"The Sorrow of Molaesmyr" (3x57) is the fifty-seventh episode of the third campaign of Critical Role. Bells Hells’ Team Wildemount venture deeper into the haunted ruins of Molaesmyr and search for the tower that once belonged to the imperious mage Ludinus Da’leth…
Synopsis[]
Announcements[]
- Sponsor tonight is D&D Beyond. Sam channels Fred Schneider from the B-52s, while Ashley and Laura back him up. When he discovers he's stuck in character, Matt breaks the curse by ending the ad.
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Previously on Critical Role[]
So, last we left off, half of Bells Hells, with their new travel companions from Uthodurn, F.R.I.D.A. and Deanna, have helped save some of the populace of Uthodurn in the midst of the post-Applebee's SoulCycle dangers. In doing so, they gained some favor from the Diarchy of Uthodurn, and in doing so, also discovered a little bit about the history of Ludinus Da'leth, the antagonistic figure of the minute, hour, millennium, who seemingly for a while, hailed from the elven town of Molaesmyr that was destroyed three centuries before and is not too far off from the city of Uthodurn, to the southwest, in the middle of the now-corrupted Savalirwood that itself was corrupted by the incident that destroyed the city of Molaesmyr.
So, gathering supplies, you all trekked in that direction. You got goats that you rode across the mountains, killed one of them to feed to the others, left them behind on the banks of the lake. You built a raft, floated down the Boreal Omen River, until you eventually came to the outskirts of the ruins of Molaesmyr. Here, in this heavily altered, overgrown and deeply dangerous haunted locale, you've managed to notice a few of the strange changed beasts that wander the surrounding region, and began to stealth your way carefully between the somewhat damaged and frozen-in-time, unoccupied (you hope) structures across the cityscape.
Part I[]
With Pass Without Trace and Telepathic Bond up, the party stealthily heads in what they assume is the direction of Gildhollow Tower, the former home of Ludinus Da'leth within Molaesmyr, trying to avoid the noise-sensitive mutated elk. They proceed through the strange ruined city and its purplish-grey foliage, avoiding occasional miasma-producing fissures and skeletal bodies, toward a very tall central tower from which the damage seems to have originated. They notice tiny motes or spores floating in the air, numerous ghosts appearing and disappearing, and twisted, horrific trees. When FRIDA casts Decompose on one of the skeletons, it seems to shift slightly before turning to ash and Imogen suggests magic may draw the ghosts' attention.
They move on, hearing a faint howl from the distance, and reach the point where they need to choose to go either to the north or south side of the central tower. FCG casts Divination and asks the Changebringer which is the safest route, and the breeze clears the mist from the rightward path. The ghosts of the fallen citizens of the city, as well as the miasma-producing fissures, become more numerous as they approach the center city. FCG casts Spirit Guardians in the form of tiny floating FRIDAs, but it draws the attention of the spirits surrounding them. Deanna uses Turn Undead to drive off all but five who attack the party.
Fan art of Chetney while possessed by the ghost of a teenager, by Edu Benavente.[art 1]
During the battle, FCG conjures his Spiritual Weapon in the form of himself. Chetney fails a Charisma save and becomes possessed by the spirit of a teenaged girl, and on his turn attacks FCG. Deanna casts Greater Restoration on him, restoring him to his right mind. Meanwhile, the other spirits are being damaged by the party's attacks and are gradually destroyed, with Chetney getting the final blow against the last of them. The remaining spectres in the vicinity scatter, but the party notices a large wing-like limb move in the top of the nearby central tower. They hide as a large creature like a headless multi-legged pterosaur flies over and disappears.
Moving into a nearby building to investigate, they find it has been looted but still holds a tapestry bearing the symbol of a white tree, the insignia of the city of Molaesmyr. Moving upward, they find a warped tree with screaming faces in its trunk growing from the center of the ruined second story. Its branches reach for them as they push past. From the vantage point of the topmost floor, they can see at the edge of the city to the northwest, about a half mile away, a blue, silvered leaning tower which they guess is Ludinus's Gildhollow Tower. FRIDA offers to remain as a lookout while the rest of the party heads in that direction.
Break[]
- Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves-themed stat blocks, digital dice, and magic items now on D&D Beyond.
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- President Gale explains Critical Role Twitch subscriptions.
Part II[]
As the party, less FRIDA, moves northwest, FCG's wheel falls into a fissure, releasing miasma and reducing his maximum hit points. Chetney asks how he's feeling and FCG admits his stress level is high. FRIDA warns them of the flying creature's return and they hide. When the coast is clear, FRIDA heads toward the others but a bridge noisily collapses beneath the aeormaton, and the entire group hears multiple howls approaching from a few streets away. FRIDA begins sprinting as Chetney transforms his lower half into his wolf form, but FRIDA runs at an angle to the party so as not to lead these creatures to them. Imogen casts a noisy Seething Storm at a distance which distracts the pursuing growls, and FRIDA can now change course toward the party. However, the growling creatures are now aimed directly at the pursuing FCG and Chetney. Chetney pulls FCG behind a boulder and FCG uses Stone Shape to disguise them further, and the wolves pass them harmlessly. Fearne and Deanna hide behind an illusory wall Deanna creates and Imogen hides in the bushes. They see five massive, thirty-foot-long direwolf creatures with elongated torsos and necks joining into a singular back half: the Wolf-King. It runs past without seeing them.
Fan art of the Wolf-King and the Guardian of Faith, by Lap Pun Cheung.[art 4]
Imogen decides to try once more casting Sending even though it's failed in the past, and for the first time since arriving on Wildemount, the message gets through and Imogen is able to tell FCG that FRIDA is safe at the tower. The party now rejoined, they hear the Wolf-King approaching, attracted by the movement and noise. They climb up the vegetation covering the Gildhollow Tower, out of reach of the pursuing creature, and climb in a window, Deanna leaving a Guardian of Faith in the form of Wolf Chetney behind. FCG becomes jealous when Imogen touches FRIDA's butt while helping them ascend the wall. As the creature pursues them and begins to climb after them, it takes radiant damage from the Guardian and eventually falls back to the ground, prowling for a few minutes before slinking off.
The party finds themselves in a debris-filled central chamber of the tower, with the tilt of the tower making the floors lean slightly. The room has been heavily looted, contains the remains of a camp, and several bodies of varying vintages. Thin, paper-like material stretches across the walls and corners. Fearne determines from the color scheme and elven decorations that Ludinus Da'leth could indeed at one time have lived here. They head upstairs, Chetney locating a trap on the way which Deanna uses Dispel Magic to disarm. They reach the room beyond, where they find notes about patterns of arcana in various times and cultures, notations about recurring patterns of shifts in magic and celestial effects, and the names of specialists to reach out to or historical figures with potential knowledge: Vaatora, Laerryn, and Vishtaraan. There is also what appears to be notes written on pages torn from a religious tome for a speech pointing out that this is temple propaganda and that there is no real truth or plan in what the gods present, and notes indicating a fascination with finding the true name of the Matron of Ravens before her ascension.
Chetney notices amid the dust on the skin-covered wall an odd circular space where the dust clings, and determines the wall behind the spot is real and not illusory. When Deanna casts Light on her staff and touches the circle, however, it seems to absorb the magical energy, extinguishing it but glowing faintly for a moment. They hypothesize the circle needs magic. FRIDA finds something oddly familiar about this, but is unable to determine anything further or recover the memory. Imogen suggests that she and FCG could help FRIDA recover the memory in the way that they aided Ashton weeks earlier. FRIDA agrees, although unsure this is a good time for it.
Meanwhile, still in wolf-form, Chetney continues investigating the room, eventually climbing up to a cluster of roots on the ceiling and pulling them apart. His hand touches something soft and he catches the smell of rotting citrus and carrion, and when he pulls his hand back, there is crimson dripping down his fingers. They all suddenly hear heavy impacts as the roots and branches above them shift and are parted, and something heavy and pinkish-red emerges from the hole it has created, covered in bestial, stretching faces. It slams onto the stone floor in the center of the chamber, and begins to take shape, drawing inspiration from the party and from the other creatures it has seen within the city.
Featured characters[]
Bells Hells
Ashton Greymoore(absent, mentioned)- Chetney Pock O'Pea
- Fearne Calloway
- Fresh Cut Grass
- Imogen Temult
Laudna(absent, mentioned)Orym(absent)
Returning
New
Mentioned
- The Changebringer
- The Dawnfather
- Laerryn Coramar-Seelie
- Ludinus Da'leth
- The Matron of Ravens
- Umudara
- Vaatora, an ancient wizard studied by Ludinus
- Vishtaraan, an ancient wizard studied by Ludinus
Quotations[]
- FRIDA: I appreciate you guys coming back for me, but in the future, you should go towards the objective.
Deanna: Hold on. Are you trying to have a fucking cool attitude right now? I'm going to go slap the shit out of you.
FRIDA: It worked out. [...]
Deanna: I'm so mad, I could scream.
Imogen: Don't. It'll draw attention.
Inventory[]
| Adjustment | Count | Item | Source | Destination | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expended | a handful | Diamond dust | Deanna | Chetney | Used for Greater Restoration, so worth at least 100 gp. |
| Acquired | 1 | Gold ring | Unidentified body in the Gildhollow Tower | FCG | Did not appear to hold arcane symbols. FCG kept it instead of eating it when Imogen mentioned those who are wed wear rings. |
Trivia[]
- The Apogee Solstice began on the evening of 20th of Fessuran, 843 PD. This episode took place on the 2nd of Quen'pillar, eleven days later.
- Sam's jerrycan has a tombstone reading "RIP Jerry the Goat 837PD-843PD If only Laura had done more…"[1]
References[]
Art:
- ↑ Fan art of Chetney while possessed by the ghost of a teenager, by Edu Benavente (source). Used with permission.
- ↑ Fan art of the flying creature, by Clara (source). Used with permission.
- ↑ Fan art of Wolf-King, by Sam Rusk (source). Used with permission.
- ↑ Fan art of the Wolf-King and the Guardian of Faith, by Lap Pun Cheung (source). Used with permission.
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