Wodenna is a fey woman of terrible reputation in the Feywild.[3] As an NPC, she is played by Matthew Mercer.
Description[]
Appearance[]
Wodenna is a reasonably tall, "half-corrupted, half-monstrous and half-beautiful" fey woman.[1] Pike and Scanlan only caught a glimpse of her left hand, crooked, with very long fingers and hooked nails.[4]
Matt's notes compared her beautiful half to that of an ancient elf of pure blood, wearing turquoise robes. She had long, ankle-length hair that turned tattered the lower it went, and her left half, the corrupted one, was swollen, with black veins and sections of her flesh growing twisted and cracked, and her foot cloven and chipped.[5]
Personality[]
According to Artagan, she's a terrible woman, and somewhat scary, even for him.[6]
Biography[]
Background[]
At some point in the past Wodenna used a tree trunk to make herself a home, creating a visually welcoming interior inside the rough looking structure.[7] Centuries before the Divergence, she ended her relationship with Lord Saundor, contributing to his corruption.[8] Wodenna allegedly had a relationship with another Archfey, Artagan, which also ended on bad terms.[9]
Campaign One Arc 3: The Chroma Conclave[]
When Artagan, introducing himself as a satyr named Garmelie, agreed to help Vox Machina navigate through the Feywild, he warned them about several places, including the Hut of Wodenna.[10]
However, four days later, the group unknowingly passed near the Hut of Wodenna. Curious, Scanlan and Pike decided to inspect the hut by flying on the Death from Above. Through a window they saw a nice interior, and Wodenna sitting on a big chair with a tea set in front of her. When they got a glimpse of her sinister hand and noticed a door opening, Scanlan and Pike tried to fly away, but the broom briefly lost its flying capabilities, which it recovered once they were far enough away from the hut.[11]
The next day, while being interrogated by Vox Machina, Artagan asked them if they avoided the hut of Wodenna, admitting his former relationship with her and stating that she wasn't a hag.[12]
Appearances and mentions[]
- Campaign One
- "The Feywild" (1x59), mentioned only (first mentioned)
- "Uninviting Waters" (1x62), unnamed
- "The Echo Tree" (1x63), mentioned only, unnamed
Trivia[]
- Her name seems to come from Woden, an early form of the name of the Norse god Odin. This name seems to derive from the Proto-Germanic wōdanaz, meaning "rage" or "manic inspiration", although it can also be translated as "leader/master of the possessed".
- In Matthew Mercer's notes her name appeared as Wodena.[13]
- Matt revealed he had plans in Campaign One for the hut of Wodenna as the home of a hag-like archfey, but since they didn't get to explore it, he repurposed it as part of Fearne Calloway's backstory and the figure of her grandmother, Morrigan the Fatestitcher.[14]
- Despite Wodenna's bad relationship with Saundor, she lived within his domain. Still, she was old and powerful enough to have some magical influence on her hut and the terrain surrounding it, being able to open her own door without touching it after she detected the presence of intruders, and briefly deprive their flying broom of its abilities.[15]
- While it was confirmed that she was not a hag, she presented many of the characteristics hags have in stories, including a bad reputation, a monstrous look to her appearance, and a seemingly welcoming home with enticing scents.[16]
- Wodenna didn't like Saundor, and she would have wanted to watch him fall. If things had gone differently, Wodenna could have prepared Vox Machina before encountering Saundor, telling them more about the history of his corruption, what his quirks were, what he was seeking, and would have given them possible knowledge that aided or prevented a battle.[1]
- In order to give the adventurers the information they needed, Wodenna would have demanded information of her own, asking up to five questions to different members of Vox Machina. With each satisfying answer, a small, prune-like fruit would appear in her wooden platter, and she would eat it.[17]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 See "Talks Machina Fireside Special: Q&A with the Critical Role Cast" (Sx33) at 1:41:35.
- ↑ See "The Echo Tree" (1x63) at 3:56:14.
- ↑ See "The Echo Tree" (1x63) at 3:56:14.
- ↑ See "Uninviting Waters" (1x62) at 2:52:19.
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/criticalrole/comments/58hpv4/spoilers_e63_notes_from_behind_the_screen_short/
- ↑ See "The Feywild" (1x59) at 2:16:13.
- ↑ See "Uninviting Waters" (1x62) at 2:49:59.
- ↑ See "Talks Machina Fireside Special: Q&A with the Critical Role Cast" (Sx33) at 1:41:35. "she was also an old-school ex of his from like a thousand years ago"
- ↑ See "The Echo Tree" (1x63) at 3:56:14.
- ↑ See "The Feywild" (1x59) at 2:16:13.
- ↑ See "Uninviting Waters" (1x62) at 2:56:58.
- ↑ See "The Echo Tree" (1x63) at 3:56:14.
- ↑ The name was spelled "Wodena" in Matthew Mercer's notes in the ninth episode of GM Tips with Matt Mercer, entitled "Behind the Screen" (source).
- ↑
Campaign 3 Tale Gate! on the Critical Role YouTube channel at 49:18.
- ↑ See "Uninviting Waters" (1x62) at 2:56:58.
- ↑ See Hansel and Gretel.
- ↑ See a Reddit post on Matt's notes on the Feywild.
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