"Intense Interrogations" (3x85) is the eighty-fifth episode of the third campaign of Critical Role. Bells Hells question their captured enemies, but their search for information is interrupted by the pursuing hunt from another foe...
Synopsis[]
Announcements[]
- First sponsor tonight is One-Shot Wonders with over 100 5th edition 2-page suggestions for busy GMs. Sam actually uses it running a campaign for his kids since he's so busy, and the cast compete for who's busiest and whose life hacks are best, showing off meal arm patches, a body spray to cover up lack of bathing, and Taliesin's honestly brilliant skipping of all verbs. Use code REDMOON10 before February 29 for 10% off.
- Season 3 of Midst premiered 14 February 2024.
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Previously on Critical Role[]
So, last we left off, Bells Hells had finally climbed the Bloody Bridge from the Malleus Key to the surface of the red moon of ill omen, Ruidus. Upon arriving into a bit of a dangerous scuffle, being pursued by some stragglers, you managed to escape the outpost and head in any direction to try to get to safety. After stopping through the middle of a storm and taking cover, you dove into your own visions and connections with what seems to be Predathos's power and other Ruidusborn in the region and seemed to triangulate a location where they are converging. Focusing yourselves in that direction, you began to head that way, trying to avoid any dangerous weather patterns, learning a little bit about the strange alien landscape that you're still very fresh in arrival to. Then eventually stumbled upon a little place called Razora, a little village on one of the mountain ranges along the path, not too much of a divergence from the direction you were taking, and there, you went to investigate.
You encountered some new creature types that you were unfamiliar with, denizens of Ruidus: the bormodos and the cytaas that have a symbiotic relationship. You befriended one of the bormodos who brought you to one of the village elders, known as Elder Barthie. After some discussion, a bit of convincing, you seem to have presented yourselves as allies to those who do not wish the Imperium's rule to continue to press down upon the free peoples of Ruidus. As such, the Elder seemed to take a liking to you, though warned of it being a dangerous place to flaunt that sort of allegiance, the Imperium taking no quarter. After some lore being spilled, some information about the essential capital of the entire Reiloran society: the Kreviris Imperium resides, the core of it, in the city of Kreviris, which you assume to be the location that you are heading towards.
Also, a caravan seemed to be coming by, and about the time that this caravan arrived, an entity with the title Willmaster came to the door of the Elder. The Elder seemed surprised, and it took notice of the strange individuals in Vanguard garb within the abode, one transforming into mist and others seeking to immediately make friends by failing to cast a spell upon them. This led to a bit of conflict, a battle here in the middle of the night in the streets outside the elder's abode led to the Willmaster taking all the minds of the surrounding villagers and pulling them in to protect them, as it looked like a few Vanguard members flanked this Willmaster, young and a bit spooked by the sudden violence, as they were exploded by a Fireball. A bunch of loud noises and detonation cracks sent nearby beasts of burden into a frenzy before they broke free of their pen causing a stampede through the center of this town. A number of these figures were either slain or knocked unconscious, and we left off as you had pulled them into the house of the elder, Imogen still a wisp of cloud from Keyleth's spell still clinging on for another 4-5 hours of length as you all assess how to deal with what comes next.
Part I[]
As the party finishes dragging the dead and unconscious attackers inside Barthie's home, Dono leaves and Barthie shows Chetney the trapdoor to the basement. Ashton spreads out the portable hole and they put all the fallen into it. They plan to claim that FCG is a malfunctioning lawn mower that caused the explosion and subsequent stampede. Outside, Orym sees a Juggernaut and several other figures checking out the damage. Laudna, Chetney, and Ashton go down the stairs as there is a knock on the door.
Outside are a very pale hooded elf, a juggernaut, and unexpectedly, Evon Hytroga from the Twilight Mirror Museum in Heartmoor Hamlet. He recognizes the group and Imogen convinces him they're part of the Vanguard as well. When he asks if they've brought anything "fun" from Exandria, she indicates Fresh Cut Grass, who pretends to be malfunctioning. Evon is missing the creature comforts of home and is very homesick, and Imogen persuades him to let the party join the caravan. The hooded elf with him appears to be in charge, and asks if they've seen the Willmaster. Imogen tells the elf convincingly that the Willmaster left after the stampede and they appear to believe her. Both the elf and Evon take their leave, and Orym realizes that the elf has higher class levels but not quite as many hit points as he does.
The others rejoin them and Ashton spreads out the hole. As they do, Ashton is hit with an eye-whitening Dominate Person from the Willmaster inside it and attacks Imogen for significant damage. Orym immediately uses Bait and Switch to interpose himself and Imogen telekinetically pulls the hole closed. Ashton, still under the Willmaster's control, stands passively without her commands, and Orym attacks (non-lethally), triggering a save roll that Ashton succeeds at and regains control of himself. With Chetney, Orym, and Ashton ready to attack, they open the portable hole again and Ashton knocks out the Willmaster before she can act. The newly-exalted teenage Vanguard is playing possum, so Chetney ties up and blindfolds both of them as well as the random half-orc soldier.
In telepathic conversation, they decide to test the Quintessence Array on the Willmaster. Orym agrees to be the test subject and Chetney straps it on him, then holds the Willmaster against the funnel. The harness's runes alight as energy is sucked from the Willmaster into Orym, and he gains the ability to cast Dominate Person once until his next long rest. She is left temporarily without her magical abilities. Ashton begins interrogating her but Laudna uses her Unsettling Presence and takes over. The Willmaster has to remember how to speak aloud and is still unwilling to talk, but Orym uses his Dominate Person to order her to reveal all her secrets. The Willmaster reveals that Predathos is the heart of their people who has made them into what they are. It wants to be awake, to feast. When the gods are gone, Exandria will be theirs. While some would like to live in harmony with Exandrians, others are more violent. The Ruidians are waiting for the gods to be gone since much of Exandria's power for defense comes through them. The spell ends and the Willmaster is furious at being controlled, refusing to speak further, and is returned to the hole.
Laudna proposes using the harness a second time to interrogate the teenaged Exaltant, but the others don't think it's worth the risk of breaking it. Chetney pulls the terrified teen out of the hole, Fearne removes his blindfold, and Imogen gently questions him, learning he's only been on Ruidus a short time. She bonds with him, sharing that she too is an Exaltant and that it's scary, and offers to protect him in place of the Willmaster. When she gives her name, he remembers seeing her mother when he first got to Ruidus. Imogen tells him the Willmaster was a traitor, and the party is a part of the Vanguard, but they need to keep this secret for now. The boy is relieved, but worried about what to tell the caravan, and agrees to all Imogen's suggestions. He also reassures her that the other captured soldier, a half-orc, is a good person and a new recruit as well. They decide to send both of them back to the caravan for now.
However, the issue is what to do with the Willmaster, who is too dangerous to be allowed to live, and they realize Orym could continue using the harness on her to drain her entire life force without putting it in danger of breaking. Meanwhile, in the hole, Chetney uses Grim Psychometry on the harness, seeing a vision of himself in a tower chamber, wearing the harness and mage's robes, approaching a beautiful, bound and struggling fey creature like an air nymph. He finishes reading from a book, and looks at the fey, feeling a sense of hunger, and as his servants hold its chains taut, uses the harness to drain its life force as it screams.
They put Petrov back into the hole and get out Verdo, the half-orc captured soldier. Imogen questions him and learns he knows very little as a new, non-Ruidusborn recruit, but feels loyalty to the Vanguard and to the Martinet. She tells him the Willmaster is a traitor and they'll be joining the caravan to protect everyone, and he buys it. FCG heals him a bit with his next-to-last spell, and Fearne heals Petrov before she and FCG escort them back to the caravan. Inside the encampment, they see a discussion taking place and the two missing soldiers are greeted with relief. The second figure speaks, and they recognize the voice: Otohan Thull has arrived.
Break[]
- One-Shot Wonders now available and The Map Library on Kickstarter.
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- Trailer for Midst Season Three podcast that started 14 February 2024.
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- Cast at Emerald City Comic Con March 2-3.
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- Marisha unboxes Critical Role Twitch subscriptions.
Part II[]
FCG and Fearne spot Otohan Thull about 15 feet away and panic. Fearne turns and begins casually walking away, while FCG Misty Steps behind a pile of brush. However, they hear Otohan's voice calling to Fearne, who pretends not to hear and keeps walking. Suddenly, Otohan leaps in front of them both, holding her two blades at their throats, and says she's looking for some Exandrians who caused a ruckus here. Fearne plays dumb but Otohan's echoes appear around them. FCG tells Otohan they came to tell her that Imogen wants to talk to her, back at the Bloody Bridge. However, Otohan responds that the reason she's here is that she could feel where Imogen was. Fearne suggests maybe it was her she felt, since Fearne's also Ruidusborn, and this interests Otohan greatly: She's the one "he" spoke about. Otohan attacks FCG repeatedly, wounding them and throwing them prone. Fearne tries to intervene, saying Imogen's in Kreviris. FCG telepathically warns the others, telling them to run, before using his last spell slot to cast a 6th level Banishment which Otohan uses a legendary resistance to avoid. However, realizing he can target three creatures with the spell, FCG uses it to banish himself and Fearne to a demi-plane where they immediately begin changing into clouds.
Meanwhile, Ashton starts to gather up the portable hole so they can run, but Laudna stops him, saying the Willmaster shouldn't go to waste and casting Hunger of the Shadow on her. Laudna immediately flashes back to her death on the Sun Tree and feels Delilah's presence, and the hunger overcomes the slight pity she momentarily feels for the Willmaster. Just before Edmuda dies, Laudna whispers intensely, "Your power should have been mine and not gone to the halfling!" Delilah's voice speaks to her approvingly before Laudna grabs the hole and joins the others turning into mist. Ashton knocks out the Elder so he'll have plausible deniability.
FCG and Fearne return just after they've reverted into mist, but the echoes see the mist returning and attack, wounding both. FCG is now seriously hurt but they rocket up out of reach, outrunning Otohan and joining the others. They decide to flee toward Kreviris. Imogen worries that while Otohan didn't seem to know exactly where she was, she did know the general direction they were traveling, speculating it was because she contacted Predathos.
Going as fast as they can, they encounter another dust storm after about an hour and take shelter in a 230-feet deep cleft in the ground perpendicular to their path. Moving along it as it deepens, they hear water rushing and find an underground river entering a crack in the rock, surrounded by roots and small leafless trees. Forty feet above, Orym spots a small opening, and the party forms a misty chain to explore the tunnel it leads into. The walls and floor are filled with crystals like the inside of a geode, and from somewhere, a bit of water trickles through, forming a pool at the end of the slope.
They all transform back into physical form to explore, and Fearne casts Water Breathing on them. Imogen casts her Dancing Lights under the surface of the pool and they dive in, swimming through an underwater tunnel into another low-ceilinged open space where they encounter a current and deep water. Orym hears splashing water up-current and FCG leads the way that direction to a large open cavern with a 15-foot wide waterfall flowing into the pool. Around it, 80 to 150 feet above them, are the ruins of ancient elven buildings, one appearing to be a temple. Laudna Spider Climbs up with a rope, noticing bits of greenery among the buildings in enchanted gardens, and bits of fossilized humanoid bones along the walls of the cavern, trapped in the moment the city was hurled into space to create the red moon. She uses her immovable rod as a tie-off for the rope and tosses it down for the others to climb up as well.
Together at the top, they walk along the river and the ruins of the proto-elven city. Chetney uses Grim Psychometry on the bones and ruins but sees only flashes of images of a blue sky turning red. As they walk, they find a garden holding goodberry bushes, which they pick, and a doll, which Laudna takes. They see evidence of slag glass in veins in the cavern walls, as if this area was at one time somehow superheated in places. Eventually, the stones cover more and more of the ruins and they reach a place where the water emerges with a very strong current from a cracked rock. They realize there is no rain on Ruidus but this is a lot of never-ending, fresh water. Orym suggests Fearne wild shape into a salmon, but Fearne chooses a leaf sheep sea slug which succeeds in fighting its way against the current 80 feet up the rocky crack and into the depths of a body of water with light above her. Fearne mentally tells the others what's happened (although for some reason they can't hear her) and swims to the surface, finding herself in a large lake on a cloudy, gray day, surrounded by lush green forests with a faint bit of snow melt on them.
Featured characters[]
Bells Hells
Mentioned
Quotations[]
- Edmuda: I'm done talking. These lips are dry and I hate your words in my mouth.
- Ashton: (after Laudna proposes using the harness a second time on the teen) This kid will go down fast, he's not...
Laudna: I know. I just kind of want his juices. - Imogen: I'm not sure what to do with Verdo.
FCG: Or the Willmaster.
Imogen: The Willmaster's got to go.
FCG: As in...? (slitting throat gesture)
Imogen: Yes.
FCG: But we don't kill people! We're the good guys!
Imogen: Sure. And that's the bad guy, and they are going to tell everyone what we did. - Fearne: There's a part of me that feels weird about using this thing that Ludinus created the way that he intended it, which is to kill people, because then I'm like, how are we any better than him? I'm just putting it out there. But I still want to see what happens.
- Ashton: We don't have to slowly suck out the power of the Willmaster. We could put her on a beast and let her slowly starve and die being beaten by sand for a few days if that makes you feel better. It's the cliff problem: It's not you pushing them off; it's the stop that really does it.
- Laudna: (killing the Willmaster with Hunger of the Shadow) Your power should have been mine and not gone to the halfling!
Inventory[]
Adjustment | Count | Item | Source | Destination | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Acquired | 163 | Gold pieces | dead Ruby Vanguard | Chetney | |
Expended | 1 set | Carved wooden feet | FCG | Otohan | Thrown at Otohan Thull as the material component of FCG's banishment |
Acquired | some | Jewelry | dead Ruby Vanguard | Chetney | 2 silver rings, gold band, shrike chains |
Acquired | 1 | Porcelain doll | ancient elven city | Laudna | |
Acquired | about 35 | Goodberries | ancient elven city | the party | Grant 1 hit point each when eaten. |
Trivia[]
- Sam's jerrycan shows a countdown, starting with "flask reveal in 3"[1], then 2[2] and then 1[3], but we never get an actual reveal.
- The portal leading to the lake was partially improvised. Matt had planned for the party to possibly discover the Elven ruins underground. However, the party kept investigating the water source and when Fearne Calloway emerged at the lake's surface, he improvised the description of the area, closed the session, and went home to figure out where they were on Exandria.[4]
References[]
- ↑ See "Intense Interrogations" (3x85) from 1:39:35 through 1:39:50.
- ↑ See "Intense Interrogations" (3x85) from 2:11:35 through 2:11:50.
- ↑ See "Intense Interrogations" (3x85) from 3:00:10 through 3:00:25.
- ↑ See Fireside Chat LIVE with Matthew Mercer on Beacon from 20:55 to 23:42 (subscription required).
Art:
- ↑ Fan art of Evon Hytroga, by Pyromeekorai (source). Used with permission.
- ↑ Fan art of FCG casting Banishment, by Secret (source). Used with permission.
- ↑ Fan art of Edmuda and Laudna, by Laura Mackenzie@KiwiDrawer (source). Used with permission.
- ↑ Fan art of the proto-elven city in the cavern, by Elaine Tipping (source). Used with permission.
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