Raishan (episode)


 * For the ancient green dragon, see Raishan (character).

is the twenty-fourth episode of the fifth chapter of Critical Role. Vox Machina battles Raishan within Thordak's lair.

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."

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

Appeared

 * 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.