Author's Note: I do not own Critical Role, Dungeons & Dragons, or anything affiliated with either. The rights to them belong solely to their respective owners.

Yeah, so here we are. I have been unable to get any work done on my other stories since my last update, mostly because of the overwhelming amount of work I've had to do with college (this was supposed to be my final semester, with all the projects and papers that entails). It is only now, with both Spring Break around the corner and classes going virtual due to the virus, that I've been able to do anything but study. Nonetheless, this was a plot bunny that occupied my thoughts for the past week, so let's get started.

Summary: In the city of Trostenwald, eight wildly different people come together to form a party of adventurers. One of them, a Yuan-ti with a fascination for alchemy, comes to realize that this is his chance to make his mark on the world. Wildemount will tremble before the chaos that is the Mighty Nein.

Highly Functioning Madness

Chapter 1: Coming Together

Trostenwald, Dwendalian Empire, Wildemount, 835 P.D.

The chaos of the tavern was pleasant compared to the fighting from the day before.

This was the thought that ran through the mind of the gray-skinned man sitting at the table. Looking at the other three seated here, he could admit that they certainly stuck out as a rather odd group. A blue-skinned tiefling girl with light blue hair and eyes and a pretty dress, a human woman with darker skin, brown hair tied in a topknot and blue baggy clothes, and a green-skinned half orc in beat leathers with a large scar across his face.

Then again, he wasn't any more ordinary. Honey gold eyes with slit pupils to go with his gray skin and black hair gathered into a ponytail, the lower half his face was covered by a large strip of black cloth. His scale mail armor was clean enough to almost shined in the low light, while a longbow and quiver hung from his back via a strap and another strap kept a leather bag hanging at his side.

Yesterday, he and these three had rescued a fisherman's daughter from being the meal of a giant poisonous snake, and ending up killing the snake in the process. Normally, the idea of killing such a great beast would have bothered him, but it had to be done. And he had harvested some nice venom from its corpse, in the end. Waste not, want not.

As if conjured by those very thoughts, that same fisherman—Rinaldo, that was his name—entered the tavern and began walking in their direction. Clutching his hat somewhat nervously, he looked at the four of them and asked "May I have a seat and speak with you?"

"Oh, of course! Have a seat!" the tiefling girl, one Jester Lavorre, said and waved at the fifth and final chair at the table.

Rinaldo quickly said down. "Thank you. Fjord," he said, nodding towards the half-orc before looking at the rest of them. "And, I'm sorry, the rest of your names are…?"

"Jester," the tiefling said, smiling.

The human woman grunted, and muttered "Beauregard."

"Yurixias," the armored man said, elongating the 'x' and 's' slightly while narrowing his eyes at the fisherman.

Like the day before, the sight of those snake-like eyes unnerved him, but Rinaldo managed to push aside his discomfort and said "The four of you came to my aid when no one else would, and now my daughter rests safe at home because of it."

Beauregard spoke up, saying "Oh, yeah, sorry about that, by the way. Me, being a pessimistic asshole when we first spoke. I'm not uses to this turning out well."

That elicited a low chuckle from Yurixias and a smile from Rindalo, the latter of whom replied "You'll do well this side of the Empire. Anyway, I don't mean to hold you up, but I spoke with some of the other men at the docks yesterday. I didn't have anything in the way of coin to give you at the time, but afterwards we managed to gather some as thanks."

At that point, he turned the hat he had been holding close over and dropped a small pile of copper and gold pieces onto the table. Yurixias was quickly able to discern four separate glimmers of gold amongst the pile, before also looking around as seeing that both the coin and the noise had drawn several eyes towards them, looking at the pile with interest.

A not-too-subtle adjustment of his longbow and most of these eyes turned the other way.

Pushing the pile towards them and placing his hat on his head, Rinaldo said "I hope this helps in whatever it is you're doing. Again, thank you."

Jester gasped happily at the sight of all that money, and Beau smiled. "Yeah, it will. Thanks," she said before she began to reach for the coin. Perceptive as she was, however, she noticed Fjord's disapproving stared and stopped. "What?"

"We can't accept this right. It's way too much, even for what we did," he stated.

"Ah, yeah, we're supposed to say that. And then we accept his kindness anyway, right?" she asked hopefully.

Fjord opened his mouth to respond when Yurixias added "Exactly. And if someone is offering you payment for a job well done, it could even be considered rude not to accept it."

(A/N: If you want a voice to attach to Yurixias, look up Gary Oldman's performance as Egor Korshunov in the 1997 movie Air Force One. That's the one I felt most fitting.)

Fjord closed his mouth, thinking of a reply to that.

Jester added on, "Well, he did go around to a bunch of people. That was lot of work from him. I'd feel bad if we made him go back to everyone that put money in and try to give back the right amount to each of them."

"Alright, alright," Fjord conceded, before looking to Rinaldo. "Thank you for your generosity."

"You're most welcome. Well, I won't get in your way," he said, before also taking notice of the attention on him and rushing out the tavern.

Beau quickly began counting the coin and each of them took a gold piece. Then she stopped. "Okay, um, there's four of us here and twenty-two silver. How are we gonna divide that up?" she asked.

"I'd say to let Jester and Fjord have the extra silver. They were the ones to get up close and personal with that snake, after all," Yurixias pointed out.

Jester nodded in agreement and Beau complied, sliding one extra silver to both of them. But it seemed Fjord wasn't paying attention to the coin, as just then he said "That's just creepy. Disgusting, actually."

All three of them raised their eyebrow at him, and he elaborated "I think we have some people watching us."

Jester gasped and smiled. "Who's watching us?" she whispered.

Fjord jerked his head to the table next to them, and Yurixias took a look at its occupants. There were two of them, the first being a rather filthy and unshaven human man with reddish-brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a tattering set of traveling clothes, including a long brown coat. The other was much shorter, possible a Halfling, wearing a dark cloak and a porcelain half-mask that covered the lower half of their own face. Beyond that, the only detail of them that he could see were their yellow eyes, with seemed trained on the pile of money.

At that table, the smaller one, Nott, quietly said "Don't look right away, but did you hear all that coin hit that table, Caleb?"

"Er, yeah, I did. It hit the table though, not the floor, so I think that's where it's going to stay," the man, Caleb, replied.

Nott nodded. "Yes, yes, but we could follow them when they leave. We could do the Moneypot, Rat Food, Spider Eyes, Price and the Pauper, any of those, really—" she said, before Jester suddenly appeared in their field of vision and leaned over the table.

"Are you guys staying here?" she asked loudly, and both of them froze.

"Don't move. Do. Not. Move. Tieflings can only see movement," Nott warned.

Caleb frowned. "I don't think—" he started, before Jester said "It's true, we have trouble seeing things that are staying still, that's very true." Then her grin widened. "But I can hear you."

At that, Nott froze up even further, but then she switched focus to Caleb and dramatically gasped. "You should take a bath! You know, they have showers here, you can use them."

Yurixias snorted and was suddenly thankful that the cloth obscuring his own face was enough to hide his smile.

Caleb stared at her. "A what now?" he asked.

Jester frowned. Had this guy never heard of a shower before? Maybe that's why he was so stinky. "You bathe yourself in water and use to wipe off all the dirt on you," she explained.

He shook his head. "No, I've bathed before. I know what bathing is," he said, a little offended.

"Good, 'cause you smell really bad and its wafting over here," Jester told him. When his offended look grew more pronounced, she said "I'm just letting you know, cause being in it means you may not be able to smell it yourself. I know I would hate if I smelled that bad and someone didn't tell me."

"We've only just met," Caleb pointed out, stopping her.

There was a beat of silence, and then she grinned and stuck out her hand. "Hi! I'm Jester," she said cheerfully.

Slowly, he reached and shook it. "Hi… I'm Caleb," he said quietly.

"Nice to meet you, Caleb," Jester said, before looking back at the rest of them. "How much silver did I get?" she called.

"Six!"

"Woo!" Jester cheered, causing both Yurixias and Beau to laugh. Beau added "And twelve copper! Aren't you jealous?"

That last part was directed at the cloaked Halfling, who meekly said "Morning."

Now that they were focusing on her, Beau, Jester and Yurixias could see that, beneath the shadows of her cloak and around the mask, there were tinges of green skin. That, combined with the yellow eyes, caused Yurixias to hum. 'Goblin,' he thought, but decided not to say anything. More than most, I could understand not wanting to make one's race easily identifiable.

Beau shouted something at her in what he assumed was Halfling, but it didn't make a word of sense to him. They two of them began talking back and forth, and Fjord looked at the rest of us. "You're being pretty fucking friendly with them, for them being people who were looking at our coin," he remarked.

Yurixias shrugged and placed his coin in his back. A moment later, it vanished from his grasp, and he said "Mine's not going anywhere. And almost everyone's strapped for coin anyway, these days."

'That said, a bit of punishment may be in order,' he thought. Slowly, while the others were talking, he waved his hand and muttered a few lines in a mixture of Abyssal and Draconic. The incantation done, a floating spectral hand appeared beneath Caleb and Nott's table, and he went to work.

Eventually, the tavern waitress Adelaine, made their way over to them, bringing with her two fresh Trosts to replace the ones Caleb and Nott had drank. Seeing the rest of them without food or drink, she asked "Can I get you anything as well?"

Jester quickly asked for a lot of baked goods, Fjord and Beau both got pork belly, and Yurixias asked for some hard-boiled eggs. Yes, it was cliché. Sue him.

As he waited for his food, he half-listened the conversation at hand and focus on the Mage Hand beneath the table. It had moved now to beneath Nott's chair and was slowly working on each of the screws holding the legs to the chair. He made sure to do it carefully, such that eventually all four would come loose at about the same time.

"She's a goblin?!" he heard Jester whisper, and grunted. He wondered how long it would take for them to figure it out. As Caleb began telling them to not make a big fuss about it, Yurixias loosened the last screw and then stowed his wand away.

At that moment, the noise towards the front of the tavern picked up, and they all looked towards its source. Two figures had entered in and were moving from table to table, one following the other. The one in the lead was another tiefling, male, with lavender skin, red eyes and a tattoo of a peacock running up the side of his face. His horns were covered in an array small gems and other ornaments, and he was wearing a bright maroon robe covered with various religious symbols. Most notable, however, were the two curved scimitars hung from his hips, gleaming in the torchlight.

The one trailing behind was a very tall, muscular woman with extremely pale skin, black hair that faded to white at the tips that was braided in several places, and her eyes were separate colors—one violet and the other green-blue. A blue line also went from her lower lip down her chin. Her gray and black clothes were tattered and hanging against her back was a massive greatsword.

They watched as the tiefling man began moving from table to table, placing a sheet of paper of some of them. Eventually, his eyes landed on their table, and he walked over towards them. "Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I've ever seen a troupe in greater need of a good time than those before me," he declared, and drew out another sheet of paper.

"Mollymauk Tealeaf, of the Fletching and Moondrop Traveling Carnival of Curiosities," he introduced himself, and handed them the paper. Nott was the first to take it and, looking at from where he sat, Yurixias could see that it was actual a flyer for the before-named carnival.

"I tell you, if there were ever people that needed a laugh, see things they haven't before… And my god, I promise, in a month's time people will being buying you drinks to hear about what you saw at the Traveling Carnival of Curiosities tonight," he told them.

Jester smiled. "We saw your tent going up earlier! We did!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah. We were planning on going with or without a flyer but hey, now we have the flyer," Beau said.

"Hmm. I don't recall seeing the tent," Yurixias said. 'Probably because I was busy harvesting snake venom at the time,' he thought. Verbally, he added "Though you certainly make it sound intriguing."

"Wonderful! And it's only five copper, a steal! At five silver, it would still be a steal. Five gold? Worth every bit of it. But if you have five copper, we'd be happy to entertain you all," he finished.

Jester looked up at him. "Are you part of the performance?" he asked.

Mollymauk hesitated. "Ah, I'm more of an intermediary than a performer, though I can perform when needed. For instance, I can read fortunes—" he said, before Jester gasped.

"I was just going to ask if you can read fortunes! Can you do one now?" she asked excitedly.

Mollymauk smiled widely, replying "I knew you were going to ask that."

Jester gasped again and Yurixias did his best to disguise his chuckle as a cough. Based on the others' reactions, it seemed everyone but Fjord was fooled, though he also seemed to be resisting the urge to laugh.

Taking a seat at their table, he pulled out a deck of ornate cards and began shuffling them. "Oh, and my friends can refer to me as Molly. And we're friends now, aren't we?" he asked.

"Of course, of course!" Jester quickly agreed. The others were more noncommittal, and Yurixias even frowned behind the cloth strip. 'Exactly what secrets is this peacock hiding?' he wondered.

"This is Yasha, she's a charm," Molly added, gesturing to the tall woman behind him.

"Hello," the now-named Yasha said, keeping her arms crossed and her expression neutral. "By the way, he's really good at this. You should all line up and get your fortunes told."

With the complete deadpan in her voice, none of the others bought it. Molly finished the shuffle and, once Jester handed him two copper, then laid 3 cards next to each other on the table. Flipping the first one over, he said "Ah, the Silver Dragon. This is a good card. It means you're a pure person, virtuous, worthwhile, a wonderful tiefling."

Jester giggled a bit, pleased by the compliment. The second card was then flipped over. "Now we move to the Anvil. This symbolizes a destiny forged. There is something bright and adventurous in your future," he told her.

Her eyes widened. "As big as the big snake we killed yesterday?" she asked.

"Quite possibly. Maybe even bigger," Molly replied.

While Jester released an awed 'Ohh', the third card was turned over. On it was an image of a serpent, leading Jester to gasp even louder. "Oh my gosh! How did you even do that?" she questioned.

"Ah, that was all in the cards. I'm simply a vessel for higher powers," he said mysteriously.

She leaned closer. "Can you ask the cards if I'm going to find him?" she asked.

His smile flickered. "Perhaps. Who is this him you're looking for?"

"My dad."

At that, Molly fumbled for a second with the cards, before eventually drawing one with an image of an eye. "You have already found the clue you're looking for. You just don't know it yet," he revealed.

"Really? Does it so how long ago I found it?" she asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately, I'm not able to divine that sort of specific information. That would be much more expensive," he told her. "That said, if you find us at the show, I'd be happy to give advanced reading."

"Perfect! I can't wait!" Jester said, clapping her hands together.

Beau spoke up at that time, asking "Do you perform in the circus as well?" and directing the question at Yasha.

Abruptly seeing their attention focused on her, she shuffled uncomfortably for a moment. "Uh, no. No, I do not. I… I put it up. The tent. I also move things around. I'm very strong, but I don't do anything in the show," she said awkwardly.

Molly was quick to back her up, saying "Yes, our performances can be a little out of the norm and that can make some of the locals nervous, so it's always good to have people like Yasha who are strong enough to handle any issues when they get riley."

Beau raised an eyebrow. "Is that why there was a sign that said for no elderly? Don't want deal with those 'riley' old people?" she asked.

Yurixias snorted. "I've seen some riley old people back home. Trust me, other only thing age does is make them more stubborn," he told her.

"Your friend is right. Moreover, we cannot be held responsible for anything that may befall the ill or infirm during that show. It is so exciting, after all," Mollymauk said.

"Yeah, people have died watching. It's that exciting. Just from watching it," Yasha chipped in.

Beau nodded, suitably impressed, before turning to Fjord and Yurixias. "We've got to get so wasted," she told them with excitement.

Taking another look at the flyer, Jester said "Well, it looks like we have plans tonight!" She and Beau nodded in agreement and Yurixias shrugged, not having a problem with the idea. "Do you stinky people want to come with us?" she asked, looking over at Caleb and Nott.

Nott was silent for a moment, before looking at Caleb. "Caleb, we… we don't have any plans tonight, right? I guess we could go. I might be fun," she said.

Seeing her own excitement, a small smile gradually appeared on his face. "Yeah, we can go," Caleb said.

Jester cheered. "This is going to be so much fun! We're already making so many friends! This is a good city," she stated, which the rest of the group agreed with.

"And you're all the most charming group I've meet in—yes," Mollymauk said, before finishing his drink. "Well, we'd best be off."

"Right. It was nice meeting you all. You're so, uh, so wonderful," Yasha said, still in the same deadpan tone, before downing her entire ale and slamming the mug next to Caleb. Then, without another word, the two of them walked towards the tavern exit and left.

Once she was gone, Beau said "She was kind of awesome, that Yasha."

"Really? She didn't say much," Fjord commented.

"Neither do I," Yurixias added, and Beau nodded.

"Yeah, that's why I liked her," she said.

"She was really cool. Did you see that cool thing she had with the blue stripe on her chin? That was really interesting. I wish I had thought of something like that," Jester said dreamily.

"Yeah, but maybe you should wait a bit before doing something like that. That way she doesn't think you copied her," Beau offered helpfully.

"That's a good idea. Thanks. So… What do you guys want to do now?" Jester asked.

That was a beat of silence at the tables, before suddenly both began erupting into laughter, breaking the ice.

"I'm curious, was that guy using magic with his cards?" Fjord asked.

Jester shrugged, not having any idea. Caleb spoke up, saying "I could tell if there was magic or not, and there was nothing magic about that. Maybe he's just good at reading people."

Yurixias tilted his head. "Skilled in magic, then, are you?" he asked. 'If he's some sort of wizard, he definitely doesn't look like a mainstream one. The robes would be a lot cleaner, for one,' he mentally added.

Nott rapidly nodded her head. "Oh, yes. Caleb knows everything about magic. He's even been teaching me some. You should see him when—" she started, before stopping a gesture from Caleb.

Yurixias looked at the dirt-covered ginger in front of him, his opinion of him rapidly being reevaluated. 'Note to self: In a world of gods and magic, even vagabonds can be a threat,' he thought, nearly missing Caleb deny Jester when she asked if he was going to the Academy.

"He could if he wanted to, though. He'd really good at magic. He can make a cat disappear and reappear any time he wants," Nott declared.

Jester tilted her head. "Really? A cat?" she asked.

Instead of replying verbally, Caleb snapped his fingers. Instantly, there was a low meow from beneath the table, followed shortly by the appearance of an orange tabby cat who leapt onto the table.

Everyone excepted Nott reared back in surprise, and Yurixias almost went for the pocket of his trousers before stopping. "Oh shit! What's his name?" Beau asked, grinning.

"Or her name!" Jester said.

"Well, it is a he. This is my cat and familiar, Frumpkin," Caleb told them. Frumpkin released another meow in way of greeting, looking at each of them. Its gaze seemed to linger on Yurixias for a moment, before it turned and leaped into Caleb's lap to get comfortable.

Nott smiled beneath her mask. "And that's not all he can do! Caleb, tell them about all those other things you can do. It's really quite impressive," she told him.

Caleb gave a slightly shaky laugh. "Well, you know, sometimes less is more," he said.

"Right. Can't let all the tricks out of the bag at once, hmm?" Yurixias remarked.

Caleb frowned, not quite sure how to take that. He was thankfully distracted by Jester, who said "I can do stuff too, you know. With magic."

"Really? Like what?" Nott asked.

"Well, like—" she started, before Nott quickly added "Not to me! Not to me!"

Jester nodded and then muttered a few words in Infernal, before spreading both her arms to her sides. Suddenly, four of the tavern windows crashed open with a sudden gust of wind, causing the torches throughout the cavern the flicker and dim momentarily. Yurixias tensed at the sudden display, especially as it caused the music playing to stop.

Now, with everyone in the tavern looking towards us, Fjord quickly leaned over. "Jester, don't you remember us talking about keeping a low profile?!" he harshly whispered.

Seemingly realizing her error, Jester said "Oh, you're right! Sorry!" and then muttered a few more words. As quick as they opened, the windows slammed back shut and everyone in the tavern jumped a second time. "Ta-da…!" Jester said weakly.

Oblivious, Beau stood up and cheered, calling "Yeah! That was awesome!"

Revitalized by the cheering, Jester added on "Come see me at the carnival tonight! I'm really good!"

Yurixias released a sigh of something between amusement and exasperation, and relaxed once the other inhabitants of the tavern resumed their own business. Beau sat back down and Frumpkin immediately rose up and down into her lap, purring and rubbing against her hand.

Distracted, Beau grinned and began petting it. "Aw, hey buddy. Hey, look at this cat! I think he likes me," she said fondly. However, she quickly looked up at Caleb. "Hey, is this a real cat? Or like, one of those magic cats?"

Perplexed, Caleb replied "He is both a real cat and a magic cat."

"I think she meant was if it was a magical construct that simply looked like a cat," Yurixias explained.

"No… just a magic cat," the wizard replied, now even more confused.

Another distraction appeared in the form of Fjord, whose face was scrunched up and slowly gaining a rosy tinge. "Could-Could you put him over there?" he asked, pointing away from him.

Beau's eyes widened. "Are you allergic to cats? Aw," she said, but still stood up with Frumpkin in her arms and walked a few steps away.

Returning to the original topic, Nott said "Well, the both of you are magic-users, then. Are you two as well?"

Yurixias shrugged. "Not to the same extent as your friend, but I can do some things." To illustrate his point, he reached into his back and pulled out both a small wooden cube and a set of lock picks. Placing the cube in the center of the table, he then tapped it with one of the picks and it released a brief glow.

Almost instantly, everyone at the table caught the scent of something new. It was the smell of steak, grilled to perfection and covered with sauce and spices, and the scent was emanating from the cube. "This is an example of some of my abilities," he said, putting the lock picks away.

"Hmm, that's really impressive," Nott said, hunger creeping into her tone. The smell of that perfectly cooked steak nearly made her salivate, but she managed to hold back and focus. "And you? Can you cast magic as well?" she asked Fjord.

"Well, yeah, a little. I'm trying to learn more," Fjord said.

"He's actually pretty good. You should have seen him the other day, he used magic to disguise himself and it was a perfect disguise," Jester told her.

Fjord smiled. "Thank you, Jester. She and Yurixias are better at it than I am, though. We're trying to make our way to the Academy so I can get a little more learning done," he explained.

"What Academy is that?" Nott asked, confused.

"The Soltryce Academy. You know, up in Rexxentrum?" Fjord told her.

"It's a very fancy place," Caleb off-handedly commented.

Fjord blinked. "You know of it? And you have arcane talents as well?" he asked, interested.

"I have heard of it. And yes, I do," Caleb replied.

"How long have you had yours?" Jester asked curiously.

Caleb glanced around. "That's… a bit of a tricky question. I studied magic when I was younger, but then I gave it up for a while. I've only picked it back up recently. It's all book-learned," he told them.

Beau smiled. "This was a great choice for your first spell. It just makes feel better. About life, in general," she said, petting Frumpkin.

Nott piped up. "He reads lost of books, Caleb. It's how he got so smart. In fact, she we go looking for more right now?" she asked.

"Maybe in a little while, there's no rush," Caleb told her.

Eager to get any more information about the Academy, Fjord asked "Do you know anything else about the place? We're just going straight up there."

But he just shrugged. "All i know is that it's hard to get into."

"We do know that a lot of rich people go there. So we have to find a way to get you in," Jester added.

Nott frowned. "You don't have a lot of money, then?" she asked.

Yurixias narrowed his eyes. "Not at the moment, no. Nothing worth investigating," he said.

From there the conversation turned to Jester offering to teach Nott how to play a card game called Crick-Queen's call. Personally, Yurixias preferred Dragonchess, but that admittedly took longer to learn.

However, the moment the first game ended in a loss for Nott, she drew her shortsword and leaped to her feet... or tried to. The moment she put her weight and the front of the chair and jump off, there a small groan and the front legs snapped off. Nott managed to release a single shout of surprise before she landed face-first on the ground, her shortsword clattering out of her grasp.

It took everything Yurixias had to not burst out laughing then and there, even as the female goblin scrabbled to her feet. Before she could start swinging, Caleb reached over and grabbed by the shoulder. "Nott! It's fine, she won the two silver, my silver. It's alright," he said soothingly.

The was a moment of tense silence as Nott looked at Caleb, before eventually sheathing her sword. "I'm sorry," she said meekly, looking at a ground.

Caleb looked back at the rest of them, especially Beau, who had placed Frumpkin on the table and was ready to grapple Nott. "It's okay. She can be a bit... jumpy at times. You can understand, we've been living on the road for a long time, anytime we come near a town we're jumped or attacked. So, I apologize on her behalf," he explained.

Jester frowned. "No, it's okay. Just please don't do it again. And I'm sorry I took all this money from you," she said.

Caleb winced. "That's... just making it worse," he replied.

Jester paused, unsure of what to say in that case. Fjord told her "Maybe you could give some of that coin back."

At that, both Jester and Yurixias looked at him. "But why?" she asked, looking sad at the thought of giving back her winnings. After a moment, however, she sighed and said "Tell you what. I'll give you… one silver back."

But when she tried handing it back to him, Caleb waved at away. "No, I insist," he told her.

Not willing to argue the point, Jester said "Alright, thank you! Yay!" and pocketed the silver.

"I need another drink," Nott said, sighing in exasperation, before looking down at the sundered remains of her chair. "How did that even happen…?" she muttered, causing Yurixias to grin even wider.

While Caleb called for another round of Trosts, Beau leaned in towards Jester. "You know, I'm kind of impressed. Sticking to taking a guy's money in a training match," she whispered.

Jester beamed. "Right! It was so fun!" she said, before stopping. "Wait, was that bad?"

"Eh," Beau said, moving her hand back and forth.

At that time, Adelaine brought them their next round of drinks. Being immune to poison—and therefore unable to become intoxicated—Yurixias simply handed his drink off to Beau without saying a word. Beau simply gave him a quick "Aw, thanks Yuri!" and accepted it. The sound of that nickname caused his brow to twitch, but he otherwise didn't comment on it.

From there, the group of six shared drinks and began trading stories about things they had done since arriving in town, and jobs that they had completed. There was also talk of the carnival, mostly speculating on what performances will be there besides Mollymauk's card readings.

Eventually, once their food and drinks had been consumed, each of them began gathering their belongings. While in the middle of doing so, Jester looked over at Nott and Caleb. "Would you guys like some company? Do you want to hand out with us?" she asked them, smiling.

Nott hesitated. "I don't know… That sounds risky, I don't know," she said, and looked at Caleb.

To their surprise, Caleb smiled. "You know something? I, for once, think that's a good idea."

Nott's eyes widened. "A good idea? To have these weirdos with us?" she replied.

Jester said, "I can hear you, you know," while Yurixias cleared his throat.

Acting as if they heard nothing, Caleb continued "Yesterday was a very bad day, remember?"

She nodded. "Yes, it really was." Then she began thinking about it. "Well… I suppose since we're also weirdos, then surrounding ourselves with a bunch of other weirdos, then would take some of the heat off us," she considered aloud.

"Precisely," he said, before looking at the rest of them. "Bottom line: Can you hang out with a goblin?" he questioned.

Beau and Yurixias shrugged their shoulders, while Jester gained a gleam in her eye. "Bottom line…" she said, before reaching out and grabbing Nott's shoulder. Said goblin briefly tensed, almost ready to draw her sword again, before relaxing. Her expression was much more alert than before, and the shadows of her hood seemed to almost obscure her features more than they did before.

"What was that?" Nott asked, sounding refreshed.

"That was the Blessing of the Trickster. It'll making it easier for you to hide for the next hour," Jester explained.

Nott stared at her, slightly amazed that there was magic that could do such a thing. "Wow. That's very nice," she said, before smiling beneath her mask. "Thank you."

While Jester smiled happily, Fjord said "I don't have a problem with goblins either, but the two of you aren't in some sort of trouble, are you? No one's chasing you?"

At that, Nott quickly shook her head, saying "Nope! No one's after me!"

Both Fjord and Yurixias looked at her, then glanced at each other. Both of them saw it—she was lying through her fangs.

"Alright, good to know," Fjord said, and got up to go pay for his drinks before we left the tavern.

And so, we end the first chapter of my latest plot bunny. If I were to see this story through, it will without doubt be the longest one I have ever written. But I love Critical Role enough that I'm would be willing. And I may (just may) have a little more time on my hands for this due to all the university classes going online. Either way, let me know what you think of this first chapter! And for you people who are extra nerdy about D&D (such as me), here's some of the stats for the OC as of now.

Yurixias

Race: Yuan-ti Pureblood

Class: Artificer (Level 2)

STR: 6 DEX: 15 CON: 14 INT: 16 WIS: 10 CHA: 13

Max HP: 15 AC: 16