#blumenkrew

[rogueshowiroll]

What with all the Astrid and Eadwulf content we’re getting with The Mighty Nein Animated, I thought it was more than time to plug my campaign-canon Blumendrei fic :)

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[lemonous-snake]

"It's All So Incredibly Loud" is literally a Caleb Widogast song like I don't know how to more clearly sum up early game Caleb's personality than with the lyric "gave it all and everything for more time, but I lost"

[archmage-misha]

So proud of this one

[daturanerium]

read the caleb comic. here are my non-spoiler thoughts

[fireproofheart]

ID: a tweet from Liam O’Brien that reads ‘Late game note on Caleb’ and an image of text that reads:

I’ve been asked on more than one occasion if Caleb identifies as polyamorous. That’s a complicated question. He was, in fact, romantically wrapped up with Astrid and Eadwulf as the three were drawn deeper into trouble. Good mixed in with the bad.

Had there been further time with each of his old friends in present day, that may have eventually been broached at the game table, but there’s no predicting improv, and it never reached the surface. You may have noticed that Caleb is a guarded individual.

Does he identify as such? Hard to say. It’s not something he gives thought to. In the time frame of our campaign, any romantic feelings have been an influence, but never a goal. His focus has been survival, recovery and rebuilding. And the greatest help toward that end has always been the Mighty Nein as friends and family

[fluffmonger]

Hey, remember that time in Eiselcross, when Caleb decided they should try to rough it for a night and only set up the dome? That time when it was bitterly cold, even with gear, and he decided after 20 minutes it was enough, he wanted his warm house?

That time, when it was implied Astrid and Wulf were following them, with gear sure, but absolutely without a magic tower to sleep in? All in the cold cold temperatures of the arctic?

I am thinking a lot about those moments now.

[astrid-week]

Official Prompt List!

It’s time! Prepare yourself, study up, and start planning, as we write, draw, cosplay, fanvid, gif, playlist, or otherwise make creative works to celebrate Archmage Astrid Beck, from October 31 - November 6!

Day 1: Maiden // Laurentia Liebe, Laurentia mein

Day 2: Scourger // Turning all against the one is an art that's hard to teach

Day 3: Solstryce // And we would steal each other's grief, We were thin but we were thick as thieves

Day 4: Mask // I'd pay to see you frown

Day 5: Years // I'm too tired to listen, I'm too old to believe

Day 6: Catharsis // Hurt and grieve but don’t suffer alone, Engage with the pain as a motive

Day 7: Archmage // And if you lose boo hoo

Free Prompt: Escape //  And I'm sick of all my judges, They're so scared of letting me shine

To participate, simply make something creative, and tag it as “astrid week 2021″ and we’ll reblog it! As of right now, we don’t have an official twitter, but feel free to promote there as well.

We can’t wait to see what you create!

[glumspell]

OK heres my tinfoil hat. I’m putting it down in writing so I can either be vindicated or mocked later:

It’s fascinating that Eadwulf became a pali/cleric of the Ravenqueen. I wonder what point he turned to her? I wonder if it was the guilt of killing his parents? Was it seeing one of his best friends lose his mind and the other permanently scarred, while being totally helpless to it all? If Eadwulf is just pure evil, I wonder how the Ravenqueen views a follower who uses magic in such a corrupt way, to murder and manipulate peoples lives and fates? She’s not an evil god, she’s lawful neutral. She believes that fate is sacrosanct- too important to be interfered with, and despises those who try to cast off their destinies. How would she feel about a follower who is studying the power of the beacon, a tool that lets people defy their fates by being reborn? I can’t imagine she looks favorably on Trent or his experiments. On the other hand, Eadwulf could be using the Ravenqueen as a way to cope with his guilt, believing that the people he kills is “fate,” but I have a hard time believing she would give him power to misuse.

SO TINFOIL HAT:

After so many years, perhaps it was Eadwulf who found forgiveness in the Ravenqueen? Did Eadwulf see Bren’s state in the sanitorium and want to heal him? Did he question why he hadn’t already been healed, given Trent’s power and status? Maybe it was Eadwulf who healed Bren, under the guise of an archheart worshipper, which is why it took so many years to do. 

I have a hard time believing Trent was involved in any way orchestrating Caleb’s escape, and Caleb calling out his logic this episode and Trent not having an answer truly makes me believe that it was someone under his nose. 

And I have a hard time believing Bren’s best friends witnessing the mental breakdown of “Trent’s favorite” didn’t shake up their faith in Trent or the empire, and they both took separate roads in response. Astrid playing the long con, and Eadwulf finding his way under the Raven’s wing.