"The Mighty Nein Reunited Part 2" (Sx74) is the seventy-fourth special episode of Critical Role. The reunion isn't over yet! Picking up several months after the events in Cognouza, our unsung heroes have all started new chapters in their lives. However, when some discover that there are still old chapters yet to be closed, The Mighty Nein must reunite for more stories untold.
Synopsis[]
Announcements[]
- First sponsor tonight is D&D Beyond, the digital toolset for D&D. In honor of the soon-to-be-released Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen now available to pre-order, the cast are all dressed as "famous" Lances: singer Lance Bass, bicyclist Lance Armstrong, actor Lance Henriksen, baseball player Lance Johnson, magician Lance Burton, and cartoonist Walter Lantz (really scraping the bottom of the mayonnaise jug for that one, Sam!).
- Next sponsor is Skillshare, offering thousands of online courses and a one-month free trial.
- Finally, OG sponsor Backblaze is back, offering 25% off with code "CriticalRole" at checkout through the end of the year.
Previously[]
So last we left off, the Mighty Nein, months after their excursion to Cognouza and scattering to the four winds to enjoy their journeys less intruded upon by the challenges and dangers of the world, have discovered the ship that Fjord, Jester, and Kingsley were upon was assailed by powerful followers of Uk'otoa, hellbent on finalizing the nearly unleashed entity. Upon destroying your ship and possibly about to destroy your companion, you handed over the final orb, the key to unleashing him. Then gathering the remnants of your crew, now lost at sea in the midst of a great storm, you found your way to an island and called for help.
The rest of your troupe, the Mighty Nein, began to gather, and when you all found each other, you began to follow the path of where this storm giant, this mage worshipper entity of Uk'otoa, and a number of the scion followers are off to. Seeing them heading northward past the waters of the Menagerie Coast towards a familiar jungle that you had once seen in your vision as to the third temple, you head that direction. Upon pushing through this jungle, discovering some interesting information, finding a monkey that seems to hate you, and eventually coming to the outskirts of a grove surrounding the remaining overgrown remnants of a stone temple. Here, right as you begin to stealth among the bushes and Veth goes to check, finding one crack above the very apex of the cone of it that's peering through the undergrowth, the storm giant and its compatriots burst through.
Part I[]
Fan art of Jester casting Earthquake, by Jake Wennik.[art 1]
The storm giant Thoonum is carrying the deep scion mage on one forearm as he bursts into the clearing around the temple. The party immediately attacks, but the giant seems focused on destroying the temple, rather than them. His attack destroys its top portion, exposing a pit leading to darkness below. Veth casts Hypnotic Pattern on all the deep scions but one, charming them for the duration, and Jester casts Earthquake in an attempt to collapse the temple. This causes further damage to it, opening up the pit further, and makes Yasha fall prone with Thoonum falling on top of her. The deep scion mage attempts to Fly into the pit but Fjord Counterspells it. The mage leaps in anyway, taking fall damage. While using the Stormrider Boots, Caleb lands a Disintegrate on the giant for massive damage.
Beau jumps into the pit, following the mage, and after landing a Brenatto's Voltaic Bolt-assisted crossbow strike on the giant, Veth jumps in after her. Below is a chamber filled with snake iconography, and actual snakes who begin pouring out into the sunlight now penetrating the pit. Fjord Flies down, telling the mage, "Told you I'd see you again." Above, the giant slams into the temple again, sending Caleb falling, and causing the floor of the snake-filled chamber within to collapse. Seeing this, Yasha uses her wings to fly down as well, followed by the only deep scions not charmed.
Jester and Kingsley leap down, landing on the giant's head, and the party continues to attack. Fjord again Counterspells the mage's attempt to Dimension Door elsewhere. Beau and Caleb team up, with Beau giving the giant vulnerabiltity to fire damage with a Debilitating Barrage before Caleb casts Widogast's Web of Fire to catch the giant, the mage, and the sole living deep scion in the chamber. Veth then gets the How do you want to do this? on the giant with her Aeorian Security Cannon, and Yasha kills the mage.
However, the formerly stunned deep scions still above-ground now leap down, since Veth's concentration on her spell broke when she cast Voltaic Bolt. One of them rushes over to the fallen mage, pulls out the Cloven Crystal from the rubble, then slams his fist into a rubble-covered sigil. As he does, sickly yellow light emits from it and the deep scions begin laughing evilly. Black runes on the walls become visible, and Beau recognizes they are in a temple of Zehir, the Betrayer God who imprisoned his former servant Uk'otoa.
Fjord can feel that Uk'otoa is now freed. The final seal has been broken. The hundreds of snakes all turn to face them and Fjord tries to use Arcane Gate to create a portal out but it immediately crumples and is gone. The eyes of a three-headed snake statue begin glowing green, and when Fjord addresses it, it replies, "Traitorous failure. False god. Foolish pretender. It will not escape punishment. And you, you carry the mark of its chosen." It demands an explanation. Fjord explains they were trying to stop Uk'otoa, not aid him, but the god demands a pact if their interests are to align. One of them will bear his mark, a necessary step to bind the Beast, but it will remain with the bearer as long as Zehir wants it to. Kingsley immediately volunteers, but Fjord claims the responsibility and the obligation to accept the pact. As he approaches the statue, a green flame burns into his chest. Given the choice between embracing the shadow, or climbing the mountain, Fjord chooses to climb, and the statue cracks, revealing a rapier embedded within it, the Fang of the Spire King, which Fjord accepts but gives to Kingsley as more suited to his fighting style.
Fjord extends his senses outward, and because of his lingering pact with Uk'otoa and the fact that he bears the mark of vengeance of Zehir, realizes that Uk'otoa is now free in the southern Lucidian Ocean. They discuss where to go to battle him. Veth is strongly in favor of Darktow. Jester Sends to Wyatt Maranoss, the current Plank King, telling him of Uk'otoa's release and asking for help, but the Plank King tells her to stop messaging him or he'll have her killed. They finally decide to go to Nicodranas first, and Caleb Teleports them there. Black massive clouds have gathered on the southern horizon just east of Brokenbank and the inhabitants of Nicodranas are uneasy because of portents and visions of destruction. The navy of the Clovis Concord has been mobilized.
Seeking a ship, they find two possibilities in port: the Ever Onward and the Drensala Vis and opt for the latter. They recognize Captain Adella and she is easily persuaded to transport them to confront Uk'otoa, and they opt to depart that evening, sleeping on the ship. While they're negotiating, Caleb flies to Tidepeak Tower where he asks Yussa Errenis's help and receives several healing potions. As the ship departs, Jester Sends to her mother, advising her to get out of town and go stay with Jester's father for a while. Marion responds that she'll stay with friends, but "maybe not with Papa for the moment." Jester also warns Yeza Brenatto to get the campers to higher ground.
That evening, Kingsley goes to Beau and Yasha's cabin to talk about Mollymauk. He wants to know their impressions of him. He's been trying to figure out where his other two personalities went wrong so he can make new mistakes, and he thinks of them almost as his parents. He's been talking to Caduceus Clay about Lucien. Both Beau and Yasha share their impressions, and Yasha urges him not to take the dark path.
They get a long rest that night, but before the sun rises, they encounter the storm, apparently moving towards them. Multiple ships are firing cannons into it, and within it, Fjord sees a long, narrow, and familiar shape moving.
Break[]
- Backblaze is offering 25% off with code "CriticalRole" at checkout through the end of the year.
- Pre-order Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen now on D&D Beyond.
- Merch Alert! Caleb blazer, Jester overall dress, Wildemount Wildings Camp t-shirt, Chetney winter hat, Bells Hells holiday ornaments, ugly Critmas sweater, and Limited Edition The Tales of Exandria: The Bright Queen in all five CritRole shops; Mighty Nein action figures in the US shop. Uk'otoa, the Game available in local game shops and the Critical Role shops. Critical Role: The Mighty Nein - The Nine Eyes of Lucien available wherever books are sold. Jester statue on preorder from Sideshow. The Mighty Nein tarot pin on preorder from Pinclub.
- Welcome to Wildemount Critical Role soundtrack album available on all digital music platforms.
- Critical Recap every Wednesday on CritRole.com.
- Submit fan art and cosplay for possible inclusion in the weekly online gallery at https://www.critrole.com/submit.
- Taliesin and Ashley are breaking the minis so Matt doesn't have to, hoping you'll subscribe to Critical Role on Twitch.
Part II[]
Screenshot of Uk'otoa's mini from "The Mighty Nein Reunited Part 2" (Sx74) at 2:50:00.[art 2]
As they near the storm, Fjord casts Underwater Breathing, Jester casts Water Walk on all of them and Control Weather to calm the storm slightly, while Veth crafts a Fluffernutter. They see two ships vanish in a swell of water, followed by two more, and lightning strikes a fifth before it is destroyed by the multi-eyed serpentine shape of Uk'otoa. A voice in all of their minds says, "Yes, come. Feed my anger and drink of the deep. These waters have ever been mine. You trespass, and shall be made an example." The massive, multi-eyed, multi-tentacled serpent Uk'otoa surfaces at the side of their ship and sends a huge Tidal Wave across it, damaging all of them and knocking all but Yasha prone.
The battle begins. Uk'otoa has lair actions, legendary actions, and legendary resistances. His eyes and body have different ACs, but the party is able to do damage while also taking substantial damage themselves. Caleb Shapechanges into an adult blue dragon, while Veth crits on one of her many Voltaic Bolt-assisted crossbow strikes for massive damage. Fjord casts a Cone of Cold which Uk'otoa uses a Legendary Resistance to halve the damage on, but the freezing of the water around the creature shifts an unspecified something on the battlefield. The crew of the Drensala Vis also pitches in by firing cannons at the leviathan.
Fan art of the battle against Uk'otoa, by Lap Pun Cheung.[art 3]
Uk'otoa's eyes have been flaming and subsiding through the fight, and they learn that when it takes a certain amount of damage in one round, its fury builds, but hitting its eyes diminishes that fury. If they both happen at the same time, they cancel out. The eyes are harder to hit, but don't have a chance to increase the fury, whereas the body is easier to hit but if it takes a lot of damage in one round, its fury increases.
Fjord hits with another Cone of Cold, but the damage causes Uk'otoa's fury to overflow in a lightning burst of six bolts that hit everyone but Caleb. The frozen water around three of the creature's segments, though, means his attacks are at disadvantage this round. Beau uses Debilitating Barrage to make Uk'otoa vulnerable to lightning, and Caleb in blue dragon form hits him with his lightning breath. When the creature attempts to move, Yasha uses Sentinel to prevent him. Uk'otoa uses a legendary action to Control Minion on Fjord, and sends him to Jester to attack her twice, after which he regains control of himself. Jester casts Mass Heal through her duplicates to reach and heal virtually the entire party (except Caleb, still in dragon form).
Fan art of the final strike against Uk'otoa, by Danielle Weires.[art 4]
Furious, Uk'otoa attacks Beau with a critical hit and swallows her, then concentrates multiple attacks on Jester. Kingsley activates the Fang of the Spire King and crits, while Beau uses her Cape of the Mountebank to cast Dimension Door to escape Uk'otoa's throat and teleport to Jester's side on the ship. Yasha then attacks with Scaldsaber getting the How do you want to do this? for the entire party. They each take a shot, with Fjord finishing the creature with a lightning-enhanced strike with Star Razor on Veth's Fluffernutter.
But as the creature pulls in on itself and sinks into the ocean depths, they realize it is not dead, but must be chained again. Caleb (now in the form of a dragon turtle) drags Fjord downward after it, and Fjord is able to reach it. He calls out to Zehir, telling him Uk'otoa should be sealed away forever. Focusing on the mark on his chest, he attempts to push the power into Uk'otoa as the runes alight, burning away his armor as he and the leviathan sink deeper and deeper and the water grows hotter, until suddenly, Uk'otoa is gone, and all that remains is three floating crystals. Fjord gathers them and uses Far Step to reach dragon turtle-Caleb again, then holds on as they swim to the surface. His armor has been destroyed, but the rune on his chest remains. He can sense the pact with Zehir, but can also feel the presence of the Wildmother within him. As they watch, leaves and vines sprout from the rune and consume it until it has disappeared. They begin the voyage back to Nicodranas.
Following this adventure:
- Fjord gives one Crystal to the Cobalt Soul, and puts one in Vokodo's lair on Rumblecusp. He keeps the third for himself. He unseats Grankton, the head of the orphanage in which he was raised, and purges it of its black market dealings, although the wood shop is still there.
- Beau continues to work with Caleb watching the Cerberus Assembly, she and Yasha continue living together, and begin to consider adopting when Yasha realizes through working with Veth's campers that she is good with children.
- Veth's first camp was a smashing success and only one camper died, but was resurrected by Jester (who was teaching arts and crafts).
- Jester's teaching made her realize she wanted to open her own art studio, so she and Fjord buy the property next door to their shack to expand into. Her graffiti becomes popular among the rich of Exandria.
- Kingsley continues to talk to Caduceus and to work for Fjord's Stone's Throw Shipping Company. He steals the first ship Fjord gives him to captain, becomes a pirate, and becomes the new Plank King on Darktow Isle, rescinding the party's banishment.
- Caleb returns to Rexxentrum to work with Beau and formally take a position with the Soltryce Academy. He begins a tradition of gathering the Nein once a month for two nights in his tower together to catch up with each other. Soon after, Essek arrives in disguise on a visit, giving Caleb a kiss as he asks to hear about the defeat of Uk'otoa.
Featured Characters[]
The Mighty Nein
- Beauregard Lionett
- Caleb Widogast
- Fjord
- Jester Lavorre
- Kingsley Tealeaf
- Veth Brenatto
- Yasha Nydoorin
Returning
- Adella
- Bluud
- Essek Thelyss
- Marion Lavorre (via Sending)
- Wyatt Maranoss, the Plank King (via Sending)
- Thoonum
- Yussa Errenis
- Uk'otoa
- Deep scion mage
New
Mentioned
- Astrid Becke
- Caduceus Clay
- Eadwulf Grieve
- The Gentleman
- Grankton, former head of Fjord's orphanage
- Luc Brenatto
- Lucien Tavelle
- Ludinus Da'leth
- Martina Steward
- Mollymauk Tealeaf
- The Spire King
- Thelashas
- Vokodo
- The Wildmother
- Yeza Brenatto
Quotations[]
Fan art of Kingsley making new mistakes, by Melissa Hahn.[art 5]
- Fjord: It's my responsibility. I could have kept him away, I could have secreted the eye away, I could have done a million things, and I didn't. I fell in love. I gave it up the first moment that was threatened.
Jester: Sorry, Fjord.
Fjord: No, it's not your fault. I would do it again a million times, but I'm not about to put the lives of all those people up there at stake because I could have played the game better. I need to finish this. If my knowledge of him and his of me is something that we can play to our advantage, then I'll accept your pact. - Jester: (after messaging the Plank King) I think he really likes me.
Fjord: What did he say?
Jester: He said he's going to cut my throat if I do it again, but he says that every time. - Kingsley: (about Mollymauk and Lucien) I'm trying to make new mistakes, I promise. [ ... ]
Beau: You're still kind of an insufferable asshole, just like Molly was.
Kingsley: Thank you.
Beau: And Lucien. - Fjord: (striking the final blow on Uk'otoa) These were never your oceans, pretender. They belong to her. Daddy's calling.
- Fjord: (to Zehir) Your lap dog should be sealed away forever, into the darkness. I condemn him!
Inventory[]
| Adjustment | Count | Item | Source | Destination | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acquired | 1 | Fang of the Spire King | Temple of Zehir | Fjord Kingsley |
Revealed to Fjord when he accepted Zehir's pact, and immediately given to Kingsley. |
| Acquired | 4 | Potions of Healing | Yussa | Caleb | One greater and four regular. Caleb kept the greater and gave the others to Veth, Fjord, and Kingsley. |
| Acquired | 1 | Charcuterie plate | Lavish Chateau | Caleb | Picked up at Beau's request. |
|
Crafted Expended |
1 | Fluffernutter | Veth | Built aboard the Drensala Vis. Veth tosed it at Uk'otoa just as Fjord struck with Star Razor, exploding it. | |
| Acquired | 3 | Crystals | Fjord | When Uk'otoa was re-sealed into his prison, only the three crystals remained. |
Trivia[]
References[]
Art:
- ↑ Fan art of Jester casting Earthquake, by Jake Wennik (source). Used with permission.
- ↑ Screenshot of Uk'otoa's mini from "The Mighty Nein Reunited Part 2" (Sx74) at 2:50:00. This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
- ↑ Fan art of the battle against Uk'otoa, by Lap Pun Cheung (source). Used with permission.
- ↑ Fan art of the final strike against Uk'otoa, by Danielle Weires (source). Used with permission.
- ↑ Fan art of Kingsley making new mistakes, by Melissa Hahn (source). Used with permission.