Assorted Rantings

When Hal was frustrated by the [frankly exasperating] circumstances around putting on the show, and then resolved to do things his way, in the episode from the previous week, I heard something familiar in him, but couldn't quite place it.

It just dawned on me:

Like, green theater-company manager/showrunner? It fits almost too well.

Now, as for the rest of The Mourners - Some I'm fairly confident in my comparisons, others less-so (I also haven't watched a ton of the newer Muppets show. I've heard it's very good, though, so I really should get around to watching it. For this, I'm just sort of going off vibes from what I remember):

Ones that I'm very confident of:

Hal = Kermit

Per above

Also, truly beloved by basically everyone, truly chill with basically everyone

Thaisha = Miss Piggy

She doesn't quite have Piggy's ego (who could?) - But you're telling me you can't see her bust out the big HII-YAH! karate chop when someone threatens someone she loves?

While I'd mainly thought of her kids (this includes Occtis) in this sense, she 100% would do the "Keep your hands off my man!" line if someone tried to hurt Hal

Azune = Scooter

The trusty stage manager his character settled into, rather than the initial pushy busy-body version

Super-organized, trying to keep everything on rails

Needs to slow down, take a breath, and maybe balance some responsibilities with other people

Wick and Tyranny = Gonzo and Rizzo

Well-meaning weirdo who has a very different view of the world

Wants to break into the world of theater

Frustrating to deal with at times, but hard to truly dislike because there is genuine sincerity in everything he does

Sidekick who's snarking their way through the ridiculousness. Also there for the food (Tyranny just has a weird diet, okay?)

When the chips are down, Rizzo and Tyranny both would stick their necks out for Gonzo and Wick respectively, and almost-certainly nobody else

Just as Rizzo struggles to rise above his cowardly nature at times, Tyranny struggles to rise above her cruel demonic instincts at times

Kattigan = Sweetums

I'll admit, I had him as Animal at first

But the more I thought about it, Katt's genuine enthusiasm at the theater really reminded me of Muppet Treasure Island's use of Sweetums - "Are you kiddin'? I LOVE YOU GUYS!"

Basically: Big guy. Seems surly and intimidating. Mostly a sweet goober, actually.

Bolaire = Uncle Deadly

Smart, cultured, sophisticated

A touch melodramatic (...Okay, more than a touch)

Very good at his job, generally

Has the creepy/macabre vibe. Not actually all that evil once you get to know him, though

Is he undead? Kinda

I originally had Bolaire as Sgt. Floyd Pepper until I remembered about Uncle Deadly - The aspects from Floyd that I think apply to Bolaire include being the other "Sane one" and having a surprising depth/breadth of knowledge/skills

Ones I'm Less-Sure of:

Murray = Dr. Bunsen Honeydew

Speaking of smart cast members

Both Murray and Bunsen have a "FOR SCIENCE!" attitude and probably-less-cautious-than-they-should-be approach to experimenting with potentially-volatile things

Occtis = Beaker

Timid, nervous-types.

Also big into science/magic

Have definitely suffered the most at the hands of science/magic

Used as experimental subjects (Not as much by Murray, but a little bit)

You can hear them both doing the Kif Kroker sigh of resignation, can't you?

Teor = Sam the Eagle

Proud, proper

Most likely to have and highly regard good posture

Tell me you can't hear Teor echoing Sam's "You are all weirdos" at some point

Julien = Pepe crossed with Link Hogthrob

Speaking of "You are all weirdos" / "Unbelievable!"

Pepe is the Muppet that, if they could swear, would be the most likely to bust out a "What THE FUCK was that!?!"

Dramatic and with a Romance-language accent

Shameless flirt

Link Hogthrob didn't get tons of use outside of the PIGS IN SPACE segments, but he's kind of a proto-Zapp Brannigan - Half-Captain Kirk/Half-William Shatner himself

Handsome, thinks himself the hero, kinda dumb. Not actually malicious but could work on his actual heroism a bit

I Really Have No Idea

Thimble = ...Fozzie? ...Mixed with Animal?

Like most fairies, she was mischievous (before the whole seriousness of the rebellion) - So, probably actually the biggest jokester of the group, when in a good mood - So, that's the Fozzie side

In battle, so far has been the most-ferocious member of the group, so that's the Animal side

No, not going to put her as Janice. Thimble is many things, but a hippie is decidedly not one of them.

Vaelus = ...Swedish Chef??

An outsider who sticks around despite communication issues with the rest of the party

Will not hesitate to slice-and-dice

Kind of a flurry of activity when doing their thing

Seems to have a single-minded focus that's largely adjacent to the rest of the group.

I love that the family dynamic between Hal, Thaisha and Elodie is completely chill.

Like, the fact that Hero and Shadia are both so comfortable around their respective stepmoms is great.

They're all one big family. Azune, Occtis, Thimble, and Bolaire are also fully members of that family, no question.

After having met Hero, properly now, I can honestly say that all of Hal's kids seem great.

(We haven't actually met Alogar in-person yet, but the evidence of his good deeds and reasonable nature that the Seekers found while looking for him speaks volumes about who he is).

Actually, in many other campaigns, these young'uns probably would be the PCs proper, themselves (One-shot potential is through the roof with these three, and possibly some other relatives of the Araman party/Mourners).

Hero's a Wizard, obviously. Alogar is probably straight-up Fighter, given that Julien's his mentor. Shadia is possibly some flavour of martially-inclined Bard (College of Dance or Swords, perhaps. Maybe even Valour. I could totally see her as a Skald, y'know?) Failing that, from what we've seen of her background, she'd be some other sort of acrobatic class - Rogue, Ranger, dex-based Fighter. Something like that.

It's also made me realize something - For all the myriad characters I create on a whim, I rarely create D&D characters who are parents. Occasionally, I'll roll up/write up a character who's a parent to a character I'd previously created.

I love creating PCs with large families - Siblings and cousins and such. But few of my characters have children in their backstories. Heck, not even really niblings. I'll readily admit this bias is probably due to my own childfree life, IRL, so the idea of parenthood just isn't one that lingers in my head all that much.

(Tagged as spoilers, but the core of this is a few episodes old)

The main thing that's been rolling around in my head here is Occtis' sense of duty towards Dame Gaya. House Seremai as a whole may serve his family, but in the sequence of events leading to her demise, she was serving him personally.

And we've been seeing Occtis doing what a proper liege-lord should be doing for such a loyal/dutiful vassal - He feels that obligation and takes it seriously. Which is more that can be said for a lot of nobles in such positions - Ones who aren't on the run from the rest of their families, and dealing with their own unending series of crises. She fell in battle, protecting him personally. The least he can do is see her remains put in a place of honour and respect.

More to that - House Tachonis was the house responsible for funerary rites and the handling of the dead. That should be their sacred duty towards ALL of Araman. Unlike the rest of his family, who seeks to use the dead as weapons and fuel for their plots, Occtis seems to actually treat them with respect. Even his study of necromancy, from what we've seen, has been less about weaponizing the dead, and more about understanding the nature/mechanics of the magic.

I know that mechanically, it doesn't necessarily gel, but story-wise, I would love the thematic resonance of Occtis taking levels in Cleric to the point that he can specialize into the Grave Domain Cleric subclass. Like, he becomes the only truly dutiful Tachonis through his genuine humanity. But, like, 3 levels is a lot for such a dip, y'know?

Picture it: He breaks into his family's manor at the tannery and quietly goes through the proper consecration rituals. He does proper mortuary preparation of Gaya's body and inters her in a plot, leaving a small marker. Only sometime later (days? weeks?) does anyone from the rest of the family even notice that the equipment's been used. They probably should have noticed the marker Occtis left for Gaya, and the freshly dug grave - But the Tachonis have been so neglectful of their actual duties that they simply don't even pay attention to the cemetery or mortuary all that much anymore.

Honestly, if I hadn't spent the last two campaigns in my own D&D group playing a Grave Cleric, I'd rush out and make a Reborn/Hollow One Grave Cleric for a backup character for the campaign I'm currently playing in. (My Fairy Monk character has been buckets of fun, so I'm not exactly rushing to get to any sort of backup)

I mean, I'm still gonna make that character, obviously. I'm just not going to rush out and have them on-deck as my backup.

The built-in pathos of an undead character whose goal is to provide the proper rites that they were so cruelly denied for themselves is just *chef's kiss*. Especially since Grave Clerics tend to feel compelled to lay undead of any sort to a proper rest. Even the "good" ones. The ones who are okay with what they are, aren't harming anyone else, etc. The natural order must be respected, the dead must rest and move on from this world. With some patron gods/goddesses being a little more forceful on that point. So, there's an inherent tension there.