Ooof. Here we go.
SPOILERS for Critical Role Episode 68 (obviously). Go check out the full episode at GeekandSundry.com! (Pending technical difficulties).
My recap of Episode 67 can be found here.
Vox Machina lands on the beaches of Glintshore and the prepare to square off against the nefarious Anna Ripley and her hired henchmen, now in possession of two Vestiges of Divergence.
Previously on Critical Role
The party learns that Anna Ripley, Percy’s nemisis, has beat them to the Vestige the saught out in Ank’harel and now is far out in the Osmet Sea in search of another.
They charter an airship out to sea and arrive at Glintshore, the Island of Glass, to find Ripley’s ship already there. They attack and sink the ship and now regroup on the beach to plot their next move.
Now
Vox Machina regroups on the glass-strewn beach of Glintshore as Ripley’s ship sinks out of sight beneath the waves. They investigate the boats that have been dragged up on the shore and what appears to be an abandoned campsite. Grog is still polymorphed into a giant eagle, Scanlan on his back.
They notice the wind begin to pick up and they spot three entities tearing toward them down the beach kicking up shards of glass into the air. Two creatures made of wind, but one a cyclone of wind and glass. Keyleth knows two are air elementals but one is something else.
The air creatures attack the party.
Percy overturns one of the boats and ducks behind it for cover.
Scanlan: “Percy, you’re going to need a bigger boat.”
The maelstrom envelopes him and he is assaulted with a barrage of broken glass. The wind knocks Vex from her broom, landing prone on the glassy beach.
They all trade blows with the air creatures, constantly being assaulted by a torrent of glass and wind. After Keyleth creates a wind wall the creatures can’t pass through and then a tornado of her own, Vax lands an aerial sneak attack. Scanlan casts Bigby’s Hand, and Percy lashes out with his magic sword. The elemental beings are defeated.
The party regroups once more. Keyleth remembers the papers she grabbed from the ship and shows them to the party. They appear to be notes, sketches, and plans for guns. Not understanding them and uninterested, she hands them to Percy.
Percy determines are Ripley’s designs for a gun similar to his original pistol, the pepperbox, and also plans for a long-range rifle, though not as good as his “Bad News.” There is also notes that indicated that more guns have been created and distributed to other people.
Scanlan sabotages the boats with Mythcarver.
Grog: “Are we killing boats now?”
Vex continues examining the campsite, finding tracks deeper into the island.
Percy, worn from the battle, suggests they rest and heal. Scanlan and others don’t think they can spare the time. Percy takes some potions.
Vax flies out to the were the ship went under and spots two lifeless bodies floating in the water. He grabs one and drags it to shore. The search him and find some gold, a spy glass, and two round stones.
Grog, pointing at the spyglass: “Whats that thing?”
Vax: “It’s, um…Percival…What is it?”
Vex pockets the spyglass. Scanlan examines the stones. They appear to be magical flare stones. Likely what the man on the ship used to create a flare earlier from the deck of the ship.
The twins go to each hang on to one of the stones. Grog reaches out for one. He sulks off ahead when he is snubbed. Trinket follows him.
“Grog will remember that.”
The party makes after him. They travel for some time. Vax catches up to Grog and suggests that he stealthy scout ahead.
Grog wordlessly extends out his hand expectantly, wanting one of the flare stones. Vax picks up a piece of glass from the ground and puts it in Grog’s hand and goes to dart ahead of the goliath, but Grog snatches him be the hood of his cloak.
Vax: “Fine, take the lead! I am keeping the stone! Lead the way, stealthy motherfucker!”
Grog stomps ahead, making a point to be extra loud.
Vex: “Grog! That is not okay!”
They continue following the signs of recent passage. They eventually come across the sound of voices and spot three figures some distances ahead, seemingly arguing.
They stop and Vax gets a little closer to get a better view. It is Ripley, a female goliath with a wooden crate, and a cloaked humanoid he can’t quite make out.
Vax to Grog: “There is a woman of your breed…”
Grog: “Thank god! 1-10?”
Vax: “8.8.”
Scanlan has Percy conjure a minor illusion of Ripley’s face and summons the Onyx Dog and show him the image. Scanlan tells it to go grapple that person.
The black mastiff, confused, inquires with him in a posh accent: “Yes, um, I am terribly sorry. What is the plan here? What are we doing? Who are you?”
“Oh shit! I forgot you can talk!”
“Yes.”
Scanlan reiterates the plan and the dog agrees, planning to approach on Scanlan’s command.
The party splits up and begins to stealthily encircle Ripley and her two companions. They overhear her telling her companions that she is predicting the party to arrive in fifteen or twenty minutes so they have to move quickly to set up the artifact. The goliath is questioning this as they don’t fully understand what it does.
Grog steps on a branch and all three heads snap in his direction. The party, cursing, all attacks. Percy opens fire, Vax throws daggers.
Ripley reacts to the blows millisecond late and throws up her hands (hand?) and shouts: “STOP! STOP! NOW!”
Vex’s arrows narrowly whiz by her head. She shouts again: “STOP! LET’S TALK!”
Scanlan to Percy: “Should we hear her out?”
Percy is silent.
Scanlan shouts back to Ripley: “What do you want to say!?”
Percy levels his gun at her, lining up a shot and shouts: “Step away from the box and tell your men to put their weapons down and we will listen!”
Keyleth attempts to cast hold person and Ripley but it has no effect.
Ripley spots Percy. “Faster than anticipated. Congratulations. Well now, we stand in a curious positions. Shall we talk?”
Percy: “You can talk. You have however long I decide to give you. Explain to us why we shouldn’t just kill you now and let your two friends just wander off into the sunset, not to be touched be us if they just turn and run!”
Ripley: “I have fairly procured a few artifacts for myself, and you have done the same. Do we call it an honorable draw and go our own ways?”
Percy: “I am in agreement. Then on that level all debts are settled and fair. But I believe we have previous debts to still settle..”
Ripley: “I have no interest in the petty tyranny of drakes and dragons. Every great beast that has asserted dominance in history has fallen to the ingenuity of man. I would worry not what you are after-”
Percy, cutting her off: “You are so dull!”
Ripley, continuing: “The other races, Percy, and you know this in your heart, they lack our dynamic ability to adapt; to build upon failure so quickly that success becomes an inevitability. I have faith you will all succeed in your mission, so long as you keep your white-haired boy in the lead.”
Percy, shouting past Ripley to her two companions: “You two really follow her? Are you idiots!?”
The goliath and the cloaked figure glare back at them. Vex and Vax recognize the cloaked man.
Percy continues, interrupting Ripley’s ramblings again: “What is she paying you!? I bet I could double it! Attack her right now and we will discuss terms! It would be hilarious. She’s awful!”
Ripley attempts to speak again but Percy doesn’t let her: “Are they moving behind you? You can’t see. They really don’t like you. Do they know what you did to my family? What you do to the people you stay with?”
Ripley shouts over him: “Don’t worry, Percy, our toys have already made the rounds. I sold a few in Vasselheim and a few more in Ank’harel. Partially because I needed the money, but mostly because he said it would drive you mad.”
Percy pauses. “How many have you sold?”
Ripley: “Six, and the instructions for their creation to two more very seemingly interested and up and coming tinkerers like yourself.”
Percy is silent for a moment before saying: “Well, I guess I just have to live with that.” And he fires at Ripley. Critting and putting a bullet right through her head. Vax also flings a dagger. She seems unaffected by the strikes and her form vanishes, a long with that of the cloaked figures.
A tiny bead of fiery light comes sailing out of the trees some distance away, landing were the figures once stood. It explodes into a fireball, which is immediately followed by the deep detonations all around the area. And explosion ripples out from the ground sending all of Vox Machina hurling backwards. Stores of buried black powder seemingly ignited.
Everyone is knocked to ground from the blast except Grog, Vax, and Trinket. The black mastiff is reduced back to the onyx dog figurine and flung somewhere into the forest. Ripley and several henchmen, most armed with rifles emerge from the surrounding forest. A massive crater has been blasted into the earth.
Percy rolls immediately up to his feet, miraculously maintaining his focus and shaking the disorientation of the blast instantly. He opens fire on Ripley, surging to squeeze off and land two more shots, one hitting her in the leg, knocking her to the ground.
Grog rages and attacks one of the henchmen, thanking him for the “warm up.”
Ripley regains her feet, smiling. She casts a spell on herself. Her metal prosthetic hand detaches and drops to the ground and dark shadow appears, forming into a shadowy hand. Dark shadow also begins emanating from her shoulders.
The figure of Orthax, the shadow demon once bound to Percy, has apparently rebounded onto Ripley.
Ripley suddenly vanishes.
Grog attacks one of the henchemen. The cloaked figure leaps from a nearby bush and stabs him.
A mage appears and begins flinging spells at the party. Percy draws his pistol and fires at the wizard, it blocks one of the shots with a shield spell.
Grog pushes the goliath woman into the glassy crater. He turns over to the rogue and shouts “SIT DOWN BEFORE I OPEN YOU UP!”
Ripley and Orthax reappear and she fires at Percy, striking him twice. Her third shot misfires, jamming the pistol. Percy laughs hysterically at her despite the pain. She vanishes again.
Vox Machina trades blows with Ripley’s henchmen. Vax calls out to the cloaked figure “Kynan! Get behind us!” Kynan was the young, inexperienced adventurer and Vox Machina fan that wanted to join them months ago, the party, and Vax specifically, turned him away for his own good. He then left town and was never heard from since.
Keyleth creates a tornado that picks up the wizard, who is left helplessly suspended in the vortex.
Kynan attacks Keyleth, throwing a dagger at her. He then somehow teleports forward, arriving next to the blade and Keyleth.
Scanlan shouts: “Grog! Hold on to something, man!” He casts reverse gravity. Many of the henchmen (and also Grog) hurtle upwards suddenly and slow to a stop about 100ft in the air. The wizard is saved by the tornado he is stuck in.
The wizard manages to cast chain lightning from the tornado, striking Keyleth, Scanlan, Percy, and Trinket. Trinket, Keyleth and Scanlan both fall unconscious. The tornado stops and the wizard falls upward 100ft to meet his friends, only to have the revere gravity also stop having them all plummet.
The wizard is super dead, splatted on the ground as a direct result of his own spell. Grog is bruised from the fall but okay.
Trinket automatically zips back into Vex’s locket.
The party and the remaining henchmen continue to fight. Grog kills the female goliath.
Ripley reappears and continues her unwavering attack of Percy, releasing a few more shots. Percy loses consciousness as the bullets pierce his body. Ripley fires again at him on the ground, critting.
Ripley orders one of the henchmen to shoot Percy. He aims at his body and fires, plunking another bullet into his form. The life begins to leave Percy, but the holy amulet that Pike gave him shatters and he is restored to consciousness but still only barely alive.
Vex heals Scanlan, and the bard awakens. He revives Keyelth with a healing word then casts fireball at Ripley.
Orthax separates from Ripley, the shadow demon assuming its own form.
Percy takes a potion and fires at Ripley, telling Kynan to run.
Grog ignores Orthax and attacks Ripley. Ripley fires at Percy again knocking him unconscious again before vanishing once more. Vax heals Percy. Keyleth adds some more.
Kynan stabs Keyleth in the back, knocking her unconscious, but then immediately struck with regret, drops his dagger shaking. “I’m, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Scanlan heals Keyleth then misty steps over
Orthax teleports over to Percy and attacks. His attack forces Percy to attack Keyleth and Vax to attack Percy but both miss.
Percy heals himself with his last potion and prepares to attack Ripley when she returns.
Ripley appears and Grog attacks and Percy fires.
Percy to Ripley: “No matter what today, I forgive you. But I cannot let you leave.”
Ripley casts a spell at the party but Scanlan counters it. She blinks out again.
Vex and Keyleth attack Orthax. Kynan helps and attack the demon as well.
Orthax attacks Percy and knocks him unconscious again. Striking again knocking him closer to death.
Ripley appears. Grog and Scanlan attack. Grog hits with his thrown axe. Scanlan flings Mythcarver but misses.
Ripley fires at Percy. Hitting him. The life leaves his unconscious form. A name, scrawled on the side of her pistol flares with green light, much like Percy’s used to. “Another name off the list…”
Ripley vanishes once more.
Vex screams and unloads arrows at Orthax. Vax flings daggers. Keyleth finishes off the demon with a thunderwave, reducing it to a puddle of shifting dark shadow.
Ripley reappears. Scanlan encapsulates her in his magic sphere. The shadow darts to her, trapped below the sphere.
The party incircles the captured Ripley. Scanlan explains that he will drop the sphere and they will all kill her together. Kynan joins them.
The spell drops. Vax drives a dagger into her shoulder and cuts off her shadow arm. Keyleth summons vines to bind and choke her. Scanlan leaps up and carves the De Rolo crest into her forehead. Vex flings two arrows, one in her heart and one in her mouth “to choke out her screams,” and finally Grog cleaves her in half at the torso, Keyleth’s fines pulling the bottom half to the ground.
To be continued…
Episode 69 – “Passed Through Fire”
New Critical Role Recaps will be here on ProjectDerailed.com every week!
Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter to see when we post and for all kinds of other cool nerdy shit.
Remember to tune into Critical Role Thursdays at 7pm Pacific on Geek and Sundry’s Twitch Channel.
Is it Thursday yet?
