Refjorged

is the seventy-sixth episode of the second campaign of Critical Role. Having returned to Uthodurn, the Mighty Nein attempt to tie up loose ends before heading back to the Cinderrest Sanctum...

Pre-Show
Liam says "Yes, and--" to Mica. Mica says he will die tonight.

Announcements

 * Tonight's first sponsor is D&D Beyond. Instead of Sam, Britney is there to sing some of her greatest hits telling about the upcoming release of Eberron: Rising from the Last War, and to generally extol D&D Beyond's benefits.
 * Tonight's second sponsor is Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms.
 * No regular episode next week (August 29, 2019), but instead they will be airing the Dalen's Closet one-shot, the wedding of Vex'ahlia and Percival.
 * On a more serious note, many of them are concerned about the rainforest fires in the Amazon and they encourage contributions, including to Rainforest Trust.

Previously on Critical Role
So, last we left off: The Mighty Nein, along with their new ally Reani, had made their way from the city of Uthodurn to the city of Rosohna to pull in a favor with the Shadowhand Essek, to bring them instantaneously to the mouth of Mythburrow, where there supposedly lived a white dragon, one capable of enchanting the mythril that you had melted down, and hoped to, once enchanted as iceflex, to be utilized in reforming the shattered pieces of an ancient magical sword that you’ve slowly acquired through your adventures in this campaign.

''Upon delving into the cavern, battling yeti, hiding amongst the shadows, making your way towards the ice tunnels that led to its lair, you led it out with an ice spider queen used as bait. However, the item you wished to retrieve was dragged into the lair, and you found yourselves having to distract, stealth in, steal, and escape, which you barely managed to do, as the dragon proved to be far more formidable than you had ever expected. In those heightened moments of intensity, and through an extremely on-point Caleb Widogast, you managed to step through the Teleportation Circle leading you back to the city of Uthodurn, where you all crashed out into the center of the Vellum Steeple, to the surprise and confusion of all the various members within. And that is where we’re picking up today.''

Part I
The Mighty Nein make their way out of the Vellum Steeple, heal up a bit, and go off for celebratory drinks to a dive bar Reani suggests called the Tumbled Tankards. She remembers she was supposed to get Umi a dragon scale, and Jester creates one using her magic paint.

They are greeted by the barkeeper Vonnie, who is apparently another good friend of Reani's, and have root meads or chocolate milks. Nott slips Caleb the two items stolen from Gelidon's lair. He identifies the rainbow stone as a single-use Dispel Magic grenade, and the other item as elven chain. The group (except Caleb) plays beer pong for the grenade and Reani wins, but doesn't want it and Fjord ends up with it. As the group leaves, Caleb hangs back and takes a throw, scoring highest of all, but no one sees except Frumpkin.

They head to the Anvil of Smeltborne and give Umagorn the iceflex. He says it's good to go and they'll need to head to the Cinderrest Sanctum to re-forge the blade, so the group decides to get the refined residuum Caduceus needs before they leave town by doing the burglary Ava had requested. Reani gives Umi the dragon scale and the elven chain shirt that the group had thought none of them could utilize, but they discover that Caleb could wear it and Umi happily returns it to him. This improves Caleb's armor class from 11 to 15, making him very happy.

They decide to scout the Tumblecarve residence, where the ring that Ava wants back is being held. The Tumblecarves are a wealthy, ancient line of nobility who have a reputation as collectors with mysteriously good knowledge of new items arriving. Umi is very wary of them and warns the party to be careful. The Tumblecarve home has three stories and large balconies on the front, with the back being built into the rock wall of the alcove it sits in. It also has at least two private guards patrolling.

Reani, Jester, and Caleb turn into bats to get closer and scout the roof, but Jester and Caleb have the intelligence of a bat and become very distracted by the promise of bread as a reward somewhere. They do, however, find a hatch on the roof. The party regathers, and decides to sleep at Reani's house, then in the morning go in through the roof of the house. Beau suggests meeting Archivist Demid as he'd suggested, and she and Caleb have a long and boring conversation about the moons while hopefully managing to ingratiate themselves with the Vellum Steeple. They duck out and head back to the rest of the party for a long rest at Reani's.

Part II
That night, Samliel appears to Reani in a dream, tells her he's proud of her, and suggests that she needn't always look to his opinions to guide her life, but should trust her own judgment of evil and injustice and act upon it. The party rises before dawn, breakfasts, and heads to the Tumblecarve residence.

Fjord volunteers to remain outside to be able to distract the guards if something goes wrong, and Caleb stays with him temporarily, waiting to hear from Nott. He makes Reani, Beau, Jester, and Caduceus invisible, and Nott casts it on herself. Reani turns into a giant owl and flies Beau and Caduceus up to the roof, but a slightly noisy landing alerts the guard on the third floor balcony. Jester Dimension Doors her and Nott right behind him on the balcony and Nott immediately shoots him in the throat, killing him instantly. They frantically try to hide the body and the blood, and Dimension Door again to join the others on the roof.

Nott is unable to pick the lock on the hatch leading down, but Jester paints a hole in the roof. Nott tries to communicate with Caleb on the ground, but they're too far apart. Using Locate Object, Jester determines that the ring is on the second or third level. The hole leads down into a gaudy bedroom, where Caduceus, using Find Traps, determines that there is a trap under the vanity, and there is another trap about 30 feet beyond that, among others around the house.

Nott successfully disarms and lockpicks the trapped box under the vanity, and within is some jewelry, an apparently empty potion bottle, and a folded letter, all of which they take. Beau finds that the letter is blank paper, and realizing it's written in invisible ink, they also realize the apparently empty vial contains that ink. Jester uses Dispel Magic on the letter and the words appear, but it's written in code. Beau can decipher just enough to realize that it's talking about smuggling and illegal trade, and it is signed "I.J."

Nott is unable to get the bedroom door open, so Jester uses the magic paint to make the hinges rusty and removes the door. Meanwhile, Caleb and Fjord have moved close enough that Nott is able to Message them to both come in, but there isn't a good way to get Fjord there and he's happy staying outside. Caleb turns into a bat and flies unnoticed up to the roof and through the hole, joining the rest of the party. They have moved out of the bedroom and down the hall to the storage room where Caduceus senses the other trap. It seems to be deep within an oddly undusty armoire.

Caleb uses Detect Magic and determines the trap is necromantic, then dispels it. Caduceus now senses five other traps 80 feet ahead through the door in the back of the armoire. Moving there, they enter a pentagon-shaped room with a trapped glass case on each wall, each holding a magical item, one of which is the ring they seek, and one of which is a book that draws Caleb like a magnet. Using Caleb's Dispel and Nott's lockpicking, they successfully retrieve both the ring and the book. Jester dispels magic on a wand's case, but Nott's lockpicking makes something click in the lock, and they quickly get to the roof where they can see the alerted guards entering below despite Fjord's efforts at distraction. Jester Dimension Doors her and Caduceus to safety. Between Caleb and Nott, the rest of the party goes invisible and flies out on Reani's giant owl.

Gathering at Reani's house, Caleb identifies the ring as being used to implant dreams in someone's mind. They return it to Ava, and she gives them four large and one small refined residuum crystals. They colllect Umagorn and Deilin, and travel uneventfully to the Cinderrest Sanctum, where Umagorn begins the process of reforging the broken sword. While he works, Caduceus, with the Wildmother's approval, casts the residuum into the magma where it is transformed into purple crystals that have grown roots. The fulfills the first part of his vision under the Arbor Exemplar.

Caleb retroactively gives Fjord the book from the Tumblecarves before they leave town, and Fjord begins reading it on the trip. Reani and Beau get drunk together, and when Beau gives Reani the letter from the house, Reani recognizes "I.J." as Ionos Jagentoth, and swears to fight them. Jester gives Reani a note saying that life isn't black and white, but grey, and to trust herself. Reani gives Beau a rose, and Beau responds with a kiss. They go take a walk together. Caleb talks to Nott about her drinking, and Nott explains she drinks so she'll have the courage to protect all of the party. Caduceus tells Jester she deserves more credit than she gets, and that they're there for her. Before she sleeps, the Traveler briefly drops by and tells her the same.

Meanwhile, Fjord has gone out on the mountainside to meditate and commune with the Wildmother. In his vision, he sees her face. She tells him the seed of darkness in him is too deep for her to heal, but she can help him if he will swear to protect all that is hers. He agrees without hesitation, and she gives him her boon, as tendrils of seaweed encase him and pull him below the waters. He does not struggle.

In the morning, Umagorn triumphantly finishes the blade and the party realizes Fjord is missing. They find him outside in a snow-covered cocoon of seaweed and pull it apart to release him. He awakens, feeling sore but sturdier, and looking slightly more muscular. He admits he had another dream, but that the voice was new, and that she wanted to help if he agreed to help in her name. The party urges him to try using his powers, but he fails to summon the falchion or shoot water from his hands. However, when he tries to make himself look like Nott, it works, astonishing him as much as the rest. At Nott's urging, he tries Eldritch Blast, which also works. Umagorn joins them with the newly reforged blade, and Caduceus hands it to Fjord, telling him to embrace his destiny.

The Mighty Nein

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

New

 * Von Bragg
 * Samliel (in Reani's dream)

Returning

 * Reani
 * Umagorn Smeltborne
 * Deilin
 * Scribewarden Ressia Uvesic
 * Chief Auditor Keenash
 * Archivist Demid Sunlash
 * Ava Endlewood
 * The Wildmother (in Fjord's vision)
 * The Traveler

Mentioned

 * Gelidon
 * The Tumblecarve Family
 * The Jagentoth Family
 * Ichabod Dust
 * Khemdal Dust
 * Brumhelm Dust

Quotations
Matt: (as several bats) "I like bread." "I like bread." "I like bread." Caleb: (as a bat) Do you think that the three of us could have some of the bread now? Reani: I don't have any bread on me. Jester: Oh, but you promised bread. Reani: Bread after. Caleb: Where are you keeping the bread? Reani: Oh, god, are they just as dumb as bats? Fjord: I tried that once. I saw, and then I went and did it, and I couldn't-- everything hurt for two days. Like rusty hinge. Beau: That's like every day of my life. Fjord: Oh, really? God, you don't show it. Beau: The pain kind of turns me on just a little.
 * Jester: (as a bat) I like bread.
 * Beau: When your body is your weapon, everything needs to be in tip-top shape.
 * Matt: (as the Wildmother) "You have been lost, caught in a dark current and undertow. These depths seed you with an alien wound, too deep to heal, and leave your mind a torrent. Fear, love, pursuit for self worth. You found my gaze through chance, through deed. Through company. These waters are your home, and always have been. These waters are me, and I am them. I am the lands that rise from them, I am the trees that bind them, I am the beasts that keep them. This seed of darkness--" And you look down, and you can feel this black rock, this coal that is chilled within your chest. "This seed I cannot heal, but I can help you carry the burden. I can free you from the fiend that feeds, if you would but protect all that is me. Will you walk my lands, swim my shores, and guide my children as one of my own?" Fjord: Yes. Yes, I would. Matt: The smile widens. "Then embrace me. My boon is yours. And it is our nature to adapt. Come." And you feel tendrils of kelp and seaweed begin to rise from the warm water beneath you, and wrap around you, and tie, and bind, and your heart rate begins to jump. There is still warmth but it's beginning to cut the light off as your face begins to be blanketed, and you feel yourself being pulled beneath the waters. Do you struggle? Fjord: No.
 * Jester's Note to Reani: "Life is all about balance. You can't live in black and white. Everything is a beautiful color of gray. Trust yourself. You know what is good. Love, Jester. And the Traveler."
 * Nott: I feel like I need to be there to protect you all, to rescue you when there is a dragon about to kill you, and use my body as a shield, or to pull Beauregard out of the mouth of a worm, or to catch you when someone falls with a Feather Fall spell. But here's the thing: it's really scary to do all those things, and to go out in the front, and to look for traps, and to disarm things and to scout ahead and steal things from terrible lairs and it's scary, and I don't-- I know you all have my back. I know you all care for me. But no one has my front. So this flask that I drink from, it's not for fun. I'm not taking nips because I'm looking for fun. If I wanted fun, I'd be in Nicodranas with my family. This flask is my shield. It allows me to do these things. To go forward and to protect all of you.
 * Fjord: Fuckin' seaweed wraps are the shit!