Chapter 1: A Fateful Competition - Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep

Chapter 1: A Fateful Competition. Like many of the heroic legends that echo throughout the annals of Exandrian history, this tale begins in peace-or what passes for peace in Jigow at festival time. Goblin children run through the streets, screaming with mirth, while orcs, humans, drow, and people of countless other folk clink tankards, hurl hatchets at targets, stuff their faces with meat pies, and plunge into the frigid waters of the Ifolon River-all in the name of friendly competition. The characters are in Jigow during the city's annual Festival of Merit. Though they are the protagonists of this story, today they are but a small handful of excited festivalgoers amid a merry throng. Many of the Xhorhasians present are famed warriors, skilled athletes, cunning con artists, and talented arcanists. Among those taking part in the festivities are the characters' rivals, another group of adventurers whose fates are entwined with the characters. At the festival's end, the characters and their rivals are chosen to dive into the waters of the Emerald Gulch in search of a prize. Little do they know that this plunge will start them on an adventure greater than any of them could possibly imagine. Two goblin children run through the streets of Jigow with a delicious meat pie Running This Chapter This chapter has two parts: the Festival of Merit and the Emerald Grotto. Each part can be played in a single 3- to 4-hour session. Be sure to review the information about the rival nonplayer characters in the "Rivals" section of the introduction before running this chapter. The rivals' interactions with the characters in this chapter will lay the groundwork for relationships that could last throughout the adventure. The first half of the chapter is a lighthearted and free-form exploration of Jigow and the Festival of Merit. Familiarize yourself with the map of Jigow and the locations keyed to it so that you can effectively guide the characters as they explore the settlement and par...