Found & Lost

 is the twenty-sixth episode of the second campaign of Critical Role. The Mighty Nein wake up to missing members, meet a stranger who could possibly help them, and find that some plans... have a high cost (with guest Ashly Burch).

Pre-Show
This is the first episode in Critical Role's new, independent studio!

Announcements

 * Tonight's sponsor is D&D Beyond!
 * Sam has written an audio drama re-enacting the birth of Travis and Laura's child. Taliesin narrates, Sam plays Travis, Marisha plays Laura, Liam plays the doctor, and Matt plays himself and the baby. Travis pops in chat to announce that their revenge will be swift and exacting.
 * Wyrmwood giveaways are back! The keyword for the giveaway should be entered into the chat for the Critical Role Twitch chat, which is hosting the stream from Geek & Sundry.
 * Talks Machina is every Tuesday at 7:00 pm PDT, talking about last week's episode of Critical Role with host Brian Wayne Foster.

Previously on Critical Role
''Last we left off, The Mighty Nein were making their way north after making a deal with the Gentleman in Zadash. They had completed the first of two tasks for him, the second one requiring them to make their way to the northern city of Shadycreek Run, outside of the Empire, to meet with a business operative of his, who had been busy with some other elements and needed some help to reconnect about what their business together was. Along this journey, [the party] had made a stop in the gnomish city of Hupperdook, where [they] discovered the work-hard-play-hard gnomish society, got all [their] money taken from [them], got it returned to [them] as [they] found out the thieves were the young children of a family, the parents of which had been arrested and had been imprisoned for a while.''

[They] went to the prison, helped destroy one of their long-haywire guardians, and paid off the rest of the fine for those parents, to set them free, returning them to their children, and decided to leave [their] temporary companion for a while, Kiri, with them, as a safer means of continuing her journey, now with her new family.

''With that, [they] gathered [their] things, Nott found [her]self a better crossbow, and began heading back on the trail along the Crispvale Roadway and making [their] way northward. There, [the party] had set up camp for the evening about a day's travel outside of Hupperdook, and during the night, while Yasha and Fjord were taking their watch, wakening Jester with their conversation, and the three of them deciding to step away from the camp as not to wake the rest of you, they were... Well, they went missing.''

A New Ally
Nott, Beau, Molly, and Caleb woke up to find that Jester, Fjord, and Yasha are gone. After searching for their missing friends, the four were encountered by an armored dwarven woman. The new arrival and Beau began shouting at each other almost immediately. Eventually everyone calmed down enough for the stranger to introduce herself as Keg. After the remaining members of the Mighty Nein explain their situation, Keg revealed that the Iron Shepherds, a dangerous group of slavers, were the ones to kidnap their friends. She explained that the slavers were out of Shadycreek Run, and that she is headed there to kill the Shepherds.

Keg made a deal with the group, that she will lead them to their friends. In return, they must help her kill the Shepherds. Without any other choice, the four head out with Keg to find and rescue their missing party members. Beau asked about the reason the Mighty Nein were going to Shadycreek Run to begin with- The Gentleman's contact Ophelia Mardun. Keg did not know Ophelia, but knew that the Mardun family are rivals of the family that employs the Iron Shepherds. The group packed Jester's haversack, shield, and everything else their kidnapped friends left behind. They decided to leave their cart and one of the horses (Loaf) so they could travel faster. Keg borrowed Molly's giant tapestry of The Platinum Dragon to wrap around herself as a disguise.

Reaching the outskirts of the Crispvale Thicket, Nott asked Caleb (as the leader) whether they were following the road around the forest or the faster path that goes right along the edge of the forest. Molly, irritated with Nott's repeatedly insisting Caleb was in charge, cut off a debate over whether Beau or Caleb was the leader by starting down the faster path.

Further along the path, the group found an abandoned house and briefly stopped to check the inside.

Ankheg Ambush
While looking through the house, Beau and Keg noticed the horses outside starting to get nervous. Beau felt subtle vibrations in the ground and yelled for everyone to get off the ground. The rumbling began to get louder. Beau, Caleb, and Molly ran towards the treeline intending to get into trees. Nott hid inside the house while Keg stood her ground. One of the horses, WC, while running away from the vibration got sprayed with green acid and fell over.

Two ankhegs, eight to nine feet long cockroach-like creatures, burst out of the ground. The ankheg that sprayed acid at WC and another one scuttled out of hiding. During the ensuing battle, the horse named Loo also was severely injured by acid spray. The group destroyed all four ankhegs, with Beau getting the final blow on the last one.

Keg realized they were unable to heal Loo and mercy killed the horse with her axe. Nott found the living horses that had run and WC lying on the ground. Not realizing WC was still alive, Nott cut out the horse's tongue and killed them. Keg was disturbed, even more so when Nott ate the tongue raw. Beau carved up one of the ankheg bodies and managed to extract a basketball sized sac of acid. Nott carefully punctured the sac to funnel acid into the three empty vials she took from the Evening Nip. Beau, Keg, and Nott each took one.

With only three horses left, the party was forced to double up to continue. They continued for another hour along the road until dusk then set up camp. Caleb and Molly take first watch. Molly noticed another campfire somewhat near them. They decided not to wake anyone else up yet. Caleb cast Find Familiar to change Frumpkin's form from a falcon into an owl.

Break

 * announcement of Critical Role at New York Comic Con
 * D&D Beyond ad
 * "Additional Knowledge Acquired": Marisha tells the Critters about Twitch Prime
 * "Loremasters: Legends" ad
 * Spellslingers gag reel for "Day[9] vs. Ari Stidham"
 * "How To Play with Becca Scott": Becca teaches us how to play "Coup"
 * previously on "Good Fornight Kevin": a parody of sitcoms set in bars
 * fan art reel

Guiatao Clan
Frumpkin (in owl form) flew quietly towards the campfire. Looking through Frumpkin, Caleb sees an old woman and a small child. He wakes up the rest of the party. They move stealthily towards the campsite. Beau approached first, and the adult (a Firbolg) reads her mind to assess if the party are a threat. Her fears assuaged, she introduces herself: Jumnda of the Guiatao Clan. The child Ombo (another Firbolg) with her is not her son, but one of the children of her clan that was saved from being kidnapped.

The clan was attacked three days ago while having a coming of age celebration. The attackers killed some of the clan. Others were wrapped up in nets and dragged away. The attack made no noise even though the firbolgs being taken screamed and fought back. Another member of the clan named Nila was away when the attack happened. When she came back to find out her son and mate were taken, Nila left to get them back on her own. A few of the clan besides Ombo are alive in the remnants of the village further into the forest but still badly injured. Jumnda has been trying her best to heal them. Jumnda allowed the group to stay with them for the night and offered them herbal tea. They accepted.

When the group woke up, Ombo was cooking squirrel-like creatures over the fire. Smiling, he offered the group each a skewer of meat. Jumnda gave the group specially prepared medicinal moss that can crumbled and ingested to heal wounds. She asked the group to please bring Nila's body back if they find her so the clan can give her a proper burial. Molly promised to do their best. Nott asked Jumnda if she knows Pumat Sol. The rest of the group pointed out that assuming all firbolgs know each other is like assuming Nott knows every goblin. The party said goodbye to Jumnda and Ombo and continued on their way.

As Nott rode on the back of a horse with Caleb, she flipped through Jester's sketchbook. There are caricatures of each member of the Mighty Nein and several people they have encountered through their journey. Besides short notes in Common, there are longer notes written to The Traveler in a language Nott cannot read (likely Infernal). Over the next eight hours of fast paced travel, the party made their way around the Crispvale Thicket and reached the Glory Run Road.

The Mighty Nein

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

New

 * Dwelma
 * Jumnda
 * Keg
 * Ombo
 * Protto
 * Ruzza
 * Wohn

Returning

 * Lorenzo

Mentioned

 * The Gentleman
 * Nila
 * Pumat Sol
 * The Traveler

Inventory

 * The party left Loaf and the cart given to them in Alfield behind along the Crispvale Roadway.
 * Loo and WC were severely burned by Ankheg acid spray then put down after the battle.

Quotations

 * Nott: "I am the greatest detective of all times! I poured one drink, and I solved the case!"
 * Keg: "Ah, son of a dick. All right, let's get this over with." (when she notices Molly approaching her and Beau badly hidden watching her)
 * Keg: (asking about Fjord, Jester, and Yasha) "How much do these people mean to you?" Beau: "Well, they're the only people I've had in my life since my father, so, parents." Molly: "We don't leave people behind, and that's the deal."
 * Molly: (suggesting Keg hire the Mighty Nein) "Twenty gold." Keg: "You just gave me twenty gold." Molly: "Yes, that's how I know you can afford us."
 * Beau: (to Keg) "You don't fuck us, and we don't fuck you. Unless, like . . . you know . . ."
 * Keg: (to Nott) "You being a detective, is that just you hear other people say information and then you remark upon it? And then that's you saying you're a great detective?" Molly: "Yes."
 * Sam: "I believe we're going to take WC, Loo, John, Crapper, and Toilet; but we're going to leave Loaf."
 * Keg: (when Nott asks if she is related to ankhegs) "No, Nott. Keep trying, little detective. You'll get it one day." Nott: "The subject seems to be exhibiting signs of distress or at least annoyance." Keg: "Annoyance!"
 * Nott: (to Jumnda) "Do you know someone named Pumat Sol?"
 * Matt: (describing Jester's sketchbook) "It is absurd. There are sketches across the spectrum of silly-faced interpretations and caricatures of the people you've met, of each of you. There's little notes to The Traveler throughout. You see people that you've liked in the past looking beautiful, with tiny bodies. You see people who you've hated in the past getting stepped on by a poop monster. It's childish in all the delightful ways that you'd expect from Jester's capability."

Trivia

 * Sam's giant flask says "Clean Me" on it.