Critical Recap: Critical Role C2E123 “Fair-weather Faith”

Hello! Welcome to Critical Recap! I’m Dani Carr, the Critical Role Lore Keeper. Let’s dive into our recap of Critical Role Episode 123 Fair-weather Faith!

RED EYE WARNING

The rest of the Mighty Nein wake up as Caleb and Beau examine their red eye tattoos. The marks feel different from the skin – smooth and unnatural. Caleb and Beau recount their dream, describing the red eye, thousands of voices welcoming them, and the sound of screams. Jester casts greater restoration on Beau, but the eye remains. Veth offers acid, pouring a drop onto the eye. It simply rests on top, like water on steel. When Caleb casts Identify on Beau’s hand, he has a flashback to the dream, to that red eye, but gleans no further information. Caduceus suggests amputation and then regrowing the limb, but it’s clear this is not a physical ailment. They can’t see through the eyes, but they wonder if Lucien can – or if the Somnovem can.

They manage to get back to sleep, with no continuation of the dreams. Most of the party is suffering from exhaustion due to yesterday’s difficult trek. Neither Beau nor Caleb have new tattoos. Jester urges Caleb to not look at the book anymore, but he’s hesitant, thinking they could learn more. They wonder if sleeping again tonight will bring another eye. They can give it 24 hours and see what happens. Beau and Caleb are both relieved to be in this together, to keep each other in check. When joining Lucien for breakfast, he asks if they slept well. Totally great. They should reach Aeor tomorrow.

AN OLD FOE

They set out, seeing that the storm has passed and the day is clear. Around 4-5 hours into their trek, they hear the sound of wolves running north. Running away…from a massive white dragon flying through the sky. The group buries themselves in the snow, trying to hide. The dragon lands close by and they hear her speak – this is Gelidon! She sweeps through the snow with her tail, trying to find the Nein, whose scent she remembers from their time in her lair. Fjord, knowing the fight is imminent, casts fly on himself, taking off away from the party. Caleb and Beau take off as well, in opposite directions.

The fight begins, with Gelidon first focusing on Fjord before her attention is taken by Yasha’s battle cry. Jester dimension doors herself and Beau onto the dragon’s back. She falls off when Gelidon uses a wing attack, but Beau stays on. Both the Nein and the Tombtakers take part in the fight, giving the Nein a chance to see what the Tombtakers abilities are – they’re all bloodhunters in some capacity, using blood magic to imbue their weapons with magical properties. Lucien shows off his usage of Legendary Actions.

With 12 people attacking her with blade, bolt, and magic, Gelidon finally attempts to fly off, with Beau frozen to her face. Lucien gives Beau up for lost, but the Nein race to rescue their friend. Caleb’s cat claw manages to wrench Beau free from the dragon. They continue to attack Gelidon before she finally flies away into the horizon, bloodied but unbeaten. Rejoining the others, Fjord calls out Lucien for his readiness to let Gelidon abscond with Beau. Lucien thinks they can continue this charade for as long as they want, but they are not friends. They all know the deal. They take a short rest. Fjord gives Jester a kiss in front of everyone, thanking her for healing him during the fight. Veth gets the details from Jester and congratulates her, encouraging her to be upfront about her feelings.

TOMBTAKERS? MORE LIKE BAG TAKERS

As they begin their trek again, Caduceus notices Dagen still following in the distance. He suggests sending Dagen ahead to civilization to give Essek a heads up about what’s coming. Jester casts sending to Dagen, asking if he would be willing to go ahead to give a message. Dagen agrees, so long as he gets paid upfront. That was a dragon. The Nein pool together the 2000 gold they owe him and Jester writes a note for Essek, explaining what’s going on. Veth tucks the bag into the snow for Dagen to find.

Dusk arrives and Lucien announces they’re about 2-3 hours from Aeor. They could either push or rest. The group chooses to rest, so Caleb puts up the tower. After dinner, Jester checks in with Dagen, who found the money pouch and is now headed to Essek. Caduceus casts commune:

1. Does Essek plan on helping us at the moment? Yes.
2. Can the eyes that have marked Beau & Caleb be used against us? Uncertain.
3. Do the Tombtakers plan on sacrificing any of them when they reach their destination? The Wildmother’s vision seems challenged, but Caduceus senses a no.

Jester also casts commune with the Traveler, which is a bit more direct when he just plops down in front of her. She shows him the eye tattoos and asks if it can be reversed – he thinks there is probably a way, but likely not something they have at their disposal right now. This situation creeps Artagan out and is beyond his area of expertise. He suggests uncovering what Lucien actually wants from them.

As they ponder what to do with the crest, Fjord goes to remove it from the bag of holding. But the bag of holding itself is gone. Otis likely stole it when he was hiding behind Fjord during the fight. The Nein discover fresh footprints leading away from the tower. It’s only been about half an hour since dinner, so the Tombtakers can’t be too far ahead. They polymorph into owls to try and find them, or at least fly northwest if they can’t locate them.

A TERRIFYING SHOWDOWN

With Caleb, Jester, and Yasha in owl form, they stealth into the dark night, with Cad spotting the Tombtakers. Lucien sees the owls and suddenly, Cad’s darkvision goggles stop working and Caleb’s owl form vanishes, sending them both tumbling to the snow at the feet of the cultists. Owl!Jester manages to grab the first threshold crest away from Zoran while owl!Yasha grabs Otis, but Otis doesn’t have the bag of holding. Beau, worried about her squishy friends, drops down and attacks, managing to Extract Aspects on Lucien: he is resistant to fire and necrotic damage, immune to psychic damage, and immune to being charmed, frightened, or stunned.

In retaliation, Lucien grabs Beau by the throat and uses his psychic stare on her. Blood pours from her face but Beau is still alive. Lucien calls out to the Nein, asking if this is how they want things to go. Cad and Caleb are devoid of their magical abilities, unable to even cast cantrips or use magical items. Caduceus tries to talk to Lucien, but the tiefling is clearly over this, having gotten what he wanted. Otis manages to kick off Owl!Yasha and return to the Tombtakers while Owl!Jester circles with Fjord, who also tries to talk. But Lucien is happy to let Fjord take their crest – he’ll simply kill his friends and then go get another crest. No bluffs.

Owl!Yasha swoops in and snatches Beau from Lucien’s grasp. It becomes clear that there is some sort of anti-magic cone emanating from Lucien’s chest, specifically from the red eye over his heart. Lucien uses his psychic attack on Caduceus, though the firbolg manages to save from too rough of a blow. After taking damage, Yasha loses her owl form, dropping her, Veth, and Beau into the snow. Fjord hops into the fray, attacking Lucien and Zoran. Lucien marks Fjord with Brand of Castigation.

Yasha bamfs out her wings, grabbing Caleb as Beau grabs Caduceus, using Step of the Wind to catch up with the others. Veth casts phantasmal force on Lucien, making him see another Caleb about to cast a spell. Lucien focuses his attacks on this fake Caleb while the real Caleb polymorphs Beau into a mammoth. Cree attempts to cast slow – Fjord counterspells it, then Otis counterspells him, then Caleb counterspells her counterspell. Thus, slow is negated. They cannot tell if Lucien has the bag, but the Nein are reunited and ready to run. Fjord casts major image, making it look like Gelidon has returned, spooking the Tombtakers and giving the Nein enough time to pull away and race into the night.

FINAL THOUGHTS

• Holy shit y’all! Gelidon returns AND a confrontation with the Tombtakers? My heart cannot take the stress!
• The bag of holding has been TAKEN and the bag of holding has EVERYTHING. Including the Cloven Crystal and Vess’s body. So that’s not good.
• At least there seems to be some way of removing the red eyes from Beau and Caleb, possibly, if we trust Artagan’s instincts. DO we trust Artagan’s instincts?
• Now the Nein have to keep running and hopefully DO something with that crest before the Tombtakers catch up. Easy peesy, right?
• Oh Mighty Nein.

Anyway, catch Episode 124 on Thursday, February 4th at 7pm Pacific on twitch.tv/criticalrole and youtube.com/criticalrole or a week later on our podcast. Is it Thursday, yet?