Reunion & Revelation

is the 30th episode of the third campaign of Critical Role.

Part I
Bells Hells, Birdie, and Hondir make their way through the Hellcatch Valley, passing over a narrow bridge suspended over a deep gorge. As they do, another crawler passes them, and Fresh Cut Grass notices that the driver has red streaks on their face, marking them as a member of Fists of the Ruiner, one of Bassuras's crawler gangs. As the party continues, Orym notices another person up ahead who appears to send out a flare, and Orym warns the party. They notice a trap on the bridge, and manage to avoid it.

At that point, a huge automaton vehicle with tripod-like legs and a huge number of guns appears. One of the six riders, all of whom bear the same red streak tattoos, tells the party to stop and give over all their belongings and return back towards the city, or die. Chetney and Laudna bring up the Paragon's Call in an attempt to negotiate with this leader, who refers to himself as the Ire of Maricris. Birdie admits to Fearne that when she's on her own she usually is able to evade these gangs but can't do so with multiple riders.

Imogen offers to put down one of their backpacks. She then takes the bag in which they are keeping the bomb they did not detonate during the Deathwish Run and places it near the Fists of the Ruiner's crawler. Ashton tells the gang that the backpack contains platinum, and two of the members of the gang approach the backpack. Imogen meanwhile telepathically tells the party to back away, which they do just before the bomb explodes. They then enter combat.

Bells Hells are surrounded, but have seriously damaged the automaton in the process. Early in the fight, Imogen casts Lightning Bolt, aimed down the barrel of the largest gun. This fires all of the guns on the crawler, which does do significant damage to said crawler but also causes multiple bullets to hit each combatant. Hondir is knocked unconscious, but two members of the Fists are killed and the "Kshatriya" main gun is destroyed in the process. The fight continues to be a close one, with one of the members of the Fists casting Vitriolic Sphere and dealing significant acid damage, knocking out Birdie, FCG, Imogen, and Laudna. However, Bells Hells manages to rally, and between Fearne's Cure Wounds and Chetney and Ashton giving their party members healing potions, they survive the fight. Fearne gets the HDYWTDT on the gunner, and when Maricris attempts to flee, Birdie casts Sleep on him which leads to him being run over by his own crawler. Laudna casts Darkness on the Fists' crawler as they run away, and several minutes later, Bells Hells hears a distant crash as the crawler presumably plummets into one of the nearby ravines.

The party takes a moment to loot the bodies of the gang members left behind, and find 420 gold as well as two carbine rifles, though no bullets. Ashton takes a moment to steal a large thimble from Fearne, and Orym recalls some of the history of Marquet surrounding Gruumsh, the Ruiner; the Betrayer God is known for having attempted to destroy Marquet and in doing so, creating the deserts and badlands on what was once entirely jungle. They then continue on towards their destination.

Part II
The next hour's drive to the "Calloway Layaway" passes without further incident, and they arrive at what appears to be an old safe house that the Calloways have since spruced up. The interior living space Birdie brings Bells Hells to, despite receiving no natural light, is full of thriving plants thanks to a number of gnarlrock shards, which Birdie warns the party not to touch. She offers the party refreshments, but they instead ask about Ira Wendagoth again and indicate they'd like to see the machine as soon as they can. Birdie reiterates that she and Ollie are working with Ira out of necessity, but tells the party where the lab is. She and Chetney stay behind to hide some of their crawler tracks in the sand as the rest of the party continues to the workshop.

The lab is below ground, but has a skylight through which sunlight comes in. A massive telescope-like device is in the center, aimed at the skylight. Fearne is reunited with her father, Ollie, a shorter elven man. He, like Birdie, also believes to have left her only six years ago. As Fearne introduces Ollie to the party, Ira, who had been up near the top of the telescope, descends and greets the party. Fearne hands over the Weave Lens to her father. Ira apologizes to the party for his actions to the previous meeting, telling them he was only following his orders, though Laudna apologizes back to him for the damage the party made to his laboratory in Jrusar. Ira then takes the lens and explains that the device is intended to reveal the enchantments on Ruidus as it can bypass protections against Scrying and similar magics, noting that many who study Ruidus experience headaches upon looking at it too long. He calls the contraption the Veilscatter Scope, and asks for a volunteer to look through it, prior to the installation of the lens from Morrigan. Laudna raises her hand. Ira helps her position her face in the mask-like viewer and focuses the device, and through it, Laudna is able to see ley lines, which appear almost like an aurora in the sky. He then directs the device towards Ruidus, which Laudna is able to see, but finds it hard to focus beyond a general, swirling red texture to it. She pulls away, and Ira begins to install the lens. Orym looks for the Moontide Crown in the machine, but is unable to find it.

Fearne asks Ollie for more background on why they are building the scope. He elaborates on the story Birdie told them earlier that day: he has a vague oracular ability his mother called "the Squint", in which he gets flashes of potential future dangers. In the case of Ruidus intruding into and destroying the Feywild, he had a much more detailed vision than usual in which someone who he initially thought was Birdie, but now thinks might be Fearne, stood in the center of the decaying plane. He and Birdie decided to take action after Ruidus appeared, first by beseeching the courts, and then, after they were threatened by Unseelie Court agents and discovered that court's deception and collaboration with people from the Material Plane, stealing the Moontide Crown and fleeing the Feywild after leaving Fearne with Morri. Ira was the only person they were able to find initially to help them. Ollie hopes to stop whatever might be happening, which first requires a greater understanding of the moon's nature. Hondir, upon being asked, elaborates on the nature of Ruidusborn dreams such as Imogen's. Otohan Thull is one of two figures commonly seen in these dreams, the other being an older elven man with white hair, a cane, and blue or gray robes.

The party then asks about Ira's intentions, as many of them trust the Calloways but not him. Ira tells the party that he had also been noticing the Ruidus flares and was curious to discover more. Laudna and Ashton both express an interest in Ira's motivations and hope to discuss them more, perhaps over a drink. Chetney then speaks up having recently returned from covering the party's tracks: he wants to know how Ollie and Birdie, who both claim to have limited mechanical abilities, knew to steal the Moontide Crown. Ollie tells him that it was the shiniest part of it, which Ashton agrees makes sense.

Ollie then tells the story of how he and Birdie met: Ollie had been a traveling musician in the Feywild in a troupe that often played tricks on or lightly grifted those they encountered. Birdie managed to trick him back, which initially angered him, but after he spent some time with her, they fell in love and he left the troupe. He then notes that despite the odd time dilation between the Feywild and other planes, the amount of time Fearne experienced vs. what he and Birdie experienced seems excessive. Ira tells them all that it wouldn't be the first time Morri, a known collector, played with the passage of time. Birdie and Ollie seem regretful that this happened, as they only left Fearne with Morri so that they could try to protect her. Fearne notes that Morri always asks people for gifts when she is asked for a boon, and hesitantly asks her parents if she was that gift. Ollie and Birdie are taken aback as they realize that Morri may have seen it this way and assure Fearne they never offered her as a gift. They all look towards Ira, who evades the question by telling them the Veilscatter Scope is complete.

Imogen volunteers to look through the scope, and is able to see a lattice that encases Ruidus. She tells Ira she sees a prison for a deity, which he says he has not heard of previously. Meanwhile Chetney continues to question Ollie and Birdie about the device they saw in the Unseelie Court and whether they merely recreated the same thing here on the Material Plane. Ollie asks Ira if they're rebuilding that same machine. Ira again evades the question.

Imogen is unable to perceive more, so she lets Orym look through the Veilscatter Scope. He is able to to see a glint within the moon's storms, and Ira helps focus the viewer. Imogen looks again, and in a brief break in the storm, is able to perceive a city on the surface of Ruidus.

Player characters

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

Returning

 * Birdie
 * Hondir
 * Ira Wendagoth

New

 * Oleander Calloway
 * Maricris

Mentioned

 * Alyxian (unnamed)
 * Gruumsh, the Ruiner
 * Morri Calloway
 * Otohan Thull

Trivia
The description of the elven man who accompanies Otohan Thull in people's visions of the red storm and who was working with the Unseelie Court matches that of Ludinus Da'leth, an older elf with long white hair, who uses a cane and at times wears dark blue robes.