Ulugrah

Ulugrah
Official art of Ulugrah the Requisite and Vox Machina, by Rich Kelly from The World of Critical Role: The History Behind the Epic Fantasy, page 223.
Type	NPC
Actor	Matthew Mercer
Character Information
Name	Ulugrah
Pronouns	it/its
Also known as	Ulugrah the Requisite
Creature type	Monstrosity
Race	Kraken
Age	At least two decades
Alignment	Chaotic Evil[presumed]
Languages	Common, Abyssal, Celestial, Infernal, Primordial,[presumed] telepathy 120 ft. but can't speak
Place	Elemental Plane of Water
Connections	Water Ashari
Status
Status	Alive (as of 911 PD)[presumed]
Stats
HP	≥ 805
AC	18
DC	18 / 23
Str	30
Dex	11
Con	25
Int	22
Wis	18
Cha	20
Reference(s)
Appearances
First seen	"Tangled Depths" (1x88)
Stream	Campaign One: Vox Machina (1 episode)

Ulugrah, also known as Ulugrah the Requisite by the Water Ashari, is a powerful kraken from the Elemental Plane of Water.

Description

Personality

Ulugrah is an aggressive and powerful creature who relied on its own strength in battles against lesser beings. It was smug to some degree, boasting to other krakens of its exploits.

History

Ulugrah, like many other of its kind, lived in the Elemental Plane of Water, and at some point before 806 PD it established its lair near the rift that connected the elemental plane with Vesrah, the settlement of the Water Ashari, attracted by the activity in that area. That city thrived in part on lodestones, magical stones that Ashari waverunners retrieved from the Plane of Water and used to keep Vesrah afloat and contain the rift; the most recent generation of them as of 811 PD eventually found out that krakens are the true source of lodestones, which led to the most skilled waverunners to be sent to retrieve that magical material, leading to Ulugrah causing a lot of deaths, and making said expeditions increasingly more lethal. Despite this, the Ashari tried not to attack or disturb the kraken, since it was part of the ecology of the area and guaranteed the existence of Vesrah.

Between 806 and 807 PD Vilya of the Air Ashari and her five companions entered Ulugrah's territory as part of the final part of her Aramenté, and while they were trying to retrieve several lodestones, the kraken killed all but the druid herself; despite having lost a leg, Vilya miraculously escaped through another rift leading to Rumblecusp.

Fan art of Vox Machina versus the kraken, by Hugo Cardenas.

In 811 PD Vilya's daughter, Keyleth, arrived with her friends to complete the Aramenté herself, and receiving a task similar to that of her predecessor: retrieve three lodestones without killing Ulugrah. They ended up fighting it anyway, an intense battle in which the kraken had the upper hand and managed to hold off the adventurers (even killing Vax'ildan, albeit only temporarily; as well as swallowing Grog Strongjaw multiple times). However, Vox Machina managed to pass the test, escaping the Elemental Plane of Water (though not all at once or by the same means) and leaving Ulugrah alive, although with several severed tentacles.

According to Uvenda of the Water Ashari, who was interviewed one century later by researchers of the Cobalt Soul, Ulugrah eventually learned that those mortals it had fought were in fact legendary heroes, and since the kraken had survived the encounter, it counted it as a victory, gleefully boasting of it to anyone who visited its lair. While the Cobalt researchers were interested in the information given by the gnome from Vesrah, none dared to check to what extent it was true, suggesting that Ulugrah the Requisite is still alive, and still has a terrible reputation.

Abilities

Ulugrah the Requisite has the typical abilities of a kraken, albeit with a noticeably higher amount of hit points; also, it has not been seen using the typical Fling action but has used the following ability:

• Bash: Ulugrah bashes two grappled creatures against each other with its tentacles, dealing bludgeoning damage and pushing said creatures adjacent to each other.

Appearances and mentions

• Campaign One: Vox Machina
  • "Onward to Vesrah" (1x87), mentioned only
  • "Tangled Depths" (1x88) (first appearance)
  • "Curious Tides" (1x89), mentioned only
• Campaign Two: The Mighty Nein
  • "Maritime Mysteries" (2x103), mentioned only
• The Chronicles of Exandria - The Legend of Vox Machina Volume II

Trivia

• Ulugrah's name was unknown for the whole campaign, being revealed only in The Chronicles of Exandria - The Legend of Vox Machina Volume II.
• The nickname given to this kraken by the Water Ashari is likely due to the fact that, living in the area where the Aramenté take place, it inevitably becomes part of the trials, and avoiding killing the lodestone source becomes a priority—a "requisite" for participants in such a test.
• Despite having killed a lot of people, apparently Ulugrah has only interacted directly with two of the Ashari undergoing the Aramenté: Vilya and Keyleth.
  • Uvenda, the Heart of the Tides, admitted to Vox Machina that the Aramenté shouldn't be that lethal, pointing to the kraken as the culprit in such situations.
    • Ironically, at some point in the next century Uvenda had relatively peaceful news of Ulugrah and its Vox Machina-related bragging.

References

Art: