Critical Recap: Critical Role C3E59 “Somewhere Out There”

Hello! Welcome to Critical Recap! I’m Dani Carr, the Critical Role Lore Keeper. Let’s dive into our recap of Critical Role Campaign 3 Episode 59 Somewhere Out There!

WHERE IN THE WORLD

Laudna, Orym, and Ashton find themselves on the cliffs of a geothermal gorge with no idea where they are or how they got there after the white flash of the Malleus Key’s activation during the apogee solstice. They are likely on another continent based on the geothermal activity and how far away Ruidus is, which they can see to the south. Laudna cannot sense Imogen and cannot use message to talk to Chetney, Fearne, or FCG. Even Orym’s sending stones to Dorian and Caleb receive unhelpful feedback when used.

Pâté goes to scout for them, finding acid pools at the bottom of the gorge, so they decide to climb up the sides to the forest above. It’s a difficult climb and when Orym reaches a higher ledge, he finds someone else there: a brash and tattooed dwarven woman who gives her name as Mona (she/her, played by Aimee Carrero) for now. Mona is a barbarian/rogue who is lost and angry, but she helps Orym get Ashton and Laudna onto the safety of the ledge.

Mona was in Tal’Dorei, about to confront her no-good ex-fiance when she heard a voice (Ludinus Da’leth) giving a speech – then she was shunted here, just like the others, and she has no idea why. She doesn’t care about the gods at all and has no idea who Ludinus is. The group climbs to the top of the gorge and moves into the forest, deciding to look for the closest town. Orym and Pâté scout from a tree, discovering that they are in a green valley surrounded by mountains bearing one very tall peak, with a township visible in the distance.

NEW MAGIC

The group moves into the forest and spots a small, shoddy campfire in the distance, tended by a young, innocent-looking half-elven man with a cart and a reindeer. Orym and Mona approach and the man shoots a lightning bolt towards them in terror. This is Bor’Dor Dog’Son (he/him, played by Utkarsh Ambudkar), a sorcerer with no idea how he received his powers or how to control them.

Orym de-escalates the tense situation and Bor’Dor apologizes, explaining that he is a sheepherder from the Cyrios Mountains in the Dwendalian Empire who has been caring for his sick brother. He too heard Ludinus talking and suddenly appeared here in the forest, with his cart and reindeer, Ratchet. His magic is as new as his arrival in the woods. He heals Mona and invites them to join him by the fire as an apology for attacking them.

LEARNED MAGIC

Ashton goes through the portable hole and tosses out a couple of dead bodies. Orym explains to Bor’Dor that they’ve been through a lot and these were bad people. Bor’Dor has never seen a dead body before. Orym hears branches cracking in the forest and sees a goth elven woman dressed in the clothing of a mage’s apprentice with a raven and a talking book. She asks the group if they will participate in a survey about the apogee solstice.

This is Prism, an apprentice from the Cobalt Soul. Her talking book is named Dynios and, as a mage trapped in a book, he acts as her very stuffy chaperone. Mona reveals that her actual name is Deni$e and allows them to call her by her real name. As for Prism and Dynios, she was being teleported to a metropolitan city near a nexus point, but they were accidentally transported here, instead. She has a mission, though, with her questionnaire on the solstice.

Truthfully, Prism does not have any authority in the Cobalt Soul as an apprentice. The apogee solstice is such a big deal that they pulled in everyone to discover what is happening in the world. Her magic has not been field tested, yet. Prism is delighted to meet everyone, particularly Pâté – he reminds her of the ravens from her home in the Shadow Realm. The group agrees that the apogee solstice has been terrible. Laudna gives it a 3, since she is compartmentalizing.

CORPSE CARNAGE

Orym hears some noises in the forest, prompting everyone to take a defensive stance. When Laudna activates her form of dread, she terrifies Bor’Dor, who screams and throws up. The forest vines come alive and begin to attack. One of these vine creatures is a Corpse Flower, which is as terrifying as it sounds. It swallows Orym, but Prism casts dimension door through Dynios and rescues him from the creature’s innards.

The cart is destroyed and Ratchet runs away, but the group manages to destroy the vine creatures, with Deni$e killing the Corpse Flower. Bor’Dor, who laid down on the battlefield out of terror, is not upset about the missing reindeer. Prism still has her raven, who is named Mother after her own mother and the Matron of Ravens. The group decides to rest for the night and make a decoy of their camp using the corpses and Prism’s spell magic mouth.

GODS AND FRIENDS

Laudna explains what they know of Ludinus Da’leth: he is the head of both the political, mage-filled Cerberus Assembly in Wildemount and the anti-god group known as the Ruby Vanguard that intended to use the apogee solstice to release the god-eater Predathos in order to kill the gods. Deni$e and Prism aren’t against the idea of the gods going away – what did the gods ever do for them? – but Orym points out that there is no guarantee that Predathos won’t destroy the world in the process of god eating.

Right now, the most important thing is to find civilization and find their friends. They’re likely to have been scattered, as well. Ashton reiterates the rule that they don’t leave people behind. Bor’Dor will stick with the group. He wants to get back to Wildemount and feels safe since the others have magic they can control.

The group beds down for the night and Bor’Dor and Prism take the first watch together. He asks her if she truly wants the gods to die. She isn’t sure how she feels about the gods, but she’s excited to be out of the library and is as scared as he is. She asks Bor’Dor if a god gave him his powers. He thinks they may have come from his mother. He hasn’t seen her in a long time.

FINDING THE LOST

Ashton and Laudna take the second watch. Ashton tells her that he panicked back in the mines and made some bad calls. They promise to get back to their people. Laudna asks how they’re so sure that everyone is still alive: what if Imogen was vaporized or blasted into space? Ashton tells her that means they’ll go to space. They’ll find her. They will bring everyone back, because that’s what matters. They might not be able to save the world, but they can save their people.

Orym and Deni$e take the final watch. Deni$e talks about having befriended Shaun Gilmore when she went looking for her ex, Dariax. Orym realizes that Deni$e’s ex is his friend Dariax from the Crown Keepers. She and Dariax had a job stealing furs. He left her before they were supposed to deliver the furs and now there are people after her, looking for their money. So she went looking for Dariax and admits to not being able to live without him.

Orym reminisces about Dariax with Deni$e. She is a hopeless romantic and hopes to find him, either to kiss him or kill him. Orym is still reeling from the events of the solstice, which Deni$e notices. He has a hard time believing they’re going to figure this out and has never felt so small. Neither has Deni$e, but they have big personalities. She is sure they’ll both find their people.

ISSYLRA

Deni$e wakes up Bor’Dor with a rock from his own sling that she stole as payback for his earlier lightning bolt. Everyone gets up and they climb the hills to get above the treeline, where they see the mountains and the green fields. The highest peak is the Ascendant Bridge Mountain, which is the tallest mountain in Exandria. It is believed to be where the gods first touched down in the world, where the titans rose to meet them.

The mountain range to the northeast is the Sunderpeak Mountains, which separate the Demithore Valley from the country of Othanzia – the country that houses Vasselheim, the Dawn City, where civilization first began. This is the continent of Issylra. The aurora leylines of the apogee solstice are still in the sky, with a nexus point in the distance. The group heads off to find the closest town.

That is it for Episode 59 of Critical Role!

FINAL THOUGHTS

• Issylra! They’re in Issylra! New area unlocked!!
• Welcome to Bells Hells Aimee Carrero, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Emily Axford!!
• Pâté tried to find Ratchet the Reindeer but was unsuccessful. It’s probably safer for him this way.
• Centuries from now, adventurers in the Demithore Valley will stumble upon two posed corpses saying “I don’t like it.” That will be a grand day, indeed.

Catch Episode 60 on Thursday, June 1st at 7pm Pacific on twitch.tv/criticalrole and on youtube.com/criticalrole or a week later on our podcast. Is it Thursday yet?