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City Council of Darkness, Episode 10: Zaeth's Sire and a Bear on Fire

Que that one scene from Vampire's Kiss.

You dare not, until a man looks you in the eyes and tells you yes. Yes, we did it. You pointed us in the direction. You led the way. You did not die for nothing, you died for your children to be free, to have the ability to fight for freedom, and your children got it!!! They got it, and isn't that everything you ever hoped for? The sheer joy of that realization is what allows you to move on, to join the world once more not as a lost soul, who failed in their battle, but as a soul who led the way to freedom. And now you are free, free to pass on and rejoin the world!!!

Critical Role | Campaign 4 | Ep 29

All the present Sundered Houses are clearly willing to exploit commoners; none of them seem to have any real love for Thjazi and all stand to lose much should a new rebellion rise. I think it is easy to forget that the Falconer's Rebellion ended little more than a decade ago, and while it ultimately failed, it did not come without profound costs for the Sundered Houses. They have been emboldened ever since, and had been slowly seizing power, with some major attempts in the past year. I think all of them are quite willing to destroy the Revolutionary Council.

At the same time, what does it look like if no one knows the truth about House Royce and House Tachonis? At best, some of the houses have uneasy suspicions that they privately harbor, but they all work together openly because those with unproven suspicions know that House Tachonis probably destroyed House Royce, but can't express them. They present a united front as they have many times before, notably in the Falconer's Rebellion, and House Tachonis grows stronger because they are not playing by the same rules as the others. It is easier to shut down Thjazi's plans.

This way means that the Sundered Houses can never truly trust their alliances again. Whether or not the others opposed House Royce, there is a difference between ending an alliance and betraying it. Now, everyone knows that House Tachonis will stab them in the back if they show weakness, and lie to the others' faces. Cormoray's exploration into the quarries of Kaylstra and Einfasen's search for the Jotunøks are now vital to those Houses' survival, which means they need to focus on that, which means they are stretched thinner in matters of the Penteveral and the Revolutionary Guard (and between Azune and Murray, there are moles very well-positioned to take advantage of that). We also already know that in addition to Wick and Tyranny being on the inside of House Halovar, Einfasen is playing a subtler game with Halovar. Suspicions already existed and now they are validated. This has forced the inter-house political games into the forefront, when I suspect at the very least the two standing rebel houses probably would have been happy to maintain the alliance as is.

FINROD FELAGUND

latest instalment in the Hot Elves By Balls™️ series features Finrod in an outfit I would probably actually kill people to wear… commissioned by the wonderful @justdrowthings, whose brief for this portrait included the phrases “peak why do we talk about ANYONE when this guy exists” and “major art directive - break me”, and agreeing entirely, I was only too happy to oblige 😌😌😌