Tuesday, Nov 30, 2021 • 3h, 7min

C2E1 Curious Beginnings

Critical Role
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In Wildemount, seven adventurers coalesce in a tavern before finding themselves drawn to a mysterious circus...
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Speakers
(8)
Matthew Mercer
Laura Bailey
Sam Riegel
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Transcript
Verified
Matthew Mercer
00:00
Hello, everyone. And welcome to tonight's episode of
Critical Role
, where a bunch of us nerdy-ass voice actors sit around and play the first game of our new campaign of
Dungeons and Dragons
. Super excited to be back. I've missed this a lot. Missed this-
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Laura Bailey
00:17
I'm terrified!
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Matthew Mercer
00:18
Oh, you guys will be fine. So yes. Glad you guys can join us, apparently in some crazy numbers.
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Sam Riegel
00:26
Welcome, new viewers!
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Matthew Mercer
00:28
So welcome, new viewers.
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Marisha Ray
00:29
Welcome, first-timers!
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Matthew Mercer
00:31
Hope you enjoy your stay. So, without further ado, let's get this going so we can get through our announcements and since it is our first episode of the year, of the campaign, I want to make sure that we get our announcements out of the way. We've got some cool stuff to talk about. First and foremost, we have two sponsors tonight.
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Travis Willingham
00:54
That's right!
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Matthew Mercer
00:55
Our first sponsor- and we're going into, kind of for a time, a cool partnership with the folks at
DnD Beyond
, actually. They've been really awesome, and we've been talking, and anybody who hasn't seen it, it's an online digital tool where you can create your own
D&D
character, they have options to purchase any of the current
D&D
books out there, and then carry over any of the character options and racial options over into it, so you can basically use it as a tool. We'll be using it to help us out in the game as we go,'cause it’s actually got some pretty cool stuff. So excited about that. It is D-N-D Beyond, by the way, dot com, if you haven't seen, not the ampersand. It's D-N-D.
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Laura Bailey
01:45
As in "N"
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Matthew Mercer
01:46
"N". But yeah, so they're going to be a long-term partner for the show, so working with us through the start of this campaign. We're super excited to be working with them. But yeah. So we're excited. You can currently activate- it should be now- some
Critical Role
content on there. They should have available the Blood Hunter class that I created a couple of years ago, kind of refining.
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02:13
Should be available for you guys to find on the
DnD Beyond
, which I'm excited about, and there's a one-time discount of $10 off any digital book in the dndbeyond.com marketplace if you use the codeword'beginnings' in there right now. So yeah, get a chance to check it out.
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Travis Willingham
02:31
Would you like some?
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Matthew Mercer
02:33
So, yeah.
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Marisha Ray
02:34
That was weird. Why did we do that?
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Matthew Mercer
02:37
I'm super excited to have that, guys. So you apply that code at checkout to make it happen, so in case you're confused and trying to get it to work. There's a bunch of stuff to explore on there and a bunch of cool ways to incorporate the existing breadth of
D&D
lore and options in there, and now you have some of our stuff in there as well, and hopefully more
Critical Role
content and Tal'Dorei content and Exandria content down the road to also be available on there as we go. So, super excited about that.
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Travis Willingham
03:13
Hell yeah!
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Matthew Mercer
03:14
I'd like to thank you guys at
DnD Beyond
for being awesome. We also have our second sponsor.
Sam
, if you want to take it away.
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Sam Riegel
03:23
I'm our second sponsor.
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Laura Bailey
03:25
Thanks,
Sam
!
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Sam Riegel
03:26
No. Welcome, new viewers. Every week- or many weeks, I am charged with writing the like ad for the sponsor of that week. I did this one way back in mid-December, so it'll feel a little stale. Sorry. I didn’t have time to write a new one. Apologies to our sponsor. But our second sponsor tonight is
Backblaze
. They offer unlimited cloud backup for Macs and PCs, you can restore from the web or via hard drive, they'll even overnight FedEx a drive to you, and because it's Christmas season, I wrote this.
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04:02
'Twas the night before Critmas when I clicked on my mouse, but the drive wasn't whirring; it had said, "Adi-ouse". When up from the cloud there arose such a sight, I knew in a flash that my shit was all right. As I spat out my plate of cold chicken kiev, down my chimney came a weird little elf named Lev. I said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, how'd you get in my place?" Lev gave me a wink and punched me in the face.
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04:35
And suddenly he fired up a pipe and started to restore my computer from a backup he carted. My documents, like slash fiction from My Little Pony. My photos, like me naked, covered in bologna. He mumbled that you can get backed up at once for a merry little fee of $5 a month-s. You even get 15 days free if you scroll over to Backblaze.com/criticalrole.
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04:59
And just like that, my computer was on. Lev greased up his body, and bam, he was gone. But I heard him exclaim, "Peace out, yo, wassup! Happy
Backblaze
to all, don't forget to back up!" I'll write another one for Easter, I promise.
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Matthew Mercer
05:19
Thank you,
Sam
. So thank you,
Backblaze
. Happy to have you for our sponsor tonight as well. Also, as a heads-up, we’ve had our friends at Wyrmwood for a while have been awesomely providing Wyrmwood dice boxes and dice trays and dice towers to give away to people in the community. They have new boxes for all the players in the new campaign. And they have been working on something for a while for us to kick off the new campaign. They made us a new table. If we can go to a camera view of this table they made for the campaign.
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05:57
It's made out of English brown oak, the center
Critical Role
inlay is made of ash burl, is the background, and then rosewood for the d20 outline, weng? Wenge for the
Critical Role
words themselves, and silver stringing around the border. It was built by hand in their Massachusetts office and workshop, and it was hand-rubbed oil on a wax finish. Over a hundred hours were put into this table. They did an incredible job, and we're super honored to have that here, and thank you guys for showing, you know, such an awesome appreciation for what we do and helping-
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Sam Riegel
06:35
It smells really nice.
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Laura Bailey
06:36
We have side pockets!
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Taliesin Jaffe
06:38
We have cubbies!
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Laura Bailey
06:39
We have cubbies!
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Marisha Ray
06:40
Yeah, it smells like wood in the studio, like fresh wood.
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Sam Riegel
06:45
And, when we get canceled, this is going to be a great dining room table.
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Matthew Mercer
06:51
This is true! Thank you guys, Wyrmwood. If you aren't familiar with any of their stuff, go to wyrmwoodgaming.com, that's W-Y-R-M-wood gaming dot com. They do awesome work. It's really super high-quality, it's great. So thank you, guys. All right, so. Let's see. Quick updates we can get through.
Laura
, do you have an update for merch stuff for the new year?
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Laura Bailey
07:17
Okay. Yes, I do. It's a new campaign, new us, new merch. I don't know which camera I’m looking at.
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Sam Riegel
07:25
That one.
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Laura Bailey
07:26
So, you guys, we released our teaser on socials, and everybody was like, "I want that as a poster!" So we listened to you, and we made it-
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Sam Riegel
07:38
Oh, really?
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Laura Bailey
07:40
A poster!
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Sam Riegel
07:41
It's a real poster?
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Laura Bailey
07:42
It's a real poster!
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Sam Riegel
07:44
Oh, wow!
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Laura Bailey
07:45
Look at this lameness that you could have on your wall!
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Marisha Ray
07:49
So good!
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Sam Riegel
07:50
Oh, man.
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Laura Bailey
07:51
So yeah. It's in the store right now, you guys, and we printed a small amount, so those ones will be shipped faster, and then after that, it'll just be pre-order, but I think it's all listed as pre-order, so just so you know.
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Sam Riegel
08:09
Can you photoshop out my crotch region for- no? Okay.
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Taliesin Jaffe
08:13
That would be a lot of photoshop, man.
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Matthew Mercer
08:16
None of us have that much talent in post,
Sam
.
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Laura Bailey
08:20
But let's just talk about this
Matthew Mercer
.
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Matthew Mercer
08:23
Let's not talk about what I- when I put that outfit on, I did not consider quite the permeation in my life it would become. So there's that.
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Sam Riegel
08:33
God damn it. Hey first throwback. Well done.
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Laura Bailey
08:37
So yeah, we can be with you always.
Matt
can stare at you while you sleep.
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Liam O'Brien
08:43
That's actually how Purvan dressed.
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Matthew Mercer
08:45
God damn it.
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Taliesin Jaffe
08:46
Hey, first throwback! Well done.
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Laura Bailey
08:49
Oh. yeah. We've got to be careful, guys, because we have a lot of people that haven't watched the last campaign, or haven't finished the last campaign, so no spoilers for last campaign.
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Sam Riegel
09:02
I don't really remember it, so.
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Travis Willingham
09:05
Well, we all died, so.
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Matthew Mercer
09:07
That's true, yeah. Okay, next announcements: the
Critical Role
podcast we have currently up to date. All of Vox Machina's story, the whole first campaign, is now on the podcast. You can find it where the finest podcasts are downloaded. And do we have an update as far as the release schedule for this podcast?
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Marisha Ray
09:29
Yes, we do. They will be releasing one week after we are live. So we'll be one week behind.
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Sam Riegel
09:36
On a Thursday?
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Marisha Ray
09:38
They will be releasing on Thursdays the week after.
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Matthew Mercer
09:41
Yeah.
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Laura Bailey
09:42
Oh, so you can listen to it in the morning and watch it live at night.
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Sam Riegel
09:48
Oh, man.
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Travis Willingham
09:49
Sure, sure.
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Laura Bailey
09:50
If you have a lot of free time.
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Marisha Ray
09:53
Yes, you can. Yes.
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Laura Bailey
09:55
Or a really long drive, maybe.
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Sam Riegel
09:58
An extra eight hours to spend every Thursday.
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Matthew Mercer
10:01
To be fair, you guys would have about as much free time on a Thursday as I would. Cool, so look forward to that. Comic book, issue four of
Critical Role
: Vox Machina Origins
,
Liam
, when does that come out?
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Liam O'Brien
10:17
It is coming out on the 24th of this month.
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Travis Willingham
10:21
Oh, make it sooner!
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Liam O'Brien
10:23
I've read it. It’s so good, it's real good, it's so good. You guys, Vox Machina’s story ended at this table, but it is going to live on and on and on- at least for three more issues.
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Matthew Mercer
10:38
Yeah, thank you very much.
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Travis Willingham
10:40
Check it out everywhere.
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Liam O'Brien
10:41
Yeah, on Zune, on PalmPilot. Darkhorse app, Comixology, Limewire, finally.
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Marisha Ray
10:47
Napster.
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Laura Bailey
10:48
I'm going to throw up.
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Matthew Mercer
10:50
That's okay, guys, we've got a couple more things left. Thank you for hanging in there. As far as con appearances go, I actually fly tomorrow to Miami, Florida for Paradise City Comic Con. I'll be there tomorrow until Sunday. If you guys are in the area, come say hi at the convention. It should be fun. I have panels and signings and stuff, so hopefully, see you there. Also, I'll be at Lexington Comic and Toy Con in Lexington, Kentucky, March 9-11, Otafest in Calgary, May 18-20, and A-Kon in Texas, June 7-10.
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Travis Willingham
11:28
Oh, Lord.
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Marisha Ray
11:29
That's a lot.
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Ashley Johnson
11:30
Jeez Louise,
Matt
.
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Matthew Mercer
11:32
I know.
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Laura Bailey
11:33
We have
Emerald City Comic Con
, me and
Travis
.
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Matthew Mercer
11:37
Awesome.
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Travis Willingham
11:37
First weekend of March.
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Laura Bailey
11:39
Yes, that's right.
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Matthew Mercer
11:41
Badass. Cool. All right, so. Paring it down, finishing it up here. Thank you for your patience. With the new campaign, I want to renew our appreciation for and make sure that we push to you guys that we, from the very beginning, have been supporting a really amazing charity called
826
,
826LA
being our local chapter. They have
826
groups all over the United States that they do after-school creative writing and a lot of great creative classes for children who are either underprivileged or don’t have opportunities to go to these types of classes.
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12:17
They do wonderful, wonderful work, and we've been supporting them from the very beginning, and we're just doubling down on that for this new campaign. You guys as a community have been fantastic in supporting them, and all the charities that we've supported from the very beginning.
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12:34
Critmas every year has been a very prime example of that, so I just wanted to continue to push that forward, share the love, and a big thank-you to
826
for being such an amazing source of creative drive for so many young kids who normally wouldn't have that opportunity. So you guys are amazing, and show them your appreciation if you can.
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12:57
Final shout-outs. One, thank you to Ian Phillips of Iron Tusk Painting, who has painted the miniatures for this campaign. He actually painted me and
Marisha's
cake toppers for our wedding, and whenever you manage to see them in the campaign, you can know that it's his handiwork.
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Laura Bailey
13:15
Soon.
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Matthew Mercer
13:15
Soon enough.
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Ashley Johnson
13:16
Also, fun fact about Ian Phillips: I grew up with him.
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Laura Bailey
13:21
What?
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Matthew Mercer
13:22
Which I didn't know about until a month ago.
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Ashley Johnson
13:25
He was one of my brother's best friends when we kind of first moved out here to LA, and so when that name was floating around, I was like, wait a minute. And then we reconnected back on Instagram. It's such a crazy story. You know,
Critical Role
brings it all back around.
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Matthew Mercer
13:45
I love it. So you can follow him, @PaintingTusk on Twitter.
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Liam O'Brien
13:50
I've had him paint 20 to 30- I'm kind of addicted- 20 to 30 miniatures. They're amazing.
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Matthew Mercer
13:56
He's amazing.
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Liam O'Brien
13:57
He's amazing at what he does.
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Matthew Mercer
13:59
And final thank-yous to Warner Brothers and Monolith Entertainment for letting us incorporate the Shadow of War soundtrack into our
Critical Role
soundtrack here on the air, so those will be coming into the new campaign.
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14:12
And, super excited, CD Projekt Red has been nice enough to allow us use of the Witcher series soundtrack to also incorporate into the campaign, which, honestly, when we started playing at home, the Witcher soundtrack was most of my music, and I couldn't use it when we started streaming, and so it's been a cool full-circle to be able to bring it back in. Plus, it brings a unique flavor that works with the new campaign setting, so. With that, I believe our announcements are done. Thank you for bearing with us.
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Laura Bailey
14:47
Wait, we're gonna give- oh, that's-
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Marisha Ray
14:50
Afterwards. We'll show-
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Sam Riegel
14:51
There's one more announcement.
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Marisha Ray
14:53
Well, our announcement is our brand-new opening title sequence.
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Matthew Mercer
14:56
Yes, yes.
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Marisha Ray
14:58
Which I think we're ready for.
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Matthew Mercer
14:60
I think we're ready for. So, as we bring it down, guys, let’s go ahead and prepare to dive in to the new year and the new campaign for this episode of
Critical Role
.
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15:13
[Critical Role Too – Jason Charles Miller]
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Matthew Mercer
15:16
And welcome back.
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Travis Willingham
15:17
That was a new level.
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Taliesin Jaffe
15:19
Wow.
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Laura Bailey
15:20
That was good.
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Matthew Mercer
15:21
We've definitely returned to the table. Thank you,
Sam
. So.
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Marisha Ray
15:26
Wait, super fast. We've got to go through credits. Right?
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Matthew Mercer
15:30
Oh, yeah. Go for it.
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Marisha Ray
15:33
Okay. So normally we don't do this, and I did this once before when we released our other opening title sequence. Yeah, 50th. So we're going to do this again. These are just people who do so much and who do not get enough love. I'm going to shout them out.
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15:52
Sean Becker, who's the unsung hero of
Geek and Sundry
, he's the executive producer. T. J. Rotell, he's our production manager around here, he makes sure that we actually have cameras. Maxwell James, our producer that makes this show go every week. Dani Carr, our production coordinator, also huge producer here. Steve Sprinkles, who directed that amazing opening title sequence.
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Sam Riegel
16:17
That's not a real name!
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Marisha Ray
16:19
I know. I love it on the slate. It always says "Sprinkles". Jan-Michael Losada, who is our D. P., and is the same D. P. from last time. Tristan Savage-Tate, our first A. C. Sean Delahunt, who is our key grip. Tyler Hart, who is our gaffer, who like gaffs everything around here, he's amazing. Jenny Newman, who did the amazing wardrobe. She sourced all the wardrobe. Wren Witting, who's one of our hair and makeup artists. Vanessa Marie, who is our second hair and makeup artist. Jose Sosa, who was our production assistant. Selina Ruthe-
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Laura Bailey
17:00
That's a lot of pieces of paper!
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Marisha Ray
17:03
I know, I know. Selina Ruthe, who did additional photography, and she also does stuff every day.
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Laura Bailey
17:10
Why didn't you put them on the same piece of paper?
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Marisha Ray
17:14
Because I didn't know there was going to be this many. Brandon Clark, who was our location manager. Pamela Joy, who shot all the photos for that, and Loretta Ritchert.
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Laura Bailey
17:26
Yeah, they're with Heirloom Photography, and they did all of our thumbnails, too. They did that poster.
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Ashley Johnson
17:33
Go check them out on Instagram!
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Laura Bailey
17:36
They are the jam.
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Marisha Ray
17:37
Jason Charles Miller, who does our music.
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Liam O'Brien
17:40
Party on, Garthok!
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Marisha Ray
17:42
Sean Hudson, who does our post-production. And Andy Inglat, who edited that thing. Okay. I'm sweating a lot.
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Matthew Mercer
17:50
That's okay. So.
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Marisha Ray
17:51
Thank you.
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Sam Riegel
17:52
What a night. Well, guys-
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Laura Bailey
17:55
That was fun.
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Taliesin Jaffe
17:56
This has been great.
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Matthew Mercer
17:58
Everyone. Everyone.
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Travis Willingham
17:59
Oh, God.
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Sam Riegel
18:00
Can we open our fricking books yet?
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Marisha Ray
18:03
Not yet.
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Matthew Mercer
18:04
Welcome to Wildemount. The year is 835 P. D., or post-Divergence. This continent is divided both by jagged terrain and political powers. The Menagerie Coast, a collection of city-states united under the Clovis Concord, monopolizes the southwestern shores and ports of Wildemount, thriving on open trade and cultural freedom. Beyond the Cyrios Mountains lies the massive region known as Wynandir, bisected by the Ashkeeper Peaks.
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18:29
Eastern Wynandir houses the expansive wastes and turbulent badlands of Xhorhas, overrun with all manner of beasts and terrors, relics from the final battles of the Calamity that ruined that scarred landscape. Northward, you would find the Greying Wildlands, a lawless realm harboring a curse that has kept it unconquered by human hands. However, this story begins in the territory of Western Wynandir, within the boundaries of the Dwendalian Empire.
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18:55
Emerging 13 generations before, the Dwendalian Empire has slowly spread to encompass the surrounding societies of the region, absorbing the peoples of the Zemni Fields and the Marrow Valley, before finally conquering the Julous Dominion and taking the whole of Western Wynandir for the Empire.
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Sam Riegel
19:11
There will be no test.
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Matthew Mercer
19:13
No. This is- let me continue. Under the rule of the current King Bertrand Dwendal, now in his 68th year, most are left to their own devices. You live as you did before. The crown only takes a tithe of what you produce and earn. You follow its laws, worship its gods, and bow to its installed local leadership. In return, denizens of the Empire are protected from the chaotic horrors and shadowed evils that stalk the edges of the civilized lands.
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19:44
This accord has led to a prosperous century for the Empire, or at least the political elite. Tensions brew beneath the chafing watch of the Crown's Guard. Every temple is government-owned and run, and worship outside the approved idolatry is met with imprisonment.
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19:60
Rumors of military clashes at the eastern border near Xhorhas have many common folk on edge. Our story, however, begins much smaller. Here in the southern reaches of the Marrow Valley, beyond the entry gates of the Wuyun Gorge, lies the small rural town of Trostenwald. Bordering the blue waters of the Ustaloch, this town came to prominence near the turn of this recent century, when the surrounding fertile farmlands were discovered to produce a unique type of grain and wheat, leading to a boom of breweries.
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20:32
When the glut subsided, three large families stood triumphant in the local business of fermented delights. Now Trostenwald thrives on their exports of fish, crops, and ale. Here in this sleepy trade stop along the Amber Road, a handful of wandering destinies slowly begin to intersect. We begin in the early hours of the morning on the day of Grissen in a messy room on the second floor of the Nestled Nook Inn. A bleary-eyed, bruised man in a tattered coat slowly wakens from his lengthy sleep, catching his small, snoring ally curled at the foot of the bed.
Liam
, if you would like to describe your character, please.
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Laura Bailey
21:13
Oh my God, no pressure!
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Sam Riegel
21:15
Were we supposed to prepare this?
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Liam O'Brien
21:17
I'm pretty filthy. I have a mess of reddish-brown hair and really filthy road clothes. I wear a long coat that I slept in. I slept about 20 hours last night. Jeez. Unshaven, a bit of a mess.
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Sam Riegel
21:32
So far you're just talking about current
Liam
.
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Laura Bailey
21:35
What color are your eyes? I need visual.
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Liam O'Brien
21:39
They're blue. That's it. It was a rough day yesterday, and- that's it.
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Matthew Mercer
21:44
All right. And your name is?
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Liam O'Brien
21:47
Oh. Caleb. Caleb Widogast.
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Matthew Mercer
21:49
All right. As your smaller friend curls awake,
Sam
, would you like to describe your character?
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Sam Riegel
21:56
Yeah. I am a little goblin girl. I am a goblin. So, you know, the green skin, the green hair, the yellow eyes. And she wears not-great clothes, just like her traveling companion there. She kind of hides in the shadows a lot because she knows goblins aren't welcome in this part, and that’s about it. I mean, she's a little skittish, and right now she's probably stirring awake as well, right?
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Matthew Mercer
22:25
Well. What's your name?
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Sam Riegel
22:27
Oh. Nott the Brave.
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Matthew Mercer
22:29
So Caleb, as you come to consciousness, you glance over and can see, slowly snoring and rousing at about the same time, Nott's eyes blink open, her kind of slowly groaning face looking over towards you.
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Sam Riegel
22:42
Oh! You're finally awake, I see. Oh yeah, motherfuckers. It's on. You were out for quite some time, there. Rough day, eh?
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Liam O'Brien
22:53
Not our best day, no.
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Sam Riegel
22:55
No, I mean, usually you're so good at everything, but yesterday you were just- maybe you needed the sleep, is what you needed.
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Liam O'Brien
23:04
Thank you.
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Sam Riegel
23:05
Well, don't thank me yet. I should probably tell you what happened while you were asleep. I mean, you were asleep for so long. I got bored, frankly. I was going through my pack and reorganizing.
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Liam O'Brien
23:20
Has anybody seen you- seen you, seen you?
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Sam Riegel
23:23
Well, I mean, many people? I got bored. You've never slept that long, so I left, I went downstairs, I thought I'd do a bit of window-shopping, and you know how sometimes I get the itch, you know?
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Liam O'Brien
23:39
I do. Did you make it back here okay, at night?
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Sam Riegel
23:43
I'm here, aren't I?
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Liam O'Brien
23:45
Yeah, you are.
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Sam Riegel
23:47
Yeah, I did. But I might have been spotted by a few of the Crown's Guard.
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Liam O'Brien
23:53
Did you have the mask on?
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Sam Riegel
23:56
No? No, I didn't. But they didn't catch me, so.
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Liam O'Brien
24:01
Okay, okay.
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Sam Riegel
24:02
Listen, I'm sorry, sometimes I get the urge, I've got to take something, you know? I was trying to replenish what you lost yesterday, and I failed.
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Liam O'Brien
24:13
Well, we discussed coming to a bigger town. It's going to be a little more difficult now. You can't go- it was easier on outskirts, it was easier in farms, but we can't do that here.
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Sam Riegel
24:27
I know, I'm sorry. Yeah. I know. You're right. Yep. I just got a little bit, you know, squiggly. That's all.
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Liam O'Brien
24:37
Okay. Well, I think today you should have the mask on at all times.
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Sam Riegel
24:43
Yeah, good idea, Caleb.
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Liam O'Brien
24:45
It's better when we’re working together. If you need to steal something, do it with my help, all right?
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Sam Riegel
24:53
Yeah, yeah, of course. Yeah.
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Liam O'Brien
24:56
Back up the conversation a minute. Thank you, because I would not be alive if you had not- you saved my life. So thank you.
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Sam Riegel
25:05
Ah, no problem.
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Liam O'Brien
25:07
Yesterday was really not great.
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Sam Riegel
25:09
Yeah, well, we'll do better today, right?
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Liam O'Brien
25:12
Sure. Sure we will. Are you hungry?
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Sam Riegel
25:16
Yeah, I'm starving.
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Matthew Mercer
25:17
At this point, you notice the gentle smell of cooked meats and promises of mediocre porridge and eggs just barely begins to creep beneath the subtle floor of your room, meet your nostrils.
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Liam O'Brien
25:29
Well, Nott, what are we going to do today? I can go down and get breakfast and bring it up here. At least- I don't know. I mean, I'm a little wary of just splashing back into the town right away.
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Sam Riegel
25:45
Let's go down, get some food. I'll come with you,'cause as you said, we're better together. And we'll take it from there. You need some books and stuff, right?
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Liam O'Brien
25:57
Always.
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Sam Riegel
25:58
All right, well, that's on the to-do list.
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Liam O'Brien
26:02
All right, well, let's get something to eat, then.
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Matthew Mercer
26:06
All right, so you prepare yourself with your mask set over?
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Sam Riegel
26:10
Yes, yeah, so I'm gonna put- I have like a half a mask that kind of covers my goblin face, and with the hood over, kind of obscures. Maybe it's not a goblin, maybe it's a little halfling person or something.
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Matthew Mercer
26:26
Which is helpful. The southern, more rural region of the Empire, especially near Felderwin, which is one of the largest tilling and farming areas of the entire Empire, has a very heavy halfling population. And so while this city is not the core of it, I'd say you'd probably see a larger 20-25% of the population here in Trostenwald is halfling. So you pass off pretty decently as long as you keep away from discerning, intent eyes.
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26:55
So the two of you manage to gather your things for the time being, wander down the stairs from the top floor down to the base of the tavern, which, the air is already bustling with townsfolk and all manner of travelers preparing to take on the day's responsibilities. Yorda, the 40-something woman barkeep with shoulder-length blonde hair and weathered skin that you previously rented your room at the inn from, frantically darts behind the bar while the red-headed barmaid rushes from table to table.
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27:25
It seems that the clientele is a bit more than they were expecting this morning. Yorda yells from behind the bar to the barkeep, "Adelaine, two more brats and a bit of mush at the corner table." And she kind of looks up, "I'm working on it!" And she runs over and heads back to the kitchen.
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27:47
There's a faint bit of music as two slovenly-looking musicians in the corner are trying to work for tips with a small hat on the floor that it looks like nobody's thrown any coin into it. The tables are fairly busy, except for maybe two that appear to be available between the two of you guys, if you'd like to find a seat.
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Liam O'Brien
28:09
Okay. Sure. Is that easy to do, find a seat?
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Matthew Mercer
28:14
Yeah, you walk over to it, you sit down.
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Liam O'Brien
28:18
Is this how
D&D
works?
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Sam Riegel
28:20
What do we roll for?
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Matthew Mercer
28:22
You sit down, and due to the chaos that ensues around you, it takes a little while for Adelaine, the red-headed barmaid, to come by, and she kind of scoots by the table. "I'm terribly sorry. What can I get you?"
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Sam Riegel
28:38
You know, meat if you have it, but if you don't, that's okay, too. Potatoes, or bacon if it's on the menu, but really anything-
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Matthew Mercer
28:49
"I can get you all three, it's fine. What you want?"
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Liam O'Brien
28:54
A Trost for each of us, please.
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Matthew Mercer
28:57
"For breakfast? I like you. All right, two Trosts and a bunch of meats. Be right back." And she rushes off, she kind of pulls her hair back and ties it as she goes into the kitchen, getting ready for the midst of chaos. While you guys have a moment there at the table, you can hear conversation muttering around you, and you have a brief bit of privacy to discuss.
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Liam O'Brien
29:25
Yes, I need books, that's true, but did you find drink yesterday?
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Sam Riegel
29:30
I have a little left in my flask.
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Liam O'Brien
29:33
How much?
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Sam Riegel
29:34
Just a couple swigs.
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Liam O'Brien
29:36
So that's also on the to-do list, then.
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Sam Riegel
29:39
I mean, if you don't want me to get too jittery, yeah.
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Liam O'Brien
29:44
All right. Okay, okay. So we'll do that first, all right?
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Sam Riegel
29:49
All right.
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Travis Willingham
29:50
I love her.
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Matthew Mercer
29:51
A short time passes before the two platters are rushed over and scattered across the front of your table with a clattering. Pile of meats there set for you, a little bit placed on the side, because you might need, especially with the look on your face- Adelaine gives you a glance and goes, "Put something in your belly." Comes back and slides two Trosts to you.
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Sam Riegel
30:16
I remove my little mask, and then just go-
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Liam O'Brien
30:20
I take the last piece.
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Matthew Mercer
30:22
As you guys are partway through your meal, let's see, this would be Caleb. You notice out of the corner of your eye a gentleman enter the door looking kind of meek. Middle-age, looks work-hardened. He has a heavy chin-beard that is unkempt and a bit wild, but his eyes are warm. He's holding his hat in his grip, and he scans the room with an eager glance before his face brightens, and he begins to push his way across the room, in your direction, it looks like. He scoots over towards your table, and as you're about to turn and kind of see what he's about-
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Liam O'Brien
31:02
I'm putting my hand on my purse.
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Matthew Mercer
31:04
He pivots to the table next to you instead. He turns to you three.
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Laura Bailey
31:09
We've just been sitting here this whole time!
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Matthew Mercer
31:12
Yeah. You've met this man the day before, Rinaldo, the fisherman, who you had aided. And as he approaches, he goes, "You- might I sit, please?"
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Laura Bailey
31:25
Of course, take a seat.
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Sam Riegel
31:27
What's that?
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Matthew Mercer
31:28
And as he sits down in his chair, I would ask each of you to please describe yourselves, starting with you,
Laura
.
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Laura Bailey
31:36
Oh, well, okay. I'm just, you know, a little blue tiefling, that's all, with blue hair. And you know, I'm wearing a pretty cute dress, that's all. And I'm having a good time, you know? We're just having a good time here at breakfast.
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Matthew Mercer
31:55
All right. And you?
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Marisha Ray
31:57
Yeah, yeah. I'm, you know, simple girl, simple needs. Just wearing like a nice, baggy clothes, some monk vestiges. They're in kind of like nice blues and greys. You notice I have a blue sash around my belt. Got a nice shave going on, little undercut. Looks like maybe I put on makeup two days ago, and I'm like, "Yeah, it's still holding up. It's fine. I can work with that."
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Sam Riegel
32:28
What's your name?
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Matthew Mercer
32:29
We'll get to that. Thank you. And
Travis
, if you'd like to describe yourself, please?
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Travis Willingham
32:36
Yeah, I'm here too.
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Sam Riegel
32:38
What?
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Travis Willingham
32:38
I'm a half-orc, sitting here in beat-up leathers. Have a big scar across my face. Green skin tone and kind of got some piecemeal armor put together and stuff. My name's Fjord.
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Laura Bailey
32:50
You're very handsome. I just need to tell you that.
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Travis Willingham
32:54
Thank you. Appreciate that.
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Matthew Mercer
32:56
As Rinaldo sits down, clutching his hat still in his hands, says, "I thank you for your time, Fjord. And, I apologize, I forget your names."
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Marisha Ray
33:08
Beauregard.
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Matthew Mercer
33:09
"Beauregard. And?"
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Laura Bailey
33:11
Jester.
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Matthew Mercer
33:11
"Jester, thank you. You all came when no one else would yesterday, and because of you, my daughter is still alive."
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Marisha Ray
33:21
Oh, yeah. Sorry for being a pessimistic asshole, by the way, when we first came into town.
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Matthew Mercer
33:28
"Oh, that's okay."
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Marisha Ray
33:30
I'm not used to things turning out good, so.
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Matthew Mercer
33:34
"You'll do well this side of the Empire. Anyway. I won't keep you, but I- we spoke yesterday, and I didn't have much to give you. Sent you away with nothing but my gratitude. But I've been asking around the other fishermen, lochsmen, and we've put together a little bit of coin for your troubles, so." And he turns his cap over on the table, and this catches your attention, you hear this clattering of coin.
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34:04
Your eyes glance over, especially you, Nott, and watch as he leaves this pile of what looks to be mostly copper and silver pieces, with a couple of glimmers of gold, and as soon as it clatters across the hardwood table here in the center of the tavern. Other faces begin to turn and kind of gather attention as to what's happening over here in the back edge, and he takes his cap back and pushes it forward towards all of you, his dirty, you can see cracked and very callused fingers shoving it in your direction, before taking his hat and placing it back over his head.
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Laura Bailey
34:43
That's so cool!
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Liam O'Brien
34:44
Those coins went all over the floor?
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Matthew Mercer
34:47
All over the table.