Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep

Friendly Rivalry

If the characters show little interest in learning more about the jewel, perhaps their rivals don't share that attitude. If the rivals were present at the prayer site in the Emerald Grotto, they didn't experience the vision of the Apotheon; instead, they heard only a muffled voice, as if the speaker were underwater. Nevertheless, what they heard was enough to make them curious.

If the characters are on friendly terms with the rivals, the rivals meet up with them soon after the characters' breakfast with Elder Ushru.

Ayo Jabe doesn't mince words; she wants to know what they found in the grotto. If she gets the sense that the characters have stumbled onto something big, her eyes grow wide. She decides that she and her group want a piece of the action and proposes that they travel with the characters, saying that there's safety in numbers. A character who makes a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Insight) check realizes that she isn't hiding anything and wants nothing more than to be a part of a grand adventure.

The other rivals have their own opinions:

• Dermot is genuinely concerned for the characters' well-being. He mentions that he heard what sounded like a voice in the grotto and wants to know if the characters heard it too.
• Galsariad is curious about what the characters learned in their vision and is eager for the characters to share any magical secrets they might have discovered.
• Irvan has no interest in what happened in the grotto, but he is interested in learning what the jewel can do.
• Maggie agrees with anyone who expresses concern for the characters but doesn't say much on her own. She has her suspicions that more happened than what they have related during the event in the grotto, but she won't push them if they don't want to reveal the full truth.

Who's the Thief?

The likely thief is Irvan, who sees the jewel not as a mystical item but rather a treasure. It could also be the shadowy Galsariad if the magical nature of the jewel is made explicit. If Ayo was pushed to the brink by the murder of one of her comrades, she could be the thief.

The thief wears a thick black cloak with a hood and mask. A character who sees the thief can use an action to try to recognize them through their disguise, doing so with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check.

The attempted theft has three possible outcomes:

• Caught Sleeping.. If none of the characters has a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 15 or higher, the thief escapes with the jewel. The rival party heads to Rosohna. Along the way, they receive a vision from Alyxian that directs them to Bazzoxan.
• Slow to Act.. A character who has a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 15 to 18 notices the thief after they've found the jewel and as they're leaving out the window. The thief notices the character on the way out and runs toward their rendezvous point (x). See "Pursuing the Thief" below if the characters give chase.
• Quick to Act.. A character who has a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 19 or higher notices the thief while they're searching the room, but before they've found the jewel. This character can sneak up on the thief by making a successful DC 15 Dexterity (Stealth) check, catching the thief by surprise. Otherwise, the thief notices that they've been spotted and leaps out the nearest window. The thief then runs to rejoin their friends at the edge of town. See "Pursuing the Thief" below if the characters give chase.

Pursuing the Thief

A character who notices the thief can try to capture them. Doing so requires a successful DC 15 Dexterity check to catch up to the thief followed by a successful grapple check (see the Player's Handbook). If either check fails, the thief escapes.

If the character doesn't pursue the thief immediately and instead spends time rousing their allies, grabbing a weapon, or donning armor, the thief escapes.

Questioning the Thief

If the characters catch the thief, the rival refuses to give away their plan as long as their attitude toward the party remains hostile (see the rules for social interaction in the Dungeon Master's Guide). But if a character succeeds on a DC 18 Charisma (Persuasion) check, the rival shares the plan willingly. The rival also shares the plan under duress if a character threatens them with harm and succeeds on a DC 15 Charisma (Intimidation) check. You can grant advantage or impose disadvantage on either check if you think the thief would be especially responsive or resistant to persuasion or intimidation.

A rival captured by the party tries to escape at the earliest opportunity, perhaps when most or all of the characters are asleep or distracted. If the rival is bound with rope, the rival can escape their bonds with a successful DC 15 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check. If manacles are used instead, the DC is 20. If the check fails, the rival can try again after 1 hour.

Xhorhas Encounters

A Lucky Break

Just off the road ahead, the characters spot the corpse of a gloomstalker (see appendix A). Even in death, its corpse is covered in roiling, wispy shadows. The grass around the creature has been trampled flat.

A character who examines the gloomstalker corpse, which is riddled with broken arrow shafts, can make a DC 16 Wisdom (Medicine) or Intelligence (Investigation) check. On a success, they determine that the creature also has a serious burn along its underside, suggesting it was likely killed by archers and some sort of magic that dealt fire or radiant damage.

Aurora Watch Patrol

The Aurora Watch of the Kryn Dynasty patrols the roads in Xhorhas, protecting travelers from both the monstrous denizens of the wastes and unscrupulous individuals who might lurk along the road. Each time this encounter occurs, the characters meet a different patrol. Choose one of the following options:

• Patrol at Rest.. The characters come across six lawful neutral Aurora Watch veterans (a mix of lawful good drow, humans, and orcs) who are resting at a campsite just off the road. Clearly in good spirits, they invite the characters to join them. Traveling with this patrol is a lawful good, drow scout who also serves as a cook. If the characters take a long rest with the patrol, the food they were given the night before grants them 1d10 temporary hit points when they awaken the next day.
• Patrol in Battle.. The characters see six lawful neutral Aurora Watch veterans (a mix of lawful good drow, humans, and orcs) fighting a hezrou. If the characters help the Aurora Watch slay the demon, the soldiers thank them, give them a total of 50 gp as a reward, and promise to commend them to Taskhand Verin Thelyss when the patrol returns to Bazzoxan. If the characters do nothing to help, the soldiers slay the demon, but only after one soldier is killed and two others are reduced to 0 hit points (one stable, the other dying).
• Lost Patrol.. On the road in front of the characters are the bodies of six Aurora Watch soldiers near the corpse of a hezrou that is slowly dissolving into black ichor. Two shadow demons and two quasits lurk beneath the soldiers' corpses, waiting for more prey to arrive. They fight to the death.

Crashed Wagon

The characters spot an overturned wagon in a ditch on one side of the road. The ox that pulled the wagon is nowhere to be found (it tore free of its harness and wandered away). Lying beneath the wagon are the bodies of three merchants—two drow and an orc—who died in the crash. Around the orc's broken neck is a small key that unlocks an iron strongbox in the wagon (see "Treasure" below).

Characters who investigate the interior of the wagon disturb three invisible will-o'-wisps, which illuminate and attack. If any of the wisps are killed, the others decide the characters are too much of a threat and flee on their next turn. If all three wisps are defeated, the spirits of the slain travelers grant one character of your choice a charm of heroism (see the rules for supernatural gifts in the Dungeon Master's Guide).

Demonic Carrion

The characters encounter the corpse of an udaak—one of the enormous, ape-like demons that have prowled the wastes of Xhorhas since the Calamity. The demonic corpse, which is punctured with countless spears and axes, is slowly melting into a pool of black ichor. Surrounding the body are the corpses of two dozen humans wearing hide armor, as well as the bodies of the warriors' horses. What looks like a carrion bird circles the battlefield at a height of 300 feet.

The carrion bird is a vrock that has been feeding on the mortal flesh strewn about the battlefield. It swoops down to attack characters who disturb any of the corpses. In addition, three quasits hide in the udaak's fur and attack non-demons that come within 10 feet of the udaak's melting corpse.

A character who investigates the tracks around this battlefield can make a DC 14 Wisdom (Survival) check. On a success, the character sees the tracks of a horse that apparently escaped the carnage. The tracks lead in the direction of the Emerald Loop Caravan Stop.

Feast for the Eyes

The characters see a gloomstalker (see appendix A) antagonizing 1d3 mammoths that are moving slowly across the wastes, minding their own business. The creatures are 3d6 × 100 feet away from the characters when the encounter begins.

The gloomstalker shrieks as it descends upon a mammoth with claws bared, but its attacks have little effect. Frustrated, it ascends into the sky and spots the party. The gloomstalker lets out another shriek as it flies toward the characters, eager to feast on their flesh. The characters have at least a round or two before the gloomstalker gets close enough to harm them. Hungry and hostile, the gloomstalker fights to the death. Assume that the creature has recharged Shriek by the time it reaches the characters.

Each time the gloomstalker uses Shriek during the battle against the characters, 1d6 skeletons of dead human soldiers burst up out of the ground within 30 feet of the characters and attack them, acting on their own initiative count. Skeletons that aren't reduced to 0 hit points collapse into inanimate piles of bones after 10 minutes or when the gloomstalker is slain.

Ill Omen

While the party is camping at night, one of the characters sees Exandria's smaller moon flare with bright red light. The moon, which has appeared as a slim crescent throughout the night, suddenly becomes full. When this happens, each character becomes cursed for the next 24 hours. While cursed in this way, a character has disadvantage on ability checks and saving throws. The effect can be ended on a character by any magic that removes a curse.

The characters have another encounter immediately after they begin traveling the next day. Roll again on the Xhorhas Encounters table, or choose an encounter you like.

Moorbounder Mayhem

The characters hear a wild yell. In the distance, they see a lawful neutral, tiefling scout named Justice on the back of a moorbounder (see appendix A) and hanging on for dear life as the creature snarls and bucks about. Two bristled moorbounders (see appendix A) are circling the imperiled tiefling. Justice can hang on for another minute at most, and the moment he touches the ground, the bristled moorbounders intend to tear him limb from limb.

Justice is a trained moorbounder rider, and the beast he is clinging to is Rice Pudding, his beloved steed. Rice Pudding was terrified by the other moorbounders that ambushed them along the road. If the characters scare off the attacking moorbounders, Justice and Rice Pudding will be saved. A character can use an action to try to scare off a moorbounder, doing so with a successful DC 21 Charisma (Intimidation) check.

Justice is a scout for a caravan that is heading toward the Emerald Loop Caravan Stop. He elects not to accompany the characters, but he does promise to give them a reward once they reach the caravan stop. (If the characters have this encounter after they pass the caravan stop, Justice's group is traveling west, in the opposite direction from the characters' route, and Justice instead rewards them with 5 gp per character.)

Roadside Raiders

On a rare sunny day in the wastes, characters who have a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 15 or higher see a cloud of dust being kicked up about half a mile down the road—and it continues to head toward them. A few minutes later, the characters are surrounded by human bandits mounted on bedraggled horses. These bandits call themselves the Road Raiders. Their leader, a grizzled man named Postraeck, is a neutral evil bandit captain who rides an imposing black warhorse. Postraeck is better known as Six-Knives because of the six daggers he carries on his person at all times, each of which has a name (Boneshaver, Gleam, Grudge, Jabby, Pierce, and Tickles). His fellow riders are ten bandits (lawful evil humans) mounted on riding horses.

Six-Knives claims that he's a Kryn tax collector and that he needs each of the characters to cough up 25 gp for the "road 'n' infer-structure tax." No such tax exists, and the characters don't need to make any kind of check to glean that these hoodlums are not tax collectors. If the characters pay, Six-Knives tips his hat with a chuckle, and the Road Raiders gallop away.

If the characters refuse to pay, Six-Knives clicks his tongue and rears his horse. "Let's loosen their purse-strings, y'all!" he roars, ordering the bandits to attack. All of them, including Six-Knives, are cowards, and any bandit reduced to fewer than half their hit points tries to flee in their next turn.

Future occurrences of this encounter are with Six-Knives at the head of the group—or, if he's dead, one of his protégés, now a bandit captain—hoping to plunder more coin from the characters' pockets or exacting revenge for their earlier losses.

L1: Entrance to the Clearing

Read or paraphrase the following as the characters enter the caravan stop:

L2: Big Yuyo

Big Yuyo is an adult horizonback tortoise (see appendix A)—known as a "kinespaji" in Goblin—that is the home of the Kruzkrenner goblin family. The tortoise is named after a Xhorhasian vegetable called a yuyo—an ochre cucumber that grows in Rosohna's underground gardens.

The platforms and structures on Big Yuyo's back are made of wood, thatch, canvas, and rope. They sometimes need maintenance, and the family is busy repairing their home. They're currently on a trip from Rosohna to Asarius to meet up with the bugbear side of their family.

L3: Ox Corral

The seven oxen penned here are used to pull the covered wagons in area L5. They are usually docile, but a character who tries to spook them by making a sudden noise can make a DC 15 Charisma (Intimidation) check, causing them to rampage around the corral and cause a bit of chaos on a successful check. The ruckus creates enough of a distraction to allow one or more characters to search a location without being seen by others in the caravan stop.

L4: Adventurers' Camp

The rivals camp here if they arrived at the caravan stop ahead of the characters. If the characters are traveling ahead of the rivals or with them, this campsite is being used by an Aurora Watch patrol instead.

Meeting the rivals here provides an opportunity for the characters to interact with them if the x encounter has not occurred.

L5: Bonfire

This bonfire is the center of activity at the caravan stop. Gaeya Iliera, a neutral good, drow scout in a rugged outfit, is cooking some of the best mastodon kor'rundl to be found outside of Asarius. This savory dish is a hearty rice bowl topped with spicy grilled mastodon and smoky-flavored kor'run, a vegetable like a deep red squash grown in Rosohna's sunless gardens. A character who partakes of this food awakens the next morning with 1d10 temporary hit points that last for the next 24 hours.

Several other travelers are relaxing around the bonfire, playing games, sharing stories, and singing songs. Among those gathered here are the following individuals:

• Tyvak and Moghra (chaotic good, human berserkers) survived the battle with the udaak that the characters saw the aftermath of in the x encounter. They are the daughter and son of Kierchaly Wastewalker and belong to the same clan as Irvan Wastewalker. If Tyvak sees that one of the characters has retrieved her father's +1 dagger from that site, she offers to trade her +1 battleaxe for it and thanks the characters with all her heart if the dagger is turned over.
• Justice (lawful neutral, tiefling scout) and his moorbounder mount, Rice Pudding, are here if they survived the x encounter. If the characters helped him during that encounter, Justice gives them a pair of goggles of night that the caravan he's working for had a hard time selling at their last stop.
• The Acorn Sisters, Lanata and Robur, are dryads. As the caretakers of this forest, they're fine with bonfires as long as only dead wood is burned. It's customary to share food, drink, and song with them in appreciation for their hospitality. Characters who show them great respect by making an offering directly to them awaken in the morning with a charm of vitality (see the rules for supernatural gifts in the Dungeon Master's Guide).