Gunpowder Plot

is the eighth episode of the third chapter of Critical Role. Scanlan finds himself alone, caught in a Briarwood trap! Meanwhile, the party fuels the fire of rebellion, but will Whitestone pay too high a price? The revolution has begun, and nothing can stop it now!

Due to technical difficulties, the Critmas portion of this episode was released as a special episode,.

Previously on Critical Role
"A couple known as the Briarwoods that took over the city of Whitestone five years before—violently murdering most of the ruling family of Percy, other than himself escaping—have been recently doing political discussions with the city of Emon, home to [ Vox Machina ], our troupe of intrepid adventurers. Upon discovering this, [they] battled them at Emon, [the Briarwoods] fled to Whitestone, and the party has then gone after to seek to destroy them and free the town, the once-home to Percival.

"In the process, it appears that there have been a number of warnings set and the entire town has been long held under this dark, ominous rule. Apparently they've found notes of previous failed rebellions, and things that die here don't seem to stay dead: a number of zombified giants wandering the city as these giant lurching sentinels, and a number of the cutthroats that helped the Briarwoods come to power in this town have now been given titles and land here and are called the New Nobles by the locals.

"During this process, [Vox Machina] managed to sneak into the town, begin setting out word of coming rebellion, and that Percival de Rolo has returned and the Briarwoods' time is numbered. Upon meeting the previous chancellor to [Percy's] father, Archibald, [they] came to an understanding that he was going to reach out to all of his contacts and let them know that the rebellion is happening.

"[They] then set out to set a two-pronged attack against two of the remaining New Nobles in the town: Duke Vedmire was the one that Scanlan went to, the rest of [the party] going to seek Count Tylieri. As the rain pours down into the city, midday, Scanlan decided to, from a Polymorph spell as a fly, to the top of the front door step of Vedmire's home, then proceeding to un-Polymorph and re-Polymorph himself into a triceratops. After becoming a triceratops [he] squashed the front guard that was there, [he] slammed through the front of the building, destroying the front door. [Meanwhile,] the other group is stealthing through the rain to the back [of Tylieri's home], at which point the OK was given to Grog—whether intentionally or not. Grog then charged to the front door of Tylieri's estate and the rest of [them] prepared for impact."

Part I
Pieces of wood scatter into the foyer as Scanlan the triceratops slams through the door. In front of him is a rising staircase leading up to a balcony on the second floor. Eight guards line the balcony, armed with crossbows, and at the top stands Duke Goran Vedmire, a large, hairless, gray-skinned goliath wielding a two-handed sword and armored with a breastplate.

Realizing the guards were expecting him and are prepared to fight, Scanlan immediately turns to the right and charges into a barred door. His horns pierce the wood and the door is damaged and buckles inward, but does not open all the way. He pulls his horns free.

The guards shift position to get a better aim at the triceratops. Vedmire begins heading down the stairs, grinning as he readies his sword. Lifting one arm into the air, he shouts to his guards "Aim! FIRE!" as he points towards Scanlan. A barrage of crossbow bolts fly through the air. Half of them embed themselves in the dinosaur, the other half miss.

Scanlan bursts through the door into a dining room. He moves to the side, waiting next to the door to attack the first person to walk through.

Vedmire dashes up to the door, but does not enter the dining room. Seven of his guards follow behind him. The eighth guard attempts to leap down from the balcony but misjudges his landing and injures his ankle, falling prone.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, Scanlan drops his triceratops form, returning to his normal gnome size. He peeks around the corner and casts Stinking Cloud, enveloping the entire group of foes. All but two of the guards succumb to the noxious fumes, coughing and vomiting. Vedmire is also overcome by the stench. Taking advantage of this momentary distraction, Scanlan clumsily slides across the dining room table.

Vedmire, coughing, manages to escape the Stinking Cloud. He glares into the dining room at Scanlan, growling and grinding his teeth. The two unaffected guards rush in, reloading their crossbows and firing at the gnome. One bolt slices into his shoulder and the other pierces through his thigh. Three more of the guards within the Stinking Cloud manage to shake off its effects.

Scanlan shouts "Oh no!" and dives under the table, pretending to hide, then uses Dimension Door to teleport to the roof. Rain is still pouring down. One of the zombie giants is lumbering its way towards the mansion. Scanlan casts Invisibility on himself and starts digging through his pockets, looking for anything he could use to create fire. He finds a Potion of Fire Breath. Looking around for any sort of hatch or attic entrance, he cannot find anything. He pulls the cork from the potion, drinks it, and feels a burning heat rise within him.

Scanlan runs across the roof towards the front entrance of the building as he begins to hear voices from the streets. He leans over the edge of the roof and unleashes a spray of fire from his mouth, igniting the front of the building. However, he loses his invisibility by doing so.

Panicked voices ring out from inside the house. Two guards rush outside, searching for the source of the flames. Looking up, they see Scanlan peeking his head over the edge of the roof. They pull out their crossbows and fire, both bolts missing. The guards quickly duck back inside the building, getting out of range of the fire-breathing gnome.

Scanlan runs over to the back of the house and repeats his fire-breathing, igniting the mansion on the opposite site. Looking back towards the front, he sees a pillar of black smoke is beginning to rise up from the building. He also sees a hatch slam open as Duke Goran Vedmire pulls himself up onto the roof.

Scanlan summons Bigby's Hand as the goliath stalks towards him. As Vedmire pulls back his sword to attack the hand, it slams towards him, shoving him off of the roof. Scanlan hears him impact with the ground.

Running over to the roof hatch, Scanlan blasts his final fire breath into it, igniting the ladder as well as the two guards climbing up it. He begins running to the opposite side of the roof from where Vedmire fell.

The two guards manage to douse the flames on themselves and climb up onto the roof. They fire two crossbow bolts into the fleeing gnome, one hitting his side and the other hitting his shoulder.

Turning to face the guards, Scanlan stands with his arms outstretched, closes his eyes, and falls backwards off the roof. Bigby's Hand catches him and gently lowers him to the ground. Scanlan runs and jumps onto the gate, climbing over it and landing on the other side.

He sees a zombie giant stomping towards him. As it approaches, a number of figures swarm out of the nearby building and begin attacking the giant. Scanlan casts Invisibility on himself and watches the fight from the shadows.

After several minutes, the mansion is completely engulfed in flames. The guards and Vedmire managed to escape the burning building and are searching the perimeter for Scanlan.

As Scanlan watches the undead giant, he notices that the attacking figures are Whitestone residents that have armed themselves with makeshift weapons and armor. Neither side seems to be winning, but the crowd has effectively halted the giant for the moment. Scanlan, having used up most of his spells, decides to wait and watch the citizens' fight rather than rejoining his comrades.