One day I wanna ask Matt Mercer why there are so many white dragons in his campaigns. They make up 40% of the 10 total dragons encounters in campaigns 1 and 2. For comparison, the second largest percentage is 20% for the blue dragons, which is half of the white’s percentage. The rest of the dragons represent their own unique color with 10% red, 10% green, 10% black, and 10% brass.
Why so many white dragons Mr. Mercer? Does he just like that color particularly? Is it the environments Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein keep finding themselves in? Or did he just only have a white dragon mini and no minis of the other colors for the longest time? I need these answers!!!
So for today critical role Thursday, I would like to thank the Dragons in Critical Role.
Rimefang, the first dragon on stream. He was carving out a name for himself after so much suffering and survival. A brilliant moon among a sky of stars.
Brimscythe the Iron Storm, who's betrayal and infiltration into Tal'Dorei paved the way for Chroma Conclave
Umbrasyl the Hope Devourer, the first ancient dragon that was slayed. A feral tortuous black dragon defeat and killed by the raging and barbaric Grog.
Vorugal the Frigid Doom, the dragon that felled Draconia and closed to book for the Stormwind family. The ancient white dragon who loved the thrill of the hunt and sought dangerous beasts and monsters as prey... only to be slayed by an arrow from Vex'ahlia the Grand Mistress of the Grey Hunt.
Thordak the Cinder King, the leader of the Chroma Conclave. The dragon with a vengeance and sought to seek power and domain in the material plane. The fiery red leader of the conclave who claimed to be king killed by Vax'ildan, the elf rogue who claimed little and wanted nothing and whose mother was killed by Thordak long ago.
Raishan the Diseased Deciever. One of the most devious villains despite never actually lying to the heroes and a great foil to Keyleth of the Air Ashari. An ancient high-leveled spellcasting green dragon felled by l retired level 7 Paladin Kerrek during an opportune moment.
Gelidon the Nightmare in Ivory. The first potentially ancient dragon of Campign 2 and a potential future enemy for the Mighty Nein.
Halas' Young Blue Dragon. No name given and often forgotten. The first dragon on the stream of Campaign 2. He was waiting for his master to return, not knowing Halas had fallen victim to his own hubris. A young dragon guarding a treasure and not even of legendary status or renown. Killed by Twiggy, a halfling arcane trickster. (Thanks @ladyfoxfire for reminding me)
J'mon Sa Ord (Devossa) the mysterious and ancient and wise ruler of Ahnkarel. Who loves to converse and debate and philosophize with intellectuals. And comes aid nations and countries when the world is as stake even if their kingdom didn't need to.
Vex'ahlia. Yes she turned into a dragon by Scanlan's spell. But she did so to save the world. She turned into a red dragon, like thordak... like the one who killed Elaina her mother. As a dragon, she out soared angels and became a champion of Pelor and a bright star.
Keyleth. The Voice of the Tempest, half elf Druid of the air Ashari. Her shapeschange abilities mirrored that of Raishan, but as Raishan changed to fit her needs, Keyleth changed to fit the needs of her friends and family. She was a Brass dragon and a black dragon, and yet she was still Keyleth every time.
Following the confrontation in The Venomous Row, the subsequent death and resurrection of one young adventurer, Danton, and the flaring emotions regarding his dillema, our party took to a rest, under the roof of the Temple of Bellinas, the current home of one specific cleric and hero in returning Danton back to life - Nash.
As the party wakes from the straigneous morning activity, they plan on what to do next, following a check up between each other to make sure everyone’s well. They are, as can be. Burk’s wounds, aside, Amelia’s mental state aside (she holds a strong poker face regarding how she feels on the subject), they agree that things must be done.
Mournimar presents the idea of them sneaking back at the Row and searching for clues... If nothing can be found, the party of seven takes to leaving town.
On the other end of the planning spectrum is Luctan, who gives off the plan for a Whisper Campaign:
While the rest of the party stick to the temple of Bellinas, Luck and Belli go back to the Tavern where the fight happened and clear the party of wrongdoings.
Together, as the most charismatic of the lot, they’ll weave a story of what had actually happened. With the help of a disguise, Luctan’ll present himself as Danton’s brother, who was supposed to meet up with him here today, after they talked the other night over a wild situation that transpired.
The idea is to make it known to anyone there that Danton is fine and that the party that he got “attacked by” cleared things with him and explained that there was cult activity there.
Should it come to a fight, Luctan will take to running away with Belli, to the guards and give them a similar spiel.
The plan gets modified, with suggestions from the party:
- First, they look and find Ficus and Kit, bring them in on the campaign. Then, they spread around town and start whispering into every open ear, regarding the battle between The Cultbusters and Potencia’s Cultists. They make it known that the cultists were at fault, that an innocent was hurt, but rescued by the Busters and that the leader of this cell was on the run with her son.
- Second, they investigate the tavern and if it comes down to it, then they talk to the guards... However, they should take heed, in case they are under cultist employ.
As further additions are made to the plan, they check with how Nash is doing, who presents herself in a good standing. She’s got things covered. As she kicks ass for The Lady.
Disguises get prepared, with Luctan giving a quick spiel as “Vergis, brother of Danton.”
One final modification to the scheme is to check with Pete for a potion that could change someone’s appearance. For Mournimar. The goal being to change him into a half-orc, so maybe he could join in on spreading the word. To prepare for that, Belli gives the ranger her “Busty Wench” outfit, from back when they were in Victrum (session 5) and thus, Mournimar becomes the thottiest thot to have ever thotted.
This sparks a reminder and Belli has Luck tell them that they will be sponsored by Pete, to take part in the tournament in Crystalgate.
As they head for Pete’s, they can see a strong plume of smoke come off from the shady part of town, where The Venomous Row was situated and they get the immediate idea that the place was set aflame to hide evidence.
They get to Pete’s and check for a potion. He doesn’t have it. Alternatively, Luctan makes a request for his Evenchord Greatsword to get enchanted, but the price of 3,500 is too great for Luctan and his low recources. He refuses to accept Belli’s offer to pay for the sword’s enchantment, swearing to raise the money on his own. He is, dare I say it, Re-Luctan-t about it.
Before they leave, they give Pete an update on what happened in Sa Doma and he tells the two that he’ll give a word out to other locations about Kah’lia and her son.
They next head to Ficus’ hideout, which they had been to previously, so it takes them less time to get there, maneuvering around and entering, where they indeed find the two rogues.
A conversation is had, wherein Luctan convinces them of partaking in the plan, impressing Ficus with how well he had thought things out, by suggesting he should get into politics (Luctan winks in turn).
Before anything else can be done, Luctan brings to note the problem of Burk’s tiefling enemy, who was surely still in The Scattered Heart tavern. Luctan gets Ficus to go and find the man, bring him out of town and then some.
Before Ficus and Kit leave, disguised (as a Average Joe human and a Fire Genasi lady respectiely) and all that, we get to also learn that apparently Ficus has stolen from Nash before. Much to Belli’s chagrin.
Going on their seperate, yet tied together quests, the rumors get spread around and with high charisma rolls, the most charismatic in the party start a fire of gossip. Some Hot Goss is spreading like nothing else.
With that done, they move to check the situation with that tavern. The actual fire’s died down by this point. The ceiling’s caved in a few places. Stonework around the base of the building has started melting. There they meed Gorzo, the Half-Orc and Grandle, of the Darksbane army, guards, who are tasked with investigating the remains.
Belli and Luctan each take a person and get in conversations with them, Belli charming the hell out of Gorzo, while Luctan persuades Grandle. By the end, they believe them that Danton wasn’t among the bodies (since he wasn’t) and that he was alive and walking (since he was). “The rumors of my brother’s death were greatly exagerated.”
They leave to make a report and Luctan checks for any remaining things that could have been left in tact. Sadly, however, they don’t find anything of use, as it’s been either taken already or set aflame.
As a last resort, Luctan starts scribbling something into the ground, but with Belli snooping, it doesn’t come off right. She believes he was trying to draw dicks in the ground and he doesn’t dissuade that statement. They head back, trying to be stealthy, as they return to Nash’s place and with Belli’s help, they make it look like Luctan’s Belli’s awkward boyfriend.
WHILE ALL THIS WAS HAPPENING, back with the majority of the party, each of the members have a seperate conversation with Nash and mostly between each other:
- Burk asks about Qo’rin, the God of Revenge, to mixed results and considers his conversation useless. We get a nugget of wisdom from the Barbarian Goblin in the words: “You are embracing life as it is meant to be lived.”
-- Mournimar and Amelia talk, with Mournimar dropping some sadness on the Air Genasi, regarding recent developements. Trying not to cry, he talks about being distraught that his mother is not only alive, but doing the same things and is leading the child, his brother, the same path.
For all he knows the kid’ll end up being what Mournimar would have been like if he didn’t leave. He feels remorse that he dragged everyone in their drama.
Amelia, in turn, assures him that he didn’t drag everyone into anything. Amelia knows abandonment. And she tells him that they’re here, because they want to be. They talk a bit about Amelia’s family and what had transpired there. About the sister that she misses greatly and wants to revisit.
“Family isn’t always the people you were born into. Sometimes it’s the people you find along the way.” Her birth family wasn’t the greatest, but she found family at sea.
Mournimar expresses his fear of the voice he heard in his head, back in the day. How it called for him to do something. He believes it was to black out and attack again. What if a day comes and he can’t fight it off?! He’s scared. Scared of lashing out and hurting the party.
Amelia gives him encouragement that everything will go well. Time is a valuable thing and they need to live in the moment. Though bad with words, she tries her best here and assures him.
“If anything happens, I promise you this: I won’t hesitate, if I feel anything’s wrong. You’re not gonna hurt anyone, I can guarantee that.”
Mournimar is shook. He considers the party his family. Amelia does as well.
The conversation ends well for the two and further in, Mournimar asks Nash, regarding Lazarus. But she has never met anyone fitting his description. Followers of Bellinas generally don’t go to drink with Potentialists.
She is, frankly a little distraught that shes’beign asked so much at once by the Cultbusters, regarding relationships with Forbidden deities. But half the party does tend to overshare a lot.
Ultimately, Nash does say that If the party’s heading out of town, there’s rumors of a cult of Qo’rin, northwest of the city. On the way to the rest of the world.
Thankful and apologetic, Mournimar asks if there is anything he can do for Nash, in turn for her help. She begs him to please clean after Rimefang.
We cut to the baby white dragon pooping everywhere.
While Mournimar panics and cleans after the eager little bugger, Amelia asks Nash about how priesthood works, whether they get to leave or not. Bellinas worship had declined, after all. Nash knows a worshiper, who’s been at it.
Amelia feels bad for all this and wants to ask her out for a drink. Please don’t get the wrong idea. She wants to pay her back for all this after this is over with. She’s definitely not interested in Nash. Nash agrees with a grin.
The Air Genasi Monk learns a bit more about Nash. For 20 years, she was a soldier, who fought in the war that took place not too long before the campaign had started. She had seen death many a times, more often on her hands.
Her kill count in the hundreds and some innocents were in that list, unfortunately. She councils Amelia, regarding what happened with Danton, giving her a few pointers.
Back in the day, here in the temple, there were up to 30 vets that stuck to the building... But times change and people go.
By this point, Belli and Luck walk in and Amelia successfully bluffs them into believing that Mournimar shat everywhere.
Luctan is, frankly, disgusted by this revelation. “MOURNIMAR! HOW COULD YOU?!” To said ranger’s protests, Burk adds to the con as comedy ensues.
They finally update the party on what had happened and at first agree to collectively visit the bathhouse in the morning, to get some rest and relaxation.
Until then, Luck lends Amelia his ring, so she can go to Keemis’ temple and other stuff, if it comes up. He does so, in hiding, so as not to be noticed by Nash.
As he waits for Amelia to come back, he gives the tome on deities to Mournimar, offering him to do some reading on the gods, since he is having a crisis, regarding them. While Luctan, himself goes back to reading “Handerstaad” all over again.
Amelia’s time at Keemis’ temple is short and quiet. She leaves 16 gold as an offering. In turn, she feels a warm feeling in her chest, while kneeling. It’s comforting for a while, before returning back to the Bellinas place of worship and returns the ring to Luctan.
Some shenanigans ensue, where Belli tries to prank Mournimar, to no aveil.
Once properly awake, Mournimar gets some help from Belli to get nice and dressed in a fabulous dress, potion be damned (sadly we couldn’t find a potion per requirements). Much to Belli and Luck’s approval.
One way or another, they devolve into talking about Mournimar’s “shit” behavior in this temple and the poor ranger tries to talk Nash into helping him out. Nash, who had been trying to get some sleep, just grins at him, before shutting the door in his face.
It becomes quickly revealed that she used Prestidigitation to make his pants appear soiled. Thus strengthening the belief in Luctan that he did, indeed, poop all around.
A frustrated Mournimar goes outside and Ficus meets him. “Did she accuse you of shitting yourself?” Mournimar nods and Ficus suggests that he use spiders on Belli at some point as payback.
He walks in and updates the Cultbusters on how things had gone and vice versa. The tiefling had been disposed of, Belli and Luck did a great job spreading the word, now it’s Ficus and Kit’s turn to add to that. Kit not being with Ficus right now as she had work to do.
As Mournimar searches for spiders, Ficus has a disgussion with Belli, a wholesome one, then makes his leave again.
Belli brings the news to the two tieflings:Ficus wants Belli to come home with him. Not permanently, but to see the family. She is freaking out, regarding this scenario, but Mournimar and Luck assure her that everything will be fine. Seeing as it is close to north of Crystalgate, they definitely will visit that at some point.
Also, goes without saying, but Belli does tell Luctan that Ficus fancies him. Luctan just smiles.
As everyone sleeps, Luctan sneaks outside and writes and draws something on a wall.
Then sleep...
In the morning, Belli, Luctan and Mournimar go to the Bathhouse, Amelia and Burk deciding to stay in, until late night for the Fight Club.
Lilliana’s Bathhouse is a very quaint looking establishment. It’s name, written in Cursive, the scent of roses and lavender bombarding the trio’s nostrils as they enter. Everything is so very aromatic and calming. Lilac purple, with blue flower pattern on the left wall.
Sat behind a counter it is a Firbolg lady. She’s clearly older as her fur is graying in some places, her eyes sunken, she’s quite gaunt. A soft and sweet lady, she brings an air of relaxation to the trio, just by being there.
They make preparations and, after some shenanigans regarding underwear, they take to the bath.
They each share some history with each other.
Belli’s dad was a barbarian, but retired. Sweetest, soft spoken man. Her mom twisted him around her finger.
Mournimar talks of his experiences, post escaping the cult for a bit...
While Luctan shares a bit about his life before the party. Reminding them he’s a tourist to the continent, he states he comes from a warm climate. He tells them a bit about his family, how he never got to meet his father. He just never was in the picture.
And he tells about his departure, how he used a scroll of teleportation to get to the continent, after things got bad...
At some point, the trio say “What’s gender, but a magic meant to be bent to the will of those, who wield it?” as Belli reveals she’s trans.
Time passes. The three get refreshed and head back, feeling like they lost a stone’s worth of weight in dirt.
On the way back, it’s about noon. A very small boy runs past them, a Halfling child. Following behind him is a taller elven girl with piles of paper. Mournimar gets one thrown at him and, upon reading it, he gathers the other two.
“ Gexum destroyed in volcanic eruption! “
“Devils were seen!”
We read the paper, telling the story of Gexum, the main source of food in the west has been completely destroyed by the volcanic eruption. Demonic creatures appearing in the chaos.
As they get supplies and run back to the temple, the session ends,
