Liam O’Brien offers a window into Exandria with his new book of fairytales, “Critical Role: Der Katzenprinz & Other Zemnian Tales.” The book features three fairytales set within the world of Exandria, but even more enticing is that the book itself is essentially an artifact from Exandria brought into the real world. While the first two fairytales are fantastic, the third will be a standout for many Critical Role fans.

As fans read “Himmelsschloss,” aka “The Castle In The Sky,” the story and the art will likely seem familiar for good reason. This fairytale is based on “EXU: Calamity,” specifically The Fall of Avalir. In an exclusive interview with Temple of Geek, O’Brien shared how he approached “Himmelsschloss,” aka “The Castle In The Sky.”

The Fall Of Avalir Through The Ages

Liam O’Brien:

“This was very much tied through centuries to Avalir. I kind of thought of it as the Exandrian version of “Jack and the Beanstalk;” another fairytale that I’m assuming you are familiar with is “The Pied Piper.” No one knows for sure, but there are a lot of theories about that story being tied to some real event used to explain maybe plague or an actual kidnapping, like someone just leaving with a bunch of kids. I’ve listened to podcasts and read about conjecture of what it could be.

So the idea for “Himmelsschloss” is, if The Fall of Avalir is a very real thing, and for those familiar with the characters in the story, if Patia placed all knowledge from that city into the hands of one child, and all that knowledge went on, and this story, which is mostly shrouded by time except for in the world of Exandria, probably very, very well researched people in the know, is what is left of it. So, in the same way that I think “The Pied Piper” seems to be some sort of fairytale that has bounced down through the ages to this story with very little real detail, that’s what I set out to do with this story: a fairytale that has just echoes of what actually happened.

But people reading it to their children in Wildemount and the Empire aren’t really aware of where it came from, but we as the audience outside of Exandria, floating like divine spirits, seeing the story of the world unfold, recognize it. I think really what my idea is that if Cerrit made it out of that place, as improbably as he did, he eventually made it to his children. And then I just sort of imagine a world where his children had children and an old Cerrit sat down to tell bedtime stories to some little child, his grandchild, and told a version of what happened.

A version that wouldn’t terrify a child with absolute destruction of so many people, such a Calamity. But that story, he told it to his grandchild, a version, and that child grew up and told it to their child, who told it to their child, who told it to their child. It just bounced down through the ages. And obviously when we designed the book, all my notes were to give echoes of the character designs from Calamity so that it would just subtly be there.

There’s a tree in the story, and it’s not the same. Again, I wanted the details to be muddied by centuries of time, but a branch taken from that tree, a piece taken from that place, different things from the Calamity game, the story are becoming confused and blurred with each other. That branch handed to the child before she got sent off by the Queen’s advisor was given all the knowledge of that place and took it into the future.”

The story of The Fall of Avalir has been lost through the ages. Bringing it to life within Exandria as a fairytale brings a new level of authenticity to the world of Exandria. Details about the age of the Calamity as a whole have largely been lost or forgotten. An age of death and destruction that ended with the gods separated from Exandria by the divine gates.

The trilogy of “EXU: Calamity,” “Downfall,” and “EXU: Divergence” offered new insight into this time. However, “Castle In The Sky” captures the reality of what myths, legends, and fairytales reveal about the world and culture in our own world. The spirit of those events survived through time because it was a story passed through generations. The illustrations are another key piece of bringing “EXU: Calamity” to life in a new way. O’Brien shared a few of the Easter eggs included through the illustrations.

EXU: Calamity Easter Eggs In Himmelsschloss AKA The Castle In The Sky

Liam O’Brien:

“The king appears in a fountain and makes a proclamation. You see Zerxus’ griffin in a maze. Nydas makes cameos there. Again, I simplified the story, and we lost tons of detail because it was lost to many, many centuries of time. But yeah, that’s what I was shooting for. So I’m glad that it is reading.”

The Ring of Brass was forgotten. They made mistakes that played a part in setting off this age of devastation. However, they managed to do some good in their final acts. “The Castle In The Sky” doesn’t change this; it does celebrate the sacrifices made in the face of deadly hubris. Incorporating it further into the world of Exandria through “The Castle In The Sky” is a masterful way to stay true to the fact that they were forgotten while still carrying the story through time.

Interestingly, where “Himmelsschloss,” aka “The Castle In The Sky,” is Cerrit’s perspective, “The Legend of Vox Machina” features Zerxus’ retelling. Each retelling features a different bias. Where Zerxus sees his once friends as the villains, Cerrit’s perspective is clearly different. Both stories changed with the distance of time. Zerxus was twisted likely by resentment, pain, and anger. “Himmelsschloss,” aka “The Castle In The Sky” evolved in the way all fairytales do when passed down through generations.

“EXU: Calamity” has proven to be a huge part of Exandrian history, which is especially intriguing given how it was largely wiped from Exandria’s history books. Campaign 3 and “EXU: Divergence” touched on “EXU: Calamity,” but “The Castle In The Sky” truly brings it to life in a new way. It also shows Critical Role’s ability to creatively expand upon the tapestry of their stories and world by weaving pieces of history into other elements of Exandrian lore.

“Critical Role: Der Katzenprinz & Other Zemnian Tales” is available for purchase now. O’Brien will also be signing copies of “Critical Role: Der Katzenprinz & Other Zemnian Tales” at Golden Apple Comics in Los Angeles on May 3 from 1pm to 3pm.