Hey Adora — sky-scribbles: This arc really shows how good...

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sky-scribbles

This arc really shows how good Matt is at giving his players narrative rewards for what they do.

He’s rewarded their daring. The attempt to retrieve the bag of holding was risky and it failed - but it took one of the Crests out of Lucien’s grasp and bought the Nein a week while the Tombtakers went on a wild crest chase across Eiselcross. The Sanitorium raid didn’t go to plan either, but they still got the amulets, and that let them ambush the Tombtakers brilliantly.

He’s rewarded their cleverness. Taliesin’s genius idea to send some of the group into the Happy Fun Ball? It had its casualties (poor Luc) but it got them away from Trent safely. The Nein’s Intuit Charge ambush? Made sure the Nein only had to fight Cree, not any of the Tombtakers’ frontline. Marisha realising that Beau could commune with Cognouza and maybe even control it? That got the group to Yussa, and then straight to the Aether Crux. 

He’s rewarded their curiosity and their engagement with the world. Repairing Devexian got them directions straight to B-9, in a chase where time was crucial. Fjord testing the Rejuvenator meant that Essek had the knowledge and resources to suggest the Dunamancy Powernap. 

He’s rewarded their emotional investment. The connections they’ve made with Astrid, the Gentleman, Yussa, Allura - those got them resources, advice, a safe place to hide their families. If they hadn’t befriended Essek, they might never have learned that they could safely leave Eiselcross to prepare. Caleb wouldn’t have had Immovable Object to cast on that Threshold Crest. Maybe they wouldn’t have successfully set all three Intuit Charges for the trap.

And of course, there’s the Dunamancy Powernap. DMs playing allied NPCs are  often advised to keep them out of any major planning to preserve player agency, and Matt has largely been doing that. But Essek chipping in at that point with such a game-changing suggestion feels like the players’ reward for engaging with the world lore of dunamancy, and for investing so much in an NPC that he had a morality crisis for them and followed them to the end of the world.

Of course we all knew that Matt’s an incredible DM who knows how to give his players narrative satisfaction. But that’s really been shining through this arc, and I’m loving it.

Source: sky-scribbles

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Essek, saying goodbye to the Nein in 141: Maybe [I’ll] spend some time in Uthodurn. I hear the cupcakes are quite good there.

So here’s the thing - Jester gave Essek a black moss cupcake in ep 74. That’s just under half the campaign ago, and almost five months of in-universe time. And Essek… remembered it, fondly, all that time.

Looking back, I think the cupcake scene might actually be one of the first moments when one of the Nein breaks through to Essek. This is before Caleb and Essek’s second dunamancy bonding session, before ‘we are friends now’ ‘I like that’. Jester says she’s got a present for Essek, he gives a sarcastic little ‘yay’… and then she brings out a cupcake, and Essek’s constant little smile drops. He spends almost ten seconds examining the cupcake, staring at it from every angle.

And… it’s pretty obvious that no one gets the Shadowhand a cupcake. No one in the Dynasty passes a bakery and goes ‘oh, those cakes look nice, I’ll get one for Essek. You know, Essek, the Shadowhand, son of Umavi Thelyss, the guy who sits at the right hand of the Bright Queen. Essek, the untouchable dunamancy prodigy who bends gravity and time to his will. Essek who everyone in the Dynasty’s mildly terrified of. That Essek.’

But Jester did exactly that. Because she’s Jester. Because the Nein treat Essek as a person, not as the Shadowhand, for probably the first time in his life. (And yes, they also enjoy ruffling his feathers - but honestly, I think that’s part of it. When has anyone ever ruffled Essek’s feathers rather than treating him as the Untouchable Shadowhand tm?)

Essek’s already bonded with the Nein a bit, of course - but even the dunamancy lessons are something that Caleb’s doing for his own agenda. Jester’s hug, early on, was as much a prank as a thanks. But this? This is Jester doing something just to be nice. For all we know, it’s the first time in Essek’s life that anyone has done something just to be nice to him.

Of course he remembered it, so many months later. Of course he couldn’t leave the Grove without subtly telling Jester, ‘hey, I remember that. Thank you.’

Tl;dr: Gee, Jester, how come your Archfey lets you have two antagonists who became your friends because you gave them a cupcake?

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