Devoutness and Dicks

is the one hundred seventh episode of the second campaign of Critical Role.

Previously on Critical Role
''So, last we left off: the Mighty Nein, after spending some time on the island of Rumblecusp in anticipation for the coming preparations for TravelerCon. You discovered a people that lived here who had lost their memories over time, and some seemingly ancient entity known as Vokodo, that had taken residence beneath the mountain. Upon learning about the different mysteries and dangers throughout, you discovered a cavern full of abandoned ships. You fought dangerous creatures around and eventually went beneath the mountain itself to fight this Vokodo creature. You learned as it was dying of what it was it seemed to be fleeing from within the Astral Sea.''

''You escaped the boiling waters with the treasure that you had accrued from its hoard, and, it seemed, freed the people of Vokodo from this clouding fog that removed the memories from them. As they returned, many of them realized who they once were, and decided to return to their old life. Some chose to stay with the new life they had made here. But nevertheless, a night of final celebration for the villagers of Vokodo as the village that it once was was brought forth around a large bonfire. You all helped them into this final night. You saw some early arrivals to the TravelerCon event begin to try to find their place amongst the vicinity, and, after saying your bits before the next day, you went and crashed up in Vilya’s room and went to bed. And that was where we left off.''

Part I
In the morning, there is much activity in the village with people readying to return to their original homes. Jester has calculated that if everyone in the party gives back 112 gold, they will have enough to give each of the sixty departing villagers a goody bag containing 50 gold. Veth, Jester, Caduceus, and Yasha each contribute fifty additional gold to be given to Vilya specifically. Veth shames Beau into contributing, and peer pressure caves Fjord and Caleb as well.

They decide they need to start setting up for TravelerCon, and look to Jester for instructions on what to do. Jester has an idea to ask for human sacrifice volunteers-- at which point the Traveler reveals himself as an extremely interested eavesdropper. Jester hugs him, and explains that they could separate the volunteers and alter their memories to believe they were sacrificed, resurrected, and witnessed his ascension. The mildly horrified party workshops this. Caduceus thinks it sets a dangerous precedent, and Beau thinks people that come back from the dead, like Molly, can be insufferable. Veth suggests audience participation, instead, such as beating on drums-- maybe during the week, the attendees can make their own drumsticks in the shape of dicks and at the end of the week they all beat their dicks.

The idea of moving the attendees to worship an alternative god is floated, and Jester likes this because people would be left with an actual god in their lives. Caduceus suggests the Moonweaver. Jester has the idea to hide all the little dick-shaped Traveler statues she's made and have the attendees try to find them while they are on the island. Beau suggests an ultimate pilgrimage to the top of the volcano to toss in all the found statues. The Traveler is excited by the idea that over hundreds of years, Sehanine will possibly have had to absorb a dick festival into her worship because of TravelerCon.

Caduceus suggests that Jester could become the avatar of the Traveler, and she's not opposed to the idea until Fjord points out that everyone would then come to Jester, and many of them also know Sending. Jester tells Artagan he should take the spell away from the others, and he immediately does so. This makes her feel good. During the discussion, Artagan receives word of a ship dealing with a turtle thing and abruptly departs.

Eventually they settle on the following activities:
 * A stage on which Yasha will play music (which they will leave for the villagers)
 * Have the attendees make their own drumsticks
 * Have a dance-off
 * Beat drums with the drumsticks
 * Hide all the dick-shaped Traveler statues for a dick-hunt
 * A fighting pit
 * Closing ceremony where everybody throws their dicks in the volcano and magical illusions take place revealing that the Traveler is actually the Moonweaver

Vilya comes in to tell them the first batch of departures is leaving for the Menagerie Coast. There will be five batches: the Menagerie Coast, the east side of Tal'Dorei, Asarius, Zadash, and the western coast of Marquet. The party accompanies her in order to give those leaving their goody bags. Fjord notices Kotho (the former Terra) is among them, and approaches her. There is someone he wants found, and she agrees to do this in exchange for a 200 gold down payment and 100 on completion. The person he wants found is Sabian, his former fellow crew member under Vandran. Vilya opens the tree and the villagers run through.

Going back to TravelerCon preparations, the party uses magic to build the stage and smooth a safe path to the top of the volcano. On each day, Caleb uses Programmed Illusion to create a Traveler-themed image in a different location that will last indefinitely, thrilling Jester (and the village children). They hide the dicks, including a golden one, build the fighting pit and an arts and crafts area, make multiple large drums, and upgrade the housing.

The first evening, as Caduceus is meditating, he has a hard time as his mind keeps wandering back to the visions they received as Vokodo died. He realizes they saw something truly alien and entirely removed from the natural cycle of the cosmic weave. The following day, as Caduceus clears the path up the volcano, he uses Commune to contact the Wildmother and ask about the vision. She does not know and cannot sense this entity.

Jester uses Sending to contact Orly, confirming the crew is alive and found the hidden ships, although they haven't figured out how to extricate them yet. The party realizes they will need to feed a lot of people and decide hunting the T. rex they saw earlier would be the best answer.

Break

 * D&D Beyond animation.
 * Dice of Healing free for all subscribers through August on D&D Beyond.
 * The Legend of the World of The Legend of Vox Machina.
 * Merch Alert! Vox Machina Origins Volume 2 trade paperback currently available online and in local shops, while the limited edition hardcover edition is available in the U.S., U.K., and Australia critrole.com stores; Frumpkin mini-plush hanger/keychain, Nott the Brave flasks, Don't Forget to Love Each Other mugs, and Orphanmaker t-shirts now available in the U.S., U.K., and Australia critrole.com stores.
 * Pumat Sol arrives in the Critical Role channel of the Prime Dimension via the Subscription cantrip, which needs to be re-cast each month.
 * Critters' art montage.

The Mighty Nein

 * Beauregard Lionett
 * Caduceus Clay
 * Caleb Widogast
 * Frumpkin (not mentioned)
 * Fjord
 * Jester Lavorre
 * Veth Brenatto/Nott the Brave
 * Yasha Nydoorin

New

 * Kent Plucker (New to Campaign Two)
 * Keyleth (New to Campaign Two) (Seen only)

Returning

 * Artagan/The Traveler
 * Vilya
 * Terra/Kotho
 * Orly Skiffback (via Jester's Sending)
 * The Wildmother (via Caduceus's Commune)
 * Anola
 * Pono/Keiran
 * Jaina/Asholin
 * Kovak

Mentioned

 * Lukash/Captain Deremid
 * Sabian
 * Vandran
 * Treece
 * The Moonweaver
 * Vokodo

Quotations
Veth: You're going to kill one of us?! Jester: Listen, Veth-- The Traveler: This just got extremely interesting.
 * Jester: What if I asked people, "Hey, guys, we need a few human sacrifices"? And what if a few people volunteered for that-- maybe one of you guys would be one of the volunteers?
 * Caduceus: I'm literally descended from people who buried a head somewhere and this is sort of how we ended up where we are.
 * Orly Skiffback: (replying to Jester's Sending) Marius - still alive, still pointless.

Trivia

 * The in-game date at the end of this episode was 25 Unndilar 836, TravelerCon Eve.
 * When the halfling TravelerCon attendee Kent Plucker was introduced, Sam immediately (and amazingly) recognized him as one of the members of Dr. Dranzel's Spectacular Traveling Troupe from Campaign One. Kent became the third character from the first campaign to appear in the second, along with Captain Adella and Allura Vysoren.