So I Was Rewatching Nott And Caleb’s Conversation In E27 — The One Where Nott Talks About Molly’s

brothers

Taliesin: “Are you doing alright?”

Sam: “I’m alive.”

Eastern Exandria

Full size image [HERE]

I’ve spent the last several days poring over the map of Tal’dorei from the Tal’dorei Campaign Guide, as well as all four maps of Wildemount and the map of Tal’dorei made by Deven Rue. This gigantic 5488 x 3432px map is the fruit of my labors.

Thanks to Wildemount’s close proximity to Tal’dorei, we know that we can use the same scale from the Campaign Guide’s map for the other continent,

Every single location, from Kingdoms to rivers, capital cities to villages, and mountain ranges to roads, are all labeled.

Just as in old maps, the monsters represent unmapped regions. We know Eiselcross is north of Wildemount, but we don’t know how far or exactly what it looks like. The Shattered Teeth are south of Wildemount, but again, we don’t know how far. We also don’t know what land is east of the Penumbra Range, and what the eastern coast of Wildemount looks like.

Let me know if you see any errors, I’d love to have them corrected asap!

I could spend the next couple of years mostly doing Vox Machina art, but I’m juggling things as is, so I tried to squeeze in everything in a four month project. Since the file is so ridiculous I cut it up for posting here, but you can see the whole assembled thing over on my Patreon.

Thank you to my patrons as well for sticking with me during this project! I’ll cover the last quarter of the painting, from Kashaw and Lyra (under the white dragon) and down to the end, in one of this month’s tutorials.

fearne and braius redraw someone pls

listen, I know you guys are all over everyone else but ya'll need to lock in with the gnomes, because the way they're doing Pikelan this season. It's truly like one of the best foreshadowed plot-points that TLOVM is doing for Bards Lament, and I am LIVING.

The way that they're setting up the fact that Pike has been the only one to truly come to Scanlan's aid in his dilemma between wanting to be present with Kaylie & wanting to be apart of VM -- "I tried being a father and apart of this team, and I failed at both things." and how's that's just permeated Scanlan and Pike's entire storyline from episode 1 of S3.

Scanlan is SO TORN between two things: wanting to be a present father for Kaylie and wanting to show her that he can be the father she needs, as well as being apart of VM in their most desperate of times. Like he's said, he cant be in two places at once, no matter how hard he tries.

"When all the options are terrible, you go with your heart." "Yeah. And what happens when that fails, too?"

And Pike, bless her heart, is also TRYING SO HARD to find and give him a reprieve -- telling him that he'd have her if things didn't work with Kaylie, telling him that he's not bad person, encouraging him to try to reconnect to her, telling him that there might be a solution.

And now here comes Bards Lament and Scanlan is in a coma, and because Pike's been the only one to know Kaylie and Scanlan's relationship, she's the one to fully spearhead Scanlan's ritual. She's the one who's going to use her newfound power to put Kaylie in Scanlan's consciousness and have her bring him back.

And now here's Bards Lament come to rear it's ugly ass head. Scanlan is going to snap. He's going to and I have no doubt that he's going to attack Pike the most, dismissing her repeated and sought after attempts to comfort him and help him in his time of need. All the things she did for him. All of the excuses she made, helping him, supporting him. All of it thrown to the floor because his self-hating ass is so caught up on the fact that no one cares for him and no one wants him around but being SO DAMN BLIND to the fact that the one person who loves him for who he is and what he's going to be and his dreams was right there all along.

PERFECTION. FACINATING.

Reposting what Caleb learned in the library about the Kryn back in Ep. 31 for posterity’s sake! Copy and pasted from the episode transcript!

“Much of the recent studies into current drow society across Exandria speak of growing paranoia and madness that’s seeping in with the believed influence of Tharizdun, the Chained Oblivion. Whether it be by proximity of remnants of his power deep beneath the surface that have grown close to these societies, but there is whispers and research that say that some of these dark elf societies are being driven slowly mad by this influence. Strangely, what studies you’ve been able to find that talk about penetrating the Kryn Dynasty’s intense boundaries…what little is known of the Kryn Dynasty, there is little in iconography under Lolth or Tharizdun. And what remains of that is ancient and crumbling and largely ignored by the society.”

“However, it does speak of the dynasty worshiping something other, something that is new and dangerous as far as the Cobalt Soul is concerned, with what little research they have. They refer to it as “The Luxon” and seek to bring all under its burning banner. They’ve rallied to the surface of Ghor Dranas, casting the skies in eternal midnight that spreads with their dominion. They’ve begun taking the ravenous hordes of beast-men and terrors of the Xhorhasian wastes, and indoctrinate them under this new false god.”

So it seems to me from what we learned tonight, that the Tal’Dorei Drow were previously experiencing what the people in this city are only just now experiencing. For whatever reason, this corruption is only just now happening. Perhaps it is a natural progression. Or perhaps something is helping the Kryn resist this. Maybe the Luxon? Maybe Dunamis? Most likely both? The Luxon and Dunamis seemed to be completely tied together seeing as how its holy symbol is the dodecahedron itself. Or perhaps the Kryn, when they moved to the surface of Ghor Dranas, awoke something pertaining to the Chained Oblivion there. A reminder that Ghor Dranas is essentially the holy land of the Betrayer Gods, and it is where the barrier between the Material Plane and the Lower Planes (Like the flipping Abyss!) is thinnest. The Chained Oblivion doesn’t just live in the Abyss, it IS the Abyss. In the Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting states it is less like a god and more like another world, it dreams the infinite depths of the Abyss into reality along with all its demonic legions. If it is busting through the Divine Gate anywhere, it’s gonna be in or around Ghor Dranas. 

Also, are we ever gonna figure out the truth behind the Empire propaganda that the Kryn are stealing Empire children? We have seen absolutely nothing so far supporting the Empire’s claim on this. Mark my words, something fuckardly is going on here and I don’t think the Kryn are truly behind the kidnappings. Or if they are, it goes way, way deeper than just doing it for the war effort etc. Or it’s a small subsection of higher up assholes doing something dastardly. Almost like a fun narrative parallel with a certain bastard archmage we all know and love to hate. 

We got so much lore this episode and my brain is reeling!! I cannot flipping wait until next Thursday! I live for this nonsense!! 

Tips to finishing creative writings

Have one main piece and several smaller ones The story you are most eager to write and has some form of a developed plot should be your main story, but don’t limit yourself to only that piece. That’s when you abandon it. Instead, tell yourself, “I have a good idea for another story. Let me write 500-1000 words of it.” This allows you to put what’s in your mind on paper. You can also get a feel for it and see if it is really something you think you could write an entire story for. When you finish your main story, come back to it and make that your new main if you still want to write it.

Use your desire to write another story to finish the one you’re working on Continuing with the point from above, if you are still extremely excited about your small work, use that enthusiasm to fuel your current story. Tell yourself, “I need to finish X story before I can write Y story.” You will write so much more and so much faster than you ever planned. You can also be proud that you finished something you originally planned to abandon.

Love your characters This may seem obvious, but writing is hard if you don’t even know or like your characters. Draw your characters together. Give them funky clothes or send them abroad. Even make an AU of your story in your head. If you can’t draw, find an avatar creator and give your characters a tangible image. The more you love your characters and give them personalities, the more eager you will be to write about those characters.

Take a break Be kind to yourself. You’re only human. If life is stressful and writing is more of a chore than it is fun, take a break. When you have more free time and are excited to write again, sit down, grab a pen, and find yourself happily immersed in a world you haven’t visited in a while. Good luck with your stories and be kind to yourself <3