#can you tell I am absolutely not normal about Ashrym?

[12pt-times-new-roman]

"the lycanthrope form within chetney" is certainly a Choice Of Words

y'all what if Lilliana is in the same place as Evandrin?

Sending to Lilliana: "Are you alright? Where are you? Are you— is there— where have you been?" "I'm fine, Imogen. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for how long I've been gone. I'm okay. Are you okay?" (she has a southern accent that's noticeably thicker than Imogen's.) "If I'm being honest, things are hard. You might know that already, though. Where are you? I wanna see you. Can I see you?" "I'm sorry it's hard. I'm sorry for cursing you with this burden. I left because I was a danger. I couldn't stay without knowing what I am. (She casts sending on Imogen.) You can't see me, because you need to stay safe. And the further from me you are, the safer you'll be. Far from me, in this destiny." "This destiny has caught up with me, regardless of where you are physically. It's all happening. I could use your help, and your knowledge." "I love you, Imogen. More than you'll ever know. And that's why you have to run away from me, Imogen. As far as you can. Run." "I'm tired of running, mother."

yo. the way Matt let that just linger for so long before Lilliana cast sending on Imogen? how Laura did that right back to him on that last reply? peak drama.

Imogen always thought Lilliana was telling her to run away from the storm. but her voice was always coming from the farmhouse. so what if she was telling Imogen to run into the storm and away from the farmhouse?

"it's not normally a problem for me, but I guess it... is now." as he gestures to Imogen. what the fuck does that mean? does Chetney think whatever Imogen did caused Ruidus to have more of an influence on him? is he right?

Laudna is so right. Lilliana hasn't seen Imogen in almost two decades. so how would she know that she's exhibiting abilities from being Ruidus-born? sending doesn't tell you who the person is, so how would she know it was Imogen at all, if she hadn't heard her voice in that long?

Orym's gonna snap. walks straight outta that discussion about people turning on each other to go sit on the front of the ship and look at the moon.

"I guess I just expected more... meaning." "Meaning isn't inflicted or pressed upon you, you have to carve it into yourself."

Orym uses the sending stone: "Hey. Yios-bound. Found 'em, their killers. Bigger than we thought. We're all rough, Dorian. Eshteross is dead. Glad you're not here. Wish you were anyway."

Ashton comes up to the deck and sits by him. and holy shit. their entire demeanor just..... changes. they're pacing their sentences and their voice is so low and quiet. "we keep calling you the good one — it feels a little unfair. I know you're not okay, but... I dunno. is this feeling like too much, all of this? // if we survive this, I definitely have some things in my life I'd like to ask your help with... and I hope we're at the point where you'd ask for help if you needed it." Orym is cautious when he takes Ashton's hand. Ash can't make eye contact and keeps looking down but they never face away.

Day 4: No issues. We're deep into the Hellcatch now.

Day 5: No issues.

Day 6: A freak wind storm adds another day of travel. Because the number on the d6 was 1-2, no one was outside when it happened.

Day 7: FCG asks the Changebringer for a sign, and immediately afterwards, a flock of 12 cockatrices attacks the ship.

that's bad. cockatrices petrify people for 24 hours (if they fail two con saves in a row), and they're on an airship thousands of feet in the air

.....is that the first time Ashton said "I would like to rage" instead of "I'm gonna rage"? given that they once said something like "no, I don't want to rage, I'm going to fucking rage," that seems like something

"That's when you realize they weren't attacking the ship, they were fleeing to it." and a fucking CHIMERA climbs up onto the ship.

awww Matt was teaching Ronan about d&d monsters and had him pick his favorite to put into the encounter :)

a rundown on chimeras — they're CE monstrosities with a 3-hit multiattack, and they can substitute one of those attacks with a fire breath weapon if it's available (recharge 5-6).

Laudna's form of dread is a gnarled, not-quite-dead tree. her skin turns to rotting bark, twisting branches grow from her shoulders.

Ashton's possibility rage build specifies that Ashton rolls the 1d4 that allies within range add to an attack or save. also, when a creature makes an attack against an ally within range, they roll 1d4 and subtract it from the roll.

Laudna has gift of the ever-living ones, an eldritch invocation that causes her to regain maximum hit points from any healing source as long as Pate is within 100 feet of her.

Imogen summons a red immaterial spirit that appears through a portal. this is most likely a reskin of summon aberration, which she got as a sorcerous origin spell at 7th level. Matt calls it a "shade," but its abilities are consistent with the Star Spawn aberrant spirit conjured by that spell (namely the aura of whispers). which is certainly a Thing. because star spawn are very connected to elder evils, of which Tharizdun is one, and to cults formed around them.

Day 8: Thunderstorm! The ship needs to ride low to the ground, but they soon arrive at the Gloomed Jungles.

Chetney found another collection of lycanthropes in the northern part of the Savalirwood when he was traveling through. He was out in the woods surviving, having fled Uthodurn, when he came upon another lycanthrope and was infected; he was bitten, then killed the one who bit him, and the folks from that group found Chetney because they were hunting the one he killed. They took him in, but he got cast out for some reason.

He mentioned that one of the leaders of that community was Rudina. I feel like I remember reading that name in the Nine Eyes of Lucien, but I can't remember.

The Gorgynei arrive.

listen. we all know Matt's voices are fucking incredible. but this feels like another level. he's got accents going underneath this guttural growl thing, and he's doing higher and lower voices so they're all distinct, but what gets me is the way he's doing the growl. the were-panther has a high and reedy voice — panthers can't growl, they're one of the only big cats that can't, so they hiss or scream instead. the were-tiger keeps doing this thing where her voice drops into a straight-up chest growl — tigers actually have more threatening roars than lions because of their social structure, and their roars have that characteristic bass rumble.

The Bells Hells were led to Baronak, a "collection of elaborate jungle tree houses and huts, connected by rope bridges and ladders, with two or three dozen people gathering around a small fire pit."

"Ruidus does bring with it a particular itch. It always has. Stronger as its power grows in recent times, but no more than that... it's nothing to worry about, at least not for us. What is different about you?"

....oh. Chetney was a blood hunter before he became a lycanthrope. blood hunters enter into an order at level 3, but they take the Hunter's Bane at level 1.

The Gorgynei have an accord with the Court of the Lambent Path in Yios, who have allowed them to continue living in secrecy in the jungles in exchange for them maintaining the safety of the roads through the jungle.

The Court of the Lambent Path is the governing body of Ashanedoor, and were on the other side of the Apex War, opposed to the Stratos Throne. It is an erudite, primarily orcish society.

There's a statue in the middle of the village of Sahyaadon, Keeper of the Savage Heart. "Semi-humanoid, semi-bestial. An arched back, arms out, with multiple heads — three various bestial heads howling. In one hand, there is a heart resting in its claws. In the other, a growing sapling. It looks fairly old — looking at the weathering, the damage it's sustained, it's probably over 100 years at least." The three heads aren't actually separate heads more than separate jaws and snouts protruding from a singular face.

They are a powerful, ancient spirit of the jungles. They are the protecter of both hunter and prey to maintain the balance of the living jungle. They shun magic that harms the natural order, and has watched over this entire land, this entire region. Some say they have always existed, others that they are a vigilant spirit under Seratani (the Marquesian name for the Wildmother).

"When a person completely loses control of the gift, there's likely no other way to stop them from spreading it. There have been a few cases of outbreaks across Exandria, and the Gorgynei are dedicated to keep it under control... it's when people begin to embrace the beast without proper training that they become dangerous."

The guy with the vegetables has an accent very similar to Yeza's (though a bit thicker), and the orcish leader has an accent very similar to Vandran's.

(I'm just sayin', Matt has the opportunity to do something really fucking funny here by making Fjord's father a lycanthrope)

In the morning, they'll take Chet to a temple of Sahyaadon, where "the spirit might meet with you, and it could excise this itch, or excise you... you will be tempted, you will be challenged, you will be tested. All of you."

There are a handful of true blood hunters in this commune, and all the rest are civilians who carry lycanthropy. They all control it as best they can, and are (presumably willingly, and/or as a condition of living here) chained to the tree in the middle of the village during a full moon.

#critical role #critical role spoilers #critical role campaign 3 #critical role c3 #note watches c3 #critical role liveblog #can you tell I am absolutely not normal about Ashrym? #I love them so so much #something something closed wound and bleeding heart #but you don't know which one's which