Jugs and Rods

is the tenth episode of the seventh chapter of Critical Role. Vox Machina, having barely survived their escape from the Nine Hells, returns to Whitestone for some much-needed rest and respite as Vex'ahlia partakes in the Grey Hunt to truly earn her noble title and place in the city.

Pre-Show

 * Marisha, Taliesin, and Sam briefly appeared for an audio sync test.
 * The updated Critical Role fan art appreciation gallery was shown.

Announcements

 * Ashley Johnson is currently in traffic but she has returned and will be here for a while due to Blindspot ' s production hiatus.
 * The Critical Role survey closes on April 18th, so go take it at geekandsundry.com/CRSurvey if you haven't already.
 * Taliesin forgot that he was leaving town last week, so this week Wednesday Club will be having their Comics 101 episode.
 * Satine Phoenix's first official GM Tips episode is now on YouTube.
 * The newest episode of Signal Boost features Brian Wayne Foster. It also has cameos from a lot of the Critical Role cast, although they don't remember doing so.
 * Matt is flying out to Seattle, Washington tomorrow for Sakura-Con. He'll be having panels and signings all weekend.
 * Talks Machina is every Tuesday at 7pm Pacific time on Twitch and Alpha.
 * Matt, Marisha, and Taliesin will be at MomoCon in Atlanta, Georgia from May 25-28.
 * Laura met Sara Bareilles last weekend. She didn't cry, but some of the people with her did.

Previously on Critical Role
"Vox Machina had found theirselves finishing up dangling loose threads after they had completed the destruction of the Chroma Conclave, and essentially brought what seems to be—for the time being—peace to Tal'Dorei.

"[They] helped Keyleth complete her Aramenté in which she was crowned the Voice of the Tempest, and [they] all had one wandering thread Hotis, the rakshasa, of which [they] have now killed twice and kept returning to the Nine Hells to recoup and threaten to come and slay [them] and everything [they] love in the near future.

"So to cut that off at the head, [Vox Machina] traveled to the second layer of Hell, the Iron City of Dis, to hunt down this rakshasa. After signing a contract with a devil [they got] the proper information in this regard of where it was within the Bastion of Flesh in the subterranean prison known as Mentiri.

"[They] slaughtered a pit fiend named Utugash and—in response to that, as part of the contract—[they] were given passage into this prison with [their] equipment and [they] began a madcap rush through the prison, given the directions [they] were presented as part of this deal [they] had made.

"[They] turned into a flock of bats, rushed down with a new friend—a dwarvish blood hunter, a werebear particularly of the Order of the Lycan, named Tova who [they] had discovered in Utugash's lair—and [they] all, as bats, flew through, averted a number of blockades, managed to just get the attention of a few devils that couldn't catch up to [them] in time, and basically the entire prison began to converge on [them] as [they] reached the central area where this rakshasa was.

"A couple of scuffles in transition to that area, [they] were attacked by a large construct made of black chains from this lower area of the Hell, and—averting its actual battle presence—[they] systematically went through the doorways to discover the one that housed Hotis, of which he was quickly destroyed while still in his larval reforming form by Grog.

"[They] all battled through the swath of chains that were binding and pulling them back as [they] all reached out to join hands in time for Keyleth to pull out her tuned fork to the Prime Material Plane and cast Plane Shift. And [they] all vanished into a familiar flash of whitish-green light."

Part I
As the Plane Shift spell activates, the chains surrounding Vox Machina release. They approach the Divine Gate and safely pass through it once more. The group appears in the southern portion of Whitestone in the late afternoon as the sun begins to set.

They all express their relief at managing to escape the Nine Hells mostly intact. Vex'ahlia attempts to heal Trinket but the spell has little effect due to her exhaustion. She apologizes for the bear for not being able to do more and he easily forgives her.

Vax is very excited that they don't have any more pressing matters to attend to. Percy mentions that they need to rebuild Doty and offers to help Taryon with that. Vex asks Tary if he's okay. He says he's alright, adventurers lose people all the time. Percy hands him some alcohol.

Percy says that when Tary's ready they'll build a new one. Tary says it won't be the same; he felt like Doty understood him better than anyone else. Percy proposes that Tary could build a new construct who could chronicle Doty's past adventures, and says that Vox Machina will help fill in everything that was missed.

Vax congratulates Tary for surviving their journey through Hell. Vex asks if that was on his list. It wasn't, but "a revenge plot" was, so he checks that off.

Grog asks Taryon what it's like to be a real adventurer now. Tary says he's been thinking about that a lot and asks if he can read them all the final passage that Doty transcribed before they entered the Hells, as sort of a memorial to the construct. They accept and Tary begins reading.

Vox Machina

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

New

 * Joseph
 * Lawrence (mentioned only)
 * Reggae (mentioned only)
 * Shauna

Returning

 * Taryon Darrington
 * Cassandra de Rolo
 * Hunin
 * Kaylie (seen through the Scrying Eye)
 * Kyor
 * Scanlan Shorthalt (seen through the Scrying Eye)
 * The Sun Tree (did not speak)
 * Gren Tal'Dorei
 * Illiya Tal'Dorei
 * Odessa Tal'Dorei
 * Salda Tal'Dorei
 * Trisha
 * Keeper Yennen

Mentioned

 * Professor Anders
 * Howard Darrington
 * Doty
 * Elaina
 * Shaun Gilmore
 * Jarett Howarth
 * Korren
 * Orcus
 * Pelor
 * Raven Queen
 * Tova
 * Syldor Vessar