Critical Role has endless stories to tell across a myriad of mediums. Exandria has over a decade of lore to explore. Now, Campaign 4 and the world of Aramán open the door to even more possibilities. The newest addition to this tapestry of Critical Role stories is “Critical Role: Smiley Day!” written by Sam Riegel.
This children’s comic shares an all-new Bells Hells story with fans. The story is centered around Riegel’s beloved character Fresh Cut Grass, aka FCG. The kind automaton, or aoermaton, had their story cut short during the campaign. “Critical Role: Smiley Day!” was an opportunity to revisit the beloved character. Riegel is no stranger to this, with “The Legend of Vox Machina,” “Mighty Nein,” and the origin graphic novels bringing his past characters to life once more.
In an exclusive interview with Temple of Geek for “Critical Role: Smiley Day!” Riegel contemplated which of his past characters he’d be interested in delving into next. He was specifically asked who he would want to write about, potentially through a novel or another comic.
Taryon Darrington And The Darrington Brigade
Sam Riegel
“Taryon Darrington has the Adventures of the Darrington Brigade. I’ve always been interested in fleshing out more. I feel like he’s such a fun, dopey character, and his brigade is filled with such wild characters as well. I feel like that is ripe for more storytelling. And actually, next week, no spoilers, we’re talking about something regarding Braius, the character I played at the end of Campaign 3. So we’ll see how that goes.”
The Braius tidbit could point to an intriguing new project in the future. Riegel has crafted a number of characters across Critical Role, each worth further exploration. However, Taryon Darrington is definitely a character with a lot of story left to tell.
He was briefly a part of Vox Machina and proved himself to be a brave ally of the legendary heroes. Following this, he formed the Darrington Brigade, a nonprofit adventuring party, with the goal of helping people across Wildemount. Taryon was an avid storyteller in his own right, with his automaton Doty chronicling his adventures to share with all of Exandria.
Only one adventure of The Darrington Brigade has been experienced by fans during a live one-shot in 2019. This particular bunch was a zany group of miscreants who proved themselves unexpectedly heroic in the face of hilarious horror. Their dynamic is fun, and seeing Taryon take on a leadership role is endlessly entertaining.
Could More Taryon Darrington Be In The Cards?
Based on the sneak peek of “The Legend of Vox Machina” season 4, fans will meet Taryon Darrington in animated form. This could show a new side of Taryon depending on how he is introduced to the party and the role he plays in their mission. “Critical Role: Vox Machina – Stories Untold” revealed insight into Doty, which included a brief adventure of Taryon’s. It also showed the care the automaton has for the deceptively brave man.
Taryon alone is ripe for more exploration, but the Brigade as a whole is a tale worth telling. Each of the characters deserves to be further fleshed out. The mission of the Brigade and non-profit adventuring style is also an avenue that could be explored. Taryon could be the perfect character for a book in part because of his own aspirations and later success as an acclaimed author.
Campaign 2 revealed the existence of the book “The Daring Trials and Tribulations of Sir Taryon Darrington.” Critical Role has successfully brought books from Exandria into our world with “Critical Role: Der Katzenprinz & Other Zemnian Tales” and “Tusk Love.” This could be the perfect opportunity to not only further explore Taryon Darrington but also tell an old-school pulp adventure story from the perspective of an Exandrian hero. If Riegel wrote “The Daring Trials and Tribulations of Sir Taryon Darrington,” it would not only bring Taryon to life, but the author would in fact be Taryon Darrington himself through Sam Riegel.
“Critical Role: Smiley Day!” will hit shelves September 30. It is available for pre-order now.
