Critical Role Campaign 4, Episode 4 Part 1: "Stone-Faced"

Date: October 30, 2025
Dungeon Master: Brennan Lee Mulligan
Setting: Dolmarkyar, city in the fractured world of Ahriman

Episode Theme

This episode plunges the characters into a relentless night of brutality, death, and desperate resistance as a meticulously orchestrated assault by House Taconis devastates the powerful Royce and Davinos families. The party is forced to navigate overwhelming supernatural danger and personal tragedy, all underlined by a sense of dread, gothic horror, and the ever-present threat of the underworld breaking through into reality.

Brennan Lee Mulligan (00:02): "We explore Ahriman, a world of fractured kingdoms, tumultuous rebellion and sorcery that rises from the graveyard of the gods..."

Key Segments & Highlights

1. A Gritty Entrance – Potter’s Field Tavern

[00:02–06:20]

• Scene opens on Baulaire entering a shady tavern, Potter’s Field, in Dolmarkyar’s lowest district.
• He interacts with Devlin, proprietor of a secret backroom, and observes a mysterious, robed woman negotiating with grieving clients about lost souls—hinting at forbidden necromancy in Ahriman’s society.

Baulaire (04:31): "No evil."

Notable Moment:
Baulaire’s unique mask draws suspicion; his careful demeanor and hidden package suggest intrigue is building.

2. Dangerous Deals & Betrayals

[12:00–18:32]

• Baulaire meets Albris Dryme, a fence with aspirations in the smuggling world.
• The deal goes south: Baulaire is drugged and his mask removed, revealing a visage of dried, crumbling flesh—a disturbing necromantic affliction.
• Upon regaining consciousness with a dead Albris nearby, Baulaire methodically disposes of the body in a chilling, almost ritualistic fashion.

Baulaire (16:39): "That won’t do at all. I begin to strip the dead body of its clothing..."

3. Campaign Recap & Rising Stakes

[22:29–28:20]

• Brennan recaps recent events: execution and betrayal surrounding Thiazi Fang, the players’ connection to the Stone of Nightsong, and the lethal politics of Dolmarkyar.
• Several player characters rush to respond to these events: Julian, Tysha (the druid/wolf), Vaelys (the elven warrior), and Octis Taconis.
• Supernatural unrest is brewing; forces vie for control of necromantic artifacts and bloodlines.

4. Battle in Palazzo Divinos: Death Strikes

[28:20–47:00]

• Combat explodes as Primus Taconis, patriarch of the hostile house, kills General Raymond Davinos (Julian’s father) in a sudden, horrific display.
• Julian is first to react, launching a furious assault. He nearly lands a killing blow, but Primus moves, "only 3/4 in this realm..."
• Upstairs, Octis is grappled and lethally wounded by his own brother, Etherind, now wielding the Stone of Nightsong.

Julian (31:38): "Just with an unheard primal screech, just shouts 'NO!' and goes into a full sprint..."

Brennan (46:59): "He plunges [the knife] into your stomach in the silence and begins to saw up."

Memorable Moment:
The grimness peaks as Octis is brutally killed, his heart grasped by his brother amid necromantic forces.

5. Desperate Resistance—Necromancy Unleashed

[47:00–90:00]

• Tysha and Vaelys scramble to resist. Tysha races, in wolf form, to find Octis, but is paralyzed and nearly killed by ghouls.
• Primus casts "Circle of Death," slaughtering nobles and retainers, reinforcing the world’s peril: "Ahriman is not fair."
• Party members make bites, disengages, and use last-ditch healing to barely survive.

Brennan (54:49): "Primus... casts Circle of Death... the underworld is made real in this moment..."

6. Death, Afterlife & the Path of Souls

[97:45–119:39]

• Octis’s spirit drifts in the underworld, torn between Tysha’s call to return and his father’s dark command to come "home."
• Tysha, herself on death’s door, pleads: "Go back. Not yet. Not yet."
• A surreal, haunting vision: Octis uses spiritual strength to resist being pulled into the dark, attempting to sew his own sundered soul back together—helped by the ghostly presence of Pincushion, his undead fox familiar.

Tysha (116:26): "But it’s not his time. I know that. So I just turn and yell 'Go back. Not yet. Not yet.'"

7. The Final Escape—Bridge to Safety

[151:04–167:46]

• Erinessa Royce, using incredible druidic magic, grows a tree and provides a path of escape.
• The surviving party—dragging the dead Octis—fights through ghouls and specters, using spells like Thunderwave, Misty Step, and Tree Stride.
• Julian, fueled by vengeance and honor, takes up his father’s magical gauntlet before fleeing the collapsing estate.
• Vaelys smites undead, Tysha communes with plants and metal to find escape routes, Erinessa heroically facilitates retreat.
• As the party flees across a bridge, Primus’s magic prevents the dead from following—at least for now.

Brennan (160:08): "Erinessa... passes into the bridge... the dead will not follow."

Notable Quotes & Emotional Beats

• Brennan (54:49, Circle of Death):

  "Primus lays waste to vassals... the underworld is made real in this moment... as the tide of it comes in, it leaves with so much more than it had."

• Julian (66:52, vow of vengeance):

  "Whatever death you worship, I will send you to an oblivion where you can't even find that."

• Tysha & Octis (116:26–118:39, Beyond the Veil):

  Tysha: "Go back. Not yet." Octis (spirit): "Yeah, okay. I'll come back. It's too early anyway."

• Brennan (146:16, Octis’s end):

  "The last part of your soul that remains is a hand clutching a stone. That’s the last we’re going to see of you, Alex. I’ll ask you to step away from the table."

Dramatic Tension & Tone

• Constant sense of dread, supernatural horror, and overwhelming odds.
• The dice themselves become a narrative device; repeated natural 20s for foes, low player rolls, and intense near-death moments underscore Ahriman’s cruelty.
• Roleplaying is intense, frantic, and emotional—players process grief, regret, loyalty, and the epic scale of their loss.

Key Timestamps

• [00:02] Episode opening; Dolmarkyar’s seedy underbelly.
• [12:00–18:32] The "mask off" betrayal and necromantic reveal.
• [28:20] Battle erupts at Palazzo Divinos.
• [46:59] Octis’s brutal death by his brother.
• [54:49] Primus casts "Circle of Death," turning the tide.
• [97:45–119:39] Octis’s journey in the underworld; spirit conversation with Tysha.
• [151:04] The party’s desperate escape across the bridge.

Summary Table — Character Status

| Character | Status/Notes | |----------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Julian | Traumatized, newly determined, acquires his father’s gauntlet, vengeance burning | | Tysha | Survives near death, desperately anchors Octis’s soul, resolves to fight fate | | Vaelys | Tanks overwhelming undead, uses divine smite, supports party escape | | Octis | Dies, soul torn between afterlife and father’s call, final fate left unresolved/tragic | | Erinessa | Heroic NPC, druidic savior, provides passage for escape |

Closing Note

The episode ends on a breathless note, heroes battered and traumatized, but alive—except for Octis, whose fate is left looming in the liminal world between life and the grave. The tone is haunted, melancholy, and determined; the party staggers across a magical bridge, leaving the burned ruins and countless dead behind as they strive to recover, regroup, and resist the necromantic terror gripping Ahriman.

Brennan (167:49): "That’s where we’ll leave our story for now. Part two of this episode drops Tuesday..."

This summary captures the high stakes, complex emotions, and dark fantasy events that define this moment in Critical Role’s Campaign 4.