Red Moon Rising

is the 50th episode of the third campaign of Critical Role. With the apogee solstice imminent, Bells Hells begin their infiltration of the Tishtan ruins, where they encounter new faces in the fight against the Ruby Vanguard...

Pre-show
Gale returns to promote Ultra PRO.

Part I
Bells Hells awakens on the Silver Sun, approaching the Tishtan excavation site, with the apogee solstice imminent. A dust storm with arcane elements is brewing as well. After some discussion on how to proceed and some questions to Imogen about the site based on her dreams, Chetney suggests that they bring in Ira Wendagoth into the planning. He retrieves Ira from his quarters, and Ira, after looking in the distance with a spyglass, directs a somewhat nonplussed Xandis towards the site, and tells them it's about half a day's journey. Chetney catches Ira up on the plan to crash the skyship into the Malleus Key, which Ira appreciates.

FCG flips their Changebringer coin to see if the intent is to sacrifice innocents in service of their mission. The coin appears to say it is, though FCG chooses to interpret it more generally, as a broad sacrifice. Meanwhile, Fearne asks Ira about his experience with apogee solstices. Ira tells her that in the Feywild, they are times of celebration, and he hasn't previously been on the Material Plane for one. The party then asks him about Ludinus, and he tells them that Ludinus likely can see through disguises or invisibility, though Ira doesn't understand why Ludinus is so against the gods. Laudna agrees with him and Ashton asks Ira for more information about the solstice as Fearne steals Ira's spyglass.

The party summarizes their plan as needing a ground team to rescue Planerider Ryn and a team to pilot the airship and escape. They decide that as FCG is not stealthy and Fearne is somewhat capable of flying the Silver Sun and can Polymorph into a bird, they should be the sky team. Ira is interested in being part of either team, but would particularly like to dismantle the key. Orym meanwhile suggests Ashton be part of the ground team as the person most able to move Ryn's statue form. The group discusses the logistics and lack of healers in the ground team should both FCG and Fearne stay with the ship, as well as whether Keyleth could likely restore Ryn. They decide to risk the ground team as is, and take all the healing potions to be safe. Imogen can cast Sending if needed from the ground.

Imogen is also now attuned to the Circlet of the Hidden Eye, and realizes that not only does it likely prevent other Exaltants from dreamwalking and watching her; it also seems to block out the psychic chatter she typically suppresses.

When Xandis hears their name, Chetney approaches them and tells them that Bells Hells is involved in many enterprises and hope to come into several new skyships, and attempts to convince Xandis to allow them to crash the Silver Sun. Xandis is concerned for the safety of the crew, and attached to the skyship, but admits that it does belong to Bells Hells. Chetney reassures them that they and the rest of the crew will not go down with the ship, although Xandis has the option of "guiding" it to the key. Xandis is hesitant, and asks Fearne to show them how well she can steer. The first attempt is shaky, but the second attempt, after FCG uses Enhance Ability, is much better, and Xandis agrees to stay with the ship provided they can escape and the rest of the crew is safely elsewhere. Meanwhile, Laudna points out the party still has Paragon's Call and Ruby Vanguard robes in the portable hole and can use them as disguises.

The dust storm overtakes the Silver Sun, and Ira looks for his spyglass. After a moment, Fearne hands it back over. Ira identifies a cavern where the crew can hide, and tells the group they are about an hour and a half from the excavation site. They land and drop off the crew, and Xandis and Chetney both note the spot. Imogen and Xandis tell the crew that if Bells Hells doesn't return in a few days, to head for Bassuras and seek out Imahara Joe. They then take off again, and FCG gives Imogen, Laudna, and Orym cherry danishes. Imogen Sends to Keyleth, who tells her that she is looking for trees, but that the arrival of the Ashari will not be subtle and would serve best as the coming of the cavalry. The ground team disguises themselves; Ashton and Chetney dress as members of the Paragon's Call, and Imogen, Orym, and Laudna dress as the Ruby Vanguard. FCG tells the others it has been nice knowing them, and Fearne tells them to stop. Orym hugs her leg. Xandis wishes them all the best of luck, and Ira and Chetney both reassure them that this is worth doing. Laudna flirts briefly with Ira, and Orym tells FCG he hopes the Changebringer is with him. Imogen says she has no love for the gods, but this is the right thing to do. Ashton goes in to hug Fearne, and attempts to pick her pocket, but she catches them. She asks him what he wants, and he says something irreplaceable, so she kisses the top of his head.

The ground team then takes the crawler as close as they can, and then leave it. Laudna pulls out the tracker orb, which has not changed recently. Orym looks around, and finds a Haggardoe tree that should suffice for Keyleth, and carves the symbol of the Ashari into it. Chetney scouts ahead as the party reaches the lip of the crater, and finds a cathedral-like structure which he recognizes as a crashed skyship with religious iconography, likely from Vasselheim. He reports back, and when the party asks questions, returns to investigate further. It appears to have seen recent battle, with a harpoon in the bottom. The ground team discusses whether their plan is feasible given what happened to this ship. As they continue on, Laudna notices the tracker orb light up, with the light pointing downward, indicating Otohan is below.

They reach the site. They notice some of the massive automata, as well as an intermittent glow from the pit that causes it to pause for a moment and then resume. and as they continue, a crawler approaches behind them. They attempt to act natural, but are stopped by Vanguard members and asked for their business. Imogen tells them they are with "Miss Temult," which initially works, but one of the members then recognizes some of the party from the fight in Ebenold Kai's home. The lead of the Vanguard party asks Imogen to explain, and she vouches for the rest of the party, but the leader tells her only she can continue. Imogen mentally tells the party to run as one of the Vanguard mages casts Hold Person, which Ashton fails. Chetney immediately transforms into his werewolf form and rushes the lead.

Part II
Bells Hells enters combat. Laudna casts Bane against the Vanguard members and the Warder automaton. Chetney is able to damage the mage enough to break his concentration, freeing Ashton. Between that, Orym and Ashton's attacks, and Imogen's Shock Flare, they kill two Vanguard members within the first round. Chetney then charges the Warder, and Ashton takes out the other Vanguard member. Combat continues against the Warder, which deals fire damage to both Orym and Ashton but is forced to grovel at Imogen's Command. With all the party members focusing attacks on the automaton, it quickly falls to the weapon attacks and dual Shocking Grasps from Imogen and Laudna, Laudna's cast through Pâté.

Orym checks around them and they appear to not have been noticed, but Imogen is suddenly grabbed from behind and disappears into a tent. The person holding her asks her why she's fighting the Vanguard. Imogen tries to Command them and communicates telepathically, but the person doesn't respond to the mental messages. Imogen finally convinces them to talk directly, and is released. She sees a dark-skinned woman with a staff and blue robes, and tells her that Bells Hells is trying to break the Malleus Key and stop the ritual. The woman gruffly tells her to call her friends over, which Imogen does.

The woman somewhat impatiently responds to Bells Hells' questions, and tells them she is not alone, and has been tracking Ludinus for about a decade. She then calls to another figure, who dispels their Invisibility, revealing a man with graying brown hair, wearing a duster and a purple scarf, with a magical flame surrounding his hand. He addresses the woman as Beauregard, and tells Bells Hells they seem capable. Laudna admits they were trying to be stealthy before they were stopped. He and Beau tell Bells Hells they are allied with the Grim Verity, though not part of it, and were working with Ryn before she was petrified. He tells Imogen that he has other allies who can restore Ryn later. Beau tells Bells Hells that there have been a number of cults performing strange rituals leading up to the solstice, but ultimately, they all seem tied to the Ruby Vanguard. Bells Hells tell them they've met both Ludinus and Otohan, and Imogen reveals that her mother is also involved. Beau asks her if she'd be okay with killing her mother, and Imogen tells her she'd prefer to try to bring Liliana back over, but is unsure if it's possible.

The party asks Beau and her ally about the skyship crash, which they confirm they saw happen at Ludinus's behest. They also remark that the key has recently been reinforced in many ways, including with residuum, which Bells Hells tells them was likely due to their sabotage of the Feywild key. The man tells them that he and Beau damaged the key in the Shadowfell, but likely not enough to permanently disable it, and their Grim Verity allies were lost in the process. The man then introduces himself as Caleb Widogast, and tells them that Ludinus is not the first member of the Cerberus Assembly he and Beau have fought, but he is the most dangerous and evasive. The entire Tishtan site is immune to illusions, and there are magehunter golems and various other scavenged and reverse-engineered Aeorian technology. Ludinus also has a massive quantity of stockpiled dunamis. When the party asks Caleb, he provides a brief definition of dunamis. He and Beau also tell them that Ludinus has seemed "sloppy" as of late, and they believe he's operating without the backing of the rest of the Assembly.

Caleb and Beau had hoped to get help from Vasselheim, but that did not materialize. Bells Hells tells them their plan, which Beau thinks is very risky but respects it, and is glad to hear they also have the Ashari as potential allies. They discuss how they might work together, particularly given the antimagic fields, which pose a significant disadvantage to Caleb. Laudna also mentions Ira, whom Beau does not trust. She also asks them how their team plans to survive the skyship crash.

Caleb tells Bells Hells that if things go badly, they should take out those who can warn others, and that if he and Beau split up from Bells Hells they will have more of a chance. He throws a sending stone to Chetney. Bells Hells then considers trying to pilot the Warder, which is mostly intact, just inert, but are unable to do so and decide to tell FCG about it later. As they do this, a crawler approaches. Beau and Caleb hide, and Imogen convinces the person who approached that they are trying to fix the Warder. The ground team then begins to move to the key, with Imogen planning to message FCG. She also establishes a mental link with Beau, which Beau does not particularly like. They descend further into the site.

Main player characters

 * Ashton Greymoore
 * Chetney Pock O'Pea
 * Fearne Calloway
 * Fresh Cut Grass
 * Imogen Temult
 * Laudna
 * Orym

Companions
These characters are familiars or other companions of the player characters.
 * Pâté de Rolo

Returning
These characters previously appeared in Campaign 3 or any other Critical Role work.
 * Beauregard Lionett
 * Caleb Widogast
 * Ira Wendagoth
 * Keyleth (via Sending)
 * Xandis

New
These characters have not previously appeared in Campaign 3 or any other Critical Role work, though they may have been previously mentioned.

Mentioned

 * Benethar, a wizard that Caleb and Beau defeated
 * The Changebringer
 * Crew of the Silver Sun (Khalil Benes, Denalia, Terana, and Gordi)
 * Halas Lutagran
 * Liliana Temult
 * Ludinus Da'leth
 * Ryn
 * Trent Ikithon