Spoilers for Critical Role Campaign 2 Episode 23 (obviously). Check out the recap for Campaign 2 Episode 22 here.
Go check out the full episode at GeekandSundry.com!
The Mighty Nein finish their business in the swamp and begin their next adventure.
Previously
The Mighty Nein traveled north to Labenda to discover why a safehouse had gone dark. Along the way, they found Kiri, a kenku that lost her family. They also met Cali, who, after finding the bowl she was looking for, went on her way. While investigating the safehouse, they saw that it was taken over by merrows. They closed the pathway the merrows used to infiltrate, and head back into the city.
Now
Jester tells everyone that she can use sending to get a message to The Gentleman. They decide to send the message to him when they are at the hotel.
Their next point of discussion is their use of the last of their dynamite. They discuss blowing up a troll’s house, but Nott doesn’t want to blow up an innocent troll’s house.
They see vines ahead of them. Normally, this would be no cause for alarm, but these vines are moving. Molly wraps a ball bearing in jerky and throws it at the vines. The vines quickly grab it. The group decides to just circle around. It tries to slowly follow, but gives up. Jester throws moldy pastries at it because she feels sorry for it.
They pass through the swamp near the troll’s dwelling. Nott takes the dynamite and sneaks forward. Kiri warns Nott that this isn’t a smart idea.
The group takes their positions and prepares to attack.
Yasha lights the dynamite. Nott uses mage hand to put it in the hollow tree stump with the troll.
It’s silent for a moment, and then the tree hollow is blown to pieces.
The troll emerges, still alive, and immediately looks at the party.
Caleb sends a firebolt over to the troll. The attack hits, and it hits hard.
Jester summons her spiritual weapon. She smashes it down on the troll.
Fjord casts hex on the roll and sends some eldritch blasts over.
The troll tears into its own chest and dark liquid spews out, splashing on Beau and Yasha. Yasha becomes poisoned.
Nott fires her crossbow. The bolt hits one of the pustules on its body.
Molly tries to leap through the swamp, but he trips and falls. He waits for the right moment to attack.
Beau looks at Yasha. They nod at one another. Beau throws a flask of oil at the troll. The troll dodges out of the way. Yasha takes a torch and throws it at him. The troll dodges this as well. It lands near the oil and ignites on a small pile of bones.
From out of the flames comes Jester’s spiritual weapon. It flies through the air and swings at the troll’s butt. Jester casts sacred flame, but this also misses.
The troll moves past Molly and he swings at the troll. Both attacks land.
The troll goes to attack Fjord. He blocks the first attack with his shield. However, the second attack hits.
Nott rushes up. She fires her crossbow. The first bolt hits the troll, but has the unintended effect of splashing poison onto Fjord. Nott, unsure what to do, takes the second attack and hits. Fjord is splashed with poison again. Fjord barely manages to stay conscious.
Molly rushes up and deals the killing blow. The troll’s stomach sprays another blast of poison on Fjord, who is knocked unconscious.
Molly’s snake tattoo bursts and blood comes pouring out of it. The green venom coursing through the wounds in Fjord’s body fly out. It gathers in a cloud above them before falling into the swamp.
Jester casts cure wounds on Fjord.
Molly double checks the troll is truly dead. They quickly decide to cut off its head. Before they can reach it, however, it rises, conscious once more, and swings toward Fjord. It knocks him unconscious again.
Molly tries to get the attention of the troll. He misty steps away when the troll looks.
Yasha and Beau quickly pull Fjord away from the troll.
Caleb releases three firebolts from his glove. The bolts blast onto the troll, burning his head off. Caleb falls to his knees. His arms go slack.
Jester rolls her eyes and goes over to the once-again unconscious Fjord. She casts another cure wounds.
Jester: “Stop doing this.”
She takes her handaxe after the flames die down. She cuts out the troll’s heart.
She takes the heart into a cloth, but it immediately begins to erode the cloth. She calls out for something glass or metal to keep it in, but the others question if they really need it. She searches through her bag for something to hold it in.
The search through the swamp, finding that blowing up the hollow left them with few treasures.
Kiri stabs the troll repeatedly until they stop her. Nott tries to feed Kiri human jerky, but the others stop her. Jester tells Kiri she isn’t allowed to stab or eat humans. Molly adds the caveat “unless it’s really necessary.”
Jester says that they should start walking. The sky grows dark, but, right before dusk, they find the city. When they reach the tavern, Jester sends their message. She keeps talking well past the 25 word limit. The Gentleman responds that he has understood the gist of her message.
A figure comes up to them. A dirty, but alive Horace comes up to them. He tells them how appreciative he is, but he also tells him that he’s miserable here. He asks about Dolan and Zadash. They say that Dolan is fine, but Zadash is in conflict.
Jester and Molly run off to the apothecary: The Fungal Font. Molly knocks, but a voice inside says they’re closed and won’t open until sunrise. Jester yells through the door that she has a fresh, wet troll heart. The door opens, and they see a wild-looking dwarf.
He asks if they personally killed the troll, and Jester says that they did. The dwarf is definitely interested.
They agree to meet again in the morning to see what products and potions he can sell. They take the troll heart with them until they can see the rest of the shop.
The group goes to a new tavern. Fjord pays for their rooms. The others, seeing that the tavernkeeper is a woman, tries to talk up Fjord. Jester, jealous, tries to downplay his accomplishments.
They order their drinks and discuss what’s happening the next day. Kiri goes up to the tavernkeeper.
Kiri: “Don’t eat humans, okay?”
Jester: “She’s the sweetest, isn’t she? She’s wearing a mask. She isn’t really a bird, okay?”
Somehow, the tavernkeeper believes this. She laughs and says how cute Kiri is. The tavernkeeper picks up her book again.
They sit down with their drinks. After some more flirting attempts, Caleb goes over and asks Uma what she is reading. After an unsuccessful attempt, Yasha goes up, saying that now it’s a point that they must know what book she is reading. She continues to refuse.
Molly goes over. He hands Uma two gold to tell him the title. She says it’s called Feathered Leather.
Before they go to sleep, Jester sends another sending message to her mother thanking her for sending the care package to Zadash. Her mother responds, saying it’s so good to hear from her and that she loves her.
Fjord asks Molly to stand guard for a moment. Fjord pulls out his falchion. Molly examines the glass eye. He is unable to find any religious symbology, but he does wonder if it’s something very old that resides in the sea.
Molly casts charm person on Fjord. The spell doesn’t work. Molly says that he doesn’t think he can ask, but he thinks there’s something that happened to Fjord in the ocean.
The next morning, Molly and Jester head off to the apothecary. They ask Uma to grab their horses and cart, but she points out that she wasn’t the one who put them in. Fjord and Yasha decide to get their cart and horses themselves, which they do without Jester’s forgery. Caleb and Nott take Kiri for a walk around the edge of town. Caleb tells Kiri that they aren’t going to be looking for trouble on their walk.
When they leave, Beau asks Jester and Molly what they can do with Kiri so she doesn’t get hurt in battle. Jester is very sad about this prospect. They wonder if Kiri could someday achieve the same success as The Gentleman. However, they reluctantly agree that keeping Kiri with them is unsustainable.
Smythe has come up with two potions for them in the apothecary. He trades them 50 gold pieces and the potions for the heart. Molly asks what in the shop they should spend their newly found 50 gold on. He buys some oils.
Nott brings up to Caleb that Cali gave him a scroll of invisibility. She gives it to him, and she apologizes for getting him in trouble with Beau. Caleb says that it’s fine.
As Jester, Beau, and Molly leave the apothecary, Molly distracts Smythe while Jester paints the sign to say “The Fungal Fart.”
They meet up with the rest of the group once again. They gather their things, and leave the swamp town. They notice on the map that they can travel through Hupperdook. Beau tells the others that Hupperdook has crazy parties every night. They immediately decide to stop there.
As they walk, Jester asks if they can pool their resources to get her diamonds for revivify. They agree to keep an eye out for diamonds.
They try to show the map to Kiri and see if she recognizes anywhere. She does not. Jester is also unable to send a message to Kiri’s parents.
After three days, they reach The Crossroads. Caleb sends Frumpkin onwards to investigate. He instructs Frumpkin to go rub on people’s ankles.
Frumpkin sees a trader selling tropical fruits. Beau, upon learning they have bone jewelry, walks off. The rest wander off as well, leaving Caleb blind and deaf in the cart by himself. Frumpkin rounds a corner and sees the rest of the party. Caleb quickly ends the magic and joins the rest of the group.
Beau buys a bone bracelet. Nott, disguised as a gnome, buys warm clothes.
Fjord and Caleb are bored watching the others shop. They begin to talk to one another about their travels and successes. Nott runs up to them and tells them about all of the tropical fruits.
They leave the market on the sides of the streets and go on their way to Hupperdook. Ahead of them is a caravan heading southward. They call out to the caravan who says that they just passed through Hupperdook, but saw no mushroom houses or parties.
Nott sends a message to one of the kids in the cart, asking if they’re being kidnapped. They kids respond that they aren’t being kidnapped, but they are fleeing from their home in Nogverot.
They eventually stop to rest for the night. Caleb and Nott spot something in the distance. Nott sneaks forward with Frumpkin and sees an overturned cart. Nott whispers back that she thinks it’s just a cart. Suddenly, she is ambushed by a group of bandits.
Caleb wakes everyone up and points out where Nott sneaked up.
Nott gets hit with a crossbow bolt. The Mighty Nein sneak up, flanking the group of bandits. As soon as they are spotted, one of the bandits begins to yell at them to stop. They quickly yell out apologies, saying that they didn’t know who it was.
“These are the ones who ashed Trevor!”
Nott lets her crossbow fire.
Jester: “You know the drill: take off your pants and walk away.”
They offer up their cart as an apology. Most of the things in the cart, however, are worthless. Molly offers them the extra leather armor out of sympathy. Caleb warns them that they work on a three strike system. Jester gives them some friendly advice: working for someone who is doing illegal things is much easier than randomly attacking travelers on the road.
Caleb presses a stone up against the forehead of the nearest bandit. He lies that he is performing magic to watch them and make sure that they no longer do anything illegal.
The group runs off, leaving one of their friends that Beau knocked unconscious. They take his pants and put flowers in his hair. Molly says that waking up with no pants and flowers in your hair is a sign of a good night.
They continue to rest and then make their way to Hupperdook.
As they travel, they eventually see a large, industrial city in the distance: Hupperdook. Jester sadly says that it’s not how she pictured it.
They look at the different parts of the city in the skyline. They try to enter the city through a mechanical lift, saying they are guests of Ophelia Mardune, but they are denied entry. They are instead led to the path into the city.
A voice from behind them says they look like they aren’t from around Hupperdook. A young gnome introduces herself as Risa. She asks what bring them to Hupperdook.
Jester: “We thought the name was funny.”
They make their way up the path. Risa jumps into the cart with them. The others are immediately suspicious. They ask her a few questions about the city.
Risa says she will tell them all about the town for the price of a round at the bar. The city is filled with workers, but it is also clearly feeling the effects of the approaching war.
They explain they have varied interests and talents. Beau presses Risa for her occupation. She says that she hasn’t found a vocation that suits her yet.
In the distance, they hear and see fireworks. They hear cheers in the distance and they realize Beau wasn’t kidding: Hupperdook works hard and plays hard.
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!
