Spoilers for Critical Role Campaign 2 Episode 17 (obviously). Check out the recap for Campaign 2 Episode 16 here.
Go check out the full episode at GeekandSundry.com!
The Mighty Nein celebrate Harvest’s Close.
Previously
The Mighty Nein traveled to the city of Zadash where they met a mysterious figure called The Gentleman. In exchange for a positive relationship, they investigated a research facility. There, they fought will-o-wisps and other creatures, eventually learning the facility’s secrets. They returned to The Gentleman, turned over most of their findings, and went on their way. They went into the city, where they wandered, did illicit and illegal activities, and waited for the Harvest Close festival.
Now
They wake up to a cool, misty morning. Throughout the town, they hear the sounds of celebrations.
Jester takes out the beacon. She takes it into her hands and focuses on it. She sees the grey mote. She reaches out, and it vanishes into her chest. She tells Beau that they have a special weapon now.
Beau wants to see how much stronger Jester has become. Jester punches her hard in the arm. Jester tries to punch her in the leg as well, but she can’t land a punch.
Beau asks Jester if she thinks the dark elves’ inability to have children is connected to the missing children. Jester wonders if there is a way for the Cricks to sneak children out of the city.
Yasha wakes up after sleeping outside. Frost has settled into her hair. Around her, she sees townspeople preparing for the festival. She goes inside The Leaky Tap to join the others.
Nott asks what the festival will be like. They ask if she has ever been to one before. She says that she has, but nothing so big.
As they all sit down to eat, they notice that the bartender is someone new. They wonder if this is who bought the tavern. They wonder if they should inform the new owner if there’s a dead person in the cellar. Then, they argue over whether or not a skeleton could, strictly speaking, be classified as a dead person. Fjord walks out of the conversation.
They leave the tavern and walk through the city streets to the Penta Market. The group smells the food being cooked for the festival. Caleb and Nott go off on their own. The rest approach two guards lifting a little girl throwing a sandbag into a basket.
Fjord and Molly pay for turns playing trebuchet. Jester asks if they need to lift Fjord like the little girl was lifted, but he tells her not to so he can retain his dignity.
Fjord throws the first sandbag. The bag hits the mother of the little girl who just played.
He throws the second sandbag. It catches on his breastplate and rips open.
Fjord sighs and tells Jester and Yasha to lift him up.
Fjord: “Two shit throws in a row. It can’t get any fucking worse.”
Jester and Yasha throw Fjord towards the goal. He lands face first in the ground and skids to a stop a few feet away from the basket.
Molly goes next. He easily lands the first shot.
He tells Jester and Yasha that they can take his next two shots.
Jester throws her straight up with all her might. It lands and hits her in the head.
Yasha throws hers and misses.
The guards give Molly his prize: a fresh strawberry. They say that landing all three would have won them a candy apple.
Caleb and Nott approach a woman yelling advertisements for King’s Vault. She tells them that the game is for them to guess which cup has the silver coin under it. She will, of course, mix all of the cups up.
They agree to play. Caleb guesses that it’s the one in the center while Nott whispers to him that it’s the one on the right. The center cup is lifted to reveal the silver coin. Caleb is given back his silver coin and another for winning.
Caleb gives his two silver pieces to Nott so she can play. A small crowd gathers to watch her. Nott gets distracted for a moment and loses the cup.
Nott begins to cry, saying she lost his silver. Caleb reminds Nott that just the other day, she gave him 200 gold.
They meet up with the others once more. Fjord is still covered in sand. Beau immediately goes off to find some very strong mead.
Jester and Yasha see a strong-man game where players swing a hammer to move a large stone. They pay the five silver in the hopes of winning the pot.
Yasha goes first. She is handed a hammer. Going into a rage, she swings the hammer. The stone moves slightly and goes back into its resting position. On her second swing, she dislodges the stone. The crowd around her begins to applaud, and she wins the pot.
Jester: “That will buy us so many candy apples.”
Jester goes up to take her turn. The others add money into the pot to make things interesting. She swings and dislodges the stone. She skips away with her winnings.
Jester buys caramel apples for the group. She buys Yasha a candy apple, as she’s never had one.
They continue to wander around the Penta Market. Molly spots a tapestry with a platinum dragon. He purchases it for 10 gold.
Nott walks over to a game called Eagle Shot. She sees an archery range and asks if she can use a crossbow instead of a bow and arrow. This request is refused. They explain each of the prizes and they pay for a chance to win the prizes.
Caleb looses three arrows, missing each time.
Nott shoots three arrows. She gets closer than Caleb, landing one in the base of the target and the other at the bottom of the target. Caleb pays for her to get six more shots.
She quickly fires off her arrows, landing five of the six shots. She wins a doll, two swords, and two rats in cages. He hands both of the swords to Beau. She gives him her jade bracelet in return. He gives one of the rats to Yasha for her to eat. Fjord warns Nott that they put spirits of children in dolls.
Jester goes to a shrine of the Allhammer while in disguise. She graffitis the anvil shrine, drawing hearts and leaving sequins. She rushes away before anyone notices.
She drops her disguise and bites into her caramel apple. As she does, she notices that it appears The Traveler has taken a bite as well.
Beau finds an arm wrestling competition. The people running the event are also offering a gold per day to join the Righteous Brand. The recruiter introduces himself as Leopold Wansticker. Her challenger is Kendell. Kendell easily defeats her.
They watch a few other contenders go before Yasha steps up to challenge the winner, Gunther.
They take hands and their muscles flex as they fight with one another. Their arms go back and forth.
Nott casts message, telling Gunther that Kendell has gone off with his wife and not to respond to the message.
They wrestle back and forth. The crowd leans in as they excitedly watch. Finally, she manages to slam his arm onto the table.
She immediately stands up and walks off. The recruiter offers her a position on the front lines of the Righteous Brand, but she refuses.
The group heads to the Victory Pit.
Caleb, pretending to be a writer crafting a book on the great cities of the empire, asks about the libraries in the city.
The group goes to the victory pits and asks for entry in the competition. They are lead to a comfortable room with couches. They are told by a fight promoter, Yadaka Brigmann, that the fee will be 20 gold per person per fight. Each group is to face off with the chosen peril: a creature found by the Righteous Brand and kept for the tournament. The tournament will go on until they fall, all other groups fall, or the third round is completed.
A page rushes into the room, asking to speak to the starosta. The two of them, along with Yadaka, go into another room to talk. Frumpkin tries to follow, but a servant takes him away.
Nott sneaks over to where the page, starosta, and Yadaka went. She puts an illusionary box around herself to hide.
She listens for a while and returns to the others, saying that the king is going to declare war on Xhorhas. They are all surprised, remember that they don’t get involved with larger political matters, and go back to discussing other things.
Beau asks Caleb what he learned about The Cobalt Soul. He says he didn’t learn anything pertaining to what they recently learned. He merely wants access to the library. She tells him that she may be able to get him into the library and shows him her belt. He says if they don’t all die, they can discuss it again.
They are lead to another room with food, healers, and the other combatants. They see Gunther from the Righteous Brand. He throws Yasha an apple and tells her to eat.
Jester: “He’s got a crush on you. I can tell.”
Beau: “Don’t let him tell you what to do.”
Nott: “I’m in a box.”
Looking among the groups, they also see Darrow, who offered Yasha a position in his mercenary band after she won the arm wrestling contest.
Outside, the sounds of chaos begins to build. They see a tall half-giant walk into the pit. He addresses the crowd, welcoming them. In the stands, they notice Dolan sitting next to the Lawmaster.
The doors open, and the first group is introduced. Across the way, a door opens. A twelve foot tall frog-like humanoid creature emerges. They attack the beast, trying to kill it. They surround it and attack. It slumps forward, unconscious. The victorious group walks back to the holding area.
Next, The Mighty Nein are called up. They enter the pit and anxiously wait for their monster to emerge. A tentacled, foul-smelling beast emerges. They prepare to fight their enemy: an otyugh.
Beau draws her wooden swords and begins to attack the beast. Her first attack hits, but her second and third miss. Her wooden swords unfortunately crack.
The otyugh swings at them. Beau feels poison course through her veins.
Caleb casts a spell to make Yasha twelve feet tall.
Nott fires a bolt at the creature and ducks back around the corner. Jester casts toll of the dead.
Yasha swings at the creature. Her sword sinks into it. Blood spurts out from the creature and the smell gets even worse.
The creature attacks them again, biting into Yasha.
Caleb casts scorching ray. Two of the rays hit the creature.
Yasha attacks the creature again. She swings her sword, cutting through the creature and pinning it until it dies.
Jester gets the crowd to chant “Yasha! Yasha!” Yasha quickly rushes from the pit.
They all exit the pit to heal and rest. The next group–The Mountain Makers–walk out. A 9 foot troll with teal skin is brought down easily.
Darrow’s group, The Stubborn Stock, is up next. The Mighty Nein wish them luck. They fight a 15 foot crocodile, also bringing it down. However, they have a rougher time of it, and one of their members is knocked out.
The Last Line goes back out onto the field. Two minotaurs exit. The rush the group. The battle goes badly for The Last Line, and they are defeated.
More quickly than they are prepared for, they are rushed back into the pit. Two winter wolves rush onto the battle field. Jester invokes duplicity.
She casts sacred flame. It hits the wolf behind her. The duplicate Jester tries to make a distraction.
Molly uses vicious mockery.
One of the wolfs blast Jester, Yasha, and Caleb with its cold breath. The other wolf blasts Molly and Fjord.
Yasha swings her sword, slicing off a large piece of one of the wolves. Nott fires two bolts at the place Yasha sliced open.
Fjord casts Armor of Agathys.
One of the wolves moves back to its partner. Yasha swings her sword towards the moving wolf, killing it by forcing her blade through its mouth.
Nott fires at the still-remaining wolf.
Fjord pulls out his falchion, and he swings it at the wolf’s hindquarters.
Molly rushes over, swinging his scimitars. Like Yasha, he stabs the wolf through the jaw. He cuts a few feet through it, killing it.
The crowd starts chanting Yasha once more.
They go back into the chamber. Jester casts prayer of healing. They watch as The Mountain Makers are defeated by the owlbears. The healers rush onto the field, trying to save the contender’s lives.
The Stubborn Stock goes next. They barely defeat a pair of displacer beasts.
The Mighty Nein and The Stubborn Stock are the only two teams going into the final round. The Mighty Nein are directed back into the pit. The crowd chants their name.
Nott suggests that they each take a door, ready to attack whatever comes out. Nott enthusiastically encourages it while the others agree it’s a bad idea. Still, Nott, Fjord, Beau, and Yasha each take a door. The others stay in the center.
Quiet falls over the arena. They hear heavy footfalls. A hill giant exits a door. Nott lets her crossbow bolt go.
To be continued…
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About the Artist: Nick Uroseva (@Nick_Uroseva)
Nick is a professional graphic artist from Youngstown, Ohio. He has a BA in Multimedia Technology. When he isn’t doodling for one thing or another, he spends is his time writing and Dungeon Mastering several D&D games, enjoying craft beer, shooting zombies with Nerf blasters, and tweeting about #CriticalRole. Buy him a coffee!
