Hubris

is the seventeenth episode of the first campaign of Critical Role. Parting ways with one of their members, Vox Machina is now adrift in a strange and unfamiliar city. After Grog dukes it out in a fighting pit, Vox Machina rushes to help against an attacking beast outside the city, which ends up setting a chain of events in motion.

Pre-Show

 * Matt welcomes everyone back from a two week hiatus from normal scheduling due to San Diego Comic-Con and Armageddon in New Zealand.

Announcements

 * Matt and Marisha give a shout out to the New Zealand critters at Armageddon Expo.
 * Tonight's subscriber giveaway will be a Player's Handbook and cast photo, signed by the cast, plus Espionage nail packs. You can follow them on Twitter at @espionagemakeup. The first winner for 4650 subscribers has already been announced, it is explodingiggy.
 * A critter has offered to create and send an eight-foot-tall Trinket teddy bear if the 5000 subscriber mark is reached tonight.
 * Thanks to those who came to the Comic Con panel; there was a great turnout. The panel is available to watch on the G&S website.
 * Ashley Johnson, who plays Pike, is away in New York for the time being.
 * Critical Role supports 826LA, a charity for kids in K through high school. Viewers are encouraged to donate.
 * Thanks to Felicia for the new Critical Role neon sign.
 * Another 50 subscribers has been reached, the winner is SonicaMoto.
 * Friend of the show Joré is visiting the set tonight, an artist who has done drawings for both Matt and Travis. His page can be found on Facebook.
 * Thanks to Kit Buss and Wendy Doodles for the character art used on the show. One of them may be involved in a project related to the Vox Machina pre-stream backstory.
 * Orion plugs his Monday evening show with Jessica Merizan, in which they play Final Fantasy XIV.
 * Laura and Travis will be at Otakon this weekend, in Baltimore.
 * Taliesin notes that the Ant-Man movie is quite good. If anyone plays the Ant-Man pinball game, they can hear Taliesin as the voice of Ant-Man in that game.
 * Another 50 subscriber give away is already reached, the winner is OhGreatLampShade.

Part I
As Vox Machina prepares to continue on their way without Pike, Scanlan - still feeling sad about leaving her - decides to have one last look in the temple where she will be staying in Vasselheim. Before doing so, he takes a sip of his scrying potion, seeing ruins and hearing Pike's voice as she begins leading the few individuals involved with excavation, Scanlan feels very emotional and sheds a single tear. He then notices an upset stomach and proceeds to defecate in a small alcove found in the temple, which - much to his surprise - comes out glowing blue. He then proceeds to rejoin the group. It is revealed that he will be able to scry on the location, and by extension Pike, through the remnants he has left behind. The group proceeds to inspect a nearby statue sitting atop a sort of temple. After some inspection they discover it is a depiction of the deity Kord.

Attempting to glean more information of the temple and surrounding area, the party flags down two nearby residents and learns that this portion of the city is dedicated to the worship of Kord. Looking for a place to fight, they are directed by the two to the Crucible, a nearby fighting pit just outside of the Bellows' Respite Inn.

Upon arriving at the Crucible, the party witnesses the Siren delivering the final hit to a human individual in the pit. Vex and Scanlan inquire about how to get an overly confident Grog a match in the pit, and after some discussion manage to secure him a fight. Several members of the party then proceed to place bets on the match in favor of Grog, who chooses the show name Phillip the Newcomer. The party tries several times to enhance Grog's abilities in the match with magic and potions, but is caught each time and prevented from doing so.

After an extremely long and grisly bare-fisted fight between Grog and Kern the Hammer, the half-orc is kept from the brink of defeat by the passive racial ability Relentless Endurance. While staggered at but a single HP, Kern lands the knockout blow against Grog and leaves Grog with 1GP and many bruises as Kern leaves the ring the victor. Upon gaining consciousness, Grog drowns his sorrows in the familiar comforts of ale and whores.

Break

 * Zac Eubank reiterates the 5000 subscriber challenge proposed by Negihama and agrees to additionally contribute another way should the goal be reached.
 * Marisha gives another shout out to artists Kit Buss and Wendy Green, as well as to Espionage.
 * The Critical Role intro video and character background videos are played again.

Part II
As Vox Machina are taking breakfast at the Inn the next morning, they hear a horn blast signaling an attack on the city. They barely glimpse a creature assaulting the city wall before it disappears into the Vesper Timberland. After consulting with one of the Bastions, the party decide to hunt down the creature and claim any contract it may have on its head.

Vex tracks the creature out into the woods, where the party encounter a massive hydra. However, their fight is interrupted by the arrival of another party of adventurers who claim the hydra as their mark. The two groups together finish off the hydra, with Tiberius getting the killing blow.

As the hydra falls dead, the leader of the newcomers, a human called Aldor, confronts Vox Machina. He explains that he and his team work for the Slayer's Take guild and are under a magically binding contract to slay the hydra—a contract which Vox Machina have now violated. To resolve the situation, Aldor takes them back to the guild hall to meet his Huntmaster, Vanessa Cyndrial.

Vanessa makes them an offer: They may undergo a trial to become fully-fledged guild members and thereby be retroactively written into the contract for the hydra. Otherwise, they will be prosecuted as poachers. Vanessa further notes that they will be split into two parties for the trial; Vex, Percy, Scanlan, and Grog will be given one contract, while Vax, Tiberius, and Keyleth will be given another along with some other prospective members. Each group will be given three days to complete their contracts.

Vox Machina accept the deal and agree to return the next morning to begin their trials.

Post-Show

 * Matt announces that the party will be split for the a couple weeks, the next two sessions will consist of Vex, Grog, Scanlan, and Percy, who will be joined by two guest players revealed to be Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and Felicia Day.
 * The following two weeks the other group - Keyleth, Tiberius, and Vax - will be joined by two additional guests, Wil Wheaton and Will Friedle.
 * Two additional winners for the 50 subscribers giveaway are announced.
 * The 5000 subscriber mark has been reached.

Vox Machina

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

New

 * Aldor
 * Mertin Cyndrial
 * Vanessa Cyndrial
 * Kern the Hammer
 * Siren

Mentioned

 * Kord
 * Bahamut
 * Erathis

Quotations
Sam: From a meteorite? Liam: Hopefully not die. Sam: Wait, from a meteorite?! Taliesin: To be fair, the die didn't dodge the earth.
 * Percy: We haven't had an awkward parental confrontation in what feels like months.
 * Liam: I'm going to use rogue's Evasion. I'm going to use Matt Colville's die made of iron from a meteorite.