Narrative Telephone Ep. 7: Caduceus' Cautionary Chronicle 

Liam: *Uses German words* Taliesin: Peace was never an option

liam: haha german words taliesin: *so you have chosen death*

Everyone: **complimenting Marisha** Marisha: **is uncomfortable** Travis being a good friend: “You’re ugly” Marisha: “That’s better, now I’m comfortable.”

My theory is that Taliesin made the story difficult so he can feed off of the cast's agony and suffering thereby extending his life by another 1000 years.

Taliesin: Tells a complicated worded but relatively simple story. Laura: Throws out most of the complicated wording but gets most of the story right. Liam: Throws out most of the story.

Taliesin's voice: Caduceus Clay Everybody else's voice: How about concussed Pumat Sol? Ashley's voice: Yeah, I know Caduceus, it's the half-orc one, right? Matt's voice: Let's put this back on track... kinda

I've always had difficulty picturing what psychic damage looked like in D&D, but now I know.

"Clarabell, Collin, and Calliope Clay were carting the cadaver of a cleric of corellon named Christophe Cazmar..." Jfc Talesin you murdered them

Taliesin: cleverly concocted and carefully crafted chronicles that channel the characteristics of the Clay siblinds creatively by reflecting on their choices Matt: hark hark arkhart cart off the chart

Can Caduceus Clay create content Critters can comprehend?

I'm actually staggered by the sheer force of Talesin Jaffe. HE USED A KENKU, A CREATURE THAT LITTERALLY PLAYS NARRATIVE TELEPHONE TO TALK. WTH TAL JESUS WE GET IT WE'RE ONLY MORTALS!

In defence of Marisha, it's totally in brand for Cad with his 19 wisdom, 9 intelligence, to know the entire story in alliterations but forgot is he was there as well

AWNP: Unplugged - Cure Wounds Narrative Telephone - Inflict Wounds

Taliesin: manga Laura: anime Everyone else: Netflix adaptation

I like how every time they get something wrong about the lore it makes Matt's brain short circuit. If they really wanted to torture him, just give him a story where all the details are wrong. Just like, Trostenwald being the capital of the Menagerie Coast, mix up the Raven Queen and the Bright Queen, make The Gentleman a fire genasi. He'd go mad.

Taliesin’s story: Caduceus Clay here, I’m going to tell you a story about my siblings and a particularly spooky encounter they experienced. Clarabelle, Colin and Caliope Clay where carting the cadaver of a cleric of Corellon, named Kristoff Kasmar, through the Savalirwood, towards its resting place within the Blooming Grove Cemetery. As the Clays made there way beneath the canopy of crooked conifers they couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched. Caliope halted the cart and confidently called out “Whoever follows us in these woods show yourself, for Melora help you, I will defend this cleric charged to my care” From the trees a whispered voice called out “Help” Caliope who’s caution was certainly lacking, sprung into action carelessly leaving her kin to guard their cargo. Minutes passed with no sign of Caliope making Colin and Clarabelle nervous. Colin, who had seen his fair share of creepiness in his chosen occupation, immediately thought of the cleric in the cart. For Colin knew Corellon the arch heart was known to these woods and could be calling to their own cleric’s cold cadaver. Colin bellowed “Arch Heart give me a sign so that I may be of service to you” A ghostly voice then called back “Be of service”. Colin dashed towards the woods leaving Clarabelle alone with the corpse in her care. Clarabelle carefully considered the curious call. Being the cleverest of all the Clays she contrived a game to confirm her theory. “Strange voice” she said “are you near or far.” “Near” called the whisper. “Are you before me or behind me” “Before” Clarabelle walked cautiously into the woods, “Am I cold or warm.” After a brief stroll into the tree line she heard “Warm.” Beneath her feet where the ancient bones of a kenku. Clarabelle called out to Colin and Calliope with the ghostly echo adding to her caterwaul. Calliope asked “How did you find them” Clarabelle explained “Calliope, you only listen for danger. Colin, you listen for a sign. I simply heard someone who was lost.” The three Clays considered the Kenku corpse causing it to bloom, which in turn released its spirit. And that spirit still wanders the Forrest, playfully copying the cries of nervous travellers who stray to deep into the Savalirwood. Hopefully this makes it easier for people to follow :)

Taliesin is saying actual real words, I know he is, but as soon as he closes his mouth they're gone from my mind, and all that's left is a vague feeling that I know a story that I didn't before.

This is the fastest I’ve seen a story be destroyed, the alliteration didn’t even make it past Taliesin. Press C to pay respects

Taliesin said in Talks Machina that Caduceus was homeschooled and almost illiterate. Now we know why. They only taught him words that start with C...

The best part of every story for me is Matt’s bemused confusion when he’s straddling the line between his essentially godlike DM’s knowledge, and the ABSOLUTELY INCORRECT things his players are telling him, and which he has to repeat.

I love how this show is usually everybody slinging blame at each other but this time around everyone just united against Taliesin while he sat there laughing like a supervillain

Taliesin: a lesson about listening to the content of a story. Matt: let’s give a god a lift in our cart before going to a higher plane of reality.

Someone needs to start animating these. Just because I would love to see the animations becoming more and more fucked up with every take and adding features like a cowboy hat when the accent goes southern etc. This would be comedic gold if someone had the talent.

Liam: “hear have some German words, haha lol” Talisin: “I “C” what you did there”

I love how this game turns Ashley, an accomplished and talented actress, into a kid who improvs a book report on a book they read like 4 years ago

Ah, yes, time for Narrative Taliesin featuring Telephone.

I love how Narrative Telephone also serves as a Bailey-Willingham House Tour.

the entire cr cast: whatcha got there taliesin taliesin with the most complicated story ever: *a smoothie*

Taliesin: Clarabelle, Colin and Calliope Clay were Carting the Cadaver of a Cleric of Corellon. Me: Hey, Imma have to cancel our plans for tonight.

I don't think any of them made the connection, even after hearing the story twice more that the Kenku can only repeat which is why the first two siblings hear the answer they wanted to hear and the clever sibling, the sister, asks questions that it can use the words from in order to answer, that's so smart. Love Taliesin

Liam: writes a story that turns out to be a deep metaphor about his character’s backstory Taliesin: writes a story with a metaphor about how hard narrative telephone is

I really liked Taliesin’s story. It basically a story of a character who can only repeat the words of others. It’s a meta-version of telephone in the game of narrative telephone.

*Taliesin:* Clarabelle, Colin, and Calliope Clay cart a cleric's cadaver through the crooked conifers. *Everyone else:* Hi, I'm Caduceus and this is my spooky tale. Hello? Helloooo! HELLO? HelloOoOOooOoO! * jazz hands *

My therapist: "the southern Caduceus isn't real, he can't hurt you." The southern Caduceus: "Hello! hello, hello, hello, hello..."

Travis: *looks like he's holding it together* Also Travis: ThE sPiRiT oF tHe ArChEArT wAs AcTuAlLy ThE oNe TaLkInG

Taliesin - an awesome, alliterative story Laura - panics Liam - panics more Sam - commits to making up details Travis - commits to self-confusion Marisha - time to theorize! SPOOoooOOOKY Ashley - panics, but in Texan Matt - ...the fjuck is this mess? Possibly my favorite cast arrangement yet for NT. Never stop. "KANKOO!"

*Sam:* "The voice came from a corpse, but not Arkhart, the cleric in a cart, another corpse." *Travis:* "IT WAS COMING FROM THE CLERIIIIIIC!!!!!!!! Back in the cart."

Everyone at CR: "Hey Taliesin, why is there a huge box full of c's over here?" Taliesin:: "Don't worry about it."

"This kenku is just DEAD, that's why it's a CORPSE!"

Taliesin: The voice came from a Kenku corpse who being a Kenku could only copy the calls and cries of passing travellers. Laura: The voice was coming from a Kenku corpse and there is a reason for this. Liam and Sam: So the voice was coming from a Kenku corpse not sure what is the take away here but cool cool. Travis: *iT wAs CoMiNg FrOm ThE cLeRiC!*

travis's story: "hello I am Grog and this is a list of my 50 favourite ales"

The real question is... how much heart could the Archeart cart if the Archeart could cart heart?

I feel like Liam just filmed himself having a mental breakdown.

Narrative telephone in a nutshell: BEGINNING: *whimsical, flowery tale told in-character* THE VERY NEXT ROUND: "Hi, [character] here with a spooky tale for you"

I like how Liam kept only 40% of the story but 100% of Laura's ad-libs

Critical Role plays Scattegories "Alright the letter is...C" Taliesin: "Hold my beer"

It was never Percy who had no mercy, it was Taliesin all along.

Laura: “Are you there, voice?” “Yep” “Ok” 🤣🤣🤣

“Are you there, voice? It’s me, a victim of Talisien Jaffe.”

Tals search history while writing this story: “clever C names” “Long C words” “does a K count as a C?” “Are C words hard to remember?”

Nobody: *Taliesin gets to hell* Satan: “I wanna just say, I’m a huge fan”

I think Matt was trying his hardest to sound like Caduceus, but Pumat kept wanting to speak at the same time.

Taliesin's Caduceus: elegant and complicated retelling of a story of his siblings Matt's Caduceus: absolutely wasted bar retelling

Taliesin: So my siblings went to bring the corpse of a Cleric of Corellon to its final resting place- Marisha: SO MY SIBLINGS CARRIED A DEAD GOD AROUND ON THEIR CART-

It's taken me about five viewings of Talesin's version of the story to actually follow the plot and meaning. The Clay siblings heard a ghostly voice speaking indirect sentences, Calliope and Colton assumed it was either a trap or a riddle, Clarabelle realised it was just a Kenku spirit, repeating what it hears as they tend to do. That's the story in its entirety, and like Talesin said, the way he told the story is that he obscured simple details by wording them in a misleading way (I.E, using a lot of alliteration), much in the same way that the spirit in the story was selectively repeating words that lead to false assumptions.

and just like that Taliesin gained another 1,000 years of life off the suffering of the cast and all the critters who are having PTSD whenever they hear a "C" word again. I swear he looked younger by the end of the video

I just love it when we get to Matt's turn, it always ends up with him trying to tell a story while being ACCURATE to his lore. Like you can see him trying to process the craziness he has to retell while constantly fact checking himself.

No one: Taliesin: *sometimes I wake up having dreamt of a terrible thing*

Ashley: So Caduceus is now southern Matt: It's high noon.

As soon as Taliesin started speaking all I could think was, "Wow, he really did it to them."

Didn’t know eldritch beings liked alliteration so much

taliesin you broke a perfect group of nerdy voice actors look at them, they got anxiety

Laura, going 2nd: _struggling to barely hold it together_ Liam, going 3rd: _absolutely breaking down and falling apart_ Taliesin: _laughing demonically_

Liam's whole recounting of the story sounded like a man slowly going insane

I am 2 minutes in... Reaction at all the "I hate Talison.." intros: Wow that seems a bit harsh... Reaction at 2 minutes in: I understand now.

"This ken-kooo is just dead." *thinks for a moment* "That's why it's a corpse." I love Ashley Johnson.

All I’ve learned from this is that A) Sam’s family is flipping adorable And B) Never get on Taliesin Jaffe’s bad side

I love how an offhanded comment Liam made about 'a semblance of reality' turned into the entire moral of the story.

My favorite parts about this episode: 1: Laura's mind palace is a little jig 2: Talisin's wicked glee

I love the irony of Liam mocking Laura’s panic until he spiralled into his own panic. Beautiful 😘🤌

After Matt says he wants to start one more time after everyone else has gone, every episode has him basically going "The DM will remember this."

"This Kenku is just dead. That's why it's a corpse" That checks out.

The start of Marisha's story: "Hey, no crazy eyes this time" 5 seconds into Marisha's story: "There they are"

I only know 2 things after Taliesin's story: it involved 3 Clay siblings and Tal's evil knows no bounds...

Taliesin: So, how many c-words do I want in my story? Caduceus: *y e s*

I kinda feel bad for Laura, Taliesin straight up sentenced the second person to certain death. :D

There seems to be a pattern to Ashley's accents. We need more data to figure it out, but here's what we have so far: - when she's trying to do Jester, she ends up a new yorker - When she's trying to do german, she ends up doing russian/slavic (or alternatively Christopher Walken) - When she's trying to do Caduceus, she ends up southern.

The last time I saw Travis that angry he broke a mechanical pencil.

Taliesin: "Help Me" Laura Bailey: "C O M E"

Everyone : does a Clay voice Ashley Johnson : does a Fjord voice on brand +

"Taliesin, could you do a story for the next narrative telephone?" "K."

The best bit of Narrative Telephone is discovering what the cast members think their friends' characters' accents are

5 seconds into Tallesin's story.... "I'm lost".

Taliesin's terrific tale terrorizes cast causing confusion cackles and curses.

When Matt said this was the Dark Souls of Narrative Telephone I instinctively said “and Liam’s was the bloodborne” only for Ashley to repeat the exact same thing a half second later. I freaked out a bit

Let's be honest, Laura barely dodged the 2x4 and it still clocked Liam.

Me 1 minute into Travis : damn, he is getting so good at this narative thing Also Travis : "THE VOICE COMING FROM THE CLERIC" *Surprised Pikachu face

First Round: An amazing amount of alliteration Last Round: "It's about higher consciousness. It's all about the metaphysical higher understanding of consciousness."

I like how in every one of them, Matt always tells his story with this strong undertone of "What the fuck is going on"

So Taliesin just chanted some eldritch spell and everyone is supposed to repeat it?

Taliesin: the corpse of a cleric on a cart Matthew: they were carriing a diety of some kind, so it must have been a big cart

I love how the entire point of his story was “really listen to what someone is saying don’t just assume you know” makes the entire thing so much funnier.

“This is a moral lesson in itself on why revenge is toxic, a moral of a story we haven’t even started yet.” Wow, well fucking played Marisha.

Ashley had me rolling, it's like a Texan took too many drugs and tried to tell a story that they heard at a bar last week from a guy who also had too many drugs

"Caduceus Clay here, and I'm going to tell you a story about my siblings." Why do I hear boss music?

Taliesen says "I prefer the original aramaic" then sighs in relief when Ashley quickly changes the focus. That was a close one Mr. Jaffe. They almost found out you're an Immortal Eldritch Voidloird posing as an actor.

Taliesin - too many c words Laura - does her best but is very confused Liam - very little story remaining, mostly confusion Everyone else - trying to make sense of what they got, but eventually just becomes a contest of how many times they can say Archheart cart in the story

Taliesin: The Clay siblings are waylaid doing their sacred duty performing the last rights for a cleric. Matt: They're taking Eilistraee's Dad on a cart ride and prying open their third eyes with a crowbar.

I literally didn't realise until the last repeat of Taliesin's story at the end that the kenku was just mimicking what was last said and the Clay's kept jumping to conclusions. That seems super obvious in hindsight when my brain's not shutting down trying to parse all the c-words (but also fiendish to the next person who might not remember all the details setting up this twist)

Me: *Reads Title of the Video* Aww... Cute alliteration... Taliesin: Come, commune in my chaos kiddo...