From the Boughs

is the 37th episode of the third campaign of Critical Role. Bells Hells traverse a dark and corrupted Whitestone and face twisted traumatic shadows of the past in their effort to save Laudna's soul...

Pre-show
With the campaign's first anniversary coming up, the cast presents a new logo for Bells Hells! Per Twitter, the logo was created by the company's in-house graphic designer Jordyn Torrence. The announcement video's visual effects are by Christian Brown.

Part I
Chetney peeks out from the tunnel and sees a city that looks much like Whitestone, shrouded in green mist and with purple light in the sky, but no obvious visible threats. The rest of Bells Hells joins him, one by one, at looking at the city. Chetney realizes, through his blood hunter abilities, that there is a strong sense of necromancy about the city. All of the party can see the Sun Tree in the distance, and they all agree to make use of Ashton's continuing Pass Without Trace and go through the city rather than resting just yet.

The angles of the building seem exaggerated from the reality, the colors washed out and muted, and everything seems to be made of stone. The city rumbles and some of the buildings shift. Orym tries to open a door and the doorknob snaps off, and when Ashton tries to break a window, they find that the "glass" loses its transparency and becomes stone when broken. The buildings continue to shift, making navigation difficult. FCG realizes that the goal is likely to direct them to a certain place, though he is not sure what place.

As Chetney takes the lead, the skeleton of an unknown, massive creature suddenly shoots up from the ground in front of him. Orym climbs the skeleton to get a better view of the city and sees nooses hanging from the Sun Tree, a somewhat unformed city outside of the vicinity the party is in, and does not see Whitestone Castle. Ashton chips away a shard of bone to see if it's also made of stone, and finds that the marrow inside begins to bleed. Imogen takes some of the blood. She asks Chetney who he had seen in the hut earlier, and he said that the shadowy creature was similar to Laudna in form. Orym, on the rooftops, stabs into the building he is on as it begins to shift and finds that it bleeds. They all continue walking.

They hear a pre-teen boy talking in a nearby narrow alleyway, trying to urge a purple-flame girl named Matilda - who appears to be a child version of Laudna - to play a game called "Secret Treasure" in which she tells him a secret and he will give her a treasure. Imogen psychically tells the girl not to trust him, and Matilda tells her that she likes the boy. The boy then throws dirt at the girl, and she disappears into one of the walls. Orym uses Know Your Enemy to determine that the boy has a lower AC, but high HP, as the boy's figure seems to fade away. Imogen uses her telepathic connection to ask the girl where she is, and she tells her that she's in the barn, which is usually outside the city but currently is within it. Orym, on the rooftops, is able to locate a barn, the colors of which are more vivid than the other buildings and which has a light in the hayloft. Bells Hells rushes towards the barn, avoiding various buildings and bones that try to cut off the path.

The purple flamed girl is now much younger, and is playing with two dolls, one of which has a rose gold necklace with three inlaid red jasper stones wrapped around it. She also has made several drawings. When Imogen and Ashton ask her about the dolls and drawings, she says that she made a bird doll to take her away, and that everything outside the city is empty. Orym asks her if she'd like to come with them, and she says that the tree will not let her.

Chetney goes to look at the outside of the barn and sees greenish vines climbing and encircling it, and warns the rest of Bells Hells that it's a trap. When he tries to jump out, the ivy vines stop him, and when Imogen asks the girl for help, she disappears again. Orym cuts his way out, and Ashton is able to make a hole that Imogen can fit through. Ashton, Chetney, FCG, and Fearne all attack the vines from within the barn simultaneously, as the vines begin to sap their life energy. Chetney then puts a stick of dynamite in the vines and they are all able to leave through the hole the explosion makes.

The buildings are shifting much more quickly now as Bells Hells runs through the city. FCG flips their Changebringer coin and they go to the right, and come upon a small house where the girl, now a young woman, is getting dressed nicely. When Imogen asks, she confirms she is getting ready for a dinner. Imogen asks her not to go, but Ashton and Orym disagree, telling Imogen that they can't change Laudna's past but instead, the goal is "making more of her here." Meanwhile, Fearne, who had taken the dolls from the barn, takes the necklace. The doll it had been wrapped around disappears but the necklace remains, and Fearne puts it on.

In the house, Bells Hells sees two older figures, presumably Laudna's parents, also getting ready for the dinner. As Imogen inspects them, Chetney hears wood and buildings, and tells Imogen that something is about to happen and she should hurry. Ashton reiterates that they can't change the past, and they all hear the father figure call the girl "Laudna" rather than "Matilda". The girl turns from the party, and the parent figures attack Bells Hells. The two shadows become tendrils and attack Fearne and Imogen, but the party quickly fights them off. FCG heals Imogen as they continue moving.

When they exit the house they see a path straight to the base of the Sun Tree. They all heal, some drinking Potions of Possibility and walk towards the tree, where they are greeted by a spectral form of Delilah Briarwood.

Part II
Delilah addresses the party, but her form constantly blurs and seems to be hazy within this realm. Orym notices the purple light within the boughs of the Sun Tree, as FCG offers Delilah therapy. Delilah laughs at them, and alludes to her dealings with Vecna. She tells Bells Hells that she also cares for Laudna.

Chetney offers to make a deal with Delilah, pointing out that she seems to need Laudna to be alive. Delilah admits Laudna is the most convenient of her options to return to life, but says she has many options. Ashton asks her why she isn't using those other options, then. As he does so, Imogen tries to telepathically reach the purple light and Laudna, but finds it blocked by Delilah. Orym meanwhile uses Know Your Enemy again and learns Delilah's AC and strength are lower than his.

Delilah offers boons to the party, but Chetney points out that in the end, Laudna can't be brought back while Delilah is there given the conditions from Pike. Delilah agrees for other reasons and tells him that she and Laudna are intertwined and cannot be separated. FCG asks Delilah why Laudna specifically, and Delilah tells him that she was interested in Laudna's native magical abilities as a sorcerer. Ashton reiterates Chetney's point and tells Delilah she seems to keep failing in her goals, and Delilah responds that in separating her from Laudna, both of them will be damaged; if they let Laudna die, Delilah will just use a different contingency. Imogen argues that Delilah said she was fading, but Delilah points out she could be fading into many different places.

Chetney, having obtained some insight into Delilah, tells her that ultimately if Bells Hells die here they will just reawaken on the Material Plane, so she needs to work with them. Delilah, upon hearing this, permits Laudna a moment to speak to the party. Imogen calls out to Laudna and tells her they're taking her home and urges her to fight, and Laudna responds that she hates it in Whitestone, and that she hasn't been able to fight Delilah for 30 years. The branches then close over, obscuring Laudna once more. Imogen casts Psychic Lance, setting off combat.

In the fight, Delilah has lair actions that sap the party's life force, and is able to raise skeletons from beneath the ground. Chetney shifts into his hybrid form uses his Brand of Castigation to mark her, Fearne Earthbinds Delilah to the ground, and Imogen uses her new ability to call Ruidus, which deals damage both to her and to Delilah. The party realizes in the second round that Delilah and the version of the Sun Tree that has entrapped Laudna are tied together, and injuring the tree hurts Delilah whereas the tree injuring the party heals Delilah. FCG is knocked to 0 hit points and wakes up from Astral Projection mid combat, as Fearne begins to focus her fire magic onto the tree, which is vulnerable to it. Orym, having dealt significant damage to the tree branches, is also knocked to 0 and disappears from the realm. Ashton uses dynamite to deal further fire damage to the tree. Throughout the fight, much of the party uses their Potions of Possibility to make saves or improve their chances of hitting, and Imogen avoids being knocked unconscious by forcing a reroll.

Ultimately, after Fearne had set much of the tree on fire, Imogen gets the finishing blow with a Lightning Bolt that splits the tree. When this happens, Delilah screams, Laudna's form is pulled from the tree, and the scene fades to white as the rest of Bells Hells leave the realm and wake up in Pike's home.

Bells Hells

 * Ashton Greymoore
 * Chetney Pock O'Pea
 * Fearne Calloway
 * Little Mister
 * Fresh Cut Grass
 * Imogen Temult
 * Laudna (shade), Marisha and
 * Orym

Returning

 * Delilah Briarwood (shade)

New

 * Andy, a boy in Whitestone Laudna knew as a child (memory shade)
 * Laudna's mother and father (memory shades)

Mentioned

 * Pike Trickfoot
 * Vex'ahlia

Trivia

 * The plane of a twisted Whitestone that Delilah inhabits is similar to a Domain of Dread as described in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft. These domains are innumerable, isolated demiplanes within the Shadowfell that each imprison an evil villain, called a Darklord. Each domain mirrors the Darklord trapped within by drawing on their crimes, failures, or impossible ambitions and twists their desires into ironic torment, to the point that the Darklord hates the domain. At the same time, the Darklord is the root cause of all suffering within the domain and has considerable influence over it.