The King's Cage

is the sixty-ninth episode of the second campaign of Critical Role. The Mighty Nein pass through an ominous doorway to uncover the secrets of an evil locked away for centuries...

Announcements

 * Sam talked about the new D&D Beyond Essentials Kit available at Target.
 * He then challenged Liam to a debate in their ongoing battle to secure the Presidency of D&D Beyond. Sam claims that his campaign is back on track as he is a master debater.
 * Matt spoke about:
 * Idle Champions, the second sponsor for this episode.
 * Talks Machina Panel at San Diego Comicon.
 * Summer programming forecast.
 * Next week is a break, so 9 Jul 2019 will be the next transmission.
 * The new Mighty Nein tabard decorating the set.

Previously on Critical Role
''So, last we left off, the Mighty Nein had been chasing down a lead, an individual who had been racing northward, and seemingly is attached to these strange devices that have been causing rifts to the Abyss to tear open all across Xhorhas. In following this individual across the Barbed Fields, dodging and escaping dangerous encounters, you found yourself beneath the nearby mountains of Bazzoxan, traveling through subterranean tunnels of some ancient dungeon, once locked by these celestial angel statues. You made your way through a bridge where silence was of the essence, where it seemed a chasm filled with tortured, twisting flesh, teeth, and eyes would gibber, if you will, upon hearing the presence of players. Escaping the confusion and a few tumbles, one completely off the edge of the bridge and into the mass, thankfully salvaged by a played-via-remote Jester, and then into a strange, cold, maze of mirrors, and a glacial crystal barrier, upon which inspecting the reflections in the mirror, the reflections began to pull some of you in. In an alternate chamber there, battle was done with strange reflections, dark reflections of yourselves. Upon completing that battle, you found a way back into the main chamber, discovered the musical key that managed to open this crystalline barrier, and behind that, another door, which contained one of the porcelain celestial sculptures, holding its hands together with a small opening. You discovered in the mirror realm some sort of a magical dagger that was embedded in the wall. Placing it within this sculpture, it unlocked the door. As the eyes bled, they swung open. And that is where we’ve left off.''

Part I
The party takes a short rest, while Caleb identifies the whip that Frumpkin retrieved, and Jester decides to keep it. Nott and Jester go back to the mirror room, and Nott asks Jester if she's seen her flask. At first, Jester evades the question, but then gives in and admits she took it because she was worried about Nott and hoped she would realize that she didn't need it. She gives it back, encouraging Nott to cut back on her drinking. Nott admits that she's scared because, although she loves her husband and son, she doesn't want to just go back with them and leave her current life. Eventually Nott agrees to only drink between 11:30 am and 11:00 pm, and gets started.

The party enters the final chamber, seeing two staircases leading down to a chained sarcophagus on a platform. On the ceiling is a mural of a crowned, swollen pale worm burrowing through landscapes. They are investigating the room when suddenly Obann comes in behind them, telling them a bit of the history of this buried temple and greeting Yasha as the Orphanmaker, his former compatriot working for the Angel of Irons. Obann is here to release their "brother" from his imprisonment. He drops his drow disguise and is shown to have red skin, yellow eyes, horns that curl across his head, and red leathery wings, which he uses to fly to the top of the room and begin reading from a stone tablet.

Despite the party's best efforts, they are unable to stop his reading and only slightly wound him. As he concludes his reading, the tablet flashes, the chains shatter off, and the lid of the sarcophagus explodes upward. Mist pours from inside, and a large, meaty, pale hand grasps the side.

Break

 * D&D Beyond animation.
 * Advertisement for Idle Champions.
 * Advertisement for heat activated mug, available from US and UK online stores.
 * Clips from.
 * Advert for "Baby Got Backstories" t-shirts.
 * Taliesin advertises Critical Role Twitch subscription.
 * Critters' Art Montage.

The Mighty Nein

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

New

 * The Laughing Hand
 * Barlgura

Returning

 * Obann

Mentioned

 * The Crawling King
 * The Angel of Irons

Quotations

 * Nott: I'm just scared. That's all. I'm scared of-- I'm scared of what happens next. You know? I don't know what's going to happen after this. I found my husband. I found my son. I want to go back with them so much. But I'm worried that if I go back, that'll be it.


 * Nott: (taking the first swig from her newly recovered flask) It's 11:30 somewhere!

Yasha: A master debater? Caleb: Some would say so.
 * Caleb: I was a good debater in school, but...