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#exandria unlimited spoilers

djpaige · 2 years

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I mean it was just SUCH. A PERSPECTIVE SHIFT!!! It was-- UGH.

Like, you're watching episode 1 of Calamity, and you open with "Fire." Just that reminder that THIS IS GOING TO BE A DARK STORY. You know this, this is what you're signing up for! These characters are awful! They're all lying about various stuff! They have these ambitions and secrets and lies that will lead them all to RUIN. And you're watching this story unfold, and it's so tense because you KNOW that the Calamity happens. It's already heartbreaking because it's not so much that you know they *can't* stop it, but because you know they *don't*! It's in the lore! It's in the timeline! The Calamity is a thing that happens! TWO THIRDS of the population dies!!! TWO THIRDS!!!

You spend three episodes wondering how the Ring of Brass will mess everything up so bad that the world gets as bad as it can possibly get. Two thirds of the population! Dead!

And then in that fourth episode, Brennan flips that shit on its head. Because he brings in a worse tragedy. One where EVERYONE dies. No one makes it out of Exandria. Complete and total annihilation. And then gently introduces the idea of... what if you could save some of them?

That last fight had characters with HP in the single digits, no spells left, and it was unwinnable if the goal was to win the fight. But the goal changed and became to just survive long enough. You know they can't all survive this. But you sure as shit can hope that they can last those crucial 18 seconds. Just enough to make the difference between losing everyone, and not losing everyone.

It became a story not of how they lost two thirds of the population, but about how they saved one third. And it was an absolute master class in how to use tragedy to tell a story of hope.

#critical role #cr #cr spoilers #critical role spoilers #exu calamity spoilers #exandria unlimited spoilers #how do we even tag things anymore. I forget how to use this website for fandom things.#I eat this shit UP I'm realizing #stories like Lord of the Rings and like Rogue One where everything goes to absolute hell #and these characters cling to SHREDS of hope when things are as bad as they can get #and they push just one step further #and one step after that #also Brennan absolutely SLAUGHTERED me with that 'Why do we tell stories?'#I was like 'BRENNAN. FUCK YOU. NO. You put that shit back on the table! Do not take this story above table! I WILL cry and that is a threat

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sassy-cass-16 · 8 months

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this is just wild speculation and conspiracy board nonsense but i'm sensing some uncomfortable parallels between zerxus/evandrin and orym/will.

two soldiers, in love, married happily. one, a half-elven man, dies tragically, unable to be resurrected, leaving the other heartbroken and grieving but determined to pick up the pieces left behind. that death unknowingly dooms the world--the first time, to the Calamity, the second, to Ludinus's partial success in releasing Predathos. they are able to speak to each other only when one of them is on the verge of death. Tree and celestial symbolism. A malevolent force wearing the dead one's visage (yu's half-elf form and asmodeus's original appeal to zerxus). making a promise to see each other again.

all this to say that it's a good thing Teven Klask latched onto Fearne instead of Orym. otherwise we might've had a problem.

#critical role #critical role spoilers #cr spoilers #campaign 3 #exu #exandria unlimited #orym of the air ashari #zerxus ilerez #exu zerxus #exu calamity #exandria unlimited spoilers #exandria unlimited calamity #evandrin alterra #will of the air ashari

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autumn-archfey-artwork · 2 years

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PoV - The Champion Enters

Silly idea I wanted to draw before the new episode drops.

#critical role #exandria unlimited #exandria unlimited calamity #critical role spoilers #exandria unlimited spoilers

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maziecrazycloud · 2 years

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“We are the Ring of Brass” 🗡🌙🔮🧿👹

(This is the best CR thing ever IM SO OBSESSED. Spectacular job by all the folks doing this series!)

#illustration #maziecrazycloudsart #critical role #dnd #critical role fanart #fanart #crit role #cr exu #exu calamity #exu calamity fanart #exandria unlimited #exandria unlimited spoilers #exandria unlimited calamity #exandria unlimited: calamity #calamity #dnd art

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noelanik-art · 2 years

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Tonight, on “how many ways can you experience catharsis through someone else’s D&D campaign”:

“You can hold all the knowledge in the world, but if it dies with you, it doesn’t matter.”

“Do I know that he’s gone?”

“Yes.”

“My eye is on you.”

“Don’t touch me”

“I’ve waited so long to do only that”

“No no no no no no no.”

“There is a place among the stars where only your heart can reach, and I’ve known it since I met you.”

“What follows the age of arcanum eventually must be the age of salvation.”

“A love as profound as any that have been on Exandria surrounds you.”

“There is no god that strides this world that I worship more than I worship your heart.”

“I vow this: I bear your name. I bear it on this stone. And one day I will bring you home.”

Revivify and pure ether.

“Hope that you are forgotten.”

“Are your children safe?”

“They are. I hope it was worth the risk.”

“I just cut you off and kiss you.”

“In the kiss, I cast cure wounds on you.”

“I forgive you for anything you think you’ve done, and so does Evandrin.”

“I push the locket into your hand and run away.”

“I cast teleport to Maya, to Cerrit’s children.”

“I think it will be easier for us both to forget, don’t you?”

“And somewhere in the world, someone is holding the work of your life.”

“It’s all on you, smart girl.”

“We’ll all find our way to where we’re going next.”

“Damn the ring of gold, the people of Avalir must survive!”

“The material goods mean nothing anymore, only life. That is what we serve.”

“Avalir comes before any oath I made in a past life.”

“You choose ruin and the world. You choose to cast aside the gift of your court and the right of your kin and all those of the realm of your birth, to remain here in the realm you have chosen.”

“I’m sorry, my lady, I love you, but I love another more.”

“I would rather mine break and yours remain whole”

“Remember the architect arcane, Laerryn, the most beautiful woman in the world.”

“I’ve always chosen the city, and I’m going to choose my son.”

“You will always be five years old to me, no matter how much you grow.”

“What you see on the outside doesn’t matter, my son. Just remember what’s here, and you will always see me for who I really am.”

“Y’all decided to be dads, like what the fuck.” (Aabria and Marisha and I were all on the same page with this).

“Will you marry me?”

“This will work, Avalir be damned.”

“I love you, my family.”

Travis’s INCREDIBLE HDYWTDT

“I would like to ready an action so that, should I fall, I drive my blade into my best friend’s heart.”

“As I go down, I make sure I don’t miss.”

Patia’s final wish.

“Do not leave me. You cannot leave me now.”

“Are you the woman who doomed the world, or are you the woman who saved it?“

“What have you done?”

“My best. Finally.”

“There are many things that you do not see but it would be right for you to know.”

“The last thing you see is a griffin made of stars, called back to its feather, bearing on its back a young boy bearing a journal.”

“Elias leaps into the arms of Evandrin, reunited.”

“I will find the secret of how these worlds were made, and I will come and find you.”

“Do you think anyone will talk about how beautiful your dream was?”

“No, but that’s all right. It was real for us.”

“What matters more? The dream, or the dreamer?”

“There are many more dreams to come.”

“New dreams don’t have to tread the paths of the old.”

“Wingspan, I’m here. They’re both here. They’re both here. Tell me you’re coming.”

“Darling, is this goodbye?”

“No. No. Those children are the best thing we ever did. And it’s going to take a lot more than this to keep me from coming back to them, and you.”

“I’ve been able to become anyone I want my whole life. But I just want to be with you.”

“I can’t believe that the thing I almost broke beyond fixing was us.”

“Meeting you and being loved by you is a miracle, so I know they’re real.”

“I’ll move to the door, and look. My children deserve that.”

“That’s a 31.” Cerrit’s miraculous survival

“The brass ring endures. I want you to know, you gave us a chance.”

“I don’t think you hear anything back, you just feel relief.”

“One day, the people of Exandria will triumph, and the calamity will end.”

“At the end of it all, hope will return, as many times as it needs to.”

“And the fire as brightly as it may burn does not burn as brightly as your love.”

“And on a 31, at the very top of that cloud, the last member of the ring of brass gets to keep his promise to his family.”

“You don’t get to give your kids the world that they deserve, but you get to give your kids the world that they can fight for with you.”

“It did happen, and it did matter. And though the calamity is here, because of you, it will not be here forever.”

Truly an incredible collaboration by every member of the EXU: Calamity cast. I spent so much of this episode experience strong emotions. It’s been a while since I cried during a Critical Role episode, but this one definitely got to me.

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notorious-nincompoop · 2 years

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the architect arcane broke my heart so I drew her and I still don't feel any better

#critical role #critical role spoilers #exandria unlimited #exandria unlimited calamity #exandria unlimited spoilers #exu calamity #laerryn coramar seelie #exu laerryn #exu calamity spoilers

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atticcreationz · 2 years

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I love how Wizard Hubris in different d&d shows range on a spectrum from

Lawful (ish): The Adventure Zone Balance

Artificing and distributing/hiding a bunch of incredibly dangerous magical items, a hasty and desperate plan in the hopes of staving off the apocalypse

Neutral: Exandria Unlimited Calamity

I wanna make us all able to go to other planes, I want to become a god, no no I don't kneel to any god, wait no we are JUST AS POWERFUL as gods, casually erasing so many memories it's frightening, I want to protect knowledge at all costs, etc etc etc (I mean, too much to type, we know this was Wizard Hubris: The Show)

Chaotic: Dimension 20 Fantasy High

THE STUDENTS OF MY SCHOOL SHALL NOT BE FUCKED WITH!! Proceeds to turn into a 300 foot tall man who reaches up and drags the friggin sun across the sky. Oh and his terracotta army of copies of himself starts a war with another nation, whoopsie. Kristen I fucked up, I'm in a lot of trouble, they're so mad at me.

#d&d #dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #taz balance #taz balance spoilers #the adventure zone #fantasy high #fantasy high sophomore year #fantasy high spoilers #exu: calamity #exu calamity #exandria calamity #exandria unlimited #exu calamity spoilers #cr spoilers #exandria unlimited spoilers #spoilers

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criticalbeauregard · 2 years

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orwyn could have used one of the runes to get out of there and to safety even before he was fatally wounded… but of all the things in the world, he thought of cerrit and his children in that moment.

#I’m sobbing btw #critical role #cr spoilers #Exandria unlimited #exu calamity spoilers #exu calamity #exandria unlimited spoilers

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collectionofsinglefathers · 2 years

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Another thing that’s occurring to me as to why I love the scene between Zerxus and Amodeus so much. I mean, yes, Zerxus is my favorite and I’m definitely forming a bit of a hyperfixation. But to me, it feels like, out of every action the members of the Ring of Brass has made that in one way or another contributes to the end, the actions Zerxus took with Asmodeus felt like it’s going to have the biggest and most long lasting impact out of all of them. A part of me even wants it to have as equal of an impact as what Vespin Chloras did, despite the fact that history only ever remembers Vespin as the one who opened the door.

But at the same time, that also makes sense to me. Because the history is gonna be written by the people who live to see the end of it, and we know that this lasts for possibly centuries. By the end of the Calamity, only 1/3 of the population remains, and the only major piece of civilization left standing is Vasselheim.

Now, I don’t know if Zerxus will live through this or not. But I do think it makes sense that in order to truly maintain the legend of the incredible cautionary tale that is the entirety of the Calamity, that history would only remember the man who releases the Betrayer Gods for the sake of his own pursuit of power, and not remember the man who looked upon a Betrayer God, hurt and bleeding, saw the face of his husband, and couldn’t help but to be kind. I think that’s an even sadder story.

#spoilers #critical role #cr #critical role spoilers #exandria unlimited calamity spoilers #exu #exandria unlimited spoilers #exu spoilers #exu calamity spoilers #exu calamity #exandria unlimited calamity #exandria unlimited #zerxus ilerez #asmodeus #vespin chloras

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hollyoxenfree · 2 years

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I don't think I'll ever emotionally recover from the fact that at the end of the this series, there was only one survivor from the Ring of Brass.

That survivor was the rogue. The spell casters in the party were the ones who died, and that is so fucking poetic. The Age of Arcanum is dead.

#exu #exu calamity #critical role #cr spoilers #critical role spoilers #exandria unlimited #exandria unlimited calamity #exandria unlimited spoilers #exu spoilers #i havent been able to stop thinking abt it

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ghor-dranas · 2 years

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The Betrayer God's True Nature

I can understand people questioning the history books and the source books we’ve been given. History is, of course, written by the victors, and the source books are demonstrably filled with incorrect or biased information [intentionally so, I might add, as they are posing as at least partially in-universe texts, relaying in-universe opinions.] We’ve just seen in ExU: Calamity that Orcs, which we were previously lead to believe were created in a fight between Gruumsh and Corellon during the Calamity, predate the war by enough time that half-orcs are common members of society. So it is natural to call everything into question, after all the betrayer gods have a much harder time defending themselves from behind the divine gate.

However, we have seen some of their actions in the present day in canon, not stories told second hand! Namely those of Lolth and Tharizdun, so let’s compare and contrast their actions with those of the Prime Deities.

During Exandria Unlimited’s first run, the party to be known as The Crown Keepers found The Circlet of Barbed Vision, a Vestige of Divergence created by Lolth. It made everyone who touched it that didn’t have a chaotic or evil alignment throw up, or at least extremely nauseous. From the moment they found it, Lolth began giving the party dreams and visions. They started fairly innocuous, simply seeing spiders everywhere, with webs appearing along their skin and their eyes turning black. Scary, but not in anyway harmful. Then, when no one put on the circlet, she escalated. In E1x05: A Test of Worth, Lolth sent Dariax a dream where he was alone and frightened in a barren wasteland. She asked him why he was scared and why he was running from the circlet. He said it seemed bad, and her response was:

AABRIA: "Why do you care that it's bad? What is 'bad'? It's interesting. It's powerful."MATT: Yeah, but, I don't know, I'm traveling with some better people now and I don't want to disappoint them.AABRIA: "Really?"MATT: I guess so.AABRIA: "But you took it. You kept it. I'm so close and you're just going to what, hold me in a bag?"MATT: For now.AABRIA: "Boring. You are boring." [E1x05: A Test of Worth, 0:37:21]

She also directly stated that she knew he was no good on his own, that’s why she picked him. To be clear, he started speaking disparagingly of himself, and she agreed with him. Then, she spoke to Dorian in his dreams and had this conversation:

ROBBIE: What do you want from us? Please!AABRIA: And a voice, low, feminine, just, "(chuckles) What do you mean, what do I want?"ROBBIE: Why are you doing this?AABRIA: "Because I'm bored."ROBBIE: You're tormenting my companions and I because you're bored?AABRIA: "Yeah, duh." [E1x05: A Test of Worth, 1:21:05]

Lolth was tormenting the Crown Keepers, enduing hallucinations and nightmares, because she was bored. That’s the canonical, stated reason from her own mouth. And she didn’t stop there! When still no one put on the crown, she began appealing to each and every single one of the party across the last two episodes. Here are some choice quotes from her:

"Everything you walked away from. And now you're here at the ass end of the world. Doing what? For what? They don't need you. Doing fine without you. They'd probably be better without you. You could be more valuable if you weren't such a coward." to Dorian [disclaimer: Dorian perceives this as just negative self-talk but he also only rolled a 10, this is almost certainly Lolth given he had the thought while wiping spider silk from his eyes] [E1x07: Beyond the Heart City, 0:41:40]

-and-

You feel your skin going cold and you hear that voice in your ear again that says, "(cold laugh) You know it's not going to work."ROBBIE: I'm going to try to cast it anyway.AABRIA: "Okay. I'll wait for you to fail. And then tell you how you don't have to be so ineffectual once again." [E1x07: Beyond the Heart City, 2:40:10 ]

-and-

"It's not looking very good, is it? You're going to die here. You're all going to die here."ROBBIE: I think you underestimate my friends.AABRIA: "I think you overestimate them."ROBBIE: I guess we'll see.AABRIA: "A real leader would do what was required of him to ensure success. And I'm so very close. You could just reach out and grab me." [E1x08: What Comes Next, 1:16:42]

She turned her attention to Opal, offering her health and magical energy so she could get her sister back, praying on her vulnerability, and notably insulting her at the time:

AIMEE: Okay. What do I get for wearing it, what do I get? AABRIA: "Maybe the ability to be less fucking useless right now." [E1x08: What Comes Next, 0:54:25] Opal then put on the circlet, and it instantly transformed her. Those who have watched ExU: Kymal will be aware of the extent of her change in appearance, but I shall provide an image for those who haven’t.

The above transformation wasn't instant, her eye changed colour over time. The most important thing to note, however, is that she found herself unable to remove the Circlet. When she tried, this happened:

AABRIA: Give me-- Give me a charisma saving throw.AIMEE: Okay [...] 13!AABRIA: A number too auspicious. I can't, I can't not play with it. You wrap your hands around and you feel the actual pricks of it in your skin and you feel that it immediately draws blood from your fingertips. [...]AABRIA: And then you hear, "(tutting) Why don't you keep it on for a while, then decide?" And you try to pull it free, and you feel it shifting something below your skin. It seems a little bit ill-advised to try to pull free right now. You can certainly keep going, but you will take damage. [E1x08: What Comes Next, 3:21:12]

Over time, Opal grew accustomed to hearing the voice of The Spider Queen in her head at all times, and came to view her as a friend of sorts, even offering to rework her image. Lolth decided to give Opal a challenge, that if she succeeded would make her her champion. This on the surface isn’t too different from the Prime Deities, who have also been known to challenge mortals aspiring for that title. But let’s compare the challenges themselves.

Vex’ahlia and Pelor: Vex’s challenge was to climb to the top of a tower before the time ran out, and then jump into fire at the end. During her ascent she was attacked by planetars trying to detain her, not to hurt her. [1x104: Elysium]

Scanlan and Ioun: Scanlan’s challenge was to find a specific book in an endless library within an hour. He was not attacked or hindered in anyway. [1x106: The Endless Atheneum]

Yasha and Kord: Yasha was continually challenged by Kord, as he is the god of, well, battle and competitions. Each challenge was a physical fight, her first against a lightning elemental [2x46: A Storm of Memories], the second against 6 elementals [2x130: The Calm Before the Storm + 2x131: Into the Eye].

Now, let’s look at Opal and Lolth. In ExU: Kymal, Part 2 Lolth “tests” Opal.

AABRIA: […] "Okay. Well then, will you be my champion?"AIMEE: Yes! Oh my god, I've been dying for you to ask. Yes.AABRIA: "Every champion requires a test. But I know how strong you are."AIMEE: Okay. Is that a written test? I'm bad at those.AABRIA: "No."AIMEE: Okay.AABRIA: "I apologize, because this is going to hurt." Make a constitution saving throw.AIMEE: Oh no. What did I just agree to? […] 19. […]AABRIA: Opal, you feel your conception of yourself double over in pain. Your veins and arteries feel like they are filled with fire Your veins and arteries feel like they are filled with fire as poison rushes through your body. You see in your mind's eye, you're looking down at yourself, and you see shuttering flashes of what could be, of people that have failed the Spider Queen's test and been warped and twisted and turned into horrible monsters who have no will of their own. They're simply bent into her service. But you know who you are. That presence of mind that lets you stand and speak to a god as an equal, as a partner, courses back through you, strengthens your resolve, hardens your veins to iron and you feel that pain lessen and lessen until it's a warm comfort that runs through your veins. Something else close to you inside of you and a part of you as your circlet awakens. [E2x02, 1:17:42]

Loth’s “test” is literally just straight up poisoning Opal. That is the test. Either she passes or she is turned into a monster.

And very quickly, while we’re on the subject of divine champions, let’s look at our good friend The Laughing Hand, Champion of Torog! While researching in 2x78 Between the Lines, the Mighty Nein came across these notes:

"The Laughing Hand was once a warrior named Ganix who sought to strike down Torog with his army. His soldiers were slaughtered and himself captured and tortured. Torog twisted and cursed his body to an endless cycle of servitude, his ever-living heart locked beyond the veil to ensure an eternal pact. [...] rumor has it that his heart was set adrift in extra-planar space to ensure it was never found. Though numerous arcanists were said to have sought it for their own research.” [2x78: Between the Lines, 3:21:20]

Now, I know we shouldn’t take books as gospel, but the Nein did find his heart in a pocket dimension, so I think in this instance there’s a high degree of veracity to the claim.

The Laughing Hand was a servant of Torog brainwashed into working for Obann, who was in turn an unknowing servant of Tharizdun. He believed himself to be working for The Angel of Irons, as no sane person works for Tharizdun knowingly and willingly. It has been confirmed out of game by Matt that Obann not only didn’t know the true nature of who he’d been serving but if the party had informed him, he could have been persuaded to stop. (“He was unaware. Right up until the very end. His moment of realization was right before he was going to die.” Talks Machina: Discussing C2E86 - The Cathedral. 52:13)

Tharizdun gave Obann a suggestion, let him create a cult of worship around this false idol, all while working to free it. Tharizdun was also interested in Cognouza, in its horribly corrupted state. This entire quote from the Campaign 2 Wrap Up is pertinent:

[The] Chained Oblivion, when it begins to corrupt somebody, this corruption, [...] that is the Chained Oblivion's influence, takes the form of whatever the creature thinks it might be looking for. And that's how it ends up masquerading [...] as different cults, as different figures, as different ways that it just undermines society. And so the Angel of Irons was a creation of Obann looking for something to follow and it allowed him to create this entity that he was looking to, without knowing really what it was. And to the same point, Cognouza became something that he just subtly wanted to happen because they had a similar-- He knew would've come to a goal of his, which is the annihilation of everything, and darkness forever. And so that was actually why [...] Kingsley's, towards the end of the campaign, that one little memory I threw in there of weird, lingering memory of the birth of the city. You see these black chains shattering in this ancient will. That was the Chained Oblivion losing its subtle investment in Cognouza.

Tharizdun’s stated goal is “the annihilation of everything and darkness forever.”

Now finally I’d like to bring up the Tales of Exandria: The Bright Queen comic. For those of you who haven’t read it [spoilers] the summary is as follows:

"Leylas Kryn has spent multiple lives in her pursuit to assemble the Luxon. With her eternal lover Quana at her side, she will stop at nothing to use its power to bring a Golden Age to the people under her rule. When what seems to be the final piece of the Luxon appears nearby, Leylas sends Quana to collect it." [Part One]

Quana is unfortunately captured on this quest by servants of Lolth who drag her back to her domain. Leylas goes and rescues her, successfully recovering the beacon in the process. However, since their return, Leylas is plagued by continual nightmares and hallucinations from Lolth [I’m sensing a pattern here from the Spider Queen].

[Both from Part Three]

The happy couple have a child, a young girl named Caelestis. Leylas allows Quana to raise her while she herself campaigns across the country, still suffering from visions. At one point, the hallucinations are so vivid that she lashes out, beheading a politicial leader in his own court.

The final insult to injury is poor Caelestis herself. You see, she isn’t a normal drow. She’s a monster either created or corrupted by Lolth.

We’ve reached the end of the post, so I’ll stop being coy. The Betrayer Gods are not your friends. They are not maligned, misunderstood losers in history. They are lying emotionally manipulative abusers who will say and do whatever they need to in order to get what they want. And what they want is the ultimate destruction of Exandria itself and all people on it. They are happy to manipulate and subjugate everyone in the meantime because they are cruel, petty and malicious.

Asmodeus sent Zerxus a sad dream painting himself as the victim, and I am asking you not to fall for it.

#critical role #exandria unlimited: calamity #exandria unlimited #exu spoilers #exandria unlimited spoilers #exu: calamity spoilers

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jesterthetrickerycleric · 2 years

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"You don't get to give your kids the world they deserve, but you get to give them a world they can fight for with you."

#exandria unlimited #exandria unlimited spoilers #exandria unlimited calamity #exu calamity #exu calamity ep 4

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