Strange Bedfellows

"Strange Bedfellows" is the third episode of the first season of Critical Role.

Synopsis
With Grog's mind now silenced, the twins fall upon the last surviving Duergar. Vex'ahlia presses their Dwarven captive for information. The Duergar only laughs at the barbarian’s plight, and spits out warnings of the “master” that awaits them below, before Vax'ildan finally puts her out of her misery. After an uneasy night’s rest for the party and hours of meditation for Keyleth, the druid is thankfully able to restore Grog's mind, and the Vox Machina continue down through the great cavern. They pass through a gutted Goblin village strewn with corpses, and eventually spy another group of Duergar, dragging along 3 Dwarven captives. Scanlan and the twins whip out their flying carpet and tail the Duergar from afar, over a thin, creaking rope bridge. Scanlan disappears from sight, and now invisible, carefully makes his way into a war camp teeming with dark Dwarves, ogres, and trolls. There he bears witness to an Illithid controlling all those around him, devouring the mind of one of the three Dwarven miners.

After catching his companions up, the group hatches a plan to lure their enemies into an illusion and drop them to their doom, into the cavern below the bridge. It is partially successful, but then, while acting as living bait, Vax's mind is stunned by the Illithid and he is almost dropped to his death before Tiberius swoops in to save him.

With the plan now in disarray, Vex and Keyleth decide to delve into the chasm below the bridge, in spite of their companions’ protests. Their instincts serve them well though, and hidden behind a subterranean waterfall they find a cave. Within it awaits a powerful and unlikely ally.

Previously on ...
"The party was hired to go into Kraghammer seeking Lady Kima of Vord, who is a renown folk hero, a halfling paladin follower of Bahamut, the platinum dragon of justice and good. She went on a vision quest, apparently seeing evil brewing under Kraghammer, and went on her own to seek and destroy it. But she hadn't been seen for many weeks, months, so the party has gone to Kraghammer attempting to locate her. After some conversing [and] some brawling, they found information that she disappeared in to the mithril mines just underneath the lower circle of Kraghammer. They've since battled a few creatures, strange monstrosities that were coming out of the mines and dwarves have been taken into the mines. [The party] found a tunnel that had broken into the mine, encountered a few umberhulks, were ambushed by a few Duergar, and an Intellect Devourer, proceeded to blast Grog, reduces his intelligence to 0 and leaves him catatonic and brain dead."

Wake up, Grog
In a subterranean cavern with a deep underground river, Grog has collapsed face down on the ground drooling, and all but one Duergar has been destroyed, the rest of the party catch up to him. Vex and Keyleth slap Grog across the face a few times. When they get no responsive Scanlan says, "Someone, quick, draw a dick on his face." Percy tries a medical examination, and finds that Grog has suffered very little physical damage.

Tiberius expounds on the creature, "It's clear that when that brain-thing hit Grog with his zapper-thing that it rendered him unconscious. I would assume that it is a magical creature just based on the attack alone." Vex and Scanlan sarcastically thank Tiberius for his explanation.

Keyleth thinks she might have heard of a spell that can cure Grog, but she'd have to pull out her books and relearn it. Grog slowly flatulates. Vex smells it. "Another ass cloud, lovely."

Interrogation of a Duergar
Not getting anywhere with Grog, the party interrogates the surviving female Duergar. She is bald, has a nasty, pale, sunken face, clouded eyes -no visible pupils- her teeth are yellow, gnarled and sharp. She is coughing up blood and has a wound in her shoulder from the fight. Scanlan suggests they should heal her. Vax and Vex disagree. "We'll heal her after she talks," admonishes Vex.

Vax puts his dagger to the duergar's throat and hold her while his sister questions her in under.

Vex: [in undercommon] What did you do to our friend? Duergar: I didn't do anything. That was the brain's work. Vex: What did the brain do to our friend? Duergar: Took care of your friend. He's gone know. He's all dead inside. Kaputski. Vex: What are you here for? [in common] What should I fucking ask her? Percy: How do we fix it? Vex: [in undercommon] How do we fix it? Duergar: Bury your dead weight.

Vax is tempted to press his blade at her throat. Percy fires his gun off into the distance and presses the hot barrel to the Duergar's shoulder wound, cauterizing it. She howls in pain. Tiberius uses his mage hand to poke her in the face and she tries to move away from it but can't avoid it.

Vex: Who do you work for? Duergar: ... already fallen. The masters gather the sheep. You shall all be harvested for K'Varn. Vex: Who is K'Varn? Duergar: K'Varn is the one who rules these caverns. The one who guides us to take the surface back. Vex: [common?] To take the surface back. [undercommon] Is K'Varn the one making creepy zombie monsters? Duergar: K'Varn likes to tinker with the fleshlings, yes. Vex: Where is K'Varn located? Point the direction. Duergar: Deep. Vex: What is K'Varn? Duergar: You'll see. Vex: No. You'll tell me, now. Duergar: [nothing]

Vex slaps her across the face. Tiberius pokes her more.

Duergar: My life is already forfeit. I'm just relishing your faces ... They will be gnarled and twisted soon enough. Vex: Before we end your life, tell us, have you seen a small halfling? Duergar: [laugh] There was a halfling, aye. She was foolish enough to come down here alone. She's dead now. ... and it was delicious.

Vax drags her to the cliff edge.

Vex: All right, it's your last chance. Give us something useful and we'll end this painlessly. Don't and we'll make you suffer.

Vax takes out his dagger of venom and drips poison down the blade.

Duergar: Your friend is dead. All is lost. You came for nothing.

Vex intuits that the duergar is lying through her teeth to spite them.

Vex: We know you're lying. [and points menacingly] Duergar: Regardless, we have her. She's down below. Soon enough, you'll see what she'll become, this halfling. Vex: We'll rescue her. And we're going to kill your god.

Vax slits her throat and lets her body tumble over the cliff into the river below.

Wake up, Grog, Part 2
The party break for the night. Scanlan takes an umberhulk head, puts it on a stick and plants it right outside their camp as a warning to others. Vex loots the bodies of the duergar and finds a gnarled, bleached bone, which Tiberius learns is a wand of magic missiles and gives it to Scanlan. Keyleth casts antilife shell and begins studying.

While studying, Keyleth notices a fresh but well-carved symbol on the wall above the fire pit, but she doesn't know what it signifies. She takes an impression of the symbol with paper from her spellbook. When Vax and Vex take their watch, they also notice the symbol but don't know what it means. During Tiberius' watch he discerns that it is a symbol of Bahamut and used as part of a protection ritual. Tiberius tells Scanlan that the symbol is "a good thing" and the nicer of the two between him and Tiamat, who is "a total asshole." They reason that Lady Kima came this way and inscribed the symbol.

As they finish their discussion, they feel a rumble in the ground. "Grog's probably farting again," suspects Scanlan. "No, I think we should alert the others," and Tiberius squirts water in everyone's face with prestidigitation.

Everyone wakes up and the rumbling stops. Keyleth prepares her ritual to heal Grog, lighting incense and setting out an idol of Pike. Trinket gives her a massage and Scanlan provides some meditation music, "Ha ha ha ha, you know you got to cure Grog."

Beginning the ritual, Keyleth sprinkles earth from her home around Grog, closes her eyes and attunes herself to the earth around them. Scanlan tries to convince the girls that a kiss might revive him. Vex obliges, she thinks it helped. As Keyleth completes the ritual, Grog's eyes begin to clarify and life returns to his face. The party, except Tiberius cheers. Grog gives Keyleth a big hug and pours her a goblet of ale. The group toast Grog and Trinket nuzzles him happily.

Goblin Village
Looking to pick up Lady Kima's tracks, Vex finds signs of fleeing in the direction they came, partially decomposed goblinoid corpses, and drag marks similar to those found in the mine.

The party moves to the outskirts of some huts. Vax and Vex stealthily creep up to the nearest building and they now see that the buildings have been smashed and more corpses.

0:41:55

Trivia

 * Telepathic Earrings are described at 0:41:15 - 0:41:55