Liam's One-Shot: The Song of the Lorelei

is the thirty-sixth special episode of Critical Role. Join Dungeon Master Liam O'Brien as he takes his guests through a werewolf adventure in Wildemount! The Lorelei siblings return home to discover their castle ransacked, their staff murdered, and their father missing... (With Laura Bailey, Erica Luttrell, Sam Riegel, TJ Storm, and Travis Willingham)

Announcements

 * Since the initial goals for the charity campaign with Blair Herter and the Pablove Foundation ($20,000 and $50,000) have been passed, a new one is established: if they hit $100,000 they will be able to fund the Shutterbugs Summer Camp, where they'll teach photography to kids fighting cancer.
 * New merch is available in the store: a Wildemount map by Deven Rue, Vox Machina and Mighty Nein pins, a navy blue Wildemount dice set, and a Yasha mini bust by Steamforge, among other products.

Introduction
''On the edges of the Cyrengreen Forest, not too terribly far from the city of Deastok, on the continent of Wildemount, stands Lorelei Castle, home for many generations to the Lorelei family. The Lorelei bloodline stretches back almost three centuries but only rose to prominence during the war between the Dwendalian Empire, which we now reside within, and the Julous Dominion, which once ruled the southern half of the Marrow Valley in the preceding age. The Loreleis proved their worth in that conflict and were gifted for their service with a stretch of land that you five siblings were born and raised on.''

''It was also during the bloody struggles of that long past war that the bloodline would be changed forever. During a near fatal encounter, your ancestor, Alfarr Lorelei, was bitten, near the end days of the war. The curse of lycanthropy burned its way into the blood of Alfarr in a relentless fever that nearly drove him mad, but he did not bend to it. He persisted, as did his daughter, and her sons, and so on. The family's secret has been closely guarded over the centuries, and in its earliest days, the curse was seen as just that, a curse. But with time came acceptance, and the responsibility of power. Once of age, Lorelei youths eventually undergo The Taming of their wilder nature and their animalistic blood, and it has largely been responsible for the family's ascension over many a generation. Some have faltered. There have certainly been dark periods in the Lorelei history, individuals who let their baser impulses rule them. But the family always returned to the right and the good.''

''Aurra, Lucius, Portia, and the twins, Benicio and Lawrence. You know a little of this struggle yourselves. At least, you hear tell from your father and your great aunt Katerine. Your father, Haldur Lorelei, never knew his own mother, Geneviève Lorelei, but by his aunt Katerine's account, she was unbridled and wild, spurned The Taming, embraced the animal within more than the family would have liked. It led to her doom, they would say. It was that very nature that drew her into a whirlwind romance with a man the family did not approve of. Haldur, or Hal, was born out of wedlock and never knew his mother. She was murdered not far from the castle grounds and found in a wolven heap. Her father was dead, or fled, or possibly killed Geneviève, the family theorized, anyway. The only mother Hal knew was Aunt Katerine, who loved her sister's son with all her heart, raised him well, led him through The Taming, made him the kind and just nobleman he is today.''

''Sadly, history repeats and repeats, and Katerine is mostly the only mother you five have known either. When your mother Rosalind died during the birth of the twins, old though she was, Katerine dutifully continued her role as the family matriarch. Aurra, you, as the oldest, and you, Lucius, two years Aurra's junior, you both remember Rosalind some, but for all of you, it has been old Aunt Kat who sat by your beds as children, who taught you your letters. And how Haldur and Katerine love you! You've grown into your adulthood with grace and strength and absorb the lessons of your forebears... to an extent.''

''[...] Two weeks ago, each of you received identical letters from your father Haldur, summoning you home to Castle Lorelei. Intimated in those letters is his wish to discuss the family's future and the handing down of power within the family. You all have been spread to the winds the last six months to a year, maybe, following the individual threads that life has laid before you. Now, Hal is eager to see his children all around him again. As yet another token of his love, he has provided you all with three days and nights of rest, recuperation, and general pampering together at one of the finest inns in Deastok: The Shaded Bough. It is here that we begin this current verse in the song of the Lorelei. You are gathered in the sumptuous dining room of The Shaded Bough. Your breakfast is finished, your bags are packed. Your horses have been prepped for your departure, and it is raining.''

Part I
The Lorelei siblings prepare to leave Deastok after a brief argument in which Aurra belittles her younger siblings' fastidiousness towards the wilderness. Before leaving, Lucius speaks with the locals, receiving news about the increasingly worrying conflict with Xhorhas, on whose front the Empire is going through a bad moment; he also makes sure that the Deastok criminals have not started any suspicious activities recently, and after that last check, they leave for his home. Knowing that due to the rain there could be a flooding of the Wispern River, near the main road, Portia decides to discard the quickest route, so the brothers spend the whole day riding through the rain until they come within sight of Castle Lorelei. It is then that they notice something strange: there is not a single burning torch to be seen, and yet, as they approach, they see that the gates to the castle are open. Suspiciously, the young werewolves approach their settlement, with Benicio leading the way accompanied by Aurra, who uses Produce Flame to gain some visibility. However, Lucius proposes to enter through a passage on the back side of the castle, as a precaution, so they leave their steeds and search for said entrance, this time led by the older siblings. During the journey they argue again about Lucius's lack of stealth, but they reach the door, which is barred from the inside. Portia manages to break the door, and collaborating, the siblings make their way, finding about fifteen butchered corpses in the Moonweaver chapel that the lord of the castle built for Lucius. The siblings immediately begin to investigate, and although they do not find the body of their father, Haldur, they determine that the massacre took place weeks, or perhaps a month, ago. As they tour the area, Lucius picks up a shield bearing Sehanine's emblem, and Aurra spots their father's scent. Following the trail they find some weapons and a cart with supplies that have started to be unloaded, as well as more bodies. They approach the main keep of Castle Lorelei, and due to the absolute absence of sound inside perceived by Lucius, they enter led by Aurra. They find that there has been recent activity in the great hall: the hearth has recently been lit and is now burning down to embers, and in the center of the room is a wooden table with playing cards. Portia tries to catch a scent, but the stench of putrefaction still overwhelms her; what she does notice, however, is a wet footprint on the carpet, indicating that someone has been there recently. Aurra perceives with her developed sense of smell that her father's trail becomes more intense upstairs, so the siblings go in that direction, until they reach Lord Lorelei's study. When they get inside they find Haldur's severed hand on his table, still wearing his ring, and closed around a piece of paper. Lawrence makes an attempt to cover Portia's eyes, which she aggressively rejects, and Aurra remarks that her sister is not weak, while Larry himself is apprehensive about the situation in the office. Portia takes her father's ring and the note, which reads: "I have him. Come find him in the family's crypts". She also notices several attempts at forgery in the pieces of paper on the desk, so the siblings deduce that it is some kind of trap. Aurra tries to take the family longsword, Vargr, which starts an argument with Portia, in which the younger sister reminds her that after the heiress went to the forest she was the one who stayed, kept the family traditions and she went through the Taming, which, along with her training, makes her worthy of wielding the weapon; after that, Aurra relents and hands the sword over to her. Meanwhile, Lawrence assesses the situation and inspects the office for signs of violence, deducing that his father had his hand cut off in that room, causing his siblings to wonder who it could have been, and why Haldur didn't fight. It is at this moment that Lucius remembers their great-aunt Katerine, and runs to her chambers. They find their aunt on the floor of the room, dead by her bed, and detect various signs of a struggle indicating that she transformed and fought before being defeated. Lucius decides to bury her, and Aurra proposes to do it in the woods; this causes Benicio to protest, but Lawrence supports the plan, proposing that while their older siblings take care of burying Katerine, Portia and the twins check out the rest of the floor, agreeing to meet again in the courtyard by the weapons. Aurra and Lucius bury their elderly Aunt Kat and can't help but cry, since they were the closest to her; the first-born also remembers how the deceased compared her to her sister (grandmother of the siblings) Geneviève, which was what encouraged Aurra to go to the forest instead of following the family rituals. While this is going on, Portia, Lawrence, and Benicio check their own rooms and Lucius', noticing that someone has been sleeping in their beds, damaging their belongings, and even leaving some weapons in Portia's room, leading them to suspect the intruders are still there. They pass by their father's room, noting that it is the only one that seems intact, and when they go to Aurra's they detect a strange smell, almost spiced, and find a dagger with "Silent Message" written in Elveh on the hilt; Larry translates the inscription and keeps the weapon, after which they go to the courtyard to meet Aurra and Lucius. The Lorelei siblings catch up, and when they show her the dagger, Aurra recognizes the scent, explaining that when she was six years old a stranger visited Castle Lorelei, staying part of the summer; according to her, the man did not give her a good feeling, and he did not look like an elf, which leads Benicio to theorize that he could have been in disguise. Younger siblings, meanwhile, do not recognize the scent of the dagger or the belongings that went with it, being unable to associate it with anything they have smelled in the regions of Wildemount they have visited. After the conversation, the siblings prepare for combat and head to the family mausoleum, discussing which way they should enter. Lucius proposes to make a detour through the forest, since they have Aurra to guide them, and she decides that it is time to change into her hybrid form, and so she does. While they go to the forest, Benicio takes the opportunity to play a prank on his twin, telling him that the full moon is transforming Larry's hands to distract him before making him slap himself with them.

Break

 * Wyrmwood Giveaway: The prize is a myrtlewood dice tower system featuring Kor'Treum cartography by Deven Rue, with a leather strap. The keyword for tonight is "howl".
 * The winner of the giveaway is announced: Oldar_.

Player Characters

 * Lawrence Lorelei
 * Portia Lorelei
 * Benicio Lorelei
 * Aurra Lorelei
 * Lucius Lorelei

New

 * Haldur Lorelei
 * Katerine Lorelei (corpse)
 * Geneviève Lorelei (as the Iron Woe)
 * Estelle (corpse)
 * Ray, Mercer and Jaffe

Mentioned

 * Alfarr Lorelei
 * Grenya Lorelei
 * Rosalind Lorelei

Trivia

 * At the beginning of the episode Liam decided to keep details about the War of Ash and Light vague in order to avoid contradictions with Matt's plans for the conflict in the main story, suggesting that to that extent, The Song of the Lorelei has canon elements in it.
 * Furthermore, in The Chronicles of Exandria - The Mighty Nein Archivist Zeenoth of the Cobalt Soul makes references to the Lorelei traditions to control their lycanthropy using blood hunter rituals, and mentions that that information appears in some documents of the order, restating their presence in canon.
 * Marisha Ray, Taliesin Jaffe and Matthew Mercer made a cameo in the episode, appearing as thugs in the cemetery. The thugs were named after the cast members' surnames.