Liam's One-Shot: The Song of the Lorelei

is the thirty-sixth special episode of Critical Role. Join Dungeon Master Liam O'Brien as he takes his guests through a werewolf adventure in Wildemount! The Lorelei siblings return home to discover their castle ransacked, their staff murdered, and their father missing... (With Laura Bailey, Erica Luttrell, Sam Riegel, TJ Storm, and Travis Willingham)

Announcements

 * Since the initial goals for the charity campaign with Blair Herter and the Pablove Foundation ($20,000 and $50,000) have been passed, a new one is established: if they hit $100,000 they will be able to fund the Shutterbugs Summer Camp, where they'll teach photography to kids fighting cancer.
 * New merch is available in the store: a Wildemount map by Deven Rue, Vox Machina and Mighty Nein pins, a navy blue Wildemount dice set, and a Yasha mini bust by Steamforge, among other products.

Introduction
''On the edges of the Cyrengreen Forest, not too terribly far from the city of Deastok, on the continent of Wildemount, stands Lorelei Castle, home for many generations to the Lorelei family. The Lorelei bloodline stretches back almost three centuries but only rose to prominence during the war between the Dwendalian Empire, which we now reside within, and the Julous Dominion, which once ruled the southern half of the Marrow Valley in the preceding age. The Loreleis proved their worth in that conflict and were gifted for their service with a stretch of land that you five siblings were born and raised on.''

''It was also during the bloody struggles of that long past war that the bloodline would be changed forever. During a near fatal encounter, your ancestor, Alfarr Lorelei, was bitten, near the end days of the war. The curse of lycanthropy burned its way into the blood of Alfarr in a relentless fever that nearly drove him mad, but he did not bend to it. He persisted, as did his daughter, and her sons, and so on. The family's secret has been closely guarded over the centuries, and in its earliest days, the curse was seen as just that, a curse. But with time came acceptance, and the responsibility of power. Once of age, Lorelei youths eventually undergo The Taming of their wilder nature and their animalistic blood, and it has largely been responsible for the family's ascension over many a generation. Some have faltered. There have certainly been dark periods in the Lorelei history, individuals who let their baser impulses rule them. But the family always returned to the right and the good.''

''Aurra, Lucius, Portia, and the twins, Benicio and Lawrence. You know a little of this struggle yourselves. At least, you hear tell from your father and your great aunt Katerine. Your father, Haldur Lorelei, never knew his own mother, Geneviève Lorelei, but by his aunt Katerine's account, she was unbridled and wild, spurned The Taming, embraced the animal within more than the family would have liked. It led to her doom, they would say. It was that very nature that drew her into a whirlwind romance with a man the family did not approve of. Haldur, or Hal, was born out of wedlock and never knew his mother. She was murdered not far from the castle grounds and found in a wolven heap. Her father was dead, or fled, or possibly killed Geneviève, the family theorized, anyway. The only mother Hal knew was Aunt Katerine, who loved her sister's son with all her heart, raised him well, led him through The Taming, made him the kind and just nobleman he is today.''

''Sadly, history repeats and repeats, and Katerine is mostly the only mother you five have known either. When your mother Rosalind died during the birth of the twins, old though she was, Katerine dutifully continued her role as the family matriarch. Aurra, you, as the oldest, and you, Lucius, two years Aurra's junior, you both remember Rosalind some, but for all of you, it has been old Aunt Kat who sat by your beds as children, who taught you your letters. And how Haldur and Katerine love you! You've grown into your adulthood with grace and strength and absorb the lessons of your forebears... to an extent.''

''[...] Two weeks ago, each of you received identical letters from your father Haldur, summoning you home to Castle Lorelei. Intimated in those letters is his wish to discuss the family's future and the handing down of power within the family. You all have been spread to the winds the last six months to a year, maybe, following the individual threads that life has laid before you. Now, Hal is eager to see his children all around him again. As yet another token of his love, he has provided you all with three days and nights of rest, recuperation, and general pampering together at one of the finest inns in Deastok: The Shaded Bough. It is here that we begin this current verse in the song of the Lorelei. You are gathered in the sumptuous dining room of The Shaded Bough. Your breakfast is finished, your bags are packed. Your horses have been prepped for your departure, and it is raining.''

Break

 * Wyrmwood Giveaway: The prize is a myrtlewood dice tower system featuring Kor'Treum cartography by Deven Rue, with a leather strap. The keyword for tonight is "howl".
 * The winner of the giveaway is announced: Oldar_.

Player Characters

 * Lawrence Lorelei
 * Portia Lorelei
 * Benicio Lorelei
 * Aurra Lorelei
 * Lucius Lorelei

New

 * Haldur Lorelei
 * Katerine Lorelei (corpse)
 * Geneviève Lorelei (as the Iron Woe)

Mentioned

 * Alfarr Lorelei
 * Rosalind Lorelei
 * Grenya Lorelei

Trivia

 * At the beginning of the episode Liam decided to keep details about the War of Ash and Light vague in order to avoid contradictions with Matt's plans for the conflict in the main story, suggesting that to that extent, The Song of the Lorelei has canon elements in it.
 * Furthermore, in The Chronicles of Exandria - The Mighty Nein Archivist Zeenoth of the Cobalt Soul makes references to the Lorelei traditions to control their lycanthropy using blood hunter rituals, and mentions that that information appears in some documents of the order, restating their presence in canon.
 * Marisha Ray, Taliesin Jaffe and Matthew Mercer made a cameo in the episode, appearing as thugs in the cemetery. The thugs were named after the cast members' surnames.