Save him

New Keyleth, Vex, Grog, and Pike

+ Cerkonos, Percy, and Scanlan

+ Vax (de-orbed)

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MANNNN

Keyleth, as an air elemental : "I want to encompass the space where the Vax orb is and want to take it into me."

Matt, describing further : "You fill the gaps, and you try and pull it out with you."

Laura, because nothing is sacred : "He's inside you one last time..."

Vax's reappearance and temporary return to the mortal world last episode got me thinking about how, way back in EXU: Calamity, Zerxus was only ever able to offer a temporary reprieve to Vespin Chloras. His Cleansing Touch was able to give Vespin a moment as himself, to act under his own will rather than that of the Lord of the Hells, and he made good use of it, but ultimately he belonged to Asmodeus in a way Zerxus couldn't counter. He was no longer just a man who made a terrible decision and who could choose to make better ones and undo his mistakes, although he was certainly that as well, he was and is a fiend bound in the service of the Lord of the Hells who exists as an extension of his will. And that I think was the reason Zerxus couldn't full redeem him: while the man in Vespin could be given redemption, the fiend he became could not, so the man got a temporary reprieve to do his best with.

And this feels relevant to Vax because like Vespin he became something more than mortal, a celestial in his case, bound to the service of a god (though considerably more consentingly). To quote the Tal'dorei Campaign Setting Reborn: "The Champion of Ravens is not Vax'ildan, though Vax resides within him." So it feels appropriate that, like Vespin, the man Vax once was can have a moment, one single night, but no more, because the nature of his existence has been fundamentally changed in a way there's no coming back from.

◯ The Post Orbem ◯

So here we are after a ridiculous amount of time celebrating the un-orbing of our Champion of the Matron of Ravens, Vax'ildan.

By our real world measure he was orbed on March 9, 2023 at around 11:22 PM (PST) and un-orbed on November 14, 2024 at around 10:36 PM (PST). Making it just shy of 616 days.

His total time an orb was:

1 Year, 8 Months, 4 Days, and 14 Minutes

As for the in-universe time ... that's a bit more complicated.

There is a little bit of wiggle room in Campaign 3 between when Vax was orbed in Ep 51 and his being released in Ep 114. The Apogee Solstice was on the 20th of Fessuran and we're told it's been about 2 months since then. However, based on the time that's passed in the campaign itself it seems to have been 4 or 5 weeks.

Time is a weird soup.

how long before you have to go?

"Oh no! Vex'ahlia is dead!!"

Me:

Is it even Vox Machina if one of the twins doesn't die??

Vax, to you guys, feels a little amazed and confused even, to a degree. [...] He’s lived on a stretched view of time, looking in both directions, and he is feeling that slip away. He doesn’t fully understand what is happening yet and is feeling some of that touch of omniscience fading like when you wake and the dream wafts away.

Dalen's Closet // Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn // Fight for the Bloody Bridge

Just bringing this quote back for no reason :)

live footage of me trying to go to sleep after c3e114

Laughed so hard at Matt’s whispered “that’s why they built the handles” about the Beacon after Lieve’tel failed that wisdom save and got distracted. He’s wanted to explain that worldbuilding for a while haha.

Grog's own heroic/intimidating battle music XD