Hello everyone, and welcome to tonight's episode of Critical Role, where a bunch of us nerdy-ass voice actors sit around and play Dungeons & Dragons. →
Like that. Before we get started, we have a few announcements to get into. First and foremost, I want to say thank you for all of our community members that came out for the art show this weekend. It went amazingly, it was great to meet a bunch of the artists we had the opportunity to. →
Looking forward to meeting all those that we didn't have the opportunity to this time for hopefully future events. It went really well; we hope to do more community-centric things like this in the future. I'm very happy how it all turned out. The live show went really well. Thank you all for coming to that who could. That is coming out in February. Yes, so the VOD for The Search for Grog is coming out in February, we'll have details soon at critrole.com, so keep your eye peeled for that. Let's go ahead and bring it to our fantastic sponsorship for the evening. This week, we have our returning friends and family on the internet, D&D Beyond. Sam, if you don't mind. →
Guys, the campaign trail is heating up! As you know, I declared my candidacy for the president of D&D Beyond. I want to thank my constituents for their inventive slogans and mottos that they sent in. I wanted to read a few that you'll be seeing on the #SamforPresident campaign trail. These are just some of my favorites: "Yes We Cantrip!" Pretty good, by @j_viviano. "Nott, My President" by @alyssatombs. →
"Crit's About to Get Real!" from @JetPackPaul. "I Did Not Have Sexual Relations With That Manticore," that's Arsequeef. "Putting the 'D' in D&D Beyond" by @JarsonKames, and "Stay Turnt" by Brian Foster, so those are some good ones. →
Yes. Now, I may not know exactly what the president of D&D Beyond does, but I know that it's an important job, and therefore, I feel like I deserve it. But I can't win this race alone, so I'm going to need a campaign-- I'm sorry, a Sampaign manager, so I've enlisted our own Dani Carr to be my Sampaign manager. Yes. →
I am, in the form of tape for your reel, so thank you. Anyway, Dani is here tonight to keep me on track as my campaign manager, as I launch into my first ever Sampaign rally speech. Ahem. →
Friends, Critters, countrymen. D&D Beyond is a horrifying wasteland of shame, and only I can pull it from the foul, swampy depths of-- →
I mean, D&D Beyond is a wonderful app and a sponsor of this program, where you can build your favorite characters and track their adventures and treasures. Which is why I, Sam Riegel, will unceremoniously decimate its current president, leaving their bodies-- I mean, I'm eager to share my plans to improve this already excellent app. →
Here is what the Sam for President Sampaign stands for: under my Riegelship, every character will come preloaded with one inspiration point. →
Your default app background will be a picture of me. All characters get 69 hit points. →
Nope? Okay. You'll have a new option: a short rest, a long rest, or a sex nap. Ah! (laughter) Well, that's it for this rally, folks. Next time, we'll unveil my opponent, who will be... →
To be determined. In fact, I would like you guys to tweet at me, at D&D Beyond, and, why not? At her, at Dani Carr-- →
@ItsDaniCarr, with the #SamforPresident, and tell me which one of these guys or gals I should run against. Yes, because it's going to be a fun, exciting battle for the White House, or Gray House, or whatever color the building is where D&D Beyond is. Anyway, thank you, and god bless Samerica! (groaning) →
Thank you, Sam; thank you, Dani; and thank you, D&D Beyond, for your unending patience with this weekly...this. Couple more announcements: the second season of Between the Sheets begins next week, this coming Monday, January 28, at 7:00pm Pacific. The VOD will be available on the Critical Role YouTube channel on Wednesday, January 30. The very first guest is a friend of the show, a musician, rapper, and all-around awesome nerd, Logic. →
And author, and all sorts of other awesome stuff. He's a very prolific young man, and I can say that because I'm older than him. Super excited, it's going to be great, and happy to kick it off with such an awesome guest. →
I've been enjoying the crossover of a whole bunch of Critical Role fans going, "Who's "Logic?" and then a whole bunch of Logic fans going, "What's Critical Role?" I was like, this is going to be a train wreck of happiness. I'm so excited. →
I'm excited. I want to give a very special thanks to our friends at Wyrmwood, who have continuously supported Critical Role and the community for a very long time. They actually created, for the live show and for the show here, this badass DM screen that I get to unveil! →
Special thanks especially to Jason MacDonald, who's the master craftsman at Wyrmwood, who made both this DM screen and the table that we play on to life. Jason, you did an amazing job. I had a chance of meeting him at the live show, but you're awesome. Another special thanks to Critter Chris Gladis for our "How Do You Want to Do This?" calligraphy design, which is also used on here. →
Roll the dice! (singing) The adventure begins, they were always beside you, your nerdy best friends, and the DM to guide you. And they rise from the flames for the battles ahead. →
(singing) They got magic and flair, they got falchions and cunning. They don't see over there there's a monster incoming. Inspiration is waiting, rise up, don't think twice. →
Put your fate in your hands, take a chance, roll the dice! (chanting) Role! Critical! Role! →
Welcome back, everybody. Last we left off, The Mighty Nein had been returning from Nicodranas. They had made their way northward from the Menagerie Coast, left their ship in the care of their favorite tortle to earn money at sea while you're away. →
You made your way northward, past the Wuyun Gorge, back into the Dwendalian Empire. Passed through Trostenwald and Alfield and met up with Bryce for a bit to catch up, and then made your way toward Felderwin. Upon arriving, you discovered the city was still visibly scarred from the recent assault that it had seemed to suffer at the hands of the Kryn Dynasty from Xhorhas. →
Upon perusing the streets, you came to discover that the location that Nott was leading you towards was in ashes: this apothecary. Upon inspecting the vicinity, you did not find a body, but you did find a basement where you found ruined furniture, a few traps, a chest, and a mysterious chair that has grabbed the nation's imagination. →
However, you also found that apparently the person who previously had lived there was nowhere to be found, and the son of that individual was being held at a nearby home of another person who lives here in Felderwin. You went there with Nott, Nott took the form of a halfling and proceeded to speak to this child as her son. After a bit of interesting conversation and curiosity, you said goodbye and you turned to find these two powerful magic users that Caleb had identified as members of the Cerberus Assembly were walking their way towards the ashen ruins of the apothecary, deep in conversation. That is where we left off. So, Mighty Nein, what would you like to do? →
Yes, I can do that. We have Lady Vess DeRogna. Yes. She's an elven woman in fine flowing clothes of green and black, deep green with black designs across and around the edges of the billowing sleeves. Jewelry around the fingers, a number of rings and a series of necklaces. →
They each contain some sort of a circular gem that dangles from them like a little collection of colors. She has short, medium brown hair, and appears to be of not a young elven age necessarily, but not as old as her current compatriot, which is Martinet Lunidus Da'leth, who is the Archmage of Domestic Protections. →
Yep, keeping tabs on that. That's really the extent of what you can see at this distance. →
You are currently a few houses down, standing outside of Old Edith's house, and in the moment of the tension of the conversation you had just had and the intensity of Nott's disposition, glancing and seeing them walking up and stopping right at the cusp and talking to each other. →
You could loop around a bit, probably go southward. You're not that far from the Samir River. You can scoot a southwestern direction in an arc, probably make it 15 minutes to avoid them entirely. →
All right. Moving past the handful of people in the city that are noticing this strange band of adventurers that have wandered through, you make your way past the outskirts and you can see the river itself cruising right along. It would be a beautiful landscape if there wasn't this intensity of emotion and the distant haze of long-grayed smoke that still hangs over the vicinity of the partially burned farmlands. Nevertheless, Nott leads you over towards one of the shaded banks under a few trees and you come to a stop. →
Glancing about, you do not see anybody keeping watch. What you do notice, however, is that a lot of the patrolling Righteous Brand, the small bands that have been keeping tabs, are all gathering towards the southern edge where the farm fields of the Felderwin Tillage hit the town of Felderwin. Where as they were scattered, they're all amassing in one space. →
Yeah, that's a good question, but also we just stole some very important things and we saw what is probably the owners going into the building. Is there anything we need to do in this town now to help you do what you need to do here, or can we leave? →
I don't know where he is, but I know that we'll find clues here or we may find clues here. I need to look. I need to look and I need to start right away, and I suppose you all can go if you want, but-- →
I don't know, but I feel like-- I don't think any of us need to pretend that we all don't have some secrets. We've all been keeping some secrets from each other. Sometimes I feel like even maybe the thing that brought us together is that we're bonded by dishonesty, a little bit? →
Well, some of us, anyway. For me, anyway, I've been holding onto some secrets. I feel like it's almost like putting up an armor or something to protect you from the past, or from regrets or something, and I feel like for some of us, it could also be like a chain, weighing us down and keeping us from moving forward. Maybe it's time now to remove that chain and be open and honest so that we can move ahead. So yes. I'll tell you what you want to know. What do you want to know? →
Okay. Well, hi. My name is Nott the Brave and I am a little goblin girl, but once upon a time, I was Veth, a young halfling woman and before that, a halfling child who grew up being told that she was not pretty and not brave and not coordinated and not smart, and just not. →
He didn't mind my strangeness and I helped him get his apothecary up and running. He was a brilliant chemist and could make acids and potions and oils and bleaches for fabrics and dyes and all sorts of things. I helped him and he took care of me. Eventually, we had a baby named Luke and he was a bright boy. Very smart, he learned to talk very early and walk very early. Such a smart boy! That's who you saw back there is my son. →
I think so. We had a rough winter in Felderwin. There was not a lot of crops. I think some of the animals had died that winter. This river I've brought you to, this is a beautiful place. I used to come here with Yeza. It's also an important place because this is the-- the goblins would come from over there. They would come and raid us from the other side of the river. I think after that winter, they got particularly hungry and more dangerous and more daring. They came into town and raided more and more until, one day, they took us. They took me and my husband and my child. →
They held us in one of their camps. I don't know if it was days or weeks. I'm not sure. Luke was not doing well. He was starting to starve, and I knew that we needed to get out of there somehow. →
Yeza is a very bright man, but he's not a fighter. →
So I had to do what I had to do. We ran in the dead of night. They weren't fast. I've been chased a lot in my life by boys making fun of me. →
I'm pretty fast. So I told them to run to the river and I broke off and I ran a different way. →
The goblins followed me. When they found me, they surrounded me and I fought. I had a vial of acid that Yeza had handed me and I threw it in the face of the one trying to catch us. They didn't like that. →
They took me back to their camp. I think he died from his wounds, and he was something like their leader and he had a wife. She brought me to another woman in a hood. A magic woman. →
I don't know who she was; I never saw her eyes or anything. This goblin told the woman, "Make her "suffer," and they did. They brought me to this river and they drowned me in it. I can still feel the water in my lungs and my ears and my nose. And then nothing until I woke up and saw the hands, those hands, the skin. Then I looked in a puddle. →
I could see what they made me. They made me everything that I thought I was: not pretty, not good, just not. I'll be honest. I've started forgetting what it feels like to be a halfling, to be me. I don't remember everything any more. →
I feel like every day I'm more and more goblin. I don't like it at all. I don't like myself at all. →
I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I'm sorry I lied, and I'm sorry, Caleb, that I didn't tell you. →
I should've told you. You would've understood, and maybe you could've helped me. I don't know. I feel like you're almost there. Almost strong enough to help, but I didn't want to distract you from your path. →
Anyway. That's how I got to you. That's why I can't be in that town and he can't see me like this, my son can't see me like this. →
Well, I only recently started signing the letters. I don't know if he believes it or not. →
I don't know what he would think of me. The people in that town, they're taught to kill a goblin on sight or run and get help. Children are told rhymes. If he saw me like this, I don't even know if he would believe it's me. →
Since I've been like this? Well, they turned me and then they kept me around. They used me like a slave, really. I would clean out their messes and clean up after the meals. I would help their one that tortured. I would help him for months. Maybe six months. Then I ran. That's when I found you, shortly after, so maybe a year? No. More. More than a year. Year and a half? I don't know. →
We can do something about this, but you're going to have to trust us and you're going to have to be careful because if we move too quickly, we're just going to go running the wrong direction and alone. And you need help. →
You feel this warm glow emanating from Caduceus' hands and then in that moment, the fuzzy numbness that you are accustomed to sitting in, especially in places of great fear or emotion, fades. →
This place is quiet, but do you actually know if there a waterfall upstream a little bit, or a brook? Something with some noise that might drown out anyone who's listening. →
There's not much in the way of a waterfall, unfortunately. You're in the center of the valley, so what hills there are, are just hills. The river here continues cutting through the valley, but you're probably a good, off the top of my head, 40 or so miles from any elevation to cause a major waterfall. →
There was that one inn that burned down, but there is one inn you know called the Goldfield Tavern and Lodge. That's one of the more traveled inns. A lot of people that come in and out of Felderwin, that's one of the more popular destinations. →
I think, perhaps, if we're going to, we should come together with a game plan. I think it would be respectable if people thought that someone was looking for Yeza in his interests. →
People will be less suspicious if we're asking questions about someone who disappeared, if we were perhaps hired by a trust fund of your son or otherwise, and this is something that is owed to him. →
It's just business; we don't have to let them know it's personal. →
That's fine, but-- and I'm sorry, Caleb. I'm sorry for what I said before. I feel like part of what we'll need to do to find him is to know what he was doing before he was taken, and that involves you. →
I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to, but I need you now. I need you to tell me what you know, what these people might be doing, or might have taken him to, or done with him. →
There's northeast and southwest. Northeast would be more in the direction of the fields and clearer view. Southwest would be further away from civilization. →
It may be, in the end, safer staying in town. People staying in the woods seem like they're trying to avoid something, and there's a lot of soldiers. If you're on business, you go to town, even if the town's a little rough. We'll keep going around. When it's time to go, I think maybe we go into town and get a room. Maybe make a little bubble in the room, if we have to. →
I don't know, but I know that I needed to see him. I forgot what he looked like, and he forgot what I looked like. I feel like that's impossible. →
That's unsustainable. We need to know the ones we love, and I don't know what that was. I don't know how he felt, but for me it's a step. As painful as it was, it will be a step towards something. →
I don't want to tell you what to do, but I feel like our previous experience would lean towards getting your son and her out of here, especially if the people that have taken your husband are still here. If they're searching for answers or asking people questions, that could lead to her and him. →
As the sporadic phrases make their way through the arcane weaves of the various magical ley lines that invisibly traverse the exterior of Exandria, they make their way towards Bryce's ear somewhere in Alfield, and they respond, a moment later, "All right. I'll do my best. →
I also want to get a sense of things, so we're going to take a lazy meander around the area. I want to get a sense of where things are, get a map in my head, and I'm going to be paying very close attention. →
Best you can see here-- the flames have been long out. What brief cinders and wisps of smoke that had been slowly burning themselves out over the past couple of weeks or so are on the very tail end. It looks like Felderwin has fallen to at least a semblance of temporary neutrality. The people are going about their lives, the Tillage-- the damage that has been done, has been done, and now it's just trying to pick up and move on. →
I am from Rexxentrum. I attended the Soltryce Academy, and I was plucked by one of the Cerberus Assembly with a few others, and was being trained to do the kinds of things that I fear may have been done to-- →
Ja. And.... a lot of big plans for me that didn't pan out, and I went a little crazy. →
And I ran away. I ran away. I've been on the run for a long time, and I was tired of starving. →
And I met... I met you and was a little less hungry for a while. I have just been afraid for a long time, and two of the people in that town over there are on the Cerberus Assembly. →
There's good teachers there. It's everything that they describe it to be, but after going there for several months, one of the Assembly, who also would teach on occasion, started interviewing me, calling me in and asking me a lot of questions. He put me in advanced class, me and a few others. →
I don't want you all to be seen with me, because if you are seen with me by one of them, they will use you to get to me. →
No. The first time I had ever seen that word was in your libraries, just haphazardly scrawled into a book, no explanation. No, everything was for Empire. We were being trained to serve our Empire, above all else. He was a little mad, himself. That is-- he was mad. →
He believed that the unwashed masses relied on their base instincts and the highest calling was to rise above the muck and control the cattle for the good of all. →
The Cerberus Assembly are the most powerful mages in the Empire. Over two centuries ago, a number of mages went to war in the streets of Rexxentrum. It was bloody and awful, and eventually they came to a truce and banded together and proposed to the king at the time that they serve as an advising body alongside the throne. →
That is what is written about there, it talks about-- Listen, I don't pretend to know what we're talking about, but it does not seem like anything that I ever studied. →
I'm sure he's alive, but if he was good at breaking things down, taking them apart, experimenting on things, this thing that we have falls directly into that. →
It says they were looking for a way to achieve their ends without the object. I don't know what they need. I hope he is alive, I truly do. They will make his life very painful, though. →
(stuttering) I honestly don't know if we can-- if we are up to this. Unless they're en route on land, maybe, but... that's all the might of the Empire. →
Da'leth is Domestic Protection. He is the head of the military. If they are both here, I would imagine that he is here overseeing all of the Red Brands we saw and she is probably here trying to figure out what's in that bag. →
Then, do we have-- because I don't know how this all connects. Do we know why the cricks also attacked? Did they sense a disturbance in their juice or whatever that stuff is? The dunamis? →
Right. "--with extremely focused energy of different spectrums and sources, divine and "arcane, the effects unleashed are ever curious and reach far beyond this laboratory. The dunamis "field often sightlessly encompassed an entire portion of the town, with locals complaining of an "ill sluggish sensation akin to being dragged down." So-- →
Oh my god, what if you put the dodecahedron on the tripod thing that we got, right? Then we hit it with some sort of spell. I wonder if it would amplify that spell, you know what I mean? →
And also ring the dinner bell, Jester. I think that's the more dangerous part. We're super close to the front line, or at least to them. You do that, we might get exactly what we're asking for, but then trouble might also come calling. →
The people that we saw fighting, having the DC fight in the air, full on anime battle-- did we recognize the-- because I know they were wizards that were fighting the crick assassins that were coming in. →
There isn't a uniform robe. There is no-- and you would know this, too. Even mages in a union aren't like, "Let's all wear similar uniforms." They all very much see themselves as individuals in a circle. →
Oh right, yeah. No. For students and everything there would be uniforms, but as far as members of the Assembly proper, there's no consistent uniform amongst members of the Assembly. As is the nature when you get to a certain level of arcane capabilities, even working with other mages, there's a general, for the most part, an idea of "Well, I'm still better than them." →
These papers conjecture that in Ghor Dranas they are able to control fate and time. Clearly it was stolen from them and brought here, so it could be the source of their presence here. →
Ja, it was a note scrawled to the side of a book. It said that the Cerberus Assembly was looking into some sort of new arcane study and the word "dunamis" was written. That was it. →
Caleb, you were right when you said earlier that it's too late now. That we're involved. →
But I don't think we see it in the same way that you do. It's too late now because, whether you like it or not, we all care about you and are invested in, you know, your happiness, I guess? So... →
Honestly, you saying that you don't believe in anything kind of put everything into perspective about that conversation. I heard that you were doubting me and us, and our friendship. →
I'm just saying, they've probably been studying for a very long time. And if I'm not wrong they're elves. And elves live for a very long time. And they look kind of old, okay? So they're probably-- →
You're pretty powerful, okay? You're really strong. You're very handsome. You got some really cool spells. You can make darkness appear. It's really awesome. →
I would just-- I have a little ritual in the morning, meditate on it, see if I can feel anything tugging in some direction; and I couldn't know much, but I could know something. →
Well I'm happy we're coming to town to talk to this famous alchemist and this has really thrown something into our plans. I don't know what-- Do people throw monkeys into plans? What do people throw? →
Okay. You guys make your way towards Felderwin proper. Through this conversation, the majority of the Righteous Brand has moved on, heading northeast towards the front lines. →
Crownsguard are still present and there still is, definitely amongst those that are here-- and Nott, you can say that there are more crownsguard present here than there usually are. Probably just to keep an eye now that the military has moved on. →
You make your way towards the center of the city, leading them towards the Goldfield Tavern and Lodge. Heading inside, it's fairly empty. You place the cart outside for the time being. Towards the bar on the far end, you see the familiar face of Simone Deepwell. He's the halfling, the barkeep, and owner. Dark brown skin; short, gray-white hair. Very cheerful demeanor, he seems to be excited at the prospect that folks are stopping in with all the chaos that's happened as he leans over the front of the counter and goes-- →
"Three? Three rooms, all right. Well, we got plenty of space with events being as they have "been. That'll put you back about, let's say one gold, one silver for the three?" →
"I certainly hope not. We've kind of seen kind of the craziest thing Felderwin's ever seen "in most of its history since war with the Dominion. So I sincerely hope not. I mean, it's "one less competitive inn, but poor Jer. I just feel bad for everyone that lost their homes and "businesses in that affair. It's not good." →
"No worries. We have two meals here: one shortly after dusk; and bright and early in the "morning, right after sunup. You got about an hour window. If you miss it, well, there's plenty of-- "Should be plenty of food amongst the city to find, so good luck." →
"Yeah. Felderwin's not known for its excitement, necessarily. But keep your eye out. →
"Who knows what you'll find with the right questions, I don't know. I've seen some wild folk "come in these doors in my days, I'll tell you that much. Not all as colorful as you, though. →
"So can't say my experiences are a good basis of comparison, if you catch my drift." →
The notion is, I'm looking for something that is a testament to the abilities of the Wildmother, so anything that is a gift from her to us. Something impressive, something beautiful, something tasty. →
Felderwin would be one of the few places in the empire where the Wildmother would be very popular if she weren't outlawed, and you get the sense that there might even be an unspoken worship to her amongst this very rural farming community. →
You manage to go to both Felderwin General and, with Nott's help, sneak into one of the elaborate specialty herb-growing boxes, specifically for the purpose of various medicinal herbs. We'll say, over the period of the next 30 minutes or so, you gather what would be about 25 gold worth of-- →
You do know there is a female human physician in the town. There's a number of physicians and people, but there is one named Demi Leric, who is the altruistic member of the community. Doesn't charge, but accepts donations and is often the first to try and help out those of the more meager lifestyle in this farming community. →
Easy enough to find as you're glancing around because they're fairly present and conversing. You see one set of three that are walking past. The one seems most energetic in conversation is in the process of regaling the other two with some inane tale. →
Scrawny, human-looking fellow, looking like he's mid-30s or so, chin scruff, but can't quite grow a full beard. Like me, apparently. →
Yeah, I'm staying at the local inn right now. I have a friend. He's losing a little bit of his hair, and he was hoping-- I was hoping for a present I could get him, maybe a potion that would grow it? Do you know where I could find somebody that could grow hair, a potion maker or something? →
"Hell if I know. Cricks ran in here and started killing people left and right and "left in the same hour they arrived. It was like a swift nightmare, tearing through here." →
"Let me tell you, did you ever have one of them terrible dreams where something comes out of "the darkness and tries to grab at you and cut at you? It's burning eyes of evil and dark armor of "shadow and nothing?" →
"That's right over-- you go head down two blocks and to the right, follow that on for about "seven, eight or so buildings on the left. It's hard to miss. It's the second one on the left "that's burned down." →
Okay. It takes you a little while. Not too long with Nott's help guiding you in that direction, but finding the right building-- because the sign itself that has Demi Leric's name on it is itself smoke-covered from-- it's across the street from one of the buildings that was damaged by the fire. As you walk over towards the edge, the door is partially ajar. →
"Wait just a minute! Now sit down. It's going to hurt a bit longer. Come in!" You open the door, come inside. It's a very simple establishment. Immediately the smell hits you of various smells like medicinal herbs and very strong chemicals. You see four, five cots that are set up, two of which have recovering townsguard that are bandaged up and currently laying down. →
One of them appears to be asleep. The other one is sitting there with a fresh set of bandages put over burns. You see Demi turn around. Human woman, maybe late 20s, early 30s or so, heavyset, bright smile, bright eyes, but sleeves rolled to the elbows and all business. She turns around, and the fingers are hit with whatever material was used to apply the burn bandages to the one soldier. She wipes her hands, this viscous oil-like substance, and wipes them on a cloth. "Well, can I help you?" →
"Well, I mean, they're pretty sluggish right now, but that's for obvious reasons." MARISHA:. Not the most recent two weeks, burnt-in-a-fire-type of off. Before then. →
"We've had a few strange complaints maybe about a month, two months ago. Just a wave of "general, a nauseous-- I assumed it was maybe some bad food that got through a bit. Wasn't too serious." →
Still, we should at least investigate this lead now, and tomorrow, if we don't know what's going on, I can-- and I warn you, I will do this, but I'm going to get a little exhausted doing it-- I can at least give us some sense of what's ahead. →
Being a farm town, it's nothing fancy, but everything's hearty and quite delectable. Heading your way outside of Felderwin, to the northeast side where it begins to border on the Tillage itself, there's a group of about eight crownsguard that are circled around three-- what would have been the exit burrows. From this distance, you can see it's like a sinkhole. It's caved in a bit. →
From this distance, you can't see any further than a few inches to indicate that that seems to be where it was, and the guards are keeping a perimeter just in case anything were to return. →
"I certainly hope not. From what I can tell, wasn't just the cricks." Then one of the other guys, one of the soldiers, goes like, "I was here. I saw it." →
He nods for a second and goes, "All right, so, I guess have a look around. It's already been "given the once-over many times, so take a moment if you need it." →
"They collapsed them behind them and there's only so much you can go. If they dug all the way "from Xhorhas, do you have any idea how long those tunnels would go for?" →
Oh. Well, I feel like we go to this other plane, right? You can walk through things on that plane, because it's not quite the same. So what if we Blinked, and then we could go through where they collapsed the tunnel? Then we could be in the tunnel and just see, you know? Then come back! →
I would say if you were attempting to Blink into a solid space, it would shunt you out of the space and you would take a little bit of force damage. General rules for shifting out of ethereal space into matter. →
You approach and see there are three tunnels, and they're scattered maybe 300 feet apart from each other, approximately. Between 200 and 300 feet. The first one you're at here sinks in about ten, 15 feet; and it looks like crumbled stone and earth with patches of fresh dirt, and the roots that were upended as it tore through folding over onto the pile. It looks like it's been left as it was. You go over and inspect the other one and the same guard and few others walk with you to keep a close eye. The one in the middle, this is the one that's been dug out. →
Yeah. The tunnel goes straight down. Well, close to straight down. It comes at a fairly steep incline. There is a rope affixed to a heavy wooden pike that's been banged into the ground. →
There you go. You head down inside, and off to the side of it there's a small pile of dirt and rock. It looks like a lot of it has been moved off of the premises for the time being. As you head down and continue to walk, it evens out. It probably descends to a depth of about 50 or 60 feet below and continues at a steady decline on for about another-- as you continue to walk, continuing to walk, you get to a full close to 200 feet in before it comes to an ending point. →
There's a few carts at the base carrying dirt and rock up. You can see shovels and pickaxes and all sorts of materials that have been left behind by the team that gave up trying to excavate this tunnel. →
Okay. There are all sorts of footprints in here. There have been soldiers and crownsguard and all sorts of people in and out of this tunnel. You can see cart tracks and everything, but you can definitely tell that the edges of the top of the tunnel have a smoother, natural carving to them, whatever creature it is definitely burrowed. With that roll, I'd say you do make out a few footsteps that resemble more armored boots that are more unique against the profile of the general crownsguard and/or Righteous Brand soldiers. →
So we could continue following this tunnel for several hundred miles and see where it goes, or we could take my son to Alfield, or we could head to Rexxentrum and start tracking down Caleb's old teachers. →
In the morning, and I can't guarantee this, but we'll at least know if he's alive and maybe a sense of whether or not he's above ground or below ground and that'll certainly inform our decision. →
I'm going to try something really quickly, just for fun. I'm going to use Thaumaturgy really quickly and I'm going to broadcast a low bass chant and I'm going to throw it as far forward down that tunnel as I possibly can to see if I can get some sort of vibration coming back that they can hear. I'm going to start throwing this (low bass humming). →
If there's air to vibrate or I'm making sound in solid rock as a boosting of your-- It may not work. →
13, okay. You close your eyes and focus, feeling your feet connecting with the earth below you, letting the Wildmother's power suffuse your torso, your abdomen, your legs, and your feet into the earth below as you begin to release that low vibration. The hum carries through your body and into rock below and the vibration carries into the ground and due to the nature of this cavern you're in, it echoes pretty loudly in this space. You all can gently feel it and the guards in the back start looking around a bit nervous, not quite sure what's happening. One of them runs off afraid. →
You immediately rush up to edge of where the stone is, the most solid piece of it that's on that side and listen. You feel like you can very vaguely hear what might be gap a ways in at some point. You're not sure how far away it might be and you're not sure how big the gap may be. →
It could be just a small pocket, it could be a continuation of the tunnel, but there does appear to be some minor element of vibration that carried through with some differentiation. →
We're going to be right back here in a few minutes. In the interim, we have our fantastic friends at Wyrmwood's Wyrmwood giveaway! Run, run like the wind. →
This is Bolivian rosewood. Nice leather interior there, really nice dice box going to one of our friends out there. For you guys wanting to enter this drawing at the break, head on over to the Critical Role Twitch chat, that's twitch.tv/criticalrole, and enter the key phrase "tension." T-E-N-S-I-O-N. →
I don't know, it's like last week ended with a lot of tension. Enter it once; more than once you'll be disqualified, and unfortunately due to giveaway rules, only people in the US and Canada excluding Quebec can enter. We'll have a winner when we return, so see you guys here in a few minutes. →
Welcome back. Before we jump back in, we have a winner of our Wyrmwood giveaway. →
The winner tonight is palingratz. Palingratz, congratulations! We'll get that sent to you ASAP, and we'll have our next giveaway next week. As you all return back to the tavern where you're staying, the Goldfield Tavern and Lodge, you gather your thoughts and yourselves in your respective chambers. What would you like to do? →
I can't know that until dawn. If we do decide to go that direction, I think that there is definitely a chance that we could dig far enough and deep enough to make passage. →
That is a hot take. It's funny that you said that because-- and it may have been because I was not drunk at the time. I was thinking, when you were talking, Caleb, or Bren, about Rexxentrum and how it's heavily protected and guarded, and how it's impossible to get in and make an assault on it, I immediately thought, well, what if we went in with the Kryn and attacked with them? →
I mean, aside from the mind-altering magic that we've already mentioned, all of us can change our appearance. Maybe what you're talking about, about them coming in and using the crick, maybe that's what they did. Maybe they did your exact suggestion first, and they disguised themselves to look like the Kryn and came in. →
I did not say that it is heavily fortified, although I'm sure it is. It is the largest city in the empire. When I lived there-- and it was only briefly when I was at school-- I could go anywhere in the city I wanted because I'm a citizen of the empire. →
Speaking of, when I was talking to the doctor, Demi, she said she had a few instances over the last month or so where people were coming in feeling nauseous, feeling not like themselves in a grouped amount of time. →
-- I'm here because where I was, I was out of options. We've definitely found some options. I don't know what they mean yet, but I went looking for them, and here we are. →
That's right. Has been for a while. The forest that surrounds it, the corrupted forest, is overtaking it as if the magic that held it in place is being supplanted. I'm of the opinion that that shouldn't be happening. There are several other-- we're not the only site like our own. →
We haven't had much communication with the other sites, so I don't know if it's happening anywhere else. →
Oh, lots. I mean, depending on when and where. Members of my family and others have been protecting that place for as long as it has existed. We built the temple. We founded it. →
I feel like she would let me know if I needed to know. That's not an answer I really want the-- that's not an answer I'm looking for right now. I'm sure you understand. →
Best to have faith and not second guess how she's decided to move forward. If I recall, Corin talked about trying to find some of the other temples, but I don't know. No one's come back. When you came around, I had an inkling that it was supposed to be my job to do this from the beginning and that I had been shirking my duties. →
You all seemed like a very good sign that it was time to take some responsibility. →
It's a little overwhelming. I mean, this is some serious shit. I mean, I came from Nicodranas, and everything was nice. The empire is really fucked up. Everybody went through such horrible things, and I'm really sorry for everyone. That's all. →
Okay. That would be probably either on the Tillage itself or some of the small grove clusters along the river that you guys were talking earlier. I assume you're casting Divination? →
I let it go a little bit last time, only because it was a question of what were they doing right now. It's like, well, that's an activity that they were doing, I guess. →
It's a chilly morning, but this far enough south in the empire, hasn't hit snow yet. The full winter hasn't come into effect, so it's still green fields and mostly blue sky with bits of clouds. As you concentrate, the chilled wind picks up a little bit. Across the wind, it begins to form words through your ears. →
19, good! Yasha first pipes in and goes, "Well, I've heard the name. It's far further north than where I lived, and we avoided it because "a lot of the beast folk live that way." →
There are men who are like bull warriors as well, "and bugbears, and other goblinoids. Some are wild and angry and hungry, and we had to protect or "raid them first. Others, they work with the Kryn. →
No, you would not. But with the history checks you guys did pull on Ghor Dranas, Ghor Dranas is important to the history of the Age of Arcanum. When the gods walked the earth, both Prime Deities and the Betrayer Gods, there were various areas that were considered their realm of influence on the mortal plane, outside of their home realms in the different inner and outer planes. A number of these citadels of the Betrayer Gods were concentrated around Xhorhas and the surrounding landscape. That's where the most intense battles took place of the Calamity, was on Wildemount. Ghor Dranas was the name of the center of their tenuous union. Essentially, in the final years of the Calamity, it was where all of the Betrayer Gods would go to plot the undoing of the rest of the free people and their creators in Exandria. What remains of Ghor Dranas is where the Kryn have established their empire, their dynasty. →
It's essentially the capital city of the Kryn dynasty. →
No, that wasn't it. They were saying that they couldn't believe that Ghor Dranas was holding secrets, like that they had a whole other school of magic that we haven't discovered here. →
As a note, just to remind you, if you're thinking of distances and times. The attack transpired weeks ago, so you're not right on their tail. Consider that in what you're planning. →
I don't want to drag you all to the center of Xhorhas, where the beasts live, and the capital city where the empress is. It seems like, if we go to Rexxentrum, we're in deep trouble. →
If we go to Xhorhas, we're in even worse trouble. →
You know it's east. Right now, the war is right here. →
These are the garrisons. Put that in the center, there. By the Brokenveil Bluffs, these are where the two, the Ashguard and Rockguard Garrisons are. One of the garrisons has been lost to the Kryn, and they are currently holding it at the border. Bladegarden, right there, is the foremost front of the military now. The conflict right now is being held-- from what you've heard so far. Your information is dicey at best because you've been gone for a while. The last you know, this is where the focus of the conflict is. →
Rexxentrum is its own set of problems and dangers. Your husband is heading towards Xhorhas and a war. I am not feeling very optimistic about the tunnels, but I have been wrong about many things. So why don't we check out the tunnels? Let's do something positive. →
Because she doesn't think it is safe for you to be here right now. Now, Alfield is very safe and there's a wonderful person there named Bryce, who we've already sent word to because we're pretty powerful, and they'll be expecting you. →
She said to use the money that she gave you to head there and get a place to stay and use it for food. Buy yourself something nice, you know? →
As long as it takes, because it's pretty dangerous still, but we will be able to send word to you and let you know when it's safe to come home, which is good! →
You find Jeff there as soon as you walk into the door. Demi's off to the side, reading a leather-bound journal that she's either reading or making notes in. She looks up and she goes, "Aye?" →
There's a handful of folks here. You see three very, very old farmer-types that this is their retirement, is coming here everyday and complaining and drinking themselves to an early-- earlier-- grave. You do see two crownsguard that are working their way slowly through an ale and chatting to each other. As he walks in, "Hey!" and "Oh, what's up, hey buddy! You're walking around, "that's great!" He's like, (straining) "Yeah, I've got a job for you. What's your name again?" →
You see the gentleman who was introduced as Jordan goes, "Well, to and from Alfield, that's a "number of days' travel including night camping costs, board, staying there in Alfield. I'd say, "for the each of us round-trip, puts you at about 35 gold pieces." →
"Where did you meet this woman?" He's like, "Look, she's been this way, but she pays well, "apparently, and I want to help you guys out. I'm going to go lay back down," and he starts making his way back with your stick. →
"All right, I got it. No worries, we got it taken care of. We got you taken care of! "We're good! We're just going to finish our drinks and we'll start getting our stuff together." →
Okay. He makes his way back. You've hired some crownsguards under the table to keep an eye and escort Edith and Luke over to Alfield to meet with Bryce, where they're going to take care of them to some degree. →
Easy enough. You head over to the Felderwin General, helmed by Dupont Briggsman, this young dwarven salesman. Tanned skin, light brown hair, a bit of a chin beard. He says, "Are you looking for pockets, you said?" →
Honestly, I thought that it was just going to be a little quick thing and he was going to be like, "For brevity's sake," like he does, but he didn't. →
He is happily picking out and handing over belt pouches as you completely disorganize his probably very carefully and intentionally placed system. Well done. →
Oh yes. You see each tunnel has somewhere in the neighborhood of five to six guards stationed to each. Some of them are just sitting down, bored with their posting. They've been told to keep watch, but not a whole lot's happening until you guys approach. You're heading towards the center tunnel, which is the one that already has the fairly deep dig, and as you approach, the guards all stand up. Some of them are holding spears and are using them to get to their feet. They look over in your direction. These are not the same guards you spoke to last night. →
I have a funny feeling that this is less of a "we can walk all the way to Albuquerque" as more as a there's possibly something down there or they're still in there that's just a little bit of a-- →
They all look at each other and one of them who looks probably to have a little more authority who has probably been assigned to be the head of the rest of the crownsguard, steps forward and goes, "Yeah, what of it?" →
We're part of a research expedition. We were here and we were hoping we could toss you a little bit of coin and, you know, check out this area here a bit. →
Yes. The guy looks at both of you and his chest-puffed moment of bravado begins to slowly deflate and goes, "Right, okay. What are you looking to do? You just inspecting?" →
I mean, it can stay there as long as you're renting rooms there, but if you just want it to be kept there, it's a little bit cheaper, but you still have to pay in advance for how long you intend to leave it there for storage. →
Actually, technically, because-- as you guys rested for the evening and you've completed your journey here and you've begun this next venture-- technically for the night, you guys would hit level eight. →
Okay. There are beasts in the wild. There are wolves, there are cats, there are bears. →
You've run across a number of larger versions of these, more dangerous and ominous ones, like when you were in the Savalierwood briefly, you came across a few dire wolves. Use your creative mind on what other possible dire creatures might exist. →
Whether or not one exists, the creative imagination of Jester creates a Polymorph form as you watch her body expand and extend into a massive honey badger, maybe six feet from nose to tail tip, with a series of bony protrusions that run down its back like two spines. →
Large teeth and claws that definitely arc and curve outward to about five, six inches beyond the center of the paw, unretracted. →
All right, I will say-- go ahead and make an athletics check for me, adding what would be the honey badger's strength, a dire honey badger-- I'll say plus three. So, roll a d20, add plus three. →
You would've had to cast it in advance, but I'll say, in watching this happen-- Bless only lasts a minute, but for that time period, you get a little further and we'll say you start getting more and more exhausted, and then you reach a certain point where the spell expires and your form reverts to a very sweaty, exhausted Jester. →
You've carved quite a way. You've pushed probably an additional, in the past hour-- Oh, man. →
14. As you look past, there's no light source in there, and the hole is only large enough for you to kind of fit your torso through as you glance in. But in the distance you can see-- What is the distance on your darkvision, 60 feet? →
You guys are all back in the tunnel. It's been dug through, and all of a sudden Jester creates a small hole and then plugs it with herself. You just see the back of Jester, halfway stuck; almost like Winnie the Pooh trying to exit the domicile. →
All right. You step through and (bloom, bloom, bloom) the orbs appear, and it illuminates the chamber. And it is a chamber. What you've stepped into appears to be a subterranean cavern. →
About 30 or 40 feet ahead of you it drops off, and looks to be about a ten-foot drop before it hits another straightaway. As it curves to the left, you've already smelled the minerals and the hard water smell of the interior of this chamber. →
You glance over to the side and let the orbs drift over a little further, and you can see a river. →
It's an underground river, and it seems to have carved its way through this lower portion of the chamber. It vanishes further below into-- →
But you also notice, as the orbs move through, there are crystal-like, I want to say like quartz crystals, that jut from certain portions of the ceiling, and elements of various-- I always mess up on this: stalactites. →
No, I'm going to pull them back to me and lose three of them, and pull out that rag that I carry around, and cover them so that it's even dimmer. My transmutation stone is set so that I can see in dim light. →
Yeah. We've just gotten access to a small pocket that we're just going to check out, make sure everything's safe and appropriate. We'll have a full report once we've finished taking a look inside and we'll be delivering it. But in the meantime, let's not cause any undue panic. →
We'll let you know, or we'll make some noise if anything dangerous is down there. It still could not be safe. You're welcome to come, but I'm not sure if it's going to be-- I can't guarantee any safety beyond this point. →
As you all step into the interior, you can also take in that smell of long-sealed underground water, hearing the rushing of the small river. You can see where the path continues on, and with the dim glow and the darkvision, where it curves forward you can see a faint natural arch that looks to be a continuation of the tunnel. →
As you guys begin to step forward into the darkened, subterranean shadows of this newly discovered tunnel system, and wherever it will lead you eastward, we're going to go ahead and end tonight's episode there. →
"When you cast a spell that requires you to make an attack roll, the spell's range is doubled. Your ranged spell attacks ignore half cover and three-quarter cover. You learn one cantrip that requires an attack roll, choose the cantrip from the Cleric or Druid spell list. Your spellcasting ability for this cantrip is wisdom." →