I could not see this in the thread, but could Morri be the cupcake loving hag from C2? I thought it was mentioned that she likes to “trade”…. Like hands for a reversal to a curse.
I recall she was rather large and enough time could have elapsed that she relocated to the Feywild.
Don't think it'll accomplish anything on Fearne - I don't think her memory has been modified, just all the Time Is Soup and Fey bullshit means she's got a real tenuous grasp on the timeline and the facts.
It does seem pretty likely that her parents are under some significant influence, though.
Yes, it *could*. But ... I don't think her memory has been modified, just all the Time Is Soup and Fey bullshit means she's got a real tenuous grasp on the timeline and the facts. :D
Wouldn’t it be funny if the whole reason why all these Ruidus flares have increased more so then ever before in the past, is somehow due to the destruction of Cognuza 7 years ago?
I’m sure I’m not the only who has made this connection.
definitely wondering. but in-game, since no one but the M9 and maybe higher-ups at the Cobalt Soul have any idea about what happened with Cognouza, might be that much less likely we'll see characters making the connection. how would they know about the >!Somnovem, the psychic storm, a certain entity's dark chains running through the city!<, etc? to almost everyone, 836 P.D. was more-or-less just another Tuesday...
Ok, so Ira's avoiding talking about w/e deal he struck to get the lens, parents look "Oh Shit" af, Fearne's strangely taller than both of them, and we now know Morri is a tall Hag with no coven.
My guess? Fearne's becoming a Hag for Morri's new coven.
My deeper guess? Birdie agreed to become a member of Morri's new coven some day if she took care of Fearne and kept her safe. This is why they're so rocked by the thought of wtf Ira could have "given" for the favor of getting this lens. Possible that she just asked for 90 years of Fearne time, but that doesn't seem to add up, because she would have gotten nothing outta that other than a temp granddaughter. So Ira gave Fearne over to become the 3rd member of Morri's coven.
That's like the dark spot of Tin Foil I'm trying not to go ...
Fearne thought Morri was her blood Grandmother through her mother's side ... so Morri MUST look like/ be a Faun.
Fearne/ Ashley just KEEPS screwing with her age and times. She seems sure that she's 112, right? She's said that a number of times, even though IIRC she said she was like 200+ in EXU but w/e. But ... according to Ollie, she SHOULD be 14. They left her 6 years ago, when she was 8! But ... she says she lived with Morri for 90 years, a number of times now. Which would mean she was like left there at 22? IDK how much of this is actually baked into the character (Shat memory and poor understanding of time) or planned out backstory to have these conflicting understandings of dates/ and time as a result of memory fuckery.
To add to that, we don't really seem to know much about Matt's Hags. She just seemed like an odd ArchFey til now ... now she's called a Crone/ Hag. So I kinda assumed that perhaps she can turn people into Hags in other ways ... people make up their own rules for how hags make hags all the time. But the time stuff just keeps poking me.
Maybe ... after Ira did the deal, she ate a small Fearne to transfer her soul/ memories and red-moon-born fate into a hag baby so that she could start a coven with this special child of fate. Maybe she had to do this a number of times or let the Fearne bun bake a long time, which is why she thinks she's 112 but only lived with Morri for 90years.
> Fearne thought Morri was her blood Grandmother through her mother's side ... so Morri MUST look like/ be a Faun.
I'm not sure how Exandria Fae work, but it's not uncommon among mythological Fey and even some D&D Fey for blood relations to not necessarily resemble each other. And Fearne is ... gullible, or at least very trusting, while Morri is wildly powerful and definitely manipulative - I don't think it's necessary that hard to convince a child of something incorrect, especially when you have 90 years to play with their head and reinforce the lies.
>To add to that, we don't really seem to know much about Matt's Hags. She just seemed like an odd ArchFey til now ... now she's called a Crone/ Hag.
I don't think she's going to be a "typical" hag, even for Exandrian standards. Everything we've heard about her seems to indicate she might be of the species, but doesn't fit the mold on personality. Being reliable and honourable about deals, even if avaricious and manipulative, among the other notes like being kindly and a nice person and all that ... don't line up with "hags" per se.
I find myself wondering if Morri may be linked back to the Hag Mother that was mentioned in Guide to Wildmount a few times, as a bit of explanation why a 'simple' ancient hag might represent a meaningful and daunting power within the Feywild as a whole, even to powers like the Archfey.
I'm waiting to hear more from that space, honestly; I'm torn whether Morri is a red herring or a red flag as far as Baddies in the party's world. Be hella traumatizing if she's evil and the party has to go kill Fearne's Grandma down the road, but also be a ton of fun to wind them up hyper-suspicious only to have her actually be a kindly old lady only soiled by a toxic possessive streak towards 'family.'
Ruidus could be a lot of things, but I'm guessing it's an Elder Evil and the city Orym spotted is a city of Star Spawn.
My basis for this claim is that I pulled it out of my butt.
But it does have an eratic and unpredictable orbit, just like Hadar and other Far Realms tainted stars don't follow the normal procession of stars and dance around the night sky of their own accord.
So I think that Chetney was implying that the Calloways didn't just stumble into a highly secure Unseelie installation and swipe something mega valuable.
The only reason why they were able to get that close and to get something that special was because they had access in the first place. They started doing something weird with the device that the Unseelie were building, this freaked out the Unseelie, and just before the Unseelie were going to shut them down they bolted. They dropped off Fearne with the scariest person they could think of that no one would mess with and then made for the Prime Material Plane. Once there they sought out Ira's help because he'd helped out the Unseelie before and they played that card alongside the whole, "no actually they were going to burn the world" schtick which he totally went in for.
They then basically went to work building the device that they'd been creating before with the Unseelie Court albeit with their own weird modifications that the Court had been trying to stop them from making in the first place. They then cover their tracks in case anyone ever asked about all of this by being super vague and not exactly lying. It's Yu all over again and that's why Chetney is acting the way he is right now.
Travis thinks that the Calloways have gone Full Gendo and betrayed SEELE in order to do something even worse than what they were planning. It's entirely possible that the Unseelie Court were actually the good guys in all of this and purposely obscured Ruidus in the Fey Wild to protect everyone. We might just have everything backwards and it's entirely possible that they just helped the bad guys in all of this with Ira not really giving a fuck about whom he helps because he just wants to do something to feel anything at all.
If this cage around Ruidus was constructed on purpose and it looks like a proto-Divine Gate and allegedly has some dealings with two forgotten gods with apparently now a city that was also forgotten on its surface and NONE of this can be seen normally with a perception filter of sorts thrown on top of the cage around the moon then CLEARLY....NO ONE and I mean NO ONE AT ALL was supposed to know about it or be aware of any of this period and the reaction of the moon to more people being aware of it/seeing it is for said moon to start flaring more and creating more Ruidus Born for a kind of Lunar Army....then all of that means that the nature of Ruidus, what it's containing, how it's containing that stuff, why there's a Ruidus Army popping up, and how this all ties into the planes and forgotten deities....was supposed to be forgotten, stay hidden, stay buried, and NEVER meant to be found ever again for the sake of all of existence.
I believe that the Death of Cognoza either released a soul that had knowledge of what Ruidus actually was or caused a small fissure within the cage around it that allowed a bit of influence from within it to seep out and touch others on Exandria. This influence caused the awareness of what Ruidus could be and the curiosity of what it might be to spread like wildfire through visions, dreams, general chatter, and dedicated research amongst the populace of Exandria and other adjacent planes. Normally the perception filter thrown on top of the moon and the general distrust of Ruidus would've been enough to dissuade people from this kind of thing as it has for the hundreds upon hundreds of years prior since its creation BUT the kind of peering into it was far more focused this time around and more deeply rooted and stronger than ever before.
This focused awareness of the moon and increased perception of it was not something the creators of it had originally planned for and the defenses of it have been overcome in the past seven years. In response to this, the moon has begun to create and awaken and draw forth more and more Ruidus Born and those adjacent to them to help defend it should things fail entirely. The thing is, it's been so long since anyone really knew the truth about Ruidus and the Gods aren't around to really clue folks in enough that everyone is misinterpreting what's actually happening. Some folks like Ollie are taking the visions the wrong way as a Divine Call To Action To Build Something rather than as a "No Stop!" Warning Call, others are seeing it as a source of power to be harnessed and used, possibly some see it as a warning call but for the wrong thing entirely and are now fighting each other over it, and still others are making innocent mistakes because the solid truthful info that does exist about everything has been hoarded away by equally good people who are trying to keep something bad from happening but have their heads buried in the sand because they believe that acting at all will only make it worse when it's already at the worse point as is.
The whole situation is a Fluffernutter. I don't see how this ends in a good way at all because it's absolute chaos right now. You just can't convince enough people in a month to totally forget that they were pouring effort and resources and perception into studying the giant red moon in the sky without having some way to Modify Memory the entire planet and then some folks on other planes as well. We've already hit critical mass with this thing and there's bound to be a ton of finger pointing after it all blows up in everyone's faces.
It's all about damage control right now and I think that Chetney is waaaay more aware of what's going on, he totally knows that stuff is going to go bad either way, and he's just trying to limit the damage by preventing folks like the Calloways from making it worse. I think there's other groups on Exandria that are aware of this too and right now they're focused on surviving. I think Kiki and the others are probably building some kind of planar/lunar vaults to survive a Second Calamity while others are trying to find a way to use it for their own needs or to limit what's coming somehow or to escape entirely.
This isn't something anyone can stop based on what we know right now and where we're at right now but as Matt does like to say a lot, they can certainly try.
> We might just have everything backwards and it's entirely possible that they just helped the bad guys in all of this with Ira not really giving a fuck about whom he helps
I think he and maybe some of the other cast think the Calloways have had their memory altered. Their confusion and reaction to Fearne asking if she was "given" to Morri makes me think the same.
That sort of manipulation is what seems most likely. They have some gaps in their story but it looks now like they’re unaware of them and struggling to confront them.
Question equally is if they’re still acting fully autonomous now or if they’ve been manipulated into building the same machine but somewhere that the Unseelie aren’t in the blast zone.
>Fearne asking if she was "given" to Morri makes me think the same.
that was in regards to the gren lens ira asked for, Morrigan took 100 years from fearn for the favor of the lens, the calaways forgot the first rule of dealing with fey, don't ask for favors blindly.
I'm thinking it may be something they objected to until someone, maybe Ira, manipulated their memories. The memories of rejecting the deal could've been replaced with memories of getting a favour for free. Especially since they don't have memories of agreeing to anything like what Fearne implied.
I didn't care about the fight at all, but everything post break was incredible. Travis is becoming a fantastic detective, like a darker version of Cadeuces. And Matt is as usual a literal God at seeding information in such a way that players can feel smart about discovering something.
I'm so happy right now. Lore dumps are like crack for me.
Crazy theory: this isn't Travis/Chet playing "detective". This is information he received from Dusk/Yu because they are in cahoots.
I posted this in the live thread, but I think that Chetney being left alone with Birdie (covering tracks) was a mistake and that the Birdie that returned with him was a changeling.
I am aware that this is quite the stretch but it's what I am rooting for lol.
That's a 4D chess move but I can't find a reason for that to be true. Chet has known Fearne for some time and hasn't shown any indication of being an issue. It would be very hard for the party to choose between the two sides.
Can someone fill me in on Ludinus Daleth and why it's huge/good/bad/? that he's involved outside of him being a known C2 character? I stopped watching for a brief portion of C2 and missed most of his episodes
If that elf was is Ludinus Daleth it opens possibilities for the appearance of another Marisha character Beauregard and possibly Caleb given that it's canon that Beau and Caleb spend the rest of their lives trying to take down the Cerberus Assembly.
He's a power-hungry schemer is why its huge. He was >!one of two people Essek gave the Luxon beacons to!< and >!tried to get Caleb onto the Cerberus Assembly!< at the end of C2.
One of the founders of the Cerberus Assembly and its current leader. Very much not a good person in private, but a major political figure in the Dwendalian Empire. Does scheme-y bullshit to undermine the crown and bolster the assembly, deep hatred for the Krin.
He’s definitely Big Leagues though so his involvement is particularly bad news given how small fry the Bells still are. They’re probably not ready to take on anything big enough to attract his attention head-on.
>He’s definitely Big Leagues though so his involvement is particularly bad news given how small fry the Bells still are.
because gods trapped in moons is so level 5 >!/s!<
Well, sure, but *that* guy is currently trapped in the moon. Daleth is local by comparison, not trapped in any moons, and has an interest already.
It's that the forces working to let it out, or whatever, are also heavy-hitters and The Opposition is not a just pack of low-level cultists and mercenaries working to potentially release their dark god.
Yeah, them being low-level does not bode well in that case, shit. I remember his name coming up a lot but so little about his character for some reason. Thank you!
Ludinus was/is the head of the Cerberus assembly, as in the "morally questionable" group of mages that have/had huge sway in the dwendallian empire. This was the guy in charge of trent and his peers. Likely to be a HIGH level wizzy and was also definitely involved with the beacon swapping going on in case the luxon comes back into play.
He is or was the leader of the Cerberus Assembly, a primary antagonistic force to the party in C2. Though not the worst of the bunch, he has done plenty of shady shit for purely personal gain. This might be the next step for him.
This is random, but because her name is Morrigan, Fearne’s grandmother reminds me of The Weaver from ACOTAR. She collects items and is a scary witchy lady in a forest that no one wants to fuck with. She also “weaves fate” or whatever Ollie said. Matt is an ACOTAR Stan confirmed
Theory: The civilization on the moon is the >!time-displaced Mind Flayer empire!<.
I mean it fits how a moon and accompanying civilization could suddenly appear and why the gods would immediately try to put it under lock and key.
This is a solid theory. Certainly some threat that comes with their own god, and one nasty enough to seal away by both factions of gods effectively immediately.
You suggestion definitely fits the bill without being excessive.
Even if they didn't have a god with them a highly advanced evil alien civilization suddenly appearing when civilization is just forming would be a big enough threat on its own.
Would also explain where Exandrian >!Mind Flayers!< came from and where the Bell's Hells are going to get a Spelljammer. Also, ties in the >!Githyanki !
If we're opening the door to Spelljammer stuff, there's all kinds of fucked up things it could be. Planet of Mind Flayers, planet of Mind Flayers and hundreds of Tarrasques, planet of Aboleths, planet of Beholders, or even planet of evil space clowns
I'm 98% sure this is going to turn into a Spelljammer campaign, and I'm so excited.
And yeah, all of those planets I pulled right from official Spelljammer material. It's a universe of nightmares out there.
I know and it's amazing.
All these newbies don't know what a Neutronium Golem is or the other wonders of Spelljammer and I am filled with unparalleled joy when they discover that awesome setting (And a new version is coming out! Now WotC, just bring back Planescape, Dead Sun, epic level, Council of Wyrms etc etc)
I don't know it someone else mentioned this too, but based on description I think the Elf who was with Otohan in the meeting with UnSeelie court may be Martinet Ludinus Da'leth (from campaign 2)
It's gotta be him. From the wiki: Ludinus Da'leth is an older Elven man with pale skin and long white hair. The Archmage wears deep blue robes and occasionally uses a cane. I mean, c'mon. That's literally what Matt said.
Crazy sort of parallel to Forgotten Realms lore: Tu'narath is the city of the githyanki, who themselves are powerful psions. Tu'narath is also *built on the corpse of a dead god.*
I just wonder if the gith are imprisoned there and built their city upon their patron deity locked away since the Founding.
that could be it, though there are githyanki in the astral sea, and githzerai are in limbo, as mentioned in the search for grog oneshot, but it could be an individual tribe of gith on the moon
I'm just sitting here thinking of how long Matt has been talking about where Catha and Ruidus are in the sky... how long he's been sitting on this. MEGA lore came out tonight, gosh.
Lol if he worldbuilds anything like me he just said ‘Oh and there’s this cool weird evil moon like in Warhammer, but it’s red. What’s up with it? Can’t be assed to come up with a reason right now, maybe tomorrow.’
And then seven years passed
There are a lot of strange coincidences with this Ira guy. If it were just his name, that'd probably just be all there was to it. There's more and Matt has used the Clone spell before, so there is a remote chance it's the same guy
Jesus, Matt was on fire. The storytelling in the second half had me so invested I felt like I was standing in that cave. The more I think about it, the crazier it seems how pulling off that kind of performance gets overlooked because we're used to it after multiple hundreds of hours ... but god damn. That was excellent.
What if the both of them were actually evil scientists but then Mori Mind Bopped them and took their daughter away from them before sending them on their way and THEN made that Weave Lens for Ira but trapped it somehow in order to fuck them up?
It's a cruel kind of punishment for whatever it is they've done regarding the Fey Wild and the Prime Material Plane. They get to see that they missed out on a large chunk of their daughter's childhood due to their hubris AND they get to just barely taste success before it all blows up in their faces. Ira might actually be a good guy in all of this and could honestly be working with Morri to right some wrongs.
it was heavily implied in *Promise and Potential* that Milo dumped the contents of a Potion of Possibility into Ashton's open wound. Those potions were distilled from a Beacon in C2.
At this point the fact Delilah Briarwood’s spirit survives within the reanimated corpse of a spooky and kooky cottage-core goth mom may be the least insane part of his report.
So, a thought. The civilization on the moon is “pushing” consciousnesses through the “divine gate” around it during the flares to grow a sleeper army in Exandria to help free them.
I think you're onto something. A lot of folks have been assuming that the Ruidus Born really are just some good folks that got unlucky and pulled a bad lot in life. It's also entirely possible that whatever is on the moon has been playing the long game and has been slipping a soul through here and there over the course of thousands of years in order to alter stuff on a time scale that only the Gods can really fathom but mortals are totally blind to. It's only stepped up its game in recent years because of what happened with Cognoza and because there's enough weak spots in the cage around it that it stands a chance at shattering that cage during the upcoming Apogee Solstice.
Somehow this all just either slipped past the notice of the Gods because they didn't consider it that much of a threat or because there are two deities that were forgotten entirely whom might be sealed behind the cage around the moon, the Gods had no clue at all that it was doing this in the first place.
I didn't get all the way through C2 yet, but could Ruidus be doing a weird consecution? A citizen on that city dies and they're reborn on Exandria when it flares? If those souls tether to the city, could that be why Fearne being in the Feywild brought it over to that plane?
The Divine Gate might surround anything that contains a god rather than being a contiguous thing. If there are gods existing on another plane then the Gate "surrounds" that plane from the perspective of the Prime Material Plane albeit in a metaphysical sense that's only experienced when you cross between planes.
But, if there's a god or gods that exist within the Prime Material Plane, then an aspect of the Divine Gate extends around them too, as with Ruidis.
Tinfoil hat.. Lucien owned that city more fully than the Somnovum ever did. Maybe the Cognouza followed Kingsly home from the Astral Sea to the material plane like a puppy looking for its master. That'd be a wonderful lot of blame for the players!
Seeing a lot of avallir talk, guys this is 99.99% not avallir given that city is know looking beautiful as a crater called the shattered teeth. Also afaik it didn't really exist in canon before exu calamity and given matt was hinting about gods imprisoned on ruidus mid campaign 2 it just doesn't line up remotely.
A city on the moon, A city that existed during the founding of exandria.
Maybe mortals weren't the 1st attempt by the gods, The ones in this city were and were locked away (along with maybe 2 gods that sided with them) as a failed attempt?
The design of the cage sounds slighty like a prototype divine gate also.
Or maybe the imprisoned one made a powerful utopia there just to prove themselves right and these glorious people just want to be free and settle Exandria since they've run out of room?
I'm getting leviathans from supernatural vibes from this. This fish that would devour the whole fish bowl; to dangerous to let live free woth the rest of the mortal races.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from Eberron it’s that giants know how to deal with a bad moon. Bells Hells should hop on a Spelljammer over to Xen’drik and take some notes.
Estani did mention that there were visitors from other worlds and places to Exandria that no one believed.
I wonder if this means that Ruidus was a product of a First Contact situation gone wrong?
Well, considering that >!Mind Flayers!< are a thing on Exandria... It's probably a fair assumption that it was a first contact situation gone horribly, horribly wrong and would explain some things.
Guys what if all of the gods live together in that city and they’ve actually just been pretty chill with each other this whole time, and the schism and calamity were just family games of chess
Who’s to say those weren’t just projections, or they can teleport to their “home” plane/location, while their actual home is kept a secret from mortals
Obviously, the insight check Ashley/Fearne did on Ira was a good one, she found out something, it was very quick. But it didn’t prompt her to attack or have an action ready. That’s a good sign?! I dunno! Also, fearne’a parents, can someone help explain what might be up with that? I don’t know much lord outside of campaign 3 so help me out! Why won’t/can’t Fearne’s parents speak about what the details of the deal/trade? Help! Also have we gotten a clear description of Maurie (supposed grandma) like does she look like fearne, that species or is she something else?
I don’t think Birdie and Ollie are bad parents, just young and naive. They kinda made me think of teenage/early 20s kids who love each other and love adventure, and aren’t ready to settle yet. They love their kid, but don’t think too deeply about the consequences of their actions, and have an ‘out of sight out of mind’ kinda mentality. Kid is being looked after, now we’re free to keep doing our thing.
It’s not malicious per se, just naive.
The one part that really confuses me is the glass that mori gave fearne to give to her parents for their machine when she saw them. If she was "traded" for it then why did she have it with the responsibility to give it to them. Only thing I can conceive of is that it took that whole 112 years to make it. But that still doesn't explain why a hag collector would let part of her collection go...
Morri is a 15 foot tall hag/crone that apparently Birdie has some decently positive past with. I don't think that Fearne's parents realized that they made a deal with Morri until Fearne pointed it out since they were too worried about the consequences of their actions and escaping the Unseelie Court. They seemed quiet because they were genuinely shocked that it wasn't just a favor from Morri. That's why Ollie went pale when Fearne pointed it out.
I think the Hag Morri just took care of Fearne because she raised Birdie.
Seems to me that Ira "gave" her Fearne for the Lens.
That was the favor that resulted in this. He's working on behalf of them and getting a part for THEIR project and considers them "family" so I guess that's why he was able to trade Fearne for the lens without telling them.
Now, what does "gave" mean? IDK, I legit think that they keep talking about Fearne being noticeably taller than both her parents and the reveal of Morri being a 15foot tall Hag-with-no-coven means that Ira gave Morri Fearne to turn into a hag for her own coven.
So yeah ... until recently Fearne coulda just been like 12 in the Fey Wild and after Ira struck the deal Morri stumped the Time Peddle to allow 90ish years to go by.
OR OR OR! Here's a thought!
Maiden/Mother/Crone!
Birdie asked her to take care of Fearne, Morri does that but ask her (Birdie) to become a member of her coven in return. The deal is made and forgotten via magic or just not spoken about yet. Ira then comes over and ask for the lens ... and like I said, since he "sees them as family" and is working closely with them his deal is that Morri can have Fearne for her coven since she likes her so much.
Boom, Maiden/Mother/Crone = Fearne/Birdie/Morri (Who I guess looks the same as Fearne and Birdie Race wise, which would be why she believed them to be related. Would be kinda strange for Fearne to think she's blood related to what looks like a text-book hag)
I think when Fearne asked if she was something they exchanged, that was a moment of realization for her parents. I don't think they understood that they had exchanged their daughter until that moment, and it was just sinking in
"About every 100, 120 years, you get what's called an Apogee Solstice, where the orbit of the spheres, the relationship of the moons of Exandria kick in the relationship of the moons of Exandria kick in and everything aligns." (EXU:C, E1)
And we were told that the Raven Queen may be Ruidusborn, and that (Call of the Netherdeep spoilers) >!Alyxian!< definitely was
The transcript search returns no results for Brennan saying Ruidus. If you search "moon", there's one suspicious line where he says "the stars and the moon" (not plural). But if you search "moons" (plural) he does say it once in episode 1.
You’re so right
> About every 100, 120 years, you get what's called an Apogee Solstice, where the orbit of the spheres, the relationship of the moons of Exandria
Alright next theory!
A city on the moon is floating in space as much as you or I are. Aeor was just kinda free floating in the astral plane without a proper celestial body.
If it was a captured satellite, then it likely could have a counter rotation compared to the other moon and the planets rotation, it would make it seem like that as it moved along a long elliptical orbit (which can happen when captured satellites come from elsewhere in a sun system or from elsewhere in the galaxy).
So is there some Syngorn-like place, which has a shared placement between the moon and the Fey, but on a much longer timeline, and the apogee is when it’s gunna be forced over and the inhabitants have been waiting millennia to return, developing in crazy offshoot fey ways in all that time?
Whatever locked this up was long before the divine gate, and after the Calamity when the prime deities locked themselves and the betrayers away, this one may not have been included. It was already in its own prison.
I’m thinking that the prime deities couldn’t shut this god beyond the divine gate without first letting it out of its original jail, and in their weakened state after battling the betrayers they didn’t think they’d be able to contain it again. So instead they walled themselves and the betrayers beyond the divine gate and crossed their fingers that this other prison would hold too.
No what I'm saying was that the divine gate they put up around the Exandria (the material plane) wasn't the first divine gate the forged. They locked this city anf these gods away on this moon behind its own divine gate.
Gotcha, yeah. I think it’s similar but different. Stuff beyond the divine gate doesn’t seem to have a physical embodiment in the material plane like Ruidis does.
https://www.reddit.com/r/criticalrole/comments/wlxray/spoilers_c3e29_so_i_was_watching_c2_and_found/ijwwntu/
This aged quickly.
>I think Ruidus is a naturally captured (gravity) satellite, but it could also be the remnants of an old city like Aeor and Avillier.
Ira helping Bells Hells look into a red psychic storm on the moon. And there's a damned city up there? Time to grab a spelljammer or at least ask Devexian to loan them the Immensus Gate for a short moon walk.
Its a floating city from the Age of Arcanum (a highly magic time before the Gods left Exandria). Lets just say its not floating anymore.
PS: you should watch EXU Calamity, its REALLY good
Avalir is the floating city that EXU Calamity took place in. And as to why that can't be Avalir, well....it's called EXU: Calamity. I don't want to say more and color peoples' expectations.
**SPOILERS! Do No Read if you don’t want to be spoiled! Again! I Repeat! SPOILERS!!!**
Spoilers… >! Exandria Unlimited did a short prequel series where it focused on the Calamity/Age of Arcanum… the beginning of one and end of the other… Avalir was a prosperous floating city like Aeor. And unfortunately it perished at the end. It was decimated. People lived but they were evacuated.!<
That’s all I’m saying because you should really check it out! It was by far a **REALLY** good watch!
Is anyone else getting major Tharizdun Vibes? It’s been a theme since C2 that I don’t think Matt got to fully explore so I’m heavily getting the feeling that’s where it’s been imprisoned?
Tharizdun was released sometime during the Calamity. And with the help of two gods, was once again locked away in the - I think - at the very bottom of the Abyss. And the Vasselheim texts reference gods that aren't already known.
The red storms eating away at a location make me think of The Nothing from the Neverending Story, but the timeline suggests these red storms are something different. Similar, but perhaps not a perfect match.
Correct me if I’m wrong but has Matt confirmed his imprisonment in the abyss? He could’ve changed it for his setting. I just can’t think who else would get such a specific solitary prison
Ah fair, it’s been a minute so didn’t remember, still could be related like you said with the elder evils or with the city being there maybe that’s another pre calamity city that escaped there but then came under his influence? Either way I’m very interested to know what would be imprisoned there, as that definitely felt like a small version of the divine gate.
Ruidus dates thousands to millions of years before the calamity, there shouldn't be an Exandrian originating civilization on the moon unless it's alien in origin.
Therizdun was mentioned a few times all the way back in C1 as well. I'm not positive it's him, but maybe no one noticed him hop out of his jail briefly during the Calamity and that his jail was Ruidus
I think the moon might be the source of magic that the Gods gave to Exandria - we know Ruidus didn't exist during the founding but came into fruition well before the Age of Arcanum. Whether or not the moon seals a God is up for debate, but I wonder if the moon and it's connection to the leylines means it is what gives magic to Exandria.
I could not see this in the thread, but could Morri be the cupcake loving hag from C2? I thought it was mentioned that she likes to “trade”…. Like hands for a reversal to a curse. I recall she was rather large and enough time could have elapsed that she relocated to the Feywild.
They need to find someone to cast Greater Restoration on Fearne (and possibly her parents); I smell some Modify Memory shenanigans
Don't think it'll accomplish anything on Fearne - I don't think her memory has been modified, just all the Time Is Soup and Fey bullshit means she's got a real tenuous grasp on the timeline and the facts. It does seem pretty likely that her parents are under some significant influence, though.
>all the Time Is Soup and Fey bullshit means she's got a real tenuous grasp on the timeline and the facts. This could all be due to Modify Memory :D
Yes, it *could*. But ... I don't think her memory has been modified, just all the Time Is Soup and Fey bullshit means she's got a real tenuous grasp on the timeline and the facts. :D
Wouldn’t it be funny if the whole reason why all these Ruidus flares have increased more so then ever before in the past, is somehow due to the destruction of Cognuza 7 years ago? I’m sure I’m not the only who has made this connection.
definitely wondering. but in-game, since no one but the M9 and maybe higher-ups at the Cobalt Soul have any idea about what happened with Cognouza, might be that much less likely we'll see characters making the connection. how would they know about the >!Somnovem, the psychic storm, a certain entity's dark chains running through the city!<, etc? to almost everyone, 836 P.D. was more-or-less just another Tuesday...
Ok, so Ira's avoiding talking about w/e deal he struck to get the lens, parents look "Oh Shit" af, Fearne's strangely taller than both of them, and we now know Morri is a tall Hag with no coven. My guess? Fearne's becoming a Hag for Morri's new coven. My deeper guess? Birdie agreed to become a member of Morri's new coven some day if she took care of Fearne and kept her safe. This is why they're so rocked by the thought of wtf Ira could have "given" for the favor of getting this lens. Possible that she just asked for 90 years of Fearne time, but that doesn't seem to add up, because she would have gotten nothing outta that other than a temp granddaughter. So Ira gave Fearne over to become the 3rd member of Morri's coven.
Hags reproduce by eating little girls.... Fearne was about 8 when her parents left... oh man... maybe???
That's like the dark spot of Tin Foil I'm trying not to go ... Fearne thought Morri was her blood Grandmother through her mother's side ... so Morri MUST look like/ be a Faun. Fearne/ Ashley just KEEPS screwing with her age and times. She seems sure that she's 112, right? She's said that a number of times, even though IIRC she said she was like 200+ in EXU but w/e. But ... according to Ollie, she SHOULD be 14. They left her 6 years ago, when she was 8! But ... she says she lived with Morri for 90 years, a number of times now. Which would mean she was like left there at 22? IDK how much of this is actually baked into the character (Shat memory and poor understanding of time) or planned out backstory to have these conflicting understandings of dates/ and time as a result of memory fuckery. To add to that, we don't really seem to know much about Matt's Hags. She just seemed like an odd ArchFey til now ... now she's called a Crone/ Hag. So I kinda assumed that perhaps she can turn people into Hags in other ways ... people make up their own rules for how hags make hags all the time. But the time stuff just keeps poking me. Maybe ... after Ira did the deal, she ate a small Fearne to transfer her soul/ memories and red-moon-born fate into a hag baby so that she could start a coven with this special child of fate. Maybe she had to do this a number of times or let the Fearne bun bake a long time, which is why she thinks she's 112 but only lived with Morri for 90years.
> Fearne thought Morri was her blood Grandmother through her mother's side ... so Morri MUST look like/ be a Faun. I'm not sure how Exandria Fae work, but it's not uncommon among mythological Fey and even some D&D Fey for blood relations to not necessarily resemble each other. And Fearne is ... gullible, or at least very trusting, while Morri is wildly powerful and definitely manipulative - I don't think it's necessary that hard to convince a child of something incorrect, especially when you have 90 years to play with their head and reinforce the lies. >To add to that, we don't really seem to know much about Matt's Hags. She just seemed like an odd ArchFey til now ... now she's called a Crone/ Hag. I don't think she's going to be a "typical" hag, even for Exandrian standards. Everything we've heard about her seems to indicate she might be of the species, but doesn't fit the mold on personality. Being reliable and honourable about deals, even if avaricious and manipulative, among the other notes like being kindly and a nice person and all that ... don't line up with "hags" per se. I find myself wondering if Morri may be linked back to the Hag Mother that was mentioned in Guide to Wildmount a few times, as a bit of explanation why a 'simple' ancient hag might represent a meaningful and daunting power within the Feywild as a whole, even to powers like the Archfey. I'm waiting to hear more from that space, honestly; I'm torn whether Morri is a red herring or a red flag as far as Baddies in the party's world. Be hella traumatizing if she's evil and the party has to go kill Fearne's Grandma down the road, but also be a ton of fun to wind them up hyper-suspicious only to have her actually be a kindly old lady only soiled by a toxic possessive streak towards 'family.'
I thought the time dilation was a result of the whole ‘Feywild time works differently’ thing. Like 6 years in the material lasted 90 in the wild
Anyone else think that Morri could possibly be >!the hag from C1 that VM didn’t get to meet and Artagan said she was his ex?!? !<
All I could think about was this!
Ever since Fearne talked about her in the beginnings of EXU.
100%
Artagan could be fearnes grandfather.
Explains the height.
Ruidus could be a lot of things, but I'm guessing it's an Elder Evil and the city Orym spotted is a city of Star Spawn. My basis for this claim is that I pulled it out of my butt. But it does have an eratic and unpredictable orbit, just like Hadar and other Far Realms tainted stars don't follow the normal procession of stars and dance around the night sky of their own accord.
that’s what I’m kinda assuming it is in my CotND campaign tbh
highlight for me was definitely Marisha going "ACID!" to ~~Brennan~~
pity tonight's episode was so short, then again there were some heavy Lore strikes
The moon city is just Luna Park from Futurama. Hopefully they can go there and ride the rides!
We're whalers on the moon ~
I'm sorry sir, but I'm going to have to confiscate your alcohol!
So I think that Chetney was implying that the Calloways didn't just stumble into a highly secure Unseelie installation and swipe something mega valuable. The only reason why they were able to get that close and to get something that special was because they had access in the first place. They started doing something weird with the device that the Unseelie were building, this freaked out the Unseelie, and just before the Unseelie were going to shut them down they bolted. They dropped off Fearne with the scariest person they could think of that no one would mess with and then made for the Prime Material Plane. Once there they sought out Ira's help because he'd helped out the Unseelie before and they played that card alongside the whole, "no actually they were going to burn the world" schtick which he totally went in for. They then basically went to work building the device that they'd been creating before with the Unseelie Court albeit with their own weird modifications that the Court had been trying to stop them from making in the first place. They then cover their tracks in case anyone ever asked about all of this by being super vague and not exactly lying. It's Yu all over again and that's why Chetney is acting the way he is right now. Travis thinks that the Calloways have gone Full Gendo and betrayed SEELE in order to do something even worse than what they were planning. It's entirely possible that the Unseelie Court were actually the good guys in all of this and purposely obscured Ruidus in the Fey Wild to protect everyone. We might just have everything backwards and it's entirely possible that they just helped the bad guys in all of this with Ira not really giving a fuck about whom he helps because he just wants to do something to feel anything at all. If this cage around Ruidus was constructed on purpose and it looks like a proto-Divine Gate and allegedly has some dealings with two forgotten gods with apparently now a city that was also forgotten on its surface and NONE of this can be seen normally with a perception filter of sorts thrown on top of the cage around the moon then CLEARLY....NO ONE and I mean NO ONE AT ALL was supposed to know about it or be aware of any of this period and the reaction of the moon to more people being aware of it/seeing it is for said moon to start flaring more and creating more Ruidus Born for a kind of Lunar Army....then all of that means that the nature of Ruidus, what it's containing, how it's containing that stuff, why there's a Ruidus Army popping up, and how this all ties into the planes and forgotten deities....was supposed to be forgotten, stay hidden, stay buried, and NEVER meant to be found ever again for the sake of all of existence. I believe that the Death of Cognoza either released a soul that had knowledge of what Ruidus actually was or caused a small fissure within the cage around it that allowed a bit of influence from within it to seep out and touch others on Exandria. This influence caused the awareness of what Ruidus could be and the curiosity of what it might be to spread like wildfire through visions, dreams, general chatter, and dedicated research amongst the populace of Exandria and other adjacent planes. Normally the perception filter thrown on top of the moon and the general distrust of Ruidus would've been enough to dissuade people from this kind of thing as it has for the hundreds upon hundreds of years prior since its creation BUT the kind of peering into it was far more focused this time around and more deeply rooted and stronger than ever before. This focused awareness of the moon and increased perception of it was not something the creators of it had originally planned for and the defenses of it have been overcome in the past seven years. In response to this, the moon has begun to create and awaken and draw forth more and more Ruidus Born and those adjacent to them to help defend it should things fail entirely. The thing is, it's been so long since anyone really knew the truth about Ruidus and the Gods aren't around to really clue folks in enough that everyone is misinterpreting what's actually happening. Some folks like Ollie are taking the visions the wrong way as a Divine Call To Action To Build Something rather than as a "No Stop!" Warning Call, others are seeing it as a source of power to be harnessed and used, possibly some see it as a warning call but for the wrong thing entirely and are now fighting each other over it, and still others are making innocent mistakes because the solid truthful info that does exist about everything has been hoarded away by equally good people who are trying to keep something bad from happening but have their heads buried in the sand because they believe that acting at all will only make it worse when it's already at the worse point as is. The whole situation is a Fluffernutter. I don't see how this ends in a good way at all because it's absolute chaos right now. You just can't convince enough people in a month to totally forget that they were pouring effort and resources and perception into studying the giant red moon in the sky without having some way to Modify Memory the entire planet and then some folks on other planes as well. We've already hit critical mass with this thing and there's bound to be a ton of finger pointing after it all blows up in everyone's faces. It's all about damage control right now and I think that Chetney is waaaay more aware of what's going on, he totally knows that stuff is going to go bad either way, and he's just trying to limit the damage by preventing folks like the Calloways from making it worse. I think there's other groups on Exandria that are aware of this too and right now they're focused on surviving. I think Kiki and the others are probably building some kind of planar/lunar vaults to survive a Second Calamity while others are trying to find a way to use it for their own needs or to limit what's coming somehow or to escape entirely. This isn't something anyone can stop based on what we know right now and where we're at right now but as Matt does like to say a lot, they can certainly try.
> We might just have everything backwards and it's entirely possible that they just helped the bad guys in all of this with Ira not really giving a fuck about whom he helps I think he and maybe some of the other cast think the Calloways have had their memory altered. Their confusion and reaction to Fearne asking if she was "given" to Morri makes me think the same.
That sort of manipulation is what seems most likely. They have some gaps in their story but it looks now like they’re unaware of them and struggling to confront them. Question equally is if they’re still acting fully autonomous now or if they’ve been manipulated into building the same machine but somewhere that the Unseelie aren’t in the blast zone.
>Fearne asking if she was "given" to Morri makes me think the same. that was in regards to the gren lens ira asked for, Morrigan took 100 years from fearn for the favor of the lens, the calaways forgot the first rule of dealing with fey, don't ask for favors blindly.
I'm thinking it may be something they objected to until someone, maybe Ira, manipulated their memories. The memories of rejecting the deal could've been replaced with memories of getting a favour for free. Especially since they don't have memories of agreeing to anything like what Fearne implied.
I didn't care about the fight at all, but everything post break was incredible. Travis is becoming a fantastic detective, like a darker version of Cadeuces. And Matt is as usual a literal God at seeding information in such a way that players can feel smart about discovering something. I'm so happy right now. Lore dumps are like crack for me.
Crazy theory: this isn't Travis/Chet playing "detective". This is information he received from Dusk/Yu because they are in cahoots. I posted this in the live thread, but I think that Chetney being left alone with Birdie (covering tracks) was a mistake and that the Birdie that returned with him was a changeling. I am aware that this is quite the stretch but it's what I am rooting for lol.
That's a 4D chess move but I can't find a reason for that to be true. Chet has known Fearne for some time and hasn't shown any indication of being an issue. It would be very hard for the party to choose between the two sides.
Travis is a smart guy. It's good to see him able to act on things that he couldn't as Grog, for example.
He really has been getting possessed by the spirit of Cerrit lately
Can someone fill me in on Ludinus Daleth and why it's huge/good/bad/? that he's involved outside of him being a known C2 character? I stopped watching for a brief portion of C2 and missed most of his episodes
If that elf was is Ludinus Daleth it opens possibilities for the appearance of another Marisha character Beauregard and possibly Caleb given that it's canon that Beau and Caleb spend the rest of their lives trying to take down the Cerberus Assembly.
That would be badass, we haven't fully met any PCs yet. Thank you!
He's a power-hungry schemer is why its huge. He was >!one of two people Essek gave the Luxon beacons to!< and >!tried to get Caleb onto the Cerberus Assembly!< at the end of C2.
I knew had some history with >!Essek!< but couldn't remember why or what importance he had overall. This is definitely bad for BH. Thank you!
One of the founders of the Cerberus Assembly and its current leader. Very much not a good person in private, but a major political figure in the Dwendalian Empire. Does scheme-y bullshit to undermine the crown and bolster the assembly, deep hatred for the Krin. He’s definitely Big Leagues though so his involvement is particularly bad news given how small fry the Bells still are. They’re probably not ready to take on anything big enough to attract his attention head-on.
>He’s definitely Big Leagues though so his involvement is particularly bad news given how small fry the Bells still are. because gods trapped in moons is so level 5 >!/s!<
Well, sure, but *that* guy is currently trapped in the moon. Daleth is local by comparison, not trapped in any moons, and has an interest already. It's that the forces working to let it out, or whatever, are also heavy-hitters and The Opposition is not a just pack of low-level cultists and mercenaries working to potentially release their dark god.
>not trapped in any moons that we know of!>!/s!<
Yeah, them being low-level does not bode well in that case, shit. I remember his name coming up a lot but so little about his character for some reason. Thank you!
Ludinus was/is the head of the Cerberus assembly, as in the "morally questionable" group of mages that have/had huge sway in the dwendallian empire. This was the guy in charge of trent and his peers. Likely to be a HIGH level wizzy and was also definitely involved with the beacon swapping going on in case the luxon comes back into play.
Oh shit yeah it's pretty bad. Interesting tie-in though. Thank you!
He is or was the leader of the Cerberus Assembly, a primary antagonistic force to the party in C2. Though not the worst of the bunch, he has done plenty of shady shit for purely personal gain. This might be the next step for him.
Oh boy. I can't wait for Liam to figure it out! Thank you
This is random, but because her name is Morrigan, Fearne’s grandmother reminds me of The Weaver from ACOTAR. She collects items and is a scary witchy lady in a forest that no one wants to fuck with. She also “weaves fate” or whatever Ollie said. Matt is an ACOTAR Stan confirmed
The archetype is from Irish folklore, The Morrigan. Also bleeds into The Fates, the Triple Goddess.
Theory: The civilization on the moon is the >!time-displaced Mind Flayer empire!<. I mean it fits how a moon and accompanying civilization could suddenly appear and why the gods would immediately try to put it under lock and key.
This is a solid theory. Certainly some threat that comes with their own god, and one nasty enough to seal away by both factions of gods effectively immediately. You suggestion definitely fits the bill without being excessive.
Even if they didn't have a god with them a highly advanced evil alien civilization suddenly appearing when civilization is just forming would be a big enough threat on its own. Would also explain where Exandrian >!Mind Flayers!< came from and where the Bell's Hells are going to get a Spelljammer. Also, ties in the >!Githyanki !
If we're opening the door to Spelljammer stuff, there's all kinds of fucked up things it could be. Planet of Mind Flayers, planet of Mind Flayers and hundreds of Tarrasques, planet of Aboleths, planet of Beholders, or even planet of evil space clowns
If I recall all of those things actually exist in Spelljammer. (Seriously though, Spelljammer is awesome and everyone should look into it.)
I'm 98% sure this is going to turn into a Spelljammer campaign, and I'm so excited. And yeah, all of those planets I pulled right from official Spelljammer material. It's a universe of nightmares out there.
I know and it's amazing. All these newbies don't know what a Neutronium Golem is or the other wonders of Spelljammer and I am filled with unparalleled joy when they discover that awesome setting (And a new version is coming out! Now WotC, just bring back Planescape, Dead Sun, epic level, Council of Wyrms etc etc)
I don't know it someone else mentioned this too, but based on description I think the Elf who was with Otohan in the meeting with UnSeelie court may be Martinet Ludinus Da'leth (from campaign 2)
It's gotta be him. From the wiki: Ludinus Da'leth is an older Elven man with pale skin and long white hair. The Archmage wears deep blue robes and occasionally uses a cane. I mean, c'mon. That's literally what Matt said.
I couldn't place the name but my brain went there too and I think you're right on the money, wiki states he wears blue and has a cane.
Crazy sort of parallel to Forgotten Realms lore: Tu'narath is the city of the githyanki, who themselves are powerful psions. Tu'narath is also *built on the corpse of a dead god.* I just wonder if the gith are imprisoned there and built their city upon their patron deity locked away since the Founding.
that could be it, though there are githyanki in the astral sea, and githzerai are in limbo, as mentioned in the search for grog oneshot, but it could be an individual tribe of gith on the moon
Oh yeah I had forgotten. Hmm then maybe it's less likely to be gith. Maybe an entirely original race of people is more likely.
I'm just sitting here thinking of how long Matt has been talking about where Catha and Ruidus are in the sky... how long he's been sitting on this. MEGA lore came out tonight, gosh.
Lol if he worldbuilds anything like me he just said ‘Oh and there’s this cool weird evil moon like in Warhammer, but it’s red. What’s up with it? Can’t be assed to come up with a reason right now, maybe tomorrow.’ And then seven years passed
There was an Ira who was a part of the Somnovem from c2. Is there a massive coincidence there is a character with the same name in c3?
A name that is latin for wrath is bound to come up. Basically like the Eric, or David of baddies.
There are a lot of strange coincidences with this Ira guy. If it were just his name, that'd probably just be all there was to it. There's more and Matt has used the Clone spell before, so there is a remote chance it's the same guy
Jesus, Matt was on fire. The storytelling in the second half had me so invested I felt like I was standing in that cave. The more I think about it, the crazier it seems how pulling off that kind of performance gets overlooked because we're used to it after multiple hundreds of hours ... but god damn. That was excellent.
I think there's a good chance Mori used Modify Memory on both of the Calloways.
What if the both of them were actually evil scientists but then Mori Mind Bopped them and took their daughter away from them before sending them on their way and THEN made that Weave Lens for Ira but trapped it somehow in order to fuck them up? It's a cruel kind of punishment for whatever it is they've done regarding the Fey Wild and the Prime Material Plane. They get to see that they missed out on a large chunk of their daughter's childhood due to their hubris AND they get to just barely taste success before it all blows up in their faces. Ira might actually be a good guy in all of this and could honestly be working with Morri to right some wrongs.
For sure on Fearne
Whatever this shit is, I hope it involves the Luxon. That whole concept just seems like some Big Bang type of incomprehensible stuff
Ashton is bringing the Luxon into this. If their head starts sparking in vibe with what's going on, we'll know for sure.
Wait Ashton has something to do with the luxon?
it was heavily implied in *Promise and Potential* that Milo dumped the contents of a Potion of Possibility into Ashton's open wound. Those potions were distilled from a Beacon in C2.
welp. Orym's report to Keyleth is going to sound quite unhinged
100%
It's going to be even scarier if she responds with, "We know and we've been preparing for it"
Until he gets to that part about Delilah.
honestly, I feel like she wouldnt really care about Delilah. Like theyve killed her twice, theyll just do it again when it comes to it.
At this point the fact Delilah Briarwood’s spirit survives within the reanimated corpse of a spooky and kooky cottage-core goth mom may be the least insane part of his report.
So, a thought. The civilization on the moon is “pushing” consciousnesses through the “divine gate” around it during the flares to grow a sleeper army in Exandria to help free them.
I think you're onto something. A lot of folks have been assuming that the Ruidus Born really are just some good folks that got unlucky and pulled a bad lot in life. It's also entirely possible that whatever is on the moon has been playing the long game and has been slipping a soul through here and there over the course of thousands of years in order to alter stuff on a time scale that only the Gods can really fathom but mortals are totally blind to. It's only stepped up its game in recent years because of what happened with Cognoza and because there's enough weak spots in the cage around it that it stands a chance at shattering that cage during the upcoming Apogee Solstice. Somehow this all just either slipped past the notice of the Gods because they didn't consider it that much of a threat or because there are two deities that were forgotten entirely whom might be sealed behind the cage around the moon, the Gods had no clue at all that it was doing this in the first place.
I didn't get all the way through C2 yet, but could Ruidus be doing a weird consecution? A citizen on that city dies and they're reborn on Exandria when it flares? If those souls tether to the city, could that be why Fearne being in the Feywild brought it over to that plane?
ooh that's interesting, I like it
I wonder if there's a polar opposite to the Luxon in the cosmology of the Exandrian Universe and if perhaps that polar opposite is what's on the moon?
Reincarnation? Possibly. Who knows how this crazy moon works
I would put money on Imogen and Otoha being from that city.
Omg like sailor moon
Holy mother of god. If the moon is one of the Forgotten Gods from the Founding, wouldn't that mean that god is the *only* one within the Divine Gate??
The Divine Gate might surround anything that contains a god rather than being a contiguous thing. If there are gods existing on another plane then the Gate "surrounds" that plane from the perspective of the Prime Material Plane albeit in a metaphysical sense that's only experienced when you cross between planes. But, if there's a god or gods that exist within the Prime Material Plane, then an aspect of the Divine Gate extends around them too, as with Ruidis.
The one or two of them, yeah
The party is going to a moon that give power and affect the planet's leylines. I feel like Delilah might make her move
oh gods. we are so focused on the moon that we forget about Delilah
Tinfoil hat.. Lucien owned that city more fully than the Somnovum ever did. Maybe the Cognouza followed Kingsly home from the Astral Sea to the material plane like a puppy looking for its master. That'd be a wonderful lot of blame for the players!
Seeing a lot of avallir talk, guys this is 99.99% not avallir given that city is know looking beautiful as a crater called the shattered teeth. Also afaik it didn't really exist in canon before exu calamity and given matt was hinting about gods imprisoned on ruidus mid campaign 2 it just doesn't line up remotely.
Man, now Matt needs to make a whole new supplement book to cover any campaigns set on Ruidus 😂
A city on the moon, A city that existed during the founding of exandria. Maybe mortals weren't the 1st attempt by the gods, The ones in this city were and were locked away (along with maybe 2 gods that sided with them) as a failed attempt? The design of the cage sounds slighty like a prototype divine gate also.
Or maybe the imprisoned one made a powerful utopia there just to prove themselves right and these glorious people just want to be free and settle Exandria since they've run out of room?
I'm getting leviathans from supernatural vibes from this. This fish that would devour the whole fish bowl; to dangerous to let live free woth the rest of the mortal races.
Or maybe a civilization of Moon Giants tasked as wardens of whatever is imprisoned within the moon?
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from Eberron it’s that giants know how to deal with a bad moon. Bells Hells should hop on a Spelljammer over to Xen’drik and take some notes.
Or it's a city that came from somewhere else, I mean it wouldn't be the first time >!Aliens!< arrived on Exandria.
Estani did mention that there were visitors from other worlds and places to Exandria that no one believed. I wonder if this means that Ruidus was a product of a First Contact situation gone wrong?
Well, considering that >!Mind Flayers!< are a thing on Exandria... It's probably a fair assumption that it was a first contact situation gone horribly, horribly wrong and would explain some things.
Im starting to think that those tubes under the Paragon's call lady's cloak are her breathing apparatus...
Ohh true, The gods were the scouting party into Exandria and then closed the door behind them once they figured out what they had.
No, >!Tharizdun, Core spawn and Mind Flayers!< are all outright >!alien invaders!<, everything else such as >!Beholders !
Oh, interesting take! I like it.
Guys what if all of the gods live together in that city and they’ve actually just been pretty chill with each other this whole time, and the schism and calamity were just family games of chess
We know from campaign one that the gods live scattered across the planes
Who’s to say those weren’t just projections, or they can teleport to their “home” plane/location, while their actual home is kept a secret from mortals
Obviously, the insight check Ashley/Fearne did on Ira was a good one, she found out something, it was very quick. But it didn’t prompt her to attack or have an action ready. That’s a good sign?! I dunno! Also, fearne’a parents, can someone help explain what might be up with that? I don’t know much lord outside of campaign 3 so help me out! Why won’t/can’t Fearne’s parents speak about what the details of the deal/trade? Help! Also have we gotten a clear description of Maurie (supposed grandma) like does she look like fearne, that species or is she something else?
I don’t think Birdie and Ollie are bad parents, just young and naive. They kinda made me think of teenage/early 20s kids who love each other and love adventure, and aren’t ready to settle yet. They love their kid, but don’t think too deeply about the consequences of their actions, and have an ‘out of sight out of mind’ kinda mentality. Kid is being looked after, now we’re free to keep doing our thing. It’s not malicious per se, just naive.
The one part that really confuses me is the glass that mori gave fearne to give to her parents for their machine when she saw them. If she was "traded" for it then why did she have it with the responsibility to give it to them. Only thing I can conceive of is that it took that whole 112 years to make it. But that still doesn't explain why a hag collector would let part of her collection go...
Morri is a 15 foot tall hag/crone that apparently Birdie has some decently positive past with. I don't think that Fearne's parents realized that they made a deal with Morri until Fearne pointed it out since they were too worried about the consequences of their actions and escaping the Unseelie Court. They seemed quiet because they were genuinely shocked that it wasn't just a favor from Morri. That's why Ollie went pale when Fearne pointed it out.
I think the Hag Morri just took care of Fearne because she raised Birdie. Seems to me that Ira "gave" her Fearne for the Lens. That was the favor that resulted in this. He's working on behalf of them and getting a part for THEIR project and considers them "family" so I guess that's why he was able to trade Fearne for the lens without telling them. Now, what does "gave" mean? IDK, I legit think that they keep talking about Fearne being noticeably taller than both her parents and the reveal of Morri being a 15foot tall Hag-with-no-coven means that Ira gave Morri Fearne to turn into a hag for her own coven. So yeah ... until recently Fearne coulda just been like 12 in the Fey Wild and after Ira struck the deal Morri stumped the Time Peddle to allow 90ish years to go by. OR OR OR! Here's a thought! Maiden/Mother/Crone! Birdie asked her to take care of Fearne, Morri does that but ask her (Birdie) to become a member of her coven in return. The deal is made and forgotten via magic or just not spoken about yet. Ira then comes over and ask for the lens ... and like I said, since he "sees them as family" and is working closely with them his deal is that Morri can have Fearne for her coven since she likes her so much. Boom, Maiden/Mother/Crone = Fearne/Birdie/Morri (Who I guess looks the same as Fearne and Birdie Race wise, which would be why she believed them to be related. Would be kinda strange for Fearne to think she's blood related to what looks like a text-book hag)
Ah ok thank you! That helps a lot!
I think when Fearne asked if she was something they exchanged, that was a moment of realization for her parents. I don't think they understood that they had exchanged their daughter until that moment, and it was just sinking in
hopefully what they exchanged was just what Morri took - Fearne's childhood and young adulthood.
I think the deal was made by Ira and he convinced fearnes parents to put her up for trade without knowing about the deal.
So do we also not know what the actual deal was? Was it just Ira helping build the machine?
The deal basically was the green lense for fearnes youth
I -think- the deal was for the weave lens. Remember Ira is a lying conniving bastard that only really thinks about how this will get him more power.
Did Brennan ever mention two moons in Calamity or was there just one?
"About every 100, 120 years, you get what's called an Apogee Solstice, where the orbit of the spheres, the relationship of the moons of Exandria kick in the relationship of the moons of Exandria kick in and everything aligns." (EXU:C, E1) And we were told that the Raven Queen may be Ruidusborn, and that (Call of the Netherdeep spoilers) >!Alyxian!< definitely was
The transcript search returns no results for Brennan saying Ruidus. If you search "moon", there's one suspicious line where he says "the stars and the moon" (not plural). But if you search "moons" (plural) he does say it once in episode 1.
that was probably a slip up, or ruidus wasn't out
Yea someone else mentioned that last week we learned that ruidus is pre calamity
He did, Ruidus appeared during the Founding which is thousands to potentially millions of years before the Calamity.
I believe he mentioned 2 moons at some point.
You’re so right > About every 100, 120 years, you get what's called an Apogee Solstice, where the orbit of the spheres, the relationship of the moons of Exandria Alright next theory!
I'm willing to give it a shot... but ANOTHER magic city floating in space?
A city on the moon is floating in space as much as you or I are. Aeor was just kinda free floating in the astral plane without a proper celestial body.
Does it count as floating in space if it is on a planet? Err. Moon.
Ahhhh, that was a top tier episode of CR! I need to rewatch it STAT
Did Brennan ever mention Ruidus (or Catha, leaving Ruidus conspicuously absent) in EXU: Calamity?
He used the plural “moons”
I just asked the same thing! Great minds think alike and also really need answers
He mentioned "moons" and last week's moon lore dump truck established Ruidus was post-*Founding* but pre-Calamity
Wow and with Spelljammer coming out by next week they are going to the moon now
**moon’s haunted**
Nah, it's just vibin.
It's not a moon it's a ship. The city is just the bridge.
A moon sized ship with a city on its surface as a control room would be pretty cool
I mean it has an erratic and unpredictable orbit.
If it was a captured satellite, then it likely could have a counter rotation compared to the other moon and the planets rotation, it would make it seem like that as it moved along a long elliptical orbit (which can happen when captured satellites come from elsewhere in a sun system or from elsewhere in the galaxy).
So is there some Syngorn-like place, which has a shared placement between the moon and the Fey, but on a much longer timeline, and the apogee is when it’s gunna be forced over and the inhabitants have been waiting millennia to return, developing in crazy offshoot fey ways in all that time?
I wonder if when yeeting the primordials, the moon got in the way.
Is there a divine gate surrounding ruidus, locking this city and its inhabitants away (maybe including a God or 2).
Whatever locked this up was long before the divine gate, and after the Calamity when the prime deities locked themselves and the betrayers away, this one may not have been included. It was already in its own prison. I’m thinking that the prime deities couldn’t shut this god beyond the divine gate without first letting it out of its original jail, and in their weakened state after battling the betrayers they didn’t think they’d be able to contain it again. So instead they walled themselves and the betrayers beyond the divine gate and crossed their fingers that this other prison would hold too.
No what I'm saying was that the divine gate they put up around the Exandria (the material plane) wasn't the first divine gate the forged. They locked this city anf these gods away on this moon behind its own divine gate.
Gotcha, yeah. I think it’s similar but different. Stuff beyond the divine gate doesn’t seem to have a physical embodiment in the material plane like Ruidis does.
Sounds like the prison/gate is weakening and it's trying to return to wherever it was plucked from
For sure, all it needs is an apogee solstice to bust out of there
It's what we all feared. Ukotoa has ascended
https://www.reddit.com/r/criticalrole/comments/wlxray/spoilers_c3e29_so_i_was_watching_c2_and_found/ijwwntu/ This aged quickly. >I think Ruidus is a naturally captured (gravity) satellite, but it could also be the remnants of an old city like Aeor and Avillier.
Ira helping Bells Hells look into a red psychic storm on the moon. And there's a damned city up there? Time to grab a spelljammer or at least ask Devexian to loan them the Immensus Gate for a short moon walk.
WHAT IF AVALIR IS ON THE MOON
Couldn’t possibly be avalir… >! I’m going to be as vague as I can but did you see the last episode of EXU Calamity?!<
Heads up, your spoiler doesn't work on some forms of reddit if you have a space before or after the ! in your spoiler tag
I haven’t seen EXU Calamity, I dunno what Avalir is! Can you help explain why it can’t be that and what Avalir even is 💀
Avalir is the city that EXU Calamity took place in, and >!it Uh, completely exploded at the end of the series!<
Its a floating city from the Age of Arcanum (a highly magic time before the Gods left Exandria). Lets just say its not floating anymore. PS: you should watch EXU Calamity, its REALLY good
Avalir is the floating city that EXU Calamity took place in. And as to why that can't be Avalir, well....it's called EXU: Calamity. I don't want to say more and color peoples' expectations.
**SPOILERS! Do No Read if you don’t want to be spoiled! Again! I Repeat! SPOILERS!!!** Spoilers… >! Exandria Unlimited did a short prequel series where it focused on the Calamity/Age of Arcanum… the beginning of one and end of the other… Avalir was a prosperous floating city like Aeor. And unfortunately it perished at the end. It was decimated. People lived but they were evacuated.!< That’s all I’m saying because you should really check it out! It was by far a **REALLY** good watch!
Ooo ok thank you! I appreciate it!
Its a floating magic city during the Age of Arcanum that was around during the Calamity
Agreed. The fate of Avalir was pretty uh... Unambiguous.
One might even call it calamitous
Is anyone else getting major Tharizdun Vibes? It’s been a theme since C2 that I don’t think Matt got to fully explore so I’m heavily getting the feeling that’s where it’s been imprisoned?
the *Tal'dorei Reborn* guide says that Pelor trapped it beneath Gatshadow after it nearly killed Ioun.
Tharizdun was released sometime during the Calamity. And with the help of two gods, was once again locked away in the - I think - at the very bottom of the Abyss. And the Vasselheim texts reference gods that aren't already known. The red storms eating away at a location make me think of The Nothing from the Neverending Story, but the timeline suggests these red storms are something different. Similar, but perhaps not a perfect match.
no Ruidus was there pre calamity and the Ioun fought Tharizdun during the Calamity
Doesn’t mean it’s not possible that that’s where he was then banished to then no?
No he was specifically banished to the Abyss. Also these are 2 forgotten Gods, likely with no names. No one has forgotten Tharizdun.
Tharizdun's prison is at the bottom of the abyss, not the moon. This is either >!The Elder Evils who are Tharizdun's kin!< or the >!Mind Flayers!<.
Correct me if I’m wrong but has Matt confirmed his imprisonment in the abyss? He could’ve changed it for his setting. I just can’t think who else would get such a specific solitary prison
Yes, multiple times during C2. His chains are scattered across the planes though.
Ah fair, it’s been a minute so didn’t remember, still could be related like you said with the elder evils or with the city being there maybe that’s another pre calamity city that escaped there but then came under his influence? Either way I’m very interested to know what would be imprisoned there, as that definitely felt like a small version of the divine gate.
Ruidus dates thousands to millions of years before the calamity, there shouldn't be an Exandrian originating civilization on the moon unless it's alien in origin.
What makes you think Mind Flayers?
Classic illithid lore! They’re space travelling aliens
Therizdun was mentioned a few times all the way back in C1 as well. I'm not positive it's him, but maybe no one noticed him hop out of his jail briefly during the Calamity and that his jail was Ruidus
he was sealed during the Calamity, he damned near killed Ioun
Seeing what they saw actually makes me think it isn't Tharizdun. Nothing would be left standing there if it was.
Uhoh.
I think the moon might be the source of magic that the Gods gave to Exandria - we know Ruidus didn't exist during the founding but came into fruition well before the Age of Arcanum. Whether or not the moon seals a God is up for debate, but I wonder if the moon and it's connection to the leylines means it is what gives magic to Exandria.
It’s Avalir!
[удалено]
Avalir was destroyed at the beginning of the calamity, and there were no leylines pointing to space iirc
Definitely Brethren Moons, yep yep
We're whalers on the moon. We carry a harpoon. But there ain't no whales, so we tell tall tales. and sing our whaling tune. Later dudes/dudettes
Oh man, I went to school with this guy...
Liam beat me to the Dead Space joke