Critical Role Review: C3 Episode 24
By: I.Am.No.Man
Episode 24: The Hellcatch Valley
Recap
Orym rises early the next morning on the airship and is quick to spot some trouble on the horizon. Something large is burrowing its way underground right towards an unsuspecting caravan. He directs the skyship to help the flailing caravan under attack from a desert-squid creature called a dusttra. Captain Xandis is surprised to see the Dusttra lashing out in such an aggressive manner as they are not carnivorous or known for their aggression. Imogen and FCG reach out telepathically to the creature to try and slow it down and figure out how to help it. The Dusttra reveals that it has been tortured and abused by people and had its spawn taken from it. In its blind rage and grief it is lashing out at his innocent caravan.
The gang decide it may be best to try and distract or lure the Dusttra away from the caravan instead of trying to kill or harm the beast. The crew leap into action, arming ballistas with chain harpoons to ensnare and airlift the creature away. Imogen and Laudna team up to hit the Dusttra with a well timed Feather Fall to lighten the load and the airship manages to drag the Dusttra out of the ground and away from the caravan. They release the Dusttra a short distance away, giving the caravan enough time to escape to safe ground.
With a crisis averted, the airship finishes its journey to Bassuras, leaving our heroes on the edge of town. The denizens of Bassuras spot the airship leaving the city and quickly send a 'welcoming party' to investigate the newcomers. The Hells get a taste for just how wild Bassuras is when three Mad Max style desert buggies roar their way around the gang. After a strange, semi-intimidating introduction, the group manages to convince the locals that they mean no harm and are in Bassuras to track down someone who wronged them. The local gang decide to let the Hells go without much of a shakedown, cautioning them to lay low in the main city.
The Hells make their way into Bassuras proper, finding a safe place to stay for the night. Next morning dawns, and the Hells set out to track down Armand Treshi in the sprawling chaos of the city. They are quickly distracted by the sounds of someone being attacked on the streets. Orym rushes ahead to find a slight elven figure being harassed by a street gang. The elf shows some skill with a blade, but is no match for the half dozen antagonists. The Hells leap into action and begin taking down the attackers one by one. Ashton and Chetney suffer some brutal wounds while Fearne, Imogen, and Laudna try and pick off members from the periphery of the fight. Orym and FCG hack and distract the enemies enough for Imogen and Laudna to take two down with shocking lightning bolts. The rest of the attackers flee into the alleyways.
The Hells turn to the elf, who has just taken a tumble off the roof, and introduces themselves as Dusk- a fey touched warlock. Dusk thanks the group for their help and immediately befriends them and divulges their life story within moments of meeting. Dusk offers their assistance in navigating the city while they search for Treshi. The Hells readily accept Dusk's offer and the group set off together, ready for a new adventure. And that's where we'll pick up next time!
Review
A new player has entered the game! Big welcome to Erika Ishii, a longtime periphery friend to Critical Role. It's about time Erika makes it to the big kids' table as a PC in the main campaign. She's been around since Critical Role's Geek and Sundry days. While this is not Erika's first time at the Critical Role table (you can catch her in Taliesin's Call of Cthulhu and the Cinderbrush one-shots), it will be her first time as a longer term guest star. I can't wait to see how Dusk's story will weave into the Bells Hells mission here in Bassuras.
Now, before we dive further into the second half of the episode and Dusk's introduction, let's dissect the rest of the Hell's journey on the airship. The encounter with the Dusttra goes surprisingly well for the Hells. Mercer gave the group a chance to just jump in and have a standard monster fight and play the valiant heroes, but just enough hints were dropped that this monster may not be as insidious as it seems. The group made the decision to end the encounter with wits instead of braun. Nice to see some character growth in the third campaign! Not to say this gang hasn't had its fair share of shockingly violent moments (looking at you Imogen).
With the opening action out of the way, the Hells get down to exploring the fascinating new locale of Bassuras. The city is definitely seedier than the swampy Heartmoor and has quite the 'lawless wild west' vibe happening for it. They spend their first night huddled in a tavern room, keeping watch on the Treshi tracking stone. We learn that FCG has a strange grudge with some kind of bird he's deemed 'Shithead' and asks for Chetney's help in keeping a sharp eye out for this mortal enemy of his. Chetney also finishes up another woodworked gift for Laudna. He's made a little doll house of sorts for her 'pets' Sashimi and Patè.
The fight and introduction to Erika's new character was an interesting little set up. I'm glad the session had enough time and direction to pop Erika in as a guest right before the month long hiatus. While it did slow the main story down for the episode, it's always fun to add a new player to the table! The fight with the street gang had some pretty intense moments. Ashton had a notably tough time facing down against the group's spellcaster. They got caught up in some nasty illusion magic that had them reeling from heavy psychic damage. Thankfully their companions were in command of the battle field and the fight was over before anything too serious happened.
Imogen had a bit of a wild magic hiccup in this session. While Laura fully admitted to forgetting about rolling for wild magic in the past few sessions, she definitely made up for the chaos when the latest surge resulted in her losing all her hair. Just like Fjord's brush with baldness, it seems only a greater restoration, or at the very least a restoring night's sleep will bring back her luscious locks. So, not only has Imogen dealt with a powerful fey stone with unknown side effects, blue skin, her best friend betraying her and breaking her favorite new stone, and losing all her hair...she has to watch Laudna and Dusk seem to really hit it off right out the gate.
There wasn't a big discussion between the two witches about what happened on the deck of the airship. It seems Imogen is still feeling a little too hurt to dive into a real conversation with Laudna. It didn't make Imogen's emotions any less painful to see her dearest friend interact so easily with a new face while she's dealing with some pretty heavy thoughts and intrusive voices. Hopefully the ladies can patch things up soon and get back their 'us against the world' camaraderie.
The session leaves off with the gang headed to a silly little buffet restaurant called Taste of Tal'Dorei to rest up after the fight and make a plan to track down Treshi. Fans of the most recent ExU Kymal series will recognize this restaurant name as something Aabria Iyengar introduced into canon.
While campaign 3 will be on break for the next 4 weeks, you can be sure to catch some new Critical Role content with the brand new ExU Calamity series. GM'd by the fantastic Brennan Lee Mulligan, this apocalyptic race against the clock campaign promises to be an exciting peek into the history of one of Exandria's most violent events. I'm excited to see what the four part series will illuminate about the events leading up to the Calamity, and how these stories will effect the main campaigns.
Just as a note, this Critical Role Review series may be uploading irregularly for the next while, as this writer will be soaking up some baby time on maternity leave. I fully plan on continuing to watch and review Critical Role as time permits and graciously thank the readers for being patient as I catch up and squeeze in time to make this series happen. Until next time Critters, don't worry it's almost Thursday!
