y'all I'm not fucking ready for this.
How many weeks in a row is this with no DDB sponsor?
Matt is dressed in Ruidus colors. fear
personally? I think it would be very funny if somebody replaced Liam's chair with one that's a foot shorter than everyone else's.
I'm fully expecting Ira to be a Garmellie/Artagan situation. This motherfucker is an archfey slumming it on Exandria and ancient god-killing wizard dilfs are his dive bar of choice.
Ira was around for at least one previous apogee solstice, but he was in the Feywild when it happened so he didn't get to see the true extent of is power.
"What do you think about the gods?" "I don't think about them." good answer, good answer
Aberrations and other "mythological creatures" born on solstices (even normal ones) are particularly powerful.
The circlet prevents Imogen from hearing the thoughts of people around her. It just eliminates that entirely. And with it goes most of the reasons she'd have to side with Ludinus and Otohan. Truly the peak of non-wizard mortal hubris, to consider killing the gods before looking for an item or a spell to solve your problem first
Sending to Keyleth from Imogen: "We're a couple hours out, to the southwest. Are we meeting up? Just going for it? Help?" "I'm gathering those of able-body who recovered from our last endeavor. I'll look for a tree. Let me know when you need the cavalry; our arrival isn't quiet."
"I go over and give Fearne a big hug." "Aww—" "I reach into her pocket." never change, Ashton
A ways out from the crater, the Bells Hells come upon a structure in the storm — the wood and stone wreckage of a skyship that carried a cathedral on it. It's mangled and burned; the brumestone has been scavenged. It looks recent, and the outer hull is covered in mounts for heavy armor, harpoons, and cannons, but it was brought down by battle on the deck, not by massive damage to the outer hull. The iconography indicates that it was from Vasselheim, possibly a Judicator ship.
jesus fucking christ. Matt could not say "DO NOT GO THROUGH WITH CRASHING THE SHIP" any more clearly.
if that dispel pulse is shutting down the automatons briefly, then maybe it's not actually intentional. maybe it's a by-product, an unintended consequence.
it never ceases to amaze me that without fail and across all of his characters, Travis manages to be both the voice of "fuck it we ball" and the person who slows down combat to calm players.
like, does CritRoleStats keep track of how many combat encounters each PC has started? bc Chetney has got to be up there with Imogen this campaign
this battle music has the same opening notes as the 2001 theme and now I can't hear anything else
The spellcaster has a +6 spell attack, but also cast hold person at 5th level and did 15 damage on a fire bolt, so they're most likely 9th level with a +2 spellcasting ability modifier.
Ashton rage build update: 2 on the d4 is the space build (portals!). they took the Crusher feat for their 8th level ASI. also, when the space build is active, they can use portals (either as a bonus action or as a result of hitting a creature or as a result of bringing a creature to 0 hp) to teleport to any space they can see within 30 or 60 feet of them.
As a reminder, shock flare is a reskin of arms of hadar, but it pushes creatures away instead of preventing them from taking reactions and deals lightning damage instead of necrotic.
Tal saying "five foot step" gave me hella flashbacks to Pathfinder 1e
"Well, I don't get to choose, do I? Let's just go with it." god fucking damnit. Ashton's rage abilities and how fucking random they are is so poetically and narratively intwined with the themes of this campaign, it's wild
it will never not amuse me that Matt, without fail, misunderstands the way the command spell works. it's super minor and not a big deal but as someone with a DM who's pretty on-top of it, it's very funny
Imogen gets pulled into a tent by a very quick and quiet force.
"Who are you, and why are you fighting the Vanguard?" "I've got friends coming in. Friends or enemies?" "I asked you first." "The question isn't why! It's 'are you fighting too'?" "Who are you with?" "
oh my god of fucking COURSE there are already infiltrators in here. of course there are. why wouldn't there be? Ryn didn't come here alone.
BEAUREGARD???
BEAUREGARD!!!!
y'all you have no fucking idea how excited I am——
"He can go say hi to the rest of his friends we've put there [in jail]." how fucking many of the Cerberus Assembly are in jail now? we know Trent is in there but who else?
CALEB!!!! blorbo!!!
"So. What's the play here, Beauregard?"
They're both friends to the Verity, and they've worked with Ryn before. They came here with her, trying to do a recon mission before she was taken.
The Children of Malice are a front for the Ruby Vanguard.
Caleb and Beau saw the other skyship go down. It was from Vasselheim. The Vanguard struck the skyship from the sky at Ludinus' request, though Caleb hasn't seen any sign of Ludinus being in the crater for many days. But the perpetual dispel pulse was intentionally installed.
Caleb, Beau, and Ryn were all on the Shadowfell team — they were able to damage the key, but unable to completely destroy it.
Caleb refers to Ludinus as the most powerful of the assembly, "the one who could topple it all" if he goes down. He and Beau came here alone;
The entire site is illusion-proofed, there's a dispel wave every minute. There are also mage-hunter golems here, which we've only ever heard of existing inside the Heirloom Sphere. I am forcibly reminded of the fact that Ludinus Da'leth is aware of the Happy Fun Ball.
"The absolute, absurd amount of muscles she has—" "Like Marisha?" *raised eyebrow* Matthew. (fuckin' simp (affectionate))
Ludinus has been reverse-engineering Aeorian technology and using distilled dunamis energy to power it, with multiple mesh-like power sources. He's "obsessed" with divinity and appears to be "counting on opposition, which makes [Beau] uneasy."
"What's dunabis?" "...there isn't time to lecture. It's a very obtuse form of magic that exists between the fabric of all other forms of power. It's one of the oldest and most fundamental forces within Exandria and beyond. It can alter time, space, probability, entropy — it is dangerous in the wrong hands, and unfortunately, a very strong source of it has been in the hands of Ludinus and the Assembly for some time." The 'very strong source' is presumably the beacon, which Ludinus has had since 835 PD.
The Cobalt Soul has been trying to nail down Ludinus for a long time, but "he's always one step ahead."
Caleb specifically refers to dunamis as chaotic, referencing Ashton.
Ludinus has apparently been doing this outside of the Assembly. Caleb's contact in the Assembly (Astrid, presumably) notes that even the rest of the Assembly is afraid to get involved in Ludinus' plans.
Halas, Trent, and "Bendathar" are in Beau's list of archmages they've fucked up.
Hey! Beau knows the Ashari! that's cool. She also knows Ira and his history of designing the keys.
There are dozens of mirrors and hook-like spires facing toward the key itself. Everything is reinforced with a massive amount of residuum — the device, the walls of the excavation site, and everything beyond. "An all-out assault would be far too dangerous." Caleb gives a sending stone to Chetney, who gives it to Laudna, under the assumption that the groups are going to split up to cover more ground.
given the fact that the solstice didn't actually happen this episode and that the Mighty Nein and the Crown Keepers are now attached to this, I feel like my "PFS2 special scenario" theory has some more merit
Beau disappears, Caleb goes invisible (they both start to circle around), and the Bells Hells start to descend the crater.
also, last minute update: Fearne would have flirted incessantly with both Beau and Caleb.
threads that have connected in this episode:
Missing residuum shipments: the malleus key and its surroundings are reinforced with residuum. that's a massive amount; it's possible that Trent's supply of residuum, the stuff the Nameless Ones stole, and the stuff the Paragon's Call were trafficking were probably all going here.
The Cobalt Soul and the Cerberus Assembly: It takes a long, long time to dismantle political systems. The Cobalt Soul has apparently imprisoned more Assembly members than just Trent.
Out-of-the-blue rolls: Those random rolls Matt had Marisha and Liam make were indeed rolls for the Shadowfell expedition that Beau, Caleb, and Ryn were involved with. They rolled shitty, so the Shadowfell key wasn't entirely destroyed, but was damaged.
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phantoms are ghost stories, tales told by villagers to their children. if you don't sleep, the phantoms will get you! they're spooky tales around a campfire, a group of friends laughing and taunting each other: ooh, you're going to be eaten by the big bad phantom! they are mischief, random items suddenly "floating" when really, it's just your local phantom having a touch of fun.
elytrians are legends. it's hard to believe the bright-eyed, feather-winged creatures who roam sun-kissed forests and blooming meadows and soar carefree through azure skies are the same creatures who came from the cold, dark End. but the end is vast and open, with lots of space to fly, so really it makes sense.
avians are the young, energetic children of the Elytrians. they are the tallest mountains and the widest meadows, the spaces closest to the sky. they are the bright-eyed and the carefree, those who run with the wind at their heels, ready to one day master it so that they may truly Fly. they are young and they are hope.
merlings are the beautiful, peaceful people who live just under the surface, scales shimmering in bright aqua water. they are gently-waving kelp fronds and bright rays of light filtering down through the waves. but they are also dangerous and cruel, their siren-songs luring you to a watery grave and leaving your final words to be lost as nothing but bubbles while their laughs ring impossibly in your ears.
blazebornes are fiery spirits, impulsive and stubborn. they are creatures of fire and they are the Nether's beloved creations. their abilities make for quite the show, but that's not all they're good for. they are quick to attack. they are always moving, like the flames from which they were born.
arachnids are masters of the night, the dark, the things that Crawl and Skitter in the deepest caves. they are mystery and shadow. they are the inevitable dark that comes with Light. they are the masters of agility. they are talent and they are deception and they are death.
felines are friends of the villagers. they are flowerfields and daylight and the Overworld and naive joy. they are lazing in the sunshine and leaping through the trees whose leaves are still but for a slight breeze. they are Joy personified. and they are loved.
endarians are the Ones who Embraced the Void. the Void called and they welcomed it into their hearts, letting it change them, warp them, make them what they are now. they are changed, but they are happy. the cold and the dark are Home to them now, and their Hearts are round orbs, pumping dark ender-purple blood through their veins. a touch of the void always lingers around them in the form of particles.
starbornes are the Sky, and the Stars, and they are the Night, but unlike the phantoms they are not playful death. they are longing, and they are loving. they came from the stars and to the stars they long to return. stars are lonely things, and so too are the starbornes.
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So more thoughts trying to stop from spam posting( spoilers)
I saw someone point out the factor that Megatron originally was having all this character development basically and that it just got thrown at the window with Starscream but I think there's somewhat
this is highly my opinion don't take it into full consideration but I remember when the first few episodes at the beginning of the Season where Megatron was giving Bumblebee advice very old advice on how to help Terrence and
get them to listen to him and you can see that he wasn't fully out of his old ways like he's still trying to change and it's kind of hard to do so and mind you they were in a 4 million year war and they've been out of it for like almost a few decades and time works differently for the Transformers compared to how time works for humans
but in my opinion, it makes sense for him to immediately attack Starscream and the way he described him to Optimus and everyone else that Starscream is a threat
And they're right start scream is a threat he is intelligent but it's the thing of his ego getting in the way of all that and trying back when they had a war was always to overthrow Megatron and make everyone under his rule instead of Megatron
Like everyone that had a bit and trait that they had during the war still on in their lives that they're trying trying to overcome them basically and a lot of them is topped on with new PTSD new triggers new a lot of things that make them reignite that they're not changed like they're trying to back away from that but they're not that level yet
So it makes sense for him to immediately in my opinion attack Starscream because you can see Starscream is still and willing to leave people behind to save his own skid plates
And basically in the first few episodes he still has those traits of being the warlord in Tyrant that Megatron is known for literally during the training course episode he went and on about talking how he would show his dominance basically he literally has a move called the turbo twister while he was on the call with Bumblebee and even bumblebee got immediately terrified and Megatron is doing this all with the grin on his face that you see in the picture on the top of this post
, and in the IDW comics he was on the Lost lights for a year almost 2 years and he was still having all those traits of being the warlord Tyrant like it was a cycle he couldn't get out of and it took 800 years over 800 years mind you for him to somewhat straighten up and not show that many traits as he once had before
So it makes sense in my opinion that he would immediately text Starscream the way he did and it makes sense to another point where he stopped immediately when hashtag told him to do so
I'm not going to try to say that Starscream was always the bad guy but he was always a bit antagonizing in the beginning but aggressively got worse along with his need to get rid of Megatron because of Megatron putting an impressing all that abuse into him over time
Another factor I would like to point out is Megatron was a gladiator Way Before the War I don't know if it was the same in this iteration cuz we have yet to actually be filled in on all the origin points of this story for spark but and the IDW version and it almost every other version he was part of the lower class Society of Cybertron which was the worst place to be they were very suppressed and didn't have the necessary resources to go on and most of them will be doing the dirty work for the lowest amount of pay and insurance of resources
But in the IDW version of specifically you actually do get a more inside story for megatrons pass and why he's kind of like the way he is his actions are not excusable but there are understandable why he did so but in the IDW version he was a minor where they were treated like absolute garbage and the worst conditions ever and they were living around unmarked Graves and also being taken away from their jobs at that point and not being compensated for their work or everything
Even with most of these reasons if you want the full story I highly recommend you go watch a few Megatron IDW videos cuz it will fill you in more than I can at the moment
,, it was basically an endless cycle of people and stealing abuse and neglect into others making them worser of why they are and why they act the Pacific way they do cuz you got to keep in mind of the two main questions" why are they acting like this" and "what caused this"
I may have got a little point in my bad but basically what I'm saying is that they didn't write throw it out the window they may have seem like they thrown out all Megatron's character development and just one fail swoop but in my opinion they did not they kept in character with him that he just got out of 4 million war and he's been in a strict routine and it's kind of hard to break out of it even within a few Decades of years
And again he stopped immediately after hashtag told him to do so like he didn't push her out of the way he didn't yell at her he didn't do any of that yes he may have immediately went to go attack Starscream because star screams a threat but also cuz it was such a routine for him to do so.
In the end, you can also see in the episode of the dweller he did manage to have somewhat of a decent conversation with Starscream and it was nothing hard she was just trying to reach out to Starscream there was no more fighting until the finale episode where started screen was protecting twitch and Megatron was being mind controlled but
they still managed to keep in tune with his actual character in the episode of dweller in my opinion of the fact that he is trying to change and he is on somewhat a decent path to his newer self
(But don't take this all into consideration this is generally my opinion and I'm sorry if it's really long and I might be spam posting for a while I just can't help it after those amazing episodes that I was just watched and I was right I was not emotionally prepared and I am highly apologetic for any grammar's errors and misspell and thank you for listening or reading my ramble))):)
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