A prequel novel to Critical Role by Madeleine Roux, chronicling the life and backstory of Lucien, leader of the Tomb Takers, Final Boss of the second campaign and former identity of Mollymauk Tealeaf. The audiobook version is narrated by Robbie Daymond, as well as the core cast reprising their roles as The Mighty Nein.
The book follows Lucien from his adolescence as a street rat in Shadycreek Run, through his training with the Claret Orders, to the founding of the Tomb Takers and the deal with Vess DeRogna that led to his death and rebirth as Mollymauk Tealeaf... and then his resurrection after Molly's death, and all the events that followed.
Critical Role: The Nine Eyes of Lucien provides examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Lucien's parents were abusive to all three of their children, beating their eldest son Elric despite his being the most talented performer of their children and the one Lucien thinks of as their favourite, and then having him resurrected by the witch Azrahari so that they could have their best performer back. When their two younger children, Lucien and Aldreda, pointed out that what came back was not their brother, they were punished, and to pay the debt of the 'resurrection', Lucien was forced to lure victims to Azrahari.
- Arc Words:
- "Long may I/he reign", a phrase borrowed from the original show. It shows up in a drinking song Zoran repeatedly sings for the group, Lucien uses it multiple times in reference to him taking control of Cognouza, and the novel ends with the same line describing the birth of Kingsley Tealeaf.
- "You're slipping", said repeatedly by the Somnovem and Molly as Lucien's Sanity Slippage gets worse.
- Body Horror: What happens to the victims of the witch Azrahari.
- Bold Inflation: At one point, scattered letters in the novel itself are bolded to form the phrase "give it to us now", a message from the hungry Somnovem.
- Destroy the Abusive Home: When he was no longer able to bear his parents' abuse or the role they forced him into luring victims to the witch Azrahari, Lucien burnt down the family caravan with both parents and the puppet-corpse of his elder brother Elric still inside it.
- Dwindling Party: The Tomb Takers die one after the other. Brevyn was killed in a collapse in Aeor while trying to retrieve Lucien's journal. After Lucien was buried, Jurrell dies from a run-in with the law. Zoran, Otis, and Tyffial fell into a trap courtesy of the Mighty Nein. Cree and Lucien were finally killed after their respective transformation into monstrous creatures.
- Fighting from the Inside: Molly eventually awakens within Lucien, and gives the cult leader a hell of a fight. He's always around, making snarky comments, defending the Nein, reacting in horror as Lucien hurts his friends, and questioning Lucien's plans, motives, and actions.
- Go Mad from the Isolation: While the mage's grasp on sanity was already growing tenuous, he didn't snap until he was betrayed and trapped by one of his companions in his expedition.
- Madness Mantra: The journal had sixteen pages with just the word TRANSMUTE, and the novel has them too.
- Mercy Kill: As Lucien begins to tell the Tomb Takers about the eyes, Otis thinks he's finally "gone crazy boots" and suggests taking him out behind the barn.
- Mind Control: Lucien gains this power courtesy of the Somnovem. He can reach through the Hive Mind of the Tomb Takers, warp thoughts, control bodies, take away memories, and read minds.
- Mythology Gag:
- The writer of Lucien's journal discovered a mural of an illustrious Aeorian family at rest in their home: Gorus and Vitalio Maximus, and their three daughters Morbo, Silio, and Bolo.
- Early on, Lucien's group goes into a tavern named Deg and Sundry after its owners, Musty Deg and Sundry Daly. It sounds similar to Geek & Sundry, the channel that Critical Role started on.
- Named by the Adaptation:
- This book reveals that Lucien's birth surname is Tavelle.
- The book also reveals that Jurrel is her surname, her given name being Briyakar, though she doesn't use it.
- Ominous Visual Glitch: The Somnovem is capable of Painting the Medium as they mess with the novel's text, and as the Somnovem Omega Lucien gains this ability too. He shouts at Molly "silence, abomination" and "be silent", and the text is in a different, bold font, several sizes bigger than the rest of the text, surrounded by pixels with a grungy effect.
- Painting the Medium:
- The Somnovem can mess with the text in multiple ways, such as using bold texts, italics, or interjecting in the narration with their disturbing messages and mad chanting.
- Molly's lines are italicized, and Lucien's conversations with him are placed in the footnotes, with asterisks in the main text denoting where they take place. When Molly's dialogue starts showing up in the main text, Lucien describes it as him escaping his confinement.
- Perspective Flip: The second half of the book is Arc 6 of Critical Role: Campaign Two, "Weird Magic", told from Lucien and the Tombtakers' point of view instead of the Mighty Nein's. Several scenes and bits of dialogue are taken directly from the original show.
- Writing Around Trademarks: The novel doesn't have the rights to use creature names from Dungeons & Dragons, so tieflings are referred to as "infernals" or "devilkin", tabaxi are "catfolk", and firbolgs are "feygiants".
- You Can't Go Home Again: Lucien manages to track down his sister Aldreda, but she's unwilling to accept Lucien into her family because she has a husband, two children, and a life that she worked hard for. Lucien was too dangerous and too different to be her brother any longer.
