The Journey Home

is the thirtieth episode of the second campaign of Critical Role. Reunited at last, the Mighty Nein journey back to Zadash, hoping to find closure with those they've lost and the contracts they've made...

Pre-Show
We have returning from their first foray into parenthood: Travis and Laura! Matt asks how's the kid, to which the sleep-deprived couple responds, "No, he's great..." Ronin is at the studio right now, so you might hear crying. If Laura suddenly gets up from the table, it's because she has to go feed him. Travis confirms that Ronin dictates all. Matt says they missed them at the live show. Laura says they were with them in spirit. Travis loved the audience singing "Happy Birthday" and the live show had such great energy. Laura says they all looked wonderful...Sam especially.

Announcements

 * Tonight we have TWO fantastic sponsors:
 * First, our wonderful returning sponsors for Campaign 2...our friends at D&D Beyond! Sam thanks D&D Beyond for sponsoring and helping out with the live show.  Your sponsorship dollars will help the cast pay for the therapy they need after seeing Sam's junk so up close and personal.  It's been a while since Travis and Laura were here, and this is their first show at the new studio, so D&D Beyond wanted Sam to catch them up with all things CR:
 * Laura: The new Wi-Fi password is "Dallassux".
 * Travis: The rest of the cast rented Travis's parking spot to Brian Foster. The cardboard box he lives in will be parked there until September 15, 2018. Laura thought he was living in the cage? Matt clarifies that Brian works in the cage.
 * "The Wayfarer's Guide to Eberron" and "Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica" are both available on D&D Beyond.
 * Travis: While he was gone, the rest of the cast discovered that Fjord's middle name is "Bronco", so that's canon now.
 * Laura: While she was gone, all of her dice were loaned to Wil Wheaton for a little while, to her horror.
 * The studio's break room is open to all, but from 9:00 am to 11:00 am, Producer Max uses it to poop.
 * We have a code system for reserving the makeup room, so no one walks in by accident. If you're breastfeeding, hang a sock on the door. If you're waxing Sam Riegel's chest hair, you hang a bandana on the door. And if you're having sex, leave the door open, 'cause that's kinky!
 * Travis's chair has been reinforced to accommodate his "baby weight", to which Travis emotionally admits, "It's real...guys can get it too!"
 * Laura is a perfect creature who creates magical life with the power of womanhood. (*harp music* to be added in post-production)
 * Taliesin's new character is a Cleric too, so Jester doesn't have to heal anyone. (to which Laura excitedly shouts, "F*** yeah!!!")
 * Liam shaved.
 * It's Ashley's birthday!
 * Marisha no longer thinks "Sleeves Are Bullshit. Now she thinks they're assholes.
 * All "firblogs" know each other. (Liam had a firblog in the early 2000s.)
 * If you go #1, please use the bathroom marked "Peeastok". If you go #2, use the bathroom marked "Hupperdook".
 * And there are flies motherf***ing everywhere in this studio.
 * And our second sponsor for tonight is our fantastic friends at Dwarven Forge! The Critters may have seen some of their products used pretty consistently on the show. Matt has hungered after their work since he was a mid-20s-er, and used them from the moment he could get his hands on their sets. Thanks to their Kickstarters and their update to resin, they've become more affordable and Matt loves using their hand-sculpted and hand-painted terrains! They are Critters too, and are invested in the show. They've launched another Kickstarter recently for their "Caverns Deep" set: it offers 15 different distinct encounter areas like "The Webbed Layer", "The Mushroom Grotto", and "The Dread Hollow Forest" (a brand-new forest terrain that got unveiled at Gen Con during a live game in which Matt and Liam were players). Liam backed that s*** on the Kickstarter. So did Matt, and you should back it too! Dwarven Forge put out another video yesterday that unveiled another one of their terrains: "The Prison Passage" (you get to watch Matt, as a mini, get imprisoned, brutalized, and murdered). You can become a backer now by going to critrole.com/dwarvenforge for all the information about the current Kickstarter. It ends August 14th, so it's ending REALLY soon! So if you want to get in there at the current price that only the Kickstarter enables, go check it out!
 * "Honey Heist 2: Electric Beargaloo" will air tomorrow (August 10, 2018) at 7:00 pm PDT at twitch.tv/criticalrole.
 * Also, if you haven't seen it yet, Matt's Fireside Chat is available on YouTube, where Matt drank a lot of really nice port and talked questions and fun stuff. It was a good hangout time. Matt hopes to do those more in the future as well: Matt enjoyed just sitting there and getting mildly tipsy with the Internet.
 * Laura is surprised that her hit points got updated already. That's what happens when people aren't updating their character sheets fast enough and the DM has to do it for you. Laura blames the baby. Liam asks for a show of hands for everyone who got max HP when they leveled up. Marisha, Travis, Laura, and Taliesin all raise their hands. Liam tells each of them, "Fuck you", and Matt agrees that is fucking bullshit. Ashley rolled an eleven, so whenever they get her back, Yasha is going to be a little beefier.
 * merch update from Laura: Last but not least, Matt announces a bunch of new items in the shop...before Laura angrily cuts him off and shouts that's her job! Matt thought she said she didn't have anything to update, to which a frustrated Laura clarifies that she meant she didn't have any copy to read off of! Matt encourages Laura to go for it, to which Laura in anger and desperation begins shouting all the new merch items at the audience. Marisha points out that she's been gone so long that they took her job. As Laura keeps going, she starts tearing up. We have new shirts, we have new hats! There's a bumper sticker that says "Traveler is my co-pilot"! There's a Mighty Nein shirt! We have a pin that will be coming back to the store (it's not in the store at this moment). And there's other things that will be coming to the store, and you can find those at shop.critrole.com. Travis says Laura did top-shelf for Day One.
 * Critical Role has its Wyrmwood giveaways at the break. There will be more information when we get to the break, but remember to hop over to the Critical Role Twitch chat to jump in and be a part of it. Matt will tackle that when we get to it.
 * Travis asks how to add the +2 to Strength that Fjord gets from the "Dad Strength" that Travis has now?

Previously on Critical Role
"So last we left off: The Mighty Nein - upon heading towards the second leg of their journey completing a task for the Gentleman, of who they had left Zadash to earn money and praise with - found themselves in the outskirts of Hupperdook, where three members of their team (Yasha, Jester, and Fjord) were all captured in the middle of the night by a group of traveling slavers (the Iron Shepherds) and dragged north to Shady Creek Run...outside of the laws of the Empire.

"The rest of the members finding new allies in Keg (the dwarven Fighter), Nila (the firbolg Druid), and a brief reappearance of the fantastic Human Cleric: Shakäste.

"These friends together managed to storm the gifted stronghold of the Sour Nest: attack and destroy one-by-one this team of slavers, leaving the Iron Shepherds down to their last few, in the subterranean basement where these cages contained their friends...chained, and held in darkness. There, the battle with Lorenzo (revealing his final form, after stalking them invisibly from the air for their entire journey through that fortress) revealed himself to be an oni: a terrible creature of nightmare and entirely unnatural strength and capability. However, - through some ingenuity, fast thinking, and some incredible luck - Lorenzo found himself unable to escape, the members of your team knocked unconscious brought back from the brink, and a final blow was dealt by Caleb as his arcane cinders burned away the final remnants of Lorenzo's demonic form.

"There, as you began to inspect the interior of the subterranean chamber, you discovered in one set of these prison cells - to the left - there lie chained Jester and Fjord. In the other, an unconscious Yasha. And with that, you have made your way through the bars - unlocking the mechanisms that held them at bay - and have now come back, face-to-face with your taken friends. With one new friend, and one missing..."

Part I
Jester and Fjord both are in their chamber, enduring the sounds of other captives being punished and tortured. A nearby friend endures it silently, just to frustrate the Iron Shepherds. Jester has been trying desperately to contemplate ways of escape...to try and find a way to relieve herself of her bindings...to no avail. Suddenly, there's the sound of battle: weapons scraping on stone, metal, and flesh; screams and familiar voices; flashes of light; and the air rushing warm and cold with the nearby blasting of arcane energies and divine forces and powers brought in to sustain and snuff life. And then silence...Jester hears the voices come close, as she barely manages to glance over her shoulder and watch the bars to the chamber where she's held swing open. The tiny form of Nott the Brave rushes over and embraces Jester, saying: "Case closed."

The Mighty Nein

 * Beauregard
 * Caduceus Clay
 * Fjord
 * Frumpkin (absent, mentioned)
 * Jester
 * Nott
 * Caleb Widogast
 * Yasha

Returning

 * Cree
 * The Gentleman
 * Kara
 * Keg
 * Kutha
 * Ophelia Mardun
 * Sorah

Mentioned

 * Avantika
 * Marius LePual
 * Lorenzo
 * Nila
 * Protto
 * Ruzza
 * Pumat Sol
 * Mollymauk Tealeaf