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Reviewing Critical Role Campaign 4 Characters - Up to Convergence Arc

The first full phase of Aramán appears to have been completed, as the heroes - appearing to be adopting the collective name 'The Flock' for now - have branched out, met up, and begin to branch out again.

As I did last time, and as promised in my last post, I'm gonna review the characters again to see what's changed in the 27 episodes since the Overture ended

Spoilers for Campaign 4 Up to Episode 31

So last post I did mention that I may do these splitting off into the smaller groups and...yeah nix that this feels easier to do given how the Convergence did help with character growth and changing some perceptions. Ironically though we start with the character we won't see in future episodes

Teor Pridesire - Paladin (Oath of Glory) - Soldiers -> Deceased After the Overture I did mention how we needed more of Teor in the arcs to follow, but Travis did stay out the limelight a lot with our Lion Man. Teor remained a strong and stoic sideman but also provided some fun comedy moments with 'Only Teor is Teor', his fear of climbing trees, and being threatened by a redcap. It was nice to see them achieve in rescuing their brother, for however brief it was, and to be almost the bridge between getting Thimble and Wick to get along and Kattigan to bond with the group. However, Obrimus Manor was where both he and his brother would fall; honestly, it's a familiar situation I had with FCG wherein their death made them more interesting, I suppose it was only when he died that I realised how much of a glue he was to the Soldiers, and what his name meant to the Torn Banner. Narratively his death felt impactful, one of the last living and commanding bastions of Thjazi's rebellion gone. Alas, those are how the dice are rolled, we will have to wait and see who Travis turns up as next, my gut instinct remains the lizardfolk hotshot in the letter, though with Mara meeting with the Professor also mentioned in the letter it could be him, or neither, there are many options.

Tyranny - Warlock (Fiend) - Soldiers -> Schemers Tyranny continues to be entertaining to me, but while I do definitely continue to enjoy her dynamic with Wick I've found myself additionally drawn to her unique bond with Kattigan. The knife incident was telling for both sides, and the aftermath has put them in a somewhat parent-child dynamic where they both trust one another with tragic backstories and reassurance. Tyranny's mysterious nature continues to simmer in the background, not yet ready to boil to the full surface, but there are mentions here and there that suggest that Tyranny by name and behaviour is more than the archetype she feared she was bound to be, and given that her father has voiced approval for her acts against the Creed and that she wields a knife that is meant to hurt those who hurt the ones they love, Tyranny's chaos may in fact be the driving force that'd undo the power structure of the Sundered Houses - but to who's benefit? She's still a demon (and there's nothing wrong with her) with quirks that befit her species but Brennan has done well to emphasise that she's not bound to an alignment, nor are any other demons such as Tsul'rekshi or her chaotically calamitous sisters. Remaining in Dol Makjar does mean she's close to the danger that the Creed and her family may be involved in, but it also allows her to further engage with mortal customs and culture, while also thrive in subterfuge and rebellion.

Murray Mag'nesson - Wizard (Divination) - Schemers At the end of the Overture I enjoyed Murray, but following the Convergence I think she's my favourite character right now. Remaining consistently funny and quotable, her intelligence thrives in Scheming especially when she doesn't have to engage with Dean Kora. The combat encounters during the Schemers arc also proved how capable she can be provided that she gets Invisibility up first to spare her low as fuck AC from inevitable damage. Her relationships with Azune, which I can't quite lock down whether it's all platonic or not, and Demodus Blix also add to her 'more tough love but soft on the inside' mannerisms, as well as her strong sense of morality and equality as she champions magic being available to all who wish to learn it. I additionally love how Marisha describes her using Divination magic, as if to resonate with the frequencies of time and the weave - I can already hear the chorus of 'what's sexier than wizards?' - but in the many situations Murray has been put in to either glean, present or collect information she's rose to the task. Staying in Dol-Makjar is of course the right choice for her at the moment; she cannot leave the Pentreval without raising suspicion and the network of their Tiding of Magpies (even if the Sundered Houses are aware of them) is still young, with Wick and Tyranny added to their group it'll be interesting how she engages with the Sorcerer Halovar heir - especially compared to how she was with Occtis. Also can Brennan throw her a bone and let her get some stress relief, nothing wrong with King Gus being gay but ass steaks can only feed a girl for so long XD

Thaisha Lloy - Druid (Circle of Land) - Seekers -> Soldiers Thaisha went through it a lot with the Seekers arc; unable to find her son, at odds with her fellow Old Path Druids, attacked by demons, attacked by birds, having to enter Tannessar and find a fountain of Orc blood, it was only natural that Thaisha was consistently on edge. It was saddening how such stress was aimed at Occtis, given how close the two were following the Overture, but the Convergence was able to allow Thaisha to have a few wins and release the tension she had been shouldering. That said, she still absolutely kicks ass; maybe not with a giant crossbow but she's proven to be an incredible presence against the Halovars; from standing down Zebani, infiltrating the Villa Aurora with Hala in snake form, and terrorizing Tyranny's sisters. The ritual at the Hallowed Round was also a big moment for her, allowing Aabria to powerfully express the cultural significance of not only the play and the ritual but also the scene where she needn't reshape the Pariah Blades since through Hal and Shadia they have already been reshaped. Being then able to guide the fallen souls of past rebellions from the Orcish afterlife to a nicer destination through Thjazi's ritual served as a beautiful moment, creating new angels (Kaedra) and strengthening the Old Path in a cathartic moment after several episodes of knowing that it is under threat of the Tachonis. Thaisha is the beating heart of the culture that runs through Aramán, but as Aabria rightfully takes some time off to take care of baby Wizard See, Thaisha is in for a long and perhaps uncomfortable journey to Dol-Rungja as she belatedly accepts her grandmother's summons. We may not see Thaisha so frequently in this phase, but the floor is set for when she does to continue being a powerful presence in the story.

Sir Julien Davinos - Fighter (Daredevil)/Rogue - Seekers I noted before that the person Julien could become was more interesting to me than who he was during the Overture, and to be fair the same is true, but on the plus side we are getting there. It does serve that for a lot of the Seekers arc Julien has been less of an asshole at unnecessary times; there are times where his assholery has been justified and targeted at people who deserve it - like Frons Tachonis, basically bullied off a cliff, and Koral Tachonis, danced till he was dead - but we've also seen him soften to his companions, and show off his more charming and flirty attitudes such as with Ingrid 'I have the blood of giants, I can fix him' Einfasen. His dynamic with Occtis grows more intriguing, the argument outside Obrimus Manor hinted that despite his insistence that Occtis is merely his bait for other Tachonis he has grown a little fond of him, though it's told only through mannerisms than words that he is still very reluctant to admit. His unique situation of being cursed with Thjazi bound to his shadow makes for some more very interesting dynamics as he has to effectively live with his nemesis - who he technically saved from their common enemy thanks to old magic - and he's gonna continue to be surrounded by those Thjazi is close to because of that. While his decision to leave the Pridesires to fight his undead father robbed audiences of a Father-Son battle and drew ire for those who (wrongly) blame Julien for Teor's death, it was telling to learn more about Julien's family from his intimidating mother, Maya, and his sickly sister who he now has the means to heal. It's still a slow growth for Julien, but he's just gotta keep riding that edge and hope he doesn't fall over it.

Bolaire Lathalia - Warlock (Mask) - Schemers -> Seekers Bolaire's another character where my stance hasn't quite changed. Overall I still don't trust him as far as I can throw him, and given that he's a sentient mask I can throw him pretty far - like a frisbee. It's not to say that Bolaire hasn't had his moments; namely his relationship and admiration for young Demodus Blix - and his illusionary familiar, Figment - but otherwise Bolaire's role in the Schemers and Convergence arc is to frighten, kill, and deceive. When I've said in other people's posts that Bolaire is more a villain entrapped on the side of heroes I don't mean it jokingly, there's a lot about Bolaire that's useful but also incredibly dark and villainous, it's only a benefit to the heroes that Bolaire values them - even if it's not enough to give them all the information that'd be important to them - and in rare cases can be charmed or sweet-talked into liking people. Bolaire's story however feels catapulted into the foray by his more interesting but also more dangerous sister, Termina, who is now bound to the already ultra-powerful Amirya Cormoray and has now accidentally been led towards aiding the villains in becoming a god while also being convinced against not trusting their brother. Bolaire leaves a dangerous wake in departing Dol Makjar in hopes that Termina will follow, but also is in search of his family of other masks who he now seeks out after Termina called him out about it, whether that's for better or worse remains to be seen, especially given how Thjazi's ritual may require a sibling to be a component for another anchor. The biggest problem with Bolaire right now is that, ironically, we have to take everything he says at face value; we had hoped when he crossed paths with Thimble that there would be more explanation towards his hatred of Thjazi, but the Convergence arc only sought to vindicate Thjazi while leaving Bolaire's hatred for him a big ol' question mark, and that's harming his character the longer this reluctance to elaborate goes on.

Vaelus - Paladin (Oath of Vengeance) - Seekers While Vaelus was one of my favourites coming out of Overture, it was a mixed venture going into the Seekers arc with her. At the time it wasn't made clear exactly why she was mourning Sylandri, and the more we learned about how oppressive and controlling Sylandri could be the harder it felt to rationalize why she would want someone like that back. The uncertainty only truly eased when Ashley - in the Seekers arc rundown - clarified that Sylandri's return would only be a means to an end, and it was her sisters that she truly mourned and wished to restore. Vaelus was still a cool character, despite unfortunately dreadful rolls by Ashley, remaining as someone who knew when to stand her ground; but while Vaelus' bonds with Thaisha, Julien and Occtis seemed to broaden her understandings it was her bond with the druid NPC Hannan in the Convergence arc that truly shone with her development. While also learning more about elves in Aramán - including how Sylandri made them unable to breed and thus a technically extinct albeit unaging race - Vaelus allowed herself to change, find perspective, and achieve a little more closure in accepting that Sylandri was wrong. The biggest test of the ritual and having to choose between allowing it to continue or to hijack it and save her family emphasised Vaelus' position as a kind and selfless character that has changed from leaving her cloister and engaged with a greater variety of people. The sudden death of Hannan at the hands of Primus inside Obrimus Manor (I am begging Brennan to have set up some Xenia/Hospitality druidic old law that curses Primus for killing a guest in his home) is a sad end to a blooming relationship (platonic or not) which looked to focus Vaelus on finding another means of guiding her family to the afterlife - one that could be achieved by continuing Thjazi's plan - and it'll likely have similar ripples to that of Vaelus and Occtis' friendship, hopefully less so because I do enjoy the sleepless goths, now that the Stone of Nightsong is destroyed and bound to neither of them. It'll also be interesting to see if Vaelus' Oath is affected by her denouncing Sylandri and whether the Seekers group will splinter off into two so she will have backup confronting her fellow sisters at Mournvale.

Occtis Tachonis - Wizard (Necromancy) - Seekers The hollow prince may not be in the top 2 of my personal rankings but he still remains up high. Alex had mentioned many times before that just because Occtis is the black sheep of an evil doesn't mean he doesn't have his own dark sides, and there have been times where Occtis' Tachonis behaviour has come into play for the morally grey. That said, Occtis learned a lot about his murder through the Seekers arc, not that it was much comfort to know that you were killed to become a murder angel but he took it well all things considered. The Seekers arc was rough on Occtis' relationship with a slow rift forming between him and Thaisha, but the Convergence managed to restore it when both had a moment to relax and acknowledge how much stress they were under. Much like Murray I've enjoyed when Alex goes into detail with his magic, the descriptive elements of how he is doing what he's doing, it works for Wizards because they have to study this rather than it coming naturally to them. While there have been times when Occtis has had a manic look about him performing Necromancy, there is still a heart in there; Occtis is of course much different to Laudna in that he's still figuring a lot of his body out, but I do like how there are some behaviours and reactions that seem less of the body and more of the soul; his worry and relief around Thimble, his discomfort after seeing ghouls, even if the body is dead the soul is still very much alive and hanging onto life. While Occtis has also hoped for the comfort of having not all his family be awful, he has also managed to gain a lot of support through Thimble, Thaisha, Vaelus (despite the aforementioned friction after the stone's destruction) and Julien, and I feel like as he travels with the Seekers to the Golden Orchard (and maybe Mournvale) by way of Timmony alongside the new set of Seekers we can see Occtis grow more confident and more capable of defending himself with the people who see only the 'Tachonis son'.

Kattigan Vale - Ranger (Beast Master) - Soldiers -> Seekers Kat has been a bit of a sleeper character for me. Much like the Overture he like Teor liked to sit on the sidelines for much for the narrative. That said as I mentioned with Tyranny his bond with the demon is unique and kinda sweet; his anger towards her about the knife was justified but also opened the door for a character who is extremely closed off. It's only later that we confirm that for good reason; a wife and daughter gone, likely dead, without a trace and only the face of Primus Tachonis as a clue. Despite such a sad and dark backstory while will hopefully come to a head with a multi-person stompdown of the old bastard (likely in an antimagic field just to be safe) however, Kat's inability to socialize has also provided some genuinely funny moments, where we'll be thinking about apple pies without the apples for a while. Post-Convergence he's back on the road again which'll be his more natural environment, and with Thimble alongside him they could perhaps help each other mourn his 'battle-buddy' Teor and try to help complete Thjazi's master plan. It is curious how he'll fare alongside Julien, both of whom are vengeful fighters who want to kill Primus, both have grieved lost family, and both have fallen into the bottle to quiet the voice that tells them they aren't who they were meant to be, there's a lot of parallels that can be made that I'd like to see explored.

Halandil Fang - Bard (College of Eloquence) - Schemers After the Overture I did express that Hal was in a place of inaction, a watcher rather than a doer. The Schemers arc further explored Hal's feelings as more of Thjazi's plans were coming to light; struggling between the frustrations of being excluded and the burdens as being the one who has to pick up where he left off. It was a slow build with a great payoff though, because for all the wonders of what Thjazi's play was the answer was that the play was the play. The opening night at the Hallowed Round became a culmination and cathartic moment for Thaisha as well as Hal, not only being able to express his culture but also be vindicated that - despite Bolaire's snipes - his brother wasn't up to something potentially nefarious. Liam has been able to put all his theatre kid energy into Hal which has worked well in the theatre, but Hal will continue to be forced into unfamiliar territory which he is yet to adapt to. It'll be interesting however how he'll be in the next Schemers arc; he's most certainly in the Halovar's corsairs, and he has some history with Wick, and as mentioned the Sundered Houses know about the magpies which means everyone associated is in danger, but without Bolaire in his ear would he be more willing to plunge into Thjazi's unknown dealings? And now that the Hallowed Round is Hallowed, Mara's warning about all faiths looking to target it will likely come to light.

Azune Nayar - Sorcerer (Draconic Bloodline?)/Paladin - Schemers Luis has rose high in the ranks thanks to his lies work in the Schemers arc. Still carrying the burdens and grief hard, to the point where he is out-sadboying Liam, Azune is carrying more and more pressure the deeper into the rabbit hole he goes. His lies have been of a great benefit to the Schemers, and his relationship with Murray and Hal have served to keep him from completely crumbling under it, with Wick and Tyranny now being a potential throughline to sow misinfirmation to the Halovars that burden may be eased a little but there are further mysteries at hand. There has however been additional concerns for Azune outside of the scheming following the surprise return of his sister Mayali on the side of the Argosian assassins attacking King Gus and Yanessa Halovar (though the latter was likely part of the plan), while the trail has gone cold the shock revelation will still linger on his mind. Also we have to address the elephant in the room...or well, the dragon in the lake! The implications that Azune's sorcery comes from a Draconic bloodline is very interesting, especially since the lore puts dragons as pre-Shapers, what does that mean for his family? his people? His allegiances? The Einfasen descend from pre-Shaper entities too but we don't know what the relationship of wind elementals, giants and dragons were, plus Azune has put a lot of work into making the Einfasen believe that his bloodline may descend from theirs. Despite the dizzying amount of lies Luis is playing Azune phenomenally - alongside a lot of phenomenal rolls - and now that there's more lore to descend into it feels like it's just a matter of when Azune will unearth it rather than if.

Wicander Halovar - Sorcerer (Clockwork) - Soldiers -> Schemers Similarly to Azune, Wick is feeling the weight of his lies, deception and newfound powers. After the Overture I was curious where Wick's culture shock would take him and the answer was through the wringer; downed several times, kicked in the dirt, sleeping in the wild or in places where there are no beds, not to mention upon his return to Dol Makjar he's been threatened by Zebani and Primus. Wick has had to confront his own sense of innocence and purity multiple times, compromising such values to survive, and it is definitely weighing on him. It's not all been doom and gloom though; Wick has managed to prove himself sly and persuasive even against his own grandmother, a fantastic monologue earning a no-roll nat 20, and his innocence and kindness has warmed him to his other companions who didn't like him so much at the beginning. As much as Sam has done both sides of the holy man character in C3, Sam is seeming to thrive more as a tainted soul using their corruption for good than a pure goody two-shoes archetype, using the inherent goodness to catch those who underestimate him in a trap or a loophole. He's still prissy, entitled, and used to a certain comfort lifestyle, but Wick is also shown that he can be a valuable ally so long as he has people who can support him when the burdens feel too heavy to bear. Staying in Dol Makjar as I mentioned would help with spying on the Halovars, less so the Tachonis given Primus' warnings but when have daughters ever listened to their dad when he tells them to 'stay away from that boy'?, but he also has his former flame to cross paths or at least get information on. It'll be interesting to see how his dynamic with Hal is, given how he is the benefactor to the Hallowed Round, and how Teor's death will motivate him going forward.

Thimble - Rogue (Swashbuckler) - Soldiers -> Seekers And finally we return to Thimble and her rollercoaster of an arc. Although she was able to kill Casimir, it didn't fill the void, and then after being told that Occtis was dead she was close to spiralling into more grief, but then Occtis was alive*, and Thjazi is still on this plane for her to engage with via Julien's shadow... but now Teor is dead, and the Orchard - the closest thing she had to Faerie since the doors closed - has been destroyed by the Tachonis assault. It has indeed been a whirlwind for her, but Thimble continues to be an entertaining character who doesn't bother to hide her feelings; Thimble will let you know exactly how she feels about you and I do enjoy that be it from finding comfort with Occtis - and now with the bracers Teor's death boon attuned her to she can size herself up or size him down for full sized hugs - or pelting Wick with stones, even if she's quietly admitting to softening to him. Thimble's connection to the other fair folk has worked in Brennan's favour for storytelling, and with the seed to the Miller's Road on hand, the Hallowed Round connecting to the still-closed Faerie, and Thjazi's anchors connecting the afterlives, Thimble has plenty of intertwining goals that will be able to give her hope beyond the grief of what she lost - which I do hope she finds. The Thjazi revelation and the infiltration of Obrimus Manor has seemingly given her and Julien common ground so it'll be interesting if that grows or falls apart during their travels, and with Bolaire accompanying them we could confront in detail why Bolaire hates Thjazi so - especially since Thimble staunchly defends him, even when he's omitted information from her like his conversations with Mara the Wing. The positives that Thjazi's still around is a comfort to Thimble, but it also does somewhat get in the way of her having to learn to live without him, especially given that they're still following his lead, but she's proven time and time again that she's strong of heart and mind (and now body given that her strength went from -4 to +4) and she still has people she wants to protect.

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