The Kill Box

is the fourteenth episode of the fourth chapter of Critical Role. Unable to defeat Kevdak in single combat, Grog calls upon Vox Machina in a desperate fight for their lives, the fate of Westruun, and control of the Herd of Storms.

Announcements

 * At the top of the episode, Matthew Mercer announces that this episode and a few of the upcoming episodes are sponsored by Loot Crate. Matt explains the Loot Crate service and mentions the promo code "criticalrole" that can be used by new subscribers to get $3 off their first crate. Sam Riegel wants to rename the show "Crateical Role" for the month. Matt objects. The cast also opens up crates consisting of the "Quest" and "Invasion" themes, with the "Power" theme being the theme for May. Matt already loses control of the episode.
 * The latest issue of Rat Queens is available which features Vox Machina and Matt in a cameo appearance during a bar crawl. Matt brings up his haircut and people freaking out about it.
 * Taliesin Jaffe is announced as the host for the next run of Signal Boost!, the show that Marisha Ray writes and co-produces for and was the host for the first run. It's going to be weird, more so than before.
 * A new series of Geek & Sundry website content is coming out called "Dear Vox Machina", where the cast members answer questions sent to them in-character. Scanlan's article full of "award-winning" advice is first up for tomorrow (2016-05-06), and can be found here.
 * Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is coming out, with Laura Bailey playing villain Nadine Ross. Matt and Sam, along with other members of Vox Machina, can be found as multiplayer characters. Liam O'Brien urges the audience that they kill Matt's character a lot.
 * The full-length Critical Role live-action intro was uploaded on Facebook yesterday and can be found here. It had already gotten a million views in one day. Laura notes that a "fan" said she looked stupid. Ashley Johnson and Travis Willingham threaten whoever said that.
 * The new Critical Role intro theme was written by Jason Charles Miller who played as Garthok in . The theme and the old one is up on iTunes for download.
 * Liam does a rather grim plug for Wyrmwood Gaming, mentions the code "critrole" for free shipping, and notes that the Kickstarter for the Sentinel Box ends in a couple of hours. Ashley's favorite part of Wyrmwood's products? "Magnets, bitch!"
 * The last announcement says "Death to all puppies". The party accuses Matt for writing it, who then accuses Sam.
 * Before the battle proper begins, Sam chooses to inspire everyone with a custom t-shirt he made himself of himself from the live-action intro. Everyone flips out, inspiration is granted, and then immediately taken away.

Previously on Critical Role
"The party of intrepid adventurers, Vox Machina, trying to save the whole of Tal'Dorei from the Chroma Conclave—a collection of chromatic dragons that have destroyed many of the main cities here—have gone about searching for items called the Vestiges of the Divergence, magical artifacts from a war of ancient times that apparently hold some great power that can aid in defeating these dragons. One of which is apparently being held by Kevdak, the leader of the herd of roaming tribal barbaric individuals that Grog once belonged to, and had beaten the crap out of and had left Grog for dead long ago.

"While the dragons had destroyed part of Westruun and left it behind, this tribe utilized that time to take over the town, enslaving or keeping most of the people under their thumb, and making an accord with the one black dragon, Umbrasyl, that is currently in a tenuous relationship with these herd members, Herd of the Storm as they're known. The party, having sent a few of them to their death via a trap on the outside, found their way into the city, saved some of the individuals that lived there, as well as Kaylie and Dr. Dranzel, and Grog went ahead and issued a challenge to the Herd to meet with Kevdak himself.

"After some fairly decent intimidation checks, it was agreed, and while most of the party stealthed behind, Grog made his way to the very center of the town square, where Kevdak leapt off the top of the ex-Margrave's homestead, and the two of them began to do battle in a pit of spikes that was gathered in the center of the town square, surrounded by a number of the clan watching on. During this fight, it went back and forth a bit, before Grog felt that this was a losing battle should it continue in this way, and decided to call out to his friends for aid with the classic Shakespearean battle cry of 'Vox Machina! Fuck shit up!'"

The Battle for Westruun
With Vox Machina in houses and rooftops overseeing the main square of Westruun and the battle taking place between Grog and Kevdak, with many members of the Herd of Storms and several innocents all around, they prepare to take action as the herd members search for whomever Grog was shouting for. As Vax'ildan and Vex'ahlia hold their attacks, with Vex casting Hunter's Mark on Kevdak in anticipation of a window of opportunity to strike, the Thunderlord approaches a now disarmed Grog.

Kevdak then raises his Bloodaxe and foregoes defense, recklessly slashing Grog twice. Due to his rage, Grog manages to resist much of the pain but still feels the sting of the necrotic damage from the enchanted greataxe. As Kevdak rears back for the second slash, it connects but doesn't hurt as much due to Scanlan's Cutting Words as the gnome comes out of his hiding spot on the roof of the house he is on and steps into view, distracting him momentarily.

Grog tries to punch Kevdak, who backs away and alerts everyone to Scanlan's presence, but the punch just bounces off of his uncle's toughened flesh. Taking advantage of the opening, Scanlan whips out the Hand-cone of Clarity, surveys the battlefield for any magic-using individuals—seeing Greenbeard—and casts Hold Person on him and the Thunderlord. The spell takes hold on both Greenbeard and Kevdak and they are struck with paralysis, the latter unable to resist it fully due to the earlier distraction. Scanlan then inspires Grog, the goliath seeing the gnome's ass as two round globes of victory.

Scanlan then backs away out of sight to avoid getting shot by arrows. As Grog circles around Kevdak, Vex sees the opening left by the bard and fires from the Longbow of the Sky Sentinel. All three Storm Arrows hit, but they do not do as much damage due to Kevdak raging. She then targets Greenbeard and shoots a fourth arrow with the Blazing Bowstring. The arrow hits the paralyzed goliath druid, setting a portion of his robes on fire.

Vax clicks the Boots of Haste and throws one of his daggers at Kevdak, but the dagger doesn't do as much damage. He then darts and climbs to the top of the Margrave's house. Grog, seeing the Thunderlord paralyzed, grabs onto the Bloodaxe and yanks it out of his grip.

Grog then slashes at Kevdak's left arm, intending to slice it off. The axe sinks deep into the arm, but does not deal enough damage to completely sever it. Percy, up on the roof, casts Hex on Kevdak, shadows stretching from Grog's own and clinging to the Thunderlord. He moves to get some cover, takes Retort, and carefully aims for the right arm. Thanks to his expert aim, three successful shots from the pistol follow and heavily damage the elbow, but the limb is still barely connected by a slim thread of muscle. The gunslinger then quickly ducks behind cover.

Keyleth, in her air elemental form, rolls up the roof of the Margrave's house, getting within proximity of the two archers up top, and conjures a Whirlwind that threatens to catapult them off the roof. One of the archers is thrown twenty feet away off the roof and falls prone onto the adjacent roof beneath. The other archer holds his ground and stands firm. Pike, on the same roof as Scanlan, summons a Spiritual Weapon next to Kevdak in the form of a large, radiant greatsword—a holy reflection of Craven Edge. The weapon appears through the stonework in the square as Pike wills the weapon to slash Kevdak, the weapon hitting hard with divine fury. The gnome cleric of Sarenrae then attempts to leap across the rooftops, but upon landing onto the next one she slips on her shield and falls off the roof, landing prone onto the ground below.

Seeing the prone cleric on the ground, four members of the herd—two of them previously of the Rivermaw Tribe—go into a rage. Three charge at Grog as one heads towards her. The three warmongers swarm Grog, four of their attacks landing. The one charging at the prone Pike—a wild and raging female half-elf—leaps at her and cleaves her twice, the blows dealing heavy damage. Vex drops Hunter's Mark and casts Hail of Thorns as she fires another arrow at the paralyzed Kevdak. The arrow hits the Thunderlord, the resulting thorns spreading to Grog and the herd members surrounding him, but due to all of her targets raging, the damage is minimal. Vax pushes an archer off the roof, but the archer braces himself and avoids falling prone. He then heads for the nearby chimney and throws two daggers at Kevdak. He then hides back behind the chimney and peeks up Keyleth's "wind skirt".

One half-orc archer, having noticed Percy's position, turns and fires two arrows at the gunslinger. One hits him in the shoulder, but Percy catches the second arrow and snaps it in two. He then points Retort towards the half-orc, who starts regretting his life choices as he readies another arrow. The archer that Keyleth failed to blow away jumps off, taking an attack from the air elemental but landing fine, and joins his fellow archer in taking two shots each at Grog and Pike. One arrow hits the gnome, one hits the goliath. The archer that Vax pushed off hides off to the side. Kevdak attempts to resist the paralysis, but the spell continues to hold him in place.

Scanlan pulls out the Wand of Fireballs and fires a fifth-level attack against a cluster of foes, managing to avoid catching Grog in the blast radius but hitting Greenbeard and Kevdak. The resulting blast ignites the wooden spikes. Scanlan then manages to leap down to the adjacent roof and, unable to heal Grog due to being out of range, heals Pike with Healing Word.

Grog, wielding the Bloodaxe, slashes at Kevdak with reckless abandon, the first attack slicing off the damaged left arm. The second attack carves a deep gash into his back. He then takes a Potion of Superior Healing and drinks it, healing some of his wounds. Greenbeard breaks through the Hold Person spell, no longer affected. Percy takes his fourth shot with Retort and blasts the half-orc archer in the torso, the shot knocking him off the roof. He then reloads and attempts to blast Greenbeard, but the pistol misfires. Keyleth heads down to the archers she attacked before, but this time, they are more prepared and resist the Whirlwind. She continues to encompass their space, hoping to disrupt their shots.

Pike clicks her Sprinter's Boots and attempts to flee, but takes a hit from the half-elf. Diving for cover, she casts Cure Wounds on herself and then has her Spiritual Weapon attack Kevdak again, the radiant blade striking true. The half-elf pursues Pike as the ones attacking Grog all hit with six brutal slashes. Despite the considerable damage, Grog manages to keep standing for the moment. The half-elf slashes at Pike, one strike going wide but the other seriously wounding her. A druid within the fray runs up to Kevdak and attempts to use Cure Wounds on him, but Scanlan—already on the alert—cancels out the healing with Counterspell.

The herd members begin dragging innocents into the middle of the square as three more herd members close in on Pike, one of them attempting to hit twice but both attacks are deflected. Two more herd members swarm Grog, two strikes landing true against the goliath. The archers begin training their arrows on Scanlan. Another herd member manages to climb up to Percy while another climbs up to Scanlan, the latter landing a blow against the bard who manages to maintain concentration on Hold Person. Vex, already having released Trinket earlier and seeing Grog on the edge, shouts at him to raise his arm. She then flies out on her broom, clutching the Raven's Slumber Crystal, and makes contact with Grog's arm, the willing goliath entering the necklace. As she flies away, she ends up taking several deadly blows from Grog's assailants. Despite the grievous wounds, Vex manages to hold on and escape with Grog in tow, breathing heavily and feeling dizzy from the risky gamble.

Break

 * There was no break in this episode.

Featured Characters
{{div columns|line=true |col1=

Vox Machina

 * Keyleth
 * Percival de Rolo
 * Scanlan Shorthalt
 * Grog Strongjaw
 * Pike Trickfoot
 * Trinket
 * Vax'ildan
 * Vex'ahlia

New

 * Theodore:  Hostage child killed by goliaths during the fight and later resurrected by Pike.
 * Worra: Zanror's mate.
 * Zanror:  Grog's cousin; Kevdak's son.

|col2=

Appeared

 * Greenbeard:  A "seer" of the Herd of Storms.
 * Kevdak:  Grog's uncle and the leader of the Herd of Storms.
 * Unnamed herd members.
 * Unnamed herd members formerly of the Rivermaw Tribe.

Mentioned Only
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 * Craven Edge