Raishan (episode)

is the eightieth episode of the first campaign of Critical Role. Vox Machina battles Raishan within Thordak's lair.

Announcements

 * No sponsor tonight
 * Matt and Marisha are leaving for MAGFest early tomorrow
 * Travis shouted out critter "Kathy Creshe, Creshaw, I don't know how to say it."
 * Sam plugged the Critical Role web store with an ad in Spanish (although he doesn't speak Spanish)
 * Matt and Marisha and maybe other cast members will be opening late Critmas gifts on Periscope.

Previously on Critical Role
"Vox Machina, the band of adventurers, spending the better part of this past year under the shadow of the Chroma Conclave, a group of ancient chromatic dragons that had banded together seemingly under the banner of Thordak the Cinder King, a great red dragon that had been sealed away in the Fire Elemental Plane for a number of years, newly released and carrying with him what was called a Soul Anchor—a magical artifact made from the heart of a fire primordial—that had begun to cause him to mutate, swell, and become something beyond what he was, also driving him apparently insane.

"As he dominated the countryside of Tal'Dorei, along with the rest of the Conclave, [Vox Machina] gathered artifacts of great power called the Vestiges of the Divergence under the guidance of two sphinx allies. [They] traveled between various planes and, gathering these artifacts, gathered allies and prepared for this climactic confrontation in [their] home city of Emon, now partially brought to ruin and flame.

"[Vox Machina] assembled an army, [they] snuck beneath the city, [they] arrived within the center of the Cloudtop District, nearly under the nose of Thordak's defending hordes, and—through a climactic, seeming-sacrifice by [their] friends Kashaw and Zahra—were allowed to pass directly into the Cloudtop, heading off Thordak before he could emerge from his subterranean lair and lay waste to the armies as they pushed inward towards his lair.

"There [they] all did battle with the great, colossal Thordak, the Cinder King. A well-prepared fight rolled out, and while there was much danger, [they] all perservered and managed to—using the Vestiges—destroy the Soul Anchor once it was revealed within the body of the great red dragon, his form rescinding and withering back to its regular, seemingly withering size. It attempted to flee back into its lair, but the rather rapid and temporarily winged rogue Vax'ildan gave chase and dealt a finishing blow to the great red beast midway through its cavern towards its lair.

"There [Vax] was joined briefly by [his] sister and...ally [they] had made through this circumstance, Raishan, one green dragon, the member of the Conclave that seemingly had made a tenuous alliance with [them] as her goal was also to destroy Thordak. Aiding [them] in the battle, Raishan followed suit, and upon the corpse of Thordak laying cut, bleeding, and dead in the center of this cavern, she wished to take her end of the deal [they] had made: to be left alone with the corpse for a moment to acquire some secret knowledge that apparently she was seeking from the dead dragon.

"Upon releasing the energy from the scroll that she had utilized the incantation from, [Vax] decided that vengeance—being [his] Oath as a paladin, and the history that [he] had with Keyleth and Keyleth's people that died under the guise of Raishan's initial plotting with Thordak—to not let this creature stand, attacked it, both [him] and [his] sister just as Keyleth began to arrive, the rest of the party slowly staggering behind.

"Raishan sneered and went further back into the cavern. [They] all gave chase into this dark volcanic tunnel system which then opened up into a large, red, flaming cavern filled with lava pools and rivers...and apparently a handful of red eggs, it looked like, scattered throughout this room. Thick, dark red crimson scales with crystalline formations pouring out of the side—very similar to Thordak's primordial dragon form.

"Upon finding not Raishan but just this empty space, [they] looked up to see a series of arcane-summoned meteors suddenly given form, rocketing from the ceiling of the cavern and slamming into the floor, dealing—to some of [them]—a pretty dangerous blow and sending [them] scattering across the floor a bit, Vex being thrown across the way. [They] all managed to survive [...].

"As the dust settles and [they] all take stock of what has just transpired, [they] see the snout of the green dragon pull up into what appears to be a series of dark volcanic exhaust tunnels that seem to be like a hive network of honeycomb-type tunnels that just spiral off all through the ceiling."

Gameplay
Percy makes his way down the tunnel to the chamber as lava erupts and sprays on the half-elves. It appears that even after Thordak's death, his lair is still a dangerous place. Raishan casts Greater Invisibility on herself from the top of the chamber. Keyleth casts Call Lightning and takes the form of a fire elemental. Vex can see that one of the five dragon eggs was destroyed by Raishan's Meteor Swarm spell. She heals up and she can feel a warmth inside her body, but there seems to be no other effect at the moment. Vax attacks one of the intact eggs and it begins to crack. Above, Jarett has decided that this is not his fight, but the rest of the party and their allies rush down toward the chamber.

Vax and Percy also feel the same warmth run through them. Keyleth strikes the damaged egg and shatters it, revealing a dead dragon embryo. It resembles a tiny Thordak, but appears to be made entirely of crystalline rock. Most of the rest of the party arrive, with only Lady Kima lagging behind. Grog feels an energy around him, but is able to resist it. Pike tries to cast Beacon of Hope but Raishan Counterspells it.

Percy fires at another egg with Animus, damaging it. Raishan casts the powerful Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting, knocking Vex and Pike unconscious, but Pike is revived by her Plate of the Dawnmartyr. Gilmore uses Dispel Magic on Raishan's Greater Invisibility as Grog heals Vex and the rest of the party take shots at Raishan. Scanlan takes out the flute given to him by J'mon Sa Ord to summon them for help. Vax is knocked unconscious by Raishan and nearly falls into the lava flow below, but Keyleth is able to nudge him away from it without burning him in her fire elemental form.

Raishan attempts to cast the devastating Prismatic Spray but it is Counterspelled by Scanlan. As Grog lands a hit with his axe and the Chain of Returning, a swirl of energy surrounds Raishan and she appears to speed up. Scanlan feels the same warm energy surge through him. Vex heals Vax, bringing him back to consciousness. There is a flash of orange-white light in the tunnel behind them and from it crawls J'Mon Sa Ord in their true form of Devo'ssa the brass dragon. Devo'ssa breathes fire at Raishan.

Pike and Scanlan heal the party as poison gas erupts from the lair. The party realizes that the warm energy they felt was Raishan using Dispel Magic on them to remove the poison immunity effect of Heroes' Feast. Raishan takes the two undamaged dragon eggs in her claws and breathes poison on most of the party. Grog and Pike still had their immunity, but Vex and Vax are knocked unconscious again and Scanlan and Gilmore are severely injured.

Keyleth drops the fire elemental form and uses the Spire of Conflux to cast Chain Lightning at Raishan and the two eggs she carries. Then she uses Healing Word on Vax to get him up again, but Raishan counters with Cone of Cold and knocks him out again, as well as Scanlan and Pike. Vex succumbs to her wounds and dies. Grog uses a Potion of Greater Healing on Pike, who in turn successfully uses Revivify on Vex. Devo'ssa unleashes several attacks on Raishan, but almost all miss her. Magma bursts from the floor of the lair, knocking Vex out yet again as well as Gilmore. Raishan follows this with another Cone of Cold that knocks Pike out and kills Scanlan where he lies. Raishan appears to be wounded. Having what she came for and facing a nearly unscathed brass dragon, Raishan makes her escape up the tunnel, her Haste allowing her to break away easily.

Keyleth rushes toward Vax, leaping over the lava flow in the middle of the room, but her foot gets caught and she stumbles into it, nearly killing her. She manages a Healing Word for Vax, getting him up again. Gilmore tries to chase Raishan up the tunnel but there is some sort of barrier blocking them all in the lair. Pike casts Revivify on Scanlan successfully.

The party's attacks don't seem to harm the barrier at all, and they see a purple flash of light from the tunnel. After Grog destroys the last remaining egg, he throws a piece of the shell at the barrier and it passes right through. Everyone runs up the tunnel after Raishan, but Thordak's body is missing and there is no sign of her. Vex uses her Primeval Awareness to sense the presence of dragons, but other than Devo'ssa there are none within a mile of here.

Vox Machina

 * Keyleth
 * Percival de Rolo
 * Scanlan Shorthalt
 * Grog Strongjaw
 * Pike Trickfoot (controlled by Laura and Liam)
 * Trinket (unconscious within Raven's Slumber; not mentioned)
 * Vax'ildan
 * Vex'ahlia

Returning

 * Shaun Gilmore
 * Jarett Howarth
 * J'mon Sa Ord / Devo'ssa
 * Lady Kima of Vord
 * Raishan
 * Thordak (corpse)

Mentioned

 * Kaylie

Trivia

 * There was no break in this episode.
 * This episode marks the second time that Vex'ahlia has died and the first time that Scanlan has died.
 * These are the fifth and sixth on-stream deaths of player characters, and the seventh and eighth overall.
 * This is the first episode where more than one player character has died.
 * This is the only episode named after a member of the Chroma Conclave where that member is not killed.