As “Critical Role” has grown, it has expanded beyond the screen to include comics and novels. These novels and comics further expand upon characters. This includes the Mighty Nein, Vox Machina, and a number of NPCs related to these heroes. However, the publishing arm of Critical Role is taking a new approach to how they tell stories with their next two books. “Critical Role: Der Katzenprinz & Other Zemnian Tales” and “Tusk Love” are both books that exist within the world of Exandria.

Caleb Widogast, aka Bren Aldric Ermendrud, grew up reading Zemnian fairytales. “Critical Role: Der Katzenprinz & Other Zemnian Tales,” includes some of these, written by Liam O’Brien. Jester Lavorre famously bought “Tusk Love” from the Chastity’s Nook in Zadash. The spicy romantacy quickly became an inside joke within the cast. With different members of the Mighty Nein read it throughout the campaign. Beauregard Lionett even read a passage out loud to pass the time.

Part of what is exciting about both these books is the new insight they will give Critters into Exandria. This isn’t an external perspective on earlier adventures or character origin stories. Instead, these are essentially artifacts from Exandria brought into the real world. In an exclusive interview with Temple of Geek, Dani Carr explained why this difference is so exciting with “Tusk Love.”

“Tusk Love” is Written by a Citizen of the Dwendalian Empira and it Shows

Dani Carr:

One of the things that Thea [Guanzon] did really well really quickly was recognizing that this is a book written in the Dwendalian Empire. The Dwendalian Empire is very propaganda-heavy, and so you’ll read it, and there’s certain things where she’s like, it’s very clear. Matilda Merceria is pushing the line a little bit. There’ll be just a kiss of something, and it’s very like, Ooh, this is a little bit saucy for the Dwendalian Empire, but still with the confines, if that makes sense.

It’s very clear she’s a romance author who is working within the system that she has and is like, well, I’m trying to get a book out there, but I’m still going to make it clear that there are things that I don’t agree with and things like that. It’s really well done. I was really, really impressed by how well Thea tried to enter the mind of somebody writing in the Dwendalian Empires.

This approach offers new insight into Exandria. By playing into the propaganda of the Dwendalian Empire, “Tusk Love” offers a completely new experience for Critters. The Dwendalian Empire famously holds prejudice against the Kryn Dynasty. The two were embroiled in war during the time of the Mighty Nein. This and other biases will likely come out in “Tusk Love.” Although it seems the in-universe author Matilda Merceria will be pushing boundaries.

Similarly, “Critical Role: Der Katzenprinz & Other Zemnian Tales” will be Zemnian fairy tales. This likely means that the stories will not only be told with the slant of a Zemnian perspective, but the lessons of this culture as well. Beyond the biases in perspective, Carr also teased another way that “Tusk Love” will shed new light on Exandria.

Tusk Love Offers New Information On a Location Critical Role Didn’t Explore

Exandria is a huge world, and while the heroes of “Critical Role” have extensively adventured, they couldn’t cover every location. One that intrigued Carr, but wasn’t explored, was the Cyrengreen Forest. These mysterious woods are often used to escape the laws of the Empire, housing lycanthropes, and likely other creatures. Carr revealed, “A little preview for Tusk Love, there’s going to be a little bit of information where the Cyrengreen Forest will play a tiny role.”

Part of what is so exciting about this is not only more information about this enigmatic locale, but also “who is sharing it. “Tusk Love” will have the slant of a member of the Dwendalian Empire’s perspective on the forest. This could mean that it is more terrifying, perhaps pointing to a high tension or even momentary bout into horror. It could also mean that the characters are looking to evade the law for some reason. The genre and tone of this part of “Tusk Love,” will, in some ways, determine how the Cyrengreen Forest is portrayed. This within itself will show not necessarily objective facts about the forest, but instead how it is viewed by the Dwendalian Empire.

Critical Role: The Chronicles Of Exandria – The Mighty Nein Part Two Connection to “Tusk Love”

Carr has had experience writing from the perspective of a character within the Dwendalian Empire. “Critical Role: The Chronicles Of Exandria – The Mighty Nein Part Two” recounts a portion of the Mighty Nein’s adventures from the perspective of Iva Deshin. Iva is from the Dwendalian Empire and coincidentally is the one who sold “Tusk Love” to Jester Lavorre. In this artbook, Iva was inspired by the Mighty Nein’s bravery and chased them in their adventures through Wildemount. As she meets individuals who helped and were helped by the heroes, she becomes an adventurer in her own right.

One of the most intriguing passages in “Critical Role: The Chronicles Of Exandria – The Mighty Nein Part Two” is when Iva visits the Kryn Dynasty. She begins to question the propaganda she grew up with about these people. Carr explained how she, like Thea Guanzon, got into the mindset of a character from the Dwendalian Empire and the propaganda they grew up with.

Dani Carr:

Speaking of writing from that perspective, of somebody in the Dwendalian Empire, Iva was raised in the Dwendalian Empire. She has her own preconceived notions about what the world is meant to be, and that’s a journey that she goes on. She gets to the Kryn Dynasty and she’s expecting it to be so scary and so awful. And then she’s like, oh, no, it’s perfectly fine here. These people are lovely. So, she’s like, well, I certainly hope that gets solved because that’s ridiculous.

She’s just so in her own, she’s just got a bug up her butt about it now because she’s just like, well, that’s just not nice at all. It was really important, and it’s one of the things I think was why I noticed it so much with Thea writing Tusk Love because I’d seen it.

I’d had to work from that perspective of, okay, this is a person who was raised in this environment, so how do they react to people who were not raised there to different ideas and different things? Whenever that sheen of propaganda is pulled away, or when they do have that sheen and they’re having to still make art from behind it, what do you do? How do you make your story stand out?

“Tusk Love” Will Offer a New Understanding of Exandria

The story of “Critical Role” and Exandria has expanded across multiple platforms in the last decade. Many of these stories allow Critters new insight into their favorite characters. But these books can give Critters a new appreciation for the overall world of Exandria. Some of this insight will be new locations, but for the most part the most exciting aspect is the perspectives. Bringing in-universe stories from Exandria out into the real world allows Critters to understand it on a deeper level.

Art is a time capsule. It shows how someone felt within the world they lived. This is true in our world and will undoubtedly be true in “Tusk Love” and “Critical Role: Der Katzenprinz & Other Zemnian Tales.” Fairytales are, at their heart, morality stories meant to help children understand dangers as well as right and wrong. Fantasy allows authors to push the boundaries of societal norms and question power by telling stories in a world different from their own.

“Tusk Love,” will be a prime example of this, with Carr teasing how Guanzon got into the mind of a Dwendalian Empire citizen to push the boundaries of the propaganda they experience. Critical Role is bringing the world of Exandria to fans in a much deeper way, and it begins with fairytales and a spicy romantacy. “Tusk Love” will without a doubt be a fun romantacy read, but it seems it will be deeper than that in a way Critters may not have expected.

“Tusk Love” hits shelves on July 1 and is available for preorder now.