Disparate Pieces

is the fourth episode of the second campaign of Critical Role. The party presents evidence of the devil toad’s corruption at a midnight trial, and Beau confronts an envoy from her past.

Pre-Show
On the Twitch stream, a Critical Role fan art slideshow played before the episode began, but it was not included in the final YouTube video of this episode.

Announcements

 * D&D Beyond is the official toolset (sponsor) for Critical Role.  Sam Riegel presents D&D Beyond Awards, dubbed the "Sponsies". "Best Picture" is mistakenly awarded to La La Land...again.
 * Talks Machina will air next Tuesday on Twitch and Alpha.
 * Asinine Wisdom will guest star Sam Riegel at 9:00 pm PST on Tuesday (after Talks Machina) on Geek & Sundry's Twitch.
 * Weave Society will premiere next Wednesday at 7:30 pm PST on Geek & Sundry's Twitch. It stars Amy Dallen, Gina DeVivo, Whitney Moore, Becca Scott, and Stef Woodburn, and they will be playing the Weave RPG by Monocle Society.
 * has been released in podcast form for the Critical Role Podcast.
 * Issue #4 of the Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins comic is out now.
 * If you have the opportunity, donate your time and/or money to the fantastic charity 826LA. They have fantastic classes to help teach creative writing in environments where it's hard to find that type of tutelage.  It's a great program, or check out your local 826 chapter and see if you can help out.
 * Conventions:
 * Liam O'Brien is going to be at Bak-Anime this weekend (February 3rd and 4th, 2018) in Bakersfield, CA. He will talk, and he will go out in public.
 * Laura Bailey and Travis Willingham (or is it "Travis Willingham and Laura Bailey"?) will be at Emerald City Comic-Con (yay!) the first weekend of March (March 2-4, 2018) in Seattle, WA.
 * Matt Mercer will be at Lexington Comic and Toy Con on March 9-11, 2018 in Lexington, KY; OtaFest on May 18-20, 2018 in Calgary, Alberta, and A-Kon on June 7-10, 2018 in Fort Worth, TX.
 * Marisha says you should go check out Good Fortnight, Kevin on Project Alpha, because it is a super-meta, funny, dumb morning show.

Previously on Critical Role
"So...last we left off: Our group of adventurers had found their various individual fates come together here in the city of Trostenwald, where they had attended a Carnival that had blown into town. Had watched a horrible occurrence happen where one of the older attendees had seemingly transformed into this terrifying zombie creature. Upon defeating it, you are all put under investigation as possible culprits for the reason that it had occurred.

"In trying to then wander the city to investigate and try and clear your name, you eventually found that there was a fiend hiding amongst these Carnival workers. This large devil-like toad creature (which through some research you had found to actually be called a 'nergaliid') killed two more of the guards—leaving you to fend with their transformed forms—and then fled deep into the center of the Ustaloch lake.

"Upon gathering your supplies, after a night's rest, you managed to - through the trade of a bottle of wine - get passage across the lake onto the central island, which (at one time) housed the abode of a witch that had long collapsed. Waiting for nightfall, you approached the center of the grove that existed there on the island, and found near this ruin this same fiendish nergaliid, as well as Toya: the twelve year-old Dwarf girl, who had been affixed to him for their performances in the Carnival.  You did battle with this large fiendish entity, who summoned a cluster of imps and managed to knock a few of you pretty heavily to the ground before you finished it off.  We left off as you all were finishing licking your wounds, catching your breath, and now - as the moonlit night gets its darkest in the sky—you figure out what the next step is in gathering means of absolving yourselves of the suspicion...

The Aftermath
Fjord and Caleb need healing, but Jester doesn't have any spells left, so they carry on. Molly is elected to hack off the dead nergaliid's head, a somewhat unpleasant task for one of Kylre's former friends. Molly then gathers up the still-unconscious Toya and heads back to the boat.

Toya wakes up as Molly is carrying her. He explains what has happened and comforts her as best he can about Kylre's death. The situation, however, is not helped when Beau and Jester arrive, carrying Kylre's severed head. Jester quickly covers the head with her cloak when Toya begins to scream. Caleb has a talk with the fisherman about keeping quiet, handing him some gold as incentive, and they all head back to Trostenwald.

Back on shore, Fjord disguises himself once again so he can keep watch over the nergaliid head. Molly takes his leave to sneak Toya back to the circus. Caleb, as the only one officially free to wander town, is elected to take credit for the kill and bring it before Lawmaster Norda. Jester, Beau, and Nott try to sneak back into the Nestled Nook Inn, but are caught by guards patrolling outside. They are chained up and brought to the stockade.

Caleb also goes to the stockade, beating his compatriots there, where he manages to catch Norda's attention just as she is leaving for the night. He implores her to go to the docks to see the nergaliid head. Plainly eager to be done with the whole affair, Norda agrees, bringing the rest of the party along in chains. The nergaliid head does indeed prove interesting to her, though she is initially unsure how to handle the people who killed it. On Caleb's insistence that the creature is a fiend, she sends for someone who can confirm the claim.

Molly, meanwhile, has dropped off Toya at her tent and makes his way back to the docks. When he sees the rest of the party in chains, he decides to turn himself in as well and gets locked up with the rest.

Norda Just Wants to Sleep
At this point, a man called Archivist Zeenoth, a visitor from the Cobalt Soul library of Zadash, arrives on Norda's summons to examine the nergaliid head. He confirms that Kylre was indeed a dangerous creature. Beau rather conspicuously hides her face while he is conducting his examination.

Norda, satisfied that Kylre's fiendish nature has been confirmed, brings everyone (except Fjord, who has remained disguised and at a distance) back to the stockade for a trial. In the courtroom, the party is joined by Gustav, Bosun, and a recaptured Yasha. Fjord arrives separately and is brought in.

Caleb, as the purported slayer of the fiend, is called on to present his case, which he does. Molly goes next and explains that members of the circus were protecting their own until Kylre showed his true colors, whereupon they took care of him. On Yasha's behalf, he explains that her running from the scene was because they knew the circus members would have no trust from the Crownsguard, despite their innocence.

Norda confronts Nott, who has been revealed as a goblin, saying she has kin in Grimgolir who were killed by Nott's kind. Nott insists that her clan doesn't operate there, and anyway, she no longer associates with them.

Norda is not convinced, but wants to be done with the whole thing. She asks Zeenoth's opinion, and he vouches for the historic precedent of members of monstrous races who became beneficial members of society. As her final verdict, Norda clears everyone (including the goblin) of all charges. She places the debt for the deaths and subsequent investigation, totaling 2,645 gold pieces, on Gustav's head, to be worked off in service to the city. With that, she departs, and the party are all unchained.

Beau hurries out of the room ahead of the rest, but encounters a hooded figure blocking her way just outside the stockade. She gives up on trying to leave quietly and rejoins the group.

Discussing the Future
The party check in with Gustav about the future of the circus. When the party hints at trying to help him with his debt, he firmly insists that they leave it to him and goes to check on Toya.

Back at the Nestled Nook Inn, the party is joined by Gustav, Bosun, Toya, Ornna, and Desmond. Gustav buys a round of drinks while they discuss the disbandment of the circus. Desmond plans to go his own way; Gustav will be staying in town to pay off his debt, and bequeathes whatever equipment they need to Bo and Ornna; these two plan to move on with Toya and create their own show. Beau, Jester, and Fjord offer to let Molly and Yasha travel with them to the Soltryce Academy up north. Nott and Caleb also agree to travel along.

As the party are finishing their drinks, Beau is found and invited for a walk by Archivist Zeenoth. He says she was difficult to find and promises to bring her back to her friends, but that they have much to discuss. As Beau steps outside, they are joined by the figure from outside the stockade, who now reveals herself to be a bald-headed elven woman. The three of them walk together toward the Northward district of town.

Break

 * "Behind the Shield", hosted by Sam de Leve
 * on this episode of "Adulting in the Apocalypse", Whitney Moore teaches us how to "Get in Shape" (for more, watch "Thashtopia" on Project Alpha)
 * "Good Fortnight, Kevin!", hosted by Kevin of "Darin & Amy Have To Do A Morning Show" fame/infamy (next episode is Monday, February 12th)
 * another episode of "Adulting in the Apocalypse", where our old pal Whitney teaches us about shaving

The Way of the Cobalt Soul
(At this point, all of the cast except Marisha are asked to leave the room.)

The two monks quietly walk Beauregard to a familiar place: the outskirts of the Baumbach Brewery, where Beau had previously worked when she first arrived in Trostenwald. They enter a warehouse. It turns out that Zeenoth is Beau's mentor, and he has pulled in a hefty favor to find her. The latter comes as a surprise to Beau, who thought the Archive hated her and considered her a problem student.

As Zeenoth attempts to reason with Beau, the elven woman interrupts. She informs Zeenoth that he has been relieved of his responsibility to tutor Beau. Zeenoth leaves, looking hurt. The woman introduces herself as Expositor Dairon of the Cobalt Soul, a position that Beau has only heard of through whispers. When Beau responds to her introduction with sarcasm, Dairon clocks her in the jaw to get her attention.

The two monks begin to spar. While Beau throws wild haymakers, missing with her first hit, Dairon retaliates with only very light, disciplined taps. Beau's next few hits land hard. Dairon is impressed, but continues to deal only very light taps, saying, "With but a few simple strikes, I'm able to extract from you everything I need to know about you. You see, brute force has its place, but precision and intent: that can take down the greatest of mountains by poking the weakest point. Now I know where your weak points are." Dairon continues to toy with Beau, finally landing a hit that completely stuns her.

When Beau is able to speak again, she admits defeat and says that she wants to learn more. Dairon agrees to begin training her as a future expositor. To that end, she invites Zeenoth back into the room and, calling in his favor to her, asks him to play punching bag for Beau's first lesson. Over the next few hours, the two of them practice beating him unconscious together.

Errands in Trostenwald
(The rest of the cast are invited back into the room.)

Beau returns to the Nestled Nook Inn. The next morning, the others comment on her thoroughly bloodied appearance, and Jester helps bandage her up. Beau evasively suggests that she may have been invited into a secret society of monks.

Caleb and Nott leave together to run errands in the city, going first to the Burnished Bibelots. Caleb sells the book on fiends back to the proprietor while Nott steals back the flask she had left there previously.

They proceed from there to the fancy bathhouse that Caleb has learned about from the innkeeper, Yorda. Using Disguise Self to make himself look like a well-to-do client, he buys entry for himself and Nott (posing as his daughter) into the Warm Dew bathhouse. Caleb spends his time studying the arcane book he had acquired on a previous visit to Burnished Bibelots, learning the spells Arcane Lock and Unseen Servant. Meanwhile, in her separate room, Nott:


 * eats all the cucumbers out of the cucumber water,
 * steals the brass doorknob,
 * steals the flower vase and its flowers, and
 * tears one of the linen towels into new bandages.

Beau, Jester, Fjord, Molly, and Yasha, meanwhile, head to the Lochward General Store. While the proprietor goes into a back room to look for maps, Jester thoroughly rearranges everything in the store. They procure their map and a healer's kit and quickly leave, just as the storekeep is noticing Jester's handiwork.

Their next stop is Natural Remedies. They start by shopping for healing potions, but Molly convinces the storekeep to show them "something exciting" (which is to say, drugs). They end up purchasing one healing potion and several experiences' worth of a powdered mushroom called skein. As they are leaving, they bump into Caleb and Nott, just arriving from the baths.

Leaving Town
Consulting their map together, the group plans to next make their way north by way of Alfield and Zadash. Yasha, however, declines to go with them right away. She is evasive as to her reason, only saying that she doesn't feel like she can leave yet until she's told she can, but that she will try to meet up with them in Zadash.

Before they leave town, Jester finds a courier service and posts a letter to her mother asking for more money. Beau asks the courier if there's any mail for the Baumbachs; she is handed three small parcels, which she has no intention of delivering.

The group pile onto the cart that they have appropriated from the circus, and with a screeching "Yee-haw" from Nott, they head out of town and onto the open road.

Player Characters

 * Beauregard
 * Fjord
 * Frumpkin
 * Jester
 * Nott
 * Mollymauk Tealeaf
 * Caleb Widogast
 * Yasha

New

 * Expositor Dairon
 * "Davies"
 * Archivist Zeenoth

Returning

 * Bo
 * Gustav Fletching
 * Kylre (corpse)
 * Desmond Moondrop
 * Noah
 * Norda
 * Ornna
 * Toya
 * Yorda

Mentioned

 * Enon Brinjay
 * Jonas
 * The Knowing Mistress
 * Lucas
 * Mona
 * Yuli

Quotations

 * Jester: "We had a party!"
 * Beau: "Sorry for choking you with my stick."
 * Lawmaster Norda: "I love when they do this! Lock him up."
 * Jester: "Yeah, life does need things to live."
 * Molly: "Such a stupid phrase...who said that?!?"
 * Beau: "Oh, I'm sorry, I just have this burn in my butt from all the smoke you just blew up my ass!!!"
 * Expositor Dairon: "If the system does not work, destroy the system."
 * Jester: "Oh, yes. Of course I do.  I have a lot of bandages because I am...the Cleric."
 * Jester: "We are looking for pickles."
 * Jester: "And I have a pretty ribbon out of it!"
 * Jester: "My friends keep dying...do you have any health potions?"
 * Taliesin: "I'm fishing for drugs, I'm not gonna lie."
 * Matt: "Hey guys. We're dealing D&D drugs!"
 * Sam: "Cut to an hour later, someone's jamming an adrenaline needle..."
 * Matt: "Daviiiiiiies..."
 * Nott: "Doesn't hurt to be nice sometimes."
 * Molly: "I don't get along with anybody."
 * Jester: "Dear Mom, All of the money is gone. I don't know what happened, but I am very broke and I need more.  Please, help me.  I'm going to Zadash.  That's where you can send it.  Just send it to the inn that is, like, the biggest one, and I'll find it there.  Just address it to me.  Your Loving Daughter, Jester.  P.S. Please.  Thank you.  I need help.  Thank you."