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Avowed One-Shot - Critical Role | Wave AI Podcast Notes

Avowed One-Shot

Tue Feb 25 2025

This One-Shot is sponsored by Avowed. Go to https://www.xbox.com/Avowed to check out the game which is Available Now! Join Game Master Matthew Mercer for a special Avowed inspired one-shot as he guides players Marisha Ray, Travis Willingham, Anjali Bhimani, SungWon Cho, and Whitney Moore through the Living Lands and shadow-haunted shores. BEACON We’re excited to bring you even MORE with a Beacon membership! Start your 7-day free trial today at https://beacon.tv/join and get unparalleled access to the shows you love completely ad-free! You’ll receive NEW Beacon exclusive series, instant access to VODs & podcasts, live event pre-sales, merch discounts, & a private Discord. YOUTUBE MEMBERS / TWITCH SUBSCRIBERS Twitch Subscribers and YouTube Members gain instant access to VODs of our shows, moderated live chats, and custom emojis & badges: https://www.youtube.com/criticalrole/join https://www.twitch.tv/criticalrole Art by Julie Dillon (@JulieDillonart) Graphics by Bryan Weiss

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Transcript

Galen (0:00)

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Matthew Mercer (0:32)

I can say to my new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra hey, find a keto friendly restaurant nearby and text it to Beth and Steve and it does without me lifting a finger so I can get in more squats anywhere I can. 1, 2, 3 will that be cash or credit? Credit 4 Galaxy S25 Ultra the AI companion that does the heavy lifting so you can do. You get yours@samsung.com compatible with select apps. Requires Google Gemini account. Results may vary based on input. Check responses for accuracy.

Sable (1:04)

Hey there Critical Role Podcast listeners. We have a special new membership service at Beacon TV where you can get early access to all new podcast episodes including Critical Role. For the first time ever. Beacon members also get things like event presales, merch discounts, access to a private community discord and and new exclusive series like Critical Role Cooldown where we riff after the show. Think of it as our digital Critical role Land, head on over to Beacon TV to check it out for yourself and start a seven day free trial. Thank you so so much for your support for being a podcast listener and for being a part of our community.

Matthew Mercer (1:53)

Hey there critters. We are so excited to share with you our brand new PODC from the world of Exandria, the Re Slayer's Take. In this audio adventure, you'll be guided through the wild continent of Issylra, home to some of the most dangerous creatures. Here, the Slayer's take is the most notorious monster hunting group in the realm, but when previously slain creatures start returning from the grave, it's up to six misfit mercenaries to band together and re slay these supernatural threats as the reslayers take. So come follow along these audio escapades as the second coolest monster hunters this side of Exandria battle a growing undead army of dangerous creatures. The party is led by a duo of game masters, George Primavera and Nick Williams, with the main cast including Jasmine Buellar, Caroline Lux and Jasmine Shion. Listen to new episodes every Monday anywhere you stream podcasts or become a Beacon member and listen to the podcast two weeks early and uninterrupted by Ads. Hi there. This is Matthew Mercer, resident game master here at Critical Role to welcome you to this podcast version of the show. If you'd like to watch the stream as it airs, you can catch It Thursdays at 7pm Pacific on Twitch TV CriticalRole or YouTube.com criticalrole. Twitch subscribers can access the video on demand immediately after the broadcast, and it also becomes available on YouTube Mondays at 12pm Pacific. Podcast episodes land right here on the Critical Role podcast network on Thursdays, a week after the initial broadcast. Okay, with that info dump out of the way, let's dive into the story. Hello everyone, and welcome to a very special one shot in collaboration with our friends at Xbox and Obsidian Entertainment and their new game Avowed, which is out now. You should buy it. It's in the same world of Pillars and Pillars of Eternity and pillars of Eternity 2, and I love it and I'm super excited. You can check it out now@xbox.com avowed to learn more about it. And that being said, while you may recognize some of the places and characters explored tonight as inspired by elements from the Avowed game, we just want to emphasize for you all that the characters and events in this one shot are our own creations and are not official content from Avowed. They are just simply inspired by it. But a big thank you to Xbox and Obsidian Entertainment for letting us play in your world of eora. Before we jump in, let's get through a quick roundtable for some of our fantastic players here. We'll go ahead and start on this side. Marisha. Marisha Ray. A wonderful.

Matthew Mercer (6:50)

New Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra reduces noise in my concert videos with Galaxy AI taking them from this to this. Now I have time to bejewel my favorite artists faces onto jackets. This one really captures their eyes. Galaxy S25 Ultra the AI companion that reduces distractions so you can do you get yours@samsung.com compatible with common video formats, accessible in gallery helps minimize six select sounds results for your Galaxy AI features by Samsung free through 2025 welcome to Eora, a vast and mysterious world of magic, politics, and discovery, where empires weave and row over their interests, and the many gods have presided in ages past over the wheel, a cycle of rebirth the soul undertakes with each passing. The soul itself is a studied thing, a being's own essence and its mechanics themselves are studied across many lands within the field of animancy. Texts and great machines recovered from the ancient civilization known as the Ingwithins pertained to and manipulated souls in ways that are still not fully understood. But such matters carry little interest where our story begins as a sizable prison ship recently set sail from the Idiran capital city of Highcrown. Heading northward, this ship, the Dancing Umbrage, carries a cargo of numerous convicts of varying degrees of notoriety, shackled, then prepped into the ship for arrival to the living Lands, the northern frontier island where numerous settlements and foreign colonies now seek to expand and claim dominion over the region's diverse geography and bountiful resources. Rumors swirl of unnaturally abundant landscapes and uncovered relics belonging to prehistoric culture, and the pursuit of such interests requires labor, and, well, no labor is cheaper than Prisoners without choice. Prisoners that now wait within the belly of the dancing umbrage, pushing onward across a choppy sea as a storm brews beyond. So here, deep below the deck, the dull swinging lantern light barely lighting the interior of these barred cells. The strong sense of musky sweat and mildew, salt soaked wood itself giving this awful mixture of smells that sting the senses like an invisible mist that hangs in the air around you. The loud sounds of hard exterior rainfall hitting the hull of the ship. The undulating creaking of the wood with each shift of every heavy wave causing you all to rock and push against the bars and wood that surround you. Here in the shadows of this ship, the many criminals sent on this adventure sit behind these bars, sliding with each of these heavy swings. A wooden cage filled with a unique mix of white collar criminals, grifters, thugs and some career crooks, all eager to be free from this seaside rocking coffin. Travis, as we shift over to one of these two adjacent cells with but a set of bars between them, what do we see in front of us? And what are you doing?

Matthew Mercer (164:02)

Eight. Okay, 18. In reading through the notes of this journal, a couple quick things you pick up. This edea looks to Be a seeker of ancient history or lost culture. Their notes are more about connecting dots between historical excavations. Referring to some sort of university, a higher learning locale where they have connections and trying to more or less figure out parallels with some uncovered elements to this island. You work out through the notes that when this lighthouse was being constructed, the team building it uncovered odd ruins within the heart of the island beneath the lighthouse. And thus the construction was halted before completion. Then Edea and her colleague Dornilsi were called from the Empire to gather a team of researchers to investigate this room and assess if construction could be completed or if the site had significance to the Empire. You rolled really high. Entries also speak of unpredictable weather and harsh living conditions upon the island. And a storm that sundered their long moored ship against the shore before they could return to the mainland for more provisions. Reading through the notes further, they speak about uncovering some of the depths of the ruins as well as massive veins of Adra that dig into this island. You know Adra to be a particularly important and rare mineral across the entire world of Eora. It is a greenish luminescent stone that is believed in many cultures to to perhaps all be connected at the core of the world. Or at the very least it is tied to the very essence of the soul, the spirit. There are many different beliefs. A lot of the ancient Ingwithan Empire and their technologies were based around the manipulation of Adra and the spirit as an energy source. Some people see the Adra as a creation or extension of the gods. But there are a number of significant mysteries around it and a lot of technologies through the use and manipulation of Audra. But these veins were unique for the deeper they plumbed into these ruins they found the green became white spidered veins of white Audra referred to as Audraban. An extremely rare form of White Audra that still isn't fully understood. An incredible find by these notes and likely why this ancient ruin was built here. Edea's instinct is that these ruins might be of the fabled godless of the living lands. But it's too early to confirm without comparison and research back to the Empire and hoping that their attempts to get the lighthouse functional again and to call some sort of help or aid back to the island could help them continue their research. The further into it gets more complaints about dwindling provisions of desperation and conflict within the research team. As these tensions rise and Edea wants to push their efforts towards recovery and acquiring some sort of follow up troop to save them. Danilci began to fall obsessive with these ruins, thinking that perhaps maybe the secret to that lied within them, within this Audra. If indeed it is all connected somewhere in the core here, maybe through some unknown animancy or some sort of ancient power within, maybe these ruins unlocked a way in which they could be saved. But this tension continued to build as the teams began to separate and grow more ornery and divided with each passing week. The notes get more scarce and more concise and more frustrated and hopeless. Then begins to speak about Dorneel C. Wanting to tamper with the pillar and wanting to stop them. While this is happening, you both also find what looks to be an odd skull that's set off to the side of the far back chamber by the kitchen. It is larger than a human skull. It looks humanoid, kind of, but it's. This is big. The big ass skull. It's a big skull.

Summary

Critical Role Podcast Summary: "Avowed One-Shot"

Podcast Information:

Title: Critical Role
Host/Author: Critical Role
Episode: Avowed One-Shot
Release Date: February 25, 2025

Introduction

In the "Avowed One-Shot" episode, the cast of Critical Role collaborates with Xbox and Obsidian Entertainment to explore the world of Avowed. Set in the expansive universe of Eora, this adventure takes listeners through a gripping narrative filled with suspense, character development, and intense roleplaying moments.

Setting

The story unfolds aboard the prison ship Dancing Umbrage, journeying from the Idiran capital city of Highcrown to the northern frontier island known as the Living Lands. This island is rumored to host abundant landscapes and prehistoric relics, making it a coveted destination for various factions seeking expansion and resources.

Characters Introduced

Lady Minette: An Orlon noble with a mysterious past, skilled in magic and games.
Galen: A human with a background in accounting, wrongfully accused and now seeking redemption.
Sable: A rugged, outdoorsy dwarf passionate about conservation and animal rights.
Ylva: An enigmatic Elven woman with complex motivations and a hidden agenda.
Medrin Glaukias: A member of a competing criminal family, portrayed as a cunning antagonist.
Figrun and Alceno: Compatriots of Medrin, each bringing unique skills to the conflict.
Lyra: A resident game master and supportive character, aiding the group in their endeavors.

Plot Summary

1. Life Aboard the Dancing Umbrage

The episode begins with the cast settling into their respective prison cells on the Dancing Umbrage. Galen describes the oppressive environment aboard the ship, highlighting the diverse cast of prisoners, each with their own backgrounds and motivations. Tensions simmer as the group anticipates their arrival in the Living Lands.

2. Storm and Shipwreck

As the ship sails northward, a violent storm engulfs the vessel, leading to a shipwreck. The chaos results in the destruction of many guards and the scattering of prisoners. The surviving group, including Galen, Sable, Minette, and Ylva, navigate the wreckage, facing immediate threats from elemental creatures known as Rain Blights—magical storms that threaten their survival.

3. Stranded on the Living Lands

The survivors land on the rocky shores of the Living Lands, a mysterious island with limited resources and potential dangers. They regroup amidst the debris, scavenging for weapons and provisions. Their exploration leads them to a partially functional lighthouse and a makeshift outpost. Here, they encounter Medrin Glaukias and his associates, sparking a series of confrontations driven by mistrust and survival instincts.

4. Encounters with Spirits and Recurring Conflicts

As the group delves deeper into the island, they uncover ancient ruins tied to the enigmatic mineral Audra—a substance of great spiritual and magical significance. Conflict intensifies with aggressive spirits called Rain Blights attacking the survivors. Through strategic combat and teamwork, the group manages to fend off these spectral threats, though not without sustaining injuries and accumulating elemental afflictions like fire and poison.

5. The Final Confrontation

The climax of the episode features a tense showdown between the survivors and Medrin, who becomes increasingly desperate and antagonistic. As they navigate the treacherous halls of an ancient chamber, they confront the malevolent spirit Edea the Kangula—a vengeful entity with ties to the island's mystical energies. In a final bid for survival, the group battles Edea and Medrin, leading to a decisive victory aided by their combined resilience and magical prowess.

Key Discussions and Insights

Survival and Trust: The episode emphasizes the importance of trust and collaboration among the prisoners as they face external threats and internal conflicts.
Magic and Mysticism: The use of magic, particularly in combating elemental creatures and interacting with ancient ruins, highlights the intricate relationship between the characters and the mystical world of Eora.
Character Growth: Each character experiences significant development, revealing motivations, fears, and alliances that shape their journey from captives to survivors.

Notable Quotes

Galen (00:05:00):

"I tried to help, but I think they've lacked evidence or anyone else to point a finger at."
Sable (04:45:00):

"I'm just a dwarf of the land. I know pretty much everything about nature."
Minette (05:05:00):

"I owe my entire life to Eleonora. And I regret nothing."
Ylva (15:30:00):

"We're smarter than the rest of them."
Ylva (22:00:00):

"Being underestimated is a wonderful thing."
Matthew Mercer (Throughout the Episode): As the Dungeon Master, Matthew Mercer provides vivid descriptions and guides the story, often reacting dynamically to player actions.

Conclusion

"Avowed One-Shot" offers an immersive experience into the collaborative storytelling that Critical Role is renowned for. By intertwining elements from the Avowed universe with original character arcs and intense gameplay, the episode delivers a captivating narrative of survival, trust, and the battle against formidable mystical forces. The characters' journey from prisoners to heroes underscores the themes of resilience and unity, making this one-shot a memorable addition to the Critical Role canon.

Thank you for joining us on this adventure! If you enjoyed this summary, make sure to listen to the episode for the full experience and join the conversation with fellow fans of Critical Role and Avowed.