Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Ep. 83 The Spice Fields
187 Plays2 years ago
As the Swords approach the Forgotten Elven Lands, they discover clues about the lives that were lived here.
Recommended
Transcript
Anxiety and Trust Issues
00:00:05
Speaker
Previously on the Higher Chords After seeing those creatures, I'm getting more nervous about what we're about to find I don't even think they really cared about us being watched last night Do they even trust me? I guess the fact that I'm not sleeping anymore might have them on edge Everything's just getting more weird and unpredictable
00:00:30
Speaker
No, no, spell slots, it's fine. They like you, that's just how they show their love. You don't smell that bad.
Special Episode Introduction
00:01:05
Speaker
You're listening to the Hired Swords, a podcast powered by imagination!
00:01:24
Speaker
Hello, everybody, and welcome to another episode of The Hired Swords. I am your Dungeon Master, Michael, and I have with me today special, a special episode featuring the usual people.
Character Introductions
00:01:40
Speaker
Derek is here as Davin. Guten Tag. Oh, Ash is here and she's Gwendolyn.
00:01:47
Speaker
Hola. Blaze is... Blaze is Safran Imbaroke, formerly known as Krigzgaldur. Uh... Niho.
00:01:59
Speaker
And Mikey's here. He's Joxer. What language does he know? Bonjour. I knew it would be French. You guys have used the language of love. That's right. And you've used all the languages I can say hello in. So I'm just going to say Aloha. Hello in English. But thanks, everybody, for joining our our our fun adventures.
Ghostly Encounter
00:02:23
Speaker
And when we left off on our last episode,
00:02:27
Speaker
We had traveled through the untouched lands for days we have battled several just random creatures we have come upon ghosts or whatever they were that seem to be roaming the wilds until they find their they found their own bodies and were.
00:02:44
Speaker
They were lost to us seeming to maybe be friends and maybe more, but nope, they are dead. Then we continued traveling from
Statue Mystery
00:02:55
Speaker
there. Carmen Stone is with us as we continue traveling. Found a pathway. The pathway led to a strange looking scene that the party took a little bit of time trying to decide if these two humanoid looking figures were
00:03:14
Speaker
onto them, watching them, looking at them. They were unmoving still as statues because they were statues. And so Gwen found that out Carmen shortly after, and then they both went back or Carmen went back as Gwen continued on to explore. Carmen went back to tell the others after they had some antics going on, there was some
00:03:36
Speaker
whole digging some conversations about other ways to sneak in past these seeming to be guards who were aware of their presence. And so Carmen approached at the end of the last episode and just said, what are you guys doing?
Arrival at Elven Village
00:03:50
Speaker
This is the entrance. We've made it. We are in, we're at the, the village and, uh,
00:03:56
Speaker
So that's where we are. Gwen, you've already kind of stepped in to the village a little bit. You said you were going to move forward. So I will say, as we start off here, you have seen that there are huts, round huts, like hovels ahead of you. You've kind of seen the silhouette of them, but as you walk forward slowly, you're starting to make out that they were once, looks like they were once well crafted, kind of.
00:04:22
Speaker
made from sticks and branches and bramble and that sort of thing. But they're now kind of falling apart, corrupted by this tar-like goo that it kind of climbs from the ground up into the wooden walls. There's over a dozen of these. And in the center of these, there is a well. It just looks like, like most villages, they would build around their source of water. And it looks like each of these hovels could probably have held a small family of elves.
00:04:49
Speaker
probably four, four to six people comfortably. And so judging from that, this looks like it was a village of a good number of people, but that's about as far as you have gotten. And we go back to the group that is on the outskirts of the pathway and the forest, not quite daring to approach these two statues, but Carmen has revealed to you that you're at the village and there shouldn't be anything to be afraid of at this point. I
Village Exploration
00:05:13
Speaker
just think it's rude. You you've been rude to spell slots. That's all I'm saying.
00:05:18
Speaker
I mean, does he even have any feelings? Does it hurt his feelings or does it hurt your feelings because you're connected? It's all in the same. I feel what he feels. He feels what I feel. That leads to some strange connotations I'd rather not think about.
00:05:35
Speaker
When are you listening? I told you all. We're at the village. We've made it. Carmen, you're still here. I don't always intend to not be noticed. At this point, I would like for you to probably hear what I'm saying.
00:05:51
Speaker
Yes, this through this pathway here, Gwyn has already entered the village as she's like to do. We should probably hurry up. We don't want to leave her alone. Who knows what's actually inside. Yeah, let's go. She probably shouldn't be left alone for too long. I will start hitting that direction. Great. So you guys move that direction. Are all of you going to go? Anybody staying behind at all? I'll take the back of the line of individuals walking that direction, but I will
00:06:20
Speaker
Okay, so so you start to hang back and Carmen starts to hang back and he kind of looks at you and and you guys seem to be doing this like Yo you after you after you and then he's like, okay All right And he just kind of heads on as he was gonna kind of take up the backside and kind of keep an eye But he figures you're gonna handle that and so he moves on ahead of you
00:06:39
Speaker
Have giving a little bit of creating a little bit of distance between you guys and the rest of the group but not much and so you guys walk in and you see what i just explained to go in all these hovels. This this well you pass by the stone statues and just to remind you there they're not stone statues they're mostly made of wood there's like stone foundation but they're mostly made of wood most much of this wood has been.
00:07:00
Speaker
dilapidated there's a there are two life size sculptures of elves and and each of them holding something different one of them holding a basket the other one standing. With a pitchfork pointing towards the air and they are standing on either side of this pathway that has kind of opened up into the entrance to this village you can see in the distance when standing in the middle of this pathway and surrounded by these hobbles with what looks to be a.
00:07:27
Speaker
average sized kind of small well in the middle with the roof part of this stone well.
00:07:35
Speaker
kind of rotting to the point where it is sitting down on top of the well, instead of being suspended above it with the, whatever supports were once on the stone have, have kind of worn away. So it's, it is there. It is a well, but it doesn't look to be functional at this point because it's kind of torn down. And then in the distance, the far distance, as you walk closer and go in, kind of gets
Statue Investigation
00:07:56
Speaker
a little closer to that. Well, you see what looks to be the large triangular shaped roof of like a pavilion of sorts with no side walls, just
00:08:05
Speaker
It looks to be like just pillars or wooden columns along the sides and through the middle of this thing. As we pass the statues, these are
00:08:21
Speaker
pretty interesting and then I'll kind of look to see if there's any like unique foliage or anything that's that's growing out of them just kind of get a general sense and maybe maybe some writing or anything or just kind of investigate that that general vicinity um the make an investigation check as you look closely the only obvious things you notice is that any plant life has been kind of choked away by this black gooish tar that that the ground is made of now it's like a
00:08:51
Speaker
It's like a mud dirt. If it was mixed with, you know, just black tar goo, it's a 10 minus one. So nine still investigation. So you do see some writing. It's pretty prominently displayed on the front side of the, of each of the statues. It looks identical. It is in Elvin.
00:09:13
Speaker
It looks like Elvin, but it's different. It's, it's like the, the phrasing doesn't really make sense. And the only word you make out is a word that nobody really uses anymore. And it's, it's spouse, which, you know, in common would mean like spice. Oh, I thought you were going to say it meant like your, your spouse, your
00:09:37
Speaker
No, it's like a S P I O with like a little thing above it squiggly S kind of situation. Spios. Interesting. It's like an old word for that. Yeah. Um, I wonder what this place was meant for maybe trading and then I'll continue on.
00:09:58
Speaker
Gwen was probably, when they caught up to her, she was probably just, I don't know how to describe it, twirling and just amazement that she found any kind of elven artifact in a sense.
Elven Artifacts Found
00:10:12
Speaker
Just, I don't even know where to start. First, I just, and then she probably sees the pavilion and she probably starts making her way there.
00:10:22
Speaker
Do these look like elven structures? Yes, they look like they were once quite ornate, not decorated like jewels or gold or not even stone. They're made from mostly just branches and that sort of thing.
00:10:37
Speaker
They were very finely crafted and carved, the doorways, the doors that are closed. Most of the doors are open, standing just wide open, like people left in a hurry. But the ones that are closed, you can see ornate artwork on each one, kind of just different ones unique. If I haven't already, I'm going to cast Mage Armor.
00:10:58
Speaker
Okay. I'm sure you have, but okay. Major armors up. We'll just say, as I'm walking through and kind of watching everyone in their amazement, jocks are watching the statues, looking for different clues, Gwen kind of just, you know, trying to be at home. Do I notice what's the general vibe from the area of vibe check? Yeah. Make a vibe check or in this case insight. I prefer vibe check.
00:11:26
Speaker
While he's doing that, I would like to, uh, look down into the well. You say 19. Yeah. Okay. Well, well, you definitely get a, from the, from above you, the, there is way more activity in the fog above you. This dog is darker.
00:11:45
Speaker
there's less light coming through the whole village area, the whole village area. Yeah. And, and it's swirling more. And it's, it seems like it, there's just, it reminds you a little more of when you were right near the river, then you've seen in a couple of days, probably of travel something it's, it's active here for some reason. And then as you,
00:12:08
Speaker
kind of look around there is a definite ghost town. Everyone left in a hurry kind of vibe going on in this place. Like you don't know if something happened here that caused everyone to leave or the threat of something happening caused everyone to leave, but this place was abandoned abruptly. Stuff just kind of laying around like it was a normal day, but now they're exactly. Exactly. You know, I know it's a little creepy, but there's something about this place that makes me think that once would have been nice to live here.
00:12:38
Speaker
Yeah, I could see that.
Abandoned Village Life
00:12:41
Speaker
I mean, it seemed active enough. I mean, I couldn't imagine being unpleasant. I know I spent most of my days in caves and underground structures, but a little bit overcast for my liking. Well, yeah, but if you could rid it of the darkness, I could see there's a place I could settle down for the one. I do respect the handiwork with the stone and all. It's pretty good for elves.
00:13:07
Speaker
I'm going to peek down the well and see if there's anything in it. Oh yeah. Make a perception check as you look down the well. You got it, bud. That's a natural one. As you look down, there is no more rope or bucket or anything. It doesn't seem like it is fallen into this well with half of this kind of
00:13:28
Speaker
rectangular roof that had once set upon, set on top of this thing to protect it from the elements or anything like that. And, but it is, yeah, it's long since dilapidated and worn down, hard to really see anything inside or around to make any sense of. I screamed down. Hello. Hello. Hello. It echoes back normally like you would expect. Don't seem anything strange.
00:13:53
Speaker
I made it. I'm glad you guys made it too. All right. Thanks for that. Hi, Gwen. Hello. I'm going to go over here. See you in a bit and she just kind of don't go too far.
00:14:14
Speaker
She doesn't hear that. How dark, I mean, does it, is it dim light air or, or anything, or is it just. It's dim. There's lighting light. It's it's in the day. You could tell, but you can barely tell what I feel like we can benefit from a little extra light. Cause I'll probably bring out my little orb. I would say, yeah, you, you probably it's, it's imagine like a day that's going to be filled with just a lot of thunderstorms and in the skies, just really heavy with clouds. It's kind of like that. Maybe a little even darker than that.
00:14:44
Speaker
OK, yeah, so so you see the little, you know, purple, purple dim orbs pop out and maybe I'll send one down the well and see if I can see anything a little bit further down or make a perception check with advantage as you look down the well with the light going down there. Yeah. Sorry, Derek. No problem. He gets to try with advantage. Oh, he got light. I don't. Yeah. So that's a 19 plus one instead of a four plus one. So. OK.
00:15:12
Speaker
So you, you kind of let your, your ball of light hover going down and it goes down a ways. How long do you have control of that thing far away? Can it be, I feel like it's either it's either 60 or 90 feet somewhere in that dancing lights, 120 feet. I'm sorry. Jeez. So you get down where you're, you're thinking, Oh man, I may have to pull this thing. I may have to stop it. I may not be able to get much further. And just then.
00:15:41
Speaker
You hit the bottom of this well and there's not much there. There's not even really any water, except you can barely look down and make out as you look down as far as you can. You can barely make out little, looks a little tiny, like a little maybe down there, something like that. It's almost like a spec that far away.
00:16:03
Speaker
I'm going to walk around kind of casually observing just what was left behind. I'm not looking for anything specifically, like I'm not engaged in making checks, but I'm really just walking around this town like it's an antique store, just taking in the vibes and just ready for whatever happens, I guess.
00:16:24
Speaker
Okay. So you, you walk around these, these, uh, hobbles, so to speak, and you can see the, just the remnants of just normal village life. You see chairs sitting out in front of a couple of these hobbles, like some people enjoyed sitting out front. You see some work benches out back or maybe.
00:16:42
Speaker
You know, some of the family members would work. You see outside kitchens in most of them on most of them where they would prepare meals and stuff back. You see baskets that most of these have several baskets.
00:16:56
Speaker
sitting nearby that looked to be full of mounds of rotted something, just kind of just maybe you look at one, maybe that used to be some sort of fruit or something, but it's, it's totally rotted to nothingness. Now, maybe you can make out the shape of some fruits, but you know, that's just kind of what you see. If you peek inside some, you can see some of them have interestingly crafted.
00:17:19
Speaker
beds, like bunk beds, even one of them has, you look in one and there are three beds against the wall. They look like somebody has cleverly branches from outside the house into the house, and then laid more branches on top of those to create bedding.
00:17:36
Speaker
And create done that three times in a stack and it looked in their short beds and looked like maybe for children. And then another larger size bed over on the side of one of these round hobbles. And so you, you see these interesting little unique kind of resourceful use of what's in the area to create these little homes and.
00:17:58
Speaker
And yeah, if you want to look any look anywhere in it for anything specific, you can make a check, but that's kind of how. What you see just really is just generally looking around vibe of like the life that they may have lived here with that. I mean, I know some elves and have probably been to elven areas, but whatever. Make a history check as you're just looking around, taking it in, see if it brings any bells.
00:18:26
Speaker
Uh, 18 plus one. You've definitely experienced this tribal life before where they live off the land, right? And you, you see, as you're looking around these, this little hints of just ingenuity of ability to live off the land and use what's, what's available to you. You also see a little pathway kind of leading off in the distance.
00:18:55
Speaker
to the, to the West a little bit. But, uh, you also just, as you look inside, you see little bits of furniture made from, made from just large carved out of large tree trunks or pieces of wood. They've kind of been dilapidated and torn up now, but you see things like chest of drawers and beds and chairs and again, just a really neat resourceful.
00:19:20
Speaker
Way there's actually a couple if you flower beds it looks like even like almost a little town square just a little ways away from the well. With some chairs sitting near these what looked like to have once been flower beds but the plants are now grown their grown but overgrown in. This grayish grayish ashy look to them instead of what you would expect these flowers to probably have looked like when they were planted. I'm gonna start following after glen nor gwen.
00:19:51
Speaker
to give it to these elves, they pretty resourceful given the lands out here. And well, I don't assume too much had changed. It's impressive. Yeah. I definitely can enjoy watching the lack of waste in, uh, in their, their lifestyle. I guess we should catch up. Carmen is kind of walking around as you guys are.
00:20:15
Speaker
talking, he's just kind of looking and this is, uh, interesting. I've never seen anything like this before. Live with what you have. Don't, I don't see anywhere to grow food here though. Do you? It looks like these planted planters here for decoration, not meals. So, ah, that might be interesting. As we look around, maybe, maybe we'll follow Gwendolyn what's over here and he follows ahead with you.
00:20:40
Speaker
Yeah. Talking to whoever's listening. Yeah. It is interesting. I, at the front, it mentioned, I don't, weird spices. I couldn't really gather. It seemed like that maybe, maybe this is a trade or maybe, maybe they had another method of, uh, of, uh, I guess gaining resources.
00:21:02
Speaker
And perhaps, uh, I guess if you specialize in something, maybe you can use it to get the other things you need to survive, huh? They have water. We see that. Oh well. And he's begins, he follows Gwendolyn. As you guys approach this large pavilion, it's a large rectangular room. Like I said, there's 10 large posts bordering the edges of this.
00:21:25
Speaker
large rectangular room. The floor is kind of cobblestoneed down with, looks like stones just brought in from around the forest. They're all different shapes and sizes, but kind of buried or
00:21:38
Speaker
broken down to make a nice floor. There's five posts to the middle of this room holding up this ridge for this grass thatch roof. The roof has holes in it now. It looks to be rickety, like it could collapse at any moment. If there was much of a wind here, you don't think this roof would stand anymore. There's several long tables running through the middle of this room. They're divided by these posts that support the roof.
00:22:03
Speaker
But they run from right at the entrance all the way to the backside on the tables are containers it look like they were probably basket some of them most of them and a rectangular couple of them those more rounded baskets there also falling apart. There's large bags filled with something stacked in between some of the post and under the tables.
00:22:27
Speaker
And you can look around some more as you see near the back, all the way at the back of this rectangular room. There is one large table that looks to be kind of outfitted more like a workbench with some other types of tools and things like that. And a couple of like chests there as well. They are wooden. They're pretty dilapidated, but they are sitting there. I do have one question. I'm sorry.
00:22:52
Speaker
Does it seem like everything that's been left behind is relatively unperturbed, like there aren't skittering marks or things have been hiding, like there aren't any signs of life?
00:23:09
Speaker
The signs of life that you see are this, it's the state of this, this place you found the fact that it looks like life was interrupted suddenly and a mass exodus took place chairs tipped over. You look on the table and some of these bags, it looks like something had been.
00:23:32
Speaker
pulled out of the bags and was piled on the table and things were being done there. In fact, if everyone will make a history check as you are looking around. What I mean by that, though, is there's no signs of the dust. There's no skittering since it got left. Everything is accumulated as it is, and nothing has been here.
00:23:59
Speaker
Right. It doesn't look like there's been anyone been through here since this happened. I got a whopping three. You wanted us to do history. Uh, eight. So that one for me and that one. Okay. Yeah. This just looks like a big rectangular pavilion where people were doing some stuff with something on top of this, this table. It just looks like this was used. Maybe this is where it's big enough space. I'll say that.
00:24:30
Speaker
It looks like most of who is a part of this village, at least the adults here, could participate in whatever was going on here with these bags full of stuff that were stacked here and there. Someone was doing some stuff with some things here. So, you know, this really feels like a museum. Ash, what were you going to say?
00:24:50
Speaker
I don't want to talk anymore. I'm joking. Um, it's hard to do a podcast that way. I know. Um, are there any sigils on the tables or any, there's like no papers or any chess?
Discovery of Tools and Artifacts
00:25:06
Speaker
Make an investigation check.
00:25:11
Speaker
because I don't think I would really care what's in the bags or boxes at this time. Well, I need my glasses, uh, seven plus two. Uh, you don't see any sigils of any kind and there's nothing just laying out like paper wise. There's.
00:25:28
Speaker
right now the, it looks like with the state of like these bags that they're so kind of dilapidated, these baskets look pretty dilapidated. In fact, as you kind of move a couple of baskets out of the way to try to see if there's any paper anywhere that one of them just completely just almost disintegrates into just what was like strands of whatever was branches or whatever was used to make this basket that just kind of disintegrates. And this,
00:25:56
Speaker
This gooish powdery goo kind of falls out of it as it dilapidated and gets destroyed. But no, you don't see anything. You get the sense that if there were anything as delicate as parchment paper sitting out, it would be destroyed. It wouldn't have survived this eruption. You said there were two chests at the front of the room?
00:26:24
Speaker
Yeah, all the way in the back past from where you're standing as you entered, it's like the
00:26:32
Speaker
It stretches in the distance all the way to the backside where there are those chests sitting at the foot of this workbench. Yeah. After seeing Gwen kind of watch one of those bags fall apart, uh, uh, maybe, maybe one of those chests might've saved something. Oh, and Gwendolyn starts opening one of the chests, probably the one to her left. So you reached down to open the chest and.
00:27:02
Speaker
You grab the lid of this chest and it's a flat lid, just a rectangle with a flat lid, no lock or anything on it. But as you reach and you go to lift it up, you just kind of lift your hand up through the wood and it just kind of falls in on itself. And as it falls in, it falls in onto, you see a couple of pairs of work gloves in there.
00:27:23
Speaker
And they're pretty okay preserved. They're kind of gross, moldy and stuff, but they're not destroyed. You see a pair of boots, just dirty, kind of moldy boots. And underneath the boots, there is a small notebook as well in there. I'm going to test on the gloves and probably use them to sift through the stuff. I found some boots if you guys want some, and then I pick up the book and examine it.
00:27:54
Speaker
As you look in the book, you see, actually make a history check again as you look in the book because of number one, what it is and number two, the language that it's in. Four.
00:28:07
Speaker
It is, it looks completely foreign to you. You see, it's got lines like squares drawn out with numbers in the square. It looks like elven numbers. Those look about normal for you to understand, but then any little notation or writing in there, this language, it's, you're like, this looks like elven, but it's like the root, almost like it's the root of your elven language. And it's, it's, it's extinct. You don't know what these language, what these words mean.
00:28:37
Speaker
OK, well, what happens when I pull my glasses out and put my glasses on? Can I read it again? Well, you invent eyeglasses and optometry and then just kidding. Roll for optometry. OK, we get rich, baby. No, that's unfortunately, that's what you see. That's about all you can make out of this thing when you look at it.
00:29:02
Speaker
I sit down the book next to the boots. I found something. I can't really, I don't have my nocular lenses with me. Um, I know it's kind of dark in here. Let me throw an orb over there just so maybe that'll help. This orb appears next to you.
00:29:24
Speaker
I mean, so you're the kind of the language person here, right? You know, let me, let me take a, take a short look at it. I'll begin looking at the next one while he exams the book. History check. Hey, you're looking in the next one.
Magic Item Uncovered
00:29:40
Speaker
This one I can go ahead. The lid is intact on this one. It's a little bit sturdier. It looks like it was a little bit better.
00:29:47
Speaker
And it has a lock on it, but the lock itself is already unlatched and open. And so as you open this chest inside, you just see one folded up piece of paper kind of in the corner, like forgotten in the corner of this chest. And you see a small pouch with something in this pouch. It's more like a sheath, like a small sheath, but there's no handle of a blade or anything. It's just.
00:30:14
Speaker
buttoned down to latch whatever's inside of it. Jock, sir. Did you make a history check? I, I did. And I'm really excited and sad at the same time. Okay. So I made a nat 20, but my history is minus one. Okay. Okay. So as you look through this, you just remember. You remember in the monastery.
00:30:41
Speaker
Some of the older books that were really just kind of put out and opened to certain pages as decoration and some of the prayers that they would chant in between trainings and on some of their meetings, you remember some of these words from that. And not all of them meant most of these words are not familiar.
00:31:03
Speaker
With you but you definitely get the word spice again spiose you also see another word that you think you remember a blessing of the gatherers or a blessing to the gatherers and there's something about the word gatherers in here that rings a bell to you as well as growers.
00:31:26
Speaker
And spicers. So yeah. So you see an entry for, or not an entry, but like a spicers, gatherers and growers. And then there are the numbers. You definitely recognize the numbers. They're the same that those don't seem to have changed that much. And, um, in the, and then Ash, as you continue to look, you see, well, you already told me what you saw. What do you do with those things? I guess.
00:31:55
Speaker
I guess I'm gonna unlatch the little bag and see what's inside. You unlatch this bag and inside you see a small
00:32:08
Speaker
tool of some kind and it is it is red on the outside and it has emblazoned on it a little emblem and it's this like x emblem but it has the the x is made of one is a pitchfork and the other
00:32:30
Speaker
line to make the X is a sword. And as you look at it, you notice that the material it's made of is a sort of like gemstone material, but it's hard. You don't understand quite how to use it. It looks like it, something's supposed to come out of the center of it. Like you, there's nothing there. You don't see what it is.
00:32:56
Speaker
I speak in Elvish to Dale. I mean, jocks are probably here's what I say. What is this? I've never seen this, Dale. Well, if you haven't seen it, I haven't seen it, silly. I definitely don't see it now, he says. I press on the symbol. Does that do anything? Make an arcana check.
00:33:22
Speaker
Oh my God. That's good. Oh my God. 19 plus six. So like 25. You finally. And it, you feel a warmth as you press on it. Now you immediately realize that just touching it is giving you that warmth. It's not a button.
00:33:44
Speaker
pressing and you recognize this feeling because you have attuned to magic items before, but in holding this with your finger on that emblem and trying to figure out what it's all about, you're starting to attune to this magic item, but you know, you're going to need a full hour or so to make this work. Okay. I didn't know if it was going to be like I opened someone's garage door.
00:34:09
Speaker
Yeah. You hear one of the wobbles in the distance. Just keep pressing over and over. You just push it and you hear. Megazord. You you turned on somebody's car alarm.
00:34:30
Speaker
No, that you, this is a magic item and you have just started the attuning process. And if you want to keep your finger on it for another hour, then you're welcome to continue to do so. But otherwise I am. I'm probably going to get up from where I'm at and let someone else explore the chest. Cause I'm just now intrigued by this. Yeah. The only other thing you saw in there was that small rolled up piece of part or not rolled up, but folded up piece of parchment. Okay. Dad, I'm just going to open up one of the bags and peer inside.
00:34:58
Speaker
OK. Yeah. And and just to kind of come back. Yeah, Daven. It's kind of a weird dialect, maybe, or context. I can see that it gathers growers, spices and spices. So I'm I'm really leaning on this. This was a place of maybe trait as a blessing to.
00:35:24
Speaker
Doris did say that they trade with them here, right? They did do a trade route, so maybe it's they have some sort of a spice here that they grow and they trade for food, you know, because it's got to be something. Yeah, it definitely feels like maybe this place might be, I'll say like a trifecta. Maybe, I can't say that this would be the outpost, but maybe they're all connected. This is likely not the only one.
00:35:53
Speaker
would I have working knowledge of war time of something that cause like they obviously a trade or in them were coming to this location to check on supply routes. Do I have working knowledge of what they may have been like trading here? If that was the case, make a history check again, uh, 19 plus one 20 you, you know,
00:36:23
Speaker
that the elves of old were well known for, they were well known for just handing or having resources that other people didn't have. People would travel long distances to trade with these elves.
Trade and War Discussion
00:36:44
Speaker
And you don't know a lot of the details, but you definitely remember hearing and knowing about that. However,
00:36:51
Speaker
During the war, it was very different. There was not the same kind of legend and lore about the elves. It was all very
00:37:02
Speaker
practical, the story and the way you know, they were used. It was like something changed and shifted because of the war that caused this kind of mystical discussion of, you know, resources from the elven tribes in the north to the elf supply line. It was just different, but you definitely are familiar that you're, you're definitely now ringing a bell. Hey, this might be.
00:37:29
Speaker
whether this happened because of the war where it transitioned away from this or whatever, this was probably what these legends were about. This is the reality, at least at some point in history. It's kind of like what Trigore and his scouts said that this was definitely a supply line for either the stone fort or maybe the front lines back during wartime. So it's not, it doesn't make
00:37:57
Speaker
too far fetched of a little bit of sense that this would have been those areas that that would have been used in battle. So whatever spice or gathering that you're seeing in these documents, Jock's area, it could be the reason they were here and I guess potentially the reason they're gone.
00:38:20
Speaker
That's true. I do find it interesting how different their language adapted from then to now. It's almost illegible from.
00:38:31
Speaker
Um, and then from the numbers that you mentioned, is that kind of like, can I gather maybe like, this is like, how much is made or does it, do I get any sense of what those numbers stand for? Sure. As you're looking, you, you notice, you could tell very easily that it's a ledger of some kind and it looks like, you know, 10 crates of spice went.
00:38:55
Speaker
to the growers in exchange for six crates of something or barrels of something and you read about you see the word barrels and you do see there are three barrels over to the side as well sitting there one of them looking pretty worn down the other two maybe not as bad but. There is there is a definite ledger kind of going on here where you can see that the trade was happening and this was kind of the documentation of that trade.
00:39:25
Speaker
Yeah i mean i can i can definitely see the interaction here but i can't read it if it. It's a little different and you know maybe something in here might be i don't know still viable but.
00:39:42
Speaker
I'm interested if the gatherers, growers, and spices were all of elven kind or maybe that might represent different factions as well. It's really kind of blowing my mind. I remember reading and Gwendolyn's still looking at the jewel. I remember my father, he told me of there being different elves and factions and
00:40:09
Speaker
within Alomora, and maybe it was here too. I mean these folks did seem like farmers of sorts, but I don't know. And I turn it around and I show them the schedule.
00:40:23
Speaker
I found this. I just, I don't know why they would have this. It must be their sigil for the town with a pitchfork and sword and. Does the sigil mean anything to me? It does not. You do not recognize it.
00:40:43
Speaker
That's not what I say, but okay. One of the statues had a pitchfork, but not a sword. That's different. Maybe this belonged to someone else. This might have been their overall clan symbol. I think there was something else in that chest as well.
00:41:11
Speaker
Gwendolyn gets up and goes to look at the scroll that was left. Yeah. There's a piece of paper, piece of parchment. It is folded into like folded down four or five times. And it's just a parchment. I have Dale unfold it. I'm joking. I unfold it.
00:41:29
Speaker
All right. When you unfold it, you see at first glance, it's kind of worn and dilapidated, but you can, you see a, it looks like somebody drew a bunch of trees, little trees. And then you make out in symbols, six symbols kind of arranged in a broken circle around it. And, um, I'm sharing, boys, it's puzzle time. I'm sharing with you now.
00:41:57
Speaker
Oh, what you see. I'm sharing with you now what you see. It's a map of some kind and you see a symbol of what looks like some sort of fruit, like maybe grapes or something like that. You also see another symbol. It looks like a pile of what looks like maybe mushrooms or something like that.
00:42:15
Speaker
And then to the right of that you see another symbol that. This one is a symbol of of like vegetable kind of crops it looks like and then you see definitely obvious symbol of what looks like. Somebody is drawn. Shafts of branches with spices growing on them you also see a gemstone in one of these down below that.
00:42:45
Speaker
And then you see one that looks like a crystal ball almost like some sort of symbol of magic there. And they're kind of arranged in this kind of, like I said, broken circle trees covering this, except for where these symbols are. And you do see a little compass dial drawn on top of these trees as well.
Resource Map Discovery
00:43:04
Speaker
I think I found a map and I show it to whoever's closest. I give it to David. Um, all right. Is this actually shared somewhere? I don't see it.
00:43:15
Speaker
You have to open it. It's called Village Map. It's called Village Map. It's in your journal. Oh, OK. I was also looking for it. And I was like, I don't remember any of this. Gwen doesn't even see this. She gives it to Daven. Yeah, Krigs somehow looks over Daven's shoulder. Not really sure how. And I recognize some of these symbols that looks like, I don't know, fruit.
00:43:41
Speaker
Well, yeah, of course. I mean, I would assume from all of these that we are, and it's one that looks like a wheat or some sort of a spice or something, you know, it seems like the most logical one just from what we found here. But I could be wrong. I agree. I think we're the spice one. Although we've never seen any kind of proof of it being grown here. I mean, even if we were another symbol, how would we be able to prove it anyways?
00:44:10
Speaker
Well, it's like- Everything's dead here. Like Carmen said, doesn't seem like anything was grown here.
00:44:19
Speaker
Yeah, it, based on this text here, I mean, we're down to either gather or grow or Spicer. So, uh, I, I imagine, uh, actually from, uh, from what you told me earlier, I'm sorry. Um, what we received, uh, the three, um, three barrels of something from, for what?
00:44:44
Speaker
would i be able to put that piece together that. Yeah it's nice for you said there was something from the growers i believe i said it was the growers and in exchange you there is the spice was given to them yeah i'm something off of this so yeah those three barrels over there if if this ledgers tied to that with.
00:45:08
Speaker
They received, you know, something from the growers and gave spice. So I'm, I would, I would imagine that this is, this is likely the spice symbol. Now how, how, I mean, maybe, maybe those tiny, tiny little, you know, maybe it was little bits of spices that they could make go further. It really depends on, on the plant itself. Well, maybe we should check the bags and the barrels. I'm going to walk over to one of the bags.
00:45:35
Speaker
And Carmen says, I, I, we could also look around more. I mean, there's, there's got to be more to this place possibly as well. Yes. I'll look too. And he begins kind of looking through the barrels and everything to make a investigation check as you look at barrels. All right. That is 17 for me. Ash. Um, is there, so we're at, we're at the back. Is there a wall? There are no walls. It's just like a pavilion kind of place. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
00:46:06
Speaker
Davin, as you are looking, you definitely get the sense now as you're looking around and you know kind of this is related to spice. This looks like the packing area, like people would line up along these tables and pack the spice into these bags and barrels for shipment. And you can see that it's kind of what's happened is the progress, the process of that was interrupted when this town was abandoned, it looks like.
Spice Trade Revelation
00:46:31
Speaker
And so you find a couple barrels that are not sealed up, not closed up, and inside of them is this rotted, this just rotted substance. And you smell this like peppery rot. It's like this spicy, almost like peppery smell, but it's also got that gross, moldy, danky smell of rotting,
00:46:58
Speaker
as well. But then there is one that this barrel looks to be completely sealed up. Most of the stuff just seems like it's been destroyed over time. But I mean, this barrel is not open. Maybe this one's all right. Should we open it? I don't see why not. I mean, I don't think people are returning if they'll have a use for it. Hey, Craig, do you think you cannot get it open? Craig's looked at his hammer. I'm sure I
00:47:29
Speaker
Yeah, let's do this a little bit more thoughtful and I'm going to reach into my bag and get one of my like blacksmithing hammers and, um, one of the files that are more worn down that I have and try to use it as like a pry bar basically and open it. All right. So you reach in to try to open that and, uh,
00:47:50
Speaker
you pretty easily are able to break the seal on the top of this barrel and the other side of the
00:48:01
Speaker
of the lid pops up and instantly you get this smell, this peppery smell that hits you. No rot. You don't smell any rot and you pull it open and inside of there, it looks like these black peppercorns, little small peppercorns filling this barrel and
00:48:23
Speaker
It's packed in here with what looks to be some sort of like salt like rock salt in here and it seems that seems that the rock salt and the seal on this barrel has kept this the spices from being corrupted. What did you find? I just take a giant with. You know after eating basically garbage for the last month or two. I could I could I could eat straight out of this barrel.
00:48:52
Speaker
Uh, Davin, you would know without even having to roll, you would know that there is probably 10,000 gold worth of. Peppercorns in this barrel. Whoa. This stuff ain't cheap. It's hard to come by and you know, you've seen less like lower quality spice go for, you know, way less or way more money than, than.
00:49:16
Speaker
you would have expected. So this is probably a good, a high value barrel of these spices. This stuff is worth a fortune, guys. I wish we could take it with us. Why can't we? Are you going to carry a barrel around? I carry lots of barrels around. Oh yeah. Gasp.
00:49:46
Speaker
Well, I guess we could take it with us. It's just going to rot here. Now it's open. I'm already picking it up. Yeah. And it's about waist high to you, Krigs. It's not like one of those big giant barrels. It's more like a keg size kind of barrel. So you're able to pick it up. I even noticed I haven't picked up already.
00:50:04
Speaker
Yeah, it's not super heavy, but it's definitely significant. I don't even care about the money, just the idea of grinding up some of this on my slop in the morning. It's so appealing. Did he break the lid at all? Could I put it back on and seal it back up?
00:50:20
Speaker
No, he used the backside of it. He did it thoughtfully. It didn't break it. You can you can close it back up where it doesn't spill a spill. But the the seal itself isn't is there's a little more to that part of it, but you can definitely close it up where it doesn't spill. All right. Then I will make sure it's closed back up so we're not going to make a mess. I'll pull out the hole and then help, you know, bring it down and and safely secure it.
00:50:49
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, yeah, nothing moves around in there when it's not like you're carrying it in a bag where it's going to move around while you walk around. Yeah. No, no, no. Just, just making everybody feel good. Before I actually like leave the brew hole, I pop that lid just a little and I grabbed one of the peppercorns and I just pop it in my mouth to kind of like nibble on. Make a constitution. No, I'm just kidding. Just kidding. It's a little spicy, but it's good spicy, especially right now. It's, it's like,
00:51:19
Speaker
It's probably one of the best tasting things you've ever had in your life, just because of the circumstances, not only just because it's such a good quality spice. What do you, what do you think this would taste like in a brew? Oh man. Yeah. I'd like to see that.
00:51:38
Speaker
I think I'll have to make it happen. So, Gwen, what do you know about your father? Like, was he a spicy sort of guy? I mean, there's a diamond on his lap. There's fruits. I mean, do you know anything that maybe these symbols ring a bell compared to where he would be? I mean, these just look like symbols. My father had a lot of hobbies, but
00:52:07
Speaker
I don't know. Make a history check. Go ahead and make a history check. What is up with these history checks? 9 plus 2, 11. All you remember is your dad talking about going back to his people because they needed to be unified and brought together. And when I say talk about, I mean, you read his writings about this.
00:52:35
Speaker
No, I like to think I heard his voice. I like to think that maybe he knew all these things. I assume that these are all the people, all the little factions of a clan or Alomora clan, I would like to think, but I
00:53:03
Speaker
I don't know. I kind of want to go and venture these places. Well, we can, but let's double check this one first. Make sure we're not missing anything. There's plenty of hots out there. There might be some other things outside this general area. Yeah. There's still another chest, right? There were two. You've checked both. Okay. We've got it on. I say we got, we can look around the area and see if we can, if we see anything else.
00:53:30
Speaker
Okay. And Gwendolyn goes back to staring at the little, I'm going to call it a gym pocket knife. You've been probably holding onto that thing for a good 20, 20 minutes or so. Okay. So you've got about 40 minutes left of attuning to this thing, as long as you keep your attention on it every now and then thinking about what it is and what it does and trying to figure it out.
00:53:53
Speaker
I'll say you're continuing to attune to it, even as you hold little conversations and think about other stuff a little bit. Okay. Probably that's probably lacks as a DM, but I'm going to do it anyway. Yeah. You make the rules. That's right. We haven't fun. All right. Uh, guess we'll go outside or at least I'll go outside and kind of check around the area and see if I can find anything outside of the huts or around the huts that might be intriguing.
Corrupted Spice Fields
00:54:21
Speaker
Yeah, as you get, you start looking around, Carmen comes with you. He's, he was been kind of chomping at the bit to do a little more exploring and he follows you. And you, you both about right at the same time, kind of noticed that there's a little bit of a pathway leading away a little ways away from.
00:54:39
Speaker
the hobbles, the huts themselves. And you can see, as you both look in the distance, he says, look there. And you see as he points, there's a, looks to be a cart of some kind that is, that is the wheels are destroyed and it's been worn way down. It was made from, from wood, of course. So it's really damaged.
00:55:02
Speaker
She's something hanging kind of from the one of the handles of this thing some sort of bag or satchel and beyond that.
00:55:11
Speaker
is when you see fields of destroyed, corrupted plant life looks like it has been, it had been neatly plowed and neatly kept and tended and everything had grown. And then this dark fog and corruption of whatever this is took took over and is kind of
00:55:38
Speaker
frozen it in time in a dark, disgusting version of itself. And it seems like you have found the spice fields. And that's where we'll end the episode. Ooh, nice. Spiced. Spiced. Spiced.
00:56:08
Speaker
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Hired Swords. If you liked our show, tell a friend about us, and if you really enjoyed our show, do us a favor and tell the world. Leave a review. If you want to keep up with us, you can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at thehiredswords. And if you got time to spare, you can check out our shop at thehired.store. Again, thank you so much for listening.