Critical Recap: Age of Umbra – Sallowlands Episode 4 “Call of the Wild Hearts”
Written by Dani on August 4, 2026
Hello and welcome to Critical Recap! I’m Jared Deiro, the Critical Role Junior Lore Keeper. Let’s dive into Age of Umbra: Sallowlands Episode 4 Call of the Wild Hearts!
MAKINGS OF THE SELF
After avoiding some deadly skeletal ruins and heading southbound toward the Threadbares, Bowen fumbles through his notes and prayer books, recalling a great battle that took place here: Back in the Old World, long before the lake formed, a demagogue rose, and the Veiled Gods struck him down. The lake was made to bury the remnants of who he was and all who followed. After a few miles of trekking, Badger finds a cavern for them to rest within a large chasm full of peregrine stalkers. While settling in, Sister finds a strange black plant, Nightmare Weed. Sister has heard of this unique herb, often used in rituals of omen to peer into the truth of another being. Alphonse asks Mercy where they are from; he can’t remember. Mercy only remembers awakening where Sister was. After that, he was only met with violence until he and Dilly found one another. Alphonse detaches one of his tubes, allowing blood to pour from it. Using Grim Psychometry, he is confronted with a vision of two hooded figures who were killed in the cavern long before, they dropped a satchel of supplies as they fell into the chasm. Dilly asks how Alphonse came to be the way that he is. He’s not really sure, he was a lot like all of them. He was different. He had a family, a community. He fought for the old world and the old stories of life, hope, and honor. But the world took everything from him, and now he doesn’t know any other way. Alphonse asks Caguama to keep their relic away from him, saying people will realize that a return of the gods or the old world is not worth the suffering. This is what they live by. No relic will save them – and if the gods return, then they must beg Alphonse for mercy. Mercy and Alphonse step outside the cavern while Caguama shows the fragile dagger relic to Dilly and Sister. It is VERY old. Sister can sense that it can hold its “ability” indefinitely. Osha told Caguama that it’s meant to be used as a form of sacrifice. Sister can tell. This is not a dagger for sacrificing for oneself, it is a dagger for sacrificing oneself. Caguama asks if they were to use it on themself, would their soul rise anew? This, Sister does not know.PAST LIVES
Dillwyn dreams of their home village as a smaller version of them sits on a stump. She feels the forest shift around them and an unfamiliar shadow creeps in. She hears a horn as she watches shapes rush past. Dilly grabs their ears and screams until – nothing. As they return to their village, everyone is gone, the buildings are empty, the fire is still crackling, and Dilly is alone. Then in the distance, they hear a metallic ringing sound. The quake of a gong. Getting louder. And LOUDER. Alphonse dreams of plain salt flats, a flicker of ember ahead. He can taste the dry chalk of the winds. A figure walks towards him. A woman named Marianne. Alphonse wants to say something to her, but he doesn’t want false hope. A ghost of his anger, she tells him that he carries the sorrow of too many. It’s a weight unearned. He cries that ‘they’ took everything from him; they took her, they took Vaila. Marianne tells him that he has to persist, she asks that when he finds the time and place, he lay her to rest. He looks down at the ashes in his hand and instead sees a crystal sphere, within is a bony finger. Sister dreams of the Rustsaw in its vibrant glory. She sees red-armored and robed people rising from the hills. They speak against the words of the ordinance. The central figure, swathed in red, encompasses and commands their people. Suddenly, the ground cracks and explodes, and those bearing red are wiped from history. Then, through the dust, she sees the faces of the Veiled Gods masked in shadow. They look down from their heavenly seats as the open chasm fills with water.DEAL WITH THE DOVA
Morning comes, and the group spots the satchel from Alphonse’s vision. Dilly climbs down and retrieves it, finding a stamina potion and a ball of twine with a self-sewing thread. They push on for a full day’s travel until they hit the edge of the Threadbares. While traveling, they are pulled into a sand whirlpool, drenched in acid rain, and attacked by a swarm of deadly beetles! Finally, as they approach the inner region of the Threadbares, they come across a unique sight – a full jungle of fresh vegetation. As they reach the base of the mountain, they find tents and huts near the treeline full of strange, warped, and mutated beastfolk that call themselves “The Dova”. Adomna, the Ox-like man, and Dradoon, the bear-like woman, welcome the wanderers with open arms and baskets of fruits. Strangely, Mercy is beyond comfortable, and this confuses them. There is a genuineness in the welcoming and an overt curiosity and eagerness to have them here. Someone calls out Dillwyn’s name – it’s Mr. Grub! One of the lost elders of her village. Dilly thought she’d done something bad and they ran away, or perhaps they were all dead. She’s been looking for them. It’s hard for Grub to explain, but they didn’t mean to leave her. Something called to them and they just had to leave. But she’s here now, and he’s excited to bring her back to Hookburrow, where everyone would love to see her. The Dova members gather the newcomers and tell them how they took their Embertoll out and called those to join them, killing those who disagreed. They’ve become a family born off the City of Mourningstar and under the great Grim Hunter, the one responsible for the foliage. It is her children who found them and gave them purpose. They are offered to speak to the chief of Hookburrow and undergo a ceremony before the Embertoll. During a long conversation of persuasion and confusion, Sister tries to reach out to the fungus, but finds that there is NO fungal network here. She speaks to Mercy in his head, “It’s wrong here. The cycle is not natural.” They want to move forward to the city. Dilly notices some Dova picking up their belongings, while others have begun to build a perimeter around them slowly. Adomna tells the group they’re about to head back to Hookburrow to the chieftain. The Dova wishes to guide them. Caguama tells them they want to get to the main city. Then, Adomna blows into a shell and a cloud fills the space. Mercy, Caguama, Alphonse, and Bowen fall unconscious, while Sister and Dilly stay standing and coughing. They dogpile Sister as Dilly rushes off into the forest to hide, watching the carts pull away their troupe. Thats allllll for Episode 4 of Age of Umbra: Sallowlands!FINAL THOUGHTS
- These backstories are breaking my heart. They’re tearing me apart, Critters! I don’t LIKE IT!
- Never trust nice people in a post-apocalyptic setting.
- Love how the dice put Dilly in a situation to save their “new family” from the clutches of their old. Very dynamic, I can’t wait for the next episode!!
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