From the jovial King Gus and his loyal hounds to the sadistic Hollis Kinnywater and his towering patron the demon Tsul’rekshi, to Occtis Tachonis’ baker’s dozen of terrifying, twisted siblings, Brennan Lee Mulligan has populated Aramán, the world of Critical Role Campaign 4, with countless memorable NPCs. There are plenty of powerful, eye-catching entities in Aramán whose stories have yet to be told. But one unassuming NPC has quickly become a fan favorite and a lynchpin in plots at several tables: Demodus Blix.
Who is Demodus, how does he know the table(s), and what’s all the fuss about a scrappy street busker from Timony? Here’s what you need to know about key Critical Role NPC Demodus Blix.
Who Is Demodus, and How Does He Know the Party? (Basics and Pre-Campaign Ties)
Described by Brennan as a handsome young gnomish man with “darkish brown skin,” an “ice cream swirl of hair” and translucent eyes that reflect the color of whatever is behind him, Demodus Blix is a young gnome who first appears via flashback in episode 20, “The Vanishing.” In the memory, Bolaire recalls seeing Demodus, proudly dressed in Penteveral colors, busking on a street corner and using his magic to perform a comedy act involving changing the color of a candle’s flame and turning down money from a wealthy illusory dragon.
A charismatic performer with ample amounts of school pride and a flare for the dramatic, Bolaire was impressed with Demodus’ act and dropped 5 gold in his hat. This prompted Demodus to rename the apple box he performs on the “Bolaire Center for Performing Arts,” and marking the beginning of Bolaire’s informal patronage of the young wizard.
In addition to being Bolaire’s unofficial mentee, Demodus’ time at the Peneteveral also brought him into contact with two other members of the party pre-campaign. Murray (Marisha Ray) was one of Demodus’ Penteveral professors, while Occtis (Alex Ward) was an older classmate also studying magic, albeit one with decidedly deeper pockets as a member of House Tachonis.
Trouble With Tachonis and The Crow Keepers (The Palazzo Plot)
Flash forward a year to the beginning of the campaign and Thjazi Fang’s execution, where the Chamber of Lords-Advisory has outlawed the use of unregulated magic in the marketplace, effectively cutting off Demodus’ ability to both perform and provide for himself. But with a number of jobs open at the Penteveral in the chaos following Thjazi’s death, Bolaire is able to pull some strings and keep his promise of getting Demodus a teaching position at the university.
Conspicuously, though, Demodus doesn’t show up to his first day of teaching – prompting scorn from the Penteveral’s newly installed Dean Kora Keplenvaisreck (who also pushes Murray not to offer him an internship with the Archanade), but concern from Murray and Bolaire, who note how uncharacteristic it is for such a passionate magical advocate to miss his first day at what had effectively been his lifelong dream job.
As it turns out, Bolaire and Murray are correct to be suspicious – through Hal’s theatre connections and Azune’s investigative resources as an Arcane Marshall, the schemers table discover that Demodus had been hired by Dean Kora to do a job for Trimus Tachonis. The job in question was, unbeknownst to Demodus, indirectly aiding in the slaughter at Palazzo Davinos; Demodus was enlisted to create an illusion of fey magic, though he had enough sense to flee the Palazzo before agents of House Tachonis killed him alongside the rest of Houses Davinos and Royce.
Frightened and desperate to flee the city, Demodus turned to the gnomish smuggler Pimley Morn for help finding safe passage out of Dol-Makjar, but Pimley (who initially intended to help) ultimately betrayed Demodus to The Crow Keepers, a thieves’ guild operating in the undercity.
Racing through the city to find Demodus before House Tachonis can, the schemers successfully find and rescue Demodus from the sewers where he’s been beaten and held captive, though not without Demodus making an inadvertent spectacle with his loud, flashy magic. Demodus has plenty of useful skills (including Blix’s Bungling Blitz, a homebrew that displaces clues at crime scenes), but subtlety and stealth are not among them.
A Wanted Man (Hiding with Bolaire and Testimony Before House Einfasen)
In the wake of Demodus’ rescue, a disagreement breaks out among party members about what to do next: Azure wants to smuggle him out of the city, while Bolaire insists he can simply bunker down with him while things blow over. Though Demodus pushes back at being treated like a child (even growing some Illusory facial hair to prove his point), he agrees to stay with Bolaire, and the two return to the masked curator’s apartment for a heart-to-heart where Demodus reveals his familiar, a chameleon named Figment.
Bloodied, beaten, and disheartened with the institution he’d dreamed of working for, Demodus spends days of solitude in hiding at Bolaire’s apartment while the schemers (namely Murray and Azune) work to secure a feasible escape plan: Murray has arranged for Demodus to serve as the new archmage to King Augustus Valian, and Demodus will leave Dol-Makjar with the protection of the King’s Caravan, bound for Timony.
Given that Demodus was A) born and raised in Timony and B) used to busking to make ends meet, the promise of a well-paying position for the King of his home nation is a more than promising plan. But there’s one caveat. Azune needs Demodus to give testimony before House Einfasen before he can leave town.
With the help of some good rolls on Azune’s part and Demodus there in person to demonstrate his color-changing flame trick, Azune successfully persuades House Einfasen to accept Demodus’ testimony, and the young gnome is able to leave the city with relatively little hassle on his way out, Murray even presents him with a handmade ‘diploma’ in lieu of his actual studies at the Pentevral being cut short.
Critical Role Campaign 4: Archmage Demodus in Sloak (Confronting Pimley and Bolaire)
Safely ferried out of Dol-Makjar by King Gus and his hounds, Demodus spends the next stretch of episodes laying low offscreen in the sleepy town of Sloak with the rest of the Timonish Caravan until the new Seekers table arrive in episode 35, “Lead the Way.” Demodus, true to form, immediately blows any chance at stealth by loudly and enthusiastically identifying occtis by his full name the second the Schemers arrive in town.
Though he still has a few things to learn about subtlety, Demodus (as a fifth-level illusion wizard) is thriving in his new position as archmage: not only does he have a legitimate, well-paying position (for once) that makes use of his many magical gifts, but he’s also able to perform again, with King Gus serving as an eager, enthusiastic audience for any tricks and gags he’s able to dream up.
It’s even more of a rug-pull for Demodus, then, to see Bolaire and the rest of Seekers arrive with Pimley Morn, the man who handed him over to be beaten and held captive by the Crow Keepers, in tow. Demodus immediately voices his frustration, asking King Gus to have Pimley arrested and pushing back when Kattigan argues Pimley deserves a second chance. The situation goes from bad to worse when Ulbid inadvertently reveals to Demodus that Bolaire is a mask wearing a body, not vice versa.
The revelation prompts a long-overdue explanation from Bolaire about the nature of his existence, and what starts as a gentle (borderline condescending) explanation devolves into a heated philosophical debate between mentor and protege. Demodus insists Bolaire isn’t giving proper consideration to the cost of his existence (“eating” mortals to maintain a vessel), but nonetheless, offers himself as a body to be worn by Bolaire.
Bolaire gently but firmly turns Demodus down, and the debate ends somewhat awkwardly, only for Bolaire to turn around and accept Pimley’s offer of wearing Bolaire as ‘penance’ for betrayign Demodus. In the end, it’s Pimley who walks out of Sloak wearing Bolaire, leaving Demodus to watch as his mentor leaves hand-in-hand (face-in-mask?) with the man who sold him out.
Though his friendship with Occtis and bonds with Murray and Bolaire had initially cemented Demodus as a useful (if slightly volatile) ally to both the Schemers and Seekers tables, the one-two punch of Pimley’s betrayal and Bolaire’s revelation has given Demodus plenty to think about offscreen while the player characters forge ahead in pursuit of House Tachonis. What does the future hold for the newly-minted Archmage of Timony? Only time (and the dice) will tell.