A Dangerous Chase

is the sixty-fourth episode of the second campaign of Critical Role. Giving chase to their wily target, the Mighty Nein travel north into the Barbed Fields, a dangerous and terrifying wasteland.

Pre-Show
Travis is all by himself on the hype train tonight.

Announcements

 * Sam advertised D&D Beyond's latest adventure, Ghosts of Saltmarsh and wanted to acknowledge international critters. To that end he gave a shout out to Australia using poorly constructed Australian slang in an appalling accent. The remainder of the group thought that this segment may precipitate a war between the US and Australia.
 * Matt then spoke about:
 * The second sponsor The Rook and The Raven.
 * The One Shot Adventure he ran with Steven Colbert as part of Red Nose Day.
 * The My Little Pony One Shot, The Tails of Equestria, joined by Mark Hulmes.
 * Laura then spoke about a new shirt available in the US Store now, and in the UK Store in the near future.

Previously on Critical Role
"Last we left off: the Mighty Nein, who have been residing for a little bit of time in the region of Xhorhas, the Eastern Wynandir area on Wildemount, you’ve made alliances in the city of Rosohna with the Bright Queen and the Kryn Dynasty. You returned a beacon. You’ve done a few deeds and gave on to the Bright Queen information about movement the Empire was taking in this war that they have with the Dynasty. You were rewarded, as such, and began to pursue a thread of information that you worried might have something to do with this war, whatever it may be. You’ve scryed upon an individual and learned of a dropping point, or some sort of a meeting that was to happen in the city.

''"Upon the date of this fateful meeting, you found a place to watch and lie in wait. You watched a number of individuals enter the Overcrow Apothecary, and Nott went on a stealth mission, managed to avoid detection a number of times, except for the last one. Upon doing so, a brief conflict took place within the apothecary, in which the drow figure that was meeting with this dragonborn character on horseback managed to flee, the bodyguard left behind to fight to the death, and the courier, this dragonborn, killed in the street along with her horse. You managed to defuse the immediate tension of the nearby guard and populace being interested in the sudden display of bloodshed and conflict. You managed to temporarily hold off and keep, not prisoner, but certainly under your watch, the owner of the Overcrow, Maruo the goblin, as well as her bugbear bodyguard. You’ve dragged the corpse of both the dragonborn and the horse to the back of the building, and you’ve gained just enough knowledge through your spell use that the drow figure that escaped has been on the move northward, and beyond the reach of the spells you had already cast. We come back to you all gathering at the Overcrow and figuring out what to do next."''

Part I
Nott apologizes to the party for telling them to stop the dragonborn and to Yasha for shooting her. Yasha tells her it's okay and that the rest of the Nein has bigger things on their minds right now. Nott says she thinks she should start drinking again because she functions much better drunk.

The party questions Maruo further, but she insists she knows nothing more about the drow's meeting. Jester and Nott ask Yasha whether she knows the people who called her "Orphan-Maker", but she's never seen either of them before. She says Orphan-Maker is the name given to her by her tribe when she took her blood oath to them and it was only known in her tribe. The Nein threaten to kill Maruo if she tells anyone anything about what happened and with the payment of 15 platinum from Beau, she agrees to keep quiet and tell them if anyone else arrives.

They agree that they should head north, towards Bazzoxan. There are two paths: the longer, safer one, called the Hallowed Path, or a shortcut straight across the deadly wasteland known as the Barbed Fields, ground zero for the final battles of the Calamity, full of terrible creatures and weird errant magic. They notice for the first time some writing in Undercommon on the map of Xhorhas; Caleb is able to use Comprehend Languages to translate that it says "Deep River Mine", "Ashguard Garrison", and the "Bloodwalk". To the south in the Fevergulf Lake are the islands called the Eyes of the Lake and to the southwest, just north of the Lotusden Greenwood, is an area called "Charis".

Caduceus wants to question the hobgoblin and the dragonborn, but can't until after a long rest, so they sever the heads and take them, along with the hobgoblin's sword which Caleb identifies (but Matt will have to give them the paper on it after the break). They collect their moorbounders from the Xhorhaus and ride back to the Overcrow, where the moorbounders breakfast on the dead horse and hobgoblin body.

The party rides through the Ghostlands and into daylight, reaching the edge of the Barbed Fields, a desolate wasteland under a baking sun. Nott gets drunk. At sunset, Caleb notices the badly-injured Beau is flagging, but she insists she's fine. He tells the party that he needs to stop for the night. Frumpkin becomes a vulture. At dusk, the moorbounders abruptly stop and sniff the air and they see a person sitting next to one of the trees. Caduceus determines it's not undead; but when Frumpkin goes to investigate more closely, it wails mournfully and dashes toward the party.

Break
The break included a personal message from Matt and Marisha thanking everyone for the continuing support for Red Nose Day.

Also covered was the DnD Beyond animation and message about the forthcoming Tales of Equestria one shot.

The break ended with the art montage.

Part II
The previously identified great sword is called Skingorger and Yasha keeps it. The creature, one of The Lost of the Sorrowsworn, is attacked by the party and their moorbounders and is soon joined by three more and a swarm of bats. Beau discovers that The Lost are resistant to most physical attacks while in dim light or darkness, and Caleb activates the Driftglobe, casting Daylight over the entire battlefield. Fjord is grappled by one, losing over half his hit points to the continuing physical and psychic damage, before it is killed by Jester. When Fjord is released from its grapple, he gives Jester a little kiss on the cheek while saying thanks.

Beau gets the final blow on another and preens for Yasha after the kill. One attacks Caleb, along with the swarm of bats, and he is grappled. Like Fjord, he takes continuing damage during the grapple and when the creature is attacked, and goes unconscious, but is quickly brought back by Caduceus. Beau then finishes it off. Jester kills another one coming after Fjord, and Fjord takes out the swarm of bats.

They set up the dome for the night, and decide to Speak with Dead on the two heads. Fjord disguises himself as the drow that got away from the Overcrow. Caduceus disguises himself as the blond Empire clerk they had Scryed on originally, and questions the hobgoblin, who tells him that he completed his mission to keep "Obann" safe, that they were to meet in the tomb under Bazzoxan and that they follow the "Angel of Irons". Despite multiple checks, none of this means anything to any of the Nein. Questioning the dragonborn after Caduceus drops his disguise, she says that she was delivering a crest, but doesn't know whose or who the Angel of Irons is and works for whoever pays her. She doesn't know the name of her last employer, but they met in Talonstadt, located in the Empire near the Xhorhasian border, which is a now-permanent refugee camp of Ravenites from the destruction of Draconia.

Jester sends a message to Maruo and she replies no one else showed up at the Overcrow. She then sends to Yeza to tell him they're all still fine, and he replies that he is, too. Caleb then brings up his concern about sending Luc to Marion in Nicodranas, because the letter that Jester and Nott sent inquiring about Astrid may have roused the interest of the Cerberus Assembly and it could be traced back to her since they used the name "Lavorre" and gave the Chateau as a forwarding address. Caleb describes Astrid to Jester and she sends the description to her mother, saying she's a little worried she might come to the Chateau. Marion responds she'll keep a lookout. Caleb also describes Eadwulf and suggests Jester pass along that description as well the next time she and her mother talk. They spend the night under the dome.

The Mighty Nein

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

Returning

 * Maruo
 * Ben the Bugbear
 * Marion Lavorre
 * Yeza Brenatto

Mentioned

 * Obann
 * Astrid
 * Eadwulf
 * Luc Brenatto
 * Shakäste

Quotations
Mighty Nein: (screams in horror) Liam: (laughing/clapping) Caleb: It is.
 * Matt: It kind of looks to you all and gives this...low, mournful wail. (creature moans and then shuffles towards the Mighty Nein rapidly)
 * Beau: Man, you make vulnerability look so easy.
 * Jester: Blanky blanky doo, shalagam, shaloo

Trivia

 * Ken the Bugbear had originally been named "Ben" in Intervention, but the cast couldn't remember his name. They started calling him "Ken" instead and Matt said that was fine and retconned the name.
 * Matt's mention of the destruction of Draconia by the Chroma Conclave from was the first mention of a major event from The Campaign of Vox Machina in Campaign 2.
 * The party left Rosohna chasing Obann on 8 Misuthar 836.