Love and friendship have always been significant thematic pillars in the storytelling of Critical Role’s Exandria’s campaigns — but so have death and grief. There’s been Vax’s sacrifice in Campaign 1, the role of Molly in Campaign 2, and anything and everything about Laudna in Campaign 3. And considering Campaign 4 started its story with the death of Thjazi Fang, whose presence has been haunting the narrative ever since, this new story is no exception. However, Campaign 4’s unique approach to death also appears to be taking Critical Role in a surprising new direction, one that could address a longstanding issue in D&D-related storytelling: death means very little.
In D&D, characters have access to resurrection spells starting as early as level 5. It’s also a well-established part of the game’s lore that the afterlife exists, and mortal souls can find eternal solace in the realms of their gods — or fiery damnation in some hellish plane. Campaign 4 of Critical Role, however, is taking a more interesting approach to death and the afterlife.
Thjazi Fang’s death is the starting point of the campaign, but it pales in comparison to the history of death that’s plagued Aramán ever since The Shapers’ War, an event which led to mortalkind slaying the gods in Campaign 4’s complex lore. As expected, this didn’t fix everyone’s problems and caused more issues than it solved. For one thing, much of the world is now “half-poisoned,” with some locations having turned into ruins or wastelands. Magic runs amok, and Obridimia, the ancestral lands of House Halovar, is now “cast in eternal darkness.”
Before they were slain, the gods had celestial servants who acted as psychopomps, ferrying the souls of the dead to the divine realms they’re supposed to go, thus avoiding The Tenebral Reaches, a purgatory-like place where souls had to remain for a certain amount of time before passing on to the true afterlife. With the gods gone, however, the celestials turned mad and monstrous and, with enough power to devastate regions, had to be put down (except at least one who is still alive, as seen in the ending of episode 2). But if the dead no longer have celestials to guide them to their heavens, what happens now to their souls?
By the end of Campaign 4’s third episode, we do get an idea. If the underworld is considered a “metaphysical cleaning house” that helped souls shift from one realm to the other, then with no psychopomps around for 70 years (since that’s when The Shapers’ War ended), the backlog of dead waiting around must be abysmal. This is confirmed by Aranessa Royce’s conversation with Occtis Tachonis, where the former explains that the realm of death is “so choked with souls that cannot move to an afterlife because we killed the gods.” This is further corroborated by Vaelus, who, with her Divine Sense ability, is able to feel the presence of the restless dead just on the other side of the veil from the living world.
Having the realm practically stuffed to the gills with the dead spells trouble, but it isn’t all bad for a certain noble house. House Tachonis is described as a “priestly family of Shadow,” and with their talents in necromancy and sorcery, they have only benefited from so many souls being stuck in limbo, calling out to the dead to be used as foot soldiers and henchmen.
It’s looking to be a tricky situation for Critical Role’s largest adventuring party ever to deal with, but there is some hope to be found, namely due to the appearance of two very special artefacts: the Coffin of Olbalad and the Stone of Nightsong. While both were introduced in the premiere of Campaign 4 as objects either acquired or desired by Thjazi Fang to add to his collection, the items’ origins have since been explained.
The stone and coffin are both named after psychopomp celestials. Olbalad was a celestial charged with ferrying the souls of halflings, whereas the Nightsong did the same for elves. The items’ purpose is unclear, but they are important enough for several groups (and Thjazi himself) to risk life and limb for them.
The cliffhanger in episode three showed Occtis’s family willing to cut him open and stuff the Stone of Nightsong inside of him. So I can’t help but wonder if these artefacts aren’t simply just powerful, but important enough to bestow god-like abilities onto those who wield them.
In Critical Role’s Exandria campaigns, death and its significance highly depended on a character’s narrative arc. Bringing people back to life has been baked into the Dungeons & Dragons since its inception, and while Critical Role has its own twist on bringing characters back (for one thing, if you fail a certain number of times, you really can’t bring a soul back), it’s hard to really feel the consequences of death within the narrative. This is the total opposite for Campaign 4, where the slaying of gods at the hands of mortalkind has led to disastrous consequences concerning death. It feels important and something that can’t be shooed or explained away with D&D rules.
Of course, it’s important to note that not everyone in the world of Kahad agreed with the death of the gods, and at least two of the Sundered Houses, Halovar and Tachonis, seem to have lost a lot more than they gained from the Shaper’s War. If that’s the case, and currently this is only pure speculation, who’s to say that the best way to deal with the undead clogging up the afterlife isn’t to create a brand-new psychopomp? Whoever has that sort of power over death would no doubt be one to watch out for, and the Tachonis seem be primed to do just that.
The question of the dead and how the party will solve the problem (if they even can) is one I’m eager to see answered. Considering there’s celestials, undead, and demons running around, death isn’t just the end of a person’s life anymore — it’s a weapon to wield that will grant significant power to those who are able to control it. Will that power be used for good, or for evil? I can’t wait to find out.
