So excited for season 3 of TLOVM and it's literally hours away WOOHOO! I feel so out of the loop because I'm not caught up with Bells Hells but at least soon there's something CR's I can enjoy~
A Comprehensive Overview of Ishta, the Summit Blade (Fucking Finally)
An extremely light and sleek saber-like sword. There is nearly no hilt; instead, “where the hand wraps are, you can see a tight leather cross wrap across it,” and at the pommel, there is a long set of leather wraps that swing as the sword moves. The thickened blade has a faint curve to it as well as a bit of a hook “towards the back of it.” Midway down the blade, there is a faint serration running along the edge to the base of where the hilt would be. Even when holding it, there is a faint vibration to it with each swing.
-Paraphrased from Matt's description in c3ep92
Fearne’s Identify:
You can feel within it a long history of death at its edge. It is a bloody blade. The very edge of its darkened metal itself is almost stained a rusty red. You’re uncertain if that’s by design or if it’s just sort of clung onto the generations and generations of life it’s cleaved down. It’s a dark blade.
Chet’s Grim Psychometry:
You grasp the blade in your hand, and you see flashes of sparks of the hammer shaping it. You see the one finishing its blade edge with a whetstone, meticulously crafting it. They hold up the blade to inspect it and smile as they’re run through, and the person behind them grasps it, the one who asked it be made.
You then see flashes. One, two, three, 10, 20, 50. Life after life after life being cut down. Soldiers of different historical armors. Every facial expression, that moment of facing one’s mortality before their life’s thread of fate [snaps fingers] cut thin. Splashes of blood. You see different hands grasping it, hearing laughter and joyous bloodlust.
You see now gauntleted hands holding it, stoic warriors and large-scale wars just tearing through line after line of warriors.
You now see the hand of a black leather-wrapped assassin leaping from rooftop to rooftop, cutting the throats of mothers, of children. You see now another point in time.
You see someone walking into a throne room. You see an audience with someone of importance. Their getup, an aesthetic feeling wealthy. A guild head or possible royalty. Within a flash, the blade is through their throat, the sound of their head smacking wetly on the floor next to you.
You feel hundreds of lives lost in a matter of seconds.
As those flashes continue through, it begins to slow down and you feel people wandering through hallways. You see the edge of Zephrah. You see Zephran soldiers being cut down left and right. You see the blade sinking itself into Keyleth, but her blasting back.
You see the blade carving through Fearne, through Orym, through Laudna. You see the blade carving through all of you, and you.
You live in a matter of seconds the dozens of lives that were ended by this… and you come back to consciousness. A murderous history. Long. [Chetney violently retches.]
-c3ep95
Bonus: Scream Needle
The wicked curved dagger is designed to shock the mind with immense pain. It’s a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls with a magic dagger. When you deal damage with this weapon to a creature that is concentrating on a spell, the DC of their concentration check against this attack is doubled.
DESIRAT! we saw it in a mural wayy back in c2 in one of the temples to zehir where they found one of the eye spheres. in the mural there was a bird (desirat, now escaped), a serpent (uk'otoa), and a worm. and the worm is.... trapped.......... in eiselcross........... or was trapped in eiselcross.
I am giving Imogen the proper curves that canon denied her for the Judicator AU because sorry y'all but she ain't no horse girl in this fic, she's a huge nerd.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
I had the opportunity to make this very cool pendant for Malloy from their fic! This was super fun to paint, and it came together quickly! I think my favorite bit is the beads.
If YOU would like to commission me, check out my commission page :D
Some thoughts about Otohan Thull, the impact of chance on storytelling structures and themes in ttrpgs, and the catharsis of fulfilling story beats.
BIG SPOILERS FOR C3E91 OF CRITICAL ROLE UNDER THE CUT
You have been warned.
Hang with me here cause for the first half it could sound like i’m whining but i promise that this isn’t a negative or critical post. (also, i’m a little sleep deprived so if i’m not making sense just ignore me oops)
Okay, so a thing for me when it comes to ttrpgs compared with, let’s call it ”traditional” mediums of storytelling such as books or movies, is that the randomness that comes with dice rolls, chance and improv can sometimes leave certain story beats feeling… unfulfilled? Chance can lead to things getting resolved in a way that doesn’t feel impactful - or at least not as impactful as it could’ve been.
The death of grand villains such as Otohan Thull is a very good example of this. We expect villains to meet their demise dramatically, and thematically. As i was watching the latest episode, i found myself hoping that Laudna, Imogen or Orym would get the hdywtdt on Otohan. They are the ones who personally have been hurt by her the most, and therefore ”should” (according to my brain that is used to certain story structures ) get the final blow. If the story was told through a traditional storytelling medium, these are very likely scenarios. I’m not saying that it definitely would’ve happened like that, but I’m saying that however it would’ve happened, it would’ve been in a thematically impactful way.
In ttrpgs however, the thematically impactful death of a major villain isn’t guaranteed. The fact that some things aren’t gonna get resolved in the most fulfilling ways is something that we just have to accept. And i DO accept that - but it doesn’t stop the moments where it happens from feeling… incomplete.
WITH ALL THAT BEING SAID - here comes the part where it will stop sounding like i’m about to be whiny about the way it played out.
The outcome of this episode, the death of Otohan, DID feel fulfilling and impactful. It WAS impactful - and thematically relevant. Just not in the way that I expected. Which is exactly what I wish to experience around storytelling.
FCG’s sacrifice is heartbreaking and beautiful. It left me devastated and thankful. Otohan Thull has been so masterfully set up as a villain throughout the campaign. For their death to feel fulfilling, it kind of NEEDED to happen in a grand and impactful way. To me, she DESERVED a memorable death. The most obvious ways that could’ve come true is if Laudna, Imogen or Orym would’ve killed them. Laudna, she would kill the person who murdered her and further her spiral downward into Delilah’s embrace. Imogen and Orym, they would’ve gotten revenge on the person killing the people they loved the most.
Of course, those scenarios aren’t the only thematically fulfilling ways Otohan Thull could’ve died. What transpired this episode is absolutely, 100% meaningful and fulfilling. It just fulfilled another story beat then the ones I expected.
I have already seen a lot of posts highlighting 4SD discussions, previous conversations between characters and the growth of FCG as a character preceding this episode, where among other things FCG’s tendencies to want to sacrifice themselves, their journey towards the Changebringer and her philosophy of choosing your own path, and their growth towards viewing themselves as a living being with a soul. Therefor, I don’t feel the need to go into details of why their death felt thematically in line. We knew they were a ”ticking time bomb”. We knew they wanted to keep their friends safe with any means necessary.
What this means for the death of Otohan, is that it happened in a way that is bittersweet, cathartic and simultaneously expected and unexpected. THAT, is everything you could wish for in the death of a major villain. Otohan Thull has been one of my absolute favorite villains in all three campaigns. She has been brutal, involved and has kept the characters looking over their shoulders in fear everywhere they go. They deserved a grand death. They deserved something impactful, thematically relevant and unforgettable.
Otohan’s death will forever be etched into my brain. As Brennan said so beautifully: ”Why do we tell stories? To try to make sense of a world that can be terrifying and enormous”. This made sense. It was still terrifying. But it made sense. It was fulfilling.
TL;DR, ttrpgs don’t guarantee that major villains will meet their ends in thematically fulfilling ways. In this case, it WAS fulfilling and impactful. Just not in the way I, personally, expected.
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