Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?
Why, hello there. I'm Brennan Lee Mulligan, and welcome to Campaign 4 of Critical Role. Thank you for joining us on this journey as we explore Ahriman, a world of fractured kingdoms, tumultuous rebellion, and sorcery that rises from the graveyard of the gods. You're listening to part one of this adventure, with part two arriving this upcoming Tuesday.
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You'll receive access to exclusive content, discounts at all our online Critical Role shops, pre-sales for live events, and so much more. Start your seven-day free trial today at beacon.tv. Now, without further ado, let's begin this episode of Critical Role. The windswept dunes of the Eternal Night, Barod-El of the Fallen, God of the Sun, here in the ruins of the Obra Dhimian Empire.
Having departed from Tanisar, knowing that some large portion of the Barogard had ventured into endless sand, being pursued by one Aligarh Fang, you return, not knowing, Tysha, where your son could be, but knowing that he had survived under his own power and was attempting to do something reckless and heroic.
Perhaps something that he gets from... Perhaps the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.
I'm stressed and proud.
Stressed and proud. Stroud. I'm Stroud! Awaking to endless starlight and freezing white sand, you come to after the evening in which Octus and Vaelis communed with the skull of Tertia Taconis. Leaving Tanisar, you gathered a tremendous amount of resources from the barracks.
The last thing that you saw, you uncovered the tremendous arcane knowledge of what the ritual had been intended to do and grabbed, I think, a trove of more martial, military, and political documents from the barracks, as well as some of the remains or looks like some signs of there having been a basilisk present here in this place for some amount of time. We return to the moment. Julian, Tysha,
You awaken. Dr. Talter, in a tiny little bedroll, is shivering in the sand, and you see, laid out on the ground in repose, is the body of Dame Gaea Saramai. Oktis and Vaelis both awake as you come to.
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Chapter 2: What happens when the characters awaken?
If anything, you're taking a circuitous route to get back to Dol Machiar. Does that make sense? Like, you go to Castle Torch because the Tyria Via is a safer path through the desert. There's a straight shot, like, who knows, Aligarh may have gone straight through the desert to Dol Machiar, but going straight through the desert is as you suffered those attacks from shadows and other things.
Going through the desert is not a wise proposition, so the Tyria Via ends up being a safer way to traverse, if that makes sense. So you would go to Castle Torch to get to the orchard the fastest, and you would go to Castle Torch just to get out of the Endless Night the safest.
I suppose
Since we sent Aranessa to the orchard, if we stop at Castle Torch, see if there's been any sign of any sort of issues or incursion.
Or if she sent a message.
Well, I would request a hasteful pursuit.
Yeah. Yeah. In that case, if you're trying to go with all speed, do you take time to review what you took from the barracks here? I think so. You find evidence of troop movements, things kept in ledgers. It's a little bit of detective work, but seeing where supplies are shipped. You don't find a war room with little pieces on it, but it's easy enough to go.
You don't send wagons full of food to a place that doesn't have soldiers there, right? Right. People were stationed at the Orchard, and you see a lot of activity in a Timnish city called Houndsport. It looks like there are soldiers there that were moved quite recently.
Is there a way to ascertain from the amount of supplies being diverted there to figure out how many troops are supposed to be at the orchard? A quite significant amount of troops at the orchard.
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Chapter 3: What significant documents are discovered?
There's so many people that worked on it and put such love and weirdness into it.
And some stuff from your childhood. There's some fun stuff.
Yeah, little Easter eggs. Little stuff. It's fun. Yeah.
Hell yeah. Thank you guys, so both. That's not a sentence. So both. Thank you guys, so both. You both, so both. Aurora. Marisha, you're up.
Friendly reminder that there will be no new episode of Campaign 4 next week as we wrap up our schemer tables. No, surely not, no. Wait, what am I, I'm trying to do... That got real weird.
I don't know.
I'm trying to do my nails. I don't know. But I just started doing this. What are you doing now? Uh-oh. Back it up.
I think that explains a few things that are going on there. That's one technique.
Stop digging.
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Chapter 4: How does the scene escalate towards conflict?
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Two years is like 40 years in SVOD years. Yeah. Yeah.
Well, friends, thank you for your patience as we've made our way through what is its own episode within an episode of these opening announcements.
It's just friend.
It is, just friend. Thank you, one friend, for watching this. With that, let's go ahead and jump into our night's adventures in Harrowmont.
Gus, folks, welcome to tonight's episode of Critical Role here at the Arcanod. Our schemey schemers have been scheming away, and the fomenting seeds of insurrection, sedition, and dare I say, rebellion, bubble under the fomenting. God, I love to foment. I love a good fomenting. I just fomented. I'm ready to foment again in three to five minutes. Oh no!
Soldiers released from Revolutionary Guard and sundered houses alike find themselves directed to warehouses of hand and wheel ceramic merchants. finding food and some small amount of pay to keep the fires lit inside. A symbol, a passphrase. Demetis Blix, graduate student of the Pentevril, rescued from the clutches of Crow Keepers, Fae, and Taconis alike,
knows what happened on the night of the Devinos Massacre, and has the magic notes to prove that Royce did not abscond to Faerie. Inspector Grotto informed the Einfassen of a lie that concealed the truth of who was at fault for the murder of Octus Taconus, and Kotherai's opening night is two nights away. which is what we gathered here at Bolaire's Loy Wing of the Arcanod to celebrate!
The rookery was the first home of Hal and his troop. Following that, it performed for many years at the Lyceum here at the Arcanod. What better place to celebrate, raise some funds, get some excitement, and just speed on Hallendeel Fang with his incredible new venture of Dolmachiar's first full amphitheater. What was supposed to be a night of culture and revelry.
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Chapter 5: What happens when the door opens at the gala?
Opening the door, seated in this chair in this small city. By the way, this is like 250 feet away from this central, it's like other side of the main gala hall.
So you're on your own.
So Hal, you're on your own, baby. But you see, as you open the door, you hear this is, the lamb's mask is off, and you see a beautiful, golden, red-gold mane Nama lion folk minister who seems regal, genteel, to the manner born. You see that he is in the chair and he goes, you see that his eyes are rolling back in his head and he goes, Remove the sword, cast it aside, remove the sword.
And you see that as the door opens, he stands up and goes, I beg your pardon, sorry. Just getting a moment's rest.
I'm sorry, sir, this room is off limits to the general public. Ah, very well.
Sorry, sorry.
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Chapter 6: How does the character handle the situation with the sword?
Yes, please. Sorry, I don't feel well. Could you get a cleric for me? I don't feel well. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave, and I'm going to draw back the cloak, and the lyre's blade looks like a dark blade, a totally different appearance to it, and I put my hand on its hilt. Okay. Okay, you put your hand on its hilt. He looks and says, No need for that. Please just leave me be.
I'm going to say, this is your turn. Yes. So I cast Disguise Self. Disguise Self. Okay, that's going to be the end of your movement. Got you here. You look in and can see him as he turns around and just goes, I don't feel well, leave me be, and stands from the chair. So if I've used my action? Yes. Um... Here's the last thing I'll do with my action economy. Yes. Is close the door behind me.
Yeah.
And say, we're going to have a word. That word reverberates through his skull and I use my, I use Unsettling Words as a bonus action. Is this a cantrip or level?
Chapter 7: What strategies are employed against the assassins?
It's neither, it is bard stuff. Bard, okay, awesome. As a bonus action, you expend one use of your bardic inspiration and choose a creature you see within 60. Roll the bardic inspiration die, d6. That's a five, so they subtract that from the next saving throw it makes for the start of its next turn. Oh crap. Unbelievable, that is awesome, okay. Unsettling words.
Unsettling words, he will subtract five from his next saving throw, unbelievable. Please remember that. Blair, that is going to be your turn. I am going to make my way down that hall at full speed. Well, we'll see. How far can I get without breaking into a run? You can go five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. That's your movement that gets you right there.
And you can see these assassins are blocking the hallway right now. They're blocking the hall. Yeah. Okay. 30 feet of movement gets you into melee with them.
Chapter 8: How does the Crown of Madness spell affect the battle?
It gets me into melee, all right. Okay, that's fun. I don't want to spend anything too exciting yet. I'm going to use my bonus action to put my hand behind my back and cast my sword.
Okay.
And then to... The one in front of me, are they holding swords or? Oh yeah, swords out. Actually, not the one in front of me, the one to the side of me, I'm going to look, and just for a brief moment, they're going to just almost see their own face in my face, like there's a mirror in front of them, a little twisted, and they're going to hear, they're going to hear grovel.
as I cast Command, and they're prone till the end of their next turn. So I believe with command, they have to take the action. They can't do it immediately, can they? No, it's, let's see. You speak one more command to the creature you can see within range, succeed on a wisdom saving throw or follow the command on its next turn. Okay. So, so, wisdom saving throw. Wisdom saving throw is a 12.
I don't think, where's my? I don't believe that passes. I don't think it does either. Oh, there it is, 14. Okay, 14, awesome. Great, okay. Is this the one you're facing or the one next to it?
Oh, the one next to me, because since you're right there, I figured I'd just give you a little bit, yeah.
I'll give him a little something. Well, it gives you an advantage. Okay. Because they're on the ground. Doing something a little different.
Yeah.
And also, oh wait, does that, that means they can't take an attack because they're prone, or? No, he has to use his movement on his turn. In that case, since I'm still learning this one, I may just, if it's okay to change. Oh sure, yeah. drop it, and I'm going to have him drop his weapon, which I can do.
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