Carpaccio Caviar

Carpaccio Caviar
Fan art of Caviar bursting from Laudna's chest (in her Form of Dread), by @cpprcoyote.
Type	Companion (Laudna)
Actor	Matthew Mercer
Character Information
Pronouns	he/him
Also known as	Caviar
Creature type	Monstrosity
Race	Hound of ill omen
Place	Shadowfell (source of power)
Connections	Laudna
Status
Status	Alive
Appearances
First seen	"Crisis of Faith" (3x61)
Last seen	"True Heroism" (3x91)
Stream	Campaign Three (7 episodes)

Carpaccio Caviar, also known simply as Caviar, is Laudna's hound of ill omen, a "howling creature of darkness" brought forth by her Shadow Magic. As a companion, he is controlled by his summoner, Marisha Ray, with assistance and communication from the Dungeon Master, Matthew Mercer.

Description

Caviar looks like an undead hound, very reminiscent of the ones that used to roam Whitestone when it was ruled by the Briarwoods. Each time he is summoned he comes out of Laudna's dark ribcage.

History

Laudna manifested the then-unnamed Caviar for the first time in Hearthdell, at the beginning of the apogee solstice. The shadow sorcerer was in a new continent, far away from Imogen and half of Bells Hells, and she had been trying to be strong; however, when she and her friends tried to deal with followers of the Dawnfather and ended up in a battle, Laudna's anxiety made her remember a lot of traumatic events, including the image of the undead hounds Delilah Briarwood used to command back in Whitestone. She used that visual reference to summon a creature that would fight for her, and her hound appeared, helping kill a judicator. Days later, after Bells Hells reunited, they traveled to the Grey Valley, where they fought a devourer, and Laudna summoned her hound again, showing it for the first time to some of her friends.

As time went by Laudna started using her hound more strategically, summoning him to strengthen herself and her allies, or to make sure her enemies got weaker. That way, Caviar helped in the battle against General Ratanish, and again against Ludinus Da'leth, although the archmage, despite being just a Simulacrum, wasn't to bothered, and the hound was destroyed. When visiting Whitestone Laudna was literally haunted by the ghosts of the Briarwoods' old victims, so she summoned her hound to fight them.

In the Fey Realm, during one of the trials organized by Morrigan and Fresh Cut Grass, Caviar was summoned once more to assist his master. Only a few days later, after Bells Hells visited Kreviris in Ruidus, they fought Otohan Thull in the tunnels leading back to the surface, and Laudna summoned her hound; FCG wondered if he had a name, and they and the sorcerer decided to finally name him "Carpaccio Caviar". The shadow hound, however, wasn't strong enough to attack Otohan directly, so instead he supported Laudna and her allies with his presence.

A few days later, in Rexxentrum, after the adventurers returned from the ruins of Aeor with a device that could help them seal Delilah inside it and keep her with Laudna without taking away her power, Essek Thelyss, who was assisting them, commented they needed to put the crystal inside Laudna's chest. To make it easier, she opened her own sternum by summoning her hound, and when they saw him both Imogen and Fearne greeted him warmly, calling him a good boy.

During a test created by the Matron of Ravens Laudna summoned her hound to assist her in battle, making her enemies more vulnerable, although unable to hit them himself.

Appearances and mentions

• Campaign Three: Bells Hells
  • "Crisis of Faith" (3x61) (first appearance)
  • "Reunited" (3x64), mentioned only
  • "Aid of the Tempest" (3x66)
  • "Embattled in Bassuras" (3x70)
  • "An Ancient Flame" (3x75)
  • "The Promise and the Price" (3x77)
  • "A Test of Trust" (3x80)
  • "True Heroism" (3x91)
  • "Cages" (3x103)
  • "A Test of Fate" (3x109)

Trivia

• Carpaccio Caviar's name follows Laudna's tradition of naming companions (living or constructed) after meat delicacies, like she did with Pâté and Sashimi.
• Although Laudna usually summons him by opening her own chest, in the test of the Matron of Ravens she used a dog's skull instead.

References

Art: