Critical Role Review: C3 Episode 12
By: I.Am.No.Man
Episode 12: Make It Fashion
Recap
The gang meet up with Imogen after her evening of research in the library. Orym offers to go with Imogen back to the Lumas estate to see if they can search the twins belongings for the missing pages of the journal containing information about her mother.
The next morning, while Imogen and Orym are away, the rest of the group go shopping for outfits to wear to the ball. They spend the next few hours laying out their outfits and finding accessories, and building FCG some wooden legs to he can pretend to dance.
Meanwhile, Imogen and Orym hit a dead end at the Lumas estate. It seems that even though the twins were the last to check out the journal, they didn't have the pages on their research desks at home. They thank the mistress of the house for allowing them to search and rejoin the rest of the group.
The gang visit a new shop to pick up some supplies. They find themselves at the Trove of Marwa, a specialties shop built out of an abandoned shipwreck. Inside, they find a young shopkeep named Marwa Endalia. The Trove bears her namesake, though it was her father who built the shop. She's the only one left to run the shop now that her father is gone and she's doing her best to manage the piles of knick knacks and 'treasures' amassed in the shop. The gang pick up some potions of healing, FCG gets some spell components, Orym gets a magical rope, and Laudna purchases a Bloodwell vial.
Imogen returns to the conservatory that evening for another round of research, but doesn't find anything new on her mother. She does find some basic information about the Briarwoods for Laudna. She also finds more tidbits about where her and Laudna's magic may come from, and the influence of the lunar cycles on her visions. Laudna is still hoping to possibly find a way to sever her connection to Delilah Briarwood while still maintaining her abilities. More research will need to be done.
That evening Imogen is plagued by another nightmare of the red storm. She hears her mother telling her to run, then she sees two figures, the Lumas twins, become consumed by the storm. She wakes and worries that somehow all their stories are connected in some undiscovered way.
The day before the ball, the gang realize that they still need masks for the masquerade ball. Everyone spends the morning gathering materials and crafting personalized masks. They wonder if maybe a trip to Lord Eshteross will help round out their fancy outfits for the evening event.
Eshteross is of course willing to help and offers the use of some jewelry and outfit pieces to complete the group's fabulous looks. They come up with a plan to approach Armand Treshi and see if they are a member of the secretive Chanday Quorum or if they know anyone who might be in the Quorum. They also hope to glean any information as to why Treshi may have hired the Nightmare King to do his strange experiments in the city. The group's task, should they choose to accept, would be to place one of Eshteross' enchanted rings onto Treshi's hand so he can be more easily traced.
Dorian is coerced into taking lead on this mission and attempt to charm his way onto Treshi's good side and find a way to slip the ring to him. Dorian will set aside his familiar persona and use his old family name, Bronte Wyvernwind, to try and gain enough clout with Treshi. The group will split into two parties. Dorian will bring Fearne, Orym and Imogen with him. Laudna, Ashton, FCG and Chetney will be the backup team should Dorian and his crew fail.
With plans in place and outfits donned, the group make their way to the ball. And that's where we'll pick up next time.
Review
Okay! So, for a shopping and planning episode...this session wasn't the worst. For lovers of the world building and character role play, this episode was 100% for you. Those Critters that are fans of a more fast paced, story driven session, can definitely glaze over this episode or catch highlights and not miss a whole lot in the long run.
One of the hidden gems in this episode was the introduction of a new NPC shopkeeper, Marwa Endalia at the Trove of Marwa. The spunky young loner of a shopkeep instantly endeared herself to the audience and already there are calls for more visits to the Trove. This gang still haven't found a heavy hitting magical shop purveyor in this campaign yet, but Marwa is definitely filling in the eccentric shopkeep NPC roll for now.
Imogen hit an unfortunate dead end in her interesting research project. I'm sure this little bread crumb will pop up again soon. Perhaps when the gang visit the Odearan Wilds on their next mission. She did find a few tidbits about the Briarwoods for Laudna. Though none of the information is new for long time fans of the show, the little snippets would serve to quickly get new fans of this campaign caught up to speed about Delilah's history in Exandria. Laudna and Delilah's connection will be an interesting story arc to dive into when it's time.
Lord Eshteross made another appearance in this session. It was a fairly typical appearance; he gave them new information, provided them with finery and gold, and prodded the story forward.
The rest of the story was peppered with shopping, outfit planning, shopping while outfit planning, planning while shopping.....you get the idea. Fan artists eat episodes like this up, so expect some fabulous art popping up in the next couple weeks.
We rounded out the session with a loose sort of plan for approaching their target at the ball. Next session will see the gang in their first high society event and trying to pull off a jewelry heist. We'll see how long the crew can hold things together or how quickly things will devolve into chaos. With Fearne in the mix... it's anyone's guess.
Don't worry Critters! It's almost Thursday.
