Nott: "Are they super powerful now? Are they gunna--?"
Beau: "--Destroy the Empire?"
Fjord: Let's just go back to the third temple and get Ukatoa out while we're at it."
Nott: "We gave a nuke to the bad guys!"
It's crazy to me that the Nein are still so invested in the idea that the Kryn are bad. What have they actually done up to this point?
That the Nein have seen:
Kryn agents slaughtered trying to steal back a precious artifact that may have some sort of pivotal role in their reproduction, maybe, which was initially stolen from them anyway.
Kryn soldiers attacked Felderwin, burned down a bunch of building, kidnapped Yeza, killed some Crowns Guard, didn't seem to have killed many civilians. The worst that they've seen Kryn soldiers do.
Kryn soldiers attacked the Nein and the Empire rangers that they met up with while the groups were on Dynasty land, a country they were actively at war with.
That the Nein have heard about that goes beyond "they're evil and bad because the Empire says so":
The Kryn attacked and took the Ashguard Garrison after declaring war.
The Kryn create large areas of magical darkness.
Children have been going missing from Nogvorot, apparently kidnapped by Kryn agents (0% confirmed or checked out by the Nein).
The worst they've really seen are the goblins and gnolls who attacked them, be those were specifically living in the Empire. The goblins and gnolls they've met in the Dynasty may not have been conventionally civilized, as it were, but they weren't attack on sight, child-murdering, evil monsters.
There might be some others that I've missed, but for the most part everything that the Nein know about the Dynasty has come via expertly done in-game propaganda from Matt, as I discussed in this post. And I say expertly done because we see how the players are so so invested in "Kryn bad" that they compare returning their lost artifact to giving them a nuke or releasing a demigod.
But you know who is an attack on sight, child-murdering, evil monster? Ikithon. Which is why Caleb is the one who understands the most, the Kryn aren't the bad guys they've been told they are.
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I havenāt touched it in a few weeks because Iām in rental crisis hell. I talk about a few things. I quote Charles Lamert. Bidenās America is a constant.
I am trying to word myself as best I can and leave no room for misinterpretation, but knowing this fandom I will be regardless. Anyway, āI think Critical Role Campaign Two its entirety is incredibly politicalāin the way we consider a child's art work political. Which is to say it is evidently of-a-time.ā
The hardest part of this is talking about justice for the criminally culpable, as though the sentiment is made stronger with current events, I donāt want to projectile piss on an open wound and be misconstrued.
Itās a lot of very careful wording. It will be a treat, for some, I hope.
A long while ago I started a Mighty Nein rewatch, and I started noticing something that Matt was doing with his DMing during Campaign 2. I mean, there's lots of experimental things Matt does in C2. I think it was his chance to be really intentional with his world building and story telling post-C1 in a way that is hard to do when you aren't sure if your game group will be able to keep meeting on schedule every week (or month, or couple months... such are the pains of scheduling dnd).
But the thing that caught my attention was the way that Matt seemed to be engineering a world in which his players would be innately prejudiced against the Dynasty and the beings who came from those lands. He was playing on the usual expectation of monster = bad (see the gnolls, goblins, and trolls they kill early on), plus the propaganda and bias of the Empire and even third party sources like the Cobalt Soul, plus the simple depiction of desperate people as dangerous and scary, to distort how his players thought about Xhorhas and The Dynasty.
If you want a really good breakdown of that, I highly recommend reading the-kaedageist's post about Matt bait and switching his players.
So what I did during my rewatch was note down every time any mention of Xhorhas or the Dynasty or the creatures from the East were mentioned. You can see all of it after the cut, and it's pretty crazy. There's hardly more than an episode between mentions of Xhorhas or something related to it until we get to the pirate arc. Xhorhas haunts the narrative significantly and, I think, very intentionally. And every mention until they get to Xhorhas itself, barring maybe one, has a negative tone to it.
This is, for me, one of my favorite things about Matt as a DM. He will sit on his little secrets for years until the time is right to reveal them. It can give moments like the Nein's travel through Xhorhas and reevaluation of their prejudices so much weight. Now that we've gotten to this point in Nein Again, we're getting to see the scales fall from their eyes, and damn if that ain't beautiful.
Lots of episode by episode notes below the cut:
Ep 1
00:17:00 A description of Xhorhas straight from Matt: "expansive wastes and turbulent badlands," "overrun," "that scared landscape."
00:18:30 The empire protects people from the "chaotic horrors and shattered evils that stalk the edges of the civilized lands" (Xhorhas).
01:05:00 Crick Queen's Call game
02:15:00 Matt's whole narrative of the circus performance is a reinterpretation of the gods' fight in Ghor Dranas, talking about the gods fighting, destroying land
02:17:00 Gustav talks about Xhorhas, saying "terrible beasts" to introduce the Devil Toad.
Ep 2
02:34:00 A possibly not relevant story about giant badgers under the Ashkeepers.
01:06:00 The devil frog is a creature that comes from Xhorhas (Travis also seems vaguely interested in Xhorhas).
A couple minutes later Tal does his amnesiac thing thinking about Xhorhas, but nothing much comes from it.
Ep 3
01:07:00 When Molly is tracking, or attempting to track, and identify the devil toad, Matt describes a memory of "horrible creatures from Xhorhas."
Ep 4
01:04:00 An archivist of the Cobalt Soul identifies that the Devil Toad comes from Xhorhas and wonders that it "made it so far into civilization."
01:48:40 Nott talks about the east.
Ep 5
03:15:00 Bryce Feelid talks about gnolls coming from beyond Blade Garden. They have a civilized structure. "Beast lifestyle" "kin." Very adjacently about Xhorhas.
Ep 6
The Candle Glow proprietor talks about the gnolls of the Alfield attack "wandering on the outside, and you know crowns guard keeps us safe. Anything comes too close they just shot them with a bunch of arrows and shit."
00:41:00 Bryce talks about all crowns guard forces being assigned to The Brokenvale Bluffs to shore up the boarder with Xhorhas, deal with their spread (?).
00:44:00 Bryce tells tales of terrible things wandering past the Xhorhassian boarder for years, this excursion (the gnolls) is new and unusual.
Ep 8
02:52:30 The guide at Zadash refers to Molly's "Xhorhasian Blood."
Ep 9
00:44:00 The bar owner, Claudia Sneed [secret Drow!], talks about people of unusual heritages being safe in Zadash. She only worries about those from the garrisons and those who study history and believe in the "curse of Ghor Dranas."
00:47:30 The same conversation. Mentions the terrors that cross the border.
01:04:00 At the Knights of requital meeting, they talk about the poor, under trodden left to join the crowns guard and "die on the fields of Xhorhas."
01:28:00 The town crier talks about Nogvorot, Crick kidnappers.
Ep 11
00:51:00 Pumat talks about Xhorhas and how the Cerberus Assembly protects people from them. A bit xenophobic.
01:10:00 Courting of the Crick is bought!
Several times this episode Matt has drawn attention to the Zauber Spire, including "two figures" at the top
02:10:00 Matt describes the content of Courting of the Crick.
03:09:00 More of Xhorhas from The Courting of the Crick. Rather fucked up vibes.
Ep 12
03:41:30 The High Richter had the Courting of the Crick under her bed.
03:53:00 The Zauber Spire Falls! [To episode end]
Ep 13
Recap of the spire attack and finding the Kryn agent
Basically the whole of this episode, in which they torment the poor drow soldier, steal his beacon, his armor, then give them back, then steal the beacon again. Prime Nein activity.
[Side note on defamiliarization, in Matt's earlier description of the figure, particularly the fingers, he says they look like they are dipped in color. Actually they're just fingerless gloves and dark skin. Another of his "describing commonplace things uncommonly when the characters would be unfamiliar" thingsādefamiliarization!]
01:00:00 The last scene with secret Drow Claudia Sneed.
03:18:30 Talk of the Broken Vale Bluffs, the border between the Empire and the Dynasty where there are many clashes between the two armies.
Ep 14
01:15:00 recounting the taking of the beacon to Yasha and discussion of Yasha's origins.
01:21:30 Beau talks to Kara (?) about if the framing of the starosta was involved with the Kryn attack. "Weāre not going to work with those savage beasts." The discussion continues off and on during conversation, going on to talk about war, etc.
Ep 15
03:33:00 In Siff Duthar's sanctum down the Gentleman's secret tunnel, he writes about the armies fighting in Ghor Dranas and fear that his secrets will be taken by Ghor Dranas. Sounds like The Calamity.
Ep 16
03:00:00 Town crier talks about conflict at the Xhorhasian boarder, "guard your children at night"
03:20:00 Yasha tries and fails to find info on the stuff happening at the Xhorhassian boarder. She gets some basic info, whispers of children being stolen in the night.
03:38:00 Beau shares about the Kryn agent the Nein met with Dairon. Dairon is very racist. "Do not show pity for these things."
03:44:00 Caleb looks into the beacon for the first time. (This is notable as being one of few generally positive interactions with something relating to the Dynasty this early on in the campaign.)
Ep 17
00:16:30 Jester takes in a mote from the beacon for the first time. The beacon that was taken from the "Xhorhasian assassin." Conversation continues with Beau connecting the things the assassin said about babies (not really) with the children at Nogvorot disappearing. (Marisha is so smart). Conversation continues for a while.
01:24:30 A guard at the Righteous Brand arm wrestling stall mentions joining the Brand is a chance to fight off the Xhorhasians.
01:33:00 The arm wrestling guy spots that Yasha is from Xhorhas. "Not from around here, are you?"
01:43:00 The dude from Stubborn Stock offers Yasha a position as part of his mercenary brand to kill those "Xhorhasian terrors." He continues on to talk about the stolen children of Nogvorot.
02:17:30 The tournament has them fighting beasts who wandered across the border of Xhorhas, as well as from around the marrow valley
02:21:30 A page brings news that war has commenced with Xhorhas (overheard stiltingly by Nott). "Ash guard Garrison takenā¦ 1000 deadā¦ Formally declared war with the Dynastyā¦"
02:41:00 When introducing the VIP at the tournament, Oremid Hass is introduced as the one who "reported the Crick attack." Ikithon also, who was at the attack.
Ep 18
01:22:30 Beau and Yasha start their conversation with Oremid Hass and Trent Ikithon, including Yasha revealing she's from Xhorhas. It is implied that Trent mind reads Yasha. Beau asks about them fighting the Kryn agents. Trent asks to talk with Yasha more in the future. Yasha asks them if they know what they're fighting. Continues to the Nein discussing where Yasha is from and what her connections to the Kryn are. "They've enslaved men and beasts and demons under their banner" followed by "I've never been there" from Yasha.
03:11:00 The street crier reports after the onset of the war. The Empire is calling up soldiers, support for the army, guard yourself in your travel, songs saying goodbye to family as they prepare to hear off to war, etc.
03:18:00 The Nein talk with the head of the guards in Zadash, who wants to hire them to take over protecting the city, doing its work, etc. while the crowns guard are focused on dealing with invasions from across the border.
Ep 19
00:33:00 The Gentleman talks about the recent attack by the Kryn. The "breach of the Ashguard Garrison was a massacreā¦ The skies are dark"
01:14:30 Description of the "hundreds if not thousands of soldiers" preparing for the trip to Xhorhas, ballista, armor, etc. [straight from Matt, not via a character]
01:23:00 Yasha talks about growing up and then leaving Xhorhas, mostly that it has very little foliage and flowers.
This episode has lots of discussion of goblins in the EMPIRE, not the Dynasty, including an attack by goblins and trolls
Ep 20
00:23:00 on their way to Labenda Swamp, the Nein cross parks with a legion heading towards the border with Xhorhas.
00:50:00 Yasha dreams of the storm Lord and of Xhorhas. "Thousands and thousands of worms."
In this episode and some previous episodes since Yasha told Ikithon she was from Xhorhas, Nott accuses Yasha of being a Xhorhasian spy.
01:22:30 Yasha asks if the terrain here is similar to the terrain where she grew up. Matt says it is.
02:19:30 Kiri tells her story of her family running from the easy mountains because the skies have gone dark, the people of the valley are fighting.
Ep 22
01:41:30 Yasha gives a fishman a "Xhorhasian necktie!"
Ep 23
02:44:00 The Nein encounter a group of families, including children, leaving Nogvorot. The Nein interpret them as scared, possibly fleeing.
Ep 25
00:03:00 For his opening bit, Sam sings a song to Ashley and mentions the possibility of going to Xhorhas.
00:16:00 Matt talks about Hupperdook gearing up to prepare for the "conflict in the East."
Ep 27
02:13:00 The group notice a bunch of people mustering in the midst of shady Creek run, they find out they are being hired as mercenaries by the empire.
Ep 28
01:53:00 Beau describes the artifact (beacon) to Nilla, saying they got it from an "assassin."
Ep 30
When they are planning their leave, Lady Ophelia gives an alias from Nogvorot. Not directly Dynasty related, but it is Matt keeping Nogvorot, where the ākidnappingsā happened, on the playersā minds.
02:01:00 The Nein see a couple of cloaked Dynasty agents conducting a shady deal with other shady people at Shady Creek Run, but the Nein were already leaving, so it was just a passing glance. (I really wish we got more information on what this was!)
03:00:00 When the Nein get back to Zadash, Fjord checks into troop action, returns, wounded, etc. from the war.
Ep 31
01:22:00 Beau hears that Dairon has gone behind enemy lines, across the border to the east, which is different from what Dairon had told her she was going to do.
01:32:30 Caleb spends his down time researching the Kryn Dynasty, beacons, etc. Research says dark elf societies are "being driven mad" by the influence of Tharizdun. Very few empire/Cobalt Soul agents/etc. have been able to get past the border to research the Dynasty, those who have see no sign of Tharizdun iconography.
Ep 32
00:13:00 As they leave Zadash, Matt narrates a reminder that they saw a ton of soldiers mustering out here last time and now it is empty because they are all off fighting the creatures of Xhorhas at the boarder of the Ashkeeper Peaks.
Shortly after, Matt narrates Caleb's research into the beacon and mentions that Caleb is drawn to wonder what the Kryn Dynasty intend with it.
00:31:00 When they make it to Alfield and find Bryce, Bryce mentions that it has been more difficult because much of their force has been sent to the boarders to the east.
00:38:00 Bryce tells them the Ashguard Garrison fell and they have friends at the nearby Garrison that they are worried about. Attempts to retake the Garrison has led to 2000 lives lost, the skies are dark during the day.
02:07:00 For some reason, the guards at the boarder with the MENAGERIE COAST warns the Nein about monsters from Xhorhas.
Ep 37
00:46:30 Matt makes a brief reference to the weapons (guns) carried by the soldiers on their way to Xhorhas.
Ep 41
03:27:00 At the end of the episode, they are commenting on how they were going one direction, and now they're pirates. Marisha says "There's a war on a whole other continent and we're not there" as a positive comparison of sorts.
Ep 46
00:26:00 Fjord asks a Marquisian soldier about what they're preparing for while they're resupplying en mass on Bisaft Isle. The soldier tells him it's for the war in the empire, that Xhorhas is not very naval so they don't expect much fighting on the ships, AND that the "under elves snuck past the mountains" and attacked in the heart of the empire. "Felderwin was assaulted and the fields set ablaze." Also, "These beasts are clever, eh?" Referring to the Xhorhasians.
01:04:30 Yasha sees bees for the first time, talks about how drab Xhorhas is. No flowers. Marshland. Drab mushrooms. Not like the Swavain islands.
01:11:30 One of the books Caleb found on their first trip into the happy fun ball is about debate records from Zeidel discussing moral implications of experimenting on the prisoners of Ghor Dranas.
02:22:00 Yasha talks about her tribe in Xhorhas, its structure and customs, her wife, and what happened to the two of them.
Ep 48
01:38:30 While preparing to talk to Yussa for the first time, Sam asks if they have any leftover pieces from the "crick-- Kryn assassin." Jester corrects him and says they shouldn't call Kryn cricks.
01:47:00 The war is mentioned several times during the conversation, but Beau particularly mentioned the "crick attack" on the Zauber spire, their attack on Felderwin, etc. "Some Kryn might be followers of Ukatoa" is also speculated.
02:47:00 Beau asks Jester to send a message to Dairon, who is on the front of the war with Xhorhas at Bladegarden.
03:20:00 The M9 arrive at Felderwin. When Nott is looking for signs of life in the Brenatto Apothecary, some guards approach and begin to detail the attack by the "crick." Almost 100 crowns guard killed, 14 civilians, loads of burning, etc.
03:32:30 The M9 encounter notes on research on the beacons beneath the Brenatto Apothecary.
Ep 49
During the initial part of this episode there are occasional references to dunamancy, mostly about how the M9 don't know anything about it.
01:09:00 Nott makes a direct inquiry about the reason the Kryn attacked Felderwin, were they looking for the beacon? There's lots of confusion and hypothesizing about the beacons, the Kryn, etc. Fjord says bringing out the beacon might "ring the dinner bell" for the Kryn.
01:36:00 Jester approaches one of the crowns guard to get more information on the attack and Yeza's status. In response to her question about what the crick look like, the guard says, "Did you ever have one of them terrible dreams where something comes out of the darkness and tries to grab at you and cut at you? It's burning eyes of evil and dark armor of shadow and nothing? ā¦ Well imagine a bunch of them popping out of the ground and cutting down a bunch of your friends." "Ground-dwelling, weird, dark elf folk." (It should also be mentioned that Taliesin calls out the story immediately after, saying that guard wasn't even present, he was just hitting on Jester.)
01:42:00 While Beau is questioning the doctor in the hospital at Felderwin, the doctor gives a quick description of "cricks running around everywhere" during the attack. Beau goes on to question the wounded guards who were present and learns "the cricks got him [Yeza] and ran away."
A little bit after that conversation, Beau goes to share her information with the group. When she says "crick" Jester asks her to call them Kryn instead.
01:53:00 Fjord questions the guards who are guarding the hole the Kryn came out of. One of the guards who was present at the time of the attacks describes a giant worm that came out as well and was likely the thing that dug the tunnels.
02:12:30 Beau pulls out the hot take that "maybe the Kryn aren't the bad guys." Discourse ensures.
02:30:00 When the Wildmother says Yeza is in Ghor Dranas, Yasha (piloted by Matt) describes northern Xhorhas as full of beast folk and dangerous. It is forbidden to her people. Matt continues, not as Yasha, describing the lore of Ghor Dranas as a citadel of the betrayer gods, a place where they went to plot the "undoing of the rest of the free people and their creators in Exandria." It is also the capitol city of the Kryn dynasty. Caleb confirms and adds some information, that it is an area of perpetual darkness ruled by Empress Leylas Kryn.
Significantly, just after Caleb has retold his story of abuse and horror at the hands of his teacher in Rexxentrum, Nott says "If we go to Rexxentrum, weāre in deep trouble. If we go to Xhorhas, weāre in even worse trouble." Beau says the opposite, that she'd feel more comfortable in Xhorhas.
Episode ends as they head through the tunnel to Xhorhas!
Ep 50
Episode begins as they question their decision to head to Xhorhas!
00:18:00 Jester questions the wisdom of bringing the beacon to Xhorhas, which Yussa warned them not to do. During the discussion, Yasha, piloted by Matt, describes Xhorhas as "not very nice" compared to the coast.
Jester later checks in with Yussa about her worry. Despite his general warning to not do what they're doing, she interprets his words positively.
01:49:00 Caleb lists "not going to Xhorhas and getting murdered" as a reason for taking the kobold tunnels off the path of their tunnel.
[I stopped tracking after episode 50 because I thought, "Well, they're already in Xhorhas, guess I'm done now." Also, Nein Again started and I went back to the beginning. But man, these last few episodes have had some bangers, I might need to keep adding to this list.]
Matt, setting atmosphere: All sense of night and day has been taken from you. You don't know where you're going, where you are, or when you are. Your understanding of the world begins to slip, and you find yourself adrift in darkness-
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everything with caleb in that tower when we first meet yussa is CHEF'S KISS so good but also his interactions with beau in this beat are soooo like okay, beau wants frumpkin to come with her and cad into the tower but caleb says no and she's mildly pissed. and when they all leave caleb is very characteristically like "that could've gone SO BAD" and "we can't bullshit to everyone" and beau is indignant like i didn't lie this time!!!
and you can tell they're kind of aggro at each other bc you know their incompatible traumas but then caleb is very insistent that jester spend at least one more day in nicodranas with her mom, and as he says, "one more day, or you will regret it," not only is caleb's face heartbreaking but beau specifically is looking at him so intently bc she knows. she knows.
and after that moment, caleb apologizes for not giving her frumpkin and explains why (he assumed yussa would know it was a familiar) and apologizes for hurting her feelings. and beau looks at him and you just know she wants to be a dick bc it's her nature but she can't, not after what just happened, so she just reiterates that she didn't lie, like she really really wants caleb to believe her (believe in her) and then walks off and aaaaahh just.
On a lighter note, I didn't think that campaign 2 would give me a character I would fall in love with instantly. You know like hearing this person talk like two sentences and maybe have like one interaction with some others of the group, but that freaking pink haired Firbolg did it. I love him. I've only known him for two hours but I love him so much already! Please don't ever let anything happen to him! He is adorable! āŗļø
