Critical Role Review: C3 Episodes 22 and 23
By: I.Am.No.Man
Episode 22: Promise and Potential
Recap
Bells Hells have returned to Jrusar successful in their mission. Ashton leads the group back to Jiana Hexum's estate to collect their prize and officially pay off their old debt. Jiana is impressed with the spoils, incriminating paperwork, stolen trinkets, and general chaos the Hells have managed against her rival, Hytroga.
Jiana shows an intense interest in FCG once again. She asks for a moment alone with the automaton, which the group grants on the condition that Ashton can stay behind just to keep watch. FCG is subjected to a rather strange poking, prodding, and questioning from Jiana until they finally put a stop to the invasive interrogation to call out Jiana's inappropriate behavior. FCG chastises Jiana for treating him like an object instead of a person with their own thoughts and feelings. As Ashton watches over this interaction, something odd catches their eye. It's a familiar crate that jogs loose an old memory from the night of Ashton's accident.
Later that night, Ashton's dreams are haunted by memories of a troubled life. Fearne, who was keeping watch over the group, notices Ashton's gem sparking and flaring while they sleep and she leans in for a closer inspection. Ashton sees flashes of their childhood before being taken to the Greymoore house, a strange natural disaster-the ground opening up in chasms around them. Then the burglary again, the memories fuzzy and disjointed. The crate is there, but what's inside? He can hear his companions clamoring to escape, running for an exit, then falling...falling...Milo's voice asking if they're ok.
The next morning, Ashton asks the group if they can stop in and check in Milo, see if they can get some more answers about the night of the accident and what may have been inside the crate they keep hearing about. The group agrees to stop by on their way to Eshteross' estate.
Milo is happy to see Ashton survived the trek to the Heartmoor. Unfortunately, they don't have too many answers for Ashton. They never got a good look at what was inside the crate during the break in. All Milo remembers was being hit with some kind of force wave, Ashton falling out the window, the group making a run for it and dragging Ashton's broken body back to safety. Milo recalls using the strange crystal, glass and metal to try and reconstruct Ashton, finding a swirling grey potion vial clutched in Ashton's hands, pouring the mysterious vial into Ashton's head then watching as it began sparking and pulsing life back into Ashton's body. Ashton knows that their new abilities didn't start until after the accident and must be connected in some way to the crystal and the grey potion. The gang will have to do some more asking around to try and identify where these items may have come from. Ashton may also look for some of his old companions from The Nobodies, who may have fled back north through the Hellcatch valley.
The Hells shift gears and pay an obligatory visit to Eshteross. Eshteross is fascinated by their most recent adventure and has an interesting update of his own to share. It seems that Armand Treshi has made a run for it to try and escape whatever incriminating evidence the captured Lady Emoth may have shared with authorities. Eshteross asks if the Hells would be interested in tracking Treshi down and bringing him back to Jrusar to stand trial for his crimes. The group agrees to see this loose thread through and Eshteross offers to lend them use of his airship to get them to Treshi's last known location, Bassuras, in the Hellcatch Valley.
The Hells use the rest of the day to buy supplies and pack for the trek. A quick stop to Marwa's trove brings some new, interesting treasures. Marwa sells them a Horn of Silent Alarm, a constantly bloody and dripping Butcher's Bib armor booster, and a black, silky material that can transform into a Portable Hole. Chetney asks for one more stop before they leave Jrusar again. They stop in for a visit with Ajit Dayal and the Dayal Hall. Ajit recognizes the Hells from the ball and does share some limited information about his connections to Lycanthropy and the Gorgynei. Ajit tasks the group with a visit to the Gloomed Jungles to find the Gorgynei leader Divaasheela. Satisfied with their preparations, the gang settles in for the night and gets ready to leave early the next morning. Just before falling asleep, Orym uses the sending stone to give Dorian a little update on the group and let him know he's missed.
Episode 23: To the Skies
Recap
While the Bells Hells sleep before their journey north, Chetney decides it's a good night to seek some revenge. He sneaks out into the night and makes his way to the Prism Emporium shop. He breaks in through the chimney and proceeds to scare the living daylights out of the shop keep. He transforms into his werewolf form and threatens Tuyen Otwana to stop over-charging for her wares. A terrified Tuyen promises anything, just please don't kill her. Chetney slashes out, leaving a deep gash on her arm, then flees back into the night, quite satisfied in his vendetta.
The Hells awake the next morning, none the wiser to Chetney's midnight escapades. They head to the Aerie spire to find Eshteross' airship and meet Captain Xandis. The Captain, a gregarious tiefling, introduces the rest of the crew. First mate, Khalil Benes, the cook Denalia, and two deckhands Tarana and Gordi will escort the Hells through the Hellcatch valley and into Bassuras.
The first day of travel passes without incident. The gang marvel and the changing landscape and the still obvious scars left on the land from the aftermath of The Calamity.
The next morning, Orym notices two shapes headed towards the ship. The captain sounds the alarm and before they know it the gang is under attack from two manta-ray like Skitrath Hunters. The Hells put up an intense fight against the speedy and venomous Skirath. Imogen and Laudna send spells flying across the deck of the ship. Chetney and Orym skewer the Skirath with the ship's armed ballistas. Ashton uses an impressive new ability, opening portals in front of him to send his hammer crashing into the Skirath from impossible distances and angles. Orym manages to take down one of the Skirath but is suddenly knocked off the edge of the airship by the second Skirath. Laudna somehow catches Orym's deadly plummet happen from the corner of her eye and manages to send a Feather Fall his way. He's not out of danger yet, but at least he's not actively plummeting to his death. Ashton pummels the second Skirath into pulp while Imogen rushes to the edge of the ship to try and spot Orym.
Imogen can see Orym falling right into one of the sails of the ship and watches as he goes spinning off out of control. She channels a powerful surge of energy, eyes going white, hair flying in the wind, and she flies her way towards Orym. She manages to catch the spinning halfling and hold onto him long enough to get them both back to the safety of the ship's deck. He profusely thanks Imogen and Laudna for saving his life, then let's Ashton carry him off to bed to sleep off the ordeal.
The gang take the rest of the day to lick their wounds and celebrate the group's incredible new abilities. Laudna is impressed by Imogen's new flying ability, while Chetney admires Ashton's portal prowess on the battlefield.
Later that night, before bed, Imogen and Laudna have a heart to heart. Laudna is getting a bit concerned about Imogen's attachments to the fey-touched gem she picked up from the Heartmoor. She's like to take a closer look at the gem and make sure it's nothing too dangerous or powerful for Imogen to have alone. Imogen reluctantly agrees, making Laudna promise not to do anything to harm the gem. Laudna promises to be careful and begins to open herself up to the gem. Suddenly, she hears Delilah's voice chilling her thoughts. Delilah says this gem is far too powerful for Laudna to be playing with. Don't worry though, she'll take care of it. Laudna attempts to drop the gem, but her hands no longer respond to her body. Imogen begins to worry, taking Laudna's hand and tries to open the palm up to take the gem back. Laudna is pleading with both Imogen and Delilah to make it stop. Laudna feels a strong, warm pulse of energy up her arm. Imogen opens Laudna's palm up to see the gem cracked, broken, and dark. Laudna is heartbroken, promising Imogen she didn't mean to break the gem, she'll find a way to fix it. Imogen, obviously upset and betrayed, just looks at Laudna, "You lied." Imogen quietly leaves the deck and Laudna begins to angrily scream at Delilah, asking "What have you done?!" Delilah laughs and patronizingly answers, "Don't worry about it darling, it's taken care of."
And that's where we'll pick up next time!
Review
The story is really picking up the pace! We still have a dozen threads leading all over Marquet and beyond, but it seems the Hells are honing in on the subterfuge in the Treshi house. We also have some spicy new threads that hint at a heavy Ashton backstory incoming. I always love the homebrew classes that Taliesin and Mercer create together and getting any new scraps of information always pique my curiosity. The Hells waste no time lazing around Jrusar before setting off for a brand new locale! Let's dive into these two exciting episodes.
Episode 22 opens up the Ashton backstory can of worms the Critters have been dying for. While not as intense as a Fjord or Imogen nightmare, Ashton's flashbacks seem to be centered around two very traumatic events in their past. We already know about their fall from Hexum manor, but we got some new hints at another transformative period in Ashton's life. What happened to their family in the Hellcatch valley before he ended up at the Greymoore orphanage? What was with the vision of the ground cracking open all around them? Were these memories connected to the 'rocky' change they underwent in their childhood?
These weren't even the only Ashton crumbs we got in this session! Later in the episode, the gang goes to visit Milo and try and pry some more information about the Hexum job. We had some fan theories confirmed when Milo revealed that Ashton had found a strange vial with silvery liquid they had clutched in their hands after they fell. And naturally, what do you do with an unknown vial of liquid when trying to bring your friend back from the dead? Why not pour it into their head wound and hope for the best? Now, fans of Campaign 2 may remember a certain silvery concoction made by Yeza for the Cerberus Assembly. That's right, it seems like Ashton may have a potion of straight up Dunamis juice in his brain. No wonder all his new abilities have seemed to be centered around a very familiar temporal and gravity based class of magic. I can only imagine what the Mighty Nein's resident Dunamancy expert might have to say about Ashton's amazing new abilities.
The rest of episode 22 was chock full of familiar NPC's. Jiana Hexum's appearance was tinged by her overly aggressive examination of FCG. Which, let's all admire FCG's character growth and no longer meekly taking people's sometimes rude curiosity with a polite veneer. It's been great watching FCG find their 'personhood' as the campaign progresses. Shopkeeper Marwa made another eccentric appearance and continues to endear audiences. She had some rather intriguing items to pass along to the Hells. I personally can't wait to see what chaos the crew can get up to with the portable hole. And of course, it wouldn't be a visit to Jrusar without the obligatory visit to Lord Eshteross. This visit to the Hells' sponsor actually slingshot the story back into motion relatively quickly. Due to the Hells' success at the Treshi's ball, Eshteross was able to track Armand Treshi's midnight escape from Jrusar and send the Hells on their next exciting mission. While Imogen and Orym's side stories may be put on hold while they chase down the fugitive Treshi, the over-arching story is honing in and picking up steam.
Chetney had a bit of his own personal story mission sprinkled into episode 22 as well. An informative visit to Ajit Dayal reveals that the professor knows quite a bit about Chetney's furry secret. I'm loving all the different ways that the moon and strange moon lore have woven threads through everyone in the campaign so far. I'm itching to see how all these threads will somehow tie together in classic Mercer fashion.
Episode 23 was a rollercoaster all on its own. I'm amazed that the Hells managed to actually wrap things up so quickly in Jrusar and get back on the road in no time at all. Chetney had a fascinating solo revenge mission at midnight. And all over a slightly overpriced set of woodworking tools. Remind me never to get on Chetney's bad side. I love how chaotic Travis is leaning with his role play this campaign. We know how eager his past characters have been to push buttons, toe the line, and jump into the unknown and now with Chetney, Travis gets to explore all of that with wild abandon.
We got to meet a fantastic new NPC and a fun crew of airship merchants. Captain Xandis is an absolute gem and I love the characterization Mercer chose for them. Things don't stay peaceful for long on the airship journey. Not long into their second day, the Hells are fighting off monsters and defying death.
How intense was that scene when Orym fell over the edge of the ship?! I know Mercer isn't a merciless DM and is not one to pull and instant perma-death with no chance of rescue just because someone falls overboard at 400 feet above ground. Still, the moment when Mercer and Marisha had their little back and forth about whether Laudna could have caught Orym with a Feather Fall before his fall was super tense. The dice gods spoke though, and everyone's favorite little halfling is still with us today.
Dramatic near death experience aside, the Skirath battle was an awesome chance for the gang to show off their exciting new level 6 abilities. Laudna and Imogen continue to get stronger and more proficient at managing a battlefield as warlock magic users. Imogen showed off some impressive new flying skills. Laura's RP and description of Imogen's magic is so hypnotizing. I love every mysterious detail we get into where her powers may be coming from.
Most notably, Ashton showed off some seriously badass new portal powers. The seriously cinematic nature of their portaling made this fight one of the most interesting we've seen yet. I love the multiple uses Ashton has already come up with after just discovering the ability. I don't think I can lay it on any more thickly, I can't get enough of the incredible homebrews these two can come up with.
The final cliffhanger scene in this session left so many Critters speechless. Imogen and Laudna are endgame goals for so many of us, and seeing the fractures happening after Laudna accidentally destroyed Imogen's power gem was heartbreaking. The RP between Marisha and Laura was magnetizing. Taliesin's little out of character outburst about Laudna bringing on the downfall of Whitestone was really funny, and hopefully not too prescient. Delilah has almost as many lives as some members of Vox Machina. She's one tough cookie to actually kill. We're all waiting with bated breath to see how Laudna's little slip up affects her connection to Delilah and what the woman might be plotting in the long run.
Episode 24 promises to bring more exciting action, maybe some deeper emotional role play and confrontation, and a classic dose of 'who knows what will happen' DnD chaos. Stay tuned for the next Critical Role Review as we dive into another episode of Campaign 3 and beyond. Until next time Critters, don't worry, it's almost Thursday.
Don't Miss It!
New Exandria Unlimited series coming our way! "Exandria Unlimited: Calamity follows six distinguished heroes from the Age of Arcanum as they uncover an insidious corruption beneath a city that they’ve sworn to protect. This is a story where Exandria’s greatest minds could not—or would not—see the truth before it was too late. These mighty protectors will do everything in their power in an attempt to prevent the inevitable…The Calamity."
The 4 part series will be helmed by the illustrious GM Brennan Lee Mulligan and joined by cast members Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel and Travis Willingham along with guest stars Aabria Iyengar, Lou Wilson, and Luis Carazo. The first episode airs Thursday May 26th and run concurrently every Thursday until June 16th. Campaign 3 will be taking a brief break during the airing of ExU, but will return with Episode 25 on June 30th.
