Exandria has grown beyond the initial story of a group of unlikely heroes working to defeat dragons and save the world. Three multi-year campaigns, mini campaigns, one-shots, novels, graphic novels, podcasts, and animated series. The story now spans centuries, with the Calamity trilogy exploring the cataclysmic event. Many voices have enhanced the world even beyond Matthew Mercer and the rest of the cast of founders.
One of the most intriguing aspects of the publishing side of Critical Role is the ability to explore perspectives deeper. Because the novels and graphic novels are through the views of the characters, they offer a window into the minds of each character. It also brings new voices into the landscape of Exandria that wouldn’t otherwise have the ability to be a part of telling the story of this world.
Temple of Geek had the opportunity to speak with authors Dani Carr, Kiri Callaghan, and Betsy Aoki. They each revealed what other elements of Exandria they would like to further explore. All three authors are intrigued by the Feywild and the endless possibilities of that corner of the world. The Matron of Ravens and the Calamity have also piqued their interest as aspects of Exandria to dig deeper into.
“Calamity And Downfall Were Fantastic”
Temple of Geek: And then is there another area of Exandria’s lore that you would like to explore in a short story again or poetry or a novel?
Betsy Aoki:
The problem is we were left with so many playgrounds. We were talking about the other prequels. “Calamity” and “Downfall” were fantastic. It suggested this whole, what was Aeor like before it was falling apart? What was this whole society like before the great ruin of the Calamity? And the other thing that I felt like in Campaign Three, I kind of wish we saw more of the Feywild. I mean, I could probably live in the Feywild for a long time. And in terms of the gods, I feel like the Matron of Ravens, we see the mortal who becomes the god, who becomes the mortal again. I feel like especially the post-Campaign Three world, where the Matron shows up with probably more experience in how to be human than anybody else. I would love to see what all happens to her and what’s retained by her consciousness when she has a mortal body or whatever. I mean, I just feel like the thing is I don’t want to limit myself, but I do say that there are some really lovely parts that we just don’t know. We could find out. It’d be great to find out.
Temple of Geek: I bother anyone about a Calamity book whenever I can. I want it so badly. So I’m right there with you. I think anything in the prequels; I’d never thought about a sequel with the Matron of Ravens as a person again, but that’s such a cool idea, and that would be so fun to explore.
Betsy Aoki:
Well, and of course there’d be, is it Asmodeus? There are definitely some nasty people that would show up also, and probably get into bar fights or something would happen there. So I just feel like they left us huge amounts of playground, and it’s fantastic.
Dani Carr Is Interested In The Age Of Arcanum & The Matron Of Ravens
Dani Carr
Temple of Geek: Then we talked a little bit before about areas of Exandria lore you’d like to explore that maybe haven’t been explored before. But some of the ones I’m curious about, and this is purely hypothetical, if y’all were to do a Stories Untold for Bells Hells, is there an NPC that you would like to maybe focus in on that wouldn’t necessarily be the one that people would expect?
Dani Carr:
Ooh, people wouldn’t expect. I want a story about Fern’s mom so bad. I want it so bad. I think that Birdie Calloway is, I’m obsessed with her. I don’t even know if I want to write it. I want to read it. I would love to write it, but I want Birdie’s story in my hands. I want it so badly. Yeah, I would love to write about Birdie. The relationships with mothers in Bells Hell is so interesting to me.
I love the Ashari. I’d love to write about Oram’s sisters or Tevin Clask, the champion of the Lord of the Hells. Gosh, there are so many great NPCs in Bells Hells. What a feast of NPCs we got. I feel like one of the outstanding situations was definitely the Shade Mother and Lady Emoth Cade. I’d love to get inside of her head a little, Emoth. And how did you get all sluggified? How are you doing, girl? But yeah, again, just a feast of interesting NPCs.
Odahan Thul. Odehan Thul would be terrifying to try to write. I don’t even know if I would; again, I think I’d be like, No, no, I don’t want to try that one. She’s got too much going on. But again, so interesting. I’d love to write about Liliana. Yeah, God, there are just so many NPCs that are just so interesting.
But yeah, Birdie would be my number one because I just love her. I love the fae realm. I love fairies. I love the seelie and unseelie of it all. And so being able to write about fae shenanigans is so up my alley. I think I gave the exact same answer whenever we talked before. I think I was like, “I want to write about the Callaways.” And it has not changed. I am a one-trick pony. I’m like, “I want to write about fairies and mermaids.”
Temple of Geek: And then is there a part of the Critical Role, like Exandria lore, you would like to explore through a comic or a novel now that you’ve done a short story and then the art book?
Dani Carr:
I mean, God, so much. I’d love a comic that’s, again, I’m going to want to write about mermaids. I’d love a comic that explores the undersea world. Because I just think you could do so much with the art in that. And we got such a beautiful art of the Maelstrom Kingdom. One shot that we did, the live show. So the art for that was just so beautiful. And I feel like a comic in the undersea world of Exandria would be really, really interesting. Maybe even Mighty Nein finally going and meeting with The Mered that they met in Nicadranus and going to his Silver Silt Palace.
So I would definitely want to see that in a comic because there’s just so much you could do with the art and the colors and this underwater world. I love Nemour. And so I’d love to incorporate some vibe of that underwater. I don’t think I’d go highly technical with it. I wouldn’t want to go Atlantis vibes with it. But again, how does this world have its own ecosystem and things like that? How do they get through their day-to-day? I’m always much more interested in seeing how characters in a completely different environment are influenced by their environment.
And then they use clams to talk as cell phones and things like that, which is cute and is great. But I’m more interested in like, okay, well, how would they try to communicate long distance? Do they fill a bubble with magic, and then it floats out or something like that? Okay, if ink can’t, okay, they have squid ink and things like that. Do they write with that? Or is that even something possible underwater? That sort of thing. What does their magic look like? How have they worked with certain things? You saw that in Avalir. Brennan Lee Mulligan did such a great job developing Avalir, this flying city, and so much of their stuff is kites and wind magic and things like that, allowing these kite packages to bring things in and stuff like that. So I thought that was super interesting. And I would love to do something like that for underwater worlds, underwater kingdoms, things like that.
Temple of Geek: And then the Mighty Nein roll up and mess everything up.
Dani Carr:
Exactly. They’re a special brand of chaos. I love them. They’re so funny. And then for a novel, well, we’ve got some fun stuff cooking. I’m trying to think. I mean, again, I think Birdie and I think Birdie’s story would make an awesome novel or at least a novella. For a novel, I would be really interested. I honestly think that, again, because you’ve got me in Bells Hells brain, Liliana’s story would make a great novel. I would love to just to work on that. I don’t know if I’d be the right person to write it, because I don’t think I’m the right person to write anything. I just do my best. But I think her story would make a really, really interesting novel because she has so many years that are still not accounted for but years of just trying to figure herself out and wandering and trying to make sense of her life. And I just think that would be a really interesting novel to take to expand upon that. And then, I mean, God, the Calamity. I want an epic of the Calamity so much. Yeah, I want a “Lord of the Rings” epic that is just the Calamity. It’s definitely something we have talked about before. So it is very much not a like, not a like. Things are in the works, but
Temple of Geek: No, conversations have been had.
Dani Carr:
Conversations. It is definitely something we know we want, or at least we want to tell that story. We want to be able to really let that thing be explored. But yeah, those are my big ones. I just think the Calamity would make such an interesting, just thick, pillars of the earth book. I know. I know. You could even do a prequel that’s like, [excuse me.]
Temple of Geek: Like what the Brass Ring was up to.
Dani Carr:
Yeah, or just Age of Arcanum in general. God, a novel about the Matron of Ravens. I would genuinely love to write a Matron of Ravens book. She’s so cool. I love her so much. That’s my mom. But yeah, I love her. And I think a book about her would be just fucking awesome. Again, but I also think that that would be a really cool aspect of this tome about the Calamity, where you could almost start this prologue with that ritual because that’s really the thing that’s kind of the first domino to fall. But yeah, anyway, I think that our history is really neat.
“I Always Have Loved Fearne”
Kiri Callaghan
Temple of Geek: Is there another part of Exandria Lore that you would like to explore in another short story or a novel? Is there something that stands out to you where you’re like, “Ooh, I want to dig more into that.” And it can be a character or it can be a location, whatever.
Kiri Callaghan:
I’m sure there are so many things, and this is kind of breaking. I always have loved Fearne. I’m like, “That’s the kind of goblin energy I can get.” I have no idea what I would do with her character. But when I read that question initially, I was like, “That’s the first thing that came to mind that would be fun.” But I don’t have an idea for it. And I would definitely be like, “You want me to play with some?” Just because I find her so fun and fascinating and just the layers. But honestly, just everything. Anytime I get to do weird fae shit, I get very happy. We’re just like, “Hey, do you want to do something just a little weird with magic?” And I’m like, “Yes, let’s go.”
Temple of Geek: Fearne is so easily a character I could see getting a novel, and there’s all the stuff with Nana Mori. There’s all the craziness connected to her and her parents in the seelie and unseelie, whatever. There’s so much there. And one of my favorite parts about Fern, other than just her fantastic, “I’m going to do what I want” energy, which I love, is when Nana Mori does the most unhinged shit and everyone is like, “What is happening?” and Fern’s like, “What? This is fine.” She’s like…
Kiri Callaghan:
Why are you freaking out? Yeah. I love finding things that are just that fantastical chaos. And I use this word very loosely, grounding it somewhere that feels real but does not take away from that fantastical aspect. Yeah, putting it things where it’s like, “This feels very real to me,” even if it’s talking about things that is just like, “That shouldn’t make sense. This is crazy.” And where you find yourself going, “Oh, why am I relating to this immortal being?” Delicious.
“Critical Role: The Mighty Nein – Stories Untold” is available now. The book includes stories written by Betsy Aoki, Kiri Callaghan, Dani Carr, Mae Catt, Mike Chen, Rin Chupeco, Nino Cipri, Nadia El-Fassi, and Chase K with a foreword penned by Taliesin Jaffe.
