brien, Matthew Mercer. Why am I reading your names? And our lore keeper, Danny Carr. I'm Robbie Damon, your 28th tavern keeper and I. I guess that's the outro.

[Liam O'Brien]

Cool, man. Whatever.

[Ashley Johnson]

That's fine.

[Robbie Damon]

Cool beans, friends around the table, time to celebrate. It's a party, hit the lights, here we go? Go, go Waste a night away With a little escape? It's a chance to lose control? So let's just leave this world behind? Everybody, come on, take a dive. One by one we roll the dice. Come on, let's go for another round. Your friends are here to cheer you on. Throw it back. It's good times all night long. Let's go. No way to lose when you're having this much fun. It's your turn. No way to lose when you're having this much fun. I'm gonna try. I'm gonna bonk Ashley in the head. I feel like I'm.

[Ashley Johnson]

Let me put my costume back on.

[Marisha Ray]

I would like to try.

[Ashley Johnson]

Oh, dear.

[Liam O'Brien]

What I'm doing.

[Robbie Damon]

No. That's it for the podcast version of.

[Matthew Mercer]

This episode of Four Sided Dive.

[Liam O'Brien]

If you've enjoyed this deep dive into.

[Robbie Damon]

The campaign, be sure to drop us a rating and a review on whatever.

[Marisha Ray]

Podcast platform you're using.

[Robbie Damon]

Your thoughts may just encourage a new.

[Matthew Mercer]

Critter to take the plunge.

[Robbie Damon]

Four Sided Dive normally airs on the.

[Matthew Mercer]

First Tuesday of every month at 7pm.

[Liam O'Brien]

Pacific on our Twitch and YouTube channels.

[Matthew Mercer]

With the VOD available on YouTube the very next day.

[Liam O'Brien]

And of course, each episode releases right.

[Robbie Damon]

Here on the Critical Role Podcast network the following Friday.

[Liam O'Brien]

We'll see you again next month.

[Ashley Johnson]

Hi there, it's Andy Richter, and I'm here to tell you about my podcast, the Three Questions with Andy Richter. Each week I invite friends, comedians, actors and musicians to discuss these three questions. Where do you come from? Where are you going and what have you learned? New episodes are out every Tuesday with guests like Julie Bow and Ted Danson, Tig Notaro, Will Arnett, Phoebe Bridgers, and more. You can also tune in for my weekly Andy Richter Call in Show episodes, where me and a special guest invite callers to weigh in on topics like dating, disasters, bad teachers, and lots more. Listen to the three Questions with Andy Richter wherever you get your podcasts.

[Liam O'Brien]

Every day, our world gets a little more connected, but a little further apart. But then there are moments that remind.

[Ashley Johnson]

Us to be more human.

[Liam O'Brien]

Thank you for calling Amica Insurance.

[Ashley Johnson]

Hey, I was just in an accident. Don't worry, we'll get you taken care of.

[Liam O'Brien]

At Amica, we understand that looking out for each other isn't new or grounded.

[Robbie Damon]

Breaking it's human.

[Liam O'Brien]

Amica empathy is our best policy.