Critical Recap: Age of Umbra E05 “Ages of Pain”

Hello! Welcome to Critical Recap! I’m Dani Carr, the Critical Role Lore Keeper. Let’s dive into our recap of Age of Umbra Episode 5: Ages of Pain!

THE HIVE QUEEN

The group races through the Screaming Forest, moving north in an attempt to escape the forest’s horrors. They charge directly into a sunken area of the forest. They are stampeded by twisted deer that are fleeing the awakening forest before hearing a thud ahead. Skreev climbs a tree and sees a sinkhole ahead, one of the Ever-Shifting Sinkholes that dot the area. One of these sinkholes claimed the life of Snyx’s companion, Womper, a mini-elephant.

The Hive Collectors catch up, this time with the very entity that August fears most – Mother, the Hive Queen. Those that leave will always return to the Hive and Mother has missed August. He was her favorite experiment. Mother wants August left alive to return to her, but orders her royal escort to kill the rest. Now is the time for Misty and August to fight back.

So they fight, with their friends at their side, but an enormous slash from Mother’s glaive causes them both to make death moves. Misty goes unconscious, needing to be healed, but August’s memories of trauma at Mother’s hands keeps August going. He knows that there is too much to do and too much vengeance to dole out.

Idyl heals Misty, bringing her back, and finally feels the purpose and clarity that has been eluding him for so long. For the first time, he feels in control of his powers. Adelia uses her chaos magic to kill a Hive Collector as Mother attempts to flee, but she is not fast enough to avoid Snyx’s slaughter. The last Hive Collector flees and the group celebrates their victory by giving Mother an autopsy. She was once humanoid, but something changed her – then she changed others. Someone will replace her one day. Adelia burns the remnants of the body and the group exits the Screaming Forest to the marshlands, with the Amber Gate just ahead.

THE PATHS

The group rests in the marshlands as night rolls in. August and Misty both feel better, but August wants to burn the Hive itself to release the trapped souls there. Misty still wants to learn more about where she came from. Skreev and Adelia discuss their hesitation to return to Amber Reach when they worked so hard to leave, but they don’t want their new friends to die. The group sleeps and awakens to a morning of heavy mist.

There are three main paths through the once majestic city of Amber Reach. The fastest is across the Empyrean Bridge into the heart of the city, through the Cinnabar Quarter, and through the Astrofoundry. However, this path leaves them extremely exposed. The second path is through the Drowned Sprawl to the west and through the Ashcall Quarter, the former realm of learning. This neighborhood is mostly underwater and permeated with ghosts and scavengers.

Amber Reach’s sacred pyre is in the Celsian Athenaeum, which has become a stronghold that holds a few thousand Enduring. The Cinnabar Quarter is the domain of the Damask Queens, a roving gang of raiders and marauders. This quarter was once home to the nobility of the Reach, who locked themselves in and relied on their stores and money until it all dwindled away.

The third path would take them east through the Basilica Quarter, which was the center of worship and faith. When the gods left, the Grand Ordinance carried on holding the faith that they would return. Their power waned over time as darkness took over the realm, but it is said that the Ordinance still remains, with cults doing whatever it takes to maintain their faith.

SCEPTER & FLAME

Adelia and Skreev both fled the Damask Queens – Yuri of the Emerald Crown has the survivors of Adelia’s family. Snyx does not want to take the Basilica path, as he stole a package from someone important there. He was meant to deliver it to someone in Okros and wants to return it as a possible apology. The others want to open it, so August puts Snyx to sleep so he has plausible deniability. Within is a black iron scepter, as well as a black tongue that leaps out and darts off towards Amber Reach. Idyl destroys it, but black mist still travels towards the Reach.

Adelia touches the scepter and the black that coated the rod crawls up her arm and freezes her skin, turning her arm permanently black – but now the scepter is permanently silver. This is the Scepter of Elias, a focus that assists with clearing stress. They return the scepter to Snyx and decide to go through the Drowned Sprawl and the Ashcall Quarter. Meanwhile, Brixton worries that the flame has abandoned her. She smears embers across her face and vows to redeem herself. When she looks at Idyl, he sees her face glowing gold, then becoming a void of black. Then her face is soot-smeared and her own once again, unnerving Idyl.

The group approaches the Amber Gate, entering the broken city. Brixton celebrates following in the footsteps of great soldiers of yore and leads them to the west. She prays to herself, revering the fallen and hoping for their peace in the beyond. They enter the Drowned Sprawl, where boxes and barrels float in the water and spirits wander. Buried Knowledge calls to them. They watch spirits hide something beneath a bookcase, which Skreev retrieves – a quilted cloth.

RIOT

Suddenly, more spirits materialize on the roofs and streets. They shout that they’ve been abandoned and to keep the faith, then fighting breaks out amongst them. The spirits are re-enacting the Apostasy Riots, which broke out in the first moments of the Veiled Gods’ departure – and they want to bring the party in on the violence. Ghost archers are directed by their ghost captain to attack. The captain calls Idyl a heretic who wields unnatural light.

Brixton can feel the fear in the spirits of these soldiers. They will keep coming under the captain’s orders and this riot is filled with spirits. Snyx takes out the scepter and claims to be Elias – he orders the spirits to find the rioters in the east. Some leave to follow his orders, while others are just confused.

Brixton declares herself the captain, empowering herself with her armor. As she does this, spectral energy surrounds her and she is briefly possessed by a former captain of the guard. The spirit rallies them to stop fighting, that it was the god-king who forsook them, that they are killing kin – then an arrow takes her in the throat and the spirit falls from Brixton’s body. This act causes the riots to cease and allows the group to continue their journey, with the Ashcall Quarter just ahead.

That is it for Episode 5 of Age of Umbra!

FINAL THOUGHTS

• So is Idyl seeing visions of the Heretic Saint in Brixton? Can Brixton channel spirits? Am I reading too much into this?
• Adelia is 9 and Violet was a gift from her grandfather. I would protect this creepy child with my life.
• Ghost Fights! Apparently just as dangerous as Body Fights!

Catch Episode 6 of Age of Umbra on Thursday, July 10th at 7pm Pacific on beacon.tv, where Beacon members get access to the entire episode, podcast included! The episode will also release on twitch.tv/criticalrole and on youtube.com/criticalrole and a week later on our podcast. Is it Thursday yet?