Attack on the Duergar Warcamp

"Attack on the Duergar Warcamp" is the fourth episode of the first season of Critical Role.

Synopsis
Vox Machina form a tentative alliance with an Illithid outcast named Clarota, deep inside the caverns under Kraghammer. They learn of the creature’s people and their subjugation to a mysterious being known only as K'Varn, as well as the haggard mind flayer’s expulsion from the hive. Now cut off from the Elderbrain, Clarota burns with hatred for this K'varn, and wishes to free the Illithid race from the usurping entity. In order to do so, Vox Machina must proceed further into the deep, and reach the center of Clarota’s hive. But in order for the heroes of Emon to reach the Illithid city in the belly of Khaloor, they must get past the first flayer they encountered, as well as its small army of Duergar.

The heroes devise a plan, and fly themselves down to the center of the enemy’s war camp, to chance a risky assassination attempt on a creature that could easily break their will with a glance.

Previously on
"The party has been sent to the city of Kraghammer, though a friend of theirs named arcanist Allura Vysoren. A good friend of hers and a folk hero throughout the land known as Lady Kima of Vord, who is a halfling paladin of Bahamut, has gone missing. She went on a vision quest as part of a pilgrimage she has been on for the past year and sensed a dark evil brewing far beneath the city of Kraghammer, disappeared into the city and hasn't been seen for weeks. So arcanist Allura asked the party, hired them essentially, to go and see her whereabouts. Upon arriving in Kraghammer, they interacted with some of the local characters, eventually found themselves talking to Lord Nostoc Greyspine, who owns and runs the mines at the very bottom of Kraghammer. After a brief encounter where a mutated abomination of a Naga creature, they were then hired by Lord Nostoc to go into the mines, find out whatever is creating these abominations, destroy whatever is the source of them and he will pay well and also pay for each creature head that is brought to him individually. After getting into the mines, a few battles ensued with some of the local denizens, a couple umberhulks that were turned into snails and other interesting circumstances, the party then found what looked to be an entirely abandoned goblin city and a series of goblinoid corpses, many of which had bored holes in their skull, in various states of decay. They found a long bridge across an open chasm. Upon traversing it, Scanlan went invisible and found what looked like a Duergar warcamp, which are like ashy-skinned evil dwarves that live deep underground, watched a dwarf get executed by what appeared to be some sort of strange alienoid creature that was revealed to be an Illithid or mind flayer, a being that is psychic and consumes brains. Upon returning, the party had a plan to lead them off an illusionary cliff that went pretty well, ended up taking out a significant portion of the charging army at the time. Vax here, however, got stunned on the way across by the one mind flayer, nearly fell, however was saved by Tiberius at the last moment. Nearly lost their magic carpet, but was retrieved. After a brief discussion, Keyleth and Vex decided they didn't want to listen to anyone's bullshit, hijacked the magic carpet, flew down into the chasm below, and discovered behind one of the underground waterfalls some sort of a mind flayer who was cast out the society, covered in rags, a twisted physical form and, after a very tense discussion, seemed to befriend it under the mutually agreed retribution against those that are oppressive to this whole chasm area."

Plot
17:29