Into the Greyspine Mines

is the second episode of the first season of Critical Role. After Scanlan Shorthalt brought the abomination of a naga to its tortured end, Vox Machina vowed to Nostoc Greyspine to put an end to the darkness now rising up from the bowels of the earth. The team quickly gears up and makes their way into Kraghammer's mine, beginning a miles-long trek down into the veins of Khaloor. After many hours wandering the dark, they reach a subterranean river within a massive, inky cavern where they are are attacked by a pair of umber hulks. The beasts are dispatched without too much difficulty, but in a fit of rage and shortsightedness, Grog Strongjaw charges toward a flickering light further off in the cavern. He stumbles across several duergar, dark cousins of the dwarves above, as well as a skittering, four-legged brain. The wretched thing is killed quickly, but not before lashing out at Grog's psyche. The goliath's mind is broken, and he falls to the ground in a heap.

Previously on Critical Role
''So [ Vox Machina ] has been hired by their friend Arcanist Allura Vysoren to head towards the dwarven town of Kraghammer, as a good friend of hers has gone missing. [The] halfling paladin named Lady Kima of Vord, on a vision quest as part of a pilgrimage, was drawn towards some dark evil she said was manifesting somewhere deep beneath Kraghammer, and hadn't been heard from since. The party was sent there to seek her. Upon arriving in Kraghammer, shenanigans ensued. They made some friends, made some enemies, wandered the town, a bear almost got into a fight, and eventually the party made their way to the bottom ring of Kraghammer. Talked to Lord Nostoc Greyspine, the head of the Greyspine mines, where supposedly Lady Kima disappeared. After their conversation with him, a bunch of goblins and ogres sprang from the mines, attacking the workers. The party swooped down to aid, [but] realized that the goblins and ogres weren't attacking; they were fleeing from something else that emerged from the mines:  a strange, naga-based hydra-ish abomination. The party proceeded to slaughter it, the final blow dealt by Scanlan.''

A Deal with Nostoc Greyspine
After the battle, Nostoc Greyspine invites them to continue their conversation. He admits that these "intrusions" have been bad for business and begrudgingly accepts their help and offers a reward if they stop the source. They seal the deal with a drink of the Thistle Branch Dark Blood Wine, and Vax'ildan again tries to steal some of it. This time he manages it with the help of Scanlan playing some gnomish music that Nostoc does not like.

The party leaves his office and looks for Foreman Herris to learn about what creatures they might encounter in the mines. Scanlan sings a song of rest:  "Scanlan make you feel good.  Scanlan make you feel real goo-o-ood."

Finding Foreman Herris, they learn of the nightmarish creatures he has seen—goblins stitched together, unstable mutated slimes and oozes, a swollen duergar with multiple mouths and sets of eyes, and creatures from the surface that don't normally wander down on their own. Tiberius suggests this is the work of necromancy, but Herris believes that the creatures are still alive.

Herris gives them a map of the mines before they leave.

Back to House Thunderbrand
Vox Machina heads back to House Thunderbrand to stock up. This time Vax attempts to walk toward the door and gets blasted by blue energy. Tiberius casts Dispel Magic but the spell has no effect. Vex'ahlia wants to fly the magic carpet over to the door, but Scanlan casts Unseen Servant and commands it to knock on the door. The door is answered by Lord Thunderbrand. Tiberius tries to introduce the group but Lord Thunderbrand casts Silence on him, upset by his intrusion a few nights ago. Tiberius tries to mime his way through a conversation while the rest of the group make excuses for his weirdness. When Tiberius can be heard again he makes an impassioned speech about his respect for the arcane to persuade Lord Thunderbrand, but the dwarf turns away because Tiberius is not a dwarf himself.

While Lord Thunderbrand's back is turned, Tiberius casts Alter Self on Keyleth, who had previously been a squirrel hiding in Vex's pocket, and turns her into a dwarf. Lord Thunderbrand sees through the spell. Before he can turn away again, Vax tries to make peace but fails. Not even Vex's wink got them in the door. Scanlan makes one last effort by offering him anything interesting they find in the mine and he replies, "When you bring them, then we'll talk!"

The Value of Valor
The party head to The Value of Valor, an elven establishment, for potions and enchanted arrows. When paying, Vex does the math and intentionally gives a lower price but Grog corrects her.

They head back to the Iron Hearth Tavern to rest. The next morning they head into the mine. They use Foreman Herris's map to get to the elevator and continue down. Vex finds some tracks of dwarves dragging dwarves deeper into the mine but two sets of drag marks do not have accompanying tracks of their draggers. They follow the tracks down the winding and descending tunnel for four hours until it finally widens into a cavern, through which runs a river that leads to a waterfall.

As they enter the cavern, they hear a skittering and two umber hulks drop from the ceiling. One of them strikes at Percy with its mandibles. The second attacks Grog. Scanlan starts singing and briefly distracts it, but it still gets in one hit. Vex begins to nock an arrow, but a wave of confusion takes over her brain and she spaces out, unmoving. Scanlan goes to help Vex and sings, "Magic, magic go away, come again another day!", but it has no effect. Percy pulls his gun, fires, and hits. He takes a second shot but his gun jams. Keyleth, as a cave bear, claws at an umber hulk and carves out a chunk of its hide. The umber hulk retaliates and hits Keyleth with its claws and mandibles. The second umber hulk attacks Grog again, its mandibles crushing down on his body and piercing into his chest. Vax jumps onto one umber hulk's back, gaining purchase on one of its chitinous plates, and stabs its head before it shrugs him off. Grog rages, popping all the capillaries in his eyeballs. Grog feels the influence of the umber hulk's Confusing Gaze, and he swings with his axe and misses Tiberius's head by inches.

Tiberius dispels the magic on Grog and his confusion begins to dissipate. Tiberius then creates a pillar of stone beneath him, giving him a view of the battlefield. Vex, averting her eyes, shoots two arrows, both finding their target. The umber hulk begins to burn, reeling back, and fixates on her. Scanlan turns one of the umber hulks into a snail and inspires Percy. Percy clears the jam in his gun and fires at the second umber hulk, just managing to hit it.

Bear-Keyleth grapples the umber hulk by its throat with her claws and teeth, and she drags it to the river. They both plunge under the water. The umber hulk tries to break away, but Keyleth keeps her hold. Failing to break away, the umber hulk slashes at her, and she loses her bear form.

Vax picks up the snail-form umber hulk and throws it over the waterfall, then runs up to the umber hulk in the water and tries to strike it but misses. Grog runs and leaps into the water, brings his axe down and plunges it directly into the forehead of the umber hulk. The umber hulk's body goes limp and floats down the water. Vex helps Keyleth out of the water.

The second umber hulk, no longer in snail form, burrows its way up the falls and bursts out right behind Vax. Tiberius casts Fire Bolt but misses. Vex fires two arrows and pierces the armor of the umber hulk. Scanlan casts Lightning Bolt at the umber hulk. Lightning cascades across its body and fingers of electricity shoot through its plates, but it's still standing. Percy fires and hits the plates on its chest, and a purplish goo begins to spill from its wounds. Keyleth unleashes Call Lightning and causes a single bolt to streak down, striking the umber hulk where Scanlan's bolt previously struck it.

The umber hulk charges toward Scanlan, swiping its claws; as they strike him, Scanlan wails. Vax yells, "No one touches the gnome!", and flanks the umber hulk, tumbling under it, bringing his dagger up and slamming it right at the bottom of its abdomen. Vax yanks back on his dagger, carving a jagged wound down its body, spilling its innards onto Scanlan before it collapses.

Grog shoves the dead umber hulk off Scanlan. Tiberius offers to clean him up, but Scanlan decides to wear the umber hulk ichor as a warning to others.

Grog, still in a rage, runs to the light in the distance, followed by Vax and Keyleth. They find an abandoned campfire. Three crossbow bolts come flying out of nowhere—two hitting Grog. They notice three duergar, with a strange, unfamiliar beast accompanying them:  a large brain with a set of claws.

Vax and Vex stealth. Tiberius jumps off his pillar and saunters over to the commotion. Scanlan casts Stinking Cloud, and the duergar start hacking and coughing. Grog is drawn to the smell. The brain-creature, called an intellect devourer, is unaffected by the cloud and intrudes on the mind of Grog, who immediately falls unconscious. Tiberius fires Glacial Blast at the intellect devourer, freezing its entire body before shattering it into pieces. Vex attacks a duergar with two arrows and kills it.

Scared now, one duergar says to the other in Undercommon (which only Vex understands), "Quick, back to the master." Scanlan casts Dispel Magic on a catatonic Grog, but it does not affect him. Vex calls out, "Let one of them live so I can question them!" Percy aims for the female duergar and incapacitates her. Keyleth slams another bolt of lightning into the second duergar, part of its face now charred, and it reels from the cacophonous blast. Vax runs into the cloud to try to capture the incapacitated duergar, but he is overcome by the smell.

Tiberius casts Fire Bolt at the second duergar but misses. Vex shoots at the same duergar, and it falls off the edge of the cliff onto the cavern floor below. Vex yells, "Surrender!" in Undercommon to the last duergar, who is intimidated.

New

 * Foreman Herris:  the foreman of Greyspine Quarry.
 * Lord Thunderbrand: Arcanist of Kraghammer.
 * Tremaine: elven proprietor of the Value of Valor.
 * Two umber hulks
 * An intellect devourer
 * Two unnamed duergar and a female duergar.

Returning

 * Nostoc Greyspine:  the owner of Greyspine Quarry