Delilah Briarwood

Lady Delilah Briarwood is a powerful human wizard from Wildemount, former Archmage of Antiquity for the Cerberus Assembly, and a zealot of Vecna, The Whispered One.

As an NPC in Critical Role, Delilah is played by Matthew Mercer. In The Legend of Vox Machina, she is voiced by Grey Griffin.

Appearance
When Vox Machina first met her, Delilah was a beautiful woman with dark auburn hair, pulled up into a tight braided bun. She wore a blue and black gown that had a long, billowing skirt which tapered up to be form-fitting at the waist and bodice, with a neckline that wrapped nearly to her jaw. She also wore gloves on her hands.

Personality
Delilah is incredibly cunning and intelligent as well as ruthless, cold, and willful. She is strategically minded, clearly being the mastermind behind the Briarwoods' plans in Whitestone. Despite this ruthless nature, she is genuinely loving and devoted to her husband, willing to do anything to preserve their life together.

Background
Prior to emigrating to Tal'Dorei, the Briarwoods had some renown and enough powerful connections to maintain a comfortable life in the Dwendalian Empire. Delilah had studied briefly at the Alabaster Lyceum in Emon as part of her training as a wizard.. Later she began working with the Soltryce Academy, and was appointed the Archmage of Antiquity on the Cerberus Assembly.

At some point during Delilah's time on the Cerberus Assembly, Sylas became sick with a disease that no one could seem to cure. Delilah, therefore, set out to find something or someone who could help her husband. Though she found a cure on her quest, she returned too late and found that Sylas had already passed.

Delilah was devastated by Sylas's death and became obsessed with pursuing means, through magic and meditation, that could perhaps bring him back. One day, she was screaming her frustration into the Astral Sea when a voice whispered back: "I can help you." Delilah would later learn this voice belonged to Vecna.

She was given whispered directions in her dreams, which she followed unquestioningly in her grief. These directions eventually led her to one of Vecna's old laboratories. There, on condition of her service to Vecna, she was given information about the rites of vampirism. This allowed her to bring Sylas back as a vampire, but the rite also bound his existence to Vecna, bringing the couple both into service to the Whispered One.

Necromancy is outlawed in the Dwendalian Empire, and people had begun to take note of Delilah's activities. When Sylas' undead nature and Delilah's involvement were discovered in an investigation led by the Cobalt Soul, she was ousted from the Assembly and the couple was pursued and arrested. They managed to escape, fleeing to Port Damali on the Menagerie Coast with Dwendalian hunters in pursuit, bent on capturing them for execution.

In Port Damali, the Briarwoods encountered Dr. Anna Ripley, who was also fleeing the Dwendalian Empire for her own reasons. Since all three were fugitives from the Dwendalian Empire, they decided to work together.

Upon hearing about an isolated city called Whitestone, the new allies made it their next target, as they believed its remote nature meant they could overthrow the ruling family without much involvement from other governments. Styling themselves as "Lord and Lady", the Briarwoods traveled to Whitestone Castle and were welcomed as guests of the de Rolo household. The Briarwoods began to make frequent trips from Port Damali to Whitestone, building a relationship with the de Rolos while also secretly turning some of their servants against them in preparation for the coup.

Eventually, the Briarwoods struck, slaughtering nearly all of the de Rolo family and taking over Whitestone.

At the end of a meeting with the Tal'Dorei Council, Percy asked Sovereign Uriel about the Briarwoods’ visit to Emon, upon hearing about it in passing during the meeting. Uriel told Percy that the Briarwoods were interested in establishing an official trade route from Whitestone to Emon, using their fabricated story that the de Rolo family gifted Whitestone to the Briarwoods before the family died. Percy asked to be notified when the Briarwoods returned to Emon, and withheld the truth about the Briarwoods’ attack on the de Rolos from the sovereign.

Seeker Asum Emring visited Greyskull Keep to invite Vox Machina to a dinner to celebrate a new venture, helmed by the Briarwoods, to build a bridge over the Shearing Channel. The bridge would connect Tal'Dorei to the continent of Wildemount, set at the edge of the Alabaster Sierras. Asum questioned why Percy was uncomfortable at the mention of the Briarwoods, and Percy told him that he found them untrustworthy. Asum agreed with Percy’s assessment, as he had sent multiple operatives into Whitestone, only to have them resign. Vox Machina agreed to attend the dinner.

Percy told the rest of Vox Machina the truth about the Briarwoods: they were responsible for the deaths of the entire de Rolo family. Vox Machina swore to help him take his revenge, and helped disguise Percy as Vax for the feast. Meanwhile, Vax was made invisible and hid in the Briarwood's room..

Once the meal began, the Briarwoods were introduced to Vox Machina, and a conversation began regarding the bridge that was to be built over the Shearing Channel. When the conversation turned to how the Briarwoods became caretakers of Whitestone, Delilah told the group how the Briarwoods met the de Rolo family during a trip to Wildemount, and that the two families had kept in touch. Five years prior, the Briarwoods were visiting Whitestone to discuss a joint venture to create the bridge when the de Rolos all fell to disease. The Briarwoods were surprised to find that the de Rolos left Whitestone in their hands, and agreed to continue the de Rolos’ legacy.

When Scanlan inquired about the disease that killed the de Rolos, Sylas told him they didn’t know the details, as they were informed about the deaths after a few months had passed. When Keyleth questioned why they weren’t afraid to enter the castle after the disease had swept through it, Sylas reassured her that they had sent in clerics to remove the corpses and any trace of the disease.

After the dinner ended, the Briarwoods returned to their room and were alerted to Vax’s presence. While Vax claimed to only be a castle guard, Delilah remarked that they had just had dinner with someone who looked just like him. When Vax attempted to flee, Delilah successfully cast Hold Person on him. Delilah berated Vax for trying to flee when she simply wanted to ask him some questions, while Sylas slammed a hand down on Vax and said he looked delicious.

Vax managed to break the Hold Person spell, and when Sylas failed to charm him, the couple moved to attack Vax. Delilah dealt necrotic damage to Vax, while Sylas bit him, revealing his vampirism. Vax attempted to escape by jumping out of a window, and used his Earring of Whisper to alert the rest of Vox Machina. Delilah successfully cast Hold Person on Vax once again, and then knocked Vax unconscious with a blast of necrotic damage.

Vox Machina then joined the fight against the Briarwoods, with a new ally, Lillith to help, while Seeker Assum was charmed by Sylas. Vex hit Delilah with multiple arrows causing significant damage, and Delilah retaliated by using Finger of Death against Vex, injuring but not killing her. After successfully casting Feeblemind on Tiberius and witnessing Sylas taking a lot of damage, Delilah decided it would be best to leave instead of continuing the fight, and cast Dimension Door away from the party.

After the fight with the Briarwoods, Vox Machina attended a council meeting to explain their actions. Although the party explained the Briarwoods’ true history with Whitestone and Sylas’ vampirism, it became clear that Uriel had at some point been charmed by Sylas. Believing Vox Machina were the true instigators of the attack, Uriel removed the party from the council pending further investigation.

Vox Machina then interrogated Desmond, the Briarwoods’ carriage driver, whom they had captured the night before. Desmond told the party about the Briarwoods’ invasion of Whitestone, and the harsh life under the Briarwoods’ rule. He told them that all of the servants in the castle were undead and that the Briarwoods spent a lot of time excavating something underneath the castle.

Vox Machina, along with new ally Cassandra de Rolo, traveled through the crypts beneath Whitestone Castle toward the Ziggurat. Percy asked Cassandra which of the Briarwoods she considered more of a threat, and Cassandra described Delilah as being a very powerful mage.When the party became trapped in an acid distillery, both the Briarwoods appeared. Cassandra revealed that she had aligned herself with the couple, and told Vox Machina she had a destiny with the Whispered One. The party escaped the acid trap and followed the Briarwoods, along with a charmed Vax, into the Ziggurat. When Scanlan failed to cast Blindness on Delilah, a charmed Vax stepped in front of her to protect her. After Pike successfully cured Vax’s charmed state, he attacked Delilah with his Dagger of Life-Stealing, poisoning her.

After Sylas appeared to be seriously injured, Delilah attempted to cast Dimension Door to escape with her husband but was Counterspelled by Scanlan. After being shot by Percy multiple times, Cassandra healed Delilah with a potion. Delilah tried to tell Sylas to continue the ritual, but Sylas was killed by Keyleth's Sunbeam spell. Watching in horror as her husband was disintegrated, Delilah screamed "You can't! I broke the world for us!'

After casting Dimension Door, Delilah appeared on top of a platform in the Ziggurat, attempting to complete the ritual. Delilah read from a scroll which caused the ice in the chamber to shatter, and bodies on the walls began to writhe. While resisting attacks from Vox Machina, Delilah cut her wrist to add blood to the black orb on the platform. After taking more damage from the party, Delilah cast Finger of Death on Vex, leaving her with one hit point.

Delilah was desperate for the ritual to work, but seemed unsure whether it was successful when the orb stopped spinning and shrank down to a speck, and the bodies on the walls stopped writhing. Percy shot Delilah in the arm, leaving her unconscious.Grog carried her out of the Ziggurat.

Once the party made it out of the Ziggurat chamber, Delilah was bound and stabilized, though still unconscious. When she woke up, Percy used Minor Illusion and taunted her with the face of a slowly melting Sylas, and asked her how to stop the ritual. Delilah confessed she didn’t know if it had even worked, and that they had been working on the ritual for five years to repay a debt. The ritual was supposed to be completed during Winter’s Crest, in return for Vecna raising Sylas from the dead.

While Vox Machina was fighting Orthax, Delilah cast Misty Step and attempted to escape, but Vax managed to hit her in the back with one of his daggers. Cassandra confronted Delilah and killed her with a rapier.

Over a year later, while Vox Machina investigated a second Ziggurat in Marquet, they found a group of cultists besides a Sphere of Annihilation. One of the cultists was revealed to be Delilah, previously killed by Cassandra de Rolo. Delilah used an amulet to change the color of the sphere from black to white, which canceled out the anti-magic field, and cast Prismatic Wall. She targeted Pike with a Feeblemind spell, but ultimately decided that leaving to complete her goals was more important than fighting the group. She used the amulet to change the sphere back to black, which brought back the anti-magic field, and stepped through the orb into the Shadowfell.

In Thar Amphala, Vox Machina witnessed Vecna's rebirth, thanks to the ritual that Delilah had been trying to complete. Once the party ascended Entropis, they began fighting Delilah and the newly reborn Vecna. When her attempt to Disintegrate Vax was Counterspelled by Scanlan, Vecna later completed her "unfinished work". After she had already sustained considerable damage from Grog, Delilah was killed when Percy shot out her remaining eye. Percy took Delilah’s body with him when Keyleth used Plane Shift to escape to the Feywild.

When Pike attempted to cast Speak with Dead on Delilah's body, she found that there was no spirit for her to bring back, meaning Delilah wasn't dead. Keyleth then scryed on Delilah, and found she was once again in Thar Amphala, with both of her eyes. Delilah emerged from a tunnel, and said to an unseen companion that something was "almost ready".

Delilah and Sylas, riding on an undead white dragon, appeared to Vox Machina when she dispelled Scanlan's mansion in Thar Amphala. Delilah failed to successfully Counterspell Keyleth’s Plane Shift, and Vox Machina escaped again to the Feywild.

Upon returning to Thar Amphala from the Feywild, Grog and Arkhan smashed one of the crystals protecting Thar Amphala from Vasselheim’s forces. The noise this made drew the attention of the undead white dragon that was carrying Delilah and Sylas on its back. Percy shot Delilah, pushing her off the back of the dragon, and while she was on the ground Keyleth used Entangle to grapple Delilah to the floor. Grog hit Delilah and caused massive damage, causing Delilah to reach for Sylas' hand to try to escape. Before she could cast Dimension Door, Vex permanently killed Delilah with an arrow to the head.

Once the Briarwoods were defeated, Arkhan cast Animate Dead on Delilah to bring her back as a zombie.

It was revealed that the reanimated Delilah was beheaded during Arkhan’s fight with the Death Knight.

Campaign 3: Bells Hells
At some point after Delilah was defeated by Vox Machina, she became Laudna's warlock patron, and was able to speak to her on occasion. In Brussendar 843 PD, during "What the Fuck is Up with That?", Laudna told Bells Hells that her warlock patron was one of the Briarwoods. Afterward, when Laudna had gone to bed, Delilah spoke in her head, chastising her for revealing her secrets.

During the journey towards Heartmoor Hamlet, when Laudna was knocked unconcious and nearly killed by a fairy-lure mantrap, Delilah spoke to her in her head again, reviving her and telling Laudna "Not yet, there's still much to do."

While Laudna and Imogen Temult were talking on the deck of the Silver Sun, Laudna began to worry about the fragment of the gnarlrock that Imogen was carrying. When Laudna asked to inspect it and held it in her hand, she felt it grow warmer, with the warmth traveling up towards her heart. When Laudna opened her hand, the stone had cracked and gone dim. Laudna demanded of Delilah what she had done, and Delilah replied "I've taken care of it." Delilah later expressed interest in another fragment of gnarlrock found at the Calloway's hideout outside Bassuras. After Imogen took the rock and threw it away, Delilah told Laudna that her party was likely to ultimately betray her, but that she, who needs Laudna to live, will always look out for her. She also provided Laudna with some information about the power of the celestial solstice.

Upon Laudna's death, Delilah embraced her and whispered, "Worry not, child. Death is but a waiting game". Imogen messaged her to see if she could bring Laudna back, but Delilah told her she could not. Imogen tried again several days later, after the party returned to Jrusar, and offered to do anything to bring Laudna back. Delilah's voice seemed very faint in response. She told Imogen she was fading away and would take Laudna with her, and still could not do anything to restore Laudna to life.

When Pike attempted to resurrect Laudna, she sensed that in addition to Laudna's soul, Delilah's was also tied to Laudna's body and was preventing Laudna's soul from returning without her.

Sylas Briarwood
Delilah was married to Sylas Briarwood. Their marriage is portrayed as a loving one; when Sylas was killed by Keyleth, Delilah yelled, "You can't! I broke the world for us!".

Cassandra de Rolo
Unbeknownst to Percy, Delilah and Sylas did not kill Cassandra when they murdered the rest of the de Rolo family, but instead kept her as a pawn in maintaining peace in Whitestone. Over time, Cassandra developed a somewhat Stockholm Syndrome-like loyalty to her captors and began to do their bidding. She helped them quash one rebellion attempt prior to Vox Machina's arrival and willingly betrayed her brother to the Briarwoods on his return. However, Cassandra decided her loyalties were with her true family, and ultimately killed Delilah in revenge.

Laudna
Delilah invited Laudna to dinner at Whitestone Castle shortly prior to Vox Machina's entry into Whitestone, and performed some form of ritual that bound her and Laudna's souls together. She then hung Laudna from the Sun Tree as an effigy of Vex. Delilah first appeared in head about a year after her death, though it is unknown if Laudna was referring to Delilah's death in Whitestone, or her death in Vasselheim. Delilah does not seem to contact Laudna often but does seem to hear much of what she says. She warns Laudna her not to talk to others about their secrets. She has also at times tried to isolate Laudna, telling her that the rest of Bells Hells will betray her.

First life

 * Bracers of Defense (looted and given to Grog)
 * Robe of Shielding Shadows (looted by Vox Machina, unused by the party)
 * Cloak of Displacement (looted and given to Vax)
 * Wand of Fireballs (looted and given to Scanlan)
 * Ring of Lightning Resistance (Looted and given to Percy)

Second life

 * Eye of Vecna (looted Vox Machina, later destroyed by Pelor)

Wizard abilities

 * Spellcasting
 * Arcane Recovery
 * Arcane Tradition: School of Necromancy
 * Necromancy Savant
 * Grim Harvest
 * Undead Thralls
 * Inured to Undeath
 * Command Undead

Shade abilities
The shade of Delilah fought by Bells Hells had the following abilities:
 * Shares hit point pool with apparition of the Sun Tree
 * Legendary Resistance (at least 1/day)
 * Multiattack: Delilah makes three Necrotic Burst attacks.
 * Delilah makes a ranged spell attack against a creature. On a hit, the target takes necrotic damage and is pushed up to 30 feet in a direction of Delilah's choice.
 * When provoked into an opportunity attack, she may also target the creature with a Necrotic Burst as a reaction instead of making a melee weapon attack.
 * Summon Undead: As a bonus action, Delilah summons multiple skeletons.
 * Legendary Actions
 * Necrotic Burst: She makes one Necrotic Burst attack.
 * Shadow Step: She teleports up to 30 feet.
 * Lair Actions
 * Ward of the Corrupt: The Sun Tree envelopes Delilah in ribbons to shield her.
 * Hungry Vines: The Sun Tree attempts to grab all creatures on the ground within 60 feet. On a failed Strength saving throw, the creature is dragged 30 feet closer and released. If the creature is dragged next to the trunk of the Sun Tree, they take necrotic damage, healing Delilah.

Appearances

 * Campaign 1
 * Campaign 3
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * Campaign 3
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * Campaign 3
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * Campaign 3
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * Campaign 3
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * Campaign 3
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina

Mentions

 * Campaign 1
 * Campaign 2
 * Campaign 3
 * Campaign 2
 * Campaign 3
 * Campaign 2
 * Campaign 3
 * Campaign 3
 * Campaign 3

Quotations

 * "You can't! I broke the world for us! No...!" (Delilah screaming in horror after Sylas was destroyed by Keyleth at the Ziggurat)
 * "Careful, dear. Some things are meant to be kept secret." (Delilah speaking into Laudna's head)

Trivia

 * Laura Bailey dressed as Lady Briarwood during, which aired the week before Halloween 2016. Laura has identified Delilah as the "Anti-Vex'ahlia", and says Vex came very close to becoming someone very similar to Delilah had she gone down a darker path.
 * In the Critical Role Major Arcana Tarot Card Set, she and Sylas represent VI - The Lovers.
 * As of the end of the first campaign, Delilah has been killed three times, each time by a member of the de Rolo family; once by Cassandra in, once by Percy in , and once by Vex in.
 * She is the first Campaign 1 character to appear in Campaign 3.
 * The plane that she inhabits in Campaign 3, the twisted reflection of Whitestone where Bells Hells meets her, is similar to a Domain of Dread as described in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft. These domains are demiplanes within the Shadowfell that each imprison an evil villain referred to as a Darklord. Each domain mirrors the Darklord trapped within by drawing on their crimes, failures, or impossible ambitions and twists their desires into ironic torment, often by denying them their ultimate goals or satisfactions. Though the Darklord hates their domain, they are also the root cause of all suffering within it and have considerable influence over the domain.