Whispers

is the twenty-ninth episode of the first campaign of Critical Role. Vox Machina begins a campaign to sow the seeds of rebellion amongst the people of Whitestone. The cruel Sir Kerrion Stonefell is the first target on their list, but will the attack against him unleash a darker power?

Announcements

 * More giveaways for breaking the sub-train record.
 * Chat gets to choose what Zac's beard style is going to if when the sub count hits 10k.
 * Nerdist is running a 24 hour lifestream for Extralife featuring some G&S hosts.
 * Laura, Travis and Sam are running late.
 * Now, there are Spotify playlists for the PC's.
 * Catch the D&Diesel on Youtube.
 * Matt released his Witch Hunter class for 5e.
 * Official Critical Role t-shirts are available in the store.
 * All the cast interviews are up on the G&S website.
 * 826LA is running a campaign for LA 2050, sponsored by Goldhirsh. They are also opening a 826 in San Fransisco.
 * Tara Platt has an Indiegogo out for an interactive book named Zartana.
 * Super Power Beat Down won a Geekie.

Previously on Critical Role
"Two nasty individuals known as the Briarwoods, Lord and Lady Briarwood, have for the past five years been occupying the city of Whitestone, which was once the home to Percival here, after it was forcefully taken from his family, most of which seemingly have been either killed or lost in the process, and he was scattered to the four winds, to find Vox Machina. After encountering the Briarwoods in Emon, in a scuffle that took place, the Briarwoods retreated to Whitestone, inviting the party to come and say hello. Since then the party has prepared the best they could, made their way towards Whitestone, and through some bit of infiltration and subterfuge managed to sneak into the city itself.

"They, under the guise of Scanlan's Seeming illusion, appeared to be as common folk as the rest of the poor saps that still live in Whitestone. They scoped out an abandoned tavern which they fitted to their needs as kind of a base of operations and also managed to come across a central portion of Whitestone's city structure and history known as the Sun Tree. A tree once risen to the might of the sun god Pelor, now lies dead in the center of town, and from it hung eight figures that appeared to have been individuals killed, hung, and painted up and dressed to resemble Vox Machina, as essentially a warning or a welcome; it's hard to tell when it comes to the Briarwoods. Nevertheless, a message was definitely delivered. The party, retreating back to the tavern, set up for the remainder of the afternoon. Keyleth carved, through her druidic magical ways, through the ground to find some of the roots of the Sun Tree and began preparing an extensive time-consuming ritual in hopes of restoring some semblance of life to the entity itself."

Exploring The Zenith
In the tunnel below the tavern, Keyleth continues her ritual to revive the Sun Tree. On the second floor of the tavern, Vax'ildan replaces some of the daggers in his Blinkback Belt with wooden stakes he had purchased in Emon. He also takes the symbol of Sarenrae he received from Father Tristan and sews it onto the back of his right glove. Vax tells Grog he's going downstairs and heads through the tunnel. Kneeling down next to Keyleth, he asks if she needs anything. She requests Holy Water, but Vax only has Holy Oil. He gives the vial to Keyleth anyway. She also requests some drinking water, as the tavern only has old wine and ale.

Percy, Vax, and Scanlan exit the tavern through the window and Percy leads them to a well. They manage to pull up a bucketful of clean water and take it back to the tavern.

Leaving Vex'ahlia, Trinket, and Grog to guard Keyleth while she performs her ritual, Percy leads Vax and Scanlan to The Zenith, Whitestone's temple to Pelor. Vax and Percy stick to the shadows and alleyways, while Scanlan, still disguised as a peasant boy, walks down the middle of the street.

Reaching the far eastern side of Whitestone, they follow the path through the woods and come upon the graveyard. As they enter the gate they see a stone temple with stained glass windows. Percy walks up to the doors and tries to open them, but can't. Vax prepares to unlock it, but there isn't a lock; the doors are barred from the inside. Scanlan uses Dimension Door to get inside the temple and sees three stained glass windows on either side of the building, some shattered, along with pews that have been pushed off to the sides, some of which have been destroyed. There is a red carpet going down the center and leading up to the altar.

Scanlan attempts to lift the large wooden bar holding the doors shut, but between the weight of the bar and its height relative to a gnome's, he is unable to move it. Percy pulls out a blade that he never uses and he and Vax stick it between the two doors, under the bar, telling Scanlan to wrap some cloth around the blade and help them lift it. The combined strength of the three men is unable to budge the bar and Scanlan ends up cutting himself on the blade. Vax goes around the side of the temple, leaps up the wall, and climbs in through the window, landing safely inside. Scanlan calls his Unseen Servant to assist him and Vax, but they still cannot open the door. Finally, Scanlan summons Bigby's Hand, which easily flicks the bar off the doors.

Percy enters the temple and looks around. The inside looks ransacked and the broken windows were shattered from the outside. As they approach the altar, they see that one of the braziers on the side is gently smoldering. Percy quietly calls out for someone named Father Reynal. On top of the altar are several overturned glass vials. Percy examines some of the spilled liquid and finds it to be caustic in nature. From the way things are scattered around the altar he gets the feeling that someone had hastily packed up. Looking closer, Percy sees ash scattered around the smoldering brazier, which is absent from the other braziers. Smelling the ash, he determines its source to be paper and finds a portion of a burnt note underneath the ashes.



Taking a second look at the altar, Percy recognizes similar elements to the black powder he uses for making ammunition. Looking through the pouches on the floor beside the altar, he finds phosphorus and traces of other chemical reagents, most of which have been emptied.

Percy and Vax walk to the door on the right. As they open the door, they are immediately hit with the smell of decay. Shoved partially under the bed are the remains of Father Reynal, long passed. Scanlan investigates the body and discovers a series of puncture wounds from a rapier in his torso. Everything of interest has been taken from the room and body. The various symbols of Pelor throughout the temple have all been defaced or destroyed. Vax grabs a few medallions that could possibly be cleaned off.

They walk back into the main temple area, and as they do they hear a sound like a strong, wailing wind, but the wind is not blowing. Vax steps back into the shadows. The moaning sound gets louder and louder as the air gets colder and colder. Scanlan grabs Percy and turns them both invisible.

The shimmering form of a woman appears at the doors to the temple, translucent and letting out groans and gasps. The figure appears gaunt and elven, with sunken and faintly glowing eyes. Glancing about the room, its eyes focus directly on Percy and Scanlan. Its image begins to shift, becoming more horrifying.

Vax immediately throws the Keen Dagger and two wooden stakes at it. The dagger hits and returns to the Blinkback Belt, but the stakes just pass right through it and clatter to the ground.

The banshee moves up between the three of them and lets out a wailing scream, sending a chilling burst of spiritual energy through them. As Percy looks at the being, he feels like his soul is being forced from his body and immediately drops unconscious.

Seeing Percy crumple to the ground, Scanlan asks Vax if they should flee. "In a little bit," he replies. The bard turns and shoots a Lightning Bolt through his Hand Cone of Clarity at the banshee, but it doesn't take full damage due to its ethereal state. Scanlan steps away and casts Healing Word on Percy, bringing him back to consciousness.

Vax moves along the wall towards Scanlan and throws the Keen Dagger and Flametongue Dagger at the banshee, both hitting. He continues moving along the wall, stopping behind his two teammates.

The banshee moves up to Percy, still prone on the floor, and swipes at him with its Corrupting Touch. The creature's hand reaches through Percy's body and seems to grasp his spine, knocking him unconscious again. The banshee drifts back, away from the party.

Scanlan asks Vax again if they should leave, but Vax insists they stay and kill the creature. Scanlan casts Bigby's Hand and backhands it, scattering and dissipating its form. He lifts himself up with the giant arcane hand, tossing himself into the air and celebrating his victory.

Vax goes over to Percy and feeds him a Greater Healing Potion. "Wake up, handsome." As soon as Percy is conscious again, Vax slaps him twice and questions what they should do next. The gunslinger suggests they should quickly check the other room and then leave.

The other room is a small kitchen that appears to have last been used less than a week ago. Searching the kitchen, Scanlan finds some stale bread, salted dried meats, and rotting produce.

Percy hands Vax a design which he says is part of the de Rolo family crest, and Vax begins carving it into the stone of the altar. Percy drags Father Reynal's body out of his room and leaves him in front of the altar. After finishing his first carving, Vax goes to the door of the temple and carves "Pelor lives in Whitestone". He then picks up the stakes he threw earlier, as well as a few extra pieces of splintered wood from the broken remains of the pews.

The three of them leave the temple and exit the graveyard as the sun begins to set.

The Conditions in Whitestone
As they make their way back to the tavern, they pass by a small group of Whitestone citizens conversing in a desperate tone. Standing among them is an older gentleman. They appear to be having an argument about farm shipments. The older man shouts to the rest that the situation is out of his control, as it has been decreed by Sir Kerrion. If the villages can't provide food, taxes will be collected, and if the taxes can't be paid there are worse things that can be taken.

He turns away from the group and notices Scanlan and Percy, still disguised as peasants. Not recognizing Percy, he brings two of his guards forward. Percy manages to convince him that he's a simple worker, and the man eventually leaves with his guards.

The three of them make it back to the tavern shortly after nightfall. Keyleth is nearly complete with her ritual and Vex has been watching over her. Percy goes up to the second floor to keep an eye on the Sun Tree. He occasionally sees one of the zombie giants passing through on patrol and also begins to see several humanoid guards that had not been out during the day. Their movements seem unnatural. As Keyleth completes the ritual she casts Sunbeam and tries to infuse it into the tree without damaging it. Seeds and greenery begin to grow in the soil around her, but the Sun Tree itself does not appear to have any reaction. Frustrated, she releases the full power of her Sunbeam and accidentally destroys some of the roots and sets fire to portions of the tree. Vex immediately pulls out a cloak and starts smothering the flames.

Once the flames are all out, they see that the area surrounding the charred parts are a more vibrant brown color, as if the energy from the Sunbeam had some effect in revitalizing the tree. The vibrancy spreads a bit as Keyleth encourages it along. However, the effect soon stops and begins to reverse, and all of the newly-sprouted greenery around the tree begins to wither, crumple, and turn to ash. Keyleth takes the Holy Oil and tries spreading it over the roots. After a moment, the oil seems to burn off and evaporate.

Based on what she just witnessed, Keyleth determines that something further below ground, beneath the tree, is sucking the life out of the land. Vex uses her Primeval Awareness to check for any nearby vampiric presence and feels multiple presences above, below, to the North, and throughout the city.

Keyleth apologizes to the group for being unable to fix the tree. They all reassure her. Scanlan brags about killing a door and a banshee, saying the door was the harder of the two.

Percy says that he's figured out what they have to do first: kill Kerrion Stonefell.

Vox Machina goes to sleep for the night, Vex and Vax taking the first watch. As the night goes on, Whitestone becomes incredibly cold. The windows of the tavern frost over and everyone huddles together for warmth. Throughout the night, Percy is wracked with nightmare after nightmare, whispers and voices infiltrating his dreams.

Everyone wakes in the morning, but Percy still dwells on his nightmares, nervous and with an uncontrollable tremor to his voice.

Spreading the Word
Keyleth notices that Percy seems unwell after the night's rest and offers him some Goodberries, which he accepts. Scanlan re-casts Seeming on the group and Trinket. Vex requests to be disguised as an old lady with a crazy eye, so Scanlan gives her two crazy eyes.

Percy leads Vox Machina to a shop called Beyond the Horizon. When they get there they see the building is partially collapsed and ruined, the door torn off the hinges and the ceiling falling inward. Looking inside, most of the furniture has been broken or taken and all the shelves are emptied out. Broken glass and spattered dark ruddy stains cover the floor. Judging from the amount of dust covering the main desk, the shop has been abandoned for at least six months, possibly a year. Vex investigates and discovers a door to a cellar. Looking down into the room, she sees it is also entirely cleaned out.

They leave the shop and head to the closest mansion, hoping it is the one that Sir Kerrion lives in. The gate surrounding it is locked and there are no immediate signs of life, but they can see a light coming from one of the doors. Vox Machina debates for several minutes on whether to charge into the mansion now and kill anyone they find, or to ask around for more information first. As one of the zombie giants comes around the corner and starts heading towards them, the group quickly decides to head to The Lady's Chamber, Whitestone's temple to Erathis.

Darting through the alleys, they make their way southward. They pass by several citizens along the way, and Scanlan and Vex stop to talk to two of them. Scanlan—still disguised as a peasant boy—pretends that his father sent him to take a gift to Sir Kerrion and asks where he can go to deliver it. Believing him, the woman tells them that Sir Kerrion's abode is in the southeast of the city. Scanlan points to the one he just came from and the woman says, "No, no, no. You don't want to go find the Countess there." She gives them directions to the correct mansion and the two Whitestone residents continue on their way.

Vox Machina makes their way to the temple and as they enter they see a few people sitting inside, some of them praying quietly. Further in, a group of four people are sitting and looking up at an older man wearing weathered gray robes. Percy recognizes him as Keeper Yennen, the head priest of Erathis in Whitestone. He is just finishing up a small sermon.

"Through these dark days, we must bind together as a community. We have to ensure that our livelihood and our existence is kept and we look out for our fellow man. There is solace in the friendships and bonds we keep here, and best not to upset those that wish to keep us down. Erathis looks over us. There will be a time in which our salvation will come."

Percy knows that Keeper Yennen can be a bit obnoxious, but he does a good job of keeping the people's spirits up. As the sermon winds down and the listeners begin to wander off, Percy walks up to him, still under the disguise of Seeming. He asks the priest if he thinks there is any hope for Whitestone. Keeper Yennen replies that the people of Whitestone are resilient, and even though the town has become a prison, eventually the rest of the world will see the atrocities happening there. They talk about possible help coming from the outside and Percy offers to give a prayer.

"I pray for a day to come when outside forces can rally the people of Whitestone again. That strangers may come, and bring with them salvation, and that the people will seize it."

Keeper Yennen is confused and suspicious of these words. Percy tells him to look for signs of salvation and hands him a piece of parchment, then walks away. The rest of Vox Machina turn to leave as well, but suddenly Keeper Yennen calls for them to wait. Holding out the parchment, which has a portion of the de Rolo family crest drawn upon it, he asks what it means.

Percy answers, "What appears dead may not necessarily be death. And that with the shadow of death over the city, perhaps there is life deep underground. Perhaps things that appeared ended and gone are perhaps continuing to this day. And may rise again."

Keeper Yennen slowly nods his head and stares intensely at Percy. He quickly folds the piece of parchment and stuffs it into his pouch. He calls over one of the worshipers and begins speaking with them as Vox Machina leaves.

Infiltrating the Mansion
The party exits the temple and heads towards Sir Kerrion's house. On the way there, Percy has another coughing fit. Keyleth expresses concern for his health and sanity, but he says he's fine. Rain begins to fall, making the ground muddy. Grog uses the Dust of Tracelessness to erase their footprints.

They reach the house. Two thuggish-looking guards are posted outside on the front porch. A black iron gate surrounds the property. The party circles around the building, looking for the best entrance, and notices a cellar door and several windows on the first floor. There is light coming from within and movement is visible through one of the windows.

Vex casts Pass Without a Trace on the party. Keyleth casts Heat Metal on the bars of the fence. Grog grabs the bars and bends the gate down, scalding his hands for a moment before Keyleth uses Healing Word on him.

They all quickly sneak over the gate and across the slick grass of the yard, pressing up against the back wall. Vax tries the door of the cellar, finds it locked, and easily picks it. Pulling it open, the twins check the passage and determine it to be safe. They all dive inside the cellar and close the doors behind them as another zombie giant makes its way towards the building.

The inside of the cellar is pitch black. Vax pulls out his Flametongue Dagger and Keyleth lights her hands on fire, providing enough light to see that it is a wine cellar. Grog grabs eighteen bottles of fine wine and places them in the Bag of Holding.

There is a small ladder in the corner leading up to the interior of the house. The twins go over to it and listen. Vex doesn't hear anything, but Vax hears pacing footsteps about four feet away and two low voices having a conversation. He recognizes one of the voices as the older balding man that he, Percy, and Scanlan encountered in the street the day before. From how muffled the voices are, Vax determines the two individuals are not directly above the cellar.

Vax tells the rest of the group what he heard, and they decide to send him up to scout. Keyleth wishes him good luck. He climbs up the ladder and through the trapdoor without making a sound. Looking around, he sees that he's inside a small storage room currently being used as a closet. Vax listens at the door while he searches through the pockets of the hanging coats. He hears voices immediately outside and finds forty-seven gold pieces.

He hears the conversation between the man he recognizes and the other voice. The man says he's been doing his best to keep the people of Whitestone in order, but he thinks another show of strength is needed to keep them working as hard as they have. The other voice reassures him that everything is under control, but they need to be prepared, because Lady Briarwood said they would be having visitors any day now. The voice says they will gather their arms and outfit the place with traps and alarms to avoid being caught off guard.

Vax, using his Earring of Whisper, tells the rest of the party to hold, waiting and listening to see what happens next. The older man does not like the idea of a fight taking place in Whitestone and doesn't understand why the Briarwoods invited Vox Machina in.

Vox Machina versus Sir Kerrion Stonefell
Vax tells the group about the two men in the room, and says he thinks it's time to start killing: "Send up the goliath." Grog immediately becomes excited and climbs up into the closet, followed by the rest of Vox Machina except for Trinket, who can't climb ladders. Grog pushes the door open and sees the next room is a music room featuring a piano. The voices were coming from another room further down the hallway.

Grabbing Grog and Keyleth by the hands, Vax leads them out of the music room, through the next door and along the hallway towards the voices. Vex gives Keyleth the "evil eye" with her two crazy-grandma eyes and Scanlan inspires Grog.

They quietly gather in front of the door, still hearing the voices coming through. Vax clicks his Boots of Haste and kicks in the door as Grog goes into a rage. The doors swing open, slamming into two bookcases on the sides. There are five people in the room: the two who were talking as well as three guards positioned around the room. The older gentleman and the other man turn around, and—because Seeming is still active—what they see is a group of armed peasants rushing in.

Percy runs into the room, moves into a corner, and fires two shots at the nearest guard. The first hits, but the second causes a misfire. He manages to fix the gun quickly and looks up, seeing Sir Kerrion Stonefell standing behind the desk. Percy tells him, "If you're lucky, you die last."

Grog runs at the older man in the center of the room and attacks with his Firebrand Warhammer. The man lets out a shout of fear and dodges out of the way of the first strike, but the second hits him square in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. The man catches himself on the table behind him and pulls out two shortswords. In reaction to this, Grog slams him again with the hammer, the force of impact slamming the man into the table and breaking it in the process.

Scanlan moves into the room, about halfway between Grog and Percy, and casts Dominate Person on one of the thuggish guards behind Sir Kerrion. The spell succeeds, and the bard tells him to kill his boss. The dominated guard, who had been pointing his crossbow at Scanlan, quickly turns and aims at Sir Kerrion.

Vex'ahlia ducks her head into the room and shoots at Sir Kerrion from her Longbow of the Sky Sentinel. The arrow splits into three, but only one hits its target, jolting him slightly. She casts Hunter's Mark on him, then shoots again, hitting him in the shoulder.

Vax'ildan runs right up to the desk, jumps on top of it, and sinks his daggers through Sir Kerrion's shoulders and into his chest. The man grabs Vax's hands and yanks the daggers out, blood spurting from his wounds. Vax stabs him a third time, then gets kicked away by Sir Kerrion, who is now bleeding heavily. Vax winks at him. He growls back and draws out two rapiers.

Keyleth has been keeping a close watch on Sir Kerrion to see if he is a vampire, but from what she has seen so far he doesn't look like one. Seeing Vax's attack, she turns into a dire wolf and runs around the room, biting the guard in the far corner behind Sir Kerrion and knocking him prone.

Percy takes a step forward and shoots twice at the nearest guard, blowing holes in the leather armor and causing the man's left arm to go limp for a moment. The guard lifts up his crossbow and aims at Percy as the gunslinger takes his third shot, which hits directly in the center of the man's forehead. The guard falls and slumps over into the plant behind him.

Percy walks over near the fallen guard and uses his Action Surge to shoot at Sir Kerrion. As he fires the first bullet, dark smoke begins to pour out of Percy's body and envelop his gun arm. Scanlan and Vex see this happening. The shot hits Sir Kerrion, blasting the cloak from his shoulders. The man clutches his shoulder and stares intently at Percy, unable to see his true identity through the Seeming spell. Percy reloads and fires a Headshot at Sir Kerrion as the smoke completely covers his gun arm in a black column. The bullet hits him in the shoulder, blowing a chunk of flesh off and showing bone. He clutches his other shoulder, breathing heavily, and says "Ripley".

Sir Kerrion uses Second Wind to recover some of his health. He moves to his right, putting Vax between himself and Percy. He unleashes of flurry of strikes against the rogue with his rapiers. The first two swipes miss, as he is still disoriented from the Headshot; the third hits, dealing minimal damage due to Vax's dodging; the fourth misses. Sir Kerrion steps back against the wall, Vax hitting him with a dagger as he does so, and knocks his fist against the wall several times, calling for someone.

Grog continues attacking the older man, slamming his hammer against his back. The man looks around, sees Sir Kerrion's current situation, then receives a second strike from Grog's hammer.

The older man, Master Vouk, uses Misty Step to vanish from in front of Grog and reappear by the wall next to Sir Kerrion. He then casts Invisibility on both of them.

Scanlan reminds his companions to keep one of their enemies alive to spread word of the rebellion. He then runs out into the hallway and tells Vex to get inside, inspiring her in the process. Vex enters the room and Scanlan casts Stinking Cloud in the hallway to slow down any reinforcements that might be coming.

Vex shoots a Lightning Arrow at the prone guard currently being mauled by Keyleth the Dire Wolf. The electricity courses through him, and Keyleth and the invisible Sir Kerrion each receive a small shock as well.

Seeing the crackling electricity in midair, Vax slashes towards the invisible person but can't land a hit.

Noticing what Vax is doing, Keyleth drops her wolf form and casts Faerie Fire in the general direction of Sir Kerrion. The two invisible figures now have a sparkling purple outline, effectively nullifying their invisibility. Keyleth dodges and backs away as Sir Kerrion swings his rapier at her.

The prone guard stands up and readies his crossbow, aiming at the gnome who caused his fellow guard to turn on their boss. Scanlan manages to duck out of the way as the crossbow bolt embeds itself into the wall behind him. The guard drops the crossbow, pulls out a mace, and runs toward Vax.

The guard currently dominated by Scanlan turns toward Vouk, bludgeoning him twice with a mace.

Percy continues firing at Sir Kerrion. The first shot misses, splintering the wood behind him. The second hits the partially-invisible form, sending a splash of blood across the desk, Vax, and the guard.

As the smoke covers his form, Percy hears a voice in his mind repeating the word "vengeance" over and over. He puts on his bird mask, wreathed in smoke and now resembling the entity that had come to him in his dreams. Percy walks up to Sir Kerrion. Staring him directly in the eye, he says, "This is for the de Rolos. And let me say, you are the one I was least looking forward to." An expression of horror crosses Sir Kerrion's face as Percy fires. The bullet trails black smoke behind it as it impacts his face, splattering gore across the wall behind him. The body of Sir Kerrion Stonefell slumps to the ground.

The rest of Vox Machina stares at Percy, who now appears to be a humanoid entity made of swirling black smoke, with the pointed tip of his mask poking through. Percy hears the voice again, whispering "Yes..." He drops the gun to his side, removes the mask, runs to a corner, and begins scratching Sir Kerrion's name off the List.

Grog rushes up to the guard that was headed for Vax and slams him twice with his warhammer, the first strike pushing him down to the desk and the second smashing his head open.

Vouk, terrified, casts Haste on himself, dropping Invisibility, and leaps for the window. As he does so, Keyleth whacks him in the face with her staff, knocking him unconscious.

Scanlan runs up to the guard he had dominated and tells him to leave the room and tell the other guards that everything is fine. The guard exits the room. A whispered conversation is heard from the hallway, then fades away, and the guard calmly walks back into the room.

Making their Mark
Grog wants to kill Vouk, saying his magic is too dangerous. Scanlan counters that they could interrogate him. Meanwhile, Percy is looting Sir Kerrion's corpse, finding a Potion of Greater Healing and using his rapiers to try and scratch the name off his gun. As he finishes, he sees the name itself beginning to glow slightly purple and then burn away, leaving just the scratch marks. Vex'ahlia is keeping a very careful watch on Percy.

Scanlan searches through the desk, finding a variety of standard desk materials. He also finds some papers mentioning the bridge plan for Wildemount and a small notebook.

Grog begins tying up the unconscious form of Master Vouk and Vax shoves a rag in his mouth. Scanlan tells the dominated guy to stand facing a corner and Vax knocks him out.

Keyleth casts Cure Wounds on Vouk to bring him back to consciousness. Grog tells him to listen carefully to his friends' questions and to answer by shaking his head "yes" or "no". The older man nods.

From their questioning, they discover that Vouk has seen the Briarwoods in the last week, he doesn't really like working for them, they know that Vox Machina is in Whitestone, and they are sometimes in the castle. Vouk does not know where they currently are and gives an ambiguous answer as to whether they are vampires or not.

Vax asks him for a way to sneak into the castle, and as he goes to pull the rag out of Vouk's mouth, Scanlan casts Blindness on him. Vouk begins panicking and Vax pulls the rag out. Vouk begs for his life and tells them he can show them a secret way into the castle that is unguarded. He offers to bring them to the Briarwoods' project room under the castle and show them what's being worked on down there.

Vex and Scanlan question what the "project room" is and what the Briarwoods are working on. Vouk says it's hard to describe and he's only been down there once. He does say that it's part of the reason the Briarwoods took Whitestone in the first place. Vax gets him to confirm that Lord Briarwood is a vampire and asks what Lady Briarwood is. Vouk says she's powerful and he's more scared of her than of her husband. Vouk says that the project under the castle is an excavation or building of some sort.

Percy asks how long he worked with Stonefell. Vouk says five years, confirming that he was part of the original incursion that took the castle and killed the de Rolos. Percy pulls out a map, and Scanlan drops both Blindness and Seeming. Percy orders Vouk to mark the secret entrance on the map. With his arms bound, he can only spit at the map to mark the general area on the western side of the castle. Percy knows where the entrance is.

With prompting from Scanlan, Vouk reveals that the one controlling the zombie giants is Lady Briarwood, and she actually raised them in the first place. Vax shoves the rag back in his mouth.

Percy orders for Vouk's face to be marked and his tongue taken, and then to let him loose. Grog immediately rips the man's tongue out. Percy fires a bullet from his gun into the ground, then takes the heated barrel and uses it to cauterize Vouk's tongue. He then uses the hot gun to burn the de Rolo crest into Vouk's forehead.

Percy proposes letting Vouk run free and then setting fire to the house. Keyleth immediately protests, and the group discusses what just happened and what to do next. The half-elves are all rather uncomfortable with the recent cruelty, while Grog and Scanlan support it. Vax warns Percy that he's heading down a dark path.

Eventually they decide to set the house on fire. Grog grabs Vouk, still bound, and throws him out the window. Scanlan tells Grog to carry the unconscious guard out of the building and he also takes Sir Kerrion's corpse with them.

Keyleth turns into an eagle and flies up to the roof. The rest of the party heads out through the cellar. Vex grabs a bottle of wine on the way out and shares it with her brother. Grog throws the two bodies out onto the lawn.

Keyleth casts Flaming Sphere and starts drawing the shape of the de Rolo family crest into the building. She hears Vouk run up to the guards on the front porch, who begin questioning him. She takes the Flaming Sphere and throws it off the edge at their feet. Keyleth jumps off the back of the roof and is caught by Grog.

Vex casts Pass Without a Trace and Vox Machina runs back to the tavern, disappearing into the rain as the guards search for them. Citizens begin to emerge from the buildings as a warning bell rings out. Smoke rises up in the distance. The first steps of the rebellion have been put into motion.

Vox Machina

 * Keyleth
 * Percival de Rolo
 * Scanlan Shorthalt
 * Tiberius Stormwind (absent)
 * Grog Strongjaw
 * Pike Trickfoot (absent)
 * Trinket
 * Vax'ildan
 * Vex'ahlia

New

 * Sir Kerrion Stonefell
 * Master Vouk Strono
 * Keeper Yennen
 * Reynal (corpse)

Quotations
Liam: There's no lock? Oh, but I rolled a natural 20. Does that help? Let me get through the door? Taliesin: Suddenly, a lock appears! Utterly pickable!
 * Matt: (as Vax attempts to pick a door's lock) There is no lock, actually.
 * Grog: (discussing how to ask around about the noble houses) Hello. I'd like to share the news of our Lord and Savior- my axe in your face!
 * Percy: (to Sir Kerrion just before executing him) This is for the de Rolos. And let me say, you are the one I was least looking forward to.