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Compulsions

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"Compulsions" (3x40) is the fortieth episode of the third campaign of Critical Role. Bells Hells reflect upon the latest and strangest moon developments as they near the Gloomed Jungles and prepare for a potential rendezvous with the Gorgynei lycans...

Synopsis[]

Announcements[]

  • We join Sammy the Sloth at WCR Radio 420 with the top 69 hot tracks — but the sound effects board is acting up and we overhear a gripping drama unfolding as Derek finds Rachel in a compromising position with Roger. Murder and mayhem ensue. Oh, and check out the Black Friday specials at HitPointPress including The Fablemakers animated tarot cards, "Lore of Aetherra: The Lost Druid" science fantasy adventure saga, and Shift RPG Quickstart Beta, a new rules system. Use code CR2022 for 5% off.
  • Second sponsor is Thorum, makers of handcrafted unique wedding bands. Use code "criticalrole" for 20% off.
  • Merch Alert! Ugly Critmas sweater, Chetney winter hat, pajama lounge set, Bells Hells wooden holiday ornaments, and Mighty Nein action figures.
  • Next week is The Mighty Nein Reunited - Part 1; Part 2 is December 1. On Twitch, YouTube, and select Cinemark theaters.

Previously on Critical Role[]

Last we left off, Bells Hells, upon returning from their chaotic time in Bassuras, losing Laudna, then regaining Laudna after traveling to Whitestone and beseeching the heroes of legend, Vox Machina, to help bring her back (or at least the members which they could find at the time), returned to Jrusar to find Lord Eshteross slain by Otohan Thull, who seems to be acquiring a growing sentiment to following your trail, or at least exacting penance for your involvement. After setting some things right with his self being put to rest, and letting the right people in town handle his final afterlife responsibilities, you were bequeathed in some of his last paperwork the skyship known as the Silver Sun.

Now, with this ship at your beck and call, and with a year of the crew now paid for, you continue your journey in a direction you had previously been wanting to set sail towards, which was the city of Yios in Aeshanadoor, the City of Flowing Light. Deciding between the two different paths you could take (the longer journey but safer one, or cutting straight across the Hellcatch Valley, but a more dangerous route which is why most skyships do not traverse that deeply over the Hellcatch) you decided to take that route, because it's the one more traveled by you though less traveled by most. Along this path, a few nights have gone through, mostly without incident. A brief sandstorm, but through some ingenuity you managed to maintain safety.

Chetney attacking - Kaw

Official art of Chetney attacking Orym, by Kaw.[art 1]

And then one night, there is a flare of the ruddy moon Ruidus, that seemed to, one, trigger some sort of uncontrolled outburst of the lycanthrope form within Chetney, forcing him to attack his two party members Fearne and Orym, who were on deck during that time of night. They managed to hold him at bay until he was able to regain himself. But the mystery still stands as to why now and why this?

Simultaneously, Imogen, you were pulled during this flare into another dark, red-stormed dream, one that seemed to exert a different balance of power and control than you had grown used to. At the end of this dream, as you plummeted towards the ground at terminal velocity, you awoke, and in a fit of inspiration cast a Sending spell, reaching out to your mother, to which she responded: "Imogen?"

Part I[]

“
Imogen: Are you all right? Where are you? Are you-- Is there-- Where have you been?
Liliana: I'm fine, Imogen. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for how long I've been gone. I'm okay. Are you okay?
Imogen: If I'm being honest, things are hard. You might know that already, though. Where are you? I want to see you. Can I see you?
Liliana: I'm sorry it's hard. I'm sorry for cursing you with this burden. I left because I was a danger. I couldn't stay without knowing what I am. You can't see me because you need to stay safe, and the further from me you are the safer you'll be. Far from me in this destiny.
Imogenn: This destiny has caught up with me, regardless of where you are physically. It's all happening. I could use your help and your knowledge.
Liliana: I love you, Imogen, more than you'll ever know. And that's why you have to run away from me, Imogen, as far as you can. Run.
Imogen: I'm tired of running, Mother.
”
– 
The conversation between Imogen and Liliana Temult.[1]
[!h]

Imogen immediately wakes Laudna and tells her what happened. With Laudna's encouragement, Imogen follows up asking her mother where she is and if she's all right, but the response is only that she's fine and apologizes for being gone. Imogen asks again where she is, but her mother insists Imogen is only safe far away from her; she then herself casts Sending to tell Imogen once more to run. Imogen responds, "I'm tired of running, Mother."

Imogen is crushed and Laudna tries to encourage her. They move up on deck, where they see (and hear about) the aftermath of Chetney's attack on Orym and Fearne. Chetney suggests maybe they need to start taking precautions against him at night, and Imogen shares her conversation with her mother. When Orym asks her if she'd remove her powers if she could, she replies that she no longer thinks so. Fresh Cut Grass raises the point that most of them (except Orym) now have the potential to attack the group, and he shares that Pâté's new sentience has made him question his own worth as a living being.

Orym and Ashton - Maddy Marshall

Fan art of Orym and Ashton, by Maddy Marshall.[art 2]

Alone at one end of the deck, Orym pulls out the sending stone and tells Dorian: "Hey. Yios bound. Found them, their killers. Bigger than we thought. Real rough, Dorian. Eshteross is dead. Glad you're not here. Wish you were, anyway." Ashton comes and sits next to him, checking on how he's doing and saying he hopes that Orym would ask for help if he needed it, since being the one good one in the group sounds exhausting. Ashton himself is finding connection in this group he never thought he would. Orym carefully places a hand on his arm and shares that the group's support is the only way he keeps going. When Ashton leaves for bed, Orym gives him a halfling-sized hug.

After several days of uneventful travel, the skyship reaches and passes over Bassuras, near which high winds add a day to the journey. Chetney asks for and receives a set of manacles with which to chain him up at night. While on deck, FCG asks the Changebringer for a sign that she hears him and suddenly sees several bird-like creatures crashing into the ship and climbing aboard. He raises the alarm but is attacked and bitten, and after failing a saving throw is restrained by a creeping petrification. The others quickly join in, finding the creatures are fairly easy to hit and to kill. However, they suddenly realize the creatures were boarding the ship only because they were fleeing from something worse: a gigantic, three-headed white chimera which claws itself on deck and attacks.

The Chimera - Kiyoko

Fan art of the Chimera, by Kiyoko.[art 3]

The chimera's fire breath attack is punishing, and it additionally can claw, bite, and use its goat's horns. Laudna utlizes her new tree-like Form of Dread and is able to Bane the chimera, while Chetney activates Lord Eshteross's legacy weapon Turmoil for the first time. FCG is able to shrug off the petrification before he is turned to stone, while Terana (one of the crew) loads a ship ballista. The remaining cockatrices are quickly disposed of or flee, and the party can concentrate on the more serious danger of the chimera. Fearne moves to the now-loaded ballista.

Imogen creating the red aberration - Elaine Tipping

Fan art of Imogen creating the red aberration, by Elaine Tipping.[art 4]

Imogen, for the first time, summons a semi-transparent red shade entity,[2] and commands it to attack the chimera, which it does with significant psychic damage, and any creature within five feet of it at the start of its turn must make a wisdom save against psychic damage. The rest of the party all attack the chimera, grievously wounding it until Fearne finishes it off with the ship's ballsta.

FCG heals the badly-wounded Terana. Captain Xandis informs the party that they're now three days from Yios and only a day away from the Gloomed Jungles. The next day, they leave the Hellcatch Valley behind as they pass over the Kaal Mountains to the left that separate the Taloned Highlands of the Stratos Throne from the Gloomed Jungles of Aeshanadoor.

Break[]

Part II[]

As the skyship sinks down closer to the Gloomed Jungles, a cold rain begins and they lose another half day of travel. Chetney explains that his instructions from Ajit Dayal were that once in the jungle, he should howl at dusk for the Gorgynei. He believes they might be willing to help him learn more about his abilities. Chetney shares a bit more about his background and how he became a lycanthrope.

The party climbs down a rope ladder to the top of a half-ruined and abandoned military watch tower, and from there to the floor of the forest. At dusk, Chetney transforms and begins to howl, but there is no response for almost an hour. At his request, Fearne wild shapes into a wolf, and the entire party wolf howls into the night. Eventually, there are distant scattered howls from the east in response. Chetney drops his wolf form and suggests they rest there and see if they're contacted. With Fearne still a wolf, they make a fire, and after an hour Fearne sees a shape in the ruins and two yellow eyes. While Laudna requests an interpretive dance from Pâté, Orym spots other eyes in the darkness.

Chetney steps out and is met by a tall humanoid figure with wide shoulders and a massive hammer, who pulls back their hood to reveal a deep red-orange weretiger. The tiger tells them they're surrounded and demands the reason for their presence. When Chetney says he's seeking an audience with Divaasheela and was sent by Ajit Dayal in Jrusar, the figure says they've found her. Chetney has come for their help with his condition, which he shares with them. At Annaline's signal, five other figures step forward, including a werepanther, two werewolves, a wereboar, and a werebear.

Laudna and Manad - Danika Kersten

Fan art of Laudna and Manad, by Danika Kersten.[art 5]

Chetney tells them he seeks to learn more about his gift, but Annaline demands he prove his lycanthropy first. Chetney flamboyantly transforms, making Annaline a bit skeptical of him, but she accepts him based on his friendship with Ajit. Imogen telepathically informs Xandis they'll call when they're ready to head out, and to Chetney's delight Annaline begins leading them through the jungle, Imogen mounted on the wereboar and Laudna on the panther Manad (whom she impresses with her Form of Dread). The lycanthropes take a serpentine path which only Chetney has a chance of remembering.

When they approach the village, the lycanthropes take their alternate forms and Annaline welcomes them to Barinak, a collection of jungle treehouses connected by rope bridges and ladders. Manad tells them if they tell anyone about the place, they'll be found and killed. Chetney introduces the group and asks if they've had any issues with Ruidus recently, but aside from the normal itch the red mooon always causes, they have not. Annaline recognizes, however, that Chetney is familiar with hemocraft and has taken the Hunter's Bane already. She welcomes him to the Gorgynei and tells him there are many weeks of training ahead, but with the apogee solstice less than three weeks away, that's a problem. Chetney admits he lost control during Ruidus's flare, but learning such control will take time they do not have.

Barinak - Clara

Official art of Barinak, by Clara.[art 6]

The gorgynei have recently reached an agreement with the Court of the Lambent Path in Yios to patrol and keep safe the roads in exchange for permission to continue living in the Gloomed Jungles in secret. They live under the guidance of Sahyaadon, the Keeper of the Savage Heart, of whom there is a statue of a humanoid with three bestial heads in the center of town. Sahyaadon is a powerful ancient spirit of the jungle, the protector of both hunter and prey, perhaps under the goddess Serataani. Annaline has dinner brought and they talk further, learning that the Gorgynei sometimes have to kill or chain those who cannot control their inner beast.

Annaline asks if Chetney has a strong constitution and will. If so, there is something they can try. He assures her he does, and she tells them to rest for the night. In the morning, they will go to the temple of Sahyaadon, Zha'Vrollo. If Chetney is lucky, the spirit will meet with him and either help him gain control of the beast, or destroy him. The temple is about a day's travel away and if the party comes with him, Sahyaadon may judge them as well. Chetney will face trials, be challenged, tested, and judged. Some give into the beast afterward.

Amidst the pouring rain, the party finds makeshift quarters in the village and settles in for the night.

Featured characters[]

New

Mentioned

Quotations[]

Orym Sending - Tyler Kenny

Fan art of Orym Sending to Dorian, by Tyler Kenny.[art 7]

  • Imogen: Laudna, you're back. I can't possibly be sad right now.
  • Fearne: One man's burden is another man's gift.
  • Fresh Cut Grass: My question is how many of us might turn on us?
    Ashton: Raise your hand if you think you might turn on everybody in the group at some point. (all but Fearne and Orym raise their hands)
    FCG: This is a problem, right?
  • Ashton: (to Fearne) You're like me, except likeable.
  • FCG: (about Pâté) The fact that he is alive and sentient makes me question whether my soul is worth anything. Am I just that, with metal? What if I'm just that, with a wheel?
  • Orym: (to Dorian, via sending stone) Glad you're not here. Wish you were, anyway.
  • Ashton: (to Orym) If we live, there's definitely going to be things that I'm going to ask your help with in my life. I hope we're at the point where you would ask for help if you needed it. I don't know, we were talking downstairs. Everyone just thinks we're all going to kill each other at some point, except for you. I'd hate to be in that position. I don't know, it would make me really stressed to be the one good one. Not that I've ever been the one good one. It just sounds exhausting. [...] I don't feel like who I was not that long ago. I'm starting to think about things I thought I never would. I'm not big on new people. Not big on human contact, general anything, and now... this.
  • Ashton: If you have pain long enough, it just becomes background noise, anyway.
  • Chetney: We call ourselves Bells Hells. We right wrongs and cause other wrongs.
  • Annaline: In the morning, we will walk to the temple of Sahyaadon, Zha'Vrollo. And if you are lucky, the spirit will meet with you, and it'll either excise this itch or excise you.

Inventory[]

Adjustment Count Item Source Destination Notes
Acquired 1 set Manacles The Silver Sun Chetney To chain him up at night in case of another involuntary transformation.

Trivia[]

  • Laura and Travis's son Ronin chose the chimera as the enemy for the encounter in this episode when Matt asked him what creature the party should fight next. Laura said that her son is currently obsessed with chimeras.[3]
  • The in-game date at the end of this episode was 3 Fessuran 843. The apogee solstice will take place in 18 to 20 days.
  • Sams jerrycan has a picture of him holding an Emmy, and a quill with chalk on the end is attached to the front.[4] (There is some debate as to what this is supposed to mean but all agree on Sam's essential humility…)

References[]

  1. ↑ See "Compulsions" (3x40) from 17:26 through 22:28.
  2. ↑ This appears to be a reflavored version of the Aberrant Mind Sorcerer spell Summon Aberration.
  3. ↑ See "Compulsions" (3x40) at 1:16:51.  Laura had previously posted a photo on her Instagram account of that moment.
  4. ↑ See "Compulsions" (3x40) from 2:44:15 through 2:44:45.

Art:

  1. ↑ Official art of Chetney attacking Orym, by Kaw (source). Used with permission.
  2. ↑ Fan art of Orym and Ashton, by Maddy Marshall (source). Used with permission.
  3. ↑ Fan art of the Chimera, by Kiyoko (source). Used with permission.
  4. ↑ Fan art of Imogen creating the red aberration, by Elaine Tipping (source). Used with permission.
  5. ↑ Fan art of Laudna and Manad, by Danika Kersten (source). Used with permission.
  6. ↑ Official art of Barinak, by Clara (source). Used with permission.
  7. ↑ Fan art of Orym Sending to Dorian, by Tyler Kenny (source). Used with permission.
v • d • e
Campaign Three Arc 2 episodes
<< Arc 1: Jrusar Arc 2: Ruidus Rising (Episodes 24–51) Arc 3: Separations and Explorations >>
"The Hellcatch Valley" (3x24) • "A Taste of Tal'Dorei" (3x25) • "Hidden Truths" (3x26) • "A Race for the Prize" (3x27) • "The Deathwish Run" (3x28) • "Dark Portents" (3x29)
"Reunion & Revelation" (3x30) • "Breaking Point" (3x31) • "A Stage Set" (3x32) • "Blood and Dust" (3x33)
"What Dreams May Come" (3x34) • "Pyrrhic Return" (3x35) • "A Desperate Call" (3x36) • "From the Boughs" (3x37) • "A Dark Balance" (3x38)
"The Momentum of Murder" (3x39) • "Compulsions" (3x40) • "Call of the Wild" (3x41) • "The City of Flowing Light" (3x42) • "Axiom Shaken" (3x43) • "Bawdy Basement Belligerence" (3x44) • "Ominous Lectures" (3x45)
"Night at the Ligament Manor" (3x46) • "The Fey Key" (3x47) • "An Exit Most Fraught" (3x48) • "The Aurora Grows" (3x49) • "Red Moon Rising" (3x50) • "The Apogee Solstice" (3x51)
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