#c4e004

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

okay, sorry, had to get that out of my system.

Taliesin said it best in the Beacon chat: "Every Halloween we dress up and something heavy happens. It's a curse"

So, I'm going to structure this 'morning after' a little differently because there's too much to talk about, so going in chronological order seems counterproductive. So I'm just gonna write about the major/minor events as they come to me.

Major Point 1: THE UNDEAD NECROMANCER IN THE ROOM- First off, to anyone reading this who isn't in the Beacon Discord, I want you to imagine this: Alexander Ward spent the ENTIRE fight scene in chat sending memes and sad emojis to twist the knife in our collective grief, and we were even talking to the Beacon staff about getting the Fireside Chat Questions thread opened up so we could ask all the unanswered Occtis questions. THEN, this THAD SON OF A BITCH turns around and is a Hollow One??!?! And just shows up in chat post-episode and just sends "👀👀👀"!!!!! Curse you, Alex Ward (love you)!!! So, I was rattled all episode about Occtis only for this mf to get revived under wild circumstances thanks to portents and some good rolls. I am both so excited and so concerned about what his revival means and all the implications of it

Major Point 2: TALIESIN HOMEBREW HAS DONE IT AGAIN- I posted before the campaign started about how Tal has probably cooked up something cool, but I was NOT AT ALL expecting Bolaire to straight-up BE THE MASK!!!! The moment Brennan and Tal described Bolaire waking up and seeing a dead body on the ground, I knew what it meant. Bolaire's talk with Hal, Azune, and Murray just confirmed it. More than just being a sentient mask, Bolaire is a god-killing sentient mask!! WTFIUWT?!?!?

Minor Point 1: LOVE SOME SOLID RELATIONSHIP EXPLORATIONS- First was Vaelus and Julien. Vaelus staying by Julien's side and advising him that killing the shades won't fix his grief was so solid and grounding in the way Julien needed it most in that moment. Next, Bolaire and Hal. That conversation gave me such strong Briarwood-Era/Early Chroma Conclave-Era Vax & Percy vibes (which are my favorite VM eras) and I loved it. I previously talked about how seeing Tal and Marisha working together gave strong Percy & Keyleth vibes, so I'm really loving these relationships. And yes, the Bolaire/Hal ship is in full effect for me (even though Bolaire is a sentient mask). Finally, because I don't think I've talked about them, Thaisha and Occtis. Aabria was definitely giving off momma-bear vibes with Occtis from day 1, but this episode really showed the depth of that connection. The fact that she was able to essential wake up his soul? that's something deeper than blood alone could ever do.

Minor Point 2: SUNDERED HOUSES AT THE MUSEUM?!- Lady of House Cormoray showed up at the museum asking about the blades that killed the gods? After all the other shady shit that they've been up to? Yeah, nah, don't trust that for a second. WTF are the council up to?

Minor Point 3: REMEMBER LAST EPISODE? - Circling back to the Cold Open, Bolaire is friends with those tailors that fucked up Teor and work for the Creed?! Or at least he's friendly with them. Is it just because of their shady-underworld lifestyle or is there a deeper connection there?

Minor Point 4: 2 HOUSES HAVE FALLEN (Look, it probably is a major thing, but there were more pressing major character moments sticking out for me after last night. So yeah, minor point)- Thjazi is killed, then the Tachonis's spend the night destroying his widow's house and their vassal house? WTF are those necromantic assholes up to? Why wipe out Royce and Davinos? I have questions!!!

AND GUESS WHAT EVERYONE?!?! NOTHING FROM TONIGHT IS GETTING RESOLVED ANY TIME SOON!! We are headed to the Soldiers' Table after next week's one-shot. But luckily, as confirmed in Cooldown, we will see the combined players again before the Seekers break off. So I guess it's up to the Soldiers for now...

Hope you all slept well! Guess we will see what happens next in a few weeks...