More and more I’m convinced that a stealth major turning point in the campaign happened in Hupperdook. Namely, in the decision the Mighty Nein made to help the Schusters.
Why did they do it? Because Fjord cared.
Most of the group was kind of on the fence about helping the Schuster kids get their parents back. After all, it would complicate their visit to the Hupperdook jail, which they were doing for the same reason they had, up until this point, done most things — they’d get money/compensation.
But when Fjord laid out his case as to why it mattered to him personally to keep the kids out of an orphanage, Molly in particular did a complete 180. And his reasoning was — “Oh, this matters to you? Then I care about it and we’ll do it.”
And after Molly died, that became their reasoning for doing everything. They never took a mercenary job just for money again. In fact, they were sometimes surprised when people paid them. Their path and motivations seemed all over the place because their guiding principle was borrowed from Molly in Hupperdook — “You’re part of the group, and so the group will help you with what matters to you.”
Details under the cut
