#cuz they'd probably be fighting him and MAYBE a couple guards

[essektheylyss]

You know, everyone makes fun of Essek for his, "I'd like to see you try," posturing, but I don't think it was inherently posturing—the Nein were at the time significantly lower level, and considering his spell list consists of a good smattering of AOE spells, Essek would've likely managed to drop a least a couple of them in a turn or two, considering he had eighth level spells at the time and some of them had some low HP maximums. Plus, he was on home turf, and I'm sure he would do just fine in his element, especially where he could probably have gotten some guards on his side, regardless of the Nein's knowledge of his treason. (Who are the Aurora Watch gonna believe in the middle of combat—a bunch of foreigners, or a respected member of the court?)

All I'm saying is, the Nein gain a LOT of experience between getting to Rosohna and the time at which Essek joins them in Aeor, and the only times we really see Essek out of his depth, he's far from home and facing significantly larger and more existential threats than frankly anyone is used to, and back at the beginning, in Rosohna, it's very possible he'd have wiped the floor with them.

#critical role #essek thelyss #this is a hill I'm choosing to die on but know that I'm right #also if we're getting into mechanics he probably would've had legendary actions had he gotten to be the villain he was built to be #cuz they'd probably be fighting him and MAYBE a couple guards #whereas he doesn't get legendary actions as a member of the party cuz that's not how action economy works #and if he'd gotten legendary actions that let him cast additional spells then they'd really have had a tough fight #anyway just thinking #narratively Essek could've wiped the floor with them in 57 #mechanically he'd give them a run for his money but he wouldn't be a narratively important enough enemy to be as difficult as say obann #well depending on how it played out anyway #cr meta