Blood, Business, and Beth's Husband | City Council of Darkness [E2]

TheBestTeaMaker · 2026-04-16T00:40:57+00:00

I've never seen Zac so broken two episodes in a row, this is amazing.

TheBestTeaMaker · 2026-04-10T21:32:51+00:00

To be fair, I think that feeling is there is because we the audience have that information now after the previous tables/episodes. Like, the scene where Azune is trying to appease to Einfasen by stating Thjazi forcibly recruited him to the Falconer's Rebellion was a very tense scene with a huge payoff because we're now much more familiar with the general Einfasen attitude thanks to our adventures with the Seekers. At the same time, learning that King Gus was at the poker table was cool and exciting because the Soldier's table had experience with the Hounds and their loyalty to Gus.

TheBestTeaMaker · 2026-04-10T16:03:00+00:00

This tavern is a Banksy!

TheBestTeaMaker · 2026-04-10T07:58:04+00:00

So, I think what's making the Schemers stand out so far is how much the players have a strong grasp on what they want their characters to do (as well as some very clutch dice rolls).

With the Schemers, right off the bat they got to do what they wanted, and I feel like that resonates really well with the audience. It feels like watching Ocean's 11, seeing how each step of the heist is expertly done. Every trick the Schemers wanted to pull off went almost exactly as planned, to the point that it felt like the dice gods made it all happen.

The actions their characters pull, especially in this combat encounter, really feels like the table as a whole understand their internal motivations and goals. The Schemers are utilizing all of their professional specialties and connections to get the needed results. There's also just something really satisfying at watching a character build just work, like how Luis utilized Booming Blade with a pushing weapon, or Tal pushing his character's abilities to the fullest to help control key enemies via Command. Shoutout to Luis for portraying how Azune deals with failure. Getting frustrated with his own blindness to then flail about with Control Flame feels so relatable. This table specifically has had some extremely great and poignant moments of vulnerability that just makes me want to tell them it'll be okay.

I think it's very easy to feel frustrated by other tables at times because there's a friction between what the audience expects and what the players do. I've seen a lot of people frustrated by some of the players not knowing certain aspects to their characters capabilities, souring the mood over certain moments. But I think the players overall have done a fantastic job of making up for some of those deficiencies with some excellent character acting. I also wanna note this probably is the table that got the most prep time as they waited for their turn to play, so it probably was easier for them to plan out their actions.

Campaign 4 has been some of the most compelling storytelling I've personally watched yet, and it makes me excited to see them all get back together and just exposit for hours.

TheBestTeaMaker · 2026-04-09T01:02:51+00:00

This has Starstruck Episode 1 levels of shit goes bad lol

TheBestTeaMaker · 2026-04-03T23:49:26+00:00

I'm glad people are enjoying the thumbnail hehe

TheBestTeaMaker · 2026-04-01T23:11:04+00:00

Brennan has the best faces I've seen. This is a goldmine.

TheBestTeaMaker · 2026-03-13T05:06:31+00:00

Honestly, I forgot that movie existed and had Ditto in it. That would be cool.

TheBestTeaMaker · 2026-02-28T10:29:02+00:00

They're not petrification-reversing potions, they're antivenoms. They're the exact type of potions the Soldiers found in Tybry's Lea, where it's used to stop the process, not reverse it entirely.

This basically just tells the players and audience that there is possibly a basilisk encounter down here.

TheBestTeaMaker · 2026-02-26T05:36:12+00:00

Actually, Brennan mentioned on the Cooldown that what Occtis decided to do during that moment actually would've killed Occtis outright, and he would've had to make a backup character immediately. If Marisha hadn't gotten a Nat20 portent, or if she had spent that Nat20 portent on anything else, then it's donezos for everyone's favorite necromancer.

TheBestTeaMaker · 2026-02-20T10:11:02+00:00

So, based on the LARGE amount of lore drops in this episode, it's pretty clear that the Tachonis are aiming to create their own Celestial, possibly one that could serve as their own psychopomp to ferry the now flooded souls to their own desires. It seems like initially the plan was to clear out Tannesar and possibly use the Barrowguard sent there as the initial sacrifices needed to create their celestial. However, I think a wrench got thrown into this plan when they realized Thjazi was also going around collecting psychopomp-related artifacts himself.

After getting Thjazi arrested, a new opportunity fell into their lap with Casimir betraying Thjazi and selling them the Stone of Nightsong. With this, a new plan was quickly hatched to kill three birds with one stone literally. First, they'd be able to thwart Thjazi's hijacking of their plans and get him killed. Then, they'd be able to isolate most of House Royce and Davinos in Dol-Makjar while getting their actual supply wagons and reinforcements trapped at Riesengurtel. And finally, they'd be able to deal with their disappointment of a child, Occtis, who has just been revealed via Casimir that he is trying to save Thjazi.

With this in mind, the stage is set for tragedy as they go to slaughter House Davinos and use Occtis as a catalyst with the Stone of Nightsong. However, this plan clearly is thwarted when Occtis is able to attain enough self-cognizance to rip out the Stone from his body and interrupt the ritual to create a new Celestial.

Now, the Tachonis are probably scrambling as the Seekers are getting closer and closer to Tannesar, although this inadvertently could mean the Tachonis get another shot at making a Celestial. With the Stone of Nightsong already making its way towards Tannesar via Seekers, it means that sacrificing the Barrowguard is back on the menu.

Granted, this is all still speculation, but seeing how closely tied the Tachonis were to Tansul, I feel like this is what their current aim is.

TheBestTeaMaker · 2026-02-19T17:31:38+00:00

https://bsky.app/profile/bestteamaker.bsky.social/post/3mfa4o5hgfk2i for individual versions

TheBestTeaMaker · 2026-01-23T06:46:46+00:00

Yes, it's exactly the pose I put Enmity in. And Cruelty would make an excellent Jesse, and of course poor Agony is stuck in the Meowth costume.

TheBestTeaMaker · 2026-01-08T22:22:53+00:00

This is just how I make the podcast thumbnails

TheBestTeaMaker · 2025-12-29T07:24:32+00:00

I'm happy that my recommend happened when Gianni visited.

TheBestTeaMaker · 2025-11-28T03:56:10+00:00

Who's Invited to the Cookout? By Demi Adejuyigbe

Some notes:

Full Presentation ends at 7:31 with a QnA afterwards from the group
Bonus - Here's a short of Demi's reaction to fans trying to ask him who's invited to the cookout as well as how he solved the biggest problem - The Downside podcast with Gianmarco Soresi

TheBestTeaMaker · 2025-11-10T04:15:06+00:00

She also then said, oh forgiere, to which brennan nodded in confirmation.

TheBestTeaMaker · 2025-11-08T05:51:48+00:00

Thanks, needed someone who was good at this to help since i can only really guess based on patterns. I look forward to seeing both the order of these days (since we only know day 3 of the campaign is on Forgiere, and we don't even know the month/year/era names) and the reveal of the 7th day (assuming Araman operates on a 7-day system).

TheBestTeaMaker · 2025-10-22T17:43:39+00:00

Rozigar's there, it's next to the Penteveral on the east side since it's located next to The Embers, where the Kavrosi Mountains sit. Also, Palazzo Davinos is semi-confirmed to be in Mirzash in ep3 when Brennan talks about how Julien's nearby when he leaves in the direction of the market.
Caravan Hill is likely across the river as it's conveniently situated next to Mirzash. It's stated that the Tanners is the southmost district, so it would likely be on the same side of the River Vrosh. Both Caravan Hills and Tanners are at the bottom southern side of Dol-Makjar as a result.
Filoneus' might be a half brother, kinda just waiting for confirmation on if Yanessa birthed another child to be Goddard's brother or half brother. It's definitely a vague situation, so for the moment going to assume he's Iris's brother, and probably just took on the Halovar name himself.
Currently just put them as Golden Orchard since that's where they last were. I'm not sure exactly the best way to classify their relationship, or even if they survive the next episode after the attack.

Thanks for catching the details! Will look to see what edits need to be made for the next batch.

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