#S.I.L.A.H.A.

[acebender]

The Arch Heart

[naillykej]

god, i'm obsessed with s.i.l.a.h.a. as an expression of corellon, his connection of beauty with finitude, his tiredness, his only being honest with the raven queen, his asking: "is it really that bad?"

[keyleth-clay]

Critical Role Moodboards: S.I.L.A.H.A. (Specialized Intervention of Lethal And Hazardous Actors)

[quipxotic]

What would have happened if S.I.L.A.H.A./the Arch Heart had allowed Selena to see him as his true self instead of refusing her? If he/they had reached for mercy instead of retribution? Would she have handed over the vial? Would she have not shared the knowledge?

I mean it's a moot point, Aeor was always destined to fall - it has always fallen, it will always fall - but maybe the cause of that fall would have been different and more people would have been able to be saved?

I wonder if the Arch Heart has ever thought about that in the years since? Their moment of godly anger and hubris that helped doom the city they loved. And maybe Selena would have done it anyway? We'll never know, but that's the point - the fact that could eat a person (and maybe even a god?) alive, the never knowing if everything could have been different.

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 101 (Downfall, Part 3)

Where ... where are the others? It's just Tal and Marisha, what ... oh, wait, I think I know what's going on here ... yup, here we go ... Sam is so game, I love it. Of course now they're just full-on TORTURING him, but still ... XD

Marisha: "I'm so alone! It's so cold ..."

Matt disappears ... the other two freak out ... then Brennan appears ...yup ...

"Keep your mitts off my fucking cake!" Yeah ...

Okay, so here we go, then ... FINALLY ... because it was a SIX FUCKING HOUR EPISODE ... talk about having scheduling problems ...

Ah yes, so back in the speakeasy, then ... and it fucken wimdy out there ...

So ... is Cassida starting to regret her choice, maybe? Or is she just a bit ... overwhelmed?

Trouble in the club? Hmmm ... oh! Right! Turbulence, yeah, that makes sense ... yeah, that's right, nothing to see here! Go back to merry-making, folks! All's well!

Oh yeah, the traitor angel! OKay, then ...

Good point ... how DOES the Telepathic Bond thing work? Yeah, might not be the SMART move to download to everybody ...

We're all in this "together"? Are we SURE about that?

Calm Emotions? OKay, then ... yeah, this is NOT a very calming situation right now ...

Shit ... no, the Emissary IS NOT one of the bad guys ...

Charisma check for the Counterspell ... hmmmm ... 18? Yeah, JUST ... this is about to go REALLY BAD ...

Clearly she really IS on their side ... CAN THEY win her back to their side? Wow ... this is starting to feel like it's going to turn into a full-blown TRAGEDY ...

So the password is ... AURORA REX ... in theory, given things are likely becoming worryingly fluid ... hmmm ...

Yes ... time for some hard truths ... crap ...

A line between "those who matter and those who don't" ... oof ... NOT the best way to put it, if you ask me ...

Acastrial? Hmmm ... wow, this angel really DOESN'T LIKE THEM at all, do they?

A talisman? Intriguing ...

Ah, bargaining ... here we go ... I knew it was gonna go this way. It's all going to shit just like I thought it would ... yeah, she just doesn't get it, they're gonna destoy Aeor ANYWAY ...

The red thread? Oh ... wow ... that's intense ...

So what ... they're erasing the knowledge, but still planning on KEEPING it anyway? Hmmmmm ... yeah, THAT can't go well.

MIslead? Interesting ...

Through Dearest's eyes ... oh fuck yeah, this is just pure CHAOS ... it is SO TOTALLY FUCKED out there right now ...

Fuck! Impaled by his own staff! That is GNARLY ...

Aha! Vital information! Nice ... Seven Wards, yeah ... "disanimate" the Factorum Malleus? Hmmmm ... sounds like a suicide mission ...

She understands that she's marked to die no matter WHAT happens in this ... oh fuck ... yeah, this is weighing heavy on Trist and I am NOT surprised ... Ashley, you really are SUCH A TOTAL SWEETHEART and I wouldn't have it any other way ...

Good point ... HOW THE ACTUAL FUCK are they gonna get to the Genesis Ward IN THIS SHIT?!!!

Tishar: "This fun." Asha: "I don't know what that is." Tishar: "Urgh ... cannot believe you have more followewrs than me."

Yeah! Go off Wildmother! That is so awesome ... Asha (to Tishar): "I have SO MANY more followers than you."

It really is FUCKING WILD out there right now ... O.O

Wait ... they BLEW OUT the teleportation system? The ruling class fucked everybody else? OF COURSE they did. What else would we expect?

Ashley: "No! No! NO!!! I want a do over!" No shit, Ash ...

"The faithful executed for their crimes" ... oof ...

Protecting the tree EVEN NOW ... fucking SWEET MOVES, Asha ... you're STILL my favourite in this ...

The Emissary (to Cassida): "Not good, or bad. Family. Balance. Understand?" Hmmmm ...

Ashley: "This doesn't feel right, this doesn't feel right, this doesn't feel right ..." Man, I wanna give her a hug right now ...

Everybody's just tooling up for badassery to come, clearly ...

The first constellation? Sweet ...

Milo really is a massive prick ...

DRAGONS?!!! Fuck's sake ... O.O

Level B9 ... "benign"? Oh for fuck's sake ...

She has a point, you can't really DESTROY knowledge, not forever. You can only DELAY it ...

SPLITTING THE PARTY ... like always, I say it again, it's NEVER a good idea ...

Asha KNOWS that Emhira is using some trickery here ... and says NOTHING. Interesting ...

A distraction? Really? Ballsy ... I'm not sure SILAHA's really thinking this through right now ...

Oh shit ... Battlemap time? Cool ...

Holy fuck ... that looks like a fucking basestar from Battlestar Galactica!

And now we're one a break ... SO EARLY? Bloody hell ... the last stretch is gonna be FOUR FUCKING HOURS of solid combat, looks like ...

This fucking thing is CONSTANTLY ROTATING ... is that maybe going to make things a bit difficult for actual GAMEPLAY?

Yeah, watch out where you're placing those FUCKING GIGANTIC aeormatons, Brennan ... O.O

Deception? Shit ... ALREADY?!!! Not a good sign AT ALL ... 28? Okay ... uh-oh ... that fucking angel ... is this about to go south after all?

Divine Awareness? CRAP ... and so it's time to ROLL INITIATIVE!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

27 Initiative for the Emissary? HOLY FUCK ...

Whoa ... so as they start to destroy Wards their godly powers are gonna start to come through? SWEET ... but it also means if Brennan's gonne get a TPK he's REALLY gonna try for it in the first 20 minutes ...

The Emissary dashes in to reach SILAHA ... Arcana Check! 10? Oof ... they extend their Scales of Justice and just CHUCK 'em at the nearest Ward ... 31 to hit? Oh FUCK YEAH that totally hits ... it has to be at least 15 points of damage to cause ANY damage? Interesting ... Demolishing MIght? Sounds MAJOR ... yeah, definitely use that shit ... 18 points so that's DOUBLE damage ... nice ... so a warcry and then it goes SMASH!!! Yup, that just SHATTERS it ...

Holy shit ... that is a fucking SWEET bonus to unlock! Divine prowess INDEED!!! Yeah, get smashing, people!

Brennan: "Okay ... that happened A LITTLE FASTER than I thought it would!"

SILAHA and the Emisary BOTH need to make dexterity saves ... BALLS!!! Ooof ... so they're BOTH fails? Wow ... yeah, Acastriel is a RAGING BITCH ... and now WISDOM saves? Oof again ... 45 Radiant damage! AAAAAAAAHHH!!! And now they're BOTH stunned ... damn it ...

Here come the aeormatons, then ... crap ... squatting over more Wards? Hmmmm ...

A Glabrezu? What the sweet FUCK?!!!

A massive Nalfeshnee? Owww ...

Fucking hell ... people are taking damage and they're not even IN the battle yet ...

THAT FUCKING DRAGON!!! I fucking knew it! Fire-breath equals INSTANT 45 points of fire damage to SILAHA and the Emissary ... oof ... they're ALREADy starting to look rough ...

Zaharzht waddles in the best he can and manages to do NOTHING this turn ...

Emhira sends a mote from her Crown of Stars up to try and hit one of the Wards up top. Okay ... 26 is DEFINITELY a hit ... the top Wards are a T25 threshold to even scratch it? Ow ... 32 points? SWEET!!! It's sparking now, not broken but definitely damaged ... okay, time Shatter on the nearest enemy ... six D8 of damage? Holy shit ... 27 points! Nice ... the aeormaton takes a big hit but manages to shake off the worst of it with its save ... the other ward is also still up but this one is ALSO now badly damaged too ... and now she's visible, too.

The Solar uses a Legendary Action to Teleport directly in front of her ... crap! Acastriel takes two swings at her with their greatsword ... 22 slashing and 27 Radiant damage ... OUCH!!! but Ayden teleports right in and takes the second hit himself instead ... Hellish Rebuke? Oh nice, Emhira ... meanwhile the illusory version of her with Trist and the rest just VANISHES ...

Asha rushes in and attacks SILAHA and the Emissary's opponent ... the demon is instantly STUNNED and takes a SERIOUSLY messy hit ... 21 points! Now she has advantage on further attacks ... another 9 points, and she takes Patient Defense to cover from the dragon.

ANOTHER FUCKING DRAGON?!!! Come on! I knew it, Brennan REALLY IS trying for a TPK!

Acastriel tries to mindfuck Emhira ... Con save! Oof ... wow, now she's BLINDED!!! Fuck!

Paralising dragon breath! FUCK!!! Con saves manage to keep people from getting SUPER-fucked, but still ... this is not good! Oh, and Zaharzht is instantly frozen ... crap ...

Tishar runs in and uses the angel as a stepping stone to leap onto the brass dragon, hacking down as she goes ... WOW!!!

Trist, back in the library, gets a message through her sending stone from her family ... oh boy ... something's going BADLY WRONG with them. She tells them to RUN. Fuck ... this sounds like something REALLY BAD is going on there ... she can't go back to them but she's DESPERATE for them to be all right ... oh this is so bad ... and now the stone is suddenly SILENT ... FUCK!!! Trist is PANICKING now and I can't blame her in the slightest ...

Yeah, Umleta really don't strike me as a hugger ...

Fuck ... what is she going to do now? Is she leaving the battle? She's going to join her family ... hmmmm ...

Great ... more archmages are coming to defend the weapon ... that's just PERFECT ... the Emissary barely avoids getting Banished ... meanwhile half the group are caught in a Cone of Cold ... thank fuck for magical resistances ...

Selena tries to Wish SILAHA away ... FUCK!!! The fake aeormaton BARELY shakes off the spell's effect ... but takes a halved damage of 60 Force points all the same ... OUCH!!! But that could have been SO MUCH WORSE ... O.O

Ayden decides he needs to start healing RIGHT NOW, so he casts Sanctuary on himself, then a 6th level Mass Cure Wounds to give everybody who's hurt 20 hit points back and himself for 25 ...

Emhira takes 17 damage from the Silver dragon's tail ... ow!

Milo arrives? Oh thank fuck ... I hate his guts but we really need him right now ...

ANOTHER FUCKING DRAGON? An UNDEAD dragon? Are you fucking kidding me? Basically EVERYBODY has to make dex and wisdom saves ... FUCK!!! The Emissary and SILAHA are now both FRIGHTENED ... and that's a fuckton of Necrotic damage across the board ...

Top of the round again, then ...

Automatic Hit? Fuck's sake, Brennan!

Thank fuck the Emissary and SILAHA are no longer stunned, at least ...

Taking all of the Emissary's damage, Ayden is EXTREMELY fucked up right now ... ouch ...

Brass dragon regains its breathe weapon ... damn it ... wait ... Noshir could use Luck to make Brennan reroll? Oh PLEASE do ... a 3? YES!!! No breath weapon after all! NICE!!!

So instead it just shakes Tishar off and bites into her ... 70 points of damage? FUCK!!!

Zaharzht is currently reeling under his permanent pain and therefore can't do anything ... balls ...

Emhira is BLIND, so she tries a Hail Mary to attempt to hit the higher damaged Ward ... Crown of Stars again ... 17? That's a miss ... balls ... okay ... so she just belches out a void of screeching darkness instead ... wow ... that's going to hurt friends as much as enemies ...8 D8 of damage? Fucking hell, Laura ... 35 points of Psychic damage? Ow ...

Okay ... so this inflicts HUNDREDS of points of damage to their enemies and causes a bunch of missed attacks, but Ayden also takes a bunch of damage too ...

Acastriel tries to cut Ayden down ... 15 piercing and 27 Radiant damage ... oof ... Emhira takes the damage instead and on a NAT-FUCKING-20 shakes off an INSTANT DEATH ... wow ... Matron of Ravens INDEED!!!

Family, man! It's a beautiful thing ...

Asha takes a leap to the lower damaged Ward, IN THE DARK, and TANKS the hit to EASILY land it ... BOOM!!! She lands a Stunning Strike on the construct to knock it back, both fail to have an effect ... shit, guess that was a fail, then ... she stays put to try her luck again later ...

Acastrial teleports out of the Darkness ...

SILAHA, no longer stunned, summons constructs to heal 100 hit points ... then they cast Meteor Swarm on THE ENTIRE PLACE ... if this works, they could take out FOUR OF THE WARDS in one go ... so long as the mages can't counter it ... Ademar fails ... Selena succeeds, but SILAHA Counterspells HER Counterspell ... AND IT WORKS!!! So that's ALL gonna hit, then ... O.O

Abubakar is clearly relishing the CHAOS he's about to unleash and I LOVE IT ... XD

20 D6 Fire damage AND 20 D6 Force damage ... sweet fuck ... this is going to be SO BEAUTIFUL ... 69 + 77? Bloody hell ... and this is TIMES FOUR, essentially ...

So the dragons are now FUCKED UP ... Selena manages to save, but Ademar is VAPORIZED!!! Holy shit ... and SILAHA is no longer grappled ... Acastriel FAILS his dex save ... O.O ... HDYWTDT?!!! The angel is FUCKING DEAD!!! Beautiful, SILAHA!!! It's a BEAUTIFULLY HORRIBLE death for the Solar.

Meanwhile Asha grabs hold of SILAHA and LITERALLY dances him out of the impacts of each hit on the top level ... that's so fucking cool ...

And now for the Greater Wards ... the damaged one INSTANTLY fails! Now TWO!!! HOLY FUCK THAT'S ALL THREE!!! Un-fucking-believable ... O.O

Wow ... Brennan is GENUINELY a little speechless now ...

Divine Magic ... fucking hell that one is SERIOUSLY OP'd ... Vitality ... I'm sorry ... restore ALL HIT POINTS? AUTOMATIC SUCCESSES ON DEATH SAVES? Sweet fuck ... Potency? Spell damage MULTIPLIED BY TEN?!!! Holy fuck ...

They are LITERALLY GODS right now ...

Trist SURGES into the battle, goes STRAIGHT to the Emissary and heals them with Mass Heal along with the others in range, INCLUDING Emhira's blindness! Sweet! Then she tries to Persuade the construct in front of her to destroy the nearest Ward ... oh shit ... Nat19 ... along with all the other advantages they now have that is a RIDICULOUS success ... and it punches it TO FUCK!!! O.O Tht's 60 Force damage ... the Ward SHATTERS ...

Divine Resistance ... Legendary Resistance x5? Massive immunities? Holy fucking shit ... that's another OP'd bonus ...

The silver dragon fails to recharge its breath weapon AGAIN?!!! Wow ...

More mages? Hmmm ...

Wow ... so Con saves are now, like, RIDICULOUS ... SO LITTLE DAMAGE now ... these hits are like pinpricks to them now ...

Another Meteor Swarm? Hmmm ... Spectral Wings from Trist? Nice ... dex saves all round, then ... I love how Ashley can LITERALLY just say NO to Brennan now regarding how much damage the Emissary takes ... XD

Ayden starts to rapidly age, doubling over before bursting up and casting Sunburst at 9th Level ... 12 D6 of Radiant damage? Wow ... 37 multiplied by 10? Holy fuck ... 370 points of Radiant damage ... which takes out A BUNCH of the mages ... and ALL THREE of the dragons? Holy fuck TWICE!!!

Now Ayden leaps up onto the platform, then Commanding Rallies the Emissary. Interesting ...

So the Emissary attacks the nearest Ward ... 160 damage? Oh that just ANNIHILATES the Ward ...

Divine Awareness ... Immunity to conditions including Charmed and Stunned? That's pretty sweet ...

Oh, so the talisman's finally come into play? What's Selena gonna do? She sends it to Oblivion? Some kind of spell ... this sounds complicated ... SILAHA is being presented with an agonising choice ...

Wish? Crap ...

It's the Emissary's turn, then ... they Rage and make the leap onto the platform, charges towards the remaining Ward, readying an action for when it goes down ...

Emhira Eldritch Blasts the last construct ... four GUARANTEED hits now, then ... 110, which just batters it RIGHT BACK off the Ward ... so she pours the rest into the Ward itself ...

Divine Vigour ... yet again this is thoroughly OP'd ... and that was THE VERY LAST WARD ...

The Emissary swings and hits the machine ... yup, I'd say that qualifies as disanimation ...

THey're no longer mortal, then ... EVERY ONE OF THEM is pure god, now ...

Who's in the cage? The Wildmother releases it ...

Trist says her goodbye to her family through the stone ... fuck ... wow, so that act literally saves her family from certain death? Crazy ... but also awesome ... oh, so they have power too? I mean they would, they're her kids ...

Ayden uses a Legendary Action to move an impossible distance at once ... SILAHA elects to stay and witness the destruction of the weapon ... Asha says her goodbyes to the Emissary and leaves FAST ... Emhira follows ...

Casting Calm Emotions, Trist comforts the Emissary before she leaves as well ...

Fuck ... Cassida's dead? Murdered by Ameris, Trist's husband? Wait, he's NOT him? Who the fuck ... IMPOSTOR!!! TRAITOR!!! Fucking Asmodeus ...

Fuck, ANOTHER fight? Right now? Crazy ... roll Initiative, then ...

Trists casts Guiding Bolt ... 110? Oof ...

The Lord of Hells? Shit ... but she aims for THE SCROLL ... 12 D6, then ... 50 x10 ... 400 damage, then ... oh shit, yeah, that thing's just INCINERATED, then ...

The Emissary blows ...

Wow ... so Selena's Wish gives EVERY MAGE IN AEOR the knowledge to recreate the weapon ... and tells them to RUN ... that's fucked, man ...

Yeah ... that is a whole lot of stone to be dropping out of the sky all at once ...

Meanwhile every one of these mortal gods is DESTROYED ...

Fuck ... Noshir and Laura make us cry with the Emissary's passing on ...

At least Cassida's boy is saved at the last ... that's sweet...

Asha becomes a wolf again before she's destroyed ... yeah ... I love that ...

Ayden wishes he could have saved Aeor instead of this ... even at the end he was trying to do the right thing ...

Wow ... Asmodeus is just as much of a drama queen as I expected him to be ...

The Wildmother and the Crawling King really do have a very complicated relationship ... but there's something quite beautiful in it, too ...

Trist heals Cassida's body again, and at least they can bring her peace. Her heart's breaking, she wishes she could've done more ... fuck ... finally she lets go after an embrace with the Matron, and she's the last to become what she TRULY is ... the Everlight ...

Ah ... family ... even in suffering, it's sweet ...

So that's it for Aeor, then ...

The Lawbearer: "We killed them for being good." Ouch ...

Wow ... so even after all this, they're STILL going to go back to war with the Betrayers ... oof ...

Goodbyes all round, then ... oh boy ... more tears ... great ...

The Threads of Fate ... fuck ... that's still beautiful ...

Right to the end, then, the Dawnfather remains the most human of all of them. Always THE BEST of what they can be. That's powerful ...

Classic Brennan Mulligan epilogue, then ... and he's gone ...

Welcome back, Matt ...

And so we segue back into the main story of Campaign Three all over again ... setting things up for the next session, then ...

Is it Thursday yet?

[yudol-skorbi]

some completely normal non suspicious mortals and their crate of apples

[randombrainworm]

Now that's super cool

[seanflnnerty]

[undead-knick-knack]

I think Ludinus might have inadvertently converted all of Bells Hells to worshipping the Arch Heart

[rann-poisoncage]

2 of 3

[acebender]

Downfall PCs!

[naillykej]

umleta: you. are a clown. s.i.l.a.h.a.: :) go and join the circus then :)

[marvelousbelladonna]

Divine faces revealed!

S. I. L. A. H. A. aka the Arch Heart

Trist aka the Everlight

Ayden aka the Dawn Father

Asha aka the Wildmother

Emhira aka THE RAVEN QUEEN!!!

[demigoddessqueens]

These new characters are so interesting and pretty!!

[ravenquingvax]

Can Nick, Noshir and Abubakar stay forever?? Pretty please??

I adore everything about the way they played in Downfall.

The Emissary was so sweet, his conversation with The Matron of Ravens before he moved on absolutely devastated me???

S.I.L.A.H.A was stunning and funny??? And that fucking meteor strike??? HELLO???

And then Nick??? Nick mother goddamn fucking Marini??? Everything he fucking did??? Taking all that damage, Ayden's 15 year old body battered and drained to protect his family??? Obliterating everyone with that sunburst, aging into the man - The Dawnfather - we know now??? The grief he felt???

I AM SCREAMING SIR

WHAT THE FUCK

I would happily watch a million more episodes with these 3 in them, even if I don't really enjoy watching live play dnd now.

We can keep them forever, right??? Right, Matthew???

Please??? 🥺

I loved every minute of them, Ayden and The Emissary especially stole my heart.

Would love to see them as guests on the show again.

[omenarchive]

C3E099 Downfall: Part One

While the Archivists work to gather Episode 100 stats, check out our Episode 99 data.

Character cards are available on our homepage and below.

Asha

Decoded Binary: NATURE Avatar of: Melora, the Wildmother Tengar name: Ash

Ayden

Decoded Binary: DAWN Avatar of: Pelor, the Dawnfather Tengar name: Aru

Emhira

Decoded Binary: DEATH Avatar of: The Matron of Ravens Tengar name: None, but previous god of death was Nahal

The Emissary

Decoded Binary: LAW Emissary of: Erathis, the Lawbearer Tengar name: None, but Erathis was called Edam

S.I.L.A.H.A

Decoded Binary: BEAUTY Avatar of: Corellon, the Arch Heart Tengar name: Coru

Trist

Decoded Binary: MERCY Avatar of: Sarenrae, the Everlight Tengar name: Luz

Also check out our article on decoding binary into text, explaining how we arrived at each decoded word!