Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Ep.8 Fates And Fortunes
180 Plays4 years ago
The rescue mission for Vip comes to an abrupt end.. Fears confirmed.. Anger stoked, our heroes must take a moment to gather their heads. That proves to be near impossible with a rage-filled Marias storming back to Wildhill. To find answers, our travelers visit the Widow Tolliver. Can they find the information they seek or do they only find more questions?
Recommended
Transcript
The Discovery of Vip's Fate
00:00:01
Speaker
previously on the hired swords. So you, you light up a torch and you get that 30 feet of light glowing there and there you see that body and you recognize the armor and this is Vip. I don't mean to interrupt or to get into your business or anything, but I overheard you talking about somebody, some woman who said that this would happen. It was the widow in Wild Hill. She read the cards for us and they weren't good for Vip. You have to get back to town. I want a word with the chief.
00:00:35
Speaker
You're listening to the Hired Swords Podcast, where the rule of cool is to stay in school,
00:01:18
Speaker
Let's carry on.
A Playful Encounter with the Unknown
00:01:21
Speaker
Yes, so someone roll a D20 for me as you begin your travels, as you travel for the day. I want to do it. That's a two. It's a two, is it? All right, I need somebody to roll a D12 for me then. I'll do it. Sound check, testing. 11. An 11. Off the table.
00:01:48
Speaker
All right. All right. All right. All right. Got to get back to my I got to get to my table here. My bad. Here it is. So you. You're traveling as you're traveling the. This roadway, you traveled it before it took you a better part of a day to get to where you were headed previously and and you know the day before and it's only the next day. But you as you travel
00:02:18
Speaker
You do encounter, you do hear voices in the trees to your, to the north, which is to your right. And you can hear people speaking common, talking and laughing and walking through the forest. In the trees. And this is, this is towards the, this is towards the probably mid afternoon towards the, you only have a couple hours left of your journey.
00:02:47
Speaker
Could I do a perception check on that? Because we all hear that. Yeah, you can all hear it pretty clearly. OK, so I basically just more so want to know if it just sounds kind of like a group of hunters or if it sounds like something a little different. If they're happy or if they're sad. Yeah, say it. I'm going to do a perception check as well. That is 13 for old Kriegsy. OK, would you roll?
00:03:15
Speaker
Okay, so the talking you notice, it is people speaking common, it sounds like, it's like humanoid type people, voices in, but Krigs, you can pick out the sound of a woman
00:03:37
Speaker
And she's talking the loudest, and she's just kind of laughing. And some of the guys will... You can't make out any words at this point. They're kind of too muffled and far away. But you definitely hear, you know... And then she's like... And she's laughing back, but it's just like kind of mumbling. Are they sims? Yeah, I was going to say they're so much sims. Yeah, I was going to say they're so much sims.
00:04:04
Speaker
Oh yeah. I know some of those whole lines. I played that game so much. Can I see their gemstones above their head? Yeah. One of them needs to pee really bad. Devin will just quietly say it's like, Oh, you think they're just other hunters out here? I mean, I haven't seen any other people. I can't exactly tell, make out what they're saying. Uh, they don't seem hostile. Well, nothing seems hostile until you get in a fight with it.
00:04:33
Speaker
I like the way you think. Is it there? Go ahead. Jackson had just been, I don't think it'd be in our best interest to fear. I want to listen. Go for it. King Gwyndolin. So she's not necessarily listening for the people, but she is listening to like the birds and the animals and stuff around to see how they're reacting to the people so she can get a sense of what the vibe is. I like this.
00:05:03
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Make a perception check. Perception or nature? You can call it a nature check. Yeah, you can call it a nature check. Yes. Yes, nature. Ooh. Ooh. It rolled perception. It's a minus two. We'll take it. It rolled a 23 or 25. Okay. Well, that's great though. So you, you, uh,
00:05:33
Speaker
The there aren't very many creatures nearby. The the the ruckus coming from the woods and and you guys walking down through here. Morias is just storming ahead this whole day. He's not you know, he's just walking down the trail like he's he's not like talking or whatever, but he's you know, he's not trying to be sneaky or stealthy. So you've pretty much you don't hear much anywhere. Everything's kind of been cleared out. It seems like there's there's not any
00:06:03
Speaker
aren't any critters anywhere in earshot or in sight. So you got a really good roll, but you hear Jack. Yeah. There's nothing to hear. There's nothing to hear. But you're confident there's nothing to hear. Yeah, you are definitely sure there's nothing there. What do my spidey senses feel? I can't fill anything. There's no animals around.
00:06:36
Speaker
How far away can we tell just by the sound of the voice how far away they are? Well, they're getting closer. You
Meeting the Merry Hunters
00:06:44
Speaker
could tell that. Okay.
00:06:46
Speaker
Uh, probably, probably in all this time of listening, checking and listening and talking about it and trying to figure out as you, if I assume you guys have been walking, talking kind of as you've been doing this, uh, they're, they're definitely getting closer towards where you guys are. I'm going to look at jockser. Uh, why don't you all carry on, keep walking, keep an eye on Mariahs, but I'm going to, I'm going to.
00:07:15
Speaker
of duck hide back here a little bit I'll be behind you don't worry but I want to see see if I can figure out what's what's going on with this group that they're gaining on us Gwendolyn shakes her head like enthusiastically yeah we'll keep on but make sure you you make a very specific noise if you need us to return don't worry
00:07:42
Speaker
You'll know. Yeah. I, uh, I just don't think Barias needs other hunter company. So you're hanging back, Krigs. All right. How far back are you? How far ahead are you letting them get from you?
00:07:58
Speaker
I'd say 50 to 100 yards, just kind of slowly. Basically, I'm still walking forward, but I'm at a much slower pace and off to the side, kind of not immediately on the road. Okay. Are you trying to hide? I'm being, yeah, a little sneaky. So you want to make a stealth check? Sure. It's an 18 minus one 17.
00:08:23
Speaker
17. Cool. So as you are walking between you and the rest of the party, after you walk for about five minutes, the voices are even louder and they're coming towards in between the two of you, in between you and the party ahead of you. Make a perception check now. Can I run up to where Marias is? Yeah, of course.
00:08:53
Speaker
I'm just going to start talking to him about, did you know these birds, they only come and I just start spewing random nature facts to him. I'm trying to do it. He's like walking and he's listening and kind of looking at you like, why the heck do I care about any of this? But he's not pushing you off or anything.
00:09:15
Speaker
Devin will stay toward the back of the group so he can try and keep an eye on what's going on behind. I'm mostly looking for Craig's and just making sure I can keep an eye on him best I can. Makeup perception check. I rolled 14. You rolled a 14 with your perception? Yeah. What a spy master. I know. Yeah. Devin's perception was a nine.
00:09:41
Speaker
Yeah. So you do not see Krigs back there. Okay. He's just kind of vanished. He's a master of disguise. I want to be a master of disguise. I guess he's not disguised technically. He's just ducked away in the trees. I'm a tree, a small tree. Are you hitting yourself? Yeah, did you hit yourself with a hammer?
00:10:08
Speaker
You hear now them talking you can understand what they're saying you can make out their their conversation a little bit and The the woman is is talking about They're talking like they're they're going over highlights of their hunt. So she's she's saying
00:10:26
Speaker
Yes, but I got the final kill. Don't you forget about it. It's true, and it will always be true, and you'll regret anything. You'll regret saying it if you tell people otherwise. And one of the guys said, you're right. You're right, Sariah. That's the truth. You did do the final blow. But they weren't kidding around those things. And about that time, they emerged from the trees.
00:10:51
Speaker
in between you and the party. And as they emerge, they just kind of hit the path and start walking along the path the same direction you guys are going. And they look ahead and you hear one of them say, you hear one of them say, ah, we are not alone, are we? And they point ahead.
00:11:14
Speaker
Daven, obviously seeing him get him out of the road. How many are there? There are five plus the one woman. So six total people walking down the road. I imagine I recognize Sariah because we had saw her when they first announced all of the leaders. Correct. Yeah, you see her. She's standing there in those leather pants and a white tunic with a green armor vest on and a big long cloak behind her. Yeah, that's who you turned into, right?
00:11:43
Speaker
Yeah, it was. Yeah, it is. Yeah, I know her pretty well. I'll just wave an arm up in the air saying, happy hunting to you guys. I hope it went well for you. Sariah raises an arm up and you can see in one hand is the head, a giant head of a wolf in her hands. And she says, she calls out. Yes, we have our prize.
00:12:11
Speaker
And the guys just, yes, they make all their celebratory noises that are typical guys. It is. That's how I sound when I do something good every time. I think Gwendolyn would look over and she's just, she doesn't say anything, but she is anchored, but she's trying to suppress it and give out all these fun nature facts. Okay. Yeah. And Mariahs make a, Oh gosh, what would be a distraction check? Make a, uh,
00:12:41
Speaker
Maybe just deception? Yeah, do a deception. Make a deception check. It's a charisma. It's going to be charisma, kid. You know it. I know. How's A-14? That's enough. He's annoyed enough to just be rushing ahead at this point. Like, let's just get there. So yeah, you've convinced him to not even look back because he just wants to get where he's going. So maybe you'll quit talking to him about it.
00:13:09
Speaker
And so there's him and Gwendolyn, and then probably 20, 30 feet before the rest of the party, and then probably 20, 30 feet before this other party, and then probably 20 feet or so back from there, we've got Krigs.
00:13:26
Speaker
I'm going to pop out from the woods. Going tree to tree like Bigfoot. Walking leg with arm. Going to pop out of the woods. I'm picturing now like Emperor's new groove where he's wandering through and he's trying to sneak through. Yeah, yeah. For sure. For sure. I'm going to pop out from the woods and I'm going to. There he is out of the woods. Yeah.
00:13:55
Speaker
Hello. Uh, I'm going to shout at the group that's in between me and the other group. And I'm just simply going to say, Devin, I told you I had to take a leak. Oh, okay. Make a deception check. 19 19.
00:14:11
Speaker
They turn back and they're like, ah, they left him. You can't be pissing while your groups are walking, you know it. And they laugh like that. And I just kind of laugh and just kind of jauntily run by them towards my group. Yeah, this group is exceedingly merry. They're just super pumped about their mission and they may have been travel drinking. They're really merry.
00:14:41
Speaker
Why? Joxer, this is a thing we could have done? They had some in-flight beverages. When you look over at Joxer, he looks at you with the little ball tankard he has, and he's like, who doesn't do this? That's what you did. I am never not. What are you? That's fine. My bladder wouldn't have been able to take it anyway.
00:15:09
Speaker
Daven seeing this he's going to use minor illusion and make it look like he has like a big tankard in his hand, too He wants to be in the cool club I'm gonna look at David can't move it So I have to hold my hand exactly where it is and the second we walk away the illusion stays there and leaves my hand It was like there in his hand for a second and then we continue walking forward and it just stays frozen in the air I Come behind it and try to grab it from the air
00:15:40
Speaker
Nothing, just right through it. It just vanishes. No. So that wouldn't bother your bladder, though. How close would have Kriegs caught up at this point? He makes it up to you guys kind of going around the group. They kind of razz him as he goes by, but nothing extreme, just typical. He'll pull off one of his little ball tankards from his belt area and then toss it to Kriegs.
00:16:10
Speaker
since he seems interested. I just down it. Does it have one of those like foil lids on it that you have to peel back? No, it's like a pop top. You just have to stick your thumb in it. It's like a go group, but for alcohol. Yeah, exactly. It's way more proper. It has a cork on it. Oh, nice. Dang. I stand by the fact I just down it. Done. Yeah, just how many gulps? None.
00:16:40
Speaker
Yeah, it just pours down your gullet. Well-versed. That's good.
00:16:46
Speaker
That's good. So, you are continuing to walk forward now. Mariahs and Gwendolyn are kind of getting ahead of you further and further by the every 120 feet or so. They're a little further ahead, a little further ahead. And the group behind you is kind of pulling away from you behind you. They're not in any hurry.
00:17:13
Speaker
that you can hear them still behind you, just a ruckus laughing and things. And you still have just a few, a couple hours. Anybody going to do anything during these last couple hours of travel? They're not catching up to you. They don't seem like they want to, but yeah, you're welcome to. I'll say to Craig's and Jock's there as I walk with them, I'll say, well, if we're looking for a little bit more information about what this town is going about or these hunts or something, I mean, these guys would know some information I'd
Uncovering the Widow's Prophecy
00:17:39
Speaker
imagine.
00:17:39
Speaker
Maybe Sariah would be somebody to talk to before you get in town and see what we're actually going up against here, you know? I definitely don't disagree. I just want to make sure we keep Mariahs up front, so whoever wants to continue handling back here. I simply look at Daven.
00:18:05
Speaker
you think you're able to get information out of her I definitely think you should have a conversation but I feel like at this point we may have more bitten off enough at this point what with Mariah's being something of a hothead if you want to go back they're not too far back I will keep an eye from from up here
00:18:29
Speaker
I was like, well, I'll give it a few minutes, not long because our party's moving a little bit faster here. I don't want to fall behind, but I'll see if I can maybe get a little bit of something from her. Well, you know where it will be if we make it ahead, I suppose. That's true. I know the way I can catch up. If you get too far behind, just tell them you've got to pee and catch up to us. It seems to work. I'll keep that in mind. Thank you. And I'll fall behind the group a little bit and see if I can catch up to the other ones.
00:18:57
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. You're trying to kind of hold back to you. Yeah. I'll, I'll slow down my walk. So, and then when they start getting kind of in range, I'll be like, sorry, I can't show you much about hard prize, but unfortunately we had turned it in two days ago already. Uh, Sarai goes, wait a minute. You, you've been back and returned back out to the forest again already. Yes, actually. We went back to help out another group.
00:19:20
Speaker
Oh, is that allowed? I didn't think we could assist other hunters, especially commissioning parties. You're going to get yourself into trouble. Well, first of all, we were not really part of the special parties. We're the big inter-level sort of a situation. But on top of that, we didn't help them with their actual thing. They had a member that was unfortunately taken and killed. We just went to help retrieve the body. Killed by what? Some sort of weird bug creature. I've never seen one before.
00:19:50
Speaker
Have you seen anything like that around here? And I give her a description of what it looked like. I've heard of those. They seem to be closer to the mountains, not this far away, but perhaps they're burrowing further out now. I don't know. It might be something to bring up to the chief that seemed like there was quite a bit of them judging by the amount of holes that I saw. Well, that was great because of their mission. No, that wasn't even what they were out there for. Unfortunately, they were ambushed.
00:20:20
Speaker
Oh, that's tragic. I hate to hear about that. I really do. I wish I wish that I wish there was something that could be done about it. Unfortunately, it's just kind of the kind of par for the course out here as I heard people say sometimes.
00:20:37
Speaker
It seems like both their group and ours were given a job that was a little bit more than what we were spoken about. Is that normal for them to kind of under inform you about the things that you're going to be getting yourself into? Well, I think normally you're told what you have to do and you just have to hope for the best. We knew what we were getting into. We fought wolves before, never one this big, but
00:21:03
Speaker
She holds up the head and you see now this head is three times larger than any wolf you've ever seen.
00:21:18
Speaker
fur from the nose part of the snout going all the way back is bright white, and then the rest of it is like a dark gray, almost like a skunk kind of look, but the white is so bright and clean looking and crisp, except for down at the bottom of the neck where it's been cut and you see the blood and stuff. She says, this one was a handful, but
00:21:48
Speaker
They'd never see me coming, so I was able to take care of it after it was weakened a little by my men here, and they all, yeah we did, you know it, you gotta give us credit for that, ha ha, and they're laughing. We kept the rest of the packet pay for you too.
00:22:04
Speaker
Uh, Devin kind of nods and you can, you can tell by his facial expression. He's trying to hold back. He's just a little annoyed by their routiness. Um, but he, uh, he says to us, uh, we had a similar situation where we were faced with something a little bit larger, quite a bit larger, in fact, than what we were expecting. Uh, do you think that there's something strange about these creatures that they're growing so big? Is this a natural thing?
00:22:26
Speaker
No, I don't ask questions. I just kill what I'm told to kill and collect gold. I didn't get in, get to lead one of these parties by asking too many questions, you know? How long have you been doing this for? Oh, I've been coming out here for five or six years now. This is my first, first year leading though. You've never actually questioned before why they have you hunting the things that you hunt?
00:22:53
Speaker
No, I must say, in all the days of killing I've done, I've never questioned why I kill what it is they're massed to kill. Never once. That's how you get into really, really deep stuff, you know? Well, unfortunately for myself, I'm a little bit more curious in nature. That is unfortunate. You may not last long around here. I will see.
00:23:20
Speaker
I was good talking to you, but I'm going to get back with my group now if you don't mind. We'll see you back at the camp. Yeah, we'll see you back there. We're almost back. And just to show off, he's going to use his cape again and it swirls around in a black smoke and he's going to teleport 300 feet forward toward his group. Okay, so you teleport and you're back with him and you just faintly hear in the background. Nice trick, Nightcrawler.
00:23:46
Speaker
So I show back up, you guys see this puff of smoke and you smell like brimstone and I just casually start walking with you against as well. I'm not really sure you're going to get much information from those people. Although she's a leader, she's not really much of a leader in my mind. She doesn't really ask any questions. She just does what she's told. Sounds like a natural leader to me. We've all had that, boss. No, I'm just kidding.
00:24:13
Speaker
He said it seems like their hunt was similar to ours, though, where they fought a creature much larger than it should be. It's like I wonder if it's another one of those. What did they call them? Was it an elder beast? What did you say it was, Gwen? Oh, she's not with us. She's up further. Yeah, she's up ahead. I mind whisper to him. Yes. You are correct.
00:24:40
Speaker
Let's carry on then I suppose we're not too much further from town. That's true Yeah, and so you walk for another 20 minutes or so and you make your way into the entrance of town Mariah's is kind of the first the first to kind of speed up as he gets closer he can see the the the
00:25:02
Speaker
tense of camp ahead and he starts kind of speeding up towards there and walks up towards where the camp is and looks like he might be bee lining up towards the tower of testing. It is currently late afternoon, not quite dusk,
00:25:24
Speaker
You're not quite at the end of the day, but people are getting started with their, people are starting to get stuff out. You see the town's folks moving a little more hubbub. There's a few more adventurers here and there that don't seem to be a part of any groups, kind of walking through, walking around town and stuff's kind of getting brought out to start the night's festivities again. And that's where you kind of enter the city in that state.
00:25:49
Speaker
As he starts to speed up, I want to grab him by the arm and hopefully get in front of him to kind of stop him in his tracks. Okay. You grab him and get in front of him. He's going to let you kind of stop him out of courtesy. I'm not going to make you make a check for it because he's going to kind of, you know, be nice. And so he stops and he looks you in straight in the eyes and he grits his teeth and he says, what?
00:26:19
Speaker
I I've been in your shoes. Be smart. And without a stutter, she just goes, don't be stupid. Okay. And she like glares back at him and tries to squeeze his arm. Perfect. It takes about this amount of time for the rest of the party to catch up. And, and they come up behind, you guys come up behind Mariahs as Gwendolyn is standing there with both hands on his arms. Edie comes up behind him and puts a hand on his shoulder.
00:26:49
Speaker
And she just leans over to him and says, I loved him too, but this may not be the way. And he just kind of shrugs off her hand and puts his arms down to where your hand lets go of him. And he says, well, then what do you propose? We should investigate more.
00:27:17
Speaker
I look at, because Jackson and Devon are up here now aren't they? Yes, they've all made it up to where you are. Who should we start with to investigate? We need a plan. Something's not right and I can't stand by watching all these great elders get slaughtered. I can't.
00:27:44
Speaker
Mariah says, you're worried about the creatures. I lost my brother. And him too, it's not, we are all one of nature, so I do consider him. He will be missed, but something's not right.
00:28:02
Speaker
I see. I'm getting flustered because I can't. Yeah. Edie says, Edie kind of sees you getting flustered and puts her hand back up on Mariah's shoulder and says, it's all the same. Mariah's VIP, these creatures, it's all related somehow.
00:28:22
Speaker
The animal lover is right. We have to figure out what's going on here. I don't know that going in violently and bringing down the chief is what's going to do anything here. Mariah says, my sword can bring down a man pretty quickly and then we can investigate. What about 50 or more swords? Can you take that and then 50 more than that? You'll be slotted.
00:28:51
Speaker
All right, so I think it's important to remember that you don't fix things by smashing it with a hammer. You know, if you want to make change and make this a better place and make these things not happen in the future, you can't just go in there and attack them. And then if that's the situation, you're no better than what they are doing to us. He's right. There will always be another chief. Yeah. Well, then where can I drink?
00:29:17
Speaker
Talk, sir. Can you, okay. I've been trying to say things for a while. Apparently my headset sucks. Oh, no. I've been like, Mariahs. No, but Mariahs. You're just practicing, it's fine. I made, yeah. So practice a little bit. Mariahs, if your sword doesn't reach the chief,
00:29:46
Speaker
then you've found nothing and you've avenged nothing in your, in your heart. Although I don't believe that specifically the direction you actually want to go. I can, I can probably start us up with a couple of drinks and then we might now that we're a little closer to the town, look at the, uh, uh, another, another, uh, bar in town, the lamppost inn.
00:30:15
Speaker
that's what it was called? Yes. And potentially start, you know, bar hopping, I suppose, start there with a couple of nicer drinks and, and then maybe we can actually learn a little bit from the, the long house. Well, what exactly is our goal here? I mean, we're going to be talking to just strangers and finding out what's going on.
00:30:40
Speaker
I think we should start with that lady. What was her name? Marias looks at you and says, you mean the widow? Yes. She seems to have been here for a while, and I mean, she might be able to know some things. Well, and coincidence or not, she did tell you that there was going to be something that happens to him. It's true.
00:31:10
Speaker
doesn't hurt her to kind of check you them any further into it. Edie sighs and she pats Mariah's on the shoulder and says, let them see her. We drink and they turn and walk towards the long house. Um, uh, jocks her kind of, uh, uh, hold, hold on. Then he pulls up, uh, uh, two, two tankards and he hands it off. Start with this and then, and then, uh, follow your path.
00:31:40
Speaker
Thank you. You've all been very kind, Edie says. Marias goes ahead and starts walking away and she says, he doesn't show sadness. He only shows anger. He must understand. Thank you. And she just turns around and follows him as he's taken sips as he walks towards the longhouse, assuming you just gave him whatever you just gave him to keep. Yeah.
00:32:09
Speaker
Does Marius have anything like on him that would distinguish him? Like coin pouch? I guess his blade.
00:32:18
Speaker
Yeah, his big longsword. Yeah, I mean that longsword is big and it's got an ornate handle and yeah, and he has a couple of pouches and things like that that are, yeah, he's got stuff on him that's pretty obvious. Would it be weird if I cast Locate Object on his blade while I'm with him so that way I would know where he's at? That's not weird. I mean, maybe it is, but you do what you want.
00:32:49
Speaker
It lasts, it's concentration, it lasts 10 minutes. Oh, it only lasts 10 minutes. Yeah. I mean, you, yeah. And it is a, it is a level two spell. So, I mean, it would, you'd have to recast it in 10 minutes. Maybe save it for later if we need to figure out where they are. She thinks about it. Gwendolyn thinks about it because she doesn't want him to do anything rash, but she thinks that Edie will take care of it. Yeah. Edie's sticking close to him.
00:33:16
Speaker
Well, fellas, lady, do you think we should head over and see if we can find that widow? I would like to. So we're in agreement to go meet the widow across from the longhouse. We'll be basically following behind Mariah, so we wouldn't need your spell. Correct. I'm just worried about him. I believe we all are.
00:33:48
Speaker
He's endured a great loss. I have two, but not like his. Joxer's going to kind of reach his hand, put it on your shoulder. A loss is a loss. We can only offer condolences and appreciate what we have.
00:34:16
Speaker
I don't mean to pick her up this soft moment between you two, but I'm just out of curiosity now, Gwen. You speak of loss. Did you know Dale when he was alive? I did. Dale and I have been friends for 12, 13, about 12 years, and I... He was a fun little guy.
00:34:43
Speaker
I would come home from school, I didn't have many friends and they made fun of my stutter and when I would come home and just go out into the woods that Dale would be there. He was alive then but he was always there chipper-ing and playing games with me, running around and he was my only friend and that there was one day I came
00:35:13
Speaker
found him and he had gotten bit by a snake and I tried to fix him I wasn't a druid yet I knew I wanted to be one but I didn't know how to fix him
00:35:31
Speaker
But he's not the only one that I've lost. I've lost my father to Carrick. And I have a feeling he's still alive, but he's supposedly passed away. I never knew him. And I pull out a journal that's like, it's got some damage on it. It's been through a fire. It's waterlogged. I was like, this is the only memory of
00:36:01
Speaker
my father and I used it as my journal when I was a kid and I miss both of them. But they're still here. He's still around. There was a neighbor that we had and he fixed him up.
00:36:24
Speaker
And he didn't have a family either. And so I wanted to make sure he always had a family. You mentioned your father and that you're looking for him. Do you think he's around this area?
00:36:40
Speaker
He used to speak of a town called Almanora, and I actually passed through Wild Hill to try to find it. It was the first city on this map, and I show him a map that's like half written. It's like half torn. It's just kind of a shitty map. And Almanora, no one's heard of it.
00:37:09
Speaker
It seems to be a lost city. So your father went to a city that doesn't seem to exist on any map. That's interesting. Yeah. He apparently, my mother told me he passed away, but I don't think it's true. Does that map have any text on it or is it just kind of a drawing with
00:37:39
Speaker
It's just kind of a drawing. And part of me hopes that if I go to the city, that they can make Dale real again. And I can find my father. What was this some sort of magical city? Like, how would they possibly bring that back?
00:37:59
Speaker
I don't know. I've read books on it, but there's not many books on it that just talk about how magical it is and vibrant and mystical. Would the monastery have any background on potentially cities that might have been of this nature? Make a history check.
00:38:27
Speaker
Possibly, therefore, let's see if you came across it. Definitely not a thing of mine, but whatever. You haven't come across it with a three. I've been day drinking. If you've come across something like that, it doesn't ring any bells right now. You're not thinking about it. Also, the way Gwendolyn talks, how she shifts from Dale to her dad.
00:38:58
Speaker
She's kind of scatterbrained in that sense. Like she doesn't talk about this stuff as much. So that's why she's like flipping from talking about Dale, talking about her dad, going back to Dale, going to the dad. Well, I mean, I'm not really necessarily one to stick in a place for too long. Maybe when we leave this town or if there's an issues here and we decide to leave, I'll go help you find this city, see if we can find your father.
00:39:26
Speaker
Thank you. I would like that. And she, she, she smiles and it's not her creepy smile. It's her genuine smile. Uh, Jackson, um, I, I have a reason to stay here for a small bit, but, um, once my business here is done and I'll glance over at Craig's, um, I, uh,
00:39:52
Speaker
I'm sure if this place exists, it probably has some rare ingredients I'd be interested in. The idea of a magical city right there. That's enough for me. I'm game. Find it. I'm down. Eeyore. Color me interested.
00:40:22
Speaker
Well, one thing at a time. Let's go check out this widow. I'm going to guess Mariah's and Edie have long gone in our view. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They're, they're long gone. And I misspelled widow on the map. How cool is that? Widdido. Widdido only has one D, everyone. Not in Wild Hill.
00:40:48
Speaker
I'm in Wild Hill. It's two D's. She's the widow. She's the widow. We did it always. I will start heading there. It's her actual name. WIDD. Yeah. W. And it's pronounced. Why? We can we can window. Why did Al? Everyone knows it's supposed to be spelled W Y D A U G H. What is an?
00:41:18
Speaker
Amror Barrar? Oh, Armor Barrar? Armor Barrar, yeah. Armor Barrar. It is a place of love. It's an armoire beret. It's like a cabinet you keep your hats in. It's the army brazier.
00:41:46
Speaker
Oh man. I do not head toward the Beret. I head toward the Widow Tally. Yeah, it's kinda late. We're gonna punch you. Yeah, follow along.
00:41:55
Speaker
All right, so as you walk past the Tower of Testing towards the north part of town, you see this small house, this simple
Fortunes and Doubts
00:42:07
Speaker
stick and brick house with one window next to, a round window next to one small door, average sized door. It's just not interesting. Nothing seems real interesting about this house with a thatched roof, a chimney coming out of the top.
00:42:22
Speaker
And there are a few little flower beds in the front of the house. And as you approach, you see a sign next to the door that says, don't knock, just come in. Well, Joxer, lead the way. I've already opened the door and walked in. Joxer would have liked, like, what kind of flowers were these?
00:42:49
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So Jockster's looking at the flowers. I'm still holding the door open. Pretty close look or just. Yeah. Yeah. I'm definitely, I'm like, Oh, well, if she's a, if she's kind of an intro, like, if she's a magical lady, I'm curious if she'd have a 17. Yeah. These flowers, as you kind of touch them and look at them, um, they are very,
00:43:19
Speaker
They're very, what's the word? I don't wanna say smelly, because that seems bad, but there's a lot of, aromatic. Thank you, that's the word I'm thinking of. They're very aromatic, very bright smelling. Kinda even, almost like a pepperminty, like opens your senses when you smell it. They like my word better. So it's very aromatic. Okay. Lovely dark blue flowers. I'm still holding the door open.
00:43:47
Speaker
I will walk through the door. Okay, Daven walks in. I'll walk in. So I'll look up and look through the door and does it look like there's anybody immediately inside?
00:43:59
Speaker
Yes, as you open the door, Krigs, and everybody kind of starts looking or walking in, there is a small table in the middle of this small room that is, it looks like this house is one big room from the outside, but here on the inside, it's been sectioned off with curtains, it looks like. So you're inside a room that is a small, probably,
00:44:25
Speaker
eight or so foot diameter circle room with this circle curtain hanging from twine that is hanging off of nails stuck in the ceiling and these curtains are hanging down there and sitting at this table is a woman and she's shuffling a deck of cards and when you open the door she looks around and she goes, it's pretty early but welcome.
00:44:54
Speaker
So I can see that from looking in the door from the flowers. Yes. Yeah, it's just right there right at that entrance is that little eight foot. Okay, so so he's going to take note of these flowers and and not tear one off and then follow in the door with the
00:45:13
Speaker
Okay, as you walk in, you almost fill this small room and you see this woman. She looks ancient. She's sitting in this chair. She has hair up in a bun at the top of her head and the bun is so big. It's almost like this big is the top of her head. So she must have a ton of hair because it's all just wound up up there.
00:45:40
Speaker
She is a human woman but she is short, very short it seems, sitting on this stool at least, and she's quite a bit overweight and wearing a just a blue dress of sorts with a
00:45:55
Speaker
Kind of white sash shawl kind of thing hanging off of her off of one shoulder and across her chest and she's sitting there shuffling cards and she looks up at you and she has one green eye and one brown eye as you look at her closely and her face is is is
00:46:16
Speaker
It's wrinkly as an old woman, but she doesn't look like what you would think an old fortune teller woman. She doesn't look like a witch or anything. She's got a she's actually got pretty fair skin and very actually looks like she's aged pretty well, even though she seems like she is very, very old.
00:46:35
Speaker
And when you walked in, she said, well, you're early, but it seems pretty early, but welcome, please. If someone would like to have a seat, we can begin. This voice is just dripping in fantasy. Oh, man. Oh, man. Yeah, go for it.
00:46:54
Speaker
You should see me. I'm acting too, like acting emotions and everything in my face. He's got some cards in his hand. It's real good. Yeah. Did you hear it? Are you taking a seat, Devin? Devin lifts up a foot, like he's a step forward, but instead takes one step backward. How many, like, how many seats are around this table? There's one sitting in front of the table. I sit in the stool.
00:47:17
Speaker
You do sit in the stool. She leans forward on one elbow and puts her fist under her chin and just looks deep into your eyes and she shuffles the cards and then she just sets them down and spreads them in front of you.
00:47:38
Speaker
where they're just kind of like, you know, like laying out spread across the table, still kind of on top of each other. And she says, please take three. Aren't you going to ask me my name first? Why is that important? She says, I figure we're all friends in this town might as well, before you tell my story, at least know who I am, right? Oh, okay.
00:48:08
Speaker
What is your name? I'm... Hi, I'm... Chris Gull. What's your name? My name is Meredith Tolliver. They call me the Widow Tolliver here. Draw three cards, please. I draw three cards and ask if it's okay if I just call her Meredith. That is fine. She gathers the cards up. Please. She holds her hand out for you to put the cards in her hand. There you go, Meredith.
00:48:38
Speaker
Let us see. She puts one card down and this is a card of flame and so on this card is just an image of fire and the flames on this card look to almost be moving a little bit. It's like almost animated on the card. She lays down the second card.
00:49:04
Speaker
And this card is a battle scene. There's an army in white and an army in red. As you look at this card, please make an investigation check. It is 14 plus my character sheet is zero, 14.
00:49:27
Speaker
14, all right, so you just see an army in white and an army in red on this card. Nothing beyond that stands out to you. The third card she lays down is a wagon, and this wagon is being pulled by a team of very large dogs, and in this wagon it looks to contain the bodies of slain soldiers. She furrows her brow at you, she looks at you, she looks down at the cards, and she just says,
00:49:57
Speaker
Some thought lost have been found. Some who are sought are gone forever. Still, some who are not sought may be discovered. Two gold please. I give three gold and say thank you Meredith for your time.
00:50:21
Speaker
Thank you. I forgot your name. And she puts the gold piece down in her little pocket on her sash. Um, Devin kind of throws his hands up, kind of like, that's it. That's all, that's all you do. Would you like, would you like me to look at your cards? No, no, I'm sorry, but I'm not paying you too gold to tell me some random riddle.
00:50:45
Speaker
Okay, that is fine. Anyone else? I look at Craig's. Was that random? Well, I don't know. I would be very surprised if she knew too much about me.
00:51:14
Speaker
Um, but it definitely shook me up a little. Uh, Jax here is going to walk up and, uh, what kind of flowers are out front? Oh, um.
00:51:33
Speaker
Those are the blue lilies. They grow wild in the forest, but I've cultivated some for growing in my garden. They are seasonal. I have to replant them every year, but they are pretty and they make the entrance to my home smell nice. And I like them. I also like them. Do you have any to spare? Could I take one?
00:52:04
Speaker
I could take one and, and, uh, get a reading. If that's what it takes. Yeah. Um, he's, she's kind of looks at you funny and she says, you want the flower, have a seat. I figured as much. So, uh, I, uh, uh, jocks are just blocks and sits down, looks a little dejected knowing this is where it was going.
00:52:36
Speaker
Devin takes a couple steps forward and he's got his arms crossed now, like almost kind of annoyed by this whole thing, but he's going to get a closer look at the cards.
00:52:43
Speaker
Okay. So she does what she did with Craig's. She shuffles, she's got the cards. She's been shuffling them the whole time she talks. It's almost like a nervous tick. Like she just shuffles the cards nonstop. She then lays them down in front of you and spreads them out with both hands. Just spreads them out on the table. And she says, please draw three. Okay. So, um, Joxer is going to pull out the two gold that he needs to pay and put it on the two. He's not going to choose.
00:53:13
Speaker
He's he's going to put it just put the two gold down. He's going to put a gold piece on the card. He's not choosing in the other card because there's five cards, right? No, this is a huge deck of many cards. Sorry, I misunderstood. I thought you said you laid down five for quick. OK, so 26. All right. So, yeah, so he grabs three kind of dispersed and then puts the two gold like on the table.
00:53:43
Speaker
Okay. She grabs the three cards from you. Put your hand out for the three cards.
00:53:54
Speaker
uses her other hand to take up the other cards real quick like she's good with these things. She just take them and she's kind of half shuffling them in one hand as she sets them down and she throws the first card down. This first card has a picture of a forest on it and the ground in this forest is purple and blue and glistening.
00:54:16
Speaker
You can almost see a glistening motion in it. There are white and yellow plants sprouting on this forest floor. The second card, you see a woman. She is dressed in plants instead of clothing. They're just coming up from the ground and wrapping around her like clothes, but it's plants. Her hair
00:54:37
Speaker
is flowing behind her, almost like a wind is blowing from one side to the other, but her hair looks like a night sky with darkness and stars speckling where her hair would be. Her face is a fair face of a beautiful woman, but though she's obviously beautiful, you can't make out details of what her face looks like. It's very strange.
00:55:02
Speaker
Then she lays down the third card, and this is an image of a map, but this map is only half completed. She looks up at you and she says, ah, I see. You're going to see her again. She will help you discover yourself.
00:55:22
Speaker
And she takes the two gold pieces and puts them in her hand and slides them down into her pocket and says, you may take as many flowers as you need. I will plant more.
00:55:34
Speaker
Can Daven make an insight check to see if this is all just kind of BS to him? Yeah. Let's see if he can find any kind of- You can use an insight check to see if she thinks she's telling, if she thinks she's really doing something or if she's just like pulling the wool over your eyes. Nice 23. 23 for an insight check? Yeah. Sick. The read you get off of her,
00:56:02
Speaker
Whether or not you believe what she's saying about these cards is real. She definitely is using these cards in a way where she thinks that they are telling her something. She definitely believes these cards are speaking something to her, and then she's communicating that to you. Okay. I gather- Whether or not you believe it's real is up to you, but she seems to- I gather Gavin's suspicion, and kind of below my breath in the corner of the room,
00:56:30
Speaker
I just ask him, what, what, what do you make of this, Devin? Fair cards. You pick them randomly. How in the world could he possibly tell you the future? Well, it's like jocks, jocks, or what does that mean? See her again. Um, so, so before I get up, um, jocks, it was kinda when she says that I would see her again. Um, no one else can see, um, but.
00:56:53
Speaker
there's going to be a really interesting smirk come across his face and a small light, but concern. Um, but his, uh, his face is going to straighten before he turns around and that's why I didn't want to get red and then, uh, walk outside. Okay. Uh, with, with seeing jocksers,
00:57:19
Speaker
uh, kind of disdain as he walks away and having seen Daven's kind of distrust for the whole process. I sit back down in the chair. And if you sit back down in the chair, I pull up two more gold pieces on, I said, Meredith, we're friends now. Let's try this one more time.
00:57:41
Speaker
Okay. She grins at you and you see far more perfect teeth than you would expect. And you would look at her, you'd expect. Yeah, exactly. You'd be like, wait, what's going on? She lays the cards out again for you and she says, choose two. I pick two from the middle of the deck. Okay. Um,
00:58:12
Speaker
The first card in the middle of the deck, so the first card you pull out, it has the picture of a shield on it. The shield has nothing on it. It's just a blank, just a plain metal shield. And it is on the background of blood red behind it.
00:58:33
Speaker
Next to it, the card she flips over, the second card you picked, and it is a picture of a basket. And this basket has the lid, the lid barely open and you can see hands that have, that are holding the lid barely open and you can barely make out
00:58:59
Speaker
the eye area of someone's face looking out from this basket. And she looks at the cards and she looks up at you and she says, one week. I stand up from the table and I look at Daven and I say, she has my trust.
00:59:29
Speaker
I, um, Devin reaches out and he pulls out two gold coins and he tosses them to, uh, to, um, to Craig's and he says, pull three cards for me. I'm fine. I look back at my arms and he kind of leans up back against the, he tries to lean against the wall, but he realizes it's just like a curtain. That's the idea was falling back through it. I look back at Meredith and I say, well between friends, is this okay? Can I pick three cards for him or?
00:59:58
Speaker
She looks at you and she says, you pick them. Sure. But he must set them, he must set them on the table. I grab one from the front of the deck, the very first one from the very back of the deck, the very last and one from where I assume is the middle and hand them all to Devin. Okay.
01:00:19
Speaker
I pick them all up. Uh, and without looking at them, I keep them face down and that the one that was in the front of the deck and the one in the back of the desk deck, I just kind of toss to her, like kind of flick toss to her. I set the third one down. I say, don't that one. And I look at Craig's, not that one. And I look at Craig's like to pick another card. Okay. I grab another one from the middle.
01:00:41
Speaker
I just pick it up and I throw it face up, cross my arms again. Down onto the table? Yeah. Okay. So there's two face down on the table, one face up? Yeah. Okay. The one face up is a picture of a barkeeper pouring a drink to man.
01:00:57
Speaker
He's wearing a leather apron, white shirt. He's just pouring a drink into a cup. She looks up and she goes curious. She grabs the second one and flips it over. And she says, and this one is a sun hanging in a clear sky. It's just a simple sun on the blue backdrop of the blue sky. She flips over the third card.
01:01:24
Speaker
And it's a dark purple skinned monster with one eye and three arms on each side of its torso. And beneath its torso and at its waist, it becomes almost like a horse body with four legs and hooves.
01:01:42
Speaker
Strange, she says, and she shuffles the cards again. She shuffles them down and then she shuffles them and then she lays down the cards again and she leaves those three out that you already drew. And she says, would you draw three more, please?
01:02:01
Speaker
Why? Three was all you needed, I thought. So, so did I. Please, please, this is curious. Please just draw three more. You can keep your gold. Devin walks over there and without breaking eye contact with her, he just picks up three random cards and passes them to her.
01:02:20
Speaker
Okay. She kind of catches the cards as you throw them at her like, Oh God. Okay. Okay. And, uh, throws, throws down one or sets down one. And this card is a King on a throne. And this, this King holds a scepter high above his head and his long hair seems to be blowing in the wind. She lays down the second card.
01:02:40
Speaker
And it's an open plane with one small pathway winding down the middle of the plane. The third card is a building. And it's a white building with red trim with a round door and two round windows. And you can see a cat sitting in the window on the left side. She looks around nervously.
01:03:07
Speaker
This has never happened before. Please, come closer, she says. Daven will take a step closer. I know, I know. Could you give me your hand? Reaches her hand out. He slowly uncrosses his arms and reaches out his right hand. Okay, she grabs your hand. And as soon as she touches your hand, Daven, no one else sees this, only you.
01:03:38
Speaker
I'm trying to decide if I want everybody to take their headphones off. All right, that's fine. Yeah, everybody else take your headphones off. Ooh, nice secrets. Yeah. And Blaze is going to have to edit this and go, oh, I can't listen. So she grabs your hand. And as soon as she grabs your hand, her face changes immediately. It becomes the face, a male face, and it's almost so
01:04:06
Speaker
pure and white and almost a light blue. It's so white. And its eyes grow big and they're they're golden. And he goes, What? Where? What? Why? Why am I? Why am I awakened? And she lets go of your hand. And she she gasps. You that explains a lot, she says.
01:04:33
Speaker
So just to be clear, did her face change or my face change? Hers. Okay. And do I recognize this face? Yeah, it looks like a certain. Okay. I know. Yeah. I pulled back and I take a step back away from her. I say, what the hell was that?
01:04:52
Speaker
I can't. I don't know. I'm sorry. This is, like I said, never happened before. I believe in what I do and I believe that the cards do speak. I've never had them hindered by anything before. Something about you, something you have
01:05:19
Speaker
I have to tell everyone they can come back now. Something about you has kept this from working. It's kept it at bay, and I don't understand what it could be. Devin just turns around and walks out. All righty. I replied, baby, come back.
01:05:50
Speaker
And we're back. And we're back. And we're back. And we're back. And we're back. Please don't have to hear this, Tony. What was the, what was the last, like... So he, the last thing he did was, uh, she said to him, um, she said to him, I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened. For some reason it didn't work. I don't know why. And, and something about you is keeping this from working. I don't understand it. And he just walked out. Oh. Okay.
01:06:20
Speaker
I think Gwendolyn would sit down at the table.
Seeking Answers in the Woods
01:06:36
Speaker
Well, I assume that she would be shuffling cards again. Gwendolyn just put her hand up.
01:06:42
Speaker
I don't want my future of fate. I want to know the fate of the woods. And I slide across five gold. The fate of the woods, you say? Something's not right here. And someone has died. Elders out there are dying.
01:07:10
Speaker
I know it's the hunters. Something's not right here. Please, please. She slides the cards across. Pick three. The first one you lay down is a bouquet of flowers, beautiful bouquet of flowers with different color flowers and the white little sprigots of things coming up out of the flowers.
01:07:39
Speaker
She grins at you when she sees the flowers and takes the second card and flips it over. And this one is a white skull surrounded by light. And it's like there's light behind this skull shining up, shining around it and through it, making it shine bright. And the third card.
01:08:00
Speaker
is a very large tree, like a tree the size of a building. And the trunk of this tree has a big hole in the middle of it. And she smiles and she says, your great love will bring him back, you know. And as for the forest,
01:08:29
Speaker
Greed and selfishness. They burn away many beautiful things. Only love can quench the flames. I did not need the cards to tell me that. Thank you, dear. And she takes two of the gold pieces and puts them in her pouch and leaves the other three sitting on the table. I just walk away. I still leave the gold on the table.
01:08:59
Speaker
Okay. Are you walking out of the place? But I'm not like rushing out or anything. I'm just thinking. Cool. With myself being the last one in the room, I sit down across from her and I say I have just a question. Yes.
01:09:28
Speaker
There were others here before us, I'm sure you see many, but specifically a man who went by the name Vip. Do you recall this man and the fortune you gave him? I do, yes. It seems you weren't far off. Vip is no longer with us. He did find an ill fate out in the wilds.
01:09:59
Speaker
I thought you should know. She leans back in her chair in regret, you know, just that sits back and she says, I had hoped it just meant he would find a home here, not that, but I feared the worst. I'm sorry to hear this. I do.
01:10:23
Speaker
Appreciate your condolences. I will hopefully be able to pass it along to those close to him. You seem to have some insight or some connection with what's going on in these areas. Would you be able to tell me anything that maybe can at least guide us to either righting a wrong or something is not right?
01:10:52
Speaker
And at least I feel lost in trying to make it right. You and your friends seem to be of good heart. I would, I would not question your actions until you questioned your motives. May I ask of you a consideration? Of course.
01:11:23
Speaker
If you hear of something called the Dragon Pit they will tell you it doesn't exist. I need someone to find it. I need someone to find him there. He said that's where he was going.
01:11:49
Speaker
And I've been waiting for his return. Just, if you hear of it, let me know. Would you? You have my word. I believe that that is worth something. You are one of the few here that I believe that is so. Thank you for your time. I would be very happy to visit again and I will definitely keep my eyes out for this dragon pit.
01:12:19
Speaker
I'm grateful to you and thank you for your business today. Gavin comes storming in right then and he kind of interrupts the whole thing and he says, just so you know, whatever it is you think that you saw in me, you're wrong. It's all fake. There's nothing about that. And he grabs his two gold off there and he just storms back out. Sweet. Okay. I just, I sit there kind of dumbfounded. She slowly shakes her head and she looks at, she looks at you in the eyes and she says,
01:12:48
Speaker
Keep your eye on that one. Don't know if it's for your safety or his, but watch him. Please. Thank you. I believe I can. I start to walk out the building. As I open the door, I just turn back and ask. One week, huh? Whatever that means, yes. All right. And then I just walk out the door.
01:13:20
Speaker
Man, this shit's got spoopy. So spooky! Spooky indeed, Gwen.
Podcast Outro
01:13:38
Speaker
Tune in next week to continue the story along with us. Can the gang keep Marias from making a grave mistake? Is Daven possessing secrets that will doom us all?
01:13:50
Speaker
or does the Widow Tolliver know that Kriegs is so nervous about? Thank you for listening to the Hired Swords podcast. Keep up with us on Twitter and Facebook at the Hired Swords, and if you enjoyed our show, be sure to tell a friend. Thank you again from all of us here at the Hired Swords.