Critical Recap: Critical Role C2E111 (New Homes and Old Friends)

Hello! Welcome to Critical Recap! I’m Dani Carr, the Critical Role Lore Keeper. Let’s dive into our recap of Critical Role Episode 111 New Homes and Old Friends!

WIDOGAST’S NASCENT NEIN-SIDED TOWER

Caleb leads them through the magical doorway and into a tall, nine sided tower with stained glass windows that depict the nine schools of magic. The tower allows them to levitate within its center, passing from floor to floor. Each person has their own, personalized bedroom that Caleb has tailored especially to their taste and their interests. A salon area houses a three story library, filled with all the books that Caleb has read before, and the dining room leads to a kitchen where the servants of the tower are revealed: fey cats who take care of the meals and the cleaning. The tower’s doorway is invisible to outsiders and its magic will last for 24 hours.

Everyone is astounded by the work and the detail that Caleb has put into the tower, which he considers a gift to his friends. The tower also includes a floor that can provide the materials for whatever activity they require, along with a laboratory for Veth, Caleb, and Yeza. They have dinner together, with the cats attending and bringing them whatever food they request. Jester polymorphs into a cat to explore the aqueduct system that allows the fey servants to travel to all the rooms while the others retire and Beau studies her notes and journals from their adventuring, trying to piece together what they know. Caleb goes to another room, opening a door to a facsimile of a torture chamber, where he ruminates on the dinner with Trent.

ZA-DASHING IN

In the morning, they return to Nicodranas to pick up Luc and Yeza before teleporting to Zadash. The Brenatto’s, Caduceus, Jester, and Fjord go to Pumat’s while Beau, Caleb, and Yasha stay at the library to do some research and compare notes. Zeenoth aids the three in their research into the Eyes of Nine, Nonagon, and the Tomb Takers. Eyes of Nine continues to pull up nothing, and while a nonagon is a nine-sided figure, there’s no record of anyone with that name. Beau finds a reference to the Tomb Takers as a group out of Shady Creek Run that was active for around five years, but hasn’t been seen in two years.

The Tomb Takers did mercenary work and were hired to go through the ruins of Molaesymr (now the Savilirwood.) Yasha and Beau compare their notes on their conversations with Cree – whatever ritual they were doing went wrong and Lucien instructed them to scatter. They were running from a spellslinger from the capital who wanted the book, likely the ritual book. Molly didn’t want anything to do with that life, despite meeting Cree. They contemplate whether to go to Molly’s grave and try to talk to him or just focus on tracking down the Tomb Takers.

The others head to the Invulnerable Vagrant, where Pumat Sol delightedly greets his friends. Veth reintroduces herself in her halfling body and introduces him to her husband and son. Pumat correctly guesses that Yeza is an alchemist and Yeza offers his services whenever he may need them. Caduceus commissions a +1 enchantment for his armor and Fjord buys a very powerful Ioun stone that can up the Constitution of the wearer. The stone was originally commissioned by Assembly Member Jenna Iresor, but Pumat is glad the powerful stone is going to someone he trusts. Fjord also purchases a Cloak of Billowing, while Veth buys a Ring of Tops for Luc and a Potion of Stone Giant Strength.

VISITING THE GENTLEMAN

Meeting back up with the others, Fjord gives the Ioun Stone to Caleb, as thanks and appreciation for the tower. They visit the Gentleman at the Evening Nip, where Jester tells him how Marian is doing and that he could totally go visit her, no big deal. The Gentleman is non-committal, saying when he has time, he’ll pop down to Nicodranas. They ask about Cree and learn that she left his group entirely about two months ago – not angrily, just stating that their business was concluded. It was rather sudden, but he doesn’t know where she went.

The Gentleman has the blood vials of his contracts, but they are useless now without his blood cleric. Jester asks for their blood back, along with Molly’s, which he gives them under the condition that they not tell anyone that the vials are now worthless. They ask about Eiselcross and he tells them all he knows is that rumors of ancient items for trade have been coming through for about seven years, and there’s money to be made in procuring special equipment for trips there. They debate on where to go next – either to Molly’s grave or to Cree. Jester scries on Cree, seeing her trudging through a heavy blizzard, though unable to make out anything else.

They debate whether they should dig up Molly and try to bring him back to life. It feels wrong, plus they don’t know who they’ll get: Nonagon, Molly, or someone else. They could maybe have a conversation, but there’s no telling it it will help. At the least, Jester can scry on the grave and then they can decide. She scries, seeing pouring rain and the stick that marked his grave tilted to the side, with no sign of the coat. It’s too muddy to tell if the ground has been disturbed.

THEORIES UPON THEORIES

Before they decide, Beau outlines her conspiracy theory in full. Vess DeRogna is sending them to Aeor for divine artifacts, yes? Every artifact that has been discovered is in the hands of the Assembly. The Tomb Takers were thieving and excavating and doing bodyguard missions – exactly what Vess is hiring the Nein to do. Beau believes that Vess is the spellslinger that the Tomb Takers were running from, that she hired them to search for artifacts, exactly what she wants the Nein to do.

Beau’s theory is that the Tomb Takers were hired by Vess DeRogna to excavate in either Molaesmyr or Shattengrod. They got looped into her mess and Lucien was used for the ritual. She believes the ritual was meant to teleport Lucien to Aeor, assuming that Aeor was still in this dimension. But what if Aeor wasn’t in this dimension? There were no reported survivors from Aeor, plus Vess and others keep saying the excavation site is only ‘believed’ to be located there. But no confirmation that Aeor is there. What if it’s not there? What if it’s the Living City? Jester wonders if the Living City is itself the weapon created to kill the divine.

Beau’s theory continues – what if Lucien was teleported to the Living City and came back with nine eye tattoos on his body, which is why Molly didn’t remember anything about his previous life? The artifacts from the North could have come from other sites. The Tomb Takers were formed around 7 years ago, lining up with when the Gentleman said rumors of the artifacts began. Maybe Vess has been throwing mercenaries at these excavations and the Nein are her next sacrifice. Jester thinks Aeor itself could have split – one part became the Living City and the other fell to ruin. Maybe its defense mechanism went wrong and it teleported to the Astral Sea and has been floating there for thousands of years, slowly becoming more corrupted.

THE GRAVESITE OF MOLLYMAUK TEALEAF

While there are other Tomb Takers they possibly track down in Shady Creek Run, Caleb is insistent on going to Molly to ask him about the nine eyes. Jester quietly reminds Caleb that some of the group might have a hard time going to Molly’s grave – this will be very painful for them, even if it helps them.

Caleb teleports them to the grave. Caduceus points out that those in his profession do not recommend this, but they forge ahead. Veth begins to investigate the ground, digging with Caleb’s help. A little ways into the muddy earth, they can find no sign of Molly’s body. Close but off-site, Veth locates Molly’s dirt and grime covered coat, likely blown away by the wind. Caduceus joins the digging, but as the pit gets deeper, they can find no sign of Molly’s body.

As they dig and dig, Jester scries on Molly’s body – she sees a familiar blizzard and a purple tiefling trudging through the heavy snow, a confident grin on the face of the very alive Mollymauk Tealeaf.

That is it for Critical Role Episode 111!

FINAL THOUGHTS

• aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! HOLY SHIT Y’ALL!!!!!!!!! IT’S MOLLY!!! …or IS it?!?! Who’s in the body??
• Caleb has been working on the tower since the kidnapping and Molly’s death and I’m *very* emotional about this fact.
• All signs point north! Onward to Eiselcross!
• AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
• Oh Mighty Nein.