Deals in the Dark

is the eighth episode of the seventh chapter of Critical Role. After Keyleth scares off her would-be attackers, Vox Machina continues their trek through the City of Dis, and Percy makes a deal with the devil Ipkesh to assassinate Utugash. Their mission takes them to the pit fiend's abode, where they also encounter and rescue a new ally in Tova. Will they fulfill the deal, or will Percy's soul be forfeit?

Pre-Show

 * The updated Critical Role fan art appreciation gallery was shown.

Announcements

 * Liam is Skyping in from New Jersey.
 * Laura is late due to work, but will be here in the next thirty minutes or so.
 * Tonight's sponsor is Loot Crate.
 * The cast open the recent Loot Crate with the theme of "Primal".
 * Sam reads his Loot Crate announcement as "SAM 5000", a futuristic robot here to make sure that humans make the right choices for the timeline by subscribing to Loot Crate. This month's theme is "Investigate".
 * There's a survey up on the Geek & Sundry website to learn about what the Critical Role fanbase is like and what kind of merchandise they would like to see in the store. The survey can be taken at geekandsundry.com/CRsurvey.
 * The cast will be at WonderCon this Saturday, April 1st for the Talks Machina live panel. The panel will be recorded and aired on Twitch and Alpha that Tuesday in place of the normal Talks Machina episode.
 * Taliesin says that they don't have a subject yet for next week's Wednesday Club, so they're taking suggestions from Twitter and the chat room.
 * Matt reminds everyone that the new show Roundtable is up on Alpha, where a bunch of GMs talk about tabletop gaming.
 * A ringtone of the Signal Boost theme has been released. They've also released a free screensaver because they thought it was funny.
 * Will Friedle, player of Kashaw Vesh, will be at the Wales Comic Con in the UK on April 8th and 9th.
 * Matt, Marisha, and Taliesin will be at MomoCon from May 25th to 28th in Atlanta, Georgia.
 * Talks Machina is Tuesday nights at 7pm Pacific time on Twitch and Alpha.
 * Liam has one last announcement: his father is hiding six feet away from him off-camera (he rolled very high on his stealth check). While Liam's father may not understand what his son's career is, he does believe that he has one.

Previously on Critical Role
"Vox Machina, in tying up loose ends after the end of the Chroma Conclave and the completion of Keyleth's Aramenté, they knew that there—out there somewhere in the Hells—an infernal being, a rakshasa known as Hotis that they had encountered previously in the past, and was going to eventually claim vengeance on them if they did not get to it fast.

"As such, through research they found that it most likely seemed to reside on the second layer of the Hells: Dis, ruled under Dispater, one of the archdevils. After gathering [their] materials [and] doing a bit of prep, [they] transitioned into the actual plane of the Nine Hells of Baator, into the City of Dis.

"Upon wandering the streets and trying to blend in through various alterations to [their] physical forms, [they] eventually found [their] way—after avoiding a couple of possible confrontations in the street—to a tavern-like location, where [they] decided not to order the meats that were being devoured by a couple of devilish entities, and instead the other thing, which involved both Taryon and Keyleth having their first taste of soul; then eventually Percival on the way out too.

"They encountered the owner of the establishment, a dark-haired, red-skinned, horned gentleman, wings folded against his back, who was eager to rent [them] a place to stay for the time being. [The party] decided to figure out what [their] plans were. At which point "Freddie" and "Greg"—Percival and Grog—went downstairs to have a conversation with this entity, where they revealed themself to be named Ipkesh and was interested in possibly working out sort of a crisscross, quid-pro-quo type negotiation with [Vox Machina].

"After returning to discuss the possibilities of this up in [their] chambers, Keyleth made her way out to locate the possible location of Hotis as a workaround. As she exited the front exterior of the establishment and went into an alleyway to attempt to transform, she found herself followed by a chain devil and some sort of a somewhat scarred and mutated-looking dwarf.

"They confronted [her] and were asking about their interest in "the white one"; seemingly speaking about one of [her] companions, Vax, who had taken on the form of an albino tiefling when [they] entered the plane."

Part I
Keyleth stands in the alleyway behind the tavern as the chain devil and strange dwarf begin to flank her with violent intentions. The chains on the chain devil begin moving rapidly and from underneath the dwarf's skin, wormlike tendrils begin to appear.

Returning to her original plan, the druid casts Shapechange to become an erinyes. Her skin becomes pale white, her eyes turn dark red with burning gold pupils, and giant dark red wings unfold from her back.

The chain devil and dwarf immediately stop advancing and take a few steps back.

Thoroughly intimidated by the higher-ranking devil, the chain devil's chains fall limp to its sides and it take another step back, apologizing for the intrusion. Keyleth persists with her threatening tone, saying she would like to add the two of them to her collection.

The chain devil bows its head and backs out of the alleyway, the dwarf following behind it, both of them with very submissive body language. Keyleth taunts them one more time before turning around and very quickly and nervously walking in the other direction.

She glances up and sees an imp wearing gold armor watching her from above. She looks at it and slowly nods. It doesn't respond, still just watching her. Keyleth changes back to tiefling form and returns to the tavern, the two beings that had confronted her now nowhere in sight.

She heads back upstairs, rejoins the rest of Vox Machina, and tells them what happened. They debate for a minute whether the devils were interested in Vax because of his connection to the Raven Queen or just because he looked like an albino tiefling. Vax himself doesn't think an albino tiefling is all that odd; they have met Lillith after all.

Vax asks what the plan is for now. Keyleth still has about fifty-five more minutes before her Shapechange spell ends. She shows off her erinyes form again, which greatly impresses Taryon. Grog asks why she didn't just continue her original plan of locating Hotis if the other devils were so scared of her; she explains how she can only concentrate on one spell at a time, so she had to drop her Locate Creature spell.

Keyleth tells them about the golden-armored imp that had been watching her. Vax remembers that they met an imp over a year ago when they were investigating the home of Sir Gregory Fince, although that one had not been wearing golden armor.

Grog suddenly remembers that he kept a ring from one of the devils they killed in the basement of that house. Keyleth and Percy convince him to pull the ring out of the Bag of Holding so they can take a look at it. Tary casts Identify on the ring, but it does not have any magical properties. It's a signet ring, with a symbol that Percy recognizes as the symbol of Asmodeus.

Percy tries to determine if the ring is meant to signify rank or some other meaning, but he can't really tell. Neither can Tary. Percy reminds the group that Asmodeus is the ruler of the Nine Hells, so carrying his symbol around could be useful.

Grog and Tary ask if Vox Machina is going to accept the deal proposed by Ipkesh. Vex'ahlia requests more details about the deal before they accept anything. Percy tells her that the owner of the tavern works for a man he doesn't like, and is curious what would happen if his boss was no longer around. Vox Machina would probably be arrested if they did everything right, which would bring them closer to Hotis. Percy then cautions the group to be careful what they say, due to the potential surveillance all over the city.

Keyleth doesn't think they need to make a deal with a devil in order to get arrested; she's gotten arrested on her own several times before. Grog points out that the deal involves getting help from within the prison once they've been arrested. They debate whether or not to take the deal for several more minutes.

Going back to an earlier topic, Vex reminds them that Ipkesh said the imps in the gold armor are basically the guards of the city, so they should be avoided. Keyleth says that taking the first deal offered by the first devil they talk to in the first tavern they find seems a little too convenient.

Grog eventually calls for a vote. Tary, Percy, and Grog want to sign the contract. Keyleth, Vax, and Vex would prefer to wait another day before agreeing to anything. Tary offers up Doty as the tiebreaker. Vex counters with Trinket. Tary suggests they arm-wrestle. Vex agrees.

Tary orders Doty to arm-wrestle Trinket. Vex points out that the bear's arms don't bend the right way for this, but she encourages him anyway.

Vox Machina

 * Keyleth
 * Percival de Rolo
 * Grog Strongjaw
 * Pike Trickfoot (absent; not mentioned)
 * Trinket
 * Vax'ildan
 * Vex'ahlia

New

 * Tova
 * Utugash
 * Vasa

Returning

 * Unnamed bartender
 * Taryon Darrington
 * Doty
 * Ipkesh

Mentioned

 * Asmodeus
 * Lillith Daturai
 * Dispater
 * Sir Gregory Fince
 * Hotis
 * General Krieg
 * Raven Queen
 * Syldor Vessar

Quotations

 * Taryon: "I say we take this deal, kill that employer, and...go to prison, oh my god." Vax'ildan: "Jeez, Tary, you've gone straight gangster in so little time." Taryon: "Well I just want to get the FUCK out of here and go back home so I can enjoy some wine."