Critical Role: Nott's backstory

[talkswithwind]

We got that in this Thursday's episode. I'm not sure I believe all of it yet.

You see, Sam is a trickster-god, and I don't put it past him to have more in the tank backstory-wise.

What we've been told

• Nott was a Halfling named Veth.
• Nott had a crush on a boy and a pregnancy happened.
• They got married, and it actually worked out.
• She and her husband got picked up by a pack of Goblins during a raid on Felderwin.
• She and her husband tried an escape, and pissed off the Goblins.
• The Goblins had some lady who said, Make her suffer before she dies.
• They tossed Nott/Veth into the river where she drowned.
• She woke up a Goblin.
• She left Felderwin to fix the goblin thing before anyone noticed.

Nice and tragic, and the strange-woman thing fits in with bits from two other character's backstories (Caleb and Molly), which the fan community has noticed. We also learned this episode that Caleb had another name back when he was being trained as a child-soldier-firestarter, It was an intense first half of the episode.

However, Nott has said a couple of times, including in this episode, that she's 9 years old.

9 years old.
Has a kid old enough to make complete sentences.

That's a Goblin fertility cycle, not a Halfling one.

This is why I think Sam/Nott is still selling a story, rather than telling the truth. We can even keep the strange-woman thing.

Complicating any discussion of Nott is the magical ways you can change a person's species. There are two published spells that can do it:

1. True Polymorph. A 9th level spell, and would show up when Detect Magic is cast. Which has been done repeatedly in Nott's presence.
2. Reincarnation. A 5th level clerical spell that has you roll on a d100 chart to find out what you come back as, and Goblin isn't on that list.

Nott's stated backstory requires homebrew, which Matt Mercer is totally willing to do. In any case, both Clerics will gain access to Reincarnate when they hit 9th level. So we may be seeing Nott's transformation into not-Goblin before too long.

What I suggest is that Nott is still shading the truth to hide her true origins. It requires more powerful magic, but I'm not putting it past Matt Mercer in allowing it so long as it provides drama-value.

• Nott was born a Goblin. Hated it.
• Through some means gained access to True Polymorph.
• Used True Polymorph to become a Halfling.
• Went to Felderwin and introduced herself as Veth. Being fertile as a Goblin, her apparent age as a Halfling was late teens.
• Fell in love with a boy and got pregnant by him.
• Got married, and it worked. Learned some alchemy.
• Got picked up in a Goblin raid.
• Tried to escape with her husband, but got recaptured.
• Goblins recognized her as the runaway. Mysterious lady says make her suffer before she dies.
• Throws Nott into the river, and dispells the polymorph.
• Nott can't go home, her son thinks she's a Halfling, so goes looking for someone to Polymorph her back.

A lot like the backstory we were just told, but very different in key ways. Also, I like it better since it keeps the Nott is a trans-allegory thing going.

Comments

I call Shenanigans

[ducened]

True Polymorph is a ninth level spell. Which no one will have access to until they're a 17th+ level magic-user. They just got access to 4th level spells when they hit 7th level (Wall of Fire! Wall of Fire!). Reincarnate is 5th level, which they can't access until level 9 (thanks, D&D, for making this confusing!). Given suggested prices for random-magician-casting-spells, I don't know how a single 1st-level character would collect that much money.

There is a lower-level Polymorph, but that one is temporary - and I don't know what level of spell it is off the top of my head. Definitely higher, possibly 4-5-6. I don't think Nott whole-body glows under Detect Magic; for that matter, I think Dispel Magic can cancel even True Polymorph (if cast at high enough level, or if a mega-DC is met). Plain Polymorph would be less expensive to cast than True, but it's still financially out of reach for most people (remember Caleb telling Jester that 50gp was more than his family would make in their entire lives?).

Also, Luke is 5. Goblins live to 50-60 (compared to humans 90-100), which suggests that Nott's declaration of fertility (6-9 yrs) slots pretty accurately with the human 12-18. Even assuming Nott is nine, that would mean she (as a goblin) gave birth to him at 4, or roughly human-age 8. It's possible that she was lying about Luke's age, but there's an entire village of people willing to provide the boy's age if/when asked. I trust her when she says 5.

I think there could be more to Nott's backstory than Sam has let on, but overall I believe what she's told the M9 so far about her family is correct.