the cast panic about leaving Cyd surrounded by the wraiths only for Brennan to take the full disengage action was quite an amusing moment for me because admittedly I was also stressing for Cyd up until that moment because even after spending the last month immersing myself in the d20 back catalogue, I completely forgot that's a valid combat move that's been used several times in d20 but rarely (if ever) comes up in Critical Role.

I don’t think House Royce as an institution will survive the campaign and I don’t want it to, along with all the other Sundered Houses. But! I hope we get to see it go out with a bang. I hope re-opening the Doors to Faerie snaps Aranessa back to a lv20 sorcerer. I hope we get Julien in his father’s full plate armor with the Davinos crest on the chest, riding the horse that Callowyn Royce willed him, the same horse from which Tachonis forces tore Callowyn in order to kill him. I hope they charge together through an army of skeletons, surrounded by a phalanx of needle-armed pixies led by Thimble, and every other creature of Faerie who once lived in the Golden Orchard in joy or sheltered there in sorrow, Hearth and Hallow and Harrow all. I hope Maya Davinos is soaring above it all on some sort of flying unicorn, one-shot sniping enemies with a crossbow, because she’s not a combatant but She’ll Kill You; and I hope to Maya’s consternation, when Aranessa upcasts Faerie Fire over the whole battlefield, she shows her heart at last and the light flies from her hands in the shape of a massive swooping falcon.

pin is so cat-coded, I’m just picturing him winding around occtis’ legs and tripping him every time he needs to walk down some stairs

Given cats' reputation for gravitating to the people who don't want to interact with them, this suggests that Julien may end up with an undead fox in his lap every time he sits down.

occtis' wide-eyed, panicked stare when pin died, breathing shakily, whispering "it'll be okay, he'll come back, he'll be okay" to himself. in incredible danger but frozen solid, because little pincushion, the proof that dead things can still love us, the only being in the world that understands him without judgment--killed by his family. over and over, they take things from him--this too? but it'll be okay. he'll come back. just like occtis did. as long as the theory is correct, right? it's not like anyone's made a familiar like this before--at least not in recent memory. but--he should come back. he has to. right?

I think part of Brennan's motivation may have been "Look, I have mechanics for you picking Occtis up off the ground to take him with you. We don't need to make this complicated with your 'can I back into him and scoot him down the hall when it's not his turn' nonsense." 😂

oh, FULLY he was also trying to keep them moving quickly mechanically because they’re on a damn timer, too! but also julien has been on the verge of yoinking somebody up since castle klippenblicke, this was the realization of the ‘julien can and will just manhandle people at any given time’ thread 🤣

Julien, running through the flowchart as set by Vaelus' example (towards Julien) in his head: We don't yoink allies who are actively choosing to stay in combat, only allies who are already trying to flee and having difficulty. Is Occtis actively trying to stay or--? Oh, forget it! Desperate times--no one thinks I'm polite anyway. We're going.

I think part of Brennan's motivation may have been "Look, I have mechanics for you picking Occtis up off the ground to take him with you. We don't need to make this complicated with your 'can I back into him and scoot him down the hall when it's not his turn' nonsense." 😂

Geez, the numbers of minis Brennan populated the Palazzo Davinos with just so Primus could Circle-of-Death them in front of the players was downright cruel. (After already treating them to Occtis' brutal murder, no less.)