Episodes and other media available on YouTube and Twitch

Action Surge!

> Join the cast as they debrief after an extremely tense episode that started with a meeting with the Spider Prince, and only got more exciting from there. Through the flames, can they see a path forward for our heroes after losing one of their closest allies?

Harry's Favorite Part: (click)

Obviously the team's interaction with Brandon. Also, the moments of levity were an extra relief, considering many of the dramatic moments woven into the episode.

---

RP (Rolly-Poley) Points

| Alex | Aoife | Ben | Doug | Hollie | | :------ | :------ | :------ | :------ | :------ | | 88 | 125 | 75 | 76 | 86 | | Totals | | 627 | 535 | 569 | 602 | 709 |

Dolly artwork by Connor (crpgoob)

Please note that these broadcasts are only scheduled for the times listed below. We will be returning with a new episode of 4-Sided Dive on July 9th and Critical Role on July 11th.

The Re-Slayer’s Take

Follow the escapades of the second-coolest monster hunters this side of Exandria: The Re-Slayer’s Take! After six misfit mercenaries are rejected from the elite monster hunting group, The Slayer’s Take, they band together, battling supernatural creatures across the rugged continent of Issylra.

• The Re-Slayers (Bonus) Take w/ Matthew Mercer releases Monday, July 1st on your favorite podcast streaming service at 5am Pacific
• Episodes 8 releases Monday, July 1st at 5am Pacific only on Beacon.

Critical Role Abridged

All the twists and turns of an episode of Critical Role in half the time! In Critical Role Abridged, the rich tapestry of a Critical Role campaign is lovingly distilled to its most pivotal, hilarious, and poignant moments in about 60-90 minutes per episode.

• Campaign 3, Episode 11 releases Tuesday, July 2nd at 10am Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast streaming platform!
• Campaign 3, Episode 28 releases Tuesday, July 2nd at 10am Pacific on Beacon
• Campaign 3, Episode 29 releases Friday, July 5th at 10am Pacific on Beacon

The Glassworker

(Urdu: شیشہ گر, romanized: Sheesha Gar) is Pakistan's first hand-drawn animated feature film.

English Trailer

Urdu Trailer

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'Glassworker' filmmakers discuss production

article by Ramin Zahed

> "The poignant film tells the story of a father and son who run the finest glass workshop in a country loosely inspired by Pakistan. They find their world turned upside down when an army colonel and his young violinist daughter enter their lives."

> “The idea for the film came to me in early 2014,” Usman Riaz tells Animation Magazine. “I was fascinated by glassblowing and wanted to make something around this particular craft. I was 23 years old at the time. Initially, I planned for it to be a live-action movie, because animation seemed like such a distant dream, but my wife Mariam Paracha (art director on The Glassworker and Mano co-founder) said, ‘You love animation, Usman. This should be an animated movie!’ And I said, ‘Sure, why not? How hard can it really be?’ Well, I was just about to find out.”

> Soon after, Usman shared his plans with his cousin Khizer (Mano’s CEO), and together they decided to build an animation studio from the ground up to produce the movie. “The inception of the idea happened around 10 years ago,” Khizer says. “We set up in a small studio space after we raised $116,000 on Kickstarter in 2016. We finished the pilot animation and other Kickstarter rewards in early 2018. After shopping the project around, we were able to get creative consultant Geoffrey Wexler (of Studio Ghibli, Studio Ponoc and Kiyuki Inc.) and writer Moya O’Shea on board the same year. The script was completed in early 2019 and we started preproduction right after. The film was completed in the fall of 2023.”

> According to the Riazes, around 450 to 500 people worked on the movie. “Khizer, Mariam and I are partners at Mano,” says Usman. “I am very grateful we got to work with a lot of wonderful, talented people in Pakistan and internationally.”

> Usman storyboarded the entire film. “I drew each and every frame, like my heroes before me,” he tells us. “I needed to draw each frame in great detail to show the team exactly what I wanted. I believe that was the foundation for the film. I knew every single shot and had planned accordingly. I also animated on the film. It was all done traditionally, frame by frame, no ’tweening software was used. We wouldn’t even know how to use them if you gave them to us!”

> The cousins point out that the biggest challenge was undertaking two mammoth tasks at once. “We had to create an infrastructure for a functioning animation studio alongside actually producing an animated film,” says Khizer. Adds Usman, “Making a hand-drawn animated film is not easy anywhere in the world. We did it in Pakistan where we had no help, no guidance and no infrastructure for film or animation. We just had ourselves and our conviction.”

> Usman says he has been obsessed with animation since he was a young boy. “Animated movies and comic books inspired me to draw,” he shares. “There is something timeless about films that are made by hand. Four-year-old me would be very proud of what we have done!”

> The director says the works of Walt Disney have been a very special source of inspiration for him. “His personal works, the films that he directed, hold a special place in my heart,” he says. “That level of artistry has not been seen and will not be seen for a very long time. My biggest influence, however, is the work of Studio Ghibli and my heroes will always be Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. There is something special about their films that I cannot describe in words. I think it’s very obvious that my work draws a great deal from these amazing people.”

> Khizer says he personally loves the story of The Glassworker. “I really admire the way Usman weaved a love story during a time of war with the message that people endure no matter under what conditions they live,” he says. “Also, the animation and the background art are beautiful, and I am very proud of the quality we have been able to achieve. And the music — the score Usman and Carmine DiFlorio composed and José Carlos Campos produced — is brilliant.”

> Usman says he’s quite pleased with what he and his team were able to create. “I love the fact that we were able to pull it off, and that it looks decent. No one has done something like this in Pakistan for a very good reason — it’s impossible. We achieved something that no one out of our part of the world was able to do. And to have our first film premiere at Annecy as part of the Official Competition with some of the greatest animation studios and films in the world is truly special.” > He adds, “It was amazing to have the illustrious Manuel Cristobal (Wrinkles, Bunuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles) join our project — his presence led the film to be chosen by Annecy to be a Work in Progress selection in 2022. He was an amazing partner and mentor to help us achieve our dream.”

> His cousin also feels like it’s all a bit surreal. “It’s still unbelievable for me, but I’m also excited for audiences to see it starting with Annecy in June and then Pakistan on July 26th,” says Khizer. “I’m hopeful for audiences across the world to see it, and we hope to have news regarding wider distribution soon.”

> Usman adds, “I honestly don’t know how I feel. I have dedicated a third of my life to this. I love this craft more than anything in the world. It was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. And I have done a lot of things: I have written and composed my own music; I have conducted orchestras; I have performed and spoken on the TED Main Stage and at conferences all over the world. Nothing has compared to this. I gave it my all. Now we will see what happens. Everything is in God’s hands now.”

This poem is not in the book shown. This was transcribed from an instagram post made on June 18, 2024.

--- Take your pick of politicians, out of touch so deeply. Who crave your vote to steer our boat jump into bed to sleep li- asing with corrupted frauds who desecrate their post. The parliamentary parasites who wank to Thatcher's ghost. What I really think is not politically correct. I'm sick of seeing sycophants whose job is to perfect The art of causing chasms and dissolving public unity. A poison, puerile, pestilence polluting our community. Where's the money skimmed from taxes getting siphoned for expenses? Where's the justice for your mates who commit criminal offenses? Where's the empathy for humans that don't look or act like you? What are all the citizens who are in poverty to do? Where are all the refugees who simply need our help to go? Just stick em on a barge or plane; maintain the status quo. Use them as an excuse for why we can't afford to heat The homes that we will never own, the food our kids can't eat. Pick the one who's gonna rule us with the minimum disruption. Who'll only break the records of malfeasance and corruption. The way that they are hollowing out Britain starts to grate. Taking try of this country giving back the right to hate Anyone who's black or brown disabled, queer, or working class. A woman or an immigrant, to them the blame will pass. If the people fight among ourselves, divided we will fall. When we look after each other and seek liberty for all A rising tide will lift all boats, do not let them distract Because the people have the power and it's time for us to act.

This isn't really TTRPG-related, but it's definitely being celebrated across the world.

It was one of those moments they put in movies where two undefeated teams play their hearts out and it comes down to the final rounds of the game because nobody is giving up.

Suryakumar Yadav made a play that will be on highlight reels for as long as the sport might exist.

Brief Summary

So 161 is the score of South Africa . They had lost 6 men getting that score. That's why it says 161-6 A team can lose a maximum of 10 players before they stop batting , or when 120 legal deliveries are bowled . Whichever comes first. SA wants the left number to be higher and right to be lower. India ,batting first scored 176 in 120 deliveries(First innings) . So SA needed 1 more to win the match in the second innings. So 177 to win of 120 deliveries. At this point SA has consumed 114 deliveries to score 161. That's why it says 16 of 6 required. 171 - 161 = 16 runs needed. 120 - 114 = 6 deliveries needed. If this ball went over the boundary line ,then SA score would be 167 -6 . 10 needed of 5 deliveries with a set batsmen. Very possible. But due to this unbelievable catch their score is now 161 - 7 They need 16 off 5 deliveries with a new batsman to come out . It's tough. The catch itself was insane . In cricket if a ball touches a fielder and the fielder touches the ropes ,it's considered 6 . So he had to stop the ball and break the contact before his body touches the boundary rope . Due to his momentum ,it was unavoidable to not touch the boundary. So he broke the contact with ball , then got back into the ground on the other side of the boundary and then re took the catch. This is considered out.

Episodes available on YouTube.

Episode 1: Big Uncle Energy

Sare Jahan Se Accha

Tarānah-e-Hindi

An Urdu language patriotic song written by poet Allama Muhammad Iqbal that became an anthem of opposition to the British Raj. Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian astronaut, employed the first line of the song in 1984 to describe to then prime minister Indira Gandhi how India appeared from outer space. In India, the text of the poem is often rendered in the Devanagari (based on Brahmi, developed in the 8th century) script of Hindi. English translation Better than the entire world, is our Hindustan, We are its nightingales, and it (is) our garden abode If we are in an alien place, the heart remains in the homeland, consider us too [to be] right there where our heart would be. That tallest mountain, that shade-sharer of the sky, It (is) our sentry, it (is) our watchman In its lap where frolic thousands of rivers, Whose vitality makes our garden the envy of Paradise. O the flowing waters of the Ganges, do you remember that day When our caravan first disembarked on your waterfront? Religion does not teach us to bear animosity among ourselves We are of Hind, our homeland is Hindustan. In a world in which ancient Greece, Egypt, and Rome have all vanished Our own attributes (name and sign) live on today. There is something about our existence for it doesn't get wiped Even though, for centuries, the time-cycle of the world has been our enemy. Iqbal! We have no confidant in this world What does any one know of our hidden pain?

--- Welcome to Vehaar. We open on a bustling station full of commerce. The air is thick with all kinds of scents. You smell spices, arcane components, cow dung. Just about everything you can imagine, but more than anything, Ash, you smell a piece of home. A piece of a home you didn't know you had. As you step off the boat, pondering the large airship docked just above you with a massive balloon holding aloft the Sky Haveli (city) with a beautiful brand new paint job yet to be christened with its very first voyage. You wonder how quickly it could have carried you across the ocean. Unfortunately such pursuits are out of your economic range. You ponder the leaky tub from the developing nation you're from that brought you here, and you take in your first Vehaarian scene. You've heard that there is an "uncle's brother's cousin" friend who is supposed to meet you here on the platform. As you gaze around, you see crates of spices, leather, fabric, spellcasting components all being trucked around and letting off little plumes of smoke as they do. So you smell a faint ammonia smell from a gentleman next to you. A tiefling with buffalo horns. He gruffly nudges you out of the way, rolling a barrel ahead of him. People rushing past each other to go about their business. Throngs of humanity giving you sidelong looks, not necessarily because of the way that you're dressed, but mostly because you are standing very much in the way. You don't notice anyone you're looking for on the platform, but you do notice a small goblin with a bushy Tom Selleck moustache, long hair, a smart conductor-style hat, green clothes, and a long woven shawl wrapped unceremoniously around his neck. He comes over and goes, "Yeah. Take a luggage." He just starts calmly grabbing your luggage, stacking it up. He takes all of it; stacks it up high on his shoulders and on his head, taking a couple of your suitcases in his hands. He then wanders into the crowd. You're able to push your way past all of the moving people and you manage to find the small goblin again, still walking at a determined clip with your luggage. Meanwhile, on the other side of the platform, a covered cart pulls up outside, led by two very large, very wooly, cloven-hooved animals (somewhat resembling water buffalo, but with a thick curly mat of hair falling over the eyes). You recognize these beasts, Auntie, because this is your friend Bolinder's cart. I shouldn't say friend, maybe nephew. He's a young gentleman, married now (to a lovely girl who makes perfectly round roti), unlike when you first met him. You are rather fond of her Chai-making skills. You've heard that your friend Marka, is receiving someone at the station today and needs a rather large vessel within which to cart all of their luggage. So of course you know Balwinder (sitting unceremoniously in the driver's seat) would be more than happy to bring you. He studies both of the beasts (and the familiar scents of sandalwood and elechi) and they actually do smell as good as a beast of burden can smell. They have large gentle eyes and three tails that switch restlessly. Their double-sets of horns shaking impatiently. You're sitting here with Sitara, waiting for this man and Markha to come out. The back of the cart you're sitting in has windows that are adorned with different color fabrics (not unlike the ones in the studio). Sunlight streams in through one and outside it is a beautiful Vehaarian day. Absolutely gorgeous. Maybe a little too hot, but you are in the coastal region, so there is a nice cool breeze kicking up and coming in gently through the window. This is Laddoo Auntie. Laddoo Auntie is a bit of a stark contrast to Sitara.

Episode 20: Everyone Dies Eating Mushrooms

Four adventurers find themselves transported to the Fae Wild. Can they uncover its mysteries before the agents of evil do their worst? No.

I believe it was the poet, Robert Frost, who said, "In three words, I can sum up everything I've learned about life. It goes on."

DM, Mother Frost - Jon Ciccolini Nigel - Satyr - Matthew Lillard Baroth Kruuncith (Dragonborn Fighter), Apprentice("You")/Rabbit - Jonah Ray Gelbin Rakankrak (Hill Dwarf Cleric) - Lou Wilson Inis (Human Cleric) - Aabria Iyengar Westleigh Fezzeroth (Firbold Wizard) - Patton Oswalt

The last you all remember, you were asleep in your beds, suffering from a restless sleep. But now you find yourselves in a dark, snowy wood in a clearing. Within this clearing, you see the light of a campfire. Sitting at the fire, wrapped in furs, is an ancient hobgoblin woman playing a woodwind instrument. Listening to her play are a collection of forest animals sitting in an arc around her; rabbits, deer, owls, mice, all sitting around. As she plays, the fir trees themselves seem to sway to the sound of her music. As you listen, you have a slight sense of paranoia running through you. As you stand and look around, you see these others standing beside you in the clearing.

Highlights

• 15:30 Baroth Kruuncith's sick flute solo
• 18:18 Nat 1 by Jonah turns him into a rabbit
• 25:13 Encore flute solo
• 29:34 A satyr is discovered.
• 31:21 BBEG
• 35:31 Fan Art Moment Bunny Riding the Flute as it's fired at the dragon.
• 38:45 Nigel the satyr hopping through the woods Runnin' into heroes, doin' what he could

Episode 19: Everyone Dies at a Resurrection

Four family members try to raise a lost loved one. Can they get out of their deal with the demon lord and save their own souls? No.

I believe it was the Roman poet Virgil who said, "The can conquer who believe they can."

DM, Marcus (Orcus) - Ify Nwadiwe Stuart the Fridge - Bill Rehor Aella Dewdrop (Halfling Bard) - Krystina Arielle Fay-Lor Swift (Wood Elf Bard) - Mal Blum Junior (Mountain Dwarf Cleric) - Matthew Lillard Tildred "Tilly" (Mountain Dwarf Bard) - Kelen Coleman

In a cottage, in a forest, you all gather. You are all coming in with a dish. It's become a monthy gathering between adopted siblings. You have lost your father two years ago. Your father was a man of money. Y'all were used to the life of plush rich people things. Because of one unsigned will, y'all are all broke. Out of all of the children, we all know that one of you are taking it the hardest. There's a knock at the door. When you open the door, you know it's someone you invited. Seeing as Tilly has been having such a tough time, you wanted to introduce someone to her that she might like. She does not like. Tilly instead suggests a resurrection, which Junior immediately rejects as a breach of his holy vows. She goes into her back and pulls out something. When she was back in town, she met this salesman who had this trinket from Vassa (Vassa is a place up north that you might have heard had some demon issues) and said it could make her dreams come true and bring back someone from the dead. When Tilly taps the stick on the ground it starts to shake and light up. Black smoke and flames start to spurt out of the skull. This is confusing to you becaus the person who sold it to you said that an angel was going to come out and allow you to bring your dad back to life. No one can see anything through the smoke and then, in an instant, it disappears from the room, and standing before you is something like an angel. It has wings, it's big, burly. You can't see its face; it's covered. The skull stares down at you and says, "Oh, Zingy, were you able to hold off the dragon's bane?" He, then, looks at all four of you. "Why did you summon me?"

Highlights

• 25:35 BBEG
• 44:33 Matthew reveals his own father's terminal state and his gratitude for being able to process that emotion with a silly game and friends around a table.
• 47:12 Krystina:"D&D is actually very healing. We all have different things, but the thing that always brings us back to the table and helps us to relate to each other is that human element:
  • trauma
  • feelings we didn't know we had
  • to see ourselves use the masks to kind of see behind the mask of who we are
  • and to feel free to process a lot of things that we don't get to

and I'm grateful that we could all share this moment. It is a very real moment. It is a very honest moment. I like to do this thing with my kids and we're going to do it right now. Everybody stop and we're gonna take two deep breaths and we're gonna move forward." breath "One, two three." breath "Remember, life's gonna life, but all we can do is live it."

Episode 18: Everyone Dies in Wildspace

Four intrepid spelljammers come across a derelict ship floating in Wildspace. Can they uncover its mysteries before a sinister evil destroys them all? No.

I believe it was the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus who said, "The greater the difficulty, the more the glory in surmounting it."

DM - Jon Ciccolini Balloon - Bill Rehor Daldagga (Giff Fighter) - Ify Nwadiwe Delaware Jones (Giff Monk) - Matthew Lillard Joey Jeff Jimmy (Giff Fighter) - Noura Ibrahim Findelin Sploo (Giff Bard) - Lou Wilson

We find ourselves sailing through the airless void known aa Wildspace. You are all crew on the deck of a Bombard spelljamming ship. Bombards are usually built (and "sailed") by Giff (tall, broad-shouldered humanoid with hippo-like features. The primary retrieval team for your ship has recently boarded a derelict ship that you have found out in Wildspace. There's something strange going on with this derelict ship. It's another Bombard garishly painted in red and yellow stripes. The sails are a patchwork quilt of different fabrics and colors in strange patterns. Your primary retrieval team has not returned. The captain of your ship, Joe Mariner, tells you that you are up next. You're the secondary retrieval team. Joe Mariner:"I need you to go onto that ship and find out what has happened to your fellow crew members." There's a gangplank connecting these two ships. The four of you could cross over to this other bombard. Findelin Sploo's singing is interrupted as one of the first retrieval team comes stumbling off of the derelict ship ad over the gangplank. He falls in the middle and starts crawling in your direction. He looks up at you and says, "The 'Squeakers'. Beware." You board the derelict ship and descend below deck in search of your missing crew members. As you walk down the companionway and start looking in some of the different quarters, you notice something right away. There's some sort of corrosive, ichor clinging to the walls, in pools on he floor as you move about. You find the captain's quarters. Inside something stands out to you: a large three-foot-square jack-in-the-box with a winch on the side, painted in eerie, multicolored designs. On the front, painted in an arc, it says,

"Open me for a thrill"

Highlights

• 10:35 Findelin Sploo sings: There once was a time where I was on a ship. There were men attempting to take over the ship. I said 'No! This is my ship! You will not have it! You will not take it from me, Findelin Sploo!' Then I took the ship and I turned the wheel, so the ship was put down, and I crashed the ship. Most of the crew died, but I survived. It was me, Findelin Sploo!
• 16:43 "I, Delaware Jones, bequeath my gift medal to none of you!"
• 17:50 Ballet
• 24:00 Placebo healing
• 29:00 The first team is found stuck in space taffy and there are some normal-sized space hamsters nearby. Space taffy can be broken down with oil and Delaware Jones brought gallons.
• 30:01 You had to lick the space taffy. Make a CON save.
• 36:05 Scott Passarella channels John Williams
• 46:08 The last song of Findelin Sploo: They were four second choices but they acted like one. So they went over to the boat, and there was a balloon. He was creepy as hell, so we cut him in half. Then they saved them, their poor crew members and made sure they were safe. And they stared down the danger and fought til the end because they were The Secondary Retrieval Team! The Secondary Retrieval Team!

Episodes and other media available on YouTube and Twitch

Episode 6: The Spider and the Flies

We began as Endellion listened in on the scenes unfolding around the jail complex. Despite the cacophony and chaos, she decided to return to Casper's hideout, trusting that her companions would succeed in breaking out Medea. Having arrived back at Casper's and trying unsuccessfully to coax conversation from Goff, she warmed herself by the fire. Meanwhile the others were up to their knees in wastewater in a rancid reservoir beyond the city walls. They sought out a nearby well and some clean clothes to regain a little dignity, though I had "gone into his shell" after his struggles during the breakout. The worst of the filth removed, Kelnys, Dolly, Raidion and "I" (the character not the me) re-entered the city, bought some ill-advised mystery meat and returned to the hideout. Once there, you washed, rested and ate. Raidion took the opportunity to interrogate Dolly on her connection to the prisoner, Indy, and the truth of her past. They shared a little of their lives before resolving to try to trust one another as Kelnys secretly listened in. Casper attuned Endellion to the gem that allowed entrance to the hideout and they shared a secret conversation which I shan't spoil for players who weren't present (so if you want want to find out about that go back and listen to the previous episode). Endellion brought "I" out of his funk with an elaborate ruse to convince him he was capable of controlling the gem. As the others slept, Kelnys spied Radion placing something into Dolly's pack. When you woke the next morning, Raidion (full of apologies for his previous impulsiveness) asked the rest of the party to trust him and to follow along with his plan to speak to Grawnoth. It was now that Kelnys spoke up regarding Raidion's actions in the night, but a search of Dolly's bag revealed nothing. Raidion removed a leather pouch from his pack containing a deck of cards. I reached out to touch it and felt a jolt of pain in his head, hearing whispers coming from the deck. Raidion told the others that the cards called to him and that he feared using them, though (at Kelnys' request) he removed the deck from the leather back and you observed that patterns of mountains, thorns and black water on the cards matched patterns in the Palace of The Virtuous. With the deck carefully placed back in its leather bag, you headed to The Crest (the highest level of Baruun) still partially under construction. There, you made your way to Grawnoth's estate where Brunhilda (captain of his guard) led you to his chambers. Propped up in bed you found Grawnoth unnaturally aged since you last saw him at the peak of Mount Atria. You told him of Barabask's betrayal and Jasmee's wisdom. Horrified, he told you the truth of the world: that mortals were first bred as soldiers in The Divine War and that the gods placed some of their own power into these mortals, and as their numbers grew, they drained more and more divine power from the gods. Realizing that the collective power of mortality now outweighed that of the divine, The Virtuous, Vile, and Wild agreed a truce; creating three separate planes of existence (Reliquiae, The Fae Wild and The Shadowfell) so that mortality could never unite and destroy those that made them. Endellion told Grawnoth of the voices in the orbs and the words "The Shadow Will Flood". Showing him the mask, you you'd taken from the group in the forest, Grawnoth knew nothing of the words, nor "the child" mentioned by the voices in the orbs, though he speculated that the forest group may be affiliated with The Vile and that this child of a god could hae been the reason that the powers of The Virtuous faded suddenly a century ago. Perhaps there is a new demigod. He also revealed that the Antiqua had tied their lives to that of their deity (ie. with The Virtuous dead, the Antiqua's powers would diminish and they would die. Danily the halfling cleric of Persephone had already fallen. Grawnoth planned on telling the Council of Equals the truth in a few days once he had recovered his strength. Raidion showed him the deck of cards and though Grawnoth didn't recognize them, he could sense great magic coming from them. You then asked him where to find the other Antiqua and he told that they would have returned to their respective capitals with the exception of Parvus who would be at The Sanctum (the seat of dragonborn power). Grawnoth then told "I" that he did not think that Themself was responsible for the deaths of the other Virtuous and that they may well have sought refuge in The Old Dark (a semi-mythical place in kobold culture said to be the place where they first came into being). Though Grawnoth could not tell you where to find The Old Dark, he thought Parvus would know. Led by Raidion, you asked to be allowed to go to the Council of Equals yourselves and to warn them of the coming danger, fearing that Grawnoth's condition would not improve that that he (as Danilo had) would succumb to death. Grawnoth was (at first) reluctant to do so, fearing Raidion's impulsiveness, though eventually he agreed and sent you off with a letter than declared that you spoke with his voice and in his name. You made your way to the Council of Equals and gained access to the council building, having left your weapons at the gate (though Endellion and "I" managed to hide a dagger and thieves' tools about their persons). Endellion was keen to keep her head down throughout and spotted a red-haired, mustachioed man entering a chamber as you were led to see Trusk Moore, High Advocate of Baruun and leader of the Council of Equals. Dolly recognized this man to be Riodhir Grenweird, the Reeve of a small town called Mouse. Once inside Trusk's chambers, Dolly told her of the group in the forest and the threats made upon her life. She seemed relatively unconcerned, though revealed that she had already tightened security since the disappearance of a member of the council, the dwarf Rashiid. Then Raidion played the hits and told Trusk that the gods were dead. Blindsided and unwilling to accept this, she stormed from the the chamber to see Grawnoth herself. As you followed, Dolly went to open the door through wich she had seen Riodhr Grēnweard disappear before Endellion stopped her, insisting that 'it's not where we need to go". Skeptical, Dolly agreed, but told Endellion that a conversation would be required down the line. You reclaimed your weapons and headed back to Grawnoth's residence, where you waited until Trusk emerged after long discussions with the Antiqua. She was now accepting of the reality of the situation and returned to the council chambers to inform them. Raidion pressed Endellion on her actions outside Grēnweard's chamber, though got short shrift. You headed to the Orange Tree Tavern for a drink to touch base and take the edge off, but after Endellion said she heard a voice within, she suggested a different location. you decamped to the Wise Walker where Dolly and Endellion studied one another in silence before Casper burst in with news.

The Spider Prince wants to see you.

---

Previous Episode: Hot Heads and Fast Words

YouTube VoD

Alternate Frontend VoD

Episode 17: Everyone Dies Near a Hole

Natures greatest monstrosity has awoken. Can four novice adventurers stand in its way? No.

I believe it was the Bohemian novelist Franz Kafka who said: "The meaning of life is that it stops."

DM - Jason Azevedo Apprentice to the Great Wizard Steve - Bill Rehor Old Tammy - Matthew Lillard Chrissy (Changeling Fighter) - Deborah Ann Woll Iggy Bird (Aarakocra Ranger) - Clare Grant Tomas Bizzbear (Half-Orc Ranger) - Sean Gunn Vesuvia (High Elf Sorceror) - Danielle Perez

The first thing you feel is the warmth of the sun on your faces. You smell the sweet scent of stale mead, the braying of farm animals, and birds singing outside the window of the Happy Hummingbird Tavern. You sit in the tavern because the day before, in this quaint village of Meadowbrook, you completed your first quest. As you sit and enjoy your beverages (warm honey mead, sweet wine, perhaps some ale) and a collection of meats and cheeses, you hear what sounds like a slight rumble. You watch as your cups, your mugs on the table, shake slightly. The liquid in them just kind of ripples a little bit. You continue your conversation until again, just a little tremor occurs throughout the tavern You're alone in this tavern (other than the barkeep) and the barkeep starts to look around, and looks a little confuse, and looks at you all and says, "D-d-did you feel that?" A Mage's apprentice shows up and heads directly for the group. Steve's apprentice:"I bring you a dire warning, but some hope. You see, there is a magic spell that can take an entire town and move it into a pocket dimension, just long enough for this monstrous beast to run through, at which time the town can be redistributed back where it came from and, be totally unharmed. A great wizard in Bumbleflux was preparing this spell...but unfortunately he ran out of time, and has been crushed along with everyone else in Bumbleflux. But in this case, we have an even better wizard, my master Steve. He knows this same spell and is preparing it as we speak. But we're going to run out of time. If you could slow it down for just a moment, it would be enough to cast the spell and save your town and your loved ones. You would be heroes. Would you take on this mighty task?"

Highlights

• 13:11 Bag of Magic Items Contents:
  • Wand of Wonder
  • A Bag of Beans
  • An Immovable Rod
  • Nolzur's Marvelous Pigments
• 17:06 Iggy Bird:"Immovable cow! Rawk!"
• 18:50 The wisest villager, Old Tammy
• 25:55 BBEG

(click to reveal)

Muthafuggin TARRASQUE!!1!

• 33:45 Dainty changeling gets jacked "Chrissy's ready to kill some shit."
• 43:27 Fan Art Moment Tomas' skeleton hanging from the Immovable Rod
• 44:33 The Poem of Cat Team 6 Iggy Bird with the brightest bluest feathers drew the most bravest holes of all the birds who wear leathers. He may not have been much for most of his life. But when it counted, he was just enough. Vesuvia tried to hit him with an acid splash and went bust. There once was a fighter named Chrissy. She wasn't at all very prissy. She once saved a cat, but not just that... She also saved a city.

Please note that these broadcasts are only scheduled for the times listed below.

The Re-Slayer’s Take

Follow the escapades of the second-coolest monster hunters this side of Exandria: The Re-Slayer’s Take! After six misfit mercenaries are rejected from the elite monster hunting group, The Slayer’s Take, they band together, battling supernatural creatures across the rugged continent of Issylra.

• Episode 6 releases Monday, June 24th on your favorite podcast streaming service at 5am Pacific
• Episodes 7 releases Monday, June 24th at 5am Pacific only on Beacon.

LIVE Fireside Chat with Marisha Ray

Join us in the tavern for a monthly Ask Me Anything (AMA) series where you can sit down with us and learn more about our Critical Role cast and guests! Questions will be curated directly from Beacon members via Discord and each episode will feature a different cast member for a 30-60 minute fireside chat. Cozy up by the fire and enjoy the deep dive with us!

• Starts Monday, June 24th at 7pm Pacific only on Beacon

Critical Role Abridged

All the twists and turns of an episode of Critical Role in half the time! In Critical Role Abridged, the rich tapestry of a Critical Role campaign is lovingly distilled to its most pivotal, hilarious, and poignant moments in about 60-90 minutes per episode.

• Campaign 3, Episode 10 releases Tuesday, June 25th at 10am Pacific on YouTube
• Campaign 3, Episode 26 releases Tuesday, June 25th at 10am Pacific on Beacon
• Campaign 3, Episode 27 releases Friday, June 28th at 10am Pacific on Beacon

Candela Obscura:

Game Master Roundtable

Join Aabria Iyengar, Liam O’Brien, Spenser Starke, and Matthew Mercer as the four of them gather together to discuss their experiences being game masters in the world of Candela Obscura

• Airs Tuesday, June 25th at 7pm Pacific on Twitch and YouTube
• VOD and Podcast out Tuesday, June 25th at 7pm Pacific on Beacon
• VOD out Thursday, June 27th at 10am Pacific on YouTube
• Podcast out July 2nd on your favorite podcast streaming service at 5am Pacific

MIDST: Season 3

SERIES FINALE Join our three mischievous and unreliable narrators as they spin a surreal, sci-fantasy, space-western tale about complicated antiheroes making bad decisions in a world on the edge of disaster.

• Episode 19 releases Wednesday, June 26th on YouTube at 10am Pacific and your favorite podcast streaming service at 5am Pacific

Ménagerie a Trois | Daggerheart Cooldown

Get a backstage pass to our LIVE Menagerie Daggerheart One-Shot and experience the cast’s post-show reactions!

• Releases Thursday, June 27th at 12pm Pacific only on Beacon

Episode 16: Everyone Dies at the Temple of Lathander

Tonight, four criminals attempt a daring heist. Can they steal enough gold to save their own skins? No.

I believe it was the famous Indian Revolutionary Mahatma Ghandi who said: "Learn as if you will live forever..."

DM - Jared Logan Priest of Lathander - Bill Rehor Orphan - Ross Bryant Alister (Gnome Rogue) - Matthew Lillard Juniper Sands (Half-Elf Rogue) - Katie Wilson Knickknack (Tiefling Rogue) - Luis Carazo Kruman (Gnome Rogue) - Skeet Ulrich

The scene: Waterdeep. The jewel of the Sword Coast. A massive, sprawling city of spires and turrets and minarets? You are in the castle ward near Castle Waterdeep. This is a "high-end" area of the city. There are many lampposts. You are looking at the Spires of Mourning. They are the temple of the god Lathander, a god of good and goodness. But your characters are all evil. The sun is setting on Waterdeep. A light rain is falling. From one of the lampposts, there is a serpent coiled around it and it has a pair of dirty wings. You know that you are under the watchful eye of the Zentarum. Cut back to 7 hours earlier. You're deep inside one of the Zentarum's many safehouses, here in Waterdeep. They're located in places you'd never expect them to be located. This one is behind a nice restaurant that does an excellent scone. You're all enjoying delicious scones. "Would everyone stop talking about the scones?" This, of course is the voice of Argor Vuun, a name that sounds made up. He has a lot of rings and he has one of those very sharp, little goatees. He's got one eye that's red and one eye that's blue. Coiled around his wrist, he has the aforementioned serpent, his pet. He reaches down and pulls up a cockroach out of a small box that he keeps for keeping cockroaches in...and he feeds the cockroach to the serpent. He looks at you and he says, "What do you all have to say for yourselves? You shouldn't be making jokes, you all owe the Zentarum (Faerun's notorious criminal organization). Within the next seven hours or so, I want you all to go to the Spires of Mourning, in the castle ward. There inside the Temple of Lathander, is a very powerful and sacred artifact: it is a belt. It's a belt that ties up your private parts so that nothing sketchy goes on. It doesn't matter why I want it. You will know it because it glows with a holy light. and it perfectly encapsulates the glory of Lathander. You'll find it in the Sanctorium. Beyond the Great Hall. I want you to bring it back within 24 hours or your lives are forfeit!" He slowly slinks back into the shadows, even though it's a small room and he doesn't really have anywhere to go. It is now seven hours later and you're back on the streets of Waterdeep. Ahead of you is a pair of huge oaken keep doors. In front of those doors are the soldiers of light, Lathander's sacred crusaders. They're standing with their hugs swords at their hips. How do you intend to get inside the Spire of Mourning?

Highlights

• 22:59 Epic booming voice sound FX
• 25:10 Thumb assist
• 29:15 The prayer to Lathander
• 31:09 BBEG

> Record of every art piece published with CR Abridged. Managed by u/taly_slayer. > Yes, I also read the url as Crab Ridge Dart.

Artist Index

(click to reveal artist list)

• Hannah Friederichs (@agarthanguide)
• Shaun Ellis (@shmaba)
• Bree Williams (@larkspurns)
• Lap Pun Cheung (@lappuncheung)
• Wesley Griffith (@wesley_griffith)
• Deven Rue (@devenrue)
• Cris Trinci (@galaxybandit)
• Hampus Viklander (@spookystirfry)
• Azraelion (@azraelion)
• Mike Pape (@wingbuffet)
• Elisa Serio (@ellinainthesky)
• Clara Daly (@eldritchblep)
• Nikki Dawes (@nikkidawes)
• Ian MacDonald (@ian_macdonald_art)

--- Monthly Archive

What We Know So Far

• Critical Role's new campaign arc, "Downfall," will be helmed by "Dimension 20's" Brennan Lee Mulligan.
• Regular cast members Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe, and Ashley Johnson.
• New Blood ! Abubakar Salim ! Noshir Dalal ! and Nick Marini.
• The episodes, part of the CR crew's third campaign, will air on July 11, 18, and 25.
• The three-chapter series is all about the fall of Aeor, an ancient civilization.
  • "There's only one known time, throughout all of Exandrian history, that the "good" and the "bad" gods ever said 'game off' (implying a temporary truce out of necessity) and that was when they destroyed this city (Aeor)." -MFMM

Watch the episode live on Twitch and YouTube at 7pm PST. Restreams on Twitch at midnight and the next day at 9am PST

> | Runtime | Break start| > | :------ | :------ | > | 3h 54m | 2h 5m |

Episode 98: The Nox Engine

In the long wake of the Solstice, Bell's Hells find Exandria and their world turned topsy-turvy as Ludinus Da'leth and his cadre of followers (known as the Ruby Vanguard) plan to unleash the god-eating entity Predathos that was long sealed in the red moon Ruidus. After travelling to this very moon, interacting with its people and returning with intel on hopes to stop what they're doing, they discover that they've been sourcing ancient, long-buried Aeorian magical technology as part of their plan. And not just that. Ludinus Da'leth is there right now dealing with a strange wrinkle in his plot with the name Dominox. Bell's Hells, escorted by a figure with some experience in the ruins of Aeor, one Essek Thelyss (crowd shouts 'Hot Boi') on loan from his 'partner', brought them to the strange, northern, frozen realm of Eiselcross where the very fabric of magic is strange and prone to unexpected apparation subforces. They went to these ruins, delved beneath, discovered that the Ruby Vanguard that had been delving within, scattered, killed (not by the terrifying denizens of these ancient dark ruins, but by eachother in strange fits of almost religious madness, carving glyphs into their flesh). Going towards the darkest depths of the basements of the ruins in the center of the Genesis Ward at Essek's guidance, they come upon a strange chamber where upon the ancient bodies mingling with the new freshly dead (now dangling by blackened hooks from long chains that seem to have apparated from nowhere, almost grown from the surrounding stone of the crumbled rock and ruin). They heard some of these long forgotten corpses asking them questions through magic: hearing things of a Nox Engine, hearing that Dominox was once (or may still be) a grand demon of ancient times sealed away and harnessed for nefarious magical purpose within this Nox Engine by the mage lords of Aeor long ago now recently running rampant upon the Ruby Vanguard. Right as they discovered this, strange visions began to come to them. First Chetney Pock O'Pea being overcome with a mystical vision of a familiar darkened wood of the past and the bloodied faces of the children, seemingly called from dark, maybe buried, memories asking why he hurt them, why he killed them. Uncertain if this was real or not, he had to pull himself from the vision before attacking his friends. Right as they began to collect themselves, searching for the source of this strange dark magic, hoping to either find Ludinus or perhaps this Dominox and figure out what or who is the right villain in this instance, poor Dorian Storm fell to his own vision. As they pass between these hanging chains looking upon one of these hung corpses, he sees the face of his recently deceased brother Cyrus, who looks up at him with dead sunken eyes saying, "Why have you done this to me brother?" It's here in these shadows. Dorian Storm, the blood pouring from his blackened sockets here in the shattered expanse, the rest of it just a shadowy dark blur around you, Cyrus looks towards you from that shadow. "Why? Why, brother?" As you glance up towards his face to try and make eye contact, his now-somewhat-shriveled corpse arms reach out and grab your lapel and pull you close (where you can smell the early decay on him) his lips curl back with the gums in the early stage of decomposition. "Not all is lost, brother. I'm not beyond saving. My spirit lingers, haunts this realm now without peace, and I am not alone." You see these little sparks glow on the horizon around him, these other souls lost in the limbo, now in the post-Solstice era. The hands no longer grasping you; now just touching your cheek with a sadness and a hopeful longing. "Within this engine, a curse keeps us, brother. Free us. Let us rest, brother." As the body begins to fade, the last thing you see in his shadow are a sparkin flash of a spinning purple crystal before you blink, and the body hanging before you is a long-dead skeleton, withered and armored in that of the ancient Aeorian guard.

---

Previous Episode: "Ancient Sins"

• CritRole Recap
• Episode Discussion
• YouTube VoD
• Alternate Front End VoD

Episodes and other media available on YouTube and Twitch

Action Surge!

> It might have been the fewest rolls yet (and a little break from combat), but there was still plenty of lore, intrigue, and of course, mystery meats. Catch up with Action Surge as the team reflect on their first full day in Barunn.

Highlights

• 02:40 Harry:"It's kind of Lore Dump-y"
• 05:35 Harry:"...what Can you do? You're level four..."
• 09:03 Harry:"...NADDPoD and Lord of the Rings and also the film Moonlight."
• 16:11 Postulation on how the Antiqua are terminally affected by the absence of their gods
• 29:17 The Old Dark has many high chairs
• 30:11 Harry:"...Worlds Beyond Number..."
• 45:32 Harry:"...where he wasn't quite so old."
• 46:26 Hollie:"Little marshmallow."
• 46:53 Ben makes it clear that he does not condone Raidion's behavior

Harry's Favorite Part: (click)

Endellion's hypocritical moments that subtly reveal her motivations

---

RP (Rolly-Poley) Points

| Alex | Aoife | Ben | Doug | Hollie | | :------ | :------ | :------ | :------ | :------ | | 58 | 122 | 103 | 22 | 127 | | Totals | | 539 | 410 | 494 | 526 | 623 |

Please note that these broadcasts are only scheduled for the times listed below.

The Re-Slayer’s Take

Follow the escapades of the second-coolest monster hunters this side of Exandria: The Re-Slayer’s Take! After six misfit mercenaries are rejected from the elite monster hunting group, The Slayer’s Take, they band together, battling supernatural creatures across the rugged continent of Issylra.

• Episode 5 releases Monday, June 17th on your favorite podcast streaming service at 5am Pacific
• The Re-Slayers (Bonus) Take w/ Matthew Mercer releases Monday, June 17th at 5am Pacific on Beacon.

Critical Role Abridged

All the twists and turns of an episode of Critical Role in half the time! In Critical Role Abridged, the rich tapestry of a Critical Role campaign is lovingly distilled to its most pivotal, hilarious, and poignant moments in about 60-90 minutes per episode.

• Campaign 3, Episode 9 releases Tuesday, June 18th at 10am Pacific on YouTube
• Campaign 3, Episode 24 releases Tuesday, June 18th at 10am Pacific on Beacon
• Campaign 3, Episode 25 releases Friday, June 21st at 10am Pacific on Beacon

MIDST: Season 3

No new episodes this week.

Critical Role: Campaign 3, Episode 98

(Bells Hells Live Show)

We’ll be airing our Critical Role LIVE show that we had at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles! Tune in for Episode 98 of Campaign 3 as Bells Hells gathers their courage and their allies to stop Ludinus Da’leth and his planned destruction of the gods.

• Airs Thursday, June 20th at 7pm Pacific on Twitch and YouTube
• VOD and Podcast out Thursday, June 20th at 7pm Pacific on Beacon
• Rebroadcasts Friday, June 21st at 12am Pacific and 9am Pacific on Twitch
• VOD out Monday, June 24th at 12pm Pacific on YouTube
• Podcast out June 27th on your favorite podcast streaming service at 5am Pacific

Critical Cooldown: Campaign 3, Episode 98

Get a backstage pass to Campaign 3, Episode 98 at our Critical Role LIVE show! Join the cast backstage as they discuss the events of their first LIVE show as Bells Hells.

• Releases Thursday, June 20th at 7pm Pacific only on Beacon

ScreenRant Plus Interview: Taliesin Jaffe On Bells Hells Live, Ashton's Origin & Sword-Gate Inter-Party Conflict

> Taliesin Jaffe discusses the Critical Role's Bells Hells live show, exploring Ashton's origins, feelings about FCG, and the aftermath of Sword-gate. > Critical Role's Bells Hells Live Show will take place on June 15th at The Greek Theatre. The livestream will be available on Thursday, June 20th, with the VOD on Monday, June 24th. > Read our full interview and article here

Episodes and other media available on YouTube and Twitch

Episode 6: Hot Heads and Fast Words

Last time you began in the forest. Kelnys, Dolly and Endellion disguising themselves in the cloaks and masks of your fallen foes. Raidion and I (the character, not the me) hiding among the branches of nearby trees. After hours of waiting, and Raidion and I sharing a hammock nap, someone finally arrived. It was an exhausted, hungry, masked dwarf who refused to give her name. She passed on a message that you were to "return to the caves", but as Dolly questioned her further on those caves and probed for more information, she became wary. She suggested that you should make your own way without her; that she needed to rest and recover her strength. High in the trees, I made a gesture to rell Raidion to say silent, though after a poor insight check, Raidion let fly with a Mind Spike which both harmed and terrified the dwarf. As Kelnys and Dolly attempted to intimidate her, she fled towards the tree line. Raidion casting Web before an arrow to the back from Endellion's longbow snuffed out the dwarf's escape. Chalk one up to experience. You headed towards Baruun and stashed the cloaks and masks beneath the grate in one of the sprawling shanty towns that spreads out from the city walls. Kelnys spotted Raidion replacing his cloak and mask in his pack, and though making his disapproval clear, the dragonborn did not prevent his companion from doing so. At the gates of Baruun, your bags were summarily searched. One of the guards moaning that someone called Grenwyrd (a member of the Council of Equals) was throwing his weight around unnecessarily by insisting on checking the packs of travelers who entered the city. You gained entry to The Depths, the lowest level of Baruun, and hive of industry and activity. At its center you found a great staircase with a mural of The Virtuous scarred by the words "The Shadow Will Flood" in black paint. Raidion spoke to a guard called Marcus about the group you had encountered in the forest and demanded a reward for this information, swiftly being shot down in that request. Marcus took the party's names (though Dolly referred to herself as Pamela) before you made your way up into The Deal (the second level of the city). After filling your bellies with meat skewers, you approached a tavern called The Wise Walker. Endellion, Kelnys and I headed inside, but Raidion spotted a hooded orc beneath a half-finished web symbol scratched into the tavern's exterior wall. He revealed himself to be a member of The Web. Telling Raidion and Dolly that The Spinner sends his regards. The others were retrieved from the tavern and you all followed the orc, Casper, to his hideout beneath an abandoned apothecary. There you met Juno (Casper's lieutenant) and Goff (a silent soldier who stared unblinking into the middle distance). Casper informed you of your new mission: to break out a member of their chapter, a halfling called Madea from Baruun jail. You headed out to case the joint before midnight when a guard change would give you a chance to spring and escape. Down in The Depths again, Kelnys Wildshaped (it was a big moment for everybody really) into a cat and searched the walled jail complex (making friends with a guard and discovering a sickening act of violence that had been perpetrated by a female inmate that day). He also spotted a halfling matching the description of the one you were meant to rescue locked in a basement by looking through a grate in the jail floor. This done, he returned and explained the layout. "I" took up a vantage point overlooking the area and resolved to make his entrance via the roof planning to shimmy down on a rope secure to the outer walls of the city. The plan for the others involved a Disguise Self-ed Radian and Endellion posing as guards while Dolly played the part of a prisoner, though Endellion wisely decided that her skills lay elsewhere, so she would keep a watch from outside. Kelnys turned back into a cat and slipped again into the jail complex. Raidion and Dolly put on quite a show at the gate, gaining access on the condition they were accompanied by another guard. As they made their way towards the jail, "I" misjudged his distances, crashed into the ground (alerting the guards to his presence) but a swift clamber back up the rope afforded him a chance to stay unseen on the outer walls of the city. Kelnys entered the jail before dropping his cat form and trying to open a large door that gave access to the basement. Here he was spotted by a prisoner who begged to be released, though Kelnys snuck away as Raidion, Dolly and the other guard entered. Raidion convinced his guard companion to go home for the night, though not before lending Radion his keys. As you passed his cell, the prisoner made another plea, this one to Dolly. She recognized him as Indie, an old acquaintance and agreed to release him. He was too scared to help with the escape of the halfling however and instead snuck away towards the gate house. By now "I" had made his way down to the ground behind the jail house (taking some falling damage in the process) before he scaled the building and shimmied down the chimney, joining his companions as they relieved the guard on duty in the basement. There you met Madea. Bloodied, bound, and unafraid. Chained in a cell between grates in the ceiling above and the floor below. As you heard the sounds of Indie being recaptured in the courtyard, you quickly removed the grate in the floor allowing access to the fast flowing sewer water beneath. Radian unchained the halfling but triggered a glyph which left him briefly paralyzed. Madea insisted on having a weapon and having been lent Kelnys' scimitar, thrust it through the throat of another inmate who "had been looking at her in a way she didn't appreciate." Heaving Raidion's paralyzed body with you, you all jumped into the sewer. As Raidion regained the use of his limbs, you negotiated protruding pipes, sudden drops, and a near-death experience for "I". As Madea managed to swing herself clear of the water, the rest of you were catapulted out of the sewers into a lake beyond the city walls. Stinking but alive. Endellion, you have watched your companions (as cats, disguised as guards, and as rope-toting Kobold rogues) disappear towards a prison complex. Then you have started to hear shouting. You can't hear names, but you hear that someone is being recaptured in the courtyard. You are at a distance. There was a kind of collection of buildings that you were near. “I” had gone up and got a vantage point and looked into the compound. You, for now, have stayed on the ground floor.

---

Previous Episode: The Girl in the Cell

YouTube VoD

Alternate Frontend VoD