Brawl in the Arches

is the twentieth episode of the fifth chapter of Critical Role. Vox Machina finds themselves face to face with Ghurrix the pit fiend, leading to an all-out battle in the middle of the City of Brass.

Previously on Critical Role
"Vox Machina, in their trek to take down the Chroma Conclave, have been acquiring the Vestiges of the Divergence, ancient artifacts from a long ago historical battle. They've gathered most each and every one, with one final one remaining. They kind of pushed the timeline for their encounter with the Chroma Conclave forward at a rapid pace, and [are] in the process of getting ready for this final encounter with Thordak the Cinder King, the great swollen powerful ancient red dragon who lords over Emon and Tal'Dorei.

"[They] took a trip to the Fire Elemental Plane to retrieve the final Vestige, known as the Plate of the Dawnmartyr, for [their] fantastic gnome cleric, Pike. Upon making [their] way there to the City of Brass—a very tyrannical society in a large ancient city run by efreet—[they] encountered some interesting characters in Senokir and Uten, a fire genasi and a tiefling, two partner jewelers that brought [them] into their establishment, decided to help [them] out, threw [them] in chains to give the image of [them] being slaves to his business, brought [Vox Machina] to speak to a number of the currently-free fire giants in the city, as apparently the armor belonged to, or was won by a fire giant.

"[They] managed to, upon asking one named Whaska, got the information and sent [them] to Juuraiel, a gambler and very well-off fire giant, one of the few responsible for selling the rest of their people into slavery here within the City of Brass, in which a card game was... not won! However, [they] were given the option—as opposed to now having sold [themselves] into slavery to the giant—to instead do this grand favor for them. Apparently, the past lover of this giant was destroyed, was killed in the streets by a pit fiend named Ghurrix, who occasionally wanders the slave district called the Arches here in the City of Brass. [They] agreed to go find and kill this pit fiend out of vengeance for the giant, and as such [they] would be freed from [their] current onus and be given the armor that is in the possession of Juuraiel, this giant, as well.

"[They] applied a Seeming enchantment across the party, allowing most of [them] to look kind of like just copies of Vex and Vax—the "Sexy Sextuplets", as [they] put it—the kind of things you'd want to purchase. [They] made [their] way to the slave market called the Arches, with Scanlan Shorthalt disguised as a flame-wreathed azer, a Fire Plane dwarf. [He] proceeded to try and sell this party to the pit fiend Ghurrix as he walked through the area, after acquiring and purchasing two celestial-blooded boys who were on the slavery block. It got the attention of the pit fiend, [and it] wandered to where [they] had set the entryway to [Scanlan's] Mansion, and upon some conversation, seemingly [they] were unable to convince the pit fiend to suddenly step into this unsafe spectral doorway that [they] had attempted to coax him into.

"As many of [Vox Machina] emerged into the street, with Pike and Percy still hiding within the mansion itself, the rest of [them] kind of set the stage here at the mouth of this alleyway, the nearby bubbling of a lava stream just off to the right side of [them]. Keyleth, who had hidden in the back of the alleyway, decided that—while this moment was still tense—to use the element of surprise [and] attempted to Feeblemind the pit fiend. Unfortunately, it was resisted by the creature, who then—as an instinctive reaction—summoned a friend, as an erinyes tore its way from the Nine Hells to join Ghurrix at his side."

Part I
Ghurrix unfurls his wings and clenches his jaw, looking past the individuals in front of him and down the alleyway towards the source of the magic that was sent towards him. The devilish female that just emerged from the portal unfurls her wings as well, floating gently off the ground and holding a longsword in one hand, a longbow over one shoulder, and some sort of rope or lasso attached to her belt.

Vex'ahlia yells for the two aasimar boys to run back into Scanlan's Magnificent Mansion. She then casts Hunter's Mark on the pit fiend and orders Trinket to move up next to him. Vex fires a Bramble Shot from Fenthras, but it goes wide and slams into the building behind the two fiends. A series of vines explode from the arrow and wrap around the building. She fires a second arrow which does manage to hit the pit fiend. Vex backs up in the alleyway, ducking into a small alcove.

Keyleth casts Watery Sphere over the two fiends. Ghurrix is unaffected, but the erinyes is successfully restrained and thrashes about within the water. Keyleth ducks around the corner of the alley to get some cover but also maintains visual on the enemies.

Grog goes into a "fiery" rage, sprinting straight towards the pit fiend and grappling him with a bear hug. Remembering his days in the Crucible, Grog attempts to suplex the fiend but is unable to lift him as the devil's claws jab into his shoulders.

Vax'ildan clicks his Boots of Haste and slaps his palm on Scanlan's face to cast Heroism on him. He brings his wings out and flies over the two fiends to the building behind them. He throws Whisper into the back of Ghurrix's head.

Percy is still inside the mansion. The last thing he saw was Scanlan rushing in, saying "Fucking Jenga!", and rushing back out. The gunslinger pokes his head out of the mystical door. He sees the two aasimar boys looking confused and frightened and Scanlan holding their chains from behind. Glancing up, he sees winged-Vax throwing daggers at the pit fiend from behind. Without stepping entirely through the doorway, he casts Hex on Ghurrix and fires three shots from Animus, all of them hitting the fiend. Finished with his attack, Percy quickly ducks back inside the mansion.

Ghurrix breaks free from Grog's grapple and takes to the air, flapping his great wings. Grog and Trinket both manage to land a hit as the fiend flies down the alleyway towards Vex and Keyleth.

The erinyes breaks free from the Watery Sphere and flies up onto the rooftop.

The two aasimar boys tug against their chains. Scanlan lets go and they begin running away from the conflict. Vex'ahlia quickly shouts for them to run back into the mansion. They hear her voice and turn around to run back inside. Vax throws another dagger at Ghurrix.

Scanlan moves closer to Keyleth in order to inspire her with a very dirty limerick. Keyleth doesn't quite understand it, but likes it enough to feel inspired. The bard summons Bigby's Hand and places it between the druid and the pit fiend, using it as an Interposing Hand.

Pike is still inside the mansion, having seen Percy stick his head and arm out to fire, then duck back in. She pokes her head out as well, but all she sees is Grog and Trinket by themselves on the street and a Watery Sphere hovering in the air. Pike steps outside, looks around to see where the enemies are, and summons a Spiritual Weapon in the form of a barbed noose. She places it behind Ghurrix and hits him with it once, then casts Aid on herself, Scanlan, and Trinket, and runs back into the mansion.

Vex glances up and sees the great flapping wings of the devil above her. For a moment she is filled with terror, but manages to resist the fiend's Fearful Aura. She fires two arrows at Ghurrix but one misses. Vex then runs back inside the mansion. Trinket licks Grog. The goliath tells him to save it for later.

Even with the devil's focus on her, Keyleth resists the fear. She drops the Watery Sphere, causing it to splash to the ground, and attempts to Earthbind the pit fiend hovering overhead, but he manages to shrug it off. She uses a Grasping Vine to try and pull Ghurrix into the lava behind him, but he dodges out of the way. Keyleth tries to dodge under the fiend as she runs back down the alleyway towards her friends, but he takes a swing at her with his large mace and hits her in the head. A burst of flame emerges from the weapon, dealing heavy damage and setting her hair alight. She stumbles into the wall, blood pouring down her face.

Grog runs over to the building that the erinyes is flying over, leaps up onto the roof with his Boots of Feral Leaping, and slices into her twice with the Bloodaxe. The strikes send sparks flying off her armor and blood begins to seep from the wounds. She hisses in his face.

Vax flies in an arc around the erinyes, throwing Whisper at her as he goes by, and lands in front of Keyleth. He kisses her, casting Heroism on her at the same time, then flies over to one of the buildings across the alley. He crouches down on the far side of the roof, peeking over the top so that he can still see what's happening in the alley.

Percy tells the ghostly servants in the mansion to get the aasimar boys out of their chains. He steps out of the doorway and looks around. When he spots Ghurrix, he fires three shots at the fiend's wings, dealing significant damage but failing to knock him out of the air. Percy reloads Animus as he runs out of the alleyway, away from Ghurrix, and hides around the corner of a building.

Frustrated by the arcane purple hand blocking him from Keyleth, Ghurrix instead sets his sights on Vax. The pit fiend flies into the air and lands right in front of the half-elf on the roof. Ghurrix slashes at Vax with his claws, but the rogue uses his Uncanny Dodge to avoid some of the damage. The fiend then attempts to bite his throat, but Scanlan begins shouting up at him.

The bard's Cutting Words distract the pit fiend and cause his bite to just barely miss. Ghurrix then slams his tail into Vax and follows that attack by swinging his mace in a backhand motion, but it whooshes over the rogue's head. The pit fiend flies down to the other side of the building, staying out of sight of the rest of Vox Machina.

The erinyes grabs the rope from her side and throws it towards Grog. It sparks to life and begins wrapping around his body, but he manages to burst out of it. The erinyes flies higher up as Grog slashes at her and misses. She pulls out her longbow and fires an arrow at the goliath. It hits and he feels poison begin to course through him, but he manages to resist it. The erinyes flies to the top of the tower in the center of the area.

Scanlan can no longer see either of his opponents. He lifts himself forty-five feet into the air with Bigby's Hand so that he can see the erinyes at the top of the tower and the pit fiend barely visible behind a building. Scanlan prepares to cast Otiluke's Resilient Sphere as soon as Ghurrix is within range.

Pike steps back out of the mansion and looks around, but doesn't see either of the fiends. What she does see is the blood pouring down Keyleth's face, so she casts Healing Word on her.

Vex flies out of the mansion on her broom and hovers a short distance away from Scanlan. Barely able to see Ghurrix, she fires two arrows at him. The first arrow misses completely but the second hits. Trinket tries to follow Grog up onto the roof but is unable to climb the wall.

The various residents of the City of Brass that have been watching the fight begin to leave, not wanting to get caught up in the conflict. They pull their chained slaves after them.

Keyleth repositions herself but is still unable to see Ghurrix. She decides to wait and cast Sunbeam as soon as she gets a visual on him.

Grog slams the Titanstone Knuckles together to cast Enlarge on himself. He leaps towards the tower and climbs up and over the side, finding himself right next to the erinyes. Grog swings at her with his axe, but she quickly pulls out her longsword and parries the attack, causing it to slam into the stonework beside her. A little bit attracted by the display, Grog swings once more and manages to hit her this time.

Vax sees Ghurrix looking up at him and is filled with fear. He quickly drinks a Potion of Greater Healing, disengages from the fiend, and flies as far as he can away from Ghurrix. As he passes the tower he throws Whisper at the erinyes, but his fear causes him to miss and Whisper just teleports back to his belt. Vax hides himself in the corner of a building.

Percy runs across the alley to the next set of buildings and positions himself next to a fountain.

Ghurrix shoots into the air and flies towards Scanlan and Vex. As he does, Scanlan casts Otiluke's Resilient Sphere on him, but the fiend manages to shatter the spell. Keyleth fires her Sunbeam at him, but he resists most of its effects. Scanlan falls from the sky, as casting his previous spell caused him to stop concentrating on Bigby's Hand, which then dispersed. He impacts with the ground and nearly falls into the lava, but he is now out of range of Ghurrix. The pit fiend unleashes a full series of attacks against Vex. He claws into her, bites her with poisonous fangs, smacks her with his tail, and slams her with his flaming mace. Vex'ahlia is knocked unconscious instantly. Her limp form arcs through the air and crashes to the ground in front of Pike.

The erinyes flies further away from Grog, who manages to get one last attack in before she's out of range. She pulls out her longbow and takes three shots at Keyleth. All three arrows hit and Keyleth feels the poison coursing through her. The erinyes ducks behind the edge of the wall to try and get some cover.

Scanlan gets to his feet and casts Healing Word on Vex, bringing her back to consciousness.

Scanlan moves towards the mouth of the alleyway to try and get out of the erinyes's line of sight. He once again prepares to cast Otiluke's Resilient Sphere when Ghurrix is in range.

Pike moves so that she can get Keyleth, Scanlan, and Vex in range as she casts Mass Cure Wounds. She moves her Spiritual Weapon closer to the pit fiend.

Percy glances to his right and sees one of the Illuminated making its way towards the conflict. As it turns the corner, it looks at everything happening and begins reaching for its weapon, recognizing the pit fiend and realizing that Vox Machina is not from here.

Vex gets to her feet and casts Protection from Poison on herself. She pulls out a bag of gems and tosses it at the efreeti to try and bribe it. "We're more than we look and we need your help." The gems scatter across the ground in front of the efreeti, who just looks at Vex and snarls. Vex'ahlia retreats into the mansion. Trinket runs over to protect Pike.

Keyleth fires another Sunbeam at Ghurrix, but he still manages to shake off some of the damage. The druid turns into an air elemental, which removes the poison from her system, and she flies up to join the erinyes on the wall.

Grog steps up onto the ledge of the tower, attaches the Chain of Returning to his axe, and throws it towards the pit fiend. The axe embeds itself in his back. Ghurrix's telepathic voice echoes through the mind of everyone in the vicinity.

Grog tries to use the Chain of Returning to swing to the ground, but he botches the landing, stumbles, and rolls straight into the lava.

Seeing Keyleth and the erinyes above him, Vax flies up onto the wall to flank the fiend and stab her three times. She parries the second dagger, but the other two jam into her side and Vax feels her burning blood pour over his hands.

Percy fires at Ghurrix's arm to try and make him drop his mace, but the fiend manages keep a hold of his weapon. The gunslinger tries to shoot him again, but Animus misfires and he suffers Psychic damage from the backlash. Percy clutches his head in pain and begins screaming to try and fake out the efreeti.

Still screaming, he runs into the mansion.

Ghurrix drops to the ground next to Pike and Scanlan, making a huge boom of impact. Looking over his shoulder, he tells the efreeti to call the rest of the Illuminated to help him. Scanlan unleashes the spell he was holding, but the pit fiend once again resists it. Pike waves at Ghurrix, who unleashes a barrage of attacks upon her. He claws her, bites her, poisons her, and attempts to slam her with his tail, but Scanlan sings with his Cutting Words and distracts the fiend enough for Pike to dodge the tail.

Ghurrix ends his attack by swinging his mace at the cleric, knocking her unconscious. As Scanlan finishes his song, he feels Mythcarver begin to vibrate at his side.

The erinyes throws her bow to the ground and draws her longsword. She swings at Vax three times, but only the final strike hits.

Scanlan draws Mythcarver from its sheathe and examines it for a moment. He turns to the unconscious form of Pike and casts Healing Word as he gently strokes her face. The spell has no effect and Pike does not wake up. Worried, but still sticking to his plan, Scanlan pulls out his Hand Cone of Clarity and tries to use Dominate Monster on Ghurrix but it fails. Looking at Pike's prone form on the ground, Scanlan hesitates to leave her there but remembers that he promised Kaylie that he would stay alive. Scanlan runs towards the mansion but does not enter, instead hiding around the corner of a building. Ghurrix bites into his shoulder as he passes. Mythcarver is still vibrating.

The poison coursing through Pike's veins is still affecting her and she is fading fast.

The efreeti watching the fight looks towards Scanlan and shouts "Halt! In the name of the Sultan!" He throws two balls of flame at the gnome. The first hits him in the chest but the second misses and bursts on the ground beside him.

Vex runs out of the mansion and sees Pike unconscious on the ground. She tells Trinket to cause a distraction by attacking Ghurrix. Unaware that Pike is poisoned, Vex runs up to her and casts Cure Wounds to no effect. Looking at the bite wound in Pike's neck, she sees the dark veins branching out from it and realizes she is poisoned.

Keyleth strafes around the erinyes to get Vax out of her line of fire and shoots a Sunbeam at the fiend. The erinyes screams as her body is turned to ash, her armor and weapons clattering to the ground. Keyleth flies over to Ghurrix and hovers next to him, puffing up her air elemental form to look more imposing.

Grog climbs out of the lava in unbearable pain. A horrible feeling washes over him as he sees Pike unconscious on the ground. He immediately rushes over to her and picks her up, cradling her body to his chest. Grog sprints directly into the mansion with Pike in his arms.

Vax'ildan rockets towards the mansion door, stabbing Ghurrix in the face as he passes. As he flies into the mansion, he uses Lay on Hands to remove the poison from Pike.

Still in the mansion, Percy pulls out a basic Potion of Healing and feeds it to Pike, bringing her back to consciousness. Percy runs out of the mansion and uses his Action Surge to grab Vex'ahlia and pull her towards the mansion, out of Ghurrix's striking range. Percy manages to get inside but Vex is still just outside the door.

The pit fiend, having seen his ally get destroyed by a Sunbeam, looks at the efreeti and leaps into the air, landing between Scanlan and Vex. Infuriated, he claws and bites at the ranger, and swings his tail and mace at the bard. Vex'ahlia is knocked unconscious and poisoned by the bite. Her body hits the ground right outside the mansion door. Scanlan uses Cutting Words on the mace attack, telling a filthy limerick to Ghurrix. The devil is fairly disgusted but still hits the gnome with his mace.

Feeling Mythcarver still vibrating, Scanlan pulls it out once more. The blade is glowing and vibrating at the tip like a tuning fork. Scanlan feels as though the sword is trying to guide him. Before he does anything else, he casts Healing Word on himself. Letting Mythcarver guide him, Scanlan feels a warm energy coming from the blade and beginning to fill his arms. He feels the spirits of a hundred bards the wielded this blade before coursing through him. He sees the foes that have fallen to the blade and those that have died clutching it at their side. The gnome bard unleashes a flurry of attacks on the pit fiend, slicing off one wing, then the other, both turning to ash.

As Scanlan stabs Mythcarver into the heart of Ghurrix, the fiend snarls at him.

The blade pierces through his chest and he makes a final gasping breath. His jaw hangs open and his eyes go dark as his body burns into ash and dissipates. Scanlan drops to his knees, starts crying, and says "I'm so amazing!"

Suddenly remembering the nearby efreeti, Scanlan turns to him and shouts that Ghurrix was an assassin sent to kill the Sultan. The efreeti pauses its attacks and looks past Scanlan, who turns and sees five more of the Illuminated walking towards them.

Keyleth swoops down and drags the unconscious form of Vex into the mansion. She drops her elemental form and casts Protection from Poison on the ranger.

Grog pokes his head out of the mansion and sees the lone efreeti standing in front of Scanlan and the other five coming around the corner. In a polite—if awkward—tone, Grog tells "Master Australia" that the slaves need hosing down, then ducks his head back inside. The efreeti, who had previously been unsure if Scanlan was telling the truth, is now positive that he is being lied to and glares at Scanlan.

Inside the mansion, Vax moves over to his sister and brings her back to consciousness with Lay on Hands while also giving her a noogie. Percy decides to wait and see if the efreet will attack Scanlan. Pike casts Cure Wounds on Vex.

Scanlan takes a step closer to the efreeti. Holding up his Hand Cone of Clarity, he begins singing as he casts Modify Memory.

The efreeti's eyes glaze over and his hands drop to his side. Scanlan tells him that Ghurrix was heard plotting to murder the Sultan, and the efreeti joined with Vox Machina to defeat the fiend. The bard tells him that he is brave and strong, and he should tell everyone what happened here. The efreeti is filled with joy and pride as he believes he has foiled a plot against the Sultan. He looks down at Scanlan and tells him his assistance will be remembered, then clasps hands with the gnome.

The rest of the Illuminated surround them with their weapons drawn. The one Scanlan was talking to tells them the plot has been thwarted, the Sultan is safe, and that Scanlan and his "slaves" helped to stop it. The rest of the Illuminated think he's making it up and start teasing him as they all walk away.

Percy walks over to the pile of ash that was once Ghurrix. Grog picks up the mace, which is too large for him to wield effectively, but he decides to take it anyway as proof of their victory. Keyleth remembers the necklace Ghurrix had been wearing that showed the symbol of his station, and picks it out of the ash.

The crowd that had fled the area previously is beginning to fill back in. Vex flies up to the wall where the erinyes was destroyed and sees her armor scattered everywhere, the broken longbow, her longsword, the rope, and a pair of nice boots. Vex takes all of it, then goes back down to gather up the gems she had thrown at the efreeti.

Vox Machina all head inside the mansion to take a rest.

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

 * One efreeti guard of the Illuminated
 * Five efreet guards of the Illuminated

|col2=

Appeared

 * The two aasimar slave boys
 * Ghurrix
 * Ghurrix's erinyes ally
 * Juuraiel
 * Juuraiel's two fire giant slaves
 * Senokir
 * Uten

Mentioned Only
}}
 * Thordak