Marisha Ray’s Laudna will be the first player character in critical roleThe ongoing Bells Hells campaign will receive a fictionalized story from Penguin Random House.
What doesn’t break promises to further explore Laudna’s tumultuous relationship with Delilah Briarwood, villain of Vox Machina and her relatively isolated traveling years before meeting Laura Bailey’s Imogen Temult. critical role‘s latest novel comes from author Cassandra Khaw, whose bibliography proves to be an ideal match for the fun and scary Laudna with bestselling titles including The salt gets heavy And Nothing but blackened teeth. A bit like critical roleIn the casting of, Khaw also has experience in video games, working as a screenwriter on titles like Falcon Age and Wasteland 3.
In the Campaign 3 episode “Heart-to-Heartmoor”, Ray shocked fans by revealing that Laudna’s origins were rooted in one of Vox Machina’s darkest scenes at the Sun Tree in Whitestone. While Bell Hells fans were already very fond of Laduna’s affectionately unsettling presence, this continued connection to a piece of Exandria’s history added a fascinating layer to her character. The complicated relationship between Laudna and Delilah Briarwood continues to impact the events of critical roleThis is the third campaign, but What doesn’t break will delve deeper into the early days of their somewhat codependent warlock/patron bond.
Fans of critical roleThe third campaign already has a good grasp of the broad outline of Laudna’s childhood as a simple farm girl named Matilda, with a fondness for dolls and an unrequited crush on Whitestone Andy. However, What doesn’t break presents the opportunity to delve into the less explored period after Matilda’s death at the Sun Tree. Laudna indicated that she lived a forced nomadic life before the Bells Hells, kept company by the voice of Delilah Briarwood in her head and her skeletal, horny rat, Pâté de Rolo. Khaw and critical role collaborated to flesh out a story somewhere along Laudna’s lonely road from Whitestone to Jrsusar, where she and Imogen began their adventures with Bells Hells.
critical role set a precedent for successfully turning character stories into comics and novels, but What doesn’t break This will be the first time a Bells Hells character has received such treatment. Previous novels from Critical Role’s ongoing partnership with Penguin Random House include The Powerful Nein: The Nine Eyes of Lucien and original novel by Vox Machina Friends and relatives. Laudna’s story will be added to the growing bibliography of the series, which will be available in bookstores in July 2024.