The Streets of the Forgotten

is the one hundred thirty-fourth episode of the second campaign of Critical Role.

Previously on Critical Role
''So, last we left off: The Mighty Nein have trekked back to Eiselcross. You've conscripted the aid of your longtime ally, the Shadowhand Essek Thelyss, to join you into the ruins of the ancient magical city of Aeor proper. Upon arriving, you inspected some of the space within. You set a trap for the Tombtakers and successfully managed to ensnare them, killing three, and the only remaining members being Lucien and Cree.''

''In this climactic moment, as you rushed in to finish them off once and for all, the last trick up their sleeve allowed Cree and Lucien to escape, shunting themselves past the tunnel that you were safeguarding and collapsing it behind them via some sort of magical quake. You had just finished killing off the remaining members of the Tombtakers that lie there bleeding and unconscious. But as you take a moment and watch the dust settle, the rumbling fade, and you all look at each other in the low light, feeling the immensity wash over you of what just transpired, we come into tonight's game.''

Part I
Veth asks Fjord if the guards outside warned them of the Tombtakers's approach, and he replies that they did, but does not mention he told them to engage. Caduceus suggests that the person he saw in stasis in the amphitheater might know how to fight the Somnovem. They cut off the heads of the three dead Tombtakers and take them with them as they begin to slowly clear the rubble from the hallway ahead. Essek receives a message from Dagen Underthorn on his sending stone that some rangers were lost and many injured in the confrontation with the Tombtakers, but some live.

Eventually, the hallway is cleared enough to proceed. They notice dots of fresh blood leading onward and follow them into and through the Praesidis Ward until the blood fades out next to a ruined temple-like structure within a sinkhole. Fjord's Divine Sense reveals a strong sense of celestial, fiend, or undead nature from within the building. Jester goes to look, followed by Caleb and Fjord, but sees only a ruined interior from which Caleb's Detect Magic senses necromantic magic. Unsure which way to go, Beau and Veth scout further down the road.

Staying behind at the temple, Caduceus makes himself look like Cree and casts Speak with Dead on the severed head of Tyffial Wase. Tyffial tells them the Tombtakers had previously taken the road outside to reach their destination, and it took them about a day. When asked about the eyes, the head begins laughing and Caduceus Decomposes it. Caleb casts Comprehend Languages and discovers that the temple is the "Mausoleum of the Forgotten" and bears hundreds of carved names.

Meanwhile, Veth and Beau follow the road outside until Veth steps into a large puddle of blood and they find the massive dead bodies of two creatures that appear freshly killed by slashing wounds. The road ends at a rockfall. Beau hears movement, and as they start back, a low growl.

The party reunites and heads back to the amphitheater, which has a sign reading "Praesidis Discussion Colosseum", a center for political discourse. Caduceus selects one of the bodies and, after Caleb casts Tongues on him, casts Speak with Dead. He learns that the crowd was there to beseech "Brashaar" to protect them. Brashaar is the woman in the stasis bubble on the dais. She was one of the great mages, an architect, and one of many who doomed the people by filling their minds with grandiose thoughts, drawing the ire of the gods. Those in the amphitheater had tried to oppose this.

Veth investigates the automaton Caduceus saw previously among the bodies, and they succeed in replacing the cracked power gem within its chest with the one they had found earlier in another ruin. It suddenly comes to life, and Caduceus gives it the name "Charlie". Charlie identifies himself as an aeormaton, is badly damaged, including gaps in his memory records, and tells them he might be able to be repaired in the Genesis Ward, which happens to be roughly in the direction the Tombtakers had been heading.

With Charlie carried on Jester's back, they start off on the Tombtakers' trail again. Essek reminds them that many things in Aeor were designed for warfare against the gods themselves, and that they should be careful of trusting things at face value. He does not trust Charlie.

The Mighty Nein

 * Beauregard Lionett
 * Caduceus Clay
 * Caleb Widogast
 * Frumpkin
 * Fjord
 * Jester Lavorre
 * Veth Brenatto
 * Yasha Nydoorin

New

 * Charlie

Returning

 * Essek Thelyss
 * Dagen Underthorn (via Sending Stone)
 * Tyffial Wase (via Speak with Dead)
 * Artagan (during Jester's Scrying)
 * Cree (via Jester's Scrying)
 * Lucien (via Jester's Scrying)

Trivia

 * The ending of the animated intro changed with this episode, showing the party (with Veth rather than Nott) facing a variety of monsters, a strange city, and nine glowing red eyes in the sky.