Brimscythe

## Brimscythe, the Iron Storm

* Dragon
* Human

Fan art of Brimscythe, by Sylvanidae.

Screenshot of General Krieg from "The Legend of the Cast of The Legend of Vox Machina".

### Actor

* Matthew Mercer (*Critical Role*)
* David Tennant (*The Legend of Vox Machina*)

## Character Information

### Also known as

* Krieg Tristan
* General Krieg
* The Iron Storm

### Age

Between "Young" and "Adult" at time of death.

### Connections

* Chroma Conclave (member)
* Council of Tal'Dorei (former member)

## Status

### Causes of death

* Neck sliced open by Vax'ildan (*Critical Role*)
* Head smashed in by Grog Strongjaw (*The Legend of Vox Machina*)

### Death episode(s)

* "The Story of Vox Machina" (Sx06)
* "The Terror of Tal'Dorei - Part 2" (LVM1x02)

## Appearances

### First seen

* "The Story of Vox Machina" (Sx06) (stream)
* "The Terror of Tal'Dorei - Part 1" (LVM1x01) (animated)

### Last seen

* "The Terror of Tal'Dorei - Part 2" (LVM1x02) (animated)

### Other work

Pre-stream

**Brimscythe, the Iron Storm** was a blue dragon. His human form was **General Krieg Tristan**, an identity he stole after killing the real Krieg to gain the manor in the Cloudtop District of Emon and the position of the Master of Law on the Tal'Dorei Council. Brimscythe was killed by Vox Machina in his lair.

As an NPC, Brimscythe was portrayed by Matthew Mercer. He appears in *The Legend of Vox Machina*, voiced by David Tennant.

## **Description**

### **Appearance**

As General Krieg, he had brown hair and was attractive enough to earn the attention of many of the ladies in Emon.

### **Personality**

As General Krieg, he had an approachable personality, behaving in a friendly manner towards Vox Machina and showing interest in the information they presented to him. He seemed sad to hear about the death of fellow Council member Sir Gregory Fince.

As Brimscythe, he had love and fascination with corrupting human political structures. General Krieg had ingrained himself into Emonian society with the intention of digging it out from the inside and he enjoyed the degradation he had created.

## **Biography**

### ***Critical Role***

**Background**

Brimscythe was a young member of the Chroma Conclave. At the start of 810 PD, with some help from Vorugal, Brimscythe froze General Krieg in his lair and assumed his form to take over the position on Tal'Dorei Council. Additionally, Krieg earned the trust of Sovereign Uriel Tal'Dorei II after saving the royal family from an assassination attempt.

**"The Story of Vox Machina" (Sx06)**

After reading Krieg's name in Sir Gregory's notes about the attempted assassination, Vox Machina headed to the Cloudtop District to speak with him. Krieg was interested in what they had to say, especially when they brought up the involvement of the Clasp. He told them about his difficulties speaking to Uriel since the attack, and showed sorrow at the news of Sir Gregory's death, but warned Vox Machina to leave the investigating to the officials.

When Vox Machina went to inspect Krieg's home, they found a brainwashed servant and a hidden passage that led to a teleportation circle. Upon using the circle, they were transported to a cavern high in the frost-covered mountains. Within the cavern was an incredible hoard of gold, jewels, and fine trinkets. Four obsidian orbs were placed in the wall across from them, and when one of them was touched, a giant, scaly eye appeared within it. A voice rang out from it, calling for Brimscythe. The eye then noticed Vox Machina, and the voice said "Intruders. I know your face now. He is a fool, and so are you, *insect*." All four orbs cracked simultaneously and became inert.

Grog immediately went for the treasure hoard, raging as he shoved handfuls of it into the Bag of Holding. General Krieg then appeared at the teleportation circle. He angrily denounced the party and revealed his true form as the blue dragon Brimscythe. Vox Machina and the dragon engaged in a fierce battle, with several of the party members nearly being devoured, but eventually Vax'ildan managed to strike the killing blow by stabbing his daggers into the top of Brimscythe's neck and slicing down it. The dragon thrashed about in his death throes, destroying the support pillars of the cavern. Vox Machina barely escaped the collapsing structure via the teleportation circle.

### ***The Legend of Vox Machina***

Brimscythe decimated areas outside of Emon, then appealed to Sovereign Uriel as General Krieg to argue for sending Emon's armies to face the threat in hopes of leaving the city defenseless. Gregory Fince and the rest of the Tal'dorei Council opposed him. When Vox Machina appeared before the council, Krieg spoke in favor of sending them to face the creature, thinking they would surely die and convince the king that mercenaries weren't enough.

Vox Machina tracked Brimscythe to the coast, but were no match for him. Brimscythe destroyed the cliffside and believed the group had been crushed by the rocks. He destroyed a village of the Shalesteps before returning to Emon, where Uriel agreed to send out some of his forces. General Krieg left with a battalion, then attacked their encampment at night as Brimscythe. He killed most soldiers, then returned to Uriel to announce that their enemy was a blue dragon. Uriel agreed to send out the army against Lady Kima's and Fince's protests.

Fince snuck into Krieg's home to collect evidence against him. Believing Fince was working with the dragon and hoped to murder Krieg, Vox Machina followed Fince and confronted him. However, Krieg killed Fince before he could explain himself. He disappeared through a portal to his lair, where he revealed his true identity to Vox Machina and declared that it was time dragons ruled Exandria once again. Using advice from Shaun Gilmore, the party was able to kill him and escape the crumbling lair.

Possibly, Krieg was not the Master of Law on the council as in *Critical Role* but separately served as general of the Arms of Emon.

## **Relationships**

As the "junior" member of the Chroma Conclave, Brimscythe was affiliated with Thordak, Raishan, Vorugal, and Umbrasyl. Though his political schemes in Emon were unaffiliated with the plans of the Chroma Conclave, he likely served as an agent of Raishan during her scheme to bring back Thordak from the Elemental Plane of Fire. In the plans to divide up Tal'Dorei among the five Conclave members, Brimscythe wanted Emon for himself.

## **Appearances and mentions**

* Pre-stream
* Campaign One
	+ "Shopping and Shipping" (1x14), mentioned only (first mentioned)
	+ "Omens" (1x39), mentioned only
	+ "Deals in the Dark" (1x92), mentioned only
	+ "The Endless Atheneum" (1x106), mentioned only
* Specials
	+ "The Story of Vox Machina" (Sx06) (first appearance)
* *The Legend of Vox Machina*
	+ "The Terror of Tal'Dorei - Part 1" (LVM1x01)
	+ "The Terror of Tal'Dorei - Part 2" (LVM1x02)

## **Quotations**

* **Brimscythe:** Kill me? I am the Iron Storm. You are nothing but insects!
* **Brimscythe:** I will sunder your bones!

## **Trivia**

* A document found by the characters in "Critical Role Extra – The Return of Liam!" (Sx15) revealed that General Krieg's last name was Tristan, making his persona's full name Krieg Tristan.
	+ *Krieg* is German for "war". *Tristan* comes from Welsh, and means "sorrowful".
* Brimscythe's shapeshifting abilities were somewhat precocious, as they typically manifest in adult or ancient dragons, and he was the youngest member of the Chroma Conclave.
* In *The Legend of Vox Machina* Brimscythe true form had its own redesign, having an original look different from the traditional appearance of the blue dragons from Dungeons and Dragons. During the process of choosing his final design inspiration was taken from different animals, including lions and sharks.
* Brimscythe's lair, accessible from Krieg's house in Emon by a teleportation portal, was somewhere high in the Cliffkeep Mountains.
	+ In the series, the teleportation portal is hidden in a beautiful Tiefling portrait until Keyleth throws a book at Grog revealing the portal.
* The members of Vox Machina were approximately level 7 when they killed Brimscythe.
* It was mentioned that Vex'ahlia had a crush on Kreig before his true from was revealed to be a dragon.[*citation needed*]

## References

1. ↑ "The Legend of the Cast of The Legend of Vox Machina"
2. ↑ Spelling of "Brimscythe" confirmed by Matthew Mercer's usage in a Twitter comment.
3. ↑ See "Passed Through Fire" (1x69) at 2:49:07.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 A comment from Matthew Mercer on Twitter reveals Brimscythe's name spelling, age/power, and level at time of death.
5. ↑ See "The Story of Vox Machina" (Sx06) at 15:00.
6. ↑ Laura Bailey briefly described General Krieg on Twitter.
7. ↑ See "The Story of Vox Machina" (Sx06) from 10:57 through 11:18.
8. ↑ See "Echoes of the Past" (1x38) at 2:52:08.
9. ↑ See "The Story of Vox Machina" (Sx06) from 7:29 through 7:56.
10. ↑ See "The Story of Vox Machina" (Sx06) from 10:35 through 11:18.
11. ↑ See "The Story of Vox Machina" (Sx06) from 13:50 through 14:41.
12. ↑ See "The Story of Vox Machina" (Sx06) from 14:41 through 15:19.
13. ↑ See "The Terror of Tal'Dorei - Part 2" (LVM1x02).  Krieg wears armor matching that of soldiers of the Arms of Emon. Additionally, in "The Feast of Realms" (LVM1x03) at 8:26, Uriel refers to Duala Juun as Master of Law. She appears in the first council meeting, suggesting she held this position even before Krieg's death.
14. ↑ See "Deals in the Dark" (1x92) at 0:25:30.
15. ↑ See "The Terror of Tal'Dorei - Part 2" (LVM1x02) at 20:16.
16. ↑ See "The Terror of Tal'Dorei - Part 2" (LVM1x02) at 21:44.
17. ↑ See "Critical Role Extra – The Return of Liam!" (Sx15) at 0:58:37.
18. ↑ See "Echoes of the Past" (1x38) at 2:45:58.

**Art:**

1. ↑ Fan art of Brimscythe, by Sylvanidae (source). Used with permission.
2. ↑ Screenshot of General Krieg from "The Legend of the Cast of The Legend of Vox Machina". This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
3. ↑ Fan art of Brimscythe's disguise as General Krieg, by Joma Cueto (source). Used with permission.
4. ↑ Official art of Brimscythe, by Wendy Sullivan Green (source). Used with permission.
5. ↑ Screenshot of Vax'ildan's killing blow against Brimscythe, by Wendy Sullivan Green from "The Story of Vox Machina" (Sx06). Used with permission.
6. ↑ Screenshot of Brimscythe from "The Terror of Tal'Dorei - Part 2" (LVM1x02). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.