The Streets of Ank'Harel

is the ninth episode of the fifth chapter of Critical Role. Vox Machina travels to Marquet in search of Cabal's Ruin, the next Vestige on their list. They explore the city of Ank'Harel, get involved in some questionable activities, and eventually find themselves standing before the mysterious ruler of the city...

Pre-Show
The following pre-show content was removed from the final Geek & Sundry YouTube video:
 * The updated Critical Role fan art appreciation video.

Announcements

 * Matthew Mercer, Marisha Ray, and Taliesin Jaffe will be gone next week (Thursday, 2016-09-01), so Liam O'Brien will lead a one-shot in lieu of .  Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and Ashly Burch will join the cast for the special episode,.
 * LootCrate continues their sponsorship of Critical Role with $3 off a subscription when using the promo code "criticalrole", which Sam Riegel humorously explained by mathematical analogies.
 * The English cast video for Final Fantasy XV was officially released, with Matthew Mercer playing Cor Leonis.  (Mercer's part in the video begins at 4:24.)
 * Deus Ex:  Mankind Divided came out recently, with Matthew Mercer scattered throughout the game as various characters.
 * Critical Role has been nominated for a Streamy in the "Gaming" category.
 * Also, Muzzled the Musical was nominated for a Streamy in the "Indie" category.  It was co-created by Matthew Mercer, directed by Sean Becker (who also directed Marisha Ray's Signal Boost!), and starred Ashly Burch.
 * Travis Willingham announced that the Dallas Cowboys were, at the time of airing, playing the Seattle Seahawks.
 * The 50th anniversary live-action opening credits aired after the announcements.

Recap
"Our band of adventurers, Vox Machina, in raising an army, hopefully, of allies and powerful artifacts to face the Chroma Conclave, a gathering of powerful, dangerous chromatic dragons that have been tearing through the countryside of Tal'Dorei and distant Wildmount.

"They have recently found some information, had a close call with the Frigid Doom known as Vorugal, the white dragon, flying over, did not pierce through the apparent illusionary barrier that was placed with the help of Allura, Gilmore, and Pike there in Whitestone. The party then decided to go ahead and—using that cue before the dragon returned to its current roost that it has created over the ruins of the city of Draconia—they traveled across to the continent of Wildmount.

"They had a meeting with the Ravinites, apparently a rather subverted and long-enslaved offshoot species of dragonborn kin, tailless and now surviving amongst a recent winter that seems to have come with the ruin the dragon brought. They also discovered that most of Draconia and its royal elite have been slaughtered as a means of the dragon establishing its dominance, and the worship of the Ravinites that survived the fall of Draconia.

"Vox Machina made a deal with Tooma—apparently the current clan leader of the remaining Ravinites—that they would aid in destroying this dragon—basically the master that they replaced the Draconians with—when it came. However, to ensure the party's help there is a two week time limit, and if they do not return before then, the Ravinites would see them as not keeping their end of the deal, and they would instead direct the dragon towards what was going to be Whitestone, until Scanlan altered Tooma's memory, which she recalls now as Emon.

"Before they could find their way home, one of the corpses upon one of the ice spikes outside of the dragon's new nest Percy saw to be the remains of Vox Machina's long-traveled friend Tiberius Stormwind. The party had a fateful farewell, set him to rest within the ruins of the nearby library fallen from the islands of Draconia, said their goodbyes, and then—upon prepping a bit, plotting and planning—found their way back to Whitestone to continue the next leg of their adventure."

Quotations
Vax'ildan: "Maybe so." Keyleth: "But you’re ultimately right. We have nothing to lose. I love you, Vax. I have for a long time. And I’m sorry for being me and that it took me this long to say it."
 * Keyleth: "For the longest time I was… terrified... that I was going to lose you. First to death and then to the Raven Queen – which is still kind of like death – and then ultimately to yourself. And then, I had an interesting talk with Pike here recently. And she said something that really stood out to me, and that was that some people just have more of themselves to give. And I realized this whole time that I was afraid of losing you to a future that ultimately has not yet been written, which is… stupid."