Critical Recap: Critical Role C2E100 (Hunted At Sea)

Hello and welcome back to Critical Recap! I’m Dani Carr, Production Coordinator and Ecstatic Critter. Let’s dive into our recap of Critical Role Episode 100 Hunted At Sea!

BIG TURTLE BIG PROBLEMS

With the dragon turtle sighted and gaining, Fjord takes command of the ship, sending Veth and Yasha to man the cannons while the casters stay on deck to keep the gargantuan creature at bay. Beau acts as First Mate, relaying information to the cannoneers as Fjord steers the ship at full speed, first hoping to outrun, but then hoping to attack. Cannonballs fly as the casters attempt to slow down the dragon turtle’s chase. The dragon turtle submerges, attacking the ship from underneath.

The radiant glow from Jester’s guiding bolt helps them keep their eyes on the submerged dragon turtle, but the tiefling’s successful polymorph of turning it into a regular sea turtle only makes the creature even faster, keeping pace with the ship as they try to outrun it. Caduceus, Jester, and Caleb go water skiing behind the ship in order that Caduceus can cast bane, helping Caleb’s polymorph turn the sea turtle-dragon turtle into a sea slug-dragon turtle instead.

Fjord turns the ship north, leaving the sea slug-dragon turtle in their wake. After a few hours of traveling north, they course correct to get back on the path to Rumblecusp. Over the next few days, Gallen and Jester repair the hull as much as possible, and Gallen shares an old wives tale about dragon turtles: one made a bargain with the pirates of Darktow to protect the isle, meaning that dragon turtles are intelligent creatures. Caduceus casts commune, learning that the dragon turtle is still giving chase, though it doesn’t 100% know where they are, and that it can likely be reasoned with.

Jester, who concluded that the dragon turtle has a mate in Darktow that they’re attempting to rescue, casts sending to the creature, asking if her theory is correct. Due to the spell allowing communication despite language barriers, Jester learns that the dragon turtle needs no mate and takes what it wants. It pursues their ship as ships carry treasure, but her claims that they are super poor and that Darktow has way better treasure are not a deterrent to the dragon turtle, who states to have their scent and reminds her that it takes what it wants.

Another commune between Caduceus and the Wildmother confirms that, though the dragon turtle is still pursuing, it is a bit off course and likely won’t reach them for another couple days. With this knowledge, all who can cast control water do so while Beau uses her magic gust fan, helping the ship move faster than normal. This aid in the Balleater’s travel allows them to reach Rumblecusp in the morning.

LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLECUSP

As they arrive on the island, the Nein notice they’re the first ones here, though Traveler Con is still a week away. Worried about the dragon turtle, they take supplies from the boat and have the crew camp on the beach as well. They do some scouting, noticing some strange mist that seems odd due to the weather. Jester communes with the Traveler, who warns her about dangerous beasts on the island but is otherwise unhelpful. She paints a banner to welcome the Traveler’s followers to Traveler Con.

Caleb turns Frumpkin into a tropical bird, having him fly over the dense tropical trees to scout from the air. He sees a clearing on the southern side of the mountain, where lies a village with buildings built into the trees and humanoid figures milling around. It’s an eclectic mix of humans, elves, and orcs in tattered, cross-continent clothes going about their daily lives. An examination of the volcano determines that it has not erupted before.

The wizard tells the others about the village and they decide they want to seek it out, to discuss Traveler Con and maybe help them if they’re shipwrecked and stranded. They head into the jungle, where Caduceus talks to the plants and Yasha is compelled to eat a purple flower. She manages to resist whatever damage the flower would have done to her, merely claiming it to have been a bit spicy.

As they walk through the jungle, the Nein begin to have a creeping sense of being watched, some strange presence that follows their steps through the misty woods. They notice footprints and deliberate carvings that seem to be guideposts leading to the village. Beau and Veth argue about their senses of perception while Caleb spies something watching them in the trees. They are quickly surrounded by three displacer beasts. As they ready to attack, the Nein hear an earth-shattering roar and a massive bipedal bear with a great axe attacks the displacer beasts, causing two to scatter as another bipedal bear joins and kills the first beast.

ISLAND MYSTERIES

The Nein make it clear they are not an enemy and the two werebears shift, becoming a half-elven woman and a humanoid man. They introduce themselves as Jaina and Pono and are both from the village, though neither can recall where they came from before – only that they were led to the island by fate. They good-naturedly lead the Nein back to their village, Vo, and explain that they are worshipers of the island god, Vokodo.

Vokodo is a fire god, a great fiery beast that encompasses the world and its eventual destruction. The island is its home and the center of the world. Vokodo’s followers give it gems and ‘shiny things’ as religious offerings. The village itself is run by three leaders: Viridian, the spiritual leader; Lukash, the organizational leader; and Terra, the hunting leader. Any questions about the world outside the island lead to confusion from Jaina and Pono, though Caleb notices that Pono is tattooed with a symbol of The Clasp.

According to the two werebears, while they know they were turned before coming to the island, they truly remember nothing else about their lives before Vo. There are around 70 villagers and they state to not be keeping anyone against their will, though the Nein find that claim dubious at best. The gems they present to Vokodo either wash up on shore or are mined from the island itself, though only Viridian goes to Vokodo directly. As they enter the community of Vo, they attract the attention of the visitors and two of the leaders – Lukash, a friendly male orc, and Viridian, a druidic half-elven woman, who asks to hear their tale.

That is it for Episode 100 of Critical Role!

FINAL THOUGHTS

• Oh man that dragon turtle is pissed.
• Here’s hoping that the next arc is ‘The Nein Get a Dragon Turtle a Date.’
• I think it’s really kind of Matt to let Jester see a real cult up close, so she can take notes about what her cult should look like.
• Seriously, this is a cult and I am very worried about what’s coming. A fiery god? Memory loss? Something watching them in the forest?? Smells bad, y’all.
• Oh Mighty Nein.

Anyway, catch Episode 101 on Thursday, July 9th at 7pm Pacific on twitch.tv/criticalrole or a week later on our podcast. Is it Thursday, yet?