Lost Treasures

is the twenty-second episode of the second campaign of Critical Role. The Mighty Nein delve into the waters below the safehouse in an attempt to finish their first task for the Gentleman...

Pre-Show
The cast is still shouting dirty things at Matt. Those who were at the Stream of Many Eyes last weekend had a great time. Matt DMed the Force Grey game, and Deborah Ann Woll is an amazing DM.

Announcements

 * Tonight's sponsor is the returning partner in crime for the campaign thus far: D&D Beyond! As the cast make synthesizer noises, Sam reminds the audience that there's a cool animated ad thing that you should check out. As announced during the Stream of Many Eyes, new D&D adventures "Waterdeep: Dragon Heist" and "Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage" are now available for pre-order on Laura's phone and dndbeyond.com. Matt was one of the story/creative consultants for "Waterdeep: Dragon Heist". Sam emphasizes how D&D Beyond let's you just focus on creating...such as creating new monsters! Sam shows off some custom monsters he has designed using D&D Beyond and the stats of existing monsters:
 * a "bullette": a female pink-colored bullet that can only attack once...it's a very quick encounter (based on a bulette)
 * a "Despacito beast": same as a displacer beast, except it sings in Luis Fonsi's voice whenever it uses its "Displacement"
 * a "bowelbear": same as an owlbear, except it also has crippling IBS and has a "Shit Spray" attack
 * a "giant WASP": a white Anglo-Saxon *Person*...Sam is very proud of this one and swears that is what the "P" stands for (based on a giant wasp)
 * a "bone Dirt Devil": same as a bone devil, except it cleans up after every fight (Laura and Ashley like it)
 * a "Fantacore": it's a manticore with a Fanta can instead of its three heads...Matt is kind of down with the Fantacore (it comes in two "flavor" variants: "Dangerous" and "Well-Branded")
 * there are two other monsters Sam designed that he didn't have time to draw: the "Lin-Manuel Mirandaboleth" and the "Nick Frost Giant" (who always has a Human named "Simon Pegg" with him)
 * Matt has released some updates for the Blood Hunter class on D&D Beyond and dmsguild.com.
 * The standard edition for the "Vox Machina: Origins" TPB are still available on the Critical Role website and the online shops for Geek & Sundry and Project Alpha. The special edition is sold out.
 * Talks Machina will be talking about tonight's episode next Tuesday (June 12, 2018) at 7:00 pm PDT. A couple of the cast members will be attending to discuss the insanity with our fantastic host: Brian W. Foster. Don't forget to submit your fan art or GIF (SUBMIT) to submit@talksmachina.com.
 * A reminder to those with Amazon Prime: you can connect it to your Twitch account with Twitch Prime and get a free monthly subscription to the Twitch channel of your choice. It's free, and you get to support some of your favorite creators out there. Laura says that Matt sounded like Kermit the Frog for a split second, and she really liked it. Matt (as Kermit) says he just wants to get the announcements properly out of the way and play some D&D.

Previously on Critical Role
"Where we last left off: The Mighty Nein had been making their way towards Berleben and the Labenda Swamp, to tackle the first of their two tasks they had taken from the Gentleman in Zadash.

"Traveling along the way, you managed to save and make friends with a very young Kenku named Kiri, who has been accompanying you through your journey thus far. You managed to find an individual who could guide you through the swamp (who was summarily taken and probably eaten by a troll that was stalking you through the swamp). You found an ally named Cali (who was a dragon-blooded Sorcerer), who seemed to have aligned interests towards the direction you were traveling to find this safehouse - that belonged to the Gentleman, that had gone quiet. Upon hearing there had been some sort of attack on it, all of you went through the swamp, forded the dangers, made your way to the base of the tree - where it was discovered to be within and below the base of this large banyan tree on the northern side of the Labenda Swamp.

''"After investigating the scene and trying to pick up details about what had transpired, you found a number of bodies that had been put up: left to bloat and die as a warning for those who would make their way in. On the inside, it looks like the interior of the safehouse had been cleaned out and summarily dragged through a subterranean tunnel. Following this tunnel down below, you found these strange, twisted-looking merfolk (called "merrow") that seemed to have been living in this partially-submerged tunnel system, beneath the swamp. You engaged in battle, killed a number of them, and - upon sifting through some of the remnants of what was dragged out of the safehouse - you discovered Cali's quarry: which was a bowl that could speak to the Scaled Tyrant (Tiamat). You decided what to do and after a brief confrontation, the bowl was handed over to Yasha, who attempted to sunder it using her Magician's Judge (which succeeded). The item was left shattered into pieces. Cali - with her quest complete, and not wishing to put herself in any further danger - decided to leave...bidding you all adieu, and clambered back up through the strange dug tunnel that leads to the surface.''

"At that point, you guys were left to think about what the next course of action was...before Fjord had made a brief swimming excursion into one of the far-off tunnels, that led to a larger chamber and seemingly a base of operations where more of these merrow live and (from the outskirts of what you can see) more remnants of what was taken from the safehouse, further in..."

Part I
Fjord suggests that the Mighty Nein all rest up. Nott is worried that there are other "fish-men" (and possibly "fish-women") down there that could come up and kill them in their sleep, so Caleb places an Alarm spell over the entrance Fjord swam through. They climb back up into The Gentleman's Safe House to take a long rest. Jester teaches Kiri some useful phrases. Beau tells Fjord she thinks she owes Caleb an apology for her behavior about the bowl, and he encourages her and gives her some pointers. During the second watch, Caleb is awakened by his Alarm and sends Frumpkin to investigate. Frumpkin sees a merrow has emerged into the chamber, who sees both the bodies and Frumpkin, and throws a spear at him, but Caleb is able to bamf him out safely. They wait, and after an aching pause, the merrow's head pops up out of the hole leading down and in a surprise round he is killed almost instantly. Caleb goes down into the chamber with Yasha to guard him so he can re-set the alarm, and she throws the merrow bodies into the pool. When they come back up, they take the final watch together, and Caleb asks her for advice on getting along with a group. She suggests good hygiene is a good start. Caleb says he misses shaving. She offers to shave him with her greatsword, and he agrees. The party awakens to a clean-shaven Caleb.

They descend into the first chamber. Nott takes a good look at the pool they're going to have to swim through and says she'll stay there with Kiri while they go on ahead. Fjord takes a rope with him and swims through the underwater passage into the next chamber, where he sees five merrow and affixes one end of the rope there. He uses the rope to pull himself back to the waiting party. Caleb leaves his books with Nott, and they all (except Nott) pull themselves stealthily into the next chamber, where they get a surprise round against the merrow, doing some damage.

The water in the room hinders the party, reducing their movement to half speed, their attacks are at disadvantage, and attacks against them are at advantage. Saving throws against the Call Lightning spell used by the merrow shallow priest are also at disadvantage while in the water, and it does significant damage. The party also misses Nott's presence, as she stays in the other room, looking at the water and worrying.

Jester kills a merrow early in the fight. Beau gets knocked unconscious, but Jester is almost immediately able to cast Healing Word on her to bring her back. Caleb uses Dispel Magic to dissipate the lightning storm, and Molly takes out another merrow. Nott, still in the other room, hands Caleb's books to Kiri and uses Silent Image to hide her behind illusory rocks, but despite a big swig from her flask, can't bring herself to enter the water to swim to the battle.

Fjord kills a merrow with his falchion, and almost immediately Yasha gets another with her blade, but an additional merrow emerges from a side cavern. The shallow priest re-casts Call Lightning, and the merrow pulls a seriously wounded Yasha into the water with him. Caleb is able to use the fragment of possibility from the dodecahedron to reverse a bite attack against him that would have hit otherwise. Fjord manages another kill with Eldritch Blast, leaving two up, including the priest. Caleb takes a hit that breaks his concentration on Molly's Haste, stunning Molly for a round.

The party overall at this point is in pretty dire straits, with most at very low health and the priest hiding in the water. Beau uses her last ki point for a flurry of blows to kill the one on Caleb and he casts Maximilian's Earthen Grasp, holding its action until the priest reappears. At this point, Nott finally gets up the courage to leap into the water and swim into the battle room. The priest energes and is restrained by the cat's paw, but is able to cast a Thunderwave which knocks out Caleb, who fails a death save. Infuriated, Nott makes a hard hit on the priest, breaking his concentration on Call Lightning and bringing him close to death.

The priest decides to try to move five feet before casting his Thunderwave, so he can get both Beau and Yasha, but that draws attacks of opportunity from both Yasha and Jester, which kill him. Jester uses Cure Wounds to bring Caleb back to consciousness.

Break

 * D&D Beyond animated ad
 * Good Fortnight Kevin ad
 * Spellslingers new season ad
 * Starter Kit: Phoenix Dawn Command ad
 * How To Play: Sheriff of Nottingham
 * Art reel
 * Matt gives a quick hello to Babs Tarr: an incredibly talented comic book artist and Critter who visited the studio that night.

Part II
The party rushes to pick Caleb off the ground. The Mighty Nein are all beaten and battered from the fight. Jester uses her Pearl of Power to regain a 3rd-level spell, casts Prayer of Healing on the party...and Laura rolls 8 total with her 3d8. (Laura claims D&D is going to send her into labor.) Caleb and Beau both remark how bad they look. Beau admits that Caleb's shave looks nice.

Jester goes back to the first room to get Kiri and bring back Caleb's books. The rest of the party investigates the room, finding scattered coins, and some crates containing silverware, weapons, and a number of holy symbols mostly of gods that are forbidden in the Dwendalian Empire, including two of the Traveler. Caleb uses Detect Magic and notices a faint magical aura from the pool, and a long wooden box radiating magic from inside. The box proves to contain a golden scimitar, which Molly takes. Another box holds a beautifully smithed broken sword handle and hilt made from silver with an acorn-sized emerald set on each side of the hilt in the center. Caleb notes that it looks like it was once an enchanted blade, but was sundered and is no longer magical.

Fjord picks up one of the symbols of The Strife Emperor and throws into the pool of water. Jester reaches in to retrieve it and finds both it and a polished stone, which she retrieves. It looks like a smooth yellowish cat's eye refracting light around it, and it is the source of the magic ping Caleb had noticed earlier, but the magic is not from a school of the arcane.

Caleb casts Identify on the scimitar, which is called Summer's Dance and allows the user to Misty Step. Molly keeps it. He begins casting Identify on the cat's eye stone, and while he is doing so, Fjord sits down next to him, reaches out, and touches it. Fjord's body immediately goes cold and his vision goes dark.

Fjord's Vision
Fjord immediately enters a vision. He sees himself in a human body in different clothes, holding the yellow orb in his hand and standing over the body of its previous owner, a stranger, still in a puddle of blood. He is near a pool in a jungle, and the scent of seawater is strong. His right hand grasps his familiar falchion. He hears a voice in his head say, "Potential". A sudden uncontrollable hunger causes him to push the stone into his gut, and it sinks in painlessly as the voice says, "Consume". Exhausted, he falls to his knees, seeing his reflection in the water. It is Vandran's face, and the voice says, "Reward".

The vision fades, and Fjord comes back to his own body looking into the pool where the orb was found, but the orb is gone. The rest of the Mighty Nein saw Fjord take the orb and push it into his chest. He feels exhausted, but there is no damage to his clothing or armor, and no sign of a wound Fjord tells the group about the vision and about how seeing Vandran in it confused him. He explains that Vandran was his mentor, an old captain of his. He also tells a little more than previously about the ship he worked on being sabotaged: that there was an explosion in terrible weather and he was knocked overboard, finding himself alone on a shore when he woke up. He remembers being in the water and feeling it stinging and filling his chest. Fjord had never seen Vandran with an orb like this or a falchion similar to his, yet he had them in the vision. He also now realizes that Vandran in the vision looked younger than Fjord remembers him.

Molly tastes the water in the pool where the orb was found. It is salt, although all the other pools are fresh water.

Over the next hour, the party moves the items back up into the safe house, and use dynamite to blow up the merrow's nexus room and block the way into the safe house. Jester and Yasha take down the bodies and move them elsewhere.

While the others are occupied, Beau approaches Caleb and apologizes for last night. She says she got a little aggressive and shouldn't have brought up his past shit. He awkwardly gives her a hug, and says, "I don't know what I'm doing. Just go with it." With coaching from Fjord, Beau hugs him back, equally awkwardly, and asks if they are friends. He agrees.

As they all walk through the swamp back toward Berleben, Fjord's eyes catch the summoned falchion in his hand, and there, glittering in the center of the hilt, where there was none previously, is a single yellow eye.

The Mighty Nein

 * Beauregard
 * Fjord
 * Frumpkin
 * Jester Lavorre
 * Nott
 * Yasha Nydoorin
 * Mollymauk Tealeaf
 * Caleb Widogast

New

 * Vandran(in Fjord's vision)

Returning

 * Kiri
 * Fjord's warlock patron

Mentioned

 * Asmodeus
 * Avandra
 * Bane
 * Calianna
 * Ioun
 * Kord
 * Melora
 * The Archeart
 * The Traveler
 * Tiamat
 * Vecna

Quotations
Kiri: (like Jester) "I am Kiri." Jester: See, look at this, this is great! Okay, and then if they go, “Are you nice?” You say, “Yes, I'm very sweet.” Kiri: "Yes, I'm very sweet." Jester: If they say something you don't like you say, “Go fuck yourself.” Kiri: "Go fuck yourself." Fjord: Genuine. Beau: I'm-- He's just staring at me. Jester: Caleb! Here's where you respond to her. Beau: You saw the worst side of me-- Caleb: I give Beauregard a hug, and say: I don't know what I'm doing. Just go with it. Jester: Well, I have a couple level ones left. Blam, blam! Sam: Did you just Salt Bae them? Matt: I think Salt Bae cleric is my new favorite idea for a character.
 * Jester: If someone asks what your name is, you say, “I am Kiri.”
 * Beau: You know what, it's fine. I can say it in front of everybody. I'm sorry. I wanted to apologize for last night. I got a little aggressive, a little handsy. I shouldn't have done that, I was out of line, and I shouldn't have brought up your past shit. Sorry. See, 20 seconds, that was about right? That was good?
 * Caleb: Whatever we do, Beau and I are really fucked up.

Trivia

 * Sam's giant flask bears a "First World Problems" meme that reads "LOST MY BEST FRIEND/OVER A BOWL."