With Great Power...

is the ninety-fourth episode of the second campaign of Critical Role. The Mighty Nein take stock after their tangle with a dealmaker but their arrival at a new destination holds unexpected answers...

Previously on Critical Role
''So, last we left off: The Mighty Nein discovered that the curse that still holds Nott in her goblinoid form, after her initial transformation years ago, remained and apparently was still held by the same magical woman that had originally imposed this curse upon her. You traveled your way through Kamordah, had a tense experience meeting the Lionett family, who also has attachments to this entity you came to discover was named Isharnai, the Prism Sage, who lived in the northern forest marshlands amongst the base around Mount Mentiri. You traversed this dangerous landscape, dealing with various pockets of unleashed acidic moisture and steam bursting forth from the geothermal ground itself. You lost a few horses and let the others wander. You made your way through swamps and got lost, got exhausted, dealt with fighting a few gorefeather harpies, and then eventually found your way to the base of Mount Mentiri to the exterior of the abode of Isharnai, just as the sun set.''

''Upon looking around, you eventually discovered this creature invisible on the roof, watching you all as you were investigating her homestead. After which, you had some conversations with her, discovered that she could offer many things, just like she has in the past, in exchange for a touch of your own fortune. Seemed to thrive on misery for those who asked for too much. And after some very emotional conversations and thoughts about what some of you were willing to sacrifice, to trade for this curse that still remained on Nott, Jester bamboozled her (and me) through a clutch combination of Dust of Deliciousness, a random magical item I made up and gave you back in like Episode 30 [] and used it to modify the memory of her, to convince this crone-type creature that she had such an amazing time, and you guys bonded so quickly, that in this time she just was happy to release it for your companionship, and you left, walked outside into the dark night as you were all tired and wondering what happened, to have Jester go, “Go! We have to go, now!” So as you all were quickly ushered off this somewhat moss-covered darkened hut, the dull interior candlelight glow that pours through the partially ajar doorway, you all spearhead downward, back into the swampy valley that awaits you, as night has just begun. And that is where we left off.''

Part I
Having prepared their spells while expecting a fight, Caleb doesn't have Teleportation and Jester doesn't have Find the Path, so the party hurries along through the night while continuing to press Jester for details of what happened and what deal she made with Isharnai. Keeping a close watch on the path behind them, Jester tells them she gave Isharnai a cupcake sprinkled with the dust that makes food taste really good. Fjord and others are skeptical that it was that simple, but Jester finally says she'd rather not talk about it until they're somewhere safer, and as they pass into the swamp they begin looking for higher ground on which to cast Caleb's hut for the night.

When they find a spot, there is a large dead tree trunk taking up a lot of the space. While Caleb begins his ritual cast, Jester and Yasha team up to lift the trunk and throw it into the swamp. Unfortunately the noise attracts the nighttime inhabitants of the swamp: a multitude of shambling husk zombies that, while not well-armored and with relatively weak attacks, explode on death spraying a powerful damaging poison in all directions. All of the party take gradually accumulating damage during the fight. Finally, Jester uses Incite Greed to draw almost all of the zombies towards her, then Dimension Doors out and Caduceus hits them with a Turn Undead, wiping out nearly all of them. More are coming, however, attracted by the noise of combat, but Fjord is able to distract them with a Major Image of a young blue dragon thrashing noisily off in the swamp (freaking out Jester a bit with the memory of their past encounter with one} while Caleb completes the dome and they all settle quietly inside.

With good history rolls, Beau recalls that during the time of the Julous Dominion, this area was occupied by a cult of the Twilight Phoenix that the cult believed to be responsible for the local geothermal activity. The cult was eventually wiped out leaving the husk zombies to inhabit the swamp at night. Fjord remembers the phoenix pictured in the Temple of the False Serpent on Urukaxl, but they are unsure if the two birds are connected.

Now that they are relatively safe, the party once again presses Jester for details of her deal with Isharnai. She admits that she used Modify Memory on the hag and that she's unsure of whether Isharnai will realize what happened and come after them. Nott asks Beau if this will affect her family, but Beau tells them not to worry about that. They speculate on the price her father paid, and Jester wonders if the price was simply the misery created in his life by his single-minded pursuit of wealth and fear of impending retribution.

Nott points out that while Beau was willing to sacrifice everything she's achieved and her new-found family with the party, Nott selfishly offered to rekindle the war. The others, though, argue that Beau's leaving would have hurt them as well, and gradually convince Beau that she needs to stay with them, that there is much more for her to achieve and experience in the world. They assure her that they all care about her, and she reluctantly admits it and that she cares about them as well, and agrees not to do it again.

When Nott is asked about her own now-possible transformation back into her halfling form, she again expresses her fears and concerns about what would happen afterwards. The others assure her that it's possible to be a good parent and give love to a child even if the parent can't always be present. On the other hand, if Nott decides when she changes back that she wants to return to her family, that would be fine as well, as long as she chooses it for the right reasons. Caduceus suggests that Nott take some sober quiet time to think about what she really wants, and Beau volunteers to lead the group in guided meditation. At its end, the exhausted party is all asleep except for Beau, Caleb, and Jester.

As they are going to sleep, Jester quietly apologizes to Caleb and assures him she would never modify a memory of him or Yasha or anyone that they know because she realizes what it means. Caleb assures her that it's all about what is done with it and that she did a good thing, and continues looking at her for long moments after she has turned away and gone to sleep.

The Mighty Nein

 * Beauregard Lionett
 * Caduceus Clay
 * Caleb Widogast
 * Fjord
 * Frumpkin
 * Jester Lavorre
 * Nott the Brave
 * Yasha Nydoorin

New

 * Vidalla

Returning

 * Essek Thelyss
 * The Traveler

Mentioned

 * The Twilight Phoenix

Quotations
Caleb: What’s done is done. You can’t turn back time. Beau: Well, I mean, this isn’t going to last forever, right? So it– Caduceus: That doesn’t mean you pull the pin on it. Caleb: Follow your own advice. Don’t go. Jester: If you could. I don’t know what’s going on in that hut, you guys. Fjord: And why would we have come running in at the first yelp? Your delts are crazy. Beau: Thank you. Fjord: Why? Why would we have come running in? Beau: Because we care about each other. Fjord: Oh, fucking shit, we do? Amazing. Does that apply to you as well? Beau: I dunno. Fjord: I think you do. Don’t do that again. Beau: I think it’s a little different. If you’re talking about yourself, it is 100% different. Do not fucking compare yourself to my parents. Nott: Well, I’m totally absent right now. Beau: But there’s a difference between pursuing the things that make you happy and showing that, and being an example to your kids, and then just totally fucking being so self-absorbed in your own damage that you just transfer all of that and neglect them. Nott: Yes and no. I mean, yes, I want to be with my family. They need me and I need to be with them. That’s all I’ve wanted for so long, but– to go back and to be a supporting player in my story doesn’t seem– I don’t know how I would feel about that. We’ve had so many amazing adventures together. You tried to kill me. That’s crazy. Exciting. Nott: That was a test, and you passed. Yasha: Okay. Well, do you want a sip for being good? (Yasha holds the flask out and as Nott reaches for it, Yasha snatches it back) That was a test, and you failed.
 * Beau: Maybe the price has been paid.
 * Caleb: Don’t go.
 * Beau: Yeah, we would have come running in at like the first yelp.
 * Nott: What about when your mom’s not around? Is that okay?
 * Caduceus: Absence isn’t the opposite of love. There’s plenty of ways to show someone you don’t love them that don’t involve not being there.
 * Yasha: Does thinking about going back home and having a family life, is that an exciting thought to you?
 * Yasha: (after knocking the flask away from Nott and grabbing it) We're keeping you accountable. We're a tribe now.
 * The Traveler: "I am the Traveler, but it was not always this way, for when I traveled here it was a world before me where I was without burdens, without responsibilities, and without limitations. [...] And one day I met a little girl who sought that same spark, a little girl who found joy in exposing life's more subtle hypocrisies, a little blue girl who lived a life so small but felt in her heart there was so much more to see. This little girl and I found a kinship, in that childlike wonder of youth so untempered by the sanctimonious morality of man, and she saw me as a god. So for her, for you, I donned the mask of one. I found that with such pure, absolute faith granted towards me, I was exhilarated. I began to seek others that might be waiting for such guidance to bring a bit of necessary chaos into the world. One by one, I traveled and found more souls that needed direction, who found themselves in our shenanigans. It was beautiful. Eons living for only myself, I found a new joy in helping other find themselves in a world cruel and painted in dull divided pigments. With each new faith I could find myself, I could feel myself becoming what you believed. Then more came. Playful pranks turned into demands. Prayers fighting for my attention. Freshly freed from previously imposed boundaries, I'd managed to really construct my own. While such faith granted me power beyond what I thought possible to achieve, I was being spread too thin across those who I'd taken under my wing. I thought to bring them all together to unify the causes and perhaps forge community under this banner. My banner. Our banner. We are weeks away from the gathering of my lost children who have wound their lives around my boons and counsel. The truth, Jester, is that I have no idea what I'm doing and I need your help."