Exandria: An Intimate Appendix | Ruidus and the Gods

[@transientanus]

Oh dude it makes ALL the sense that Dani is a member of the Cobalt Soul.

[@Lrbearclaw]

Member? You mean "Leader".

[@haleysmith1327]

My first thought too.

[@davrosdavros7198]

Should be an official npc!

[@barge489]

Yeah I assumed if they ever met the leader of the cobalt Soul, Dani would sit at the table to play it.

[@transientanus]

@@barge489 Gah that would be such a treat!

[@Paris.HasFallen]

I’d like to think that the only reason the Cobalt Soul knows this is that Bells Hells just told Beau everything they knew when they met her and she messaged the archive like ‘wtf’

[@robertfisher3307]

Head canon.

[@transientanus]

She'd need Jester for that. Which increases the wtf meter tenfold lol

[@Paris.HasFallen]

@@transientanus could have sending stones but yeah, getting all that info but through Jester would be WILD.

[@jamietate2854]

I am pretty sure Beau already knew this stuff before encountering Bell's Hells

[@aurorablue4468]

@@jamietate2854 the info about the city structures on Ruidus was only discovered by Bells Hells. The Variety had no idea about this and vasalhim would not share any info. So the Cobalt Soul would, in theory, only know that through Bells Hells conveying it.

[@Anurahm_Kycor]

As the lore keeper, Dani Carr is the earthly avatar of Ioun the Knowing Mistress.

[@RecklessFables]

Krynn had Astinus of Palanthas; Exandria has Danni of the Cobalt Soul.

[@X.davidWilliams]

Huzzah

[@jakelevinson7802]

Same thought

[@yETIsOYlEYENDA]

Canon

[@castbet9183]

If the Knowing Mistress makes an appearance I hope Dani voices her

[@abaddonarts1129]

That extra bit at the end gave me chills. This is happening *during* the flares and events of the last episode. The world may end and nobody knows until the Cobalt Soul warns everyone I love side lore drops like this, it really shows how the world grows outside of the scope of the game that we see. Also it's very nice to see this kind of official stuff so I don't have to parse the exact nature of things from across the episodes!

[@Maothiel]

I think the world could change in a profound way but I don't think there's a serious threat of it ending all together. It seemed like Matt had this well planned out and only gave them a slim margin to stop Ludinus and the dice weren't on their side.. but I don't think this was ever meant to be a campaign ending moment.

[@awkwardlysilver]

Totally agree with you. Love and appreciate some side lore drops.

[@goji253]

@@Maothiel I mean, the phrasing was "world ending" not "campaign ending". These are not necessarily the same.

[@bluefox5331]

Imagine you're just living your life, maybe not even knowing of the apogee solstice until the Auroras begin... and then suddenly a red beam shoots up at ruidus???? And you have no idea what just happened??

[@curlybirdy]

Dani as an Archivist of the Cobalt Soul is something that makes SO much sense

[@Chipsaru]

not a monk for sure, maybe secretary

[@TheBottegaChannel]

She has the official title of " Lore Keeper". She had to be part of the Cobalt Soul. XD

[@_bats_]

Being a Lore Keeper, I would guess wizard, or Knowledge Domain cleric! I don't think the Cobalt Soul are exclusively Monks.

[@sardoniclysane]

Archivist sure. Monk tho?

[@curlybirdy]

@@sardoniclysane perhaps not, monks arent the only members in the cobalt soul

[@bulbanine1290]

I like to imagine they made this specifically for the cast who keeps forgetting the lore lol

[@TempestLM]

The cast wouldn't watch it

[@Hawkguy889]

Marisha is the creative director, Travis is the ceo, Matt is the dm… pretty sure at least one of the cast will see this

[@troikas3353]

@@TempestLM Sam just wouldn't, Travis would mean to and forget, Marisha would probably transcript the whole thing into her notebooks.

[@sweebos]

😆

[@raddest_toddler]

right?

[@forgotn42]

This is an incredible way to drop lore that we've largely gotten already, but in dribs and drabs over the course of a year. Really helps put it all into context and answers some questions while opening others.

[@Shadylikeatree]

I think it's safe to say based on this things in Exandria are about to change drastically.

[@morkmon]

i wonder if this is the start of them moving away from 5e? the d&d gods are one of the few links with d&d canon and eating them would cut that link in a cool in universe way.

[@lollolo74yo99]

@@morkmon Why.. Would they ...? Exandria is a story set in the dnd world ... They did a lot of work on this setting .. Why would they "get rid of the gods and move on from 5e"? As matt said.. This as been a lot of years in the making.. As much as the gods tie exandria to dnd.. They are not the only things that do that ...

[@Ozgarthefighter]

​@Lollolo 74yo Exandria is not linked to the rest of D&D canon planes. WOTC explicitly states in the legal of both "Explorers Guide to Wildemount" and "Call of the Netherdeep" that Exandria, its characters, locations, and creatures are solely owned by Critical Role.

[@mikespinner-mx1ot]

​@@lollolo74yo99 actually I believe when they initially started playing they were playing pathfinder 1e.

[@Aurora_Lightbringer]

​@@lollolo74yo99 It was originally Pathfinder's universe, but changed to D&D when they started streaming. However, they've been moving away from the WOTC brand for a while. For instance, the names of the Gods (Melora is now The Wildmother, along with The Raven Queen now being The Matron of Ravens) are rarely mentioned as they are WOTC, and instead it's their titles/new names. This also goes for races such as the Goliath, which is now a half-giant. Plus, there's nothing wrong with wanting to branch out and change a part of the world, as it does share the pantheon with The Forgotten Realms (I believe, don't actually know fully) especially if they have less pressure from WOTC entirely.

[@Maothiel]

The art of Ruidus being lifted from the crust of Exandria is amazing! I can't wait to see where the story goes from here, what a great convergence for their 8th anniversary.

[@acolytetojippity]

...what became known as Ruidus was lifted from Exandria proper. Do we know where from? This was pre-calamity, so it couldn't be Cath Moira or anything like that. But I wonder if it's a location we've already seen or has been talked about.

[@donnatroy5381]

​@@acolytetojippity interesting question. I think the surface of Exandria shifted so much in the years after (especially Calamity) that there's not really any mark left of Ruidus' original location

[@brenen7412]

I am so excited about that the content spreading to more than just the sessions. I am proud of you guys!

[@robertfisher3307]

I said this the other day. I don’t know if it’s a new social media person or what happen in the last couple weeks (this, the reddening of the logo, the “archivists notes” on Twitter) but they’ve really stepped the game.

[@erdiliens_lot]

wouldn't be cool if Dani played a Cobalt Soul member in the Mighty Nein animated series?

[@marcushahn3483]

Yes!!!

[@Rais-Codex]

Really want her to be the one cobalt soul researcher that was talking about Ruidus mid-late C2... Which Beau and Caleb absolutely dismissed as being mad.

[@theanyktos]

@@Rais-Codex oooohhhh Oremid Sunlash I think his name was? Or sth like that? That would be really cool! Little genderbending and we're good to go! No, wait, Oremid was one of the Cerberus Assembly guys, wasn't he? Damn, what was that guy's name? Edit: Demid! Demid Sunlash, that's his name.

[@Drekromancer]

@@Rais-Codex THANK YOU for crediting that man. Even back then, I knew that monk was onto something. When we first started talking about Ruidus during C3, I came to understand that the monk encounter had just been Matt planting seeds for future sessions - and now it's all playing out. I can't wait to see what comes next.

[@collopez1136]

Yes, this must be made the top comment.

[@luisjorgerulo]

Everybody forgetting that Matt foreshadow this when the mighty nine went to that library and the guy from the cobalt soul was always talking about moons on campaign 2

[@xMajikMaestrox]

I just realized Dani is an actual Archivist

[@criticalrolemodels]

As an archivist, I can say that is false haha. She needs an MLIS for that. Lore Keeper (her title) is spot on though. Not gunna lie, even with my MLIS I would still love to be a CR Lore Keeper.

[@tsun1227]

SO HYPED FOR TONIGHT! THANK YOU DANI! THANK YOU MATT! Thank you critical role for making today the most exciting Thursday in a long time! I've been pouring over the wildemount and taldorei reborn setting books with excitement!

[@supersord6755]

let's just appreciate that we don't have to wait 2 weeks for the next episode straight after the "WHATDOYOUMEAN" episode last week and are about to dive deep into the story tonight

[@Aurora_Lightbringer]

I don't know about that, this episode is bound to have a pretty big WHATDOYOUMEAN moment, and I'm assuming that will be close to the end of the episode as a major cliffhanger.

[@sarahhudson6917]

I have a suspicion that we are going to have a session split where we only have half of the table.

[@sweebos]

​@@sarahhudson6917 I have been thinking this since last week... That with the party split like this, an interesting thing could take place where half the party is Bells Hells, while the players that make up the missing half of BH take up the roles of characters from previous campaigns. Just an interesting thought. Not sure it would happen, but I think it would be fun to see play out over the next few months. 🙂

[@donnatroy5381]

​@@Aurora_Lightbringer next thursday is not the last thursday of the month, so I assume we get one more episode

[@feitocomfruta]

Also, logistically, isn’t Creator Clash coming up? Giving Marisha a week or two to prep/recover seems like a good idea as well.

[@SouthernMedusa]

Okay, but Dani KILLED this, and I love the idea that she’s an archivist for the Cobalt Soul, and I love that she’s getting shorts like this. Really brilliant and I’d love to see many more!

[@remavpralb7414]

I love how pissed she sounded when she was talking about how the gods spread false rumors and obfuscated the truth about Ruidus and the forgotten gods. Makes total sense that a member of the Cobalt Soul would be mad about anyone locking away knowledge.

[@davencabrera4379]

This is exactly what I craved lore interpretation from the Cobalt soul

[@fusiongod5004]

I love these kinds of vids! Dani could explain the most mundane aspects of all Exandria and I'd be pumped to hear it!

[@EikeSky]

Is Dani Carr the true God of the Cobalt Soul?

[@underthegreatwave]

Yyyyyyyaaassss

[@ShadowmanTKK]

Dani Carr is The Knowing Mistress confirmed?

[@PluxBR]

She is actually

[@amandapanda2803]

The avatar of Ioun walks amongst us.

[@white_owl82]

Yes

[@keckhardt3386]

Please give us more Dani Carr in front of a camera! She's phenomenal!!!

[@thekaijusleeps]

As a librarian and aspiring archivist, seeing Dani as an archivist for the Cobalt Soul gives me a special kind of glee 😁 It goes without saying, but the world and myth building of Exandria is amazing, can't wait to see what's in store for the rest of C3 (going to start Ep. 52 later this week!)

[@Freeflier]

This is the perfect refresher before tonight's episode. This feels like it's going to be a world shaping episode...

[@maximojimenez3728]

Duuude that official art for Otohan looks great!

[@fnnygood9]

It always makes me so happy to see Dani on screen and this was so amazingly on theme! Absolutely loved it!

[@T14Zc]

Matthew Mercer, you have created a truly beautiful narrative and world, while seamlessly weaving it into a fantastic campaign! Thank you for yours and the cast/crews time and effort over the years!

[@tmelir19]

Thank you Lorekeeper. A most excellent summary of what befalls us now

[@theanyktos]

2:53 Ok, either Dani's acting is on point or she's just genuinely so much of a cobalt scholar in spirit that the contempt for people falsifying historic account that's dripping off her here is entirely real. Or maybe both, who knows.

[@Landis963]

She seems to be displaying the proper level of contempt for citogenesis, yes.

[@eduardoclark]

The respect CR has for the artists that work with them is overwhelming. Thank you for this! It's sad that it's so rare to have credits to the authors of images and music present in the most different media.

[@sleepinxonxbed]

I've missed Dani so much! id love just a series of her talking about exandria and the campaign. id definitely binge that kind of longer form content

[@Picklescape]

Yeah,I really miss her re-cap videos (edited because I originally forgot the word for re-cap! 🤦‍♀️)

[@1rotzy]

Remember when all we had to worry about were Ancient Dragons getting magical super weapons? Simpler times.

[@rogerjohnson2793]

The dragons didn't go after vestiges in the Stream that's only a TV show thing

[@undeathghost5627]

More like, "Remember when all we had to worry about were 4 Draconic Tyrants that wanted nothing more than the average dragon?"

[@1rotzy]

@@rogerjohnson2793 it's still Canon

[@adammarinovich6975]

@@1rotzy The stream canon and the show canon are different. They tell the same general story, but the details are different. The show does not take precedence over the stream when it come to future campaigns.

[@christabelle__]

@@undeathghost5627 I mean, they weren't average in any sense of the word. Quite the opposite! They even mention how unusual it is that they're working together to destroy major cities and all that - left unchecked, those dragons could have destroyed every nation summarily. They were no less of a threat than a god-eater (and frankly, Vecna still scares me most of all).

[@loganmorris4137]

Yay lore time with Dani!

[@GameboyOutlaw]

Dani is such a gem. I would love to see her run the next mini-campaign!

[@sarahteter6310]

Thank you so much Dani Carr! The Cobalt Soul and indeed all of Exandria would be lost without your lorekeeping. Critters are so lucky to have you!

[@jvertigo1]

This was actually so very helpful. I love a slow burn but a couple details do get lost to me through the weeks. Thanks Dani!

[@AndySatterwhite]

I would love to have a Dani lore catch up every week! Once a month on the off week would be pretty cool though. Just a little bump to get us through to the next session.

[@SouthernMedusa]

Oooh I love this idea!

[@swat6296]

Making a regular small Dani-as-cobalt-soul-member show is a great idea!

[@SimplexStorm]

More side content and lore is so exciting to see from you guys. You're killing it! These are two of my favorite things in any fantasy setting, so this makes me very happy :)

[@glenndhooge6787]

OMG Dani I love you. The ways she told this story literally made the hairs on my neck stand up for the entire video 🤯

[@bjartan7765]

Really insane to have lore outside the sessions, thanks a lot CR members ! ;)

[@j-mack548]

Such a creative way to summarize and clarify recent important lore!. would love more like this in the future.

[@tracyalbert6056]

Awesome. I love Dani's storytelling. I would love to see more of this. Dani you bring out the emotions in your stories. Amazing!!!

[@ASquared544]

I’m 99% sure Vordo is what ended up becoming the Luxon and Beacons we see in modern Exandria. Ethadoc might’ve been involved, but you can’t not tell me a dead god of fate has nothing to do with the Prisms that contain untapped energy of fate.

[@maximumyarnage]

I have chills. You guys have a rare gem in Dani Carr. CHILLS!!!

[@ryan27229]

I can't believe I only just now realized that Ruidus is essentially a Chibaku Tensei from Naruto (pieces of the earth pulled together to imprison a godlike being and then shot off into space to become a moon). Neat.

[@ApocalypticSound]

More Dani Carr appendix videos like this please! Dani is fantastic and such an amazing Lorekeeper!

[@mayaenglish5424]

Can I just say that Matt Mercer is a genius. He set this whole thing in motion years ago and it's just been so fun to watch. Spoilers for up to C3 episode 51: Ignoring all of the cool moon stuff in C2 and Just starting in C3, the way he set up the events of episode 51 right from day 1 is so cool. Starting with the attack on the Ashari targeting Keyleth. Why Keyleth? Oh I don't know, Maybe they wanted to kill her, maybe they needed something from her, maybe they wanted to draw her out to use her as a trap so they could draw her divinely appointed Boyfriend out and use him as a lens in a machine to break a God eater out of a Moon prison! You know, the usual. So many little clues looking back, Ludinus being purposefully sloppy, the Followers wearing the Matron of Ravens' talismans despite not worshiping her, the Malleus Key missing a lens at such a late hour. It's so good!

[@fhantum6519]

Yeah, it also really illustrates how ruthlessly smart Ludinus is. He very clearly doesn't mess around. He picks his fights very carefully, only picking fights he's certain he'll win. Or has backup plans if he's forced to fight. Ludinus is how to play a smart antagonist in my opinion. Though I haven't seen campaign one.

[@CyberChamp]

I love if Dani was canonically in charge of the Cobalt Soul

[@Caddynars]

She could very well be the High Curator of Vasselheim, since the identity of that curator was never determined. We only knew of the one in Rexxentrum, Yudala Fon.

[@elbruces]

Watch, Matt will introduce her as "Danicar."

[@camerrronnniii]

Now I need a Dani cameo. She fits the role so perfectly.

[@joodee5813]

"May the light of knowledge, and the truth of experience guide you in these uncertain days to come" is such a good thing to remember in these trying times huh.

[@3SmoothYoda3]

Can we have more Dani with more lore videos? I love her in this Character and always love hearing lore dumps, more stuff for my brain to chew on!

[@ButchWilson]

Thank you Lore Keeper. That was concise and enlightening. Kind of wish I'd had more of this before.

[@nrmrvrk]

I love these Lore lessons. Please keep making them

[@andrewjustice210]

Can we all just agree that Dani is the best?

[@Steamroller-ot2gm]

Let's be real, the main reason we are getting this lore drop is because Dani needed a reason to wear that great hooded vest... I would've done the same 😂

[@SeerOfTime577]

Yo, this helped SO much getting the lore in order in my head. Bless you, Dani!

[@kopcode6346]

Ruidis, aka the Moon of Ill Omen? (minor spoilers below) Laudna just got the Hound of Ill Omen feature from 6th level shadow sorcerer. I wonder if we’ll get some ruidis flavor worked into her new ability!

[@greyscaleadaven]

Honestly wouldn't surprise me if it takes some form relating to predathos, it is kind of predatory in nature after all and it's likely just been awakened from its imprisonment.

[@arandomcheese]

@@greyscaleadaven For some reason I've always pictured Predathos as a wolf so that would be awesome.

[@greyscaleadaven]

@@arandomcheese Honestly that would make a lot of sense, especially considering Chet apparently gets influenced by Ruidus too and all of the Lycan must be natural predators

[@Tazzdrag798]

Not only does it just MAKE SENSE, but she also looks great in Cobalt Soul threads

[@Henribellani]

Dank as Cobalt Soul member is everything we wanted

[@Spartacus005]

Thank you Dani for this lore briefing! I can't wait to watch the episode tonight! EDIT: also, thank you to whoever chose the music at the end! 10/10! The flutes are lovely!

[@Variocom]

Curious how tonight's gonna go! With the party split by SO much distance, it would be weird to go back and forth between two halfs, with the other half doing nothing. Interesting times we find ourselves in. And I'm excited!

[@Dersabom]

Dani was really good in this, seems like she’s getting more comfortable in front of the camera!

[@wyverntail3968]

Loved this, little pieces of artwork are amazing cannot wait to see what happens next, wonder if they'll bring out a book related to Ruidus, either way amazing work y'all!

[@miisterclutch5005]

Definitely need more of these explanations/stories. Well done!

[@josephhenryreyes8205]

I swear if Ruidus turns out to be the Dalamud of Exandria I will be writing a strongly worded love letter to Matthew Mercer

[@gtbkts]

🤣

[@knuckles543]

i mean the last session screamed Kefka from FF6 (and the ruination of that world) mixed with a part of 14's endwalker, and matt himself did tweet at one point he was playing 14 (with an Elezen character not dissimilar in look to Alura Vysoren) he's a huge FF nerd so it tracks

[@ArchibaldVonSkip]

Imagine if they get the rights to play Dancing Mad on stream. :O

[@josephhenryreyes8205]

@@ArchibaldVonSkip Imagine if we get a FF14 Flames of Truth moment and replace it with Predathos and Vax while Keyleth watches from afar

[@holyja_]

(“ANSWERS” BY NOBUO UEMATSU INTENSIFIES)

[@dasYavanna]

uuuh the text snippets from twitter! *happy noises* i love that there is now a video you can reference for combined bits of lore that were divided over lots of episodes

[@Crimzzon]

would love some more videos like this

[@nicholasdao2649]

"Ah, good morning to you, Lorekeeper Carr. I see there are new additions to the Cobalt Soul archives. How fascinating!"

[@hphannah]

Amazing!! Also i understand the whole thing so much better now! Thank you!!!

[@DeviSloane]

Dani is equally amazing as a storyteller

[@gandolf7777]

Nice update Dani! Very helpful recap.

[@lethallan95]

this kind of content is relevantly informative and flavorful in its own right! I really enjoyed the extra-mile Dani (& co.) put in making this feel like an "in-universe" news update. Would love to see something like this again. :)

[@therandomshow_]

Thank you, Cobalt Soul. Archivist Dani and all those working to stop Predothos. ( thanks for this video and super hyped for tonight's episode!)

[@InkyPetrel]

This video gives me life. Delicious lore! Also it's so great to see more of Dani! I LOVE this kind of extra info, please make more of these!

[@theeutecticpoint]

an excellent premise, and well acted Dani!

[@Golden_Flute]

I really appreciate this explanation! I've been doing a bad job of keeping up with the history info dumps Matt's been giving throughout the campaign. This was really helpful to get me up to speed! Thank you, Archivist Dani! 🥰

[@dianneledford3681]

Of Course Dani Carr is an Archivist of the Cobalt Sole ❤❤

[@rabidseabee7229]

Makes sense that Loremaster Dani works for the Cobalt Reserve. Would love to see more roleplay content around the lorekeepers and loremasters in Exandria.

[@jaimecastillo925]

Dani is such a good storyteller. Great DM material there!😊

[@tolido20]

I love that she was wearing the sleeveless vest

[@Donnendet]

Many thanks to CR for putting these kind of trinkets out, for their many critters to enjoy 😊

[@AnythingBut]

One of the highest ranks of the cobalt soul archives: Lore Keeper!

[@kellytaylor3222]

Badass Archivist Dani is my favorite!

[@pengu7079]

These extra bits outside of streams are helpful for more casual viewers like me!

[@AdamEspersona]

This explains the "Archivist's Notes" tweets... it was leading up to this.

[@norahlia4575]

Omg I didn’t even think about how Dani is totally an archarcivist of the cobalt soul and/or priestess of ioun. Wowowow Dani carr 1 player one shot when?!?!?!

[@mydaloney]

I need more Dani lore content in my life

[@EramarGaming]

Dang !!! you've just given me one hell of a chill down the back!!!

[@bibs1310]

More Dani Carr, is what we deserve

[@sschmitty1684]

Dani is far better than we deserve, but she is what we need

[@BloodyRomance117]

This is amazing, please make this a series just periodically dropping lore bombs on us!!!

[@CalaCrisp88]

Biggest lore drop is that exandria essentially has camcorders now hell yeah

[@knuckles543]

Scrying Crystal of sight

[@TimpanistMoth_AyKayEll]

I believe we knew that from Narrative Telephone. (Which I imagine occupies the same type of quasi-canonical space as this does.) :)

[@caoilfhionn946]

Getting solid confirmation that I was understand what was going on correctly, or at least in the way Matt was relaying it to the party, is so appreciated. Thank you Danny.

[@blackwaltzko]

Such rich lore. Gives me chills

[@dsdesignphoto]

Thank you for this! I'm very much a visual learner and there were some gaps I had but this really smoothed things out! great job to all the CR Team!

[@Deathbystrudel]

While I know it's a common fantasy trope, the Ruidusborn really reminds me of "The Curse of the Black Sun" from The Witcher

[@disneyforthewin]

We want Dani as a guest star at the table!!!!!!

[@JustinTotino]

I called this moon stuff pretty early into Campaign 2, but I thought it was going to be Tharizdun in the moon.

[@Ryquard1]

what if Predathos is a child of Hadar instead, he flares red as the red star that Hadar is, he consumes deities as Hadar would consume everything, he bestow powers to people as Hadar does to warlocks...

[@madaian369]

I've been loving all this extra-game multimedia storytelling, it makes me so excited! Also I'm always happy to see more Dani

[@adjdmaggie]

I love this lore! I love this story! And give us more Dani, please!! She is the absolutely best

[@gorgonheap9770]

This is a pretty cool way of sharing new information both in-universe and out, making use of social media and Dani's place as official lorekeeper. Well done.