Exandria Unlimited: Calamity

Exandria Unlimited: Calamity, abbreviated as ExU: Calamity, is a four-part miniseries and the third installment of the Exandria Unlimited series. It is set in the flying city of Avalir during the Age of Arcanum, shortly after Vespin Chloras performs the ritual that leads to The Calamity. The Ring of Brass, six friends who hold key positions within the city, discover a hidden corruption in Avalir related to Vespin's ritual and struggle against The Calamity's inevitability.

The series is led by Brennan Lee Mulligan as Dungeon Master and features Critical Role main cast members Travis Willingham, Sam Riegel, and Marisha Ray (who also created Exandria Unlimited) with Aabria Iyengar, Lou Wilson, and Luis Carazo. The first episode premiered on May 26, 2022 and ran for four consecutive weeks in place of Critical Role Campaign 3. The fourth and final episode aired June 16, 2022.

Premise
During the Age of Arcanum, the flying city of Avalir celebrates the eve of the Replenishing, the day Avalir completes its seven-year trip around Exandria and reunites with its sister city Cathmoíra on the continent of Domunas. The Ring of Brass, six friends who hold positions managing and leading Avalir, learn that Vespin Chloras is missing after a recent alleged attempt to ascend to godhood like the Matron of Ravens. This leads them to the discovery of a corruption underneath Avalir, prompting them to try to stop the inevitable, The Calamity.

Cast

 * Travis Willingham as Cerrit Agrupnin, eisfuura Inquisitive rogue: Cerrit is a detective and Senior Sightwarden of the Eyes of Avalir. His attention is brought to the disappearance of Vespin Chloras, an archmage believed to have been attempting to copy the Raven Queen's ascension to godhood. Though he has seen many similar cases in the past, strange details of this one lead him to suspect something is amiss.
 * Aabria Iyengar as Laerryn Coramar-Seelie, elf Abjuration wizard: Laerryn is Architect Arcane, tasked with keeping Avalir afloat and maintaining its magical infrastructure. She is dedicated to her work, particularly a secret project that she hopes will revolutionize the future of Avalir. She was married to, then divorced, Loquatius.
 * Sam Riegel as Loquatius Seelie, changeling College of Eloquence bard/Archfey warlock: Loquatius, Herald of Avalir, Voice of the Council, and the Scribe of Crowns, is a broadcaster and print journalist at the Herald's Tome. He deeply enjoys his public celebrity and is anxious about his broadcast ratings and print circulation numbers. He is similarly anxious about his relationship with Laerryn, and he appears to be seeking a reconciliation between them.
 * Lou Wilson as Nydas Okiro, human Draconic Bloodline sorcerer/College of Swords bard: Nydas is the guildmaster of the Golden Scythe, a guild of merchants and patron of a sorcerer's academy for children. Through his position at the guild, he oversees many of the logistical preparations for events in the city. He is struggling to receive payments from his merchants on time.
 * Marisha Ray as Patia Por'co, elf wizard: Patia is Keeper of Scrolls at the Library Incantatum and granddaughter of Imyr Por'co, the mage responsible for the final enchantments on the brumestone that lifted Avalir into the air. She is a member of the Ring of Silver but seeks to rise into the highest level of the city's hierarchy, the Ring of Gold.
 * Luis Carazo as Zerxus Ilerez, human Oath of Redemption paladin: Zerxus, First Knight of Avalir, receives his divine magic not through an oath to a god but through an oath to the people of Avalir. He grieves his late husband, Evandrin Alterra, and worries about his young estranged son, Elias. Zerxus is plagued by a recurring nightmare involving Asmodeus, Elias, and the phrase "Ghor Dranas".
 * Brennan Lee Mulligan as the Dungeon Master: The Dungeon Master is responsible for running the game, including devising encounters, managing the environment and world, playing the non-player characters, and structuring the story.

Calamity was the first appearance of Luis Carazo and Lou Wilson on a Critical Role Productions show. Aabria Iyengar was the Dungeon Master for the two previous Exandria Unlimited series, the eponymous Exandria Unlimited and Exandria Unlimited: Kymal, and played in the The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood miniseries. Brennan Lee Mulligan was previously a player in the one-shot.

Laura Bailey was originally a member of the cast, but she left early in the character creation process due to scheduling conflicts. Marisha joined the cast in her place, and Patia is an iteration of the early character concepts that Laura developed.

Production
Marisha Ray, creator of the Exandria Unlimited series, said that they were interested from the beginning in exploring different parts of Exandria's timeline. During development for Exandria Unlimited in 2021, Matthew Mercer, Dungeon Master for Critical Role, idly mentioned to Brennan during that he wanted to see a series set during the Age of Arcanum, prompting Brennan to begin developing the idea for Calamity. After a month or two, Marisha had Brennan pitch the concept. Calamity was in production for six months prior to its airing, with Brennan working closely with Matthew, Marisha, Lore Keeper Dani Carr, and producer Kyle Shire throughout. The finale was filmed on May 24, 2022.

Brennan pointed to Exandria Unlimited's shorter anthology structure as ideal for telling a tragedy. He credited the complexity of the tragedy to the players' skill at improvising hubristic, misguided, arrogant decisions that lead to disaster and said of them: "All of those six people are playing a D&D campaign backwards in high heels." He additionally pointed out that this narrative working toward an unavoidable end was uncommon in Dungeons & Dragons, "How many campaigns are you set to enact not only your own demise, but the demise of your civilization?"

Because the story was self-contained and taking place in an unusual time and place in the lore, instead of building their characters independently as they do for Critical Role, the cast built their characters together as a group and discussed their relationships to one another. They also discussed their individual places in the power structures of the city because Brennan wanted the party to be powerful from the beginning, playing what Marisha described as "characters who are in control and are movers and shakers".

During the week before the premiere, from May 20 to May 25, 2022, Critical Role hosted Instagram Story "takeovers" in which one cast member a day posted updates, including answering fan-submitted questions, throughout the day. Lou was unable to participate due to scheduling issues.

Episodes
Calamity aired four episodes between May 26, 2022 and June 16, 2022 on consecutive Thursdays in place of Campaign 3, which took a break from broadcast during the series. Marisha said that this break was both to preventing "burning out" the audience, give Matt Mercer a break, and allow Calamity space to breathe.

Like all other Critical Role content, episodes will be broadcast on Twitch and YouTube with VODs posted to YouTube the following Monday and audio-only podcasts available the following Thursday.

Trivia

 * This is the campaign with the earliest in-universe chronological setting.