Aesop

Aesop is only a name in the fifth episode. Scheherazade asks Timothy whether he has ever heard the name Aesop, and he says no NA E5·01:14:42 NA E5·01:14:50. She says it is not a name she found anywhere in her travels in the Endless Nights, but that it is the name she was told to look for when she first started asking questions about the book NA E5·01:14:51.

In The Lines Between a figure steps out of a door from a field of yellow grass and cypress trees: Brennan describes an older, white-bearded Black man in a white toga and sandals with a mouse on his shoulder, walking with a lion and a mule NA E8·00:12:46. He says the realm is called The Lines Between, and a card names him Aesop, "Fabulous Fabulist" NA E8·00:12:43 NA E8·00:13:16. He says his name is pronounced Eee-sop and that he is the collector of tales from the Land of Birds and Beasts NA E8·00:14:06 NA E8·00:14:18. He says he discovered this place some time ago, that the times of shadow tried to come to the Land of Birds and Beasts and were repelled, and that the Neverafter has begun to grow and absorb other realms NA E8·00:19:27 NA E8·00:19:56 NA E8·00:22:50.

Pib sees that the mule with him is Alphonse NA E8·00:16:32. Aesop asks Rosamund what her story is about and, after she answers, gives the point of the lion and the mouse: small creatures are good NA E8·00:22:50 NA E8·00:24:02. He says he has done his level best to do as little exploring as possible in this land NA E8·00:25:06. He urges honesty, saying Mother Goose and Scheherazade may have seen something at the door of the Canonade, and Timothy describes a giant glass inkwell and something in the ink seeing him NA E8·01:26:56 NA E8·01:27:50 NA E8·01:28:12. He says he knows the wolf very well and tells the story of the boy who cried wolf NA E8·01:45:04 NA E8·01:45:36. Alphonse later says Aesop sent him away when the party vanished from The Lines Between NA E14·00:48:29.

In the finale Scheherazade throws out a glowing page calling "Aesop, we need you!" NA E20·00:20:55 Aesop leaps out NA E20·00:20:59. He says "What's going on? There's a monster in this castle!" NA E20·00:21:12 He asks Pib "Are you a scorpion or are you a cat?" NA E20·00:23:17 Brennan says he fails a Constitution save, takes 21 damage from the presence of the hand and vomits blood and ink NA E20·00:45:52. He calls "beasts of the Land of Birds and Beasts, come to the aid of Aesop the storyteller!" and a shark lands NA E20·00:46:38 NA E20·00:46:43. He says "If I die, so be it. The moral of this story is, you got to try your best." NA E20·01:03:04 He also says "I hate stories with magic in them!" NA E20·01:04:15 Timothy tells him he gets to write whatever he wants in the new world NA E20·01:04:22. He gives a bardic inspiration, throws a cat down to Tom Thumb as a steed, and charges with the shark NA E20·01:12:37 NA E20·01:12:50 NA E20·01:40:32. When the Wisdom saves go wrong, Brennan says Aesop falls and the shark is dead, and later that Aesop fails a death saving throw NA E20·01:52:20 NA E20·01:53:18.