Critical Role Recap: Episode 24

Critical Role Recap: Episode 24

Previously on Critical Role, the Mighty Nein exited the dank and treacherous Labenda Swamp and returned to the bog town of Berleben. After conducting their business in town, they got back on the road and traveled northeast towards the edge of the empire. Their destination: Shady Creek Run, the location of the Gentleman’s next task for them. Along the way, however, Beau guided them towards Hupperdook, a city of gnomish industry and a vital component of the imperial war machine.

The town was surprisingly quiet, but then when the whistle blew, signaling the working day’s end, the streets were flooded with gnomes, ready to party the night away.

Single-Paragraph Summary

The Mighty Nein engaged in a wild party at the Blushing Tankard tavern and eventually wound up in a drinking contest with a gang of surly gnomes and dwarves, led by a wizened industrialist called Old Blemmy. While they won the drinking contest, the next morning the Nein awoke to find that their coinpurses had been stolen! They searched throughout the city for the thieves, meeting their friend Rissa’s father along the way, and eventually came to a ramshackle part of a working class district called the Silverfalls. They found their thieves in an abandoned butcher’s shop in the Silverfalls: a ragged band of gnome children, no older than 17, resorting to theft to survive. The Nein reclaimed (most) of their gold, and learned that the gnomes’ parents had been incarcerated for idolatry, and Fjord demanded that the party set the parents free. Even though the Nein were on the clock to complete their mission for the Gentleman, they agreed to infiltrate the Gearhold prison and save the young gnomes’ parents.

Art by Jessica Mahon (@my2k)

Full Synopsis

Rissa, a gnome showing the Mighty Nein around town, suggested they relax and party! There certainly wasn’t anything else to do in town, at least according to her. Sparklers and firecrackers were for sale all around town, and Beau purchased a bunch of party explosives—and a flower necklace for Jester. Nott demanded to examine the black-powder explosives, and the group gathered at a tavern called the Blushing Tankard. Jester immediately rushed over towards the piano and hammered out a discordant tune—much to the chagrin of the actual pianist, who was standing not far away.              

Fun at the Blushing Tankard     

Molly went to get a drink, but learned that there would be a lavish drinking contest later in the day. He flirted with the bartender and was clearly enjoying the raucous party, but took only a tiny glass of a sweet, thick liquor and called it good. Beau interrupted Molly and the barmaid and said, “Sorry to interrupt your incessant flirting, but could you please get me a DRINK?” They both downed their shots instantly. Fjord approached Caleb and commiserated with him: Molly was in his element. Fjord already regretted deciding to room with the vivacious tiefling. Caleb offered Fjord his room for the night, if he needed someplace quieter.

The bar had grown rowdy and packed full of gnomes, dwarves, and the other sundry workers of Hupperdook. Amidst the chaos, Molly saw that Rissa was being harassed by two other gnomes. He immediately swept in, and tried—and failed—to intimidate them away. One of the gnomes got sassy with him and he used one of his Blood Maledicts to momentarily blind the gnome. Other members of the Nein joined in and gave these gnomes their comeuppance. Rissa enjoyed the entire display, and revealed that they were teasing her because her family name—Tinkertop—had been dragged through the mud.

Fjord desired a bit of “companionship” that night and asked the bartender if she knew where he could acquire their services. The bartender, the dwarf Molly had been teasing earlier, may have misconstrued his request—and thought that he was hitting on her! And when he asked for more escorts for his friends, she thought she was being propositioned for a very wild night. Jester got jealous and practically spat at the bartender: “He’s been with the Ruby of the Sea before, so nothing you could do could compare! It’s rather sad, really.”

Beau and Nott escaped the bar and went to go buy more fireworks, but the firecracker shop owner saw through Nott’s disguise as she was trying to purchase. The gnomes eyes grew wide and shuttered her shop without hardly a word, and closed for the day. Disappointed, they meandered about town. Nott asked Beau how she heard of Hupperdook and why she guided them there. Beau revealed to Nott that when she was working a job in Zadash—at the Cobalt Soul library—she learned of Hupperdook and guided them to the gnomish city because of information she learned about the town as one of the monks of the Cobalt Soul.

“You seem to know a lot about a lot of sketchy things,” Nott said.

Beau laughed. “Ah, that’s the job I had before the job I had before I met you.”

Nott rolled her eyes and pressed Beau for more. “What happened between those things!?”

As they walked back into the bar, she said that her dad was kind of an ******* and she rebelled a lot. She got into illegal trading and siphoned her dad's cases of wine and sold them underground. “He could’ve been a good dad, but he was a shitty dad and a good businessman.”

When he found out about her bootlegging (after a little trouble with some minor extortion), he called her down and sent her off to the Cobalt Soul. She was forcibly dragged off and inducted into the order. Beau pulled out her wineskin, which contained a little bit of wine from her hometown, and offered it to Nott. “Want a sip of my heritage?” she asked.

Art by Michael Jager (@gears2gnomes)

The Hour of Power

The Mighty Nein came back to the bar just in time for the bar’s drinking contest. Bets started flying, and people jockeyed for the pot, bidding higher and higher buy-ins. Molly quieted the house for a moment when he slammed down 10 gold. Eventually the bets went as high as 25 gold pieces—until Molly raised to 30 gold. They faced off against the drinking contest champions: Old Blemmy and Crew. 

Old Blemmy and Crew and the Mighty Nein stepped up and had a head-to-head group drinking battle! First on Blemmy’s crew was a man named Duncan. Molly “William Rikered” his way over the chair and challenged Duncan. Molly won!

Next up, a grizzled old gnome named Ruth came to the seat, and Beau took her challenge. They went into the final round in a dead heat, tied—but Beau couldn’t hold her liquor and lost the round. Valkin, a young and bright-eyed gnome tagged in, and Caleb accepted his challenge. Nott and Jester started dancing in unison to try and distract Valkin, to no success. But Caleb pulled it through and won the challenge!

Next up the powerhouse—the “Walking Brick”—Tanya! Matt described her as looking like Rosie the Riveter on steroids. Fjord sat down across from her. Travis rolled two natural 20s in a row to win the round! The Nein should have won the game with a majority—but Blemmy stood and demanded that they play double or nothing. Jester agreed instantly and Nott moved up to challenge “The Whale.” But despite all odds, Nott (disguised as “Otto the Bottomless Pit”), claimed victory!

Blemmy got so close to realizing Nott was a goblin—but passed out before he could say anything.

In the lull after the competition, Jester led Caleb in a waltz, and Molly, too, waltzed with Nott. Later, Molly, curious if he could “pull liquor out of people,” used one of his Blood Maledicts to partially cure Beau’s drunkenness.

Thieves in the Night!

Beau woke up the next morning and found that her coin purse—with 300 gold in it!—was nowhere to be seen. The party congregated later and found that Nott, Molly, Caleb, and Fjord had all been relieved of their coin purses.

The party determined that their money was stolen between when they split up their winnings and when they went to bed. Nott asked Kiri if she stole their money. There was a short pause, then Kiri squacked “Go **** yourself!” Beau pointed out that there might have been several people working together. Jester suggested that she could cast locate object to find Beau’s coin purse, but she’d have to be within 1000 feet of it for the spell to work. They discussed asking Irena—the bartender—for help, then went downstairs to find her.

The tavern was practically empty in the morning, save for Irena and Rissa, since most of Hupperdook was hard at work in the factories. Jester offered to buy everyone breakfast, since she was the only person with money, and her friends gladly accepted. They also went to check on the cart, which was still where they left it tied up the night before. There were a few Crownsguard wandering around; Fjord approached one of them and explained that they are newcomers who were relieved of their coin during the revelries the previous night. The Crownsguard offered to investigate, but Fjord turned him down, stating that it was their own fault and instead asked where “areas of trouble” might be. The guard was confused about why Fjord doesn’t want them to look into it.

Meanwhile, Beau asked Irena about the little gnome girl who came in last night (and if she’s ever stolen anything). Irena shrugged and said that the girl would come around sometimes and make a little money, but no, she had never stolen anything. Jester cast zone of truth to try and get a straight answer out of her. Irena failed her saving throw, but revealed no falsehoods. They probed her about who might have stolen their money; she wasn’t much help but reminded Fjord with an unsubtle wink that “the offer still stands.”

The party moved over to interrogate Rissa, who was still a bit hungover herself. Caleb asked if the two “gentlemen” who were bothering her came back into the bar; she said that they did at one point, but left again once they noticed she was still there with the Mighty Nein. Molly pointed out that their tokens for free drinks were in their coin purses, so maybe the thieves would come back to use them. Beau suggested that the tokens might be a good target for Jester’s locate object spell. They interrogated Irena further about suspicious characters in town, and learn that Ashton and Fitz (the gnomes who were bothering Rissa) lived near Rissa’s father’s shack.

Tinkertop Family Drama

Rissa led the party through the town to her father’s house, which also contained his shop: “Tinkertop Inventions.” Rissa’s father was an older gnome with a white beard and tiny spectacles. The Mighty Nein introduced themselves, and Rissa’s father was delighted that his daughter was making friends. He introduced himself as Mastermaker Clef Tinkertop, a “creator and experimenter of all things metallic and clickin’.” Jester asked for a toy for Kiri. Tinkertop exclaimed at the “mighty big bird” and handed her a toy with a tiny metallic bird and a music box, which Kiri mimicked. Jester bought it for Kiri for three gold.

Molly asked what Mastermaker Tinkertop was most proud of. He showed them something he had been working on, something that he hoped will be quite useful to the war effort, especially since he had lost some favor lately. He showed them something that looks like a heavy crossbow, which his friend has enchanted. He called it the “Tinkertop Bolt Blaster 1000,” which he valued at about 2,000 gold.

Fjord asked Tinkertop about having lost favor with the people in power. With a Charisma (Persuasion) check of 20, Tinkertop explained that he was working on a clockwork warden for the local prison, but on its first foray, it went out of control and destroyed everything that was in its way. The prison kept it sealed off for the last two years. He was very proud of his work and was just trying to help, but the prison administrators come by and reminds him of his failure every so often. They were unable to destroy it because they couldn't spare soldiers from the warfront.

The Mighty Nein offered to destroy the clockwork warden (“or get it back for you!”) in exchange for the enchanted crossbow, explaining that all their money was stolen. Mastermaker Tinkertop agreed. If they could take care of the clockwork warden, he’d give them the crossbow free of charge. Fjord asked about regular armaments, and Tinkertop directed them to the Steelbringers Forge. Rissa says that the boys will probably be there, too.

Rissa and her father discussed her employment status. She’s still looking for something permanent, but was working for the Mighty Nein at the moment! Her father was proud of her, and asked the group to take care of his “Rissanya.” The party was delighted to learn her full name (and Fjord immediately called her “Lasagna”).

Good Cop, Bad Cop

As the party made its way to the Steelbringers Forge, Beau pulled Rissa aside and told her that she’s lucky to have a good dad who really cares for her. When they arrived at the forge, Jester decided to use thaumaturgy to envelope the entire shop in Infernal whisperings. The workers grabbed their warhammers and shouted “Declare yourself!”

Jester smiled and waved as she entered. “Oh hi!” she exclaimed. Most of the gnomes sighed and went back to work.

Molly asked to speak with Ashton and Fitz. The group decided to have this discussion in their workplace, so their irritable boss could listen in. Beau explained to the gnome boys that they’ll speak with Fjord first—the good cop—and they would not want to end up talking to Beau—the bad cop. Fjord asked the boys if they rifled through some coin purses when they returned to the bar last night. They both vehemently denied that they would steal. Beau pulled out her staff and asked if they saw anyone who might have been a thief? Fitz, almost crying, said that there are lots of shady folk but they don’t know anyone in particular who might have stolen coin purses. Most thieves end up in prison.

Jester asked where Old Blemmy is from. He was an “ice sailor” up north. Fjord took Beau aside and, bluffing, “convinced” her to stay her staff if the boys will ask around to help find their money. Fitz objected: they had to work! Beau scowled and told them to weigh their livelihood with their lives. Caleb offered to pay their boss their salary for the day—he’d even pay double—to have the boys work for them today. Beau smacked her staff on the ground and the boys scamper out of the forge. The other two gnomes at the forge found the whole situation hilarious.

Before they leave the forge, Nott asks if they make any pistols. The gnomes replied no, those are all made down in the Iron Lot.

The True Thieves

They decided to hunt down Blemmy next, and went towards the Silverfalls. Jester cast locate object, and right where the Idlework Shelf transitions into the residential area—she felt a ping! The Mighty Nein’s free drinks token that they won in the tournament was within 1,000 feet! They followed the trail and found an old, boarded-up butcher’s shop—perhaps the thief was Duncan, the ratty old dwarf that challenged Molly in the first round of the contest.

They all burst in at once and, in the corner, they could see four gnomish children—all huddled together and scared out of their minds. A pile of gold was laid out on the floor before them. Fjord raised a hand and tried to defuse the situation. “You’re fine… you’re not in any danger.”

The older girl was named Gail, the older boy was named Austin, the little boy with curly hair was named Jude, and the youngest girl was named Leila. Their parents, Gilda and Wallace, had been gone for six months. They got arrested for idol worship. False worship. They worshipped Avandra the Changebringer. The kids had been pickpocketing others for two months now, and the Mighty Nein’s purses were a huge windfall.

Fjord, ever the kind soul, asked “If we ever got your parents out of Gearhold Prison, would you stay here [in Hupperdook]? If we were to reunite you with your folks, would you get outta here right quick?”

Fjord desperately tried to convince the party to help the kids. Most of the party were interested in getting back on their job with the Gentleman. Fjord said “I was an orphan. Orphanages are terrible, terrible places.”

They decided to go to the jail, and left Kiri with the gnome children for an extended play date. Kiri played her music box and instantly endeared herself to the gnomes. Jester cast mending on the doors they kicked in, and they departed and began to prepare for their infiltration of the Gearhold Prison.

Are the Mighty Nein seriously going to break into prison to rescue a couple of innocent gnomes that couldn't even begin to repay their kindness? It's hard to believe it, but these scoundrels are starting to develop a conscience! I hope they succeed. Find out next time... on Critical Role! Is it Thursday yet?

Unless otherwise credited, all photos in this article are courtesy of Geek & Sundry. Most illustrations can be found in this week's Critical Role Fan Art Gallery


James Haeck is the lead writer for D&D Beyond, the co-author of the Critical Role Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, and a freelance writer for Wizards of the Coast, the D&D Adventurers League, and Kobold Press. He loves watching Critical Role and wants everyone he knows to get into it, too. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his partner Hannah and his very own Frumpkins, Mei and Marzipan. You can usually find him wasting time on Twitter at @jamesjhaeckThis article couldn't have been written without Hannah's attentive notetaking and impeccable attention to detail!

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