"4-Sided Dive: Night of the Living Bits" (4SDx17) is the seventeenth episode of 4-Sided Dive, discussing episodes of the third campaign up through "Kindling the Spirits" (3x73) with guests Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson, Liam O'Brien, and Sam Riegel.
Synopsis[]
A slightly possessed Taliesin is the tavernkeeper for the spooky evening. While the cast talk about their characters' most recent adventures, the mop plots. After Broomie's demise at Moppo's hands, Creepy Plastic Santa is now Moppo's co-conspirator so Santa can get closer to his beloved Liam O'Brien.
What the Fuck is up with That?[]
- They acknowledge their costumes, which were determined in the previous episode. Sam is Thirst Trap Waluigi with carefully hidden nipples, Liam is a New Jersey swamp monster speaking in Liam's home dialect for the entire show, Ashley is a luxury puppy (dalmatian), while Taliesin is an alien here to party. Dani is a professor witch.
- Everyone is excited about the Shattered Teeth. It's big, varied and bonkers. The notion of these different islands constantly moving, each with their own vibe. Also the cute little Dolabos. Taliesin could spend a entire campaign there; it's reminiscent of the Happy Fun Ball.
- Liam suggests to forget the Malleus Key and go explore the 43 islands.
- Sam asks if the Shattered Teeth are somehow protected if agony and anguish befalls the rest of Exandria. Taliesin notes it's the only continent that can technically dodge. Dani reminds everyone that Cyrillia, the navigator of the Crimson Abyss, didn't see Ruidus because it's locked above Marquet. There are certain parts of Exandria like the Teeth or Wildemount that can't see Ruidus right now.
- Liam announces that he thinks Ruidus isn't just a moon; it might be something else.
- Taliesin says that Ashton might be some sort of earth Titan. Two Titans (Rau'shan and Ka'Mort) were felled in the Shattered Teeth during Exandria Unlimited: Calamity but that doesn't necessarily mean it's those Titans.
- The idea of Ashton being a Titan is not from Taliesin, it came from Matt. Taliesin usually doesn't tell Matt anything that his character doesn't know.
- Quick pause: Sam's fake mustache is moving like the islands of the Shattered Teeth. Laura Bailey forbade Sam to shave his real life mustache because they were taking promotional photos.
- Everyone loved the giant Frog House. Ashley wants to live there. Everything thinks it feels like Matt's really having fun.
- Everyone also loved the pirate crew on the ghost ship-- Fearne almost banged Captain Novos. It wasn't really what Ashley was planning on, and she tried to make him leave so she could just look around his cabin. It reminded Liam of Scanlan and the triceratops. Fearne could've taken the captain; he's just a bag of bones.
- Matt showed them, behind the scenes, the full exalted stat block of Graz'tchar and it was a long paper. If Liam/Orym had that sword, he'd give up his quest to save the planet and help take it over instead, because it's a very powerful piece. Ashley says it's probably good that they don't have that anymore. There's a lot of lore with that sword. Also, the relationship between Chetney and the sword would get very unhealthy very fast.
- Fearne sacrificed some of her warmth because Ashley really wanted to get that sword back so Travis would have another talking sword. Taliesin wanted FCG to get the sword; that would've been funny. Sam is not so sure.
- Liam loves Fearne because the whole time you're thinking she's either completely naive or she's devious AF or both. Just an imp naive to the ways of Exandria. Like a tall hot Puck.
- Fearne lost 5 hit points permanently but it also came with a pretty cool boon involving cold. She also helped Cyrillia to find love with Novos and they obviously boned. Liam wonders if there will be repercussions from Orym stealing the spyglass. Taliesin thinks they made some friends with the pirates.
- Bells Hells all got tattoos from Vendallo. Fearne got hers on the inner thigh. Orym put it on his shoulder blade, on opposite side to his full sleeve tattoo. FCG put it on one of his shoulders or forearms because he doesn't have a lot of surfaces. Ashton got a full back tattoo with big primordial language and some filigree. It's really more of an etching than a tattoo. Ashley admits she got a butterfly tattoo when she was 15.
- They landed on Kalutha and explored some caves. The fight with the giant worm was really gross and gnarly.
- FCG's been messed up in a lot of their recent fights, and asks Ashley and Taliesin (who were both Clerics) how they handled fights since clerics are primarily healers (Laura might disagree). Taliesin explains that, as a Cleric, you need to figure out where you want to be, close enough to everybody, and put up defenses for yourself. Ashley always loved when she got low initiative with Pike. Liam suggests using the first round to put himself in the middle of the orgy so he can be a giving lover; Sam says that's what he does but he keeps getting knocked down. Maybe Sam is just bad at TTRPG's. He's trying to do things that other Clerics on the show haven't done before; that's why he doesn't use Spiritual Weapon because it's a Jester thing, or Guiding Bolt (up the butt) because it's an Ashley/Pike thing. Taliesin thinks that Bless is perfect for FCG.
- Ashley isn't good at math, but we all know reverse math is hard. Taliesin isn't good at reverse napping, either.
- Keyleth (Kimothée Chalamet) is apparently all about going to the moon. Everybody wants to go to the moon but not yet; Bells Hells are not ready. Keyleth suggested scouting first.
- Maybe all the brilliant minds/wizards of the Age of Arcanum that were not on public records came up with a rocket ship and are up there already. Let's get Essek, Keyleth and Percy in a room so they can figure something out.
Tower of Inquiry[]
Sam takes the first pull successfully, but the tower goes over when the block gets placed on the top. There will be dire consequences, as yet undisclosed.
- If your character was banished to a different universe, what world setting genre other than high fantasy do you think they'd prefer vs what they'd thrive in? FCG would be in a sci-fi situation and thrive in a caveman-type sort of primal medieval, historical drama. Ashton would be in a cyberpunk story. Fearne would have a good time in a Christopher Guest world. Orym would have a good time visiting Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Fan art of Orym's coat of arms, by @MiddiMidori.[art 2]
- If your character had a heraldic crest or coat of arms, what would it consist of? For Orym, it would be the two moons with a sword down the middle with vines and flowers wrapping around it. Fearne's coat of arms would be stolen from other people's coats of arms. For Ashton, it would be a shattered coat of arms with the dunamancy symbol. FCG would have a heart, a coin, and feet.
The Deep Dive[]
- Liam: Orym was instrumental in saving Keyleth from the same toxin that killed Will and Derrig six years ago. How does he feel about that parallel? Not great. There's a lot of weight on everyone. Also mixed emotions: he's relieved and grateful that he could save his leader and repay so many favors that she's given all the Ashari but he wonders why his husband and father couldn't be saved as well.
- Sam: How did FCG feel talking with Jirana about his own need for therapy and letting people help him in order to help others? FCG has realized that he is not the greatest therapist, and doesn't know enough about the human condition to provide insight into any of that. It was an eye-opening experience talking to her about his path forward and what he wants to do. He's looking for meaning everywhere but the answers are unsatisfying.
- Taliesin: Ashton had hopes for a mutiny aboard the ghost ship. What were their plans or goals and are they happy the mutiny turned into a dance party of love? Ashton is a bit upset with authority and also they wanted the ghost ship for their own. But the chaos that got spread was perfectly acceptable. Ashton likes fun but the fun they like is maybe not for everyone. Ashton thinks he's a pretty good dancer.
- Ashley: Fearne is the member of Bells Hells that is the most optimistic about everyone surviving this adventure. Why does Fearne maintain this positive attitude? How does she feel as a fey that is best friends with mortals? She just doesn't know how to deal with it, being in this mortal world. She's pretending that it's not a possibility and everything will be okay. After every terrible moment, she thinks it can't happen again because it's a terrible feeling. A bit like the Cheshire Cat leaving Wonderland to come to Earth.
- Liam: Tell us what it was like for Orym to visit Zephrah and for you to finally meet the family members that you dreamed up, like the triplets and Orym's mothers. Liam has dreamed about this family since the Vex and Percy wedding one-shot. The character Derrig was teeing up Orym.
- Sam: What is the deal with Marisha's flat white coffee joke? She sent a message in the company's Slack with her coffee order, which is a very normal not-weird coffee order. Sam's improv teacher taught him the Rule of 37s, that something is funny after three mentions and then it's boring, but it will be funny again eventually after the 37th time. So he will keep doing it until then.
- Taliesin: Ashton is a titan of blood and has some sort of connection to the elemental titans due to the actions of the Hishari. What does he think of this and how does he feel about the Hishari now? There's overcommitment into this now. Nature abhors a vacuum and most of Ashton's past is just a question mark, but having the possibility to fill these gaps now is intoxicating and Ashton is real into it.
- Ashley: Tell us everything about Fearne's flirtation with the Champion of Asmodeus, Teven Klask. He's just so hot, there's not much more than that. Fearne is very flirty (maybe horny) by nature, for fun. It would be very different with somebody that she cares about on a deeper level; she hasn't yet experienced full love for somebody. Ashley doesn't want to talk about whether Fearne has a serious romantic interest yet, but implies that she does.
Tower of Inquiry #2[]
- Have you ever gone home from a session thinking, what the fuck do we do now?! Is it a barrage of internal questions of: What happens now, what do we do, I need to talk to somebody or do you wait until the next session to figure it out? It's different every time. Sometimes when they know they have an important combat encounter, they will set up a text chain without Matt in it to plan an attack and then... totally ignore it. Sam always asked 24 hours before the game: "So, do we have a plan?" The worm fight was harder than they thought it was going to be.
- How do you choose an accent for a character? It's gotta be something you can keep up for several years. Scanlan is the normal voice of Sam, Taryon is Scanlan's voice but slightly hoity-er, Miss Piggy for Nott the Brave and a weird country thing for FCG. Since German is the inspiration for Zemnian, Liam did a German accent for Caleb. Taliesin thought it was a great idea to learn an accent that you cannot do very well but it's not. Ashley wanted a stronger accent for Yasha but wasn't been able to do it, Fearne's voice popped out in EXU and Ashley kept it.
- Moppo reappears and possesses Taliesin's body to announce he's now aiming higher than a paltry streaming show; he now seeks world domination. If they fail in the gaming segment, the pumpkin man will come alive and eat them all.
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes[]
- Liam: Does Orym have a middle or last name? No last name. His nickname from Will was "Little Moon". His biological father's last name was Tarintel, but he just rolled through town and kept going. Orym's never bothered to try to find him since he had a father in Derrig.
- Sam/Ashley: How do FCG and Fearne feel about the ability to Scry? Do they enjoy being able to look in on people? Very much for Fearne. FCG would Scry on The Changebringer.
- Liam: Keyleth granted Orym the title "Savior Blade of the Tempest". What does that mean to him? He's super grateful. The title feels bigger than him. Orym thinks the odds are heavily against getting home safe again.
- FCG: Does FCG actually believe what the Changebringer is telling them? 100%. Is there any doubt in their mind? Absolutely none. He asked her if the gods are worth saving because he doesn't know anything about the gods. Maybe the Changebringer would tell him to save himself. He trusts her blindly.
- Ashley: Does Fearne hope to possibly do some more matchmaking, now that she's proven to have a knack for it with Novos and Cyrillia? Yes, Fearne loves love. How does she feel about not yet being told Imogen and Laudna are dating? Ashley is waiting every game to be told. Ashton suspects, but has no proof.
- Ashley: What did Fearne think when Graz'tchar spoke to her? Hard not to keep it. She was intrigued by it.
- Liam: What was it like for both you and Orym to visit Derrig and Will's gravesites? Orym was glad that Fearne was there. Liam has thought of these characters for so long, it felt like coming home with them.
- Taliesin: What was it like for Ashton to confront Shady Sally? Very complicated.
Taliesin once again gets possessed by Moppo and has a conversation with Santa until Broomy gets back from the dead and the three of them fight. Broomy wins and asks Taliesin to clean with him.
Trivia[]
- This is the first time in 4-Sided Dive history that the Tower of Inquiry was knocked over during the first pull of the night.
- Sam's consequence for dropping the Tower of Inquiry was to speak like Master Yoda during Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes.
References[]
Art:
- ↑ Thumbnail from "4-Sided Dive: Night of the Living Bits" (4SDx17). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
- ↑ Fan art of Orym's coat of arms, by @MiddiMidori (source). Used with permission.