Shale

Shale is a goliath fighter from the Herd of Storms. She is played by special guest Chris Perkins.

Background
Old and physically impaired, the herd had not afforded Shale much respect in recent years, especially under Thunderlord Kevdak's brash and battle-hungry leadership. As part of a goliath scouting party to Umbrasyl's cave on the peak of Gatshadow Mountain, Shale was slower than her companions. She heard from a distance as a brief battle claimed the lives of the other goliaths, dissolved by Umbrasyl's acid attack.

Descending Gatshadow after the loss of her party, Shale made her way through the Bramblewood Forest and emerged just as Vox Machina was recovering from their attempt to kill Umbrasyl. Grog Strongjaw recognized Shale, and after agreeing on a wary alliance to finish off the black dragon, Shale and the group flew on giant eagles to the mountain peak in search of Umbrasyl's lair.

Willing to enter battle against a dragon that she was, by all accounts, almost certain to lose, Shale had a general sense that her life was already over and a glorious death was all she could hope to achieve. She offered her possessions to Vox Machina in the event of her demise, even explaining what the items can do. Shale survived the battle and gave her dragon-tooth necklace to Grog, who dealt the repeated killing blows, in honor of his victory.

After aiding Vox Machina in the successful slaying of Umbrasyl at Gatshadow's peak, Shale returned to Thunderlord Zanror outside Westruun. Zanror, upon considering Shale's wisdom on their victory and the nature of life and death in battle, announced that the Herd of Storms was destroyed and perhaps the survivors should now join the Rivermaw Tribe for a more peaceful life better suited to raising children. Shale commended the decision.

Notable Items

 * A large, runed, +1 quarterstaff (this custom weapon functions as a Robe of Useful Items with runes instead of patches )
 * A dragon-tooth necklace (doubles hit points restored by hit dice; given to Grog Strongjaw)
 * Horn of Blasting

Trivia

 * When Matthew Mercer gave Chris Perkins the option to play a goliath, Chris "[...] chose to play a character with nothing to live for."
 * Shale is the fourth character featured in Critical Role missing a hand, after Anna Ripley, Cerkonos, and Tyriok Gadsworth.  (Victor is missing his fingers on his right hand, but he still has the actual hand.)
 * Shale was introduced in .  For the next episode,, Sam Riegel wrote a limerick about Shale, and Scanlan Shorthalt used it to provide Bardic Inspiration to Kerrek.
 * Shale is the only player character in the first Critical Role campaign whose gender does not match that of their player.
 * In the Critical Role Major Arcana Tarot Card Set, she represents XX - Judgement.