Clay and Dust

is the seventy-second episode of the second campaign of Critical Role. Distant family waits at the Kravaraad Volcano in the Greying Wildlands, and a difficult decision changes everything for one of the Mighty Nein...

Announcements

 * First and foremost, we have our two sponsors for tonight's episode:
 * First, our friends at D&D Beyond! Early voting for the D&D Beyond presidential election has begun!  The polls are officially open!  Polls close on Election Day (Friday, August 2, 2019) at the beginning of the Critical Role live show at Gen Con (5:00 pm EDT).  Head to D&D Beyond and get special rewards just for voting!  To close out the campaign, both Sam and Liam will read a brief closing statement to try and convince any undecided voters.  Sam plays stirring patriotic music as he launches into an out-of-touch and ego-fueled rant in which he forgets the name and number of his children (complete with clown-mime juggler).  Liam performs a nearly word-for-word and shot-for-shot remake of the finale of the 1976 satirical film Network.  Matt is speechless...go vote for...someone.  Liam insists that 2019 loves homages to films from the 1970s.  Matt corrects him: the *cool ones* love them.
 * Our fantastic second sponsor is our returning friends at Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms! It is a strategy video game that uses iconic characters from Dungeons & Dragons lore, novels, and campaign shows.  All at your fingertips!  It is available PC, Mac, Steam, Internet, Xbox One, and PS4.  You get to build your own parties with these characters, outfit them, send them on dungeon runs, and missions based on classic D&D stories.  They just released a huge, massive update for their Year One champions, which includes Drizzt Do'Urden...everyone's favorite drow Ranger with a panther!  To celebrate this update, players can claim a free gold chest by using the code "rebalancedforu".  Check out the game at idlechampions.com/criticalrole!
 * Shadows of the Crystal Palace:
 * San Diego Comic Con 2019:
 * Gen Con 2019:
 * merch update from Laura:
 * Somewhere is a parent who has to explain to their child what "Network" is, and that is so exciting for Taliesin. Marisha insists that Network should be required viewing for all Critters.

Previously on Critical Role
''So, last we left off: The Mighty Nein had finished their business in returning the remnants of Nott’s family to safety on the Menagerie Coast in Nicodranas under the watch of Marian Lavorre, mother of Jester. They had figured out what business they wished to focus on for the time being, and, with a little bit more knowledge about the history of Caduceus’s family purpose and main goal, along with the unveiling of information regarding these shattered artifacts that you’ve been slowly assembling in disparate places across Wildemount, you decided to travel far north, to the Greying Wildlands, beyond both the Dynasty and the Empire, into the outskirts of the conflict and beyond.''

''Through the help of Essek, the Shadowhand, within Xhorhas, you found yourselves instantaneously teleported, with a brief misfire and a bit of physical damage to the party. You emerged underneath a growing flurry of snow in the center of the Flotket Alps, looking upon what looked like the snow-covered pine forests that swallowed the valley before you, the large cragulous peaks covered with ice and white, as the clouds above began to grow darker and darker, with the growth of a blizzard making its way in your direction. A lake in the center of this valley, and along this singular black mountain where snowfall cannot seem to find purchase long enough before melting, various slow glowing trickles of molten rock finding their way down the mountain from various vents, before hissing into a large column of steam as they reach the outskirts of this lake. And that is where we pick up.''

Part II
Fjord asks Jester to use Sending to contact Vandran. She Sends: "Hello! You don’t know me. I’m here with Fjord. He wants you to know he’s okay and that he’s thinking about you. Where can he find you?" After a pause, Vandran replies, "You said you know Fjord. I haven’t heard that name in a while. Glad he’s doing well. Let him know I’m okay. Retired on an island. Good folks. He’d like ‘em." Fjord interprets that as Vandran not wanting to find or see him. He and Jester talk about his fears of Uk'otoa and desire to get away from it. He admits that he lost his powers briefly once before and that it terrified him. He tells her he's decided to see if the Wildmother will take an interest.

Meanwhile, Caleb sorts through all his items and components, and writes in his second book. While the party sleeps, Fjord dreams of waking on a beach, and seeing above him the moon turn into the eye of Uk'otoa. Tendrils reach out and restrain him, and the familiar voice says, "Don’t. Run. Find. Take. Consume." As the tendrils draw him through a huge mouth, the voice says, "Return. Or consume," and he is crushed within the mouth. He wakes, and his powers are again gone.

Fjord finds the falchion resting at Beau's back as she sleeps. He picks it up, and stealthily goes to the lava pool. He holds the falchion against his chest, saying, "You need me more than I need you. Give it back." Nothing happens, and he gradually pushes the sword into his chest until he is very close to death. With no response, he pulls the sword out, dripping with his blood, and holds it over the lava pool. Smoke begins to rise as his blood hits the lava, surrounding him and obscuring his vision. A calmness comes over him, and he throws the blade into the pool, where it sinks into the molten rock.

The wounded Fjord wakes Caduceus and tells him what he's done. Caduceus heals him and seems convinced that the sword they are seeking to mend is destined to be Fjord's new weapon. Caduceus is very encouraging of Fjord's actions, and Fjord admits that Caduceus has inspired him. Cadudeus commends Fjord for winning a battle of wills to take the first step in freeing himself from Uk'otoa, though he does not believe this is the end of Fjord's struggle yet. Fjord notices an engraving of the symbol of the Wildmother on the anvil as they pass it.

In the morning, Fjord drops his Texan accent in front of the party, speaking in his native British accent, which Jester had heard before they found the rest of the party in Trostenwald, and Caleb had noticed and previously asked him about. He explains that he adopted Vandran's accent in an effort to gain the respect that Vandran had had. He tells them that he threw the falchion into the lava, suggesting that the reason was to destroy the final key to release Uk'otoa so that no one in the future would fall under its sway. He admits that he is now powerless.

Caleb suggests finding out, and puts the Glove of Blasting on Fjord's hand, which Fjord is able to use. The others join in, with Jester giving him her whip and her enchanted axe, Caduceus contributing a shield, and Nott donating a dagger, possibly the Dagger of Denial. Beau says regretfully she has nothing to give him other than drugs, which he refuses. Moved and embarrassed, Fjord urges the party to their next destination, Uthodurn.

The Mighty Nein

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

New

 * Jeremis Dust
 * Tyla Dust
 * Kemdal Dust

Returning

 * Essek Thelyss
 * Uk'otoa (in Fjord's dream)
 * Vandran (via Jester's Sending Spell)

Mentioned

 * Constance Clay
 * Corinne Clay
 * Colton Clay

Quotations
Beau: Is that it's always an experiment? Caduceus: That if you're not willing to move forward in it until you know, then you don't need it, do you? If you know, it's not faith. Fjord: If you make a comment about my strength, I might throw you in the lava. Nott: You couldn’t. Fjord: (British accent) Eldritch Blast. Nott: “Blahst”– No! Wellll, hell.
 * Caduceus: That's the trick with faith.
 * Fjord: Sometimes it’s just hard figuring out who you should be instead of who you want to be.
 * Nott: Before we go, can I just out of morbid curiosity, could–
 * Nott: Could you, just because I’m curious, how would you say the words that are spelled E-L-D-R-I.... G-E, B-L-A-S-T. How would you pronounce that? How would you say those words?