A) is mine

B) is the original, by @thechekhov, who was super gracious

Learning to art by copying. I think I did okay. Haven’t done the demons, so Asmodeus seems odd. Also, need to redo the golden cracks.

“I cast cure wounds”

Zerxus looked at Asmodeus, Lord of the Nine Hells and went I can fix him like bitch you're not bob the builder, you're causing the calamity my man

the ring of brass + text posts

Sometimes I am violently reminded of the fact that it's canon to CR lore that every tiefling who was or will ever be born holds the guilt of freeing Asmodeus. Literally it is ingrained in their DNA that they feel on some level that they must answer for the actions of the first tiefling.

And we know his name but the histories of Exandria don't.

TO REACH A HAND DOWN TO SOMEBODY THEY NEED TO BE BENEATH YOU

Never gonna get over the fact that the Calamity was caused partially by Wizard Hubris™️ but also because of One Very Good Boy who believed he could Fix This Man

kristen applebees searching for a new god vs. xerxus illerez godless paladin exist on two ends of a spectrum that i feel too personally attacked by

I say this every other three months it seems but damn might be time to rewatch EXU Calamity

brennan: you see a horned figure in red--

me: [instantly paying attention]

I wasn't able to stay up for all of EXU last night (checked out at about 2:30 central with maybe an hour left), but can I just say that I am a huge fan of the fact that Xerxus' weakness is also his strength. Asmodeus tells him that his weakness is that he is too trusting, though it might be more accurate to say that he is too sympathetic; he trusts that basically anyone at least thinks they are trying to do the right thing. And it's this attitude that traps him in a deal he can't escape. But it's also this attitude that gets him much needed help from Vespin Chloras, and buys him a few hours. At that point the "smart" thing to do would be to kill Vespin, to take out a threat while his guard was down. But Xerxus, who is in that moment still himself, chooses to remain sympathetic, to assume that he will, given the chance, at least try.

Unwritten fanfic AU for Exandria Unlimited: Calamity

A devious fallen god / infernal being has snuck out of their imprisonment. Knowing it's only temporary, they have a kid and plan to prep the kid to be their new body through which they'll escape (basically complete takeover / evil being doesn't GAF about erasing their kid's soul from existence) ---

--- but then this hero 'rescues' the hidden infernal being and their kid (looking like a father and son who are on the run). The hero is a paladin who has lost his faith as he feels his god is too fickle and stopped him from saving people (guilt over failure to save people). Hero is super giving and kind but stoic. Fallen infernal god (Fig for short) would normally take advantage, but oh no! He's falling for the hero! Hero is adorable around the baby, and suddenly, Fig is realizing he loves the baby too and can't imagine destroying his child (his precious, beautiful baby boy) just as a means to escape his eternal prison.

Hero also falls for Fig, but Fig is conflicted in this redemption arc as hero doesn't know what he is (and he might not fully regret what he's done). Tries to tell him but is afraid. Hero basically gives an 'I know you probably weren't the best person 100% of the time, but I love who you are now, and that's who matters to me' speech. Fig assumes hero realizes the full depths of his situation and they end up getting married. Happy husbands with their adorable son, but Fig isn't stupid. Eventually his wardens will come. The gods will descend and hurt his family, so he plants seeds of divinity in his husband, prepping to cause the hero's ascension to godhood.

Except the gods come early. Fig makes a deal to go back without a huge destructive battle and fakes his death, so that his husband doesn't go looking for him by destroying the earthly body he created. This also saves his son who isn't infernal at all as the rituals were never done (and being around a paladin who is unknowingly regaining his divine powers also helps disguise the boy).

After he's gone, hero is sad and depressed but trying to be there for their son, except a huge event happens and it is revealed he is a paladin who draws on divine energy without needing a patron/god. Everyone is shocked. He becomes this symbol of the post-god age of magic, but he's really just a guy with massive PTSD who wants to make things right with a son who blames him for not saving his other parent. Forced separation happens for one reason or another, but he leaves son with people who can give him that normal life as hero can't escape the strange destiny thrust upon him.

Then years later -- BAM! He starts getting dreams, not knowing they're warnings from Fig who realized that people are trying to usurp the positions of gods, but hero doesn't recognize his husband in those dreams because unlike what Fig thought, hero didn't realize the full depths of what his husband was, but the kindness and immediate protectiveness give Fig hope that his husband will still love him after the full truth is revealed.

Big adventure happens where Fig gets released and it is a clash of the gods. Big reveal that hero is a 'disguised god' and once he realizes his own divinity he will ascend. Hero fights this, desperate to get back to his son who he has only just reunited with, but the gods try to force the separation. This pushes hero over the edge, starting what outwardly looks like a corruption arc / god killer arc, but frankly is still rather heroic from the reader's POV.

Fig also rises to his husband's aid, and the two are these godly figures fighting, which results in their son's magic awakening. He's not a god, but he's damn powerful. Family reunion. Forgiveness all around.

Hero's friends are like WTF but also glad to seem him happy after everything he's gone through. Some jealousy by one or two for his basically seducing a god into giving him godhood but yeah -- that's what's rattling around my head right now.

the ring of brass + text posts (2)

4 hours into episode 4 of Calamity

I am full on crying

I’ve realized what it is about Brennan Lee Mulligans DMing style that I like so much. Its the way he handles exposition. He is a master at showing, not telling and he does that with all his lore drop exposition moments. Best example so far is…

Spoilers for EXU Calamity Ep 2 here

When Xerxus gets that nat 20 religion check on Vespins body. Brennan could have just said “you realize he’s a cleric of a betrayer god and he was used to death by that god”. Nice, to the point exposition.

No, instead he tells a story, first setting down the logic behind a cleric slowly gaining more power, and that it would be bad if a god gave a cleric too much at once. Then he describes the logic behind the betrayer gods choices, that the betrayer god might not care about their followers so much. And that allows his players to add those two things together to realize and really understand exactly what happened to Vespin to be in the state he is.

Its just perfectly done! What an amazing story teller he is to be able to provide a lore drop with so much emotion behind it. And to provide his players that experience of dawning realization and horror that your character, if they were a real person, would experience on having that same epiphany.

How does he do that? Is that all off the cuff, improv? Does he write or at least plan some of this stuff out beforehand? How do I do that, cause man oh man I want to do that. That’s so much fun as a DM and as a player.