Caleb Widogast

Caleb Widogast, formerly known as Bren Aldric Ermendrud, is a human wizard and a member of the adventuring party known as: the Mighty Nein. He is played by Liam O'Brien.

Appearance
Caleb has blue eyes and reddish-brown hair. Caleb's long coat hides two holstered heirloom books, one on either side. Caleb has a series of scars on both his forearms, where crystals were embedded into his skin by Trent Ikithon. He wears bandages on his arms and hands in order to conceal these scars. Caleb has a soft German accent.

When Caleb first appeared on Critical Role, he was filthy, unshaven, and had messy hair. He had slept in his filthy travel clothes, including a long coat. After meeting the adventurers that would later become the Mighty Nein, Caleb visited an expensive bathhouse in Trostenwald, but he did not clean his clothes nor wash himself from the neck upward. After arriving in Zadash, Enchanter Pumat Sol cleaned Caleb with magic consistent with the spell Prestidigitation, and it marked the first time the Mighty Nein witnessed a clean Caleb—which upset Nott. Caleb smeared mud on his face when Jester demeaned the amount of money his parents made.

Personality
Caleb is reserved, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself nor his companion Nott. Caleb shows little interest in the secrets of people besides Nott, hoping to avoid answering questions about himself. Caleb's generally dour and isolated manner morphs into an open and jubilant mood upon purchasing new books. He does not consider himself to be remotely brave.

Caleb possesses a deep self-loathing due to the circumstances of his parents' death. He believes that he is fully responsible despite being magically beguiled and the reassurances of both Nott and Beauregard that he was not to blame, he neither wants nor accepts their consolations. He does appear to want revenge against Trent Ikithon, however, having shown a gleeful mania at the thought following his admission of his past.

As a young boy Caleb was focused and persuasive, driven and eloquent, though later in life he used his charismatic personality more so to deceive people.

Caleb is methodical, sometimes to a fault. He has painstakingly counted objects on multiple occasions, once using the length of counting to cheat a merchant and even counting crossbow bolts as he removed them from his own chest.

Caleb has very 'sticky fingers' when it comes to magical objects and will take anything magical if he thinks he can get away with it. He will pursue magical knowledge and artifacts even if it means risking his life.

Background
Born as Bren Aldric Ermendrud, Caleb was from a small town named Blumenthal near Rexxentrum. Based on his ability to read Zemnian, this town may be in the Zemni Fields. His father Leofric was a member of the Empire military.

His mother and father were incredibly poor, to the point that they hadn't made 50 gold throughout their entire lives.

Caleb told Nott that his village or family contemplated sending him to the Soltryce Academy when he was younger, but Caleb "fucked it" and no longer has a desire to attend. This was not quite true: Bren attended the Soltryce Academy at 15 (around 817 P.D.), and came under the tutelage of the abusive Trent Ikithon a year later. Trent singled out three students from Bren's hometown (Bren, Eodwulf, and Astrid ), and used them in human experimentation, embedding crystals into their skin in an attempt to harness the power of Dunamis. All three of them were also trained to interrogate and execute dissidents to the Empire. In addition, at some point during this time, Bren fell in love with his fellow student Astrid.

When Bren was around 17, as a test of his three students' loyalty, Trent modified their memories so they believed that their parents had betrayed the empire. The three killed their parents, but Bren "broke" when he heard his parents' screams from inside their burning house. Bren spent 11 years in an asylum, until a woman removed his fake memories. After that, he killed one of the guards, took a necklace to hide himself from Ikithon, and escaped. He started going by multiple aliases and hid from Trent for the next 5 years. While he still has hopes not to let his parents down, Caleb considers murdering them to be an unforgivable act on his part.

Caleb stated that he does not currently have any children and that he didn't have children in the past. However, he claims to have fallen in love with one of his fellow students at the Soltryce Academy.

Sometime after Caleb's escape from the asylum, Nott and Caleb met in a small jail (where he started going by Caleb Widogast), which they escaped from together. Caleb came up with their escape plan, which required Nott's help. Caleb used Frumpkin to bring a piece of wire into their cell, which Nott used to pick the lock. Caleb proceeded to set the jail on fire and scream for help. The guards promptly fled, and Caleb and Nott walked out of the jail together, staying together first out of convenience, but then for several months.

Pre-Stream
Nott saved Caleb's life before they met the rest of the Mighty Nein. Nott blamed herself for their inability to stay in any place for long without getting into trouble. It was Caleb's idea to stay in Trostenwald to find new companions "to tag along with."

Trostenwald
Caleb's general lack of hygiene attracted the attention of Jester. After revealing Nott's goblin nature in a social misunderstanding, Caleb and Nott eventually decided to spend the day with Jester, Beauregard, and Fjord before heading to the carnival that night.

Unlike Jester's group and Molly, Caleb was not under house arrest for the duration of the investigation into the events of the carnival--thus, he was able to move freely around the town as himself. Caleb eventually discovered a story about Kylre's specific demonic powers in the book Fiends of Folklore. Armed with this knowledge, the group tracked Kylre to Crookedstone Island and killed him. Afterwards, Caleb attempted to take sole responsibility for the kill, but circumstances forced the truth to come out instead. He used Fiends of Folklore and Kylre's death to persuade Lawmaster Norda that the husk attacks were not the fault of his burgeoning group. She let them off without penalty.

Before leaving Trostenwald, Caleb went to a bathhouse with Nott, where he sadly contemplated a burnt spellbook he had purchased in town. On the way out of town, he and Fjord recognized a kindred adult nature that the other members of the group lacked.

Zadash on Lockdown
Caleb tried to identify the Beacon after the Mighty Nein's fight with Thuron. However, he was unwilling to cross the ominous threshold of further understanding, and did not fully identify it.

After the group released Thuron, Caleb was instrumental in regaining possession of the Beacon, using a disguise and Friends to take it from a guard. That night, as he slept in a cellar under The Leaky Tap and guarded the Beacon, Caleb had a strange dream about possible future Calebs.

Caleb avoided answering any questions when the group interrogated Molly about his amnesia under a Zone of Truth.

Caleb hid the spellbook he found in Siff Duthar's laboratory from The Gentleman. The degree to which The Gentleman saw this as a betrayal on Caleb's part is unclear.

When Caleb fully identified the Beacon and embraced its power, he said to his parents that he hoped he wouldn't let them down. When Jester addressed Nott as Caleb's mother shortly afterwards, this greatly confused Caleb.

In the Swamp
Caleb and Beau disagreed about the best course of action when they found the bowl Calianna was searching for. Caleb thought they should interrogate Cali under some sort of guarantee that she would tell the truth, while Beau thought Caleb was being both rude and paranoid. Cali broke up the argument by positing that Caleb could simply use Suggestion to make her tell the truth. Caleb and Beau reconciled the next day, after some prodding from Fjord and Yasha.

Caleb, along with the rest of the Mighty Nein, stole the ship the Mist from the docks in Nicodranas. He suggested renaming it the "Shit" or the "Shittake," as mist in Zemnian is a word for "shit." He told Beau he didn't feel guilty for the theft or killing the previous crew because the Mighty Nein did not attack first. However, he told Nott in private that he did not feel good about what just happened and was unsure about the direction the group was going.

He gave the name "Phillip" as his pirate alias to Captain Avantika.

Caleb and Nott saved the Mighty Nein, Avantika, and Jamedi Cosko from falling after being shot out the top of the temple by a geyser by both casting Feather Fall. Between both spells, they were able to target all nine members of the group.

While being chased by yuan-ti, Caleb and Nott slowed them down by executing a combo moved called "Fluffernutter". Nott threw a keg of black powder then Caleb caused an explosion by casting Scorching Ray on it.

When the Mighty Nein joined the crew of the Squall-Eater, "Phillip" took on the role as apprentice navigator. Upon arriving at Darktow Isle, Caleb (along with the other members of the Mighty Nein) was automatically initiated into the ranks of the Revelry.

Caleb decided to forego sleep to create a cypher for reading Avantika's journal.

Along with the rest of the Mighty Nein, Caleb was expelled from the Revelry after the fight with Avantika.

After defeating Dashilla, Fjord became curious about a magical pedestal in her lair. Caleb seemed hesitant and suspicious of Fjord's intentions. Caleb asked for an unspecified favor in return if he helps figure out this pedestal. Fjord agreed. Caleb and Fjord dropped large amounts of their blood onto the pedestal. Fjord realized it would take more blood than they were able to give and decided they should leave.

Caleb was initially suspicious of Twiggy. He cast Suggestion on her, compelling her to show him all her magic items. The spell was successful, but he felt guilty afterwards. Caleb let Twiggy play with Frumpkin back in cat form and told her she could be an honorary member of the Mighty Nein.

Caleb figured out to how open the Happy Fun Ball of Tricks and bring the party into Halas's manor. When Fjord got pulled into the stained glass window in the library, Caleb searched for a way to help him rather than explore or take books. Caleb stayed back more a few minutes to explore with Nott after she asked him to after everyone else had already gone through the stained glass window portal.

Frumpkin
Caleb is fond of Frumpkin. Outside of times when he uses Frumpkin to advance his goals, Caleb treats Frumpkin like a domestic cat, frequently showing him physical affection. Caleb seems to know that Frumpkin prefers to be in cat form, but is willing to change him to other forms when necessary. Frumpkin is named after Liam’s childhood cat of the same name.

Though Frumpkin has died on multiple occasions, this doesn't seem to bother Caleb or Frumpkin. Caleb has stated that Frumpkin finds dying to be a minor inconvenience. He has let Nott eat Frumpkin twice. Even though Frumpkin's deaths are temporary, Caleb takes it personally when someone other than Nott kills him.

Nott
Caleb, more than once, mentioned that Nott had saved his life the day before the events of, and the two of them covered each other's expenses throughout their drinking escapades in Trostenwald and their trip to the Carnival. In their first scene in Critical Role, Caleb and Nott shared a room together at the Nestled Nook Inn, and they roomed together multiple times thereafter. Caleb stated that they're best when they work together.

Over the months that they have been togther, Nott and Caleb have become reflexively protective of each other. When Caleb had the slightest impression that the other members of the Mighty Nein had figured out Nott's goblin identity, he said that she was a goblin, but that it was not a big deal. Later, during the trial held by the notably anti-goblin Norda, Caleb stood between Nott and Norda and vouched for Nott's moral character.

Nott intimated that she and Caleb had a number of practiced cons (confidence tricks) for procuring coin, including "The Money Pot", "Rat Food", "Prince and the Pauper", and "Spider Eyes".

When asked about their relationship, Caleb stated that he considers Nott to be like a little sister to him. On the other hand, Nott considers herself to be a mother figure for Caleb, though she has not told him this.

Even after joining the Mighty Nein, Caleb still considered himself and Nott separate from the rest of the group. Caleb told Nott while they were alone that he liked the group very much, but still wasn't sure if he trusted them. By the time the Iron Shepherds kidnapped Jester, Fjord, and Yasha, Caleb and Nott both cared enough for their friends that they were no longer concerned with finishing the job for The Gentleman. The two of them now think of the whole group as their new family.

Beauregard
Caleb is impressed with Beauregard and her physical fitness. Without having witnessed a battle that happened before Caleb met them, he credited the success of Jester, Beau, and Fjord against the giant snake to Beau's "guns". She is probably the person he trusts most after Nott. This is evidenced by the fact that he revealed his dark past to her. Caleb has mentioned some of his trust stems from the fact that they are both "empire kids".

Despite frequent disagreements, Beau and Caleb have grown closer, with something of a sibling like relationship developing between them. Beau is the one of the few members of the Mighty Nein that Caleb has allowed to command Frumpkin. After Beau lost her pet owl, Caleb transformed Frumpkin into a "1 ounce owl" and loaned him to her for a week. He said he wanted to thank her for not telling anyone about his past.

Caleb frequently places his hand on Beau's shoulder when seeing through Fumpkin's eyes. When Caleb began to open up to the rest of the group about his dark past in, he repeated this shoulder touch, but this time for emotional support.

Jester Lavorre
Jester was friendly but blunt toward Caleb when they first met. The first thing she ever said to him was that he smelled really bad and that he should take a bath.

When Jester returned from the Pillow Trove and revealed that she had not gotten the care package from her mother, Caleb offered her some of his gold to cheer her up, but she declined, and the two began to quarrel over what constituted "a lot of money". Caleb claimed 50 gold was more money than his family had ever made, to which Jester responded that that basically had been her daily allowance growing up; frustrated with her inability to be happy with the money they did have, Caleb smeared mud over his face and then stormed off, though Jester did later apologise for disrepecting his upbringing.

Jester was not very respectful when Caleb talked to his parents while touching the Beacon, later mocking him for it to others. Caleb worries most about how Jester would react to his past if she learned of it. He feels very uneasy about the fact that he accidentally called her "Astrid" while drunk one night. Caleb later confirmed that Astrid had been his girlfriend. He showed concern for Jester's feelings about Fjord, but said he couldn't help her figure out flirting.

Caleb likes that Jester cheers him up. He thinks she is an "amazing woman" but suspects that her cheerful personality is an act.

Fjord
Upon joining forces, Fjord and Caleb quickly developed a collaborative working relationship. They both have the ability to magically change their appearance. As an aspiring magic-user himself, Fjord has complimented Caleb on his spells and sought his advice on arcane matters. Caleb admires Fjord's mind and his ability to get things done.

During the Mighty Nein's time at sea, Caleb grew more and more suspicious of Fjord and his motives. Caleb is also concerned that Fjord may be concealing his accent. He repeatedly questioned what they were doing at sea and what Fjord hopes to get out of working with Avantika. He told Fjord he would not help release Uk'otoa if that was the goal.

Caleb seems to sympathize with Fjord's conflicted feelings finding out that his mentor turned out to be a different man than Fjord thought he was. Caleb was careful to phrase everything he read about Vandren in Avantika's journal delicately, understanding revelations about Vandren will be difficult for Fjord to hear. Fjord was unaware they have this in common, since Caleb did not share the story of killing his parents with Fjord.

In, Caleb helped Fjord investigate Dashilla's storm summoning altar in exchange for an unspecified future favor.

Yasha Nydoorin
Caleb likes Yasha due to their similar personalities and mutual dislike of, and uncomfortableness with, close contact. After asking her for advice regarding social situations, Yasha listed off a few things that she believed would make people like Caleb more (which he wrote down), and shaved his face with her sword after Caleb mentioned that he missed being clean shaven. Caleb asked if this made them friends, to which Yasha said that it did.

Mollymauk Tealeaf
When Caleb dissociated after burning a man to death in a gnoll lair, Mollymauk doused the flames, slapped Caleb in the face, encouraged him to deal with those feelings later, asked if he was alright, and then gave him a kiss on the forehead. When the party later pressed Caleb on his dissociation and he pointed out that it was a traumatizing experience, Molly suggested using alcohol.

Caduceus Clay
Upon meeting Caduceus, Caleb whispered multiple times to Beau that he "like(s) this man." He appreciates Caduceus' calm demeanor. After Clay nearly drowned multiple times, Caleb gave him Mollymauk's Periapt of Wound Closure. Caduceus is also one of the few members of the Mighty Nein that does not mind Caleb's smell, and in fact thinks he smells "fantastic."

Quests
Caleb has unspecified plans for when he is a more powerful wizard. He wants to become powerful enough to "bend reality". He hopes he will not let his parents down. Since both his parents are dead, Caleb may be looking for a way to change the past.
 * While spending down time in the Archive of the Cobalt Soul in Zadash, Caleb researched methods of controlling time.

Notable Items

 * Spellbook- With a picture of a "dick-butt" drawn by Jester on the page containing the Friends spell
 * A different book, possibly a journal of some sort
 * Dagger
 * A burnt spellbook
 * Siff Duthar's burnt spellbook
 * A diamond that Caleb uses when casting Chromatic Orb
 * Component pouch
 * Pearl obtained from Nott's polished brass ring (used as a material component for casting the Identify spell)
 * This ring was obtained from Kylre's corpse, which Jester then wore and coyly allowed Nott to steal from her finger
 * Glove of Blasting
 * Sending Stone (obtained from the Sutan's place)
 * Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location (taken from Ikithon’s guard in asylum.)
 * Transmuter's Stone
 * Stone of Good Luck
 * Driftglobe

Former Items

 * The Beacon (inside of a lead-lined box) (entrusted to Jester)
 * The Beacon was found to contain a nearly incomprehensible amount of power when Caleb used Identify on it. It is in the shape of a dodecahedron.
 * Periapt of Wound Closure (Beau looted from Molly's corpse and tossed it to Caleb) (transferred ownership to Caduceus after a series of near-death experiences)
 * "Happy Fun Ball of Tricks" (given to him by Twiggy) (Given to Yussah Errenis)

Copied Spells

 * 500 gp-worth of high quality ink (used to transcribe spells into his spell book)
 * 1250 gp-worth of high quality parchment and ink (used to transcribe spells into his spell book)
 * Spell scrolls containing: Invisibility, Shocking Grasp , Hold Person (retconned from Shocking Grasp at the start of ), Catapult , Expeditious Retreat , Feather Fall (transcribed and destroyed), Shield  (transcribed and destroyed), (obtained from Nott)

Variant Human Abilities

 * Bonus Skill
 * Feat: Keen Mind

Feats

 * Keen Mind
 * War Caster

Wizard Abilities

 * Arcane Recovery (4 slot levels)
 * Arcane Tradition (Transmutation)
 * Minor Alchemy
 * Transmutation Savant
 * Transmuter's Stone
 * Ritual Casting
 * Spellcasting (Intelligence-based ability)

Wizard Spells
As a 8th-level wizard, Caleb knows four cantrips, and his spellbook contains at least 20 spells. He can prepare up to 13 of these spells per day.

Caleb has copied at least nineteen additional spells into his spellbook. Caleb currently has an ancient spellbook from Halas' library.

Cantrips

 * Dancing Lights
 * Fire Bolt
 * Friends
 * Message

1st-level

 * Alarm
 * Burning Hands
 * Catapult
 * Chromatic Orb
 * Comprehend Languages
 * Detect Magic
 * Disguise Self
 * Expeditious Retreat
 * Feather Fall
 * Find Familiar
 * Identify
 * Mage Armor
 * Magic Missile
 * Shield
 * Sleep
 * Unseen Servant (dubbed Schmidt)
 * Witch Bolt
 * At least one other transmutation spell

2nd-level

 * Arcane Lock
 * Blur
 * Enlarge/Reduce
 * Hold Person
 * Knock
 * Maximilian's Earthen Grasp (takes the form of a cat's paw)
 * Melf's Acid Arrow
 * Scorching Ray
 * Suggestion

3rd-level

 * Counterspell
 * Dispel Magic
 * Fear
 * Fireball
 * Haste
 * Leomund's Tiny Hut
 * Slow
 * Tongues
 * Vampiric Touch

4th-level

 * Banishment
 * Polymorph
 * Wall of Fire

Quotations

 * "It's on the table though, so on the table it will stay." (Caleb telling Nott when not to steal)
 * "Leave me alone, I'm reading." (Caleb telling Jester not to bother him while he reads his new book)
 * "I'm a dirty hobo and I reek of yesterday's garbage." (Caleb describing himself.)
 * "I'm either a clown, or a toad-killer. Let's see what it is."
 * "Well, my social anxiety is getting the best of me. I'm taking a walk; goodbye."
 * "I am going to tell you the story of how I murdered my mother and father."
 * "Anybody can make lights. Anybody could send a message through a wire. I want to bend reality to my will."
 * "You were always a better dancer than me, Astrid." (Drunkenly told to Jester during their waltz)
 * "Shine bright, circus man." (Caleb's last words to Molly)
 * "Brave, dead... semantics, really." (Caleb taking the lead on infiltration of Sour Nest)
 * "They. Are. Going. To. Die." (Caleb upon Frumpkin being killed in the Sour Nest)
 * "You shouldn't have killed my cat." (Caleb's words when he killed Lorenzo in the Sour Nest)
 * (to Nott, discussing hijacking The Mist) "I know that did that it didn't go very well, but this is our new family, right? So we want the family to stick together."
 * Twiggy: (after Caleb succeeds on the saving throw against Tasha's Hideous Laughter) "Funny, right?" Caleb: "Yeah I'm not a happy guy."

Trivia

 * Caleb's intelligence is one of the highest for any player character, tied with Percy, Lyra, and Lillith.
 * The name Caleb is Hebrew for "dog" ("kelev") and "whole-hearted" ("collev").
 * The name Widogast is an Old German name composed of the elements "witu" ("wood") and "gast" ("stranger, guest").
 * From Old and Middle, gast (also spelled ghast due to associations with ghost) means "to frighten", or "soul", "spirit", or "breath."
 * From a Proto-Ino-European origin, it can also mean "anger, agitation."
 * From Old French, it can mean "destruction" or "destroyed; ravaged; decimated", and is an alternate form of wast, which the word waste is related to or originates from.
 * Brian Wayne Foster described Caleb as "Homeless Troy Baker". After Caleb was cleaned by Pumat Sol, Brian began calling him "Basic Cable Troy Baker".
 * When Liam joked about Caleb emphasizing the Mold Earth cantrip, Laura responded that Caleb smells like "moldy earth".
 * When Liam speaks the Zemnian language as Caleb, he actually speaks German. Because of this, Matt now uses a German accent for Zemnian characters.
 * Caleb came up with the adventuring party's name, the Mighty Nein, when Watchmaster Bryce Feelid needed the group's name for paperwork.
 * When Caleb cast knock in "Within the Nest" the spell did not create a loud booming sound as described by the spell. It's likely this was an oversight by Matt.
 * Before Caleb spent a decade in an asylum, he was an evocation wizard.
 * The name Bren Aldric Ermendrud has a few different roots in German.
 * The name Bren comes from the German verb brennen meaning "burn"
 * Aldric comes from a Germanic name, derived from the elements ald "old" and ric "ruler, power"
 * Ermendrud is Germanic as well, derived from the elements ermen "whole, universal" and thrud "strength"