Race to the Tower

is the third episode of the eighth chapter of Critical Role. All hell breaks loose as Vox Machina race to stop the return of Vecna!

Previously on Critical Role
"Vox Machina had discovered the existence of a second Ziggurat-like structure on the continent of Marquet, and apparently a cult of the Whispered One there gathering magical artifacts to toss into a second darkened black orb, similar to the one beneath Whitestone all this time.

"They ran into Scanlan once more, who lead them to where this cavern was found in the mountains of Smolder Crown, on the continent of Marquet. They did battle with the cultists there, and seemed to reveal one of the leaders in that group was none other than the not-dead Delilah Briarwood.

"She fended them off, completed the ritual, and some of the surviving cultists fled into the orb, apparently, to the other side. Vox Machina then gathered themselves, gathered some supplies, some information, and proceeded to travel through the orb in Whitestone, into the Shadowfell—the shadow plane, dark mirror to the Prime Material—where they stumbled upon a partially-ruined city that had undergone some sort of ancient siege, and much of it still lies in ruins and disrepair.

"They discovered what seemed to be two other siphon orbs existing around the outskirts of this forgotten city, threads of magical energy being siphoned and transferred to a singular black obsidian tower for whatever purpose the Whispered One, the Undying King, has for this energy.

"Vox Machina began to make their way deeper into the city, masquerading as some undead in the process. They killed a few cultists wandering the street and intimidated one—actually, they killed him and asked his corpse, the most extreme form of intimidation, really—discovering that this city is under the title Thar Amphala, which they don't know too much about, except it seems to be where an ancient battle took place. Much of the undead that wander this realm carry armaments, weapons, and symbols that seem to be of Pelor, the Dawnfather. They also discovered that the tower in the center is titled Entropis, where all the magic is being funneled at the moment.

"Thus having found this information, they gathered their resolve and continued their trek deeper and deeper into the city surrounding the tower Entropis, to discover what their purpose is here in Thar Amphala."

Vox Machina

 * Taryon Darrington
 * Doty 2.0 (inoperable; not mentioned)
 * Keyleth
 * Percival de Rolo
 * Scanlan Shorthalt
 * Grog Strongjaw
 * Pike Trickfoot
 * Trinket
 * Vax'ildan
 * Vex'ahlia

New

 * Mr. Mistoffelees
 * Vecna

Returning

 * Delilah Briarwood
 * Sarenrae (voice only)

Mentioned

 * Sylas Briarwood
 * Pelor
 * Raven Queen
 * Purvan Suul

Trivia

 * This episode marks the third time that Vex'ahlia has died and the second time that Vax'ildan has died.
 * These are the eleventh and twelfth on-stream player character deaths, and the thirteenth and fourteenth overall.
 * This is the second time that the Plate of the Dawnmartyr has saved Pike from a Disintegrate spell. The first time this happened was in.