Breaking Point

is the 31st episode of the third campaign of Critical Role. Bells Hells process their feelings as they work through moon mysteries, family conflict, and a shocking revelation about one of their own...

Part I
Ira Wendagoth asks Imogen what she saw on Ruidus through the Veilscatter Scope, and she replies that she saw the lattice around the moon, leaving out that her glimpse of the city. Fresh Cut Grass casts Detect Thoughts on Ira, and finds his surface thoughts to be ones of curiosity. When FCG attempts to delve deeper, he finds darkness and is ejected from Ira's mind, taking psychic damage. Orym and Imogen telepathically confirm that the other saw the city. Orym then asks Ira what his next plans are. Ira says that the findings regarding Ruidus are very interesting, but then turns the telescope in a different direction to look through it. He does not let the party look through when they ask, and says "I must watch their faces as they fail" about an unknown target. When Imogen tries to look through the telescope again, she is blocked by an invisible barrier.

Bells Hells asks who "they" are, and Ira says they are the Unseelie Court and their allies, Otohan Thull and the elven man. Orym asks for a name for the elven man, and is told that he is Ludinus Da'leth. As the party tries to approach him or find out more information, Ira pulls the Moontide Crown from the scope, puts it on his head, and teleports away.

The party confirms that the telescope is still powered on and not an immediate danger, but suspect it will no longer function. Ollie powers it down as Imogen and Orym tell the rest of the room about the city. Hondir is unfamiliar with it but excited, and hopes to bring this information to the Grim Verity in Yios, and verifies that the lattice Imogen saw appears similar to the Divine Gate. As this happens, Orym finds the Weave Lens, still in the scope, and brings it out. Ashton asks for it, then hits it with his hammer to test if it is magic. It breaks. Laudna Mends it, though it is unclear if it will still work.

Birdie and Ollie both apologize to Fearne upon realizing they had been tricked by Ira, and everyone begins to search the hideout for more information. Birdie picks the lock on a chest of Ira's, revealing a number of papers, small items, and gems. Most of the papers appear entirely blank. Ashton then asks Birdie and Ollie to talk through the timeline of events again, as there are still holes in the story. Birdie talks about her own experience trying the Moontide Crown, and lets Ollie know about Yu Suffiad finding her in Bassuras. Meanwhile, FCG suggests they bring in Dancer, Imahara Joe, or Esmer to look into the mechanisms of the Veilscatter Scope.

With regards to Otohan's involvement, Laudna points out the party can pursue their membership in the Paragon's Call to learn more. Orym shares what he knows about Ludinus and the Cerberus Assembly, and they all consider potential next steps as they continue to interrogate the Calloways. Birdie and Ollie both share that they regret not realizing that Morrigan might have taken more than was offered of Fearne's time. Imogen points out that even six years without contact is a very long time for a young child, and Ollie agrees but explains that it was only to hide Fearne's existence from the courts, which it seems to have successfully done until Yu learned of her. The party muses that 112 years for the lens seems very uneven, and wonder if Ira asked for more boons. With Birdie and Ollie's permission, Imogen and FCG begin to probe into their minds, and find many incidents of blurry or smeared memories and lost time. Imogen tries to help rebuild some of the memories, and finds that Birdie and Ollie attempted to angrily leave Ira at least once, but as she does this, Ollie's nose begins to bleed. While Fearne asks her to continue, she stops. Birdie and Ollie are upset to learn how often they had been manipulated.

To change the mood, Chetney asks Fearne to bring out the music box he made for her and play it, and Ashton asks for some alcohol so everyone can unwind. Initially, Bells Hells considers going back to the city that night but decide to instead rest and report to the Paragon's Call in the morning. They discuss how they might fix the telescope, and Orym, Chetney, and Laudna investigate using climbing skills and Fly. In doing so they discover some quickly scratched notes from Ira, but nothing definitive. Ashton and Ollie wreck Ira's room.

Imogen pulls Fearne aside to talk through her feelings about her parents, and Fearne admits that she's very angry and just wants answers. FCG joins them upon realizing that therapy is occurring and Chetney offers Fearne some dolls to use as props. Fearne decides to talk in private with her parents. She tells them how upset she is, and they agree that she has a right to be angry, and that they themselves are upset that they were used by Ira and possibly Morri. Fearne tells them that she'd like to get to know them, but right now she doesn't have much of a relationship with them, and they sadly agree that makes sense and that they too want to learn more about exactly what had happened to them. Fearne then returns to the rest of Bells Hells. The party begins to wind down for the evening; Laudna puts Pâté de Rolo in her dollhouse along with Sashimi and the new doll, whom she has named Caviar.

Orym and Imogen walk outside, and Orym tells Imogen that he sees a potential for leadership in her, and that he thinks she can help the party get to Yios and investigate everything that's happening. She expresses worry that if her powers come from Ruidus, they might be evil, and Orym asks her whether she thinks she can use them for her own purposes. Imogen agrees, and the two discuss what they might do about Otohan, with Orym urging Imogen to trust her instincts.

Orym then asks Imogen to look in his mind and shows her an image of Keyleth, asking her to cast Sending to provide a report of his findings on the Gray Assassins case. Imogen does, and Keyleth responds that she will do what she can to help from afar, and he should continue his investigation. Orym also mentions that he thinks the reason Keyleth was targeted may have to do with ley lines. After Imogen returns inside, Orym uses his sending stone to call Dorian and tell him he misses him. Dorian responds in kind.

As Ashton passes out in front of the Hishari helmet he'd stolen from the Twilight Mirror Museum, FCG messages Dancer to check in. Dancer asks them how they found her and what they want, but FCG has no more spells to cast Sending that night. Instead, he goes to Imogen and says he will watch her sleep in case she dreams. Imogen and Laudna go to sleep holding hands in the hopes that Laudna will join Imogen in her dream if one occurs. Fearne, meanwhile, takes two of the gnarlrock shards from the entryway and puts one in Laudna's dollhouse and one in Imogen's bag, which Orym sees. Fearne then goes to sleep near her parents.

Part II
The party wakes in the morning. Imogen did not have any dreams. Chetney offers Fearne two more dolls that he had worked on that night in case she wants to roleplay her feelings about her parents, and Laudna finds the gnarlrock Fearne had left in the dollhouse. Laudna reaches towards it, and Delilah Briarwood encourages her to take it but Imogen tells her not to and throws the rock across the room, where it shatters. Delilah warns Laudna that not everyone has her interests at heart, but she always does, as she will die if Laudna dies. Laudna goes off to have a private conversation with her patron and asks her what she knows of celestial solstices. Delilah answers that she has harnessed their power before. As this happens, Orym warns Imogen that Fearne put a second gnarlrock shard in her bag.

Bells Hells discuss their plans for the day, and FCG reveals that he contacted Dancer last night but she seemed somewhat rattled and unhelpful in her response. Ashton points out that they're still not sure how Dancer survived, given the carnage they found. FCG decides to cast Sending to contact Dancer again. When they do so, Dancer tells them to leave her alone, as she barely escaped and never wants to see them again. At this, FCG freezes up and stops responding. When Imogen casts Detect Thoughts she senses roiling emotions and many different voices. Chetney then hits FCG in the head with a wooden mallet in an attempt to restart him. FCG attacks him with the buzzsaw, then casts Spiritual Weapon in the form of a chisel and hits him again, and screams at him to shut up. The party notices that FCG's normally blue eyes are currently red.

They then enter combat. Ashton rages and grapples FCG without hurting him. Laudna, meanwhile, hears Delilah reiterate that her friends may betray her, and casts Hunger of the Shadow, which immediately badly corrodes FCG and nearly knocks them out, while also seeming to revitalize Laudna. FCG yells at her that she was never alive. Fearne then casts Heat Metal, which knocks FCG unconscious and damages both Laudna and Ashton, though FCG insults her as well before blacking out. Imogen casts Calm Emotions on the point where FCG is, affecting everyone in melee with them. Orym ties FCG up and hangs them upside-down, and removes the buzzsaw before Fearne heals FCG back up. He comes to consciousness, seemingly himself.

FCG appears to have no recollection of the last few minutes. Ashton talks through what occurred and the rest of the party fill in the remaining details. Imogen suggests that they not talk to Dancer again as it seemed to set them off, and Fearne asks for more details of what happened in the caves outside Evishi. As she does, Ashton, looking at Chetney's wounds, realizes that the damage could have been done by FCG in this state. He also remembers that one of FCG's ocular lenses was damaged and had to be replaced by Milo...indicating that the "one-eyed monster" from FCG's recollection might have been FCG themself. With FCG's permission, Imogen uses her Open Mind ability to delve into their thoughts. She finds that there truly is no recollection of the immediate encounter, but there are many memories of the party sharing emotional moments.

Ashton points out that everyone except Orym in this party is something of a risk and that they should all work together rather than singling out FCG. Imogen agrees, and Laudna, who had been hiding in the corner since she had backed away after dealing her damage, tentatively Mends the dents she created in FCG's head. Chetney points out that someone should get more details from Dancer, as this is likely what occurred, but FCG should not be present. Orym reiterates Ashton's point and insists they all work together. They cut FCG loose, though FCG asks that the party hold on to their weapon attachments for now. Imogen pulls Laudna aside and reminds her that Delilah is only using her, and that nothing she says, or that FCG said in that state, was real, and the party will not betray her. She tells her that they will help free her of Delilah's influence and then presumably fight the gods on the moon.

Everyone other than Ollie and Hondir, after some tea and coffee, gets on the skirmish crawlers to make their way back to Bassuras for the day.

Player characters

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

Returning

 * Birdie Calloway
 * Delilah Briarwood (voice only)
 * Dorian Storm (via sending stone)
 * Hondir
 * Ira Wendagoth
 * Keyleth (via Sending)
 * Oleander Calloway

New

 * Dancer (via Sending)

Mentioned

 * Armand Treshi
 * Imahara Joe
 * Esmer Balenta
 * Ludinus Da'leth
 * Morrigan
 * Otohan Thull
 * Yu Suffiad