Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins 1

Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins #1 is the first issue of Vox Machina Origins Volume 1 and the first entry in the overall Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins series. It was written by Matthew Mercer and Matthew Colville and the art was done by Olivia Samson.

The plot follows twin half-elves Vax'ildan and Vex'ahlia, who had been hired to investigate what they believe to be a curse that has befallen the waters of the swamp town of Stilben. Along the way, they meet the young druid Keyleth, who offers her insight on the matter, but a later ambush in an alleyway proves that more is at work than meets the eye.

Publisher's summary
''Roguish twins Vax'ildan and Vex'ahlia investigate a curse afflicting the impoverished citizens of the port city of Stilben. Things are not what they seem for the adventurous siblings…between fighting shark-riding fish men and black-clad assassins, they meet an antlered half-elven druid with her own theory about the curse.''

Synopsis
A young woman, accompanied by her parents, is carrying her baby through the surrounding swamps of Stilben. She shows them that her baby is still breathing and thinks that it is a sign the baby's health will get better, but her mother disagrees, thinking the baby to be cursed. She lambasts her daughter, stating that she and her partner are getting what they deserve with "the way [they] live" and accuses the woman of being weak to "do what must be done". Her father restrains her by the arms while her mother rips the baby from her grasp and, ignoring the daughter's cries, tosses the infant into the swamp water, explaining that the "Lady of the Muck" set a curse upon them and will not lift it until she is appeased. As they leave, two grey and purple webbed hands rise out and pull the baby underwater.

Vax and Vex step out from a nearby tree. They discuss what they had just witnessed and Vax suggests they talk to the daughter, but Vex disagrees, since tracking the family across water would be difficult. They discuss what could be behind this curse they were hired to investigate; Vax suggests that they talk to locals, but Vex dismisses the idea, thinking that the "peasants" would only say something ignorant, such as demons, but Vax reminds her that they were raised by a peasant. The conversation shifts back to the curse; Vex speculates that nothing happens in Stilben without someone making a profit. She kneels down to taste the water, which turns out to be saltwater, something she finds interesting. Vex turns around to see her brother knee-deep in water, which she scolds him for.

At that moment, somethings grabs Vax and he disappears beneath the water. Vex screams his name out and fires a few arrows, prompting a shark to appear from the water, with a sahuagin riding it and Vax held in its jaws. The sahuagin tosses its spear at Vex, who dodges and shoots the shark through the eye, killing it and knocking the two men off. The sahuagin gets up and approaches Vex, pulling out a blade and speaking to her in an unknown language. Just as Vex readies her bow, Vax appears from behind and slits the sahuagin's throat.

As Vax crumples to the ground, Vex rushes over and apologizes for her ignorance while being so "keen on the chase". While Vex tries to figure out what the sahuagin (or "shark-speaker") has to do with the curse, Vax, bleeding and laying in his sister's lap, notices a squirrel waving at him. He notes that the squirrel is giving him a rather intelligent look, but Vex dismisses him, noting that he has lost a lot of blood and there are no squirrels out in Stilben. The squirrel magically transforms into Keyleth, who admits that she has yet to figure out gills. Vex nocks an arrow and aims it at the druid, demanding to know who she is.

Keyleth nervously introduces herself and gawks at the bleeding body of the sahuagin. She notes that the people of Stilben think that the shark-speakers are behind the curse and their babies are all stillborn. She also notices that Vax is bitten and, after asking an apprehensive Vax to trust her and informing him that he could get infected, she magically heals his wound.

Vox Machina

 * Keyleth
 * Vax'ildan
 * Vex'ahlia

Other characters

 * Unnamed human mother
 * Unnamed human infant
 * Unnamed human woman's mother
 * Unnamed human woman's father
 * Unnamed sahuagin shark-speaker
 * Lustran Zeththat
 * Iselda
 * Unidentified Myriad assassins