By Goat or By Boat

is the 56th episode of the third campaign of Critical Role.

Pre-show
Exquisite Exandria is not out yet, but will be! Have some ginger cookies.

Part I
Bells Hells begin their travel from Uthodurn towards Molaesmyr on their flot goat mounts. They travel through the Flotket Alps over four days, with little incident other than a blizzard that severely exhausts Chetney and Imogen, until their final day in the mountains, in which they run into a couple of frost giants, who throw rocks at them. Imogen's Telekinesis, Deanna and Fearne's ranged magical attacks, and FRIDA's blunderbuss down one of the giants, and the other flees.

The party reaches Ivory Lake and consider whether they will continue to travel by goat, or if they will go down the Boreal Omen River, and if they choose the river route, how they will take the goats. Fearne speaks with Donny Boy, her goat mount, who believes the goats can get in the water, provided they do not get wet. FRIDA, FCG, Fearne, and Chetney gather timber to create a raft instead. The party decides to make camp for the night and begin going down the river in the morning. FRIDA pulls Deanna aside and asks her to cast her daily Death Ward on FCG rather than them, as FCG is a healer and it's important to keep the healers up. Deanna asks if this is FRIDA's only motivation, and FRIDA tells her it's their main one. Deanna then goes to FCG and asks him what his intentions with FRIDA are, accusing him of being a heartbreaker. FCG thanks her for thinking they could break hearts, and promises that they care for FRIDA and will not hurt them. He then asks her what her intentions with Chetney are, and tells her he believes Chetney admires her. Deanna promises not to hurt Chetney.

FCG then goes a short way away from the party and casts Commune with the Changebringer, using their Changebringer coin as a focus, and asks if the Changebringer is there. The flow of the river begins to look like long strands of hair, and they turn to see the figure of a woman on the horizon, her hair reaching along the river towards them. He then asks if she has been watching them, and the wind takes his coin and flips it to heads. They then ask if she needs any help. There is a pause, and FCG senses a cold emotion, not quite fear, that they recognize to mean "yes", before the figure disappears into a fog in which other figures are present.

FCG then goes to Deanna and tells her he saw the Changebringer and that the gods are in trouble. They ask her about her own religious experience, and she tells them that while she is grateful to the Dawnfather for bringing her back to life, her faith is more in people and what they do for others than the gods. FCG tells Deanna perhaps she doesn't need her god as much as he needs his because she's much more confident in herself, but Deanna admits she's very scared and doesn't know how to feel about her resurrection; she just finds more comfort in helping people, though she still finds meaning in the Dawnfather as well. The party rests for the night after realizing that Shared Dream might be unwise given Imogen's exhaustion. FRIDA and FCG each take a watch, kissing when they switch watches.

The next morning they realize the goats are too large to fit on the boat with them. As they start to discuss some options, Deanna kills Jerry, her mount, with a spell. Chetney helps harvest the goat meat while Imogen, shocked, asks why they did that instead of just leaving the goats on the bank. Fearne decides to talk to Donny Boy again, who asks why Jerry exploded. Fearne reassures him, and after some conversation, the party leaves the remaining five goats on the banks with instructions to stay unless it will be unsafe to do so, in which case they can head back to Uthodurn. The party boards the raft and begins to float down the river, with FRIDA taking point and Fearne steering. They enter the Savalirwood, which by day is foggy and hushed, with muted purplish colors. Chetney tells the party briefly about his time in the Savalirwood. They ask how he survived, and he tells them he became a werewolf when he was bitten. FRIDA realizes that he was bitten in his fight with Chetney, and what that might entail. Chetney admits he's never turned anyone due to his oath to the Claret Orders and is unsure how an aeormaton might be affected, and also tells FRIDA that this is a curse that can be cured. Imogen telepathically asks FRIDA if they're okay and if Deanna normally is this violent. FRIDA admits they're also slightly unsettled. FCG also reassures FRIDA, and FRIDA takes some comfort in the fact that Catha won't be full for another month.

The party continues to float down the river as it grows dark and the nocturnal creatures who live in the Savalirwood begin to wake up. Imogen and Deanna both send out magical lights, and Chetney senses fey with Hunter's Bane. The party notices small lights along the banks they recognize as pixies, which seem to be clustered around a larger creature. Deanna casts Control Water to move the party further down the river as a giant bog wretch with large clumsy limbs and eyestalks notices them and teleports into the middle of the river, directly in front of the raft.

Part II
The party fights the bog wretch, and though its pixie allies briefly Polymorph Imogen into a fox and the creature swallows FRIDA before vomiting them up after FRIDA shoots them from the inside, they defeat it with a final Shatter from Turmoil and continue on their journey down the river. FRIDA hands Chetney a piece of the wood that fell on the creature but Chetney finds that the wood appears to be moving. As evening approaches, they discuss whether they should dock or continue along the river. Fearne uses Speak with Animals to ask a catfish-like creature in the river whether there are any waterfalls, as well as about other potential dangers. It tells her there are no waterfalls, but to be aware of the Wolf-king, a creature it cannot describe and knows little about other than that other fish believe it to be a danger. It has no sense of potential dangers on land, so after Fearne feeds it goat meat, Bells Hells decides to continue along the river for the night, with the aeormatons keeping watch again. Chetney is unsure of what the Wolf-king is. FCG fails to notice potential white water rapids, but those only provide a very brief interruption and the party continues.

FRIDA and Deanna keep watch next, and FRIDA notices the forest seems to whisper just beyond intelligibility around them. Deanna asks FRIDA if they want to be a werewolf, as Chetney seems to enjoy it, and they tell her they're not sure and they're somewhat scared in general, but they're not outright opposed and they trust their allies. Deanna tells them she can probably help if they wish to be rid of the curse. FRIDA then asks her about how she prays to the Dawnfather and when she last did so. She responds she hasn't directly prayed since meeting them but casts Light and the two pray, with FRIDA thanking the Dawnfather for bringing Bells Hells and especially FCG to them. Deanna tells FRIDA that they are doing good, and kisses them on the cheek before FRIDA goes to sit with FCG.

The party continues to travel uneventfully for the next day through the wood, which smells of rot and iron. On the final day, geysers that emit a miasma, possibly the one that originally choked the city, erupt near the boat and Chetney does not warn the others in time; Deanna and Fearne both become exhausted and drained by the miasma. Later that day, FRIDA notices towers in the distance and Fearne docks the boat with a Thorn Whip. FCG gives out temp HP-increasing goat's blood muffins to the people in the party who can eat, and Deanna tries to dispel the effect on Fearne, but finds it is more like a curse and cannot deal with it with Dispel Magic.

The way is confusing and treacherous, with points where the ground gives way, but the party eventually reaches the eastern edge of the city. Ludinus Da'leth's tower was on the northwestern side. Chetney identifies the towers as looking more elven than of the Dwendalian Empire, confirming they have reached Molaesmyr. The ruins themselves have been reclaimed by the "inorganic" forest; the same miasma seeps out of some buildings, and wildlife and other creatures have laid eggs or otherwise made homes in many of the structures. Bells Hells moves stealthily, and Imogen uses Summon Crimson Shade to bring out a red "thought eater" to scout. FRIDA climbs a tree to have a visual on this entity. As the red entity moves into the city, it encounters a huge mutated eyeless elk-like creature with at least eight legs and two dragging humanoid arms. The elk creature attacks Imogen's Crimson Shade, which vanishes from existence. The party notes the elk seems to respond to sound, so FCG establishes a Telepathic Bond so they can communicate without speaking. The party continues through the city, which was clearly abandoned rapidly, with much loss of life; they notice both undead and many bodies amid the decayed buildings.

Main player characters

 * Ashton Greymoore (absent)
 * Chetney Pock O'Pea
 * Fearne Calloway
 * Fresh Cut Grass
 * Imogen Temult
 * Laudna (absent)
 * Orym (absent)

Guest player characters

 * Deanna Leimert
 * FRIDA

Companions
These characters are familiars or other companions of the player characters.
 * Little Mister

New
These characters have not previously appeared in Campaign 3 or any other Critical Role work, though they may have been previously mentioned.
 * Avandra

Mentioned

 * Pelor