Critical Role: The Long Rest | The Winter’s Feast & Himmelsschloss: The Castle in the Sky

Date: December 19, 2025
Host: Critical Role (Sam Riegel, Caleb Widowgast/Liam O’Brien)
Episode Theme:
A special, cozy storytelling installment of The Long Rest, where beloved Critical Role cast members narrate thoughtful fantasy tales with warmth and heart. This holiday episode features “A Winter’s Feast” (by William Lamborn, read by Sam Riegel) and “Himmelschloss: The Castle in the Sky” (by Liam O’Brien, read by Caleb Widowgast), exploring themes of family, generosity, loss, magic, and wonder.

Episode Overview

This installment of the Critical Role “Long Rest” podcast provides listeners with two original fantasy short stories, each weaving magical realism with generous, fable-like lessons. “A Winter’s Feast” is a holiday parable about kindness and family amidst hardship, told through the struggles and small triumphs of fey giant children. “Himmelschloss: The Castle in the Sky” is a mythic, bittersweet tale of loss, discovery, and the price of knowledge, following a young girl named Little Sparrow as she journeys through danger and wonder in a floating city.
The episode is ideal for fans seeking an immersive, comforting, and beautifully performed narrative experience from the Critical Role cast.

Story One: "A Winter’s Feast"

Read by: Sam Riegel
Written by: William Lamborn
Start Timestamp: [02:12]

Main Points & Narrative Flow

• Setting and Family Hardship ([02:16]):
  In the chilly mountain town of Kravarad, a fey giant family faces hard times after the father’s cobbler shop closes. The cottage is cold, the food is sparse, and hope is in short supply. The children, Elsie and her younger brother Micah, feel the weight of their parents' struggle, with Elsie overhearing their worries about losing their home.

• Holiday Longing and Sibling Kindness ([02:56]):
  Micah, with innocent hope, asks about a Winter’s Crest meal and presents. The parents gently reply there will be no feast or gifts, and Elsie tries to explain the tough times to her confused brother as they walk to school in their patched, well-loved coats.

• Meeting Altruism in the Community ([05:37]):
  Along their way, they encounter townsfolk including a dog, a cheerful dwarven bell-ringer begging alms (“Alms for the poor. Charity for the poor.” – Dwarf, [05:52]), and the colorful characters that define their struggling town. The children, without coin themselves, promise to help someday—a promise that becomes central to the story’s outcome.

• Micah’s Big Idea ([06:29]):
  Micah resolves to “make some money” to surprise their parents with a feast, crafting a family portrait with great pride. Elsie supports his earnestness, despite doubts about their plan’s practicality.

• Visiting the Shops (Garment Shop [09:10], Tavern [11:07], Emporium [14:59]):

  • At the garment shop, the elven owner admires their mother’s handiwork but cannot buy the portrait, instead gifting them a warm scarf out of kindness.
  • In the tavern, the half-orc keeper, moved by their story, can’t buy the art but gives them a bone for stew.
  • The arcane emporium’s devilkin shopkeeper appreciates Micah’s drawing, encourages them to present it as a gift to their parents, and gifts them a silver coin “for Winter’s Crest kindness.”

• Acts of Generosity Expand ([18:12]):
  The children choose to give their silver coin to the charitable dwarf, keeping a promise made that morning. “There are others who need it more than we do.” – Elsie, [18:43].

• Magic and the Spirit of the Season ([19:00]):
  The dwarf reveals himself as the magical facilitator of their Winter’s Crest miracle, explaining that “magic items are worth what someone will pay for them” ([20:40]). He buys the portrait for a pouch of gold and promises a magical solution for their feast.

Memorable Segment:

“It represents all the love and thoughtfulness you two have shown your parents, the charity you’ve shown each other, a stray dog, and even the poor you’ve never met. … If someone is willing to pay that price, well then it’s worth that much.”
– Dwarf, [20:17]

• The Feast and Miraculous Transformation ([24:10]):
  The dwarf, now known as Oltgar, uses the portrait and his collection pot in an “act of holiday magic” that conjures an abundant feast and transforms the cottage into a warm haven filled with food, laughter, and townsfolk.

  “Oldgar placed the drawing in the pot. … with a flash of sparkling energy, the room was transformed before everyone’s eyes. … It was a Winter’s Crest miracle.”
  – Sam Riegel narrating, [24:38]–[25:30]

• Resolution and Final Gifts ([26:36]):
  The children keep the gold for their family’s winter, adopt the stray dog gifted by Oltgar (“You must both promise to give him a name, a home, and lots of scratches.” – Oltgar, [27:19]), and their act of kindness is returned a hundredfold. The story closes on the simple, profound truth that the truest feast is the love they share as a family.

Notable Quotes:

• “The true feast hadn’t been the food they ate, but the love they all shared with each other.” – Sam Riegel narrating, [28:57]

Story Two: "Himmelschloss: The Castle in the Sky"

Read by: Caleb Widowgast (Liam O’Brien)
Written by: Liam O’Brien
Start Timestamp: [31:11]

Main Points & Narrative Flow

• Whimsical Beginnings ([31:15]):
  In an ancient, wondrous world, Little Sparrow lives a happy life in a mountain village with her parents, soaring the skies with joy and innocence.

• Disaster Strikes: The Storm and Separation ([32:00]):
  A violent storm tears Little Sparrow from her parents. Lost in darkness, haunted by whispering shadows, she witnesses strange forms and flees blindly—until she bursts into sunlight above a sea of clouds.

• Discovering the Castle ([34:11]):
  She finds a shining castle, Himmelsschloss, drifting on the cloud sea, and approaches through a dazzling parade of magical beasts, lords, animated statues, and vibrant kites. Her presence causes chaos and fear among the castle’s inhabitants.

  “As the child looked about from the sparkling pool, Little Sparrow came to realize she had splashed down into the middle of a grand parade. And what a parade it was…” – Liam O’Brien narrating, [35:07]

• Hospitality and Wonder ([36:49]):
  A kind royal advisor shelters Little Sparrow and listens to her story of being lost and shadow-haunted. Together they tour the castle: gardens of celestial griffins, libraries, jeweled labyrinths, and impossibly magical wonders.

• Council with the Queen and the Rising Threat ([41:12]):
  The court hears of Little Sparrow’s plight. The queen, sorrowful and wise, acknowledges that their attempt to “hang so fair a gem from the sky” by leaving the world behind is what attracts the darkness pursuing them.

  “We have sailed too high, thinking we could leave the world below in shadow and grasp the sun and stars and all for ourselves, simply because they were in reach to hang so fair a gem from the sky. Of course, there are those who seek to pluck it down.” – The Queen, [43:01]

• Betrayal and Catastrophe ([44:10]):
  The noble knight reveals himself as the vessel of shadow:

  “No cloud so high, no wall so sound… can shelter your covetous hearts from the darkness. You fled into darkness you shall rejoin.” – The Knight, [44:28]

  The hall is plunged into magical chaos—the king falls, the queen casts a desperate spell on the golden tree, which becomes the axis of the castle’s unmaking.

• A Legacy of Knowledge ([47:36]):
  The advisor entrusts Little Sparrow with a twig from the golden tree, asking her to use its promise wisely.

  “I pray that you will wield it more wisely than those from whom you inherit.” – The advisor, [48:07]

  Little Sparrow escapes—alone, clutching the magic sprig, her heart full of questions and sorrow.

• Return, and Planting the Seed ([49:30]):
  Guided by a single golden kite, Little Sparrow finds her way home to her parents, plants the golden twig, and it grows into a magnificent tree, spreading knowledge (and caution) through her descendants.

  “From its fruit sprang all the knowledge that we now share in this late age, with all the troubles and the blessings that accompany it. These gifts are sometimes used for ill and other times for good. We wonder if we will reach the sun, but never if we should.” – Liam O’Brien narrating, [53:45]

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Generosity in Hard Times:
  “There are others who need it more than we do.” – Elsie, [18:43]

• Magic Is More Than Gold:
  “If someone is willing to pay that price, well then it’s worth that much.”
  – Dwarf (Oltgar), [20:47]

• Holiday Transformation:
  “It was a Winter’s Crest miracle.” – Narration, [25:30]
  “The true feast hadn’t been the food they ate, but the love they all shared with each other.” – Narration, [28:57]

• Cautionary Wisdom:
  “We wonder if we will reach the sun, but never if we should.” – Liam O’Brien, [53:45]

Key Segment Timestamps

• [02:12] – Beginning of “A Winter’s Feast”
• [18:12] – Kids give the silver coin to the dwarf
• [24:10] – The magical feast is conjured
• [27:19] – The stray dog becomes the children's gift
• [31:11] – Beginning of “Himmelschloss: The Castle in the Sky”
• [43:01] – The queen’s reflections on hubris and darkness
• [44:28] – The knight’s betrayal
• [48:07] – Advisor gives Little Sparrow the golden twig
• [53:45] – Moral on knowledge, ambition, and wisdom

Episode Tone & Atmosphere

Gentle, whimsical, and morally resonant—imbued with the warmth, silly asides, and classic “Critical Role” narrative heart. The stories balance coziness with subtle melancholy, and remind listeners of the transformative power of kindness, the cycles of generosity, and the bittersweet nature of growing up.

For New Listeners

Even without prior knowledge of Critical Role or its cast, this episode delivers timeless tales accessible to all ages and backgrounds. Rich performance, imaginative worldbuilding, and layered emotional moments make it an ideal listen for anyone needing a dose of warmth, magic, and holiday hope.