#ruby vanguard

[soaring-trash]

The inside of her hood lighting up is an insane visual and so fucking scary. A random purple haired woman just comes up to you raises a hand, scared with lightning, her hood lights up from the inside as her hair starts to float and she lighting bolts you through the heart like it’s nothing.

#honestly #kinda hot #laudna would for sure say she’s capable #critical role #critters #critical role campaign 3 #bells hells #critical role fanart #fanart #laudna #imogen temult #imodna #imogen x laudna #ImogenTemult #ruidis #Malleus key #Ruby Vanguard #ep82

[cassafrasscr]

Lilliana: Predathos is just using Ludinus as a means to its own ends. 🙂

Me: *screaming* THEN HOW IS PREDATHOS ANY DIFFERENT FROM THE GODS YOU CLAIM ARE MANIPULATIVE TYRANTS?!?!

#girl has absolutely no critical thinking skills #deep into the cult sauce #critical role spoilers #cr spoilers #cr3e92 #c3e92 #critical role #cr3 #lilliana temult #predathos #ludinus da'leth #ruby vanguard

[somewhatsentientspellbook]

Part of me would love to see Bells Hells bring Relvin with them to the big battle with the Ruby Vanguard - if only to get a moment where he and Liliana reunite. Where they lock eyes for the first time in decades. A moment where they can see the grey in their hair, the lines on their faces, and the way they hold themselves like they haven't had anyone to lean on over the years.

Liliana would be forced to confront the past she thought she'd left behind. Of course there was a chance her Ruidusborn daughter would follow in her footsteps, but Relvin was just a man! He should have stayed far away, in Gelvaan, where she wouldn't have to think about him too hard.

Relvin would be forced to confront the woman he believed was his future. The woman who promised to stay with him, but disappeared because his whole self wasn't great enough to be her other half. He had spent decades wondering what had become of Liliana and her quest, and here she was.

She'd look at him and realise just what her single-minded goal robbed her of: a lifetime with the man she fell in love with. And he'd look at her and realise that he hadn't lied when he told Imogen her mother was dead... because the woman he knew died the day she left her family behind.

#liliana's the kind of lady to say “i broke the world for us” #and relvin is the kind of man to say “no... you just broke me” #their story is so fucking depressing and i feel so bad for their whole family #but especially relvin! the dude probably saw enough of liliana in imogen that he felt like there was no point in trying to get close to her #because if he wasn't enough for the woman who chose to be his wife - why'd he be enough for the woman who didn't choose to be his daughter? #critical role #cr3 #cr meta #bells hells #imogen temult #relvin temult #liliana temult #ruby vanguard

[uhtcearemorning]

Bells Hells: Why are all of our horrible enemies in this horrible enemy pit?

#critical role #critical role campaign 3 #otohan thull #general ratanish #ludinus da'leth #paragon’s call #ruby vanguard #cerberus assembly #bells hells

[aspiringwarriorlibrarian]

Liliana is really fucking rich talking about how the Ruby Vanguard are necessary cause "they will hunt us down" as though Ruidusborn haven't e on Exandria for all of recorded history before the Ruby Vanguard turned them into walking bombs.

"We'll be free" Are the Ruidusborn who are mind controlled into attacking their own friends and allies "free"? Will killing the gods "free" those Ruidusborn? You really think an empire built on mind control will let anyone live free once the only threat to their reign is gone? The bormodos are untouched by the gods under the veil of Predathos. Ask them how free they feel.

#critical role #cr spoilers #ruby vanguard #critical role spoilers

[undead-knick-knack]

How many more times is Orym going to deserve this cake

#critical role #cr3 #cr c3 #critrole #critrole memes #bells hells #bell's hells #orym of the air ashari #ludinus da'leth #ruby vanguard #apology cake #cr memes #cr shitpost #courtesy of me #cr campaign three #crit role #critrole meme

[transfem-octopus]

So I think it’s fairly obvious at this point that the Imperium are planning to invade a colonize Exandria and seek to awaken Predathos in furtherance of their planned colonization of Exandrian.

My Question is how much does Ludinus know? Does he know that his Imperial Allies are pursuing the destruction of Exandria’s Gods so as to weaken its native Empires and make them vulnerable to a military invasion? Is he nothing more than a quisling hoping to curry favor with the Imperium by weakening Exandria.

Or is he completely in the dark about his allies intensions towards his planet. Is he so blinded by his hatred of the gods and his own hubris that he cannot see the forest for the trees? Men often hear what they want and they disregard the rest.

Or does he know what the Imperium is planning but doesn’t care. I’ve said it before I think Ludinus plans not to free Predathos but to consume the God Eater and become greater than the Gods. If that is his plan perhaps he thinks that it is he who is using the Imperium and not vice versa.

Either way there is no way Ludinus plan is not going to blow up spectacularly in his face and Bells Hells are going to have to clean up the mess.

#critical role #critical role spoilers #bells hells #ludinus da'leth #predathos #Kreviris Imperium #Ruby Vanguard

[dumpster-fire-sapphic-failgirl]

Bor’dor, inadvertently, displayed the biggest difference between the Bell’s Hells and the Ruby Vanguard

The Hells have been very deliberate. Kill only the cultists. turn those who can be turned. Orym even felt guilt for the ripples those controlled actions might cause. And yeah, they dropped an airship on the key, but it was Ludy’s shield that caused it to kill most of the vanguard in exchange for preserving his ultimate goal

When it came time to hurt the people that attacked the site, Bor’dor struck indiscriminately. The only person he downed was Prisim, who, in other circumstances, might have been swayed to join his side. (she attacked an avatar of the dawnfather with a fucking demon, for fucks sake)

Collateral damage didn’t matter as long he had a *chance* to hurt those that hurt him. No thought to consequences because there is nothing more important than destroying

so even though most of the Hells don’t give a fuck about the gods, they are still very different on a foundational level

and even if the gods die, it’ll be the Hells cleaning up the mess, because the Vanguard has no plan for after, because the after isn’t important

#critical role #critical role spoilers #cr spoilers #bells hells #ruby vanguard #bordor dogson #prism grimpoppy #cr3e63 #bor’dor isn’t a mirror of orym he is a cautionary tale

[saintdollyparton]

The Ruby Vanguard rail against religion, but they're cultist zealots in their own right. And they say everyone is at the gods' whims, but they literally have free will, yet are trying to make this decision for everyone on Exandria without even fully knowing the consequences of what might happen.

#critical role #ruby vanguard #ludinus da'leth #bell's hells #bells hells

[glossolali]

HOLY FUCK

the ruby vaNGUARD'S LEADER MOVES AROUND A LOT... HE'S A HANDSOME OLDER ELVISH MAN WITH LONG SILVER HAIR...... HE'S BEEN ENGINEERING THE RELEASE OF PREDATHOS FOR A LONG TIME....

he KNOWS MUCH... HAS sacrificed much... and the cult wants Predathos released to be free of the gods and their lies......

but i can't believe this... i can't believe lewds and his assembly has been doing this bullshit under wraps for so many years ......

molaesmyr.... aeor... dunamis research... EVERYTHING....

#ludinus da'leth #critical role #cr spoilers #cr 3 #Ruby vanguard #ruidus #cereberus assembly

[towards-toramunda]

I feel like it’s worthwhile to point out that nobody is saying Ludinus is a good or morally grey guy. Nobody is saying the ruby vanguard is a good group. When people (or at least me idk I can’t talk for others) are saying that seeing the humanity of the people drawn into the other side is important it’s because Matt keeps making a point to bring it up. Matt showing us Tuldus being forced to pray for hours as a child and being punished for lack of piety, showing us a locket with a child on a cultist they’d just killed, showing us Lilliana’s pain, and now with Bor’Dor’s backstory with the gods.

Being a DM myself I think that its important not to discount the constant mentions of the trauma from the masses in this cult because Matt, the dungeon master, the story weaver, the one calling the shots, keeps making a point to highlight the backstories of the people who join the vanguard. I’m guessing (based on the fact that Utkarsh doesn’t watch the show and had no context for what the vanguard was) that Utkarsh came to Matt and said “give me a character idea” and Matt decided that the story needed a PC on the other side.

It really feels like he keeps saying “Look at how these people have been hurt. See them as people with trauma and love and family who easily fell for Ludinus’ lie.”

And that lie is another reason I think its valid to question the gods. Because questioning the gods doesn’t make you want what Ludinus wants. Questioning power, why it acts the way it acts, does the things it does, and doesn’t do the things it doesn’t do, is important in any society! Even one where there are gods (and I’d say especially one where there are gods with questionable morals and backstories). Because while Ludinus is evil and has vile intentions, he is drawing people into his power grab by hiding it in a nugget of truth: many feel slighted by the gods. Many have seen the good things the gods can do and are left to wonder why they’re left to suffer. Why the gods choose to help some and not them. Why their families forced them to worship those they didn’t believe.

And seeing this story NOW when we’ve seen so many stories in real life of people who are traumatized and hurt and confused going to the internet with their grief and being led to hate groups and radicalization feels VERY intentional on Matt’s part. It feels (to me) like he’s begging us to see the ruby vanguard members as people who were drawn in by a charismatic leader who pretended to understand their pain and used them.

Matt keeps telling us its important to see the humanity and the trauma faced by the other side. He could be doing this to flavor the story or to create tension or push the characters to make hard choices or some other reason. I just feel that empathizing with the trauma of those on the other side doesn’t make you akin to a terrorist sympathizer despite what some seem to take from that, and its wild given how clearly (to me) Matt wants us to empathize with them.

(Because this is the internet and people love to misread things:

I don’t agree with the things the people in the ruby vanguard do, I don’t think Matt agrees with it, but I think Matt wants us to feel conflicted with them. I think Matt wants us to believe they’ve been misdirected and could be deradicalized, but its up to Bell’s Hells to decide if they’re willing to forgive the harm they’ve been put through or attempt the effort to deradicalize.

I don’t think it makes any sense to say that questioning the gods makes one akin to Ludinus. Theres a lot to question about the gods. Where did they come from? What even is divinity? How much of their exandrian creation story can we actually believe if they’ve supposedly been hiding the existence of predathos from us? How do we actually know what predathos is? If a mortal can become a god then what the hell even is a god? Etc.

I hope this goes without saying, but just in case: If you don’t want to empathize with real life hate groups please don’t. This is a fictional cult based in the idea that they can release a predator that will get rid of the gods. I don’t see the ruby vanguard as a hate group, a horrible cult that has done vile things and led to the deaths of innocents absolutely, but I hate groups are hateful towards one or many marginalized groups, and thats not this. (I suppose one could argue they’re a hate group for the gods and… sure. I disagree but sure). To me, empathy for the members in the vanguard makes sense in the context of the story Matt is telling, but in real life it is very hard to have empathy for hate groups even if they are formed of traumatized and hurt people who could be deradicalized. I believe deradicalization is necessary for many but fucking hard/impossible for all, and I especially believe that members of marginalized groups shouldn’t feel the need or pressure to help in the deradicalization of those who harm them.

Similarly I believe Orym is valid in his decision to be at war with members of the group that killed his family. Yes I think he is unable to be objective (Liam O’Brien said so himself), but, as a person with ptsd myself, sometimes you need to screw objectivity in the face of trauma. I think we as the audience should be aware that he has lost objectivity so we can better understand his actions, but I don’t think that lack of objectivity makes his choices “wrong”, and its strange to see people claiming that anyone pointing out Orym’s lack of objectivity doesn’t have empathy or morals.)

Anyway this was too long and I should never get involved in discourse again.

#critical role #cr spoilers #orym of the air ashari #cr3 #bells hells #ludinus da'leth #matt mercer #ruby vanguard #bordor dogson #I hate having opinions on things

[danwhobrowses]

Okay sure just split the group again I'm sure nothing could go wrong this time dividing them into sub-groups to sting at high levelled and relatively unknown areas with high risk and high threat of boss level enemies in the vicinity and then go on another break to make us stew on that, it's fine IT'S FINE!

#critical role #bell's hells #cr spoilers #c3 e89 #critical role spoilers #the volition #ruby vanguard #the imperium #ruidus #unseelie court #universe really gotta hit me with Frieren season finale and CR going on a break AND One Piece going on a break! #it's like you want me to have nothing to do on Friday #honestly how many times in all 3 campaigns has splitting up worked? Not a lot Matt it's just evil PCs have died #my Callowmoore heart of course is relieved that Ashton and Fearne are in the same group this time - they're not gonna lose her again #maybe we can sneak in some combo moves for Bearne and Bashton - play a bit of holies #but still it's difficult to gauge how to deal with Athion plus maybe a dragon indoors plus Ira's willingness to leave people behind #Otohan and Ludinus can be lurking anywhere too #we still have no idea where Ryn is being kept either #the Liliana assassination attempt is doomed to fail and as much as it's a terrible choice I think Imogen needs to let her go #she talks about Ludinus like an abusive lover but acts blind to the cries of the people she says she's protecting #like woman go home! If they need you then removing yourself from the board stops them that's why there's a target on your back #but we all believe in Gaz supremacy at least #and more moon lore always gotta have the moon lore #tag reader's bonus: turtles live in every continent except antarctica #idk usually I have this many tags in ship posts so I drop a headcanon but this is more just panic so you get a nice turtle fact

[somewhatsentientspellbook]

ludinus scrying on bells hells, realising 80% of his 1000-year-long plan was pointless:

#for a wizard his intelligence is pretty mid #bells hells spent a DAY on the moon and already learnt more about its connection to exandria than the old fucker did in 1000 years #critical role #critical role spoilers #cr spoilers #cr shitpost #cr memes #critical role memes #bells hells #ludinus da'leth #ruby vanguard #in case you couldn't tell this is a ludinus da'leth hate blog

[bebopsisyphus]

What if the way for Imogen to get her mom free of the Ruby Vanguard is the Circlet? What if she takes it off, puts it on her moms head, and shows her there's a way forward without the pain of being invaded by everyone's thoughts. Would Liliana be convinced by the small ways they can find peace and relief without needing to destroy the world as they know it?

#critical role #cr spoilers #imogen temult #liliana temult #ruby vanguard #c3e50 #imodna #laura bailey #bells hells

[burningsuitfire]

Ludinus's Research (and Essek)

Okay so. I actually think Essek might've known way more than the fandom assumes.

First of all, he hints multiple times that he knew Da'leth had a secret weak spot, research that he couldn't afford for anyone in the Empire to discover. And as such, Ludinus needed the war to stop.

How much do you want to bet Essek keyed onto and was talking about the Martinet's secret dunamis research for his moon plans?

(91) Caleb: I want to see the conflict end and I do not get that sense from them. Essek: ...What is the biggest danger... to secret research? Caduceus: Discovery. Essek: Discovery. What better way to avoid discovery than to find a way to stop a conflict that pries into what you're doing?

(125) Beau: You'd be smart to focus your attention to Ludinus and Ikithon. Yudala Fon: It never leaves them. And they've been acting quite nervous recently.

(97) Essek: (...) you're all in terrible danger for the things that you know. Their research is to continue and we are to correspond as the research progresses. There is intent to end this war.

Also, common fanon seems to think Essek didn't get any research when Matt, Da'leth, and Essek himself said the deal was an ongoing cooperative exchange.

If anything, DeRogna, Yeza, and Ikithon said that the Assembly was having a massive amount of trouble on their end trying to work with dunamis and the beacons, and would really need Essek in their work for insights (as Essek said was happening) and to work with the dunamantic expert and intelligence lynchpin.

And another point. The raids. Even if Ludinus wasn't forthcoming with Essek in their meetings (which Essek said he was), the Kryn were raiding research facilities.

The Felderwin raid, which people seem to take as evidence that Essek wasn't getting information, kinda looks like it suggests the opposite. Only after months of experiments and effort and expense and problems did they get a single potion, and Yeza said it was barely days after the completion when the Kryn raided. Incredible timing.

Meaning that it sure seems like the Martinet gave Essek information, possibly even more than he intended, and Essek wasn't playing nice.

Essek, who said his being in Rosohna was the exception right up until the ceasefire (where we saw him constantly in both important wartime full den meetings and sparse late night meetings, seated on the council, deeply influential and personally requested for the Bright Queen's strategy and war efforts)

(94) Essek: It prevents me from some of my capabilities throughout the day each time I do this, so while I'm here in my home and things are not requiring me to be elsewhere rapidly, thankfully this is a moment in time in which I am more useful here in the city.

He could've even been in Felderwin.

Also, if Ludinus was trying to sway Essek over to the Vanguard and his side, easy money that the heretic (a self-proclaimed "coward" who refused self-preservation via consecution, and managed to annoy his own intensely religious father to the point of self-destruction) wouldn't be happy about it.

That attempt at recruitment and following rejection could've easily been the cause of the unpleasant dynamic and tense conversation between the two on the Assembly's boat.

Bonus, Essek's leyline device. That's relatively simple, and a friend clued me in. Essek being able to track leyline strength is just useful for timing dunamancy research for his "personal studies" as he calls them. It's been pointed out multiple times in CR lore that wizards like ley spikes and solstices because the flare in leyline strength and ley energy just means it's easier to manipulate arcane energy and make new spells.

Look where the Tal'Dorei Guide talks about leyline strength and spellmaking.

The Verdant Expanse is saturated with magic. The ley energies that suffuse the greenwood make it easy for arcanists to create works of spellcraft by themselves, when it might take a half-dozen mages working in concert in other lands.

#essek thelyss #essek #ludinus da'leth #ludinus #ruby vanguard #c2 #campaign 2 #cr meta #c3 #campaign 3 #critical role spoilers #cr spoilers #critical role #mighty nein

[flaakalaa]

What if Ludinus had been trying to recruit Essek to his moon cult and that's why they were so snippy when we saw their conversation on the boat. Essek deconstructing Ludinus's attempt at his not-religion religion and Ludinus pissed off that he couldn't get this faithless broken heretic to his side.

#essek thelyss #ludinus da'leth #essek #ludinus #ruby vanguard