The Journey Home

is the thirtieth episode of the second campaign of Critical Role. Reunited at last, the Mighty Nein journey back to Zadash, hoping to find closure with those they've lost and the contracts they've made...

Pre-Show
We have returning from their first foray into parenthood: Travis and Laura! Matt asks how's the kid, to which the sleep-deprived couple responds, "No, he's great..." Ronin is at the studio right now, so you might hear crying. If Laura suddenly gets up from the table, it's because she has to go feed him. Travis confirms that Ronin dictates all. Matt says they missed them at the live show. Laura says they were with them in spirit. Travis loved the audience singing "Happy Birthday" and the live show had such great energy. Laura says they all looked wonderful...Sam especially.

Announcements

 * Tonight we have TWO fantastic sponsors:
 * First, our wonderful returning sponsors for Campaign 2...our friends at D&D Beyond! Sam thanks D&D Beyond for sponsoring and helping out with the live show.  Your sponsorship dollars will help the cast pay for the therapy they need after seeing Sam's junk so up close and personal.  It's been a while since Travis and Laura were here, and this is their first show at the new studio, so D&D Beyond wanted Sam to catch them up with all things CR:
 * Laura: The new Wi-Fi password is "Dallassux".
 * Travis: The rest of the cast rented Travis's parking spot to Brian Foster. The cardboard box he lives in will be parked there until September 15, 2018. Laura thought he was living in the cage? Matt clarifies that Brian works in the cage.
 * "The Wayfarer's Guide to Eberron" and "Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica" are both available on D&D Beyond.
 * Travis: While he was gone, the rest of the cast discovered that Fjord's middle name is "Bronco", so that's canon now.
 * Laura: While she was gone, all of her dice were loaned to Wil Wheaton for a little while, to her horror.
 * The studio's break room is open to all, but from 9:00 am to 11:00 am, Producer Max uses it to poop.
 * We have a code system for reserving the makeup room, so no one walks in by accident. If you're breastfeeding, hang a sock on the door. If you're waxing Sam Riegel's chest hair, you hang a bandana on the door. And if you're having sex, leave the door open, 'cause that's kinky!
 * Travis's chair has been reinforced to accommodate his "baby weight", to which Travis emotionally admits, "It's real...guys can get it too!"
 * Laura is a perfect creature who creates magical life with the power of womanhood. (*harp music* to be added in post-production)
 * Taliesin's new character is a Cleric too, so Jester doesn't have to heal anyone. (to which Laura excitedly shouts, "F*** yeah!!!")
 * Liam shaved.
 * It's Ashley's birthday!
 * Marisha no longer thinks "Sleeves Are Bullshit. Now she thinks they're assholes.
 * All "firblogs" know each other. (Liam had a firblog in the early 2000s.)
 * If you go #1, please use the bathroom marked "Peeastok". If you go #2, use the bathroom marked "Hupperdook".
 * And there are flies motherf***ing everywhere in this studio.
 * And our second sponsor for tonight is our fantastic friends at Dwarven Forge! The Critters may have seen some of their products used pretty consistently on the show. Matt has hungered after their work since he was a mid-20s-er, and used them from the moment he could get his hands on their sets. Thanks to their Kickstarters and their update to resin, they've become more affordable and Matt loves using their hand-sculpted and hand-painted terrains! They are Critters too, and are invested in the show. They've launched another Kickstarter recently for their "Caverns Deep" set: it offers 15 different distinct encounter areas like "The Webbed Layer", "The Mushroom Grotto", and "The Dread Hollow Forest" (a brand-new forest terrain that got unveiled at Gen Con during a live game in which Matt and Liam were players). Liam backed that s*** on the Kickstarter. So did Matt, and you should back it too! Dwarven Forge put out another video yesterday that unveiled another one of their terrains: "The Prison Passage" (you get to watch Matt, as a mini, get imprisoned, brutalized, and murdered). You can become a backer now by going to critrole.com/dwarvenforge for all the information about the current Kickstarter. It ends August 14th, so it's ending REALLY soon! So if you want to get in there at the current price that only the Kickstarter enables, go check it out!
 * "Honey Heist 2: Electric Beargaloo" will air tomorrow (August 10, 2018) at 7:00 pm PDT at twitch.tv/criticalrole.
 * Also, if you haven't seen it yet, Matt's Fireside Chat is available on YouTube, where Matt drank a lot of really nice port and talked questions and fun stuff. It was a good hangout time. Matt hopes to do those more in the future as well: Matt enjoyed just sitting there and getting mildly tipsy with the Internet.
 * Laura is surprised that her hit points got updated already. That's what happens when people aren't updating their character sheets fast enough and the DM has to do it for you. Laura blames the baby. Liam asks for a show of hands for everyone who got max HP when they leveled up. Marisha, Travis, Laura, and Taliesin all raise their hands. Liam tells each of them, "Fuck you", and Matt agrees that is fucking bullshit. Ashley rolled an eleven, so whenever they get her back, Yasha is going to be a little beefier.
 * merch update from Laura: Last but not least, Matt announces a bunch of new items in the shop...before Laura angrily cuts him off and shouts that's her job! Matt thought she said she didn't have anything to update, to which a frustrated Laura clarifies that she meant she didn't have any copy to read off of! Matt encourages Laura to go for it, to which Laura in anger and desperation begins shouting all the new merch items at the audience. Marisha points out that she's been gone so long that they took her job. As Laura keeps going, she starts tearing up. We have new shirts, we have new hats! There's a bumper sticker that says "Traveler is my co-pilot"! There's a Mighty Nein shirt! We have a pin that will be coming back to the store (it's not in the store at this moment). And there's other things that will be coming to the store, and you can find those at shop.critrole.com. Travis says Laura did top-shelf for Day One.
 * Critical Role has its Wyrmwood giveaways at the break. There will be more information when we get to the break, but remember to hop over to the Critical Role Twitch chat to jump in and be a part of it. Matt will tackle that when we get to it.
 * Travis asks how to add the +2 to Strength that Fjord gets from the "Dad Strength" that Travis has now?

Previously on Critical Role
"So last we left off: The Mighty Nein - upon heading towards the second leg of their journey completing a task for The Gentleman, of who they had left Zadash to earn money and praise with - found themselves in the outskirts of Hupperdook, where three members of their team (Yasha, Jester, and Fjord) were all captured in the middle of the night by a group of traveling slavers (the Iron Shepherds) and dragged north to Shadycreek Run...outside of the laws of the Empire.

"The rest of the members finding new allies in Keg (the dwarven Fighter), Nila (the firbolg Druid), and a brief reappearance of the fantastic Human Cleric: Shakäste.

"These friends together managed to storm the gifted stronghold of the Sour Nest: attack and destroy one-by-one this team of slavers, leaving the Iron Shepherds down to their last few, in the subterranean basement where these cages contained their friends...chained, and held in darkness. There, the battle with Lorenzo (revealing his final form, after stalking them invisibly from the air for their entire journey through that fortress) revealed himself to be an oni: a terrible creature of nightmare and entirely unnatural strength and capability. However, - through some ingenuity, fast thinking, and some incredible luck - Lorenzo found himself unable to escape, the members of your team knocked unconscious brought back from the brink, and a final blow was dealt by Caleb as his arcane cinders burned away the final remnants of Lorenzo's demonic form.

"There, as you began to inspect the interior of the subterranean chamber, you discovered in one set of these prison cells - to the left - there lie chained Jester and Fjord. In the other, an unconscious Yasha. And with that, you have made your way through the bars - unlocking the mechanisms that held them at bay - and have now come back, face-to-face with your taken friends. With one new friend, and one missing..."

Reunion
Jester and Fjord both are in their chamber, enduring the sounds of other captives being punished and tortured. A nearby friend endures it silently, just to frustrate the Iron Shepherds. Jester has been trying desperately to contemplate ways of escape...to try and find a way to relieve herself of her bindings...to no avail. Suddenly, there's the sound of battle: weapons scraping on stone, metal, and flesh; screams and familiar voices; flashes of light; and the air rushing warm and cold with the nearby blasting of arcane energies and divine forces and powers brought in to sustain and snuff life. And then silence...Jester hears the voices come close, as she barely manages to glance over her shoulder and watch the bars to the chamber where she's held swing open. The tiny form of Nott the Brave rushes over and embraces Jester, saying: "Case closed."

Nott takes the gags and manacles off Jester. Jester and Nott together untie Fjord. He immediately asks where the Iron Shepherds took Yasha. Beau goes to the other chamber to free Yasha. She finds Yasha manacled and unconscious with gashes and dried blood all over her. Caleb casts Knock to get the manacles off Yasha. Caduceus does not have any healing left, but Jester volunteers to heal Yasha. Beau wordlessly hugs Jester. Jester casts Cure Wounds, sealing up some of the scars, but Yasha is still unconscious. As Jester begins to thank them, Nott tells her they had help from Caduceus, Nila, and Shakäste.

Fjord and Jester are introduced to Caduceus. Fjord thanks Caduceus for helping. Jester tells Caduceus she likes his hair then asks where Molly is. Beau tells them Molly did not make it. Fjord and Jester partially heard the fight where Molly died but couldn't do anything because they were tied up inside one of the carts.

Caleb says he is sorry. They tried but their best wasn't good enough. Beau blames the death on them getting cocky and underestimating the enemy. Fjord becomes angry and blames himself for not seeing the Iron Shepherds coming when they were kidnapped. Beau tries to reassure him it's not anyone's fault, but immediately agrees with him that it does not feel that way. Caduceus says this is good from a certain point of view. Bad things have happened to Fjord and Jester, but it is a great thing that people cared enough to come and save them. He goes upstairs to give the group some time to talk. Keg awkwardly joins him.

Jester thanks Beau, Caleb, and Nott again for coming to save them. Nott says it wasn't really a choice. Jester says they did have a choice. They could have let them go. Fjord admits there were a few times during their captivity he thought they had. Beau says she would have died for them. Jester says she would have tried to heal Beau back. Beau shows them Molly's sword and tells them she believes one of them should have it. Fjord says he would be honored to have Molly's sword and thanks everyone again. Jester begins joking about her and Fjord being locked up together, implying something sexual happened between them. Fjord denies it and becomes uncomfortable. Nott joins in and eggs Jester on, joking about people in captivity resorting to primal instincts.

A New Mystery
The Mighty Nein check the rest of the basement. Shakäste has taken all the rest of the captives. They bring Yasha upstairs with them to recover. Caduceus has gone up to the kitchen to try and cook food for everyone. Caleb sits with the unconscious Yasha while everyone else searches the rest of the Sour Nest.

They find armor, gold, torture implements, and weapons. Beau finds receipts from the Iron Shepherds selling to House Jagentoth, confirming what Ophelia Mardun told them about the Jagentoth family sponsoring the Iron Shepherds. In Lorenzo's room, they find a mysterious empty leather looking sack. Jester and Nott make several attempts to magically pull things out of the bag but nothing happens. They give up and decide to have Caleb take a look at the bag. Fjord awkwardly asks Caduceus if he would like help cooking. Caduceus asks him to check the basement for roots, confusing him even further.

The Mighty Nein come back together. Caleb casts Identify on the bag from Lorenzo's room, learning that it is a Bag of Holding. Fjord flips the bag inside out, dropping the contents all over the floor. Inside was 101 platinum, 4 sets of manacles, 24 teeth of various species, a rusted meat hook, a red gem, and a wax sealed envelope. Jester recognizes the coin pressed into the seal as a galley- a gold coin that is produced along the Menagerie Coast. The letter says:

Jester recognizes the name Wayfarer's Cove. It is one of the main shipping yards in Nicodranas, her home city. Fjord points out that the drawing in the letter looks like the yellow orb from the Merrow lair that he absorbed. However none of them recognize the names Avantika or Marius LePual.

Caleb casts Leomund's Tiny Hut, a magical bubble of orange-brown energy. The party has never seen this spell before. It is a protective shield that Caleb can control who goes in and out. The party can sleep safely inside the bubble so no one can be kidnapped the same way the Iron Shepherds got Jester, Fjord, and Yasha. Caleb spends time casting more Identify spells on everything they found. The manacles used to hold Yasha have the capability of putting someone to sleep for a day. Fjord puts them in his bag of holding. Caleb gives Beau the red gem, which can be used to summon a fire elemental.

Fjord attunes to Molly's sword. As he sits with the Summer's Dance blade, he feels the essence of the sword he bound with before leave him. He feels a strange hunger. Fjord blinks while looking at Summer's Dance and opens his eyes to see himself inside a dark, endless ocean. He looks down to see Summer's Dance in his hand. Fjord blinks again and opens his eyes back in the Sour Nest. The sword is gone. The rest of the Mighty Nein saw the blade in Fjord's hand turn to ash and crumble, but nothing hit the ground. At this point, Keg awkwardly signals Beau to follow her. Beau needs a minute to take the hint then follows Keg.

Jester leaves the magical bubble for a bit with her sketchbook. She tries to think of how to tell The Traveler about the last few days. Unable to think of anything to draw, Jester only writes "Well, why didn't you come?" and closes the book.

The Morning After
Beau half wakes up early in the morning to hear Keg leave. When Nott wakes up, she finds a piece of paper near where she was sleeping:

Underneath the paper is a medallion of a multi pointed star that used to hang from Keg's battleaxe. Nott puts it on. Beau discovers she has a letter as well. Her letter is addressed "For Beau", with her name spelled wrong. The entire letter is crossed out except for the word "Thanks". Fjord puts Lorenzo's glaive in his bag of holding to give to Yasha when she wakes up.

Fjord and Jester ask about the job for The Gentleman. The Gentleman's job was to make contact with Ophelia Mardun, find out what job she wanted done, and then bring her back to Zadash when the job was complete. Ophelia wanted them to kill the Iron Shepherds, so it ended up being very convenient. Jester begins to tease Beau, Caleb, and Nott that they really only saved them for the money. Nott reassures her the money was not the point. Jester knows. She was just joking. Caleb very seriously tells Jester that the money did not mean anything.

Fjord asks Caduceus what his plans are now. Caduceus responds that he needs to head east at some point and he believes the signs are telling him he should go with the Mighty Nein. Caduceus tells Fjord and Jester that the tea he gave them for breakfast was made from dead people. Fjord seems confused and a little disturbed whereas Jester thinks it would be funny to set up a shop and only tell people what it was made of after they drink the tea.

The Mighty Nein find one of the Iron Shepherds' carts and discover it has illusory magic on it. No matter what is in the cart, it looks like it is filled with a stacks of ordinary looking boxes and bundles. Caduceus and Caleb guide the two horses pulling the cart. Jester and Nott ride in the cart with the still unconscious Yasha. Beau and Fjord ride two other horses they take from the Sour Nest. The group heads back to Shadycreek Run to report to Ophelia Mardun and complete their mission.

Return to the Empire
The Mighty Nein go back through the Savalierwood towards Ophelia Mardun's estate. Caduceus and Fjord both cast Disguise Self to look like humans as they go through Shadycreek Run to avoid attention. The guards allow them inside the estate, but say that the cart has to stay outside. To keep up appearances, Jester, Nott, and Yasha stay unseen on the cart while the others go inside to meet with Ophelia.

Caleb tells her that they have completed their task. When Ophelia asks for proof, Fjord shows her Lorenzo's glaive. Ophelia is convinced. She tells her guards to mount the glaive in her collection. Beau asks if they could keep the glaive in memory of their fallen friend. Ophelia agrees, but tells Beau to consider it a favor and remember it. She tells her servants to have things ready so she can leave at dusk. The Mighty Nein get ready to finish the last part of their contract with The Gentleman, bringing Ophelia back to Zadash with them.

Ophelia's carriage is prepared to leave for Zadash.

The Mighty Nein

 * Beauregard
 * Caduceus Clay
 * Fjord
 * Frumpkin (absent, mentioned)
 * Jester Lavorre
 * Nott
 * Yasha Nydoorin
 * Caleb Widogast

Returning

 * Cree
 * The Gentleman
 * Kara
 * Keg (played by Matt)
 * Kutha
 * Ophelia Mardun
 * Sorah

Mentioned

 * Avantika
 * Marius LePual
 * Lorenzo
 * Nila
 * Protto
 * Ruzza
 * Shakäste
 * Pumat Sol
 * Mollymauk Tealeaf
 * The Traveler

Inventory

 * The Mighty Nein took one of the carts from the Sour Nest. The cart is enchanted with illusion magic. No matter what is in the cart, it will appear to be filled with ordinary looking bundles and boxes.
 * Horses

Quotations

 * Beau: "This is Caduceus. He also came with us to help out." Jester: "Caduceus?" Caduceus: "Hello." Jester: "Hi." Nott: "We met him this morning."
 * Beau: "It's no one's fault." Fjord: "It doesn't feel that way." Beau: "No, it doesn't. I was lying."
 * Jester: "Me and Fjord spent a lot of time together in this cell." Fjord: "Okay. None of that happened. No." Jester: "Lots of eye contact happening. Just between me and you." Nott: "I've heard stories about people in captivity sort of resorting to primal instincts." Jester: "Yeah, yeah. I noticed him rolling over towards me several times, if you know what I mean."
 * Fjord: "Well, I have the cloven crystal. I do not have access to it at the moment."
 * Fjord: (bonding with Molly's sword as his pact weapon) "Thank you. You were very kind to me. I hope to do right by you and make it up to you one day."
 * Marisha Ray: "Hang on, you've got to have the full experience." (shows the folded up outside of the letter) "First off, 'For Beau', spelled wrong." (opens letter) Sam Riegel: (reading the letter) "'Beau', everything's crossed out. 'Thanks.'"
 * Caduceus: "Everything's telling me that I should stick around and see where you're headed. I think that's where I'm supposed to be."

Trivia

 * Ashly Burch wrote the prop letters of Keg's notes that Sam Riegel and Marisha Ray were given during the episode.