critical role campaign 3, episode 22 ‘promise and potential’ - in which the gang gets paid (in money, gems, and a creepy statue), a letter allows for a VERY exciting c1 cameo, and imogen & fcg take a little trip into ashton’s brain.
sam: “i, not in a creepy way-” matt: “uh oh!” 😂 sam says that fcg was watching imogen sleep while on watch as they travelled back - they definitely seem to have noticed her weirdness with the crystal she stole from the shade mother. he’s trying to work out a pattern with her dreams and ROLLS NAT 20 INSIGHT. he notices she has been sleeping with her hand in her side pouch.
back in jrusar, the gang makes their way to the spire by fire inn for the night. they get two rooms, and chetney VERY subtly asks which room fearne is going to be in. 😂 i can’t with these two.
chetney stretches out on one of the beds and is like ‘there’s room here if someone wants to join… wink’ and ashton goes BET and slams down beside him SVAKSHAKHS AMAZING, TALESIN I LOVE YOU. the bed frame audibly cracks under the weight of an earth genasi sgakshsks.
the waiter brings them drinks and food, and seems terrified of them. when chetney asks their name, they just go GOODbYE and close the door. 😂 fair enough, the vibe of bells hells is rather frightening sometimes agajajaksh.
ashton tells them that when they go to see hexum in the morning, they should be very careful to not ‘sell themselves’ too hard - he doesn’t want any of his friends making themselves too appealing to her. ashton also specifically tells fearne to NOT steal from her, but if she does, not to get caught.
chet asks if they should take watches, since they could be wanted by now… for stealing some pointless fake museum shit AND some very important papers. they decide that’s probably a good idea. ashton goes down and asks the bouncer if they have heard of any recent bounties - she clearly hasn’t, so i think they are maybe okay? or maybe it just hasn’t spread this far yet…
chet and orym take their watches, and nothing happens. when orym goes to wake fearne, liam says he approaches ‘the witch pile’, which is just SO delightful i had to pause the episode to process it, and shakes her awake. her watch is also uneventful, but she takes a pause to watch ashton sleeping, specifically to stare into their sleeping brain through the glass. SICK. it looks like cloudy quartz, with very subtle sparks of colours inside. it is fucking HILARIOUS to imagine fearne like staring at ashton’s sleeping head GSAJHSKAHSKS. liam: “full goat eyes, breath fogging up the glass” 😂 oh no. she can’t resist the urge to touch, and now i think she is about to go flying through the air agakahaksh. it has the warmth of skin! interesting… and it seems to react to her touch, colours sparking under her fingers. talesin rolls several perception checks and gets nothing above a 3, so ashton is clearly dead to the world lmao. SHE BREATHES ON THE GLASS AND DRAWS A SMILEY FACE. FEARNE MY ABSOLUTE BELOVED, I ADORE YOU FOREVER BABYGIRL.
fearne just crawls back into bed and goes to sleep at the end of her watch sgskshsjs she said ‘nothing happening, night night!’ I LVOE HER.
ashton dreams of scattered memories: being a kid, travelling through the hellcatch valley, the accident that cracked their head. hmm. they remember reaching into the crate, and a blinding white light and an echoing CRACK. what’s in the boxxxxxx!!????
they head out the next day for hexum’s estate - when they arrive and knock, the door opens by itself, and they can hear violin music. it's kinda eerie! when ashton calls out, the door closes behind them all, and he begins leading them up the stairs. they find jiana playing the violin, damn, being watched by an older woman, who seems to be her teacher? everyone gets weirdly fixated on the lessons lmao, they’re doing insight checks on finger callouses and asking jiana how long she’s been learning. 😂
finally, they begin telling the story - ashton tells jiana they are pretty sure hytroga wanted everyone to die in that awful museum, and that he’s lucky ashton didn’t punch him. jiana agrees that the urge to punch him is pretty normal. 😂
they hand over the papers (minus the ones about her), and laudna hits them with some frost so she can read them. jiana is DELIGHTED. she gives them 3500 gold for winning the wager and some gems as a bonus for the extra material. SLAY. just as ashton predicted, jiana tries to hire them immediately - ashton is like ‘oh, we’re booked and busy, and heading out of jrusar’ lmao.
ashton’s debt is officially paid off!!!! WOOO.
fearne is obsessed with the statues that have faces that morph (fair) and successfully persuades jiana to let her have one, on the condition that she has to carry it out of there. fearne’s face lights up.
jiana asks if she can have a private word with fcg, which immediately gets everyone’s back up. ashton asks if they can stay, since she knows he won’t say shit, and she agrees. the others leave, and she LOCKS THE DOOR. uhm.
she inspects fcg VERY closely, and matt explains her very intelligent, piercing gaze. then she puts her hands on them and starts inspecting, and fcg is like ‘excuse me, don’t touch me like that, please’. YESSS FCG, SET THOSE BOUNDARIES! she seems somewhat chastened, but not as much as she should be. she says she has dealt with many automatons, but has never met one with sentience like fcg. (i have a theory that fcg is aeor tech. somehow.)
fcg tells her that she should really get to know someone better before putting her hands on them, and tells her all about the date with pretty, and kinda accidentally asks her on a date?? ehskshss?? she politely declines, but asks if fcg could bring any other automatons like them to meet her, should he come across any more. HMMMM.
meanwhile fearne is failing to move the bust agskahsj. imogen helps a little with telekinesis, but when ashley rolls an 8, nothing happens ahakahsjah.
ooooh, while ashton is listening to jiana and fcg talk, he notices a crate under a table in the corner that looks exactly like The Crate from that fateful night. WHAT THE HELL IS JIANA INTO???
ashton thanks her for their arrangement, and on the way out, hefts the bust easily onto their shoulder and carries it straight out. HOT BARBARIAN MOMENT!!!
ashton asks fcg to cast ‘detect magic’ as soon as they get into the cable car, seemingly paranoid that jiana has charmed or marked them. there is nothing, thank GOD. ashton tells them they should be worried about jiana - she is nice at the moment, but that could change at any time.
ashton confesses to the group that they have some memory loss related to the failed break-in, and it seems to be bothering him. imogen suggests she and fcg could go into ashton’s mind to see if they can delve deep and help. ashton dithers for a while, but finally agrees that it couldn’t hurt.
fcg tells the others about their conversation with jiana, and how she made them feel like a piece of meat being inspected. they explain how jiana wants the group to hand over any other automatons they find like fcg - but imogen points out that there ARE no other automatons like him. there is definitely something unique about fcg - he reminds them that dancer salvaged parts to make her automatons, and i can’t help but wonder if ALL the automatons were sentient like fcg, or if it was just him. maybe, if fcg really is unique even among the others, she found an aeor-tech part that she used for fcg? that is my current theory.
they go to visit eshteross and find him training - cue horny party agakagsk. he tells them that since the capture of lady emoth, armand treshi was found a conspiritor, and has since DISAPPEARED INTO THE WILDS. they have also called off paragon’s call being established in the city. WOW. that had a huge flow on effect…
VEX SENT A LETTER BACK TO THEM WHEN THEY RECEIVED BERTRAND’S BODY AND LAURA READS IT IN HER VEX VOICE. 😭😭😭😭😭🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 I LOVE THIS FUCKING CAMPAIGN.
eshteross asks them to go and track down armand, and offers them a skyship to take them there. AND GIVES THEM A NEW MAP which they spend aaaages poring over.
after laudna convinces eshteross to make them some more cookies for the trip 🥰 they head out to find ajit dayal, who chetney needs to connect with the werewolves in the woods. they go to dayal hall, which is some kind of educational hall, and chetney asks a guard if they can see ajit. ROLLS A NAT 1, SO THE GUARD SAYS NO FUCK YOU. 😭 poor chetney.
imogen goes back in, and uses their connection to professor gryz, who they know is a colleague of dayal that they met at the ball, to attempt to convince the guard. it seems to work a lot better!
sgaksagksgs sam’s stupid vessel message is to tal, liam, laura and ashley to pretend it is super funny because travis can’t see it. 😂😂😂
the guard goes and talks to someone right in this big entrance hall, and it turns out ajit was standing there the whole time 😂 he comes over, and apologises for the stern nature of the guards lmao, i suppose this is a school, so it makes sense. imogen asks what they teach, and he says it is basically education for the families that can’t afford it. LOVE THAT. he asks who they are, and imogen says, with a moment of hesitation, that they work with eshteross. matt’s face, as dayal, does something very complicated and everyone is immediately like UH OH, INSIGHT CHECK, DETECT THOUGHTS. 😬😂 they see that he is just surprised eshteross works with anybody, since he is a known recluse lmao.
ajit leads them back into an office, and chetney gets right to it, saying he met gurge and is similarly afflicted. ajit explains that gurge and the were-group (i keep forgetting the name, goyangei or something?) saved him from a monster, and he has been helping them with supplies ever since.
chet asks if ajit can introduce him to them, and he agrees, but says chetney could always attempt to free himself of the curse, if he wished to take that path instead. chetney seems…. a little taken aback by this lmao. ajit tells him they can find them - the gorgynei! that’s the word - in the gloomed jungles. apparently people hunt were-beasts for their skin???? chetney did NOT know this, holy shit…
ajit warns chetney that it is a dangerous and difficult journey to ‘harness the beast’, and that it cannot always be controlled - the gorgynei seem to be the only ones who have found an arcane way of controlling it. chetney is overly confident of his control over the beast, and orym narrows his eyes agskahskhs.
ajit tells chetney that gurge used to find the others by howling at sunset, but that this could be dangerous, since there are many other creatures that also have good hearing, and may not be friendly.
ajit asks that, if bells hells do find the gorgynei, that they come and tell him how they’re doing when they return. travis: “oh no, i love him.” 😂 he does seem like a sweet man. laura asks for an insight check, because she is NERVOUS and untrusting agskshsk i get it. she gets a matt whisper, which makes her burst out laughing and fondly say “i love you” sgskshsksh. i wanna know what he said!!
chetney brings up ruidus, and imogen kinda dodges it. she is still suspicious of him clearly ahakshs.
ajit gives them the name of a professor in yios, tairan, who used to be a student there. handy for later… collecting names and connections and acquaintances.
i love how sam pretends he pays very little attention, and then laura will ask a question and he will flip to the yios section of his notes and find the answer in like 5 seconds… I’M ONTO YOU, SAMUEL. FAKE IDGAFER OF ALL TIME.
they leave, and imogen apologises to chet for shutting down his ruidus questions - she just thinks, with what happened to the twins, it may be smarter to not mention their interest in it to anybody else. GOOD IDEA. even apparently well-meaning people like ajit could get them into trouble if the wrong people start asking questions.
fcg says that ajit had seemed concerned about chet’s ability to keep control of the wolf, and asks if he has had any issues. chetney fesses up to his one slip, when he slashed at orym during the heist, since orym had asked him to discuss it with the group. chet confesses that he doesn’t know why it happened, but that it hasn’t happened before, and the group agrees they should keep an eye on it. chet says basically if he is taking a bunch of damage, to keep distance or heal him up, and things should stay golden.
sam makes a tantric joke and then they all begin making edging jokes, talking about chet ‘riding the wave of desire’ to hurt one of them without going over the edge, and it goes on for AGES. poor matt is doing the giles, just pinching his nose and shaking his head lmao.
they decide to see if they can spend their newly acquired funds before they have to leave the next day, and head to marwa’s shop. she is delightful, as per usual, and has some new supplies that may or may not have been bought from a murderer. 💀😭 she also has a pet rat!!
she shakes out a piece of leather that splatters what SEEMS to be blood everywhere, and then insists she’s cleaned it several times agakaha. fcg identifies it, and it is something called ‘the butcher’s bib’. 😬 it continuously bleeds, but allows the wearer to re-roll damage dice once per turn AND makes a roll of 19 with a slashing weapon a crit. everyone seems to agree that the ‘constantly bleeding’ part is too big of a downside lmao.
OOOOH. the other new thing she has appears to be a folded piece of silk, but when she lays it on the ground, SHE STICKS HER HAND INTO IT AND IT DISAPPEARS. PORTABLE HOLE. oh, they have to buy that. fearne has hearts in her eyes lmao.
everyone is asking questions about the hole (1500 GOLD!!), and fearne just JUMPS IN. 😂 she falls 10 ft in total darkness before hitting the bottom. awwww ashley says she casts ‘caleb’s produce flame’ and liam makes a face like 🥹 ohhhh my HEART. she sees a bunch of random shit in there, but it’s basically a 6ft hole that can be used for storage, i guess?? marwa folds it back up, and everyone starts yelling and panicking that fearne can’t breathe lmaoooo. she unfolds it again, and everyone calls out for fearne, who is silent for juuuust long enough to cause a little fear before screaming in fake terror LMAO I LOVE HER SO MUCH.
fearne can see the others looking down into the hole but the others can’t see in. this could be super useful.
they buy the hole and a horn that only one person can hear within 600 feet (idk what that could be used for, but sure!) and fearne manages to convince her to throw in the murder apron for free, since it could be from a crime scene. 😂
imogen and laudna pop in on zhudanna, who seems even older than the last time they saw her a week ago 😂 and they give her 10 gold. 🥰🥹
bells hells head to krook house, where fcg asks milo to make them a propeller, in case they are ever floating in midair/water, so he will be able to move. that is actually really clever on sam’s part lmao - fcg is fairly limited in any movement that isn’t just rolling along the ground, so preparing for anything possibly outside of this is wise.
while milo is working on the propeller, ashton hesitantly asks if milo remembers who hired them for the job at the hexum place, and what they were meant to be stealing. OOOOOH. milo says they remember it just being a ‘vengeful smash and grab’, with no specific instructions, and they don’t specifically remember who hired them. ashton rolls an insight check and gets a whisper, but it seems like milo is being genuine. did someone fuck with their memories??? milo thinks they accidentally set off a trap, and just ran with a very damaged ashton in tow. milo patched ashton up best they could, which we’ve already heard about, but they do say that ashton was clutching a crystal vial that he wouldn’t let go of - it had a weird greyish liquid in it, and milo, knowing it was magical, poured it into ashton’s head in the hopes it would help with whatever repairs they were working on. AND IT WORKED. ashton began ‘sparking’ again after that. (laura and liam both go “DUNAMANCY.” in stage whispers agskahsk.) that explains why ashton has the weird magical effects to their rage.
they head back to the inn, and decide to try the ashton brain deep dive that imogen and fcg suggested. OH BOY. ashton does some shots and puts their hammer in the other room, just in case. 😂💀
they set up with a very uncomfortable, but willing, ashton, and the brain dive begins. ashton begins to remember snippets of memory that had been forgotten - someone telling their group that ‘she is getting timed shipments’. OOH SO IT WAS ABOUT THE CRATES!!
as they delve deeper, there is a sense of growing anxiety from ashton, and they see glowing runes on the floor of a room they don’t recognise. there is a crate in the room, and ashton crowbars the crate open with the end of the hammer. ashton reaches in, and a glass clinking noise is heard. the vial they had in their hand… the runes begin to glow, and ashton’s memory blacks out. the next thing they see is the memory of being hurled back over a balcony - fcg casts ‘calm emotions’ to try to alleviate the trauma this must be bringing up for poor ashton. flashes of memory - the others fighting, someone saying to leave ashton for dead, hurrying each other along as they flee. then the memory of ashton waking up, seeing milo’s face.
the spell ends, and ashton seems very spacey, clearly still under ‘calm emotions’. fcg ends that spell too, and ashton immediately gets up and starts punching the wall. 😭 they sit down abruptly after a few hits, and seem to calm down.
ashton says the crate they saw in the memory was the same as the one they saw today, so whatever hexum was involved with, it is still going on, hence the papers they found in the museum tracking her weird and shady movements. imogen also points out that she had ordered an automaton that was being delivered to her, which was the job where cyrus got fucked over. what is she UP to?? she worries me, and i’m glad ashton has been keeping the others very wary of her from the beginning.
ashton comes to the realisation (with clear irritation) that the next best move is to find the other nobodies and ask them what happened. he wants them to continue with their plan to hunt down armand first, to give himself time to think and simmer down a little.
matt says fcg can mark down ashton as a ‘trusted companion’, which i think is an automaton thing! he and imogen already are, since their mind meld, and now ashton is too! 🥰🥹
awww orym messages dorian using the sending stone to tell him where they are headed, and that they miss him. 💜💜
