Rumble at Rumblecusp

is the one hundred fifth episode of the second campaign of Critical Role. Armed with knowledge and an amorphous plan, the Mighty Nein prepare to confront Rumblecusp's dangerous overlord...

Announcements

 * First, the reason we all tuned in: Another techno-riffic installment of "Nord by Nordwest: 'The Quest for the Ultra Codex Reloaded'." Last episode, blackwillow69@aol.com and CryptonicOverride needed a level 12 master hacker to get them out of the internet. Taliesin (FreezerBurn) is here to help, enlisting the MadHatterson to aid in the rescue. They succeed! And Sam will share the secret we all need to know the next time NordVPN sponsors the show. They provide highest-quality encryption for internet traffic and are offering a three-year deal for $3.49 a month. Go to NordVPN.com/CriticalRole and use code "CRITICALROLE" to get 70% off a three-year plan and a extra month for free.
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Part I
Vilya tells the party that she has remembered how to use Transport via Plants and can take them to anywhere on the island that she's familiar with. This leads to more discussion of whether they should attempt to recruit aid from the Vo village before facing Vokodo. Jester suggests that they should try to tempt the dragon turtle (which they nickname "Dieter") to come to Vokodo's lair by telling him about all the ships Vokodo has hidden away, and the party agrees that's a brilliant idea to try to lure Vokodo out of his lair and hopefully into a fight with Dieter that would weaken him before they face him.

Jester uses Sending (twice) to message Dieter, telling him they know a guy with like a hundred ships on Rumblecusp. He responds asking where, and that he is, "Interested, maybe." When she is ready to reply, Caleb casts Tongues on her and she is surprised to find she understands and can speak Caleb's Zemnian. Her message to Dieter lets him know exactly where the ships are, but he is suspicious, asking why she would tell him that after he destroyed their ship in vengeance. She is out of spells, so cannot reply.

After more discussion, they still agree the best bet to get Vokodo out of his lair is to bring the dragon turtle to destroy the hidden ships, and that recruiting in the village is too risky for a limited payoff. Vilya transports them through a tree back to the Heaven Falls and they enter the hidden cavern and set up on the deck of the Eden's Horizon, where they distribute their remaining residuum to the clerics and count their diamonds for bringing life back to the fallen. Jester creates a Heroes' Feast of mostly pancakes and they all dig in.

Over dinner, Beau asks Jester how she's feeling about Traveler Con. Jester admits that she's feeling confused and overwhelmed by the conflicting demands of trying to satisfy the Traveler while not taking advantage of his followers, and also freeing the villagers, and what him not being a god anymore would mean for their relationship. She begins crying, although she insists it's just stress. She reiterates how good he was to and for her when she was young, and admits that he knew people lost their memories on the island. She now recognizes his essential selfishness, but still wants to be his friend. They suggest that she will have time with him to discuss this at Traveler Con, assure her that they will do whatever she wants and that they will be there for her under any circumstances, even without the Traveler.

During the night, as they sleep under the dome, Yasha has a vision. She sees a single white feather drifting down onto a still pool, and a storm rolling in from the horizon. With each step towards the feather, the storm grows closer, and as she reaches it, lightning strikes the water in front of her. She tries again and hears a rolling voice say, "Do not run from yourself. Overcome what faltered. And rise stronger." A bolt of lightning streaks toward her, and she says, "I do not want this fear anymore," and waits for it to strike her. As it hits, she sees white, and then a blue glow from an abyss before her filled with broken chains. She bamfs out her withered skeletal wings, faintly feathered as before, and more feathers begin to emerge, growing thick, full, and angelic. She hears Zuala's voice calling her from the chains in the abyss, and a figure beckoning, but she sighs and says, "I have to go," and leaps up, wings extended. As she does, Zuala's voice says, "I'm proud of you. Don't let me be a shackle." Yasha flies strongly upward as the storm clouds suddenly dissipate, and she finds herself high above Exandria, feeling a freedom she has never quite felt before, like she could go anywhere.

The party wakes early, and only Caleb has lost his memory, which they can tell because he's standing straighter and in a good mood. Jester immediately uses Greater Restoration to bring his memories back, and he unconvincingly assures them it's better this way. Jester Sends to the dragon turtle again, explaining that the guy with the ships is way worse than the turtle, and suggesting he should fuck him. She comes very close to persuading him but fails, and he declines.

Veth suggests that if the reason for bringing the turtle here was to destroy ships to lure out Vokodo, they are perfectly able to destroy ships. She and Caleb go to the Fiona and set Veth's homemade depth charge, which they then set off with a tremendous explosion and fire. They hear a low rumble begin and small stones fall from the roof of the cavern, but although the rumbling continues to peak and fall, Vokodo does not appear. Caleb sets fire to a second ship, but nothing changes. Vilya transforms into an owl to scout outside and returns in moments to tell them the volcano is erupting. They decide their only remaining option is just a straightforward charge into the lair.

Tying themselves together, they cast Freedom of Movement on Beau and Yasha, with Fjord's always-on Water Breathing already covering the party. They all dive in and approach the tunnel entrance. The two leaders of the group, Beau and Fjord, are fortunately the two affected by the compulsion to swim as quickly and accurately as possible through the winding tunnels to the lair. They notice the water is continually getting warmer as they swim, rising to an uncomfortable level. After about thirty-five minutes, the tunnel widens out and they enter the lair. Vokodo immediately descends from the ceiling in a rage, bellowing: "What... have... you... done?!" and the chamber quakes.

Break

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Part II
As the battle begins, Beau swims up on top of Vokodo's head and begins pummeling him. He burns his first two Legendary Resistances to negate her Stunning Strikes on successive rounds, but her blows cause him significant damage. She learns that any melee attack also causes fire damage to the attacker, that he is immune to fire damage, and resistant to damage from cold and non-magical weapons. Yasha is hypnotized by a lair action at the top of the fight and unable to attack for multiple rounds before finally breaking free. Vilya turns into a killer whale and uses Call Lightning to attack. The water temperature continues to rise, and the party begins taking fire damage from it each round.

As the fight continues, Vokodo takes damage from Beau's fists, Veth's crossbow, Fjord's Eldritch Blasts, and Vilya's Call Lightning, but Beau is taking significant fire damage every time she hits Vokodo. When Caleb casts Polymorph unsuccessfully on him, Vokodo reflects it onto Beau but she is able to save, and Matt also does a retroactive save for Caduceus's failed attempt at Bane. Veth creates an illusory giant black portal with voices growling, "I'm coming for you!", and Fjord creates the image of an astral dreadnought. Vokodo seems terrified of both, and uses his hypnotizing lair action on them with no effect. Caleb attempts to Banish the creature, but fails, and it reflects the spell onto Beau who disappears into the Astral Sea. Vilya's Call Lightning misses Vokodo and reflects onto Fjord and Jester.

Yasha finally succeeds in throwing off the hypnosis, but her attacks are still unable to connect with Vokodo. Jester attempts another Banishment which Vokodo uses his last Legendary Resistance to reflect onto Caduceus. He too finds himself peacefully floating in the Astral Sea, apparently near but not within sight of Beau, who is returned to the fight when Caleb drops concentration on the Banishment. When Vokodo attempts to cast Chain Lightning, Caleb is able to Counterspell it, and then Jester lands a Banishment sending Vokodo away to the Astral Sea and returning Caduceus.

However, the party is still taking fire damage every six seconds, which Caduceus's healing isn't able to keep up with. Jester's concentration holds, but the party begins to consider if they want to allow Vokodo to escape with all the loot he was carrying on his back. At the last moment before the Banishment would be permanent, they bring him back and all begin attacking him simultaneously.

Fjord uses his Divine Smite on attacks by the Star Razor for massive damage and Beau hits him again. Caleb casts Disintegrate, with 72 damage if Vokodo fails to save, and the same damage reflected to one of the party if Vokodo succeeds. Several of them, including Caleb himself, have under 72 hit points at that point. Matt rolls... and it is a natural one. Vokodo fails, and is disintegrated. But before he is, the party sees a vision as he screams in agony:

The Mighty Nein

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

Returning

 * Vilya
 * Vokodo
 * "Dieter", the dragon turtle (via Jester's Sending)
 * Kord (voice in Yasha's dream)
 * Zuala (voice in Yasha's dream)

Quotations
Jester: I don't think that's a bad thing. You know, he... he was really wonderful then. He was my best friend. I know all of you are concerned that maybe he's taking advantage, or he doesn't have our best interests, which, maybe, who knows? Maybe he doesn't, but he really got me through a lot when I was younger, you know? And he was all I had, really, and he was wonderful! He taught me so much. If it was just him being my friend again, I'd be okay with that. I just don't know what that means for everyone else, you know, all the people who are coming here. Fjord: Or just dead. Jester: Or dead. Yasha: I... I will look up at it and I will just say, "I do not want this fear anymore." And I will stand there and wait for it to hit me.
 * Veth: Life doesn't need things to live.
 * Caleb: (about the Traveler) What if it were just you and him? Like your old days.
 * Jester: (about the Traveler) He's not like the best. He's really cool. But I don't think he always, you know, thinks about other people, about how they'll actually be affected sometimes. And that's just because he's super, super powerful and to him, we're like ants sometimes. We don't think about the fact when we squish an ant. It doesn't mean anything to us. But the ant is real sad.
 * Matt: (during Yasha's vision) You look up just as a streaking blast of pure lightning energy streaks down towards you. What do you do?
 * Matt: (as Yasha prepares to leap, after hearing Zuala's voice) As you withdraw your hand, and alter your stance into a crouch as the wings unfurl, preparing to take their first beat, [Zuala] says, "I'm proud of you. Don't let me be a shackle." And with a renewed strength you've not felt from an extension beyond your own arms, you fight your way up into the storm, this tunnel around you, the lightning flashing all around you, forcing your way up as high as you can, until eventually you break past the clouds, up into a night sky of stars and two moons. And as you look back down, the hole closes, the clouds become mist, and as the mist fades, you're looking down upon land masses, water, Exandria. And it's a freedom you've not quite felt before. Like you could go anywhere.
 * Fjord: (after yet more strategizing against Vokodo) I really feel like we've covered all the bases here, and in no way could analysis after the fact could reveal anything we haven't thought of. Air tight.

Trivia

 * In this episode, Jester confirmed she still has one 300 and one 500 gold diamond, and Caduceus has one worth 350.
 * The in-game date at the conclusion of the episode was 20 Unndilar 836.