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Ep.11 The Job No One Would Take
173 Plays4 years ago
Determined to get to the bottom of what's happening in Wildhill, our adventurers set out to sign up for another job. What they didn't expect was to find a posting that hit Gwendolyn so close to home. Potentially divisive decisions must be made. Can our "heroes" neglect such an innocent and honest request?
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Transcript
Recap of Fortune Teller Incident
00:00:20
Speaker
You're listening to the Hired Swords, a Dungeons and Dragons podcast made just for you. Don't you feel special?
00:00:40
Speaker
Welcome back everybody to the hired swords. When we last left off, the crew had tried to tame Marius after coming out of a fortune teller hut. Having heard some craziness about their own lives from the cards, they came out and saw Marius throwing a hissy fit. When he calmed him down, they were able to get him to relax and get him to rest.
Drinking Contest and Overconfidence
00:01:07
Speaker
have some conversations about what might be next here in Wild Hill, but that yes, we need answers, but we don't have to go in guns a blazing, so to speak, to get them. And then the group went to have some breakfast and jocks are true to form challenged a large fighter type to a drinking contest, drunk the man under the table. It's the point where he went out and had to get rid of all of his beverage as quickly as possible.
00:01:36
Speaker
on the ground outside and jocks are came out afterwards and the group had kind of decided they were going to possibly go see what what they could do about finding another job somewhere here in Wild Hill. And so that's kind of where we are standing outside the longhouse just just after a little prestidigitation to make this guy's vomit a little worse on him. The group is standing outside the long hit longhouse having decided that they need to go find another job whether they go to the tower or
00:02:05
Speaker
They've been told that they could go to the nobleman's barracks, the tower, the lamppost and several places to see about finding jobs. And that's what they may be doing now. So group guys, welcome back to Wild Hill. Here we go. I'd like to start off by saying I prefer to call it a reversal of fortune. Vomit sounds a little too harsh. OK, a reversal of fortune. Yes, I think that's the term they use in the hot dog eating contests. And Shakespeare.
00:02:33
Speaker
Yeah, of course. Shakespeare, of course, created everything. Yeah, reverse full of fortune. Awesome. Joxer, he's kind of walking around and starting to feel a little overly confident. And then he looks up into the air, and he's like, oh, that sun. That sun is far too bright.
00:02:55
Speaker
Yes. Make a constitution saving throw. Oh God. As you have had a lot to drink this early in the morning with not a lot of breakfast. That was a 12. A 12. Okay. So far you feel it rising up and you have some experience in this. So you feel it rising up and filling your throat like you may have to
00:03:21
Speaker
vomit, but you're able to kind of cut it off and just kind of have a little spit spit it out and not actually hurl everywhere. But you know that this is going to be a long morning. You can already tell just just just got to hold it in past Mel just can't be around Mel. That's right. You'll be fine. I've seen you this bad off before. That was impressive.
00:03:46
Speaker
if you think that's impressive you should have seen the day we met oh that was quite oh that's a story yeah that's a story possibly for another time but let's just say neither one of us can exactly drink the other under the table I was quite surprised I honestly that's why we travel together that that that was an inseparable moment for two two gentlemen such as us
00:04:15
Speaker
Indeed. I suppose
Journey to the Tower for New Contracts
00:04:19
Speaker
we should finish with our journey and maybe do you think now is a good time to head over to the tower and look at the new contract see if he has anything available? It seems now would it be morning still it would be probably the best time as far as getting going for the day. Well lead the way then. I'm gonna walk towards the tower.
00:04:40
Speaker
Great. So you're walking towards the tower and as you go, there's not really, there's still not a lot of folks out and about as far as adventuring types. You, you see many townsfolk coming and going, doing the work that they have to do for the day, carrying things back and forth from the farm and from different shops, uh, things like that. And you see, you do see, as you round the corner at the tower of testing, once again, Sariah and Herman have kind of, except for the ones that were at the bar.
00:05:09
Speaker
or at the long house, excuse me. They're standing up front and she looks this time, Sariah looks like she is waiting on an opportunity to go inside or possibly somebody to come out. She's kind of standing, looking impatient, waiting for something. And there are several other folks just kind of standing around outside the tower.
00:05:33
Speaker
looking around waiting, like they're waiting for something. And some of them, you got a few noble type people standing out with a nicer kind of fine robes, a couple of young women standing here, standing there, just kind of hanging out waiting for folks to kind of gather around this area it looks like. I stop the group like real fast and I, before we get too close and I say, just in case it comes up for some strange reason, I was with you guys all morning, okay? Okay, okay.
00:06:03
Speaker
Sounds good to me. Jox, he looks up and then he pulls his head over his head. All right. All right. And as you approach the tower, Sariah is standing there and as you walk up, she looks up and sees you all approaching. She just gives you a nod and a wave and she says, as you get closer, she says, have you been to breakfast yet?
00:06:34
Speaker
Oh yes, just went there. A little bit ago. We're a couple of mine there. There were a few, I believe, a few of the yours were. Is Mel one of yours? Mel, yes, yes. He's the front man. He's the get up in their face type. Very important. We just got a job. I need to gather them so we can go. Good luck gathering him.
00:07:02
Speaker
He might be a little worse for the wear at the moment. Oh no. What has he done this time? Oh, uh, let's just say he might not be able to hold his booze as well as he thought. Is one of you responsible for this? Of course not. We're just adventurers. Well, we opened early in the morning. Come on. That's a good point. The sun just came up.
00:07:25
Speaker
What a fool. He knew that we were, he knew that we had something to do this morning. Ah, he, he may have to stay behind. I'm going to go talk to him right now. Come on. And she waves the other two with her and they start to walk up off away from you towards the long house. And the, you see Tomba standing up on the front steps. You see a woman, actually everyone just make perception checks to see what exactly you see. Everyone make a perception check. Oh, that's a three.
00:07:54
Speaker
I got a natural two. Dirty 20 and 19. Okay. So Gwendolyn and Krigs, you two, you see Tomba standing up at the top. He's got a, his arm, he's got a couple of scrolls kind of he's holding in his arms and he's just kind of standing there looking out over the crowd, the kind of few little folks that are little group of folks that have kind of gathered around the,
00:08:24
Speaker
the tower. You don't see any more adventurers. It still doesn't seem like anyone else has made it back that has been gone. But you see several noble men standing out there and you see this one young woman, this elven woman who is standing. She's kind of short but standing proudly. She's wearing fine garments and she's got dark
00:08:50
Speaker
long dark hair and her face kind of has these little kind of like tattoos on them and like just around the tops of her eyes above her eyebrows down her nose. They kind of meet down in her nose and she's wearing these these kind of sea foam green robes with a crimson red underneath and
00:09:13
Speaker
She's standing, looking nervously and kind of looking at you, trying to make you out, like size you up the way she's looking at you, like with kind of questions and it seems. And so she's looking at you like that. And Tomba is looking down the steps that you guys kind of like, oh, interesting.
Francine's Plea for Help
00:09:27
Speaker
Here's some of them. And looks like he's interested in chatting with you as well. Tomba, my friend, what's the good word this morning?
00:09:37
Speaker
Oh, hello there. Just handing out a couple of jobs for the chief. That's all. Funny that. We're actually, we're back in town now after our last job. We're looking for maybe another job if you have anything available. Oh, sure. Let's see. He pulls a scroll out and he looks at it and he goes, yeah, this is,
00:10:01
Speaker
The chief's been trying to find a certain place out in the wilds and has been struggling. He's just 1,000 gold pieces to anybody who finds it and secures it for the hired sword's use, that's all. Here's a bit of information about it if you're interested. I can tell him that you've chosen this job if you'd like, whatever you think. Well, it looks like you have a couple of scrolls there. What else you got? Just not saying we don't want that one, just out of curiosity what our options might be.
00:10:31
Speaker
Oh, this is something a few folks have turned in. This isn't necessarily for the chief himself. One is something at the village just up north from here a little ways. Dornaldi Boguesha turned this one in. He resides over in the barracks over there helping with the nobleman's needs, but he turned this in. He needs some help out near the village.
00:10:54
Speaker
than this other one, and he holds the second one. This one, it's been here a long time. This young woman over here, she turned this one in. It's been here a long time. Nobody seems to want this one, but if you're interested, it's still here. The chief has agreed to keep it in the list until somebody takes it, but it's up to you guys, whatever you'd like to do. This one's, it's kind of a wild goose chase, I think, so to speak, so I don't know. Nobody seems to want it.
00:11:22
Speaker
Joxer will put his hand on Krigs and kind of like on his shoulder and kind of squeeze in an act of like we should definitely look at that one. OK.
00:11:35
Speaker
Gwendolyn is probably crunching on a few carrots. She's kind of quiet because she hasn't eaten, and she's feeling a little hungover from everything from last night. And while she's crunching, she's kind of eyeing this elven woman. She's going to crunch. Make an insight check. Slow crunching? Yeah, just crunch. It's crunch. C-R-I-N-C-H, crunch.
00:12:01
Speaker
Oh, two plus four equals six, a six. OK, she she is the it's very obvious. The only thing you gather is the obvious, but it's very obvious that she is taking interest in your conversation with Tomba. She's inching forward, trying to hear what you're talking about. I just look at her. OK, crunch. And I just put a hand out straight out and I just do the come here.
00:12:30
Speaker
Okay, like I know she's prowling. Yeah, she totally like takes that as oh, thank God like permission and she just like beeline straight towards you. And she, she kind of bows her head. And you can kind of see in her eyes, she's having to force herself to do that. She's not used to having to, you know,
00:12:52
Speaker
bow her head to people, but she's willing to do so. And when she looks back up at you, she says, are you considering assisting me with this quest I need accomplished? Have you considered it? Well, we haven't looked at it, really. What is your name? Crunch. She's the lady.
00:13:17
Speaker
Yeah. My name is Francine Einhorn. It is a pleasure. Nice to meet you. What seems to be the issue?
00:13:30
Speaker
Well, I have been here for two seasons, seeking someone who will help find my father in the mountains. He fought with the armies of Helm and 10 years ago was lost on a mission in the mountains. I believe that he is alive. He has been spoken of as dead and I do not believe it. I can feel inside of myself that he still is alive and I will give all that I have
00:13:57
Speaker
All that I have on me, all that I have left without my father, to just find him. And because money is no object to me, I will give everything I have to find him and know that he is safe. But no one seems to believe me. They will not go. They will not try. Gwendolyn immediately drops her food, like her little plate that she had, and she just grabs the woman's hand. We can help you. She just automatically is like, yes.
00:14:28
Speaker
She starts crying. She doesn't have words. Go ahead, Krigs. Look at her. I can't not help. Could we possibly do this one? I mean, as far as I'm concerned, we can do any of them. Domba, what exactly is the rule on picking up more than one contract at a time?
00:14:52
Speaker
Oh, only one at a time. Their other parties will be back soon. It would be a shame if there was nothing for them, wouldn't it? They can't be hanging around the town with nothing to do too long. It would not go well, trust me. Krigs is a little bit visibly sort of shaken by the story, but is willing. I just feel like that's what Gwendolyn would do.
00:15:20
Speaker
Sure. Sure. Just immediately. Devin says, uh, Francine, uh, Tom buff, you wouldn't mind giving us a few minutes to discuss this amongst ourselves. Of course. Francine goes, please, please just consider it. All I have, all I have is yours, please. Uh, Jackson, uh, uh, Francine, no, no worries. We, we have, we had a couple of bit of business before and we just need to, to, to consider some of that before we get back. I don't see us not taking this job. No worries.
00:15:51
Speaker
I can't, I can't, I can't believe it. You're the only ones to really talk seriously about it all this time. I'm okay. Thank you. Thank you. Please take your time. So I'll walk. I'm assuming away with the group. Okay.
00:16:09
Speaker
Um, well, I know when this probably hits a little close to home for you. Oh, oh, oh, oh, wait. And she pulls a Dale out because he's got to be a part of the conversation. Nice. Okay. He has a coin. So yes.
00:16:29
Speaker
I'm not opposed to doing this contract, really I'm not. Um, but it kind of goes against what we are trying to do. I mean, obviously she's separate from this whole thing. It seems like it'd be more of a distraction for our end goals than it would be anything else. I mean, you're not wrong. I just, she's missing her father and I, I don't know. I just, I didn't mean to jump the gun.
00:16:57
Speaker
Davin, I agree with you entirely, but the more I think about it, I find it unique that this specific job would be turned down and kind of treated arbitrary. If money's involved, why would the hired swords ignore it? Well, I mean, do we know for sure that money is involved? She said herself everything she had, she might not have anything. That's not why I would do this in the first place.
00:17:27
Speaker
Um, again, I think it is a little bit of a interesting circumstance and puts me in a little bit of a precarious position. But, uh, Gwen, if you think this is worth our time, I will trust you on this. I look back at the woman and do, do I see any sign again or, or can I not? Like this is like, she's lying. You want to make another insight check?
00:17:57
Speaker
kind of. I don't want to cheat the system. One more one more is fine. You're looking at her a second time after a conversation. It works. Don't know if that's a good Oh my god or a bad one. A 22.
00:18:13
Speaker
She is watching you anxiously. You can see that she is on pins and needles waiting to see if you're gonna do this for her. There doesn't seem to be a scrap of maliciousness or nefarious intent in her eyes. I'd like to approach Francine. Okay, you walk up to her and she looks at you anxiously with anticipation.
00:18:42
Speaker
Excuse me, Francine. You didn't mention before. What is your father's name? His name is Delmar Einhorn. He really was of no circumstance other than, to me, he just served with the armies as a scout. Would I recognize this name? Make a history check.
00:19:15
Speaker
That is 17. Okay. Um, I would say he's not someone that you heard of. You do know, as she mentioned him being a scout, that he was probably in the kind of, did the kind of job that you weren't really involved in. He would go ahead to do things and then your groups would follow, right? Uh, so.
00:19:42
Speaker
Yeah, you don't have any recollection of his name necessarily, but you definitely get the sense that she's calling him a scout. She's an elf, so you assume he was an elven man, and that was very common for the scouts to be elves, especially in the mountains or the forest. So yeah, you don't recognize the name, but you definitely get a sense from the conversation with her that she's telling the truth about who her father was.
00:20:11
Speaker
based on what you know about the armies and what he would have done there. Well, Francine, I can only speak for myself. And obviously, Gwendolyn is very interested in this and helping you as well. But I will do everything I can, if I can, to bring your father back. I can't thank you enough, but she hands you a pouch. She says, you can take it all now, just for taking the job and do your best.
00:20:40
Speaker
And she pulls out a necklace that's hanging around her neck. And it's just got an orange gem with a gold chain. And it's orange gem on it. And it kind of glistens in the sunlight. And she says, I will give you this when you come with him or news of what has happened to him. I look at the party, hold the pouch in my hand, look back at her. Francine, this won't be necessary.
00:21:08
Speaker
And I hand the pouch back. And hopefully my party's not mad. I'm going to make a roll. That's fine. Like through the eyes of Joxer, you can barely, or through the hood, you can see him smirk and just kind of look away. Like you knew that was going to happen. Yeah. Yeah. We know where we're at.
00:21:35
Speaker
Okay. I haven't kind of looked at like a sigh and just kind of nods his head like an agreement. Okay. Yes.
00:21:43
Speaker
Go ahead, Gwen, real quick, Gwen. I was just going to say to the other two, to Dockser and Daven, I think she's telling the truth, right? Did Dale, and Dale is just in my hand. Yeah, and Dockser's response would have been more like, I never specifically doubted that. I'm actually more interested as to why the hired swords are shunning this job. It might be more beneficial than the other post to us.
00:22:12
Speaker
Somba, hand me that scroll. I think we're on the case. He says, okay, that's amazing. Get this one off the docket so we can move on to different things. Here you are and hand it to you. I'm going to rejoin my party with the scroll in hand and see if...
00:22:28
Speaker
See if they're ready for it. And I'm going to kind of ask Francine to accompany. Francine, if you don't mind, um, could you give us any more information, anything else besides what's on this scroll, some clues, some hints, some direction, anything your father may, uh, may have left clues behind? All, all I know from, from what I've gathered, I've been searching for him for 10 years.
00:22:53
Speaker
And I know that I've learned from speaking to some of his superiors that sent him on his mission. They finally were able to reveal that he went to a, some fort in the stone mountains, just on the other side of the wilds here. And, and he, he.
00:23:11
Speaker
was supposed to wait there for more soldiers to come. And apparently they lost word. Their mages were no longer sending messages back. And so they decided not to send any more because they considered it too dangerous and that everyone there was lost. Last they had heard was something was in the mountains that
00:23:32
Speaker
they didn't expect. I don't know. There's some fort up there that is not far from the edge of the forest up the mountains a ways. So that's, that's all I know. You should go through the forest. They say all the way to the other side of the forest. It'll take you near a week. And then when you get there, you must go up for another day and a half to two days. And somewhere around there, there should be a fort.
00:24:01
Speaker
Jockster pulls out one of his little tankards because he's starting to feel a little sicker so he's starting to drink a little bit more. So is there anywhere you you stay here? Are you able to like have a safe place at least while we're gone looking? I stay here in my father's cabin here. He had this where he would come back before the war when Wild Hill was just a place where the
00:24:27
Speaker
Nobles would come for retreats and things and vacations, but I stay there, but I'm fine here. I have all I need. I've just been searching for someone here in Wild Hill that would go find him for me. Francine, would you mind if we looked through that cabin? You say it was his cabin, right?
00:24:53
Speaker
It was, yes. 10, 15 years ago, he would come here. He left from here before he went. I mean, I've been through it a lot, but I can show you what I found there if you'd like. I'm talking over people. Go ahead. I would hate to think that there might be a missed clue of some sort.
00:25:16
Speaker
Sure. I can show you everything I found that I found that helped me make my way to here to know that he left from here to go up there. It's there, you know, my research. Please, please join me. I'll get you some tea or something to drink and you can sit and listen to my story if you'd like. That sounds wonderful. I'm Gwendolyn. Gwendolyn, it's a pleasure to meet you. Like I said, I'm Francine.
00:25:46
Speaker
My name is, uh, Kriegs Golder. It's very nice to meet you and I'm sorry for your unfortunate circumstances. Well, you've given me great hope. I haven't, I haven't felt hope in a very long
Investigating Francine's Father's Disappearance
00:25:59
Speaker
time. So thank you. Jockzer will pull back his, uh, his head a bit and, or pull it back and then just, uh, I'm, I'm Jockzer. Pleasure to meet you, Francie. Jockzer, the pleasure's mine.
00:26:15
Speaker
Devin just kind of holds up his hand and he says, Devin, uh, gentlemen, uh, ladies, if you don't mind, I have some business I have to attend to. If you don't mind, why don't you go and check out the cabin. I'll be back with you guys in about an hour. Okay. Be safe. Who's he going to shift into now? Nobody heading toward Hurley's lodge. Okay, great.
00:26:40
Speaker
Great, okay, so we have Joxer Kriggs, Gwendolyn, following Francine to her cabin at the Nobleman's Barracks area, just southeast of the lamppost inn, while Davin is heading just up the road past the Tower of Testing, northward towards Hurley's Lodging and Nignax. And let's go ahead, Davin, we'll start with you.
00:27:10
Speaker
you have the shorter journey as the nobleman's barracks, the far end of the nobleman's barracks is where Francine is taking them. So you walk towards Hurley's lodging and knickknacks. There's really nobody coming or going. It's pretty slow, it seems, but you can walk back up inside there. And as you walk in, you see everything like it was, the little bits kind of carved, whittled little creatures sitting on the shelves and back behind, back behind there is
00:27:39
Speaker
is Slim sitting back behind the counter. Ah, Slim, it's good to see you again, friend. Oh, hello there. It's good to see you too. What can I do for you? Oh, about a week ago, I said I wanted to try and send off a package. I'm getting ready to leave town for a couple of weeks and I think I better give it to you now before I leave.
00:28:04
Speaker
Oh, okay. Of course. Um, please, uh, what, uh, where would you like it sent? And he grabs a little piece of, a little small piece of parchment and a quill and dips it in some ink to write down. Uh, he'll go ahead and give, uh, like a destination for where he's sending this. He's like, can I also have a piece of paper so I can write a little bit of a note to go with it?
00:28:23
Speaker
Yeah, sure. So he writes down that, that, uh, that, uh, town that needs, let's see this, this needs to go. Okay. And he's writing down like the name of a shop there or something that it's going to go to. And he says, uh, okay. What is your message? Um, say it's, um, let's see. Write down. I know it's not much, but there'd be more in the future. I hope this suffices for now. And also this little gift to come with it made me think of you. Hope to see you soon. That's all.
00:28:53
Speaker
Oh, that's lovely. Okay. And he writes it out a little all out and he wraps it up in some like, uh, hide and ties it with a string. And what do you give him to put in there? I'm giving him a 50 gold pieces and the little figurine that I had purchased from him. Okay, cool.
00:29:10
Speaker
So he takes those, he takes the gold pieces and he, Oh, okay. And he wraps them up separately and puts them inside there, wraps that up, ties it up. And he says, well, I think, uh, let's see today is, yes, I think we're about, uh, five days or so from the runner coming back again. And, uh, he'll, he'll be, he'll do okay. Can I, could I trouble you for, um, a couple of gold for the fees? I've got to make sure he's paid or he, he may go through them. The, the packages to find gold for himself.
00:29:38
Speaker
Oh, of course I would not plan on doing this for free. In fact, I was hoping to get a little bit more, uh, rations and some things for the road. If you don't mind. Oh, perfect. Do you just want the basic travel kit we have along? You think it'd be gone or do you, do you want to go look for yourself and see what you need? Uh, maybe, uh, for five people, maybe a couple of weeks worth of food, just, just to get by through the forest. Oh, a couple of weeks. Okay. And he, um, steps, steps down off his stool. He kind of disappears behind the counter.
00:30:05
Speaker
and comes back and around and he starts grabbing stuff off the shelf and putting it in a couple of these burlap bags. And he just kind of grabs little bits of wrapped up dried meat, little bits of like grain and stuff like that, and just kind of fills it up. These little pouches that look like almost
00:30:22
Speaker
He gets a scoop and scoops into these little pouches from this barrel stuff that looks almost just like a mix of seeds and nuts and berries and things like dried stuff that looks like a, what am I trying to say? Oh, shell mix. And so he's filling that up too. And we got one who doesn't care for the meat too much. Oh, some extra. Okay, you can do that. He puts it all together and
00:30:42
Speaker
walks around the corner and puts the two burlap sacks on there. He says, this should last you more than, more than what you said, more than a couple of weeks, as long as, as long as nobody's taken more than their fair share, I guess. Uh, yes, this, this total will be about 12 gold with this mailing and the package and the, and the others. I would slide them over 12 gold.
00:31:03
Speaker
Okay, great. That's, that's perfect. Uh, thank you very much. I'll make sure this gets sent. Uh, like I said, you, you, it'll probably be about five days before it goes and judging from your destination, it'll probably be a couple of weeks before it gets where it's going to. Okay. I think you, sir. It's good to see you again. Hopefully I see you again. I'll come back. Yes. Come back in and take a look. Uh, Hurley's put together a few more little items to sell. He was so excited that he sold one of his, his little critters that he's been, uh, he's been whittling away since.
00:31:32
Speaker
Well, that's good to hear. I'll see you soon, Slim. Yeah, sure. See you later. And I'll go and I'll try and head back to... I guess I don't know where they were going, so I'll head back to the camp and expect to see them there. Okay. The rest of the group travels down towards the nobleman's barracks with Francine, and you travel down the...
00:31:51
Speaker
You're kind of going over this hilly path that goes over several of these hills and you see many identical cabins. It looks like they're rentals right over to your right hand side. On the left hand side are some nicer, larger cabins and each one's a little unique, a little different.
00:32:07
Speaker
And they overlook the mountains. You can sneak out a great view of the mountains and the windmill down on the south, the southern view towards the forest. And she takes you to the third one. And it's kind of the smallest of all of these. It's a little quaint cottage compared to some of these other little more larger, like cabin, log cabin kind of homes. And she walks up to the front door and opens it and invite, just kind of motions you to follow her in.
00:32:35
Speaker
And so as you walk in with her, she points down to a very like a cushioned bench sitting in the middle of this good sized little living room area that the majority of this home, it looks like at least half of it or more is one big kind of sitting room. And there's a small like knee high table.
00:32:56
Speaker
in the middle, a round wooden table with some benches kind of strewn about that are cushioned and some pillows on the floor. And she says, please have a seat and I will get some tea. And she walks through a little doorway, a round archway carved out of one. It's this archway that the walls are wooden, but then there's one big piece of wood is put in the middle of this wall. And they've cut a beautiful ornate archway out of this piece of wood. She walks through it.
00:33:26
Speaker
into a room beyond and you kind of hear the clanging of some pots and things like that and the pouring of water and she's kind of getting some tea going as you guys kind of sit in this room. So anything you guys want to do when you first make it in here and have a seat.
00:33:41
Speaker
Um, so, uh, as, as Francine asks, as I said, I, um, uh, jocks are, um, if you don't mind, I'd, I'd like to walk, walk around the cabin outside real quick and just, just look around outside. Oh, sure. Please. As you wish. Um, so, so I'll walk.
00:34:04
Speaker
walk outside and just kind of inspect any anything that like the walls or anything like that. It's off chance, but potentially something that might be hidden or or kind of intentionally push the sign. OK, go ahead and make an investigation check as you walk around and look around. That is an 11.
00:34:32
Speaker
Okay, you look around and as you kind of look up and down the walls, you kind of look down at the edge where the ground meets the walls on the outside of the building and nothing really catches your eye. You do notice that it's a little more overgrown than some of these other homes are. There's vines kind of growing up the walls and that sort of thing and a little more, you know, than it should be.
00:35:00
Speaker
There is a door that kind of opens into an underneath of the house. It's like a storm door kind of thing that is that is kind of built into the bottom of the built into dug into the earth there on the backside of the house. You see it as well. It's just a simple wooden door with a latch and a small metal locking mechanism on the latch.
00:35:25
Speaker
Okay, so it is. Yeah, it looks like, okay. Then I would, I would just return in and then sit down with the group. Okay. Gwendolyn would immediately sit down and she'd put Dale right beside her. This is a nice, nice home you have or your father have. She called out. Oh, thank you. I'm trying my best to keep it nice. It's, it's, it's not easy trying to save all my gold for
00:35:56
Speaker
for finding my father, but I'm doing my best. I'm going to look around the room for any suspicious things. Okay, can make an investigation check. Oh, it be 17.
00:36:13
Speaker
17. So as you look around the room, you, you see that this room is bare. It's slim pickings, man. It's it's a these benches with with cushions on them and cushions on the floor. And this table, like I said, and there's you feel like there should be more in here, you know, more
00:36:33
Speaker
Some kind of more furniture or something and there's just not and it's very it seems very empty To you and so you don't see anything of interest because there's just not a lot in here Does it seem like she does it seem new or old?
00:36:50
Speaker
Heather, it seems old. Yeah, it's old. And it's it looks like there you can actually see in some areas where there used to be furniture sitting up against the walls, maybe like a desk here and a little chest there or something. But there's where the floor has been worn around where the where the furniture once set, there's the more nicer looking floor underneath where the furniture was it like something used to be here and it's not there anymore.
00:37:17
Speaker
Is there a chair to sit in? Yeah, there's benches and stuff you can sit on. Nice. Crazy is just going to take his shield off the back, set it kind of off to the side and sit on a bench and wait for a tee. Okay. Yeah. These nice cushioned benches. They've got the kind of golden fabric over the top of them.
00:37:44
Speaker
Joxer is going to kind of sit over or kind of move to Craig's whenever he sits down. And there is a room underneath the cabin. I'm a little curious, but. You can ask her about it yourself. That's not my place. I just figured I'd leave.
00:38:09
Speaker
I appreciate the sentiment, but I think it would be a little awkward for me to immediately pop out. Hey, what's in your basement? I suppose you are worried about that sort of thing. By all means, if you think there's some clue in there, feel free to
00:38:38
Speaker
I support you in this decision. Oh, I'm just saying I don't have any issue asking about basements.
00:38:48
Speaker
This is like the weirdest conversation all the time. Are you guys like, is this like a code for somebody else? Yeah, it sounds like it. Jox really likes punching butts, so I'm assuming. I don't know. I didn't realize it was awkward. I was just, you know. I'm just waiting to see Jox. Gwendolyn yells out.
00:39:15
Speaker
Uh, you said you had some research. Do you, can you show us? She calls out. Yes. Yes. I'll bring it. I'll bring it with the tea one moment. And it's, it's only another 30 seconds to a minute or so. And she walks out with a tray in, in one hand, she's kind of holding it between her, her hand and her, the side of her body to hold it steady. And the other hand she has.
00:39:41
Speaker
a couple scrolls and a couple large kind of books under her arm and she walks in the room and she sets the tea down as gently as she can and then she grabs the books and stuff and kind of drops them down on the table as well. She says, please look at all you'd like. I can tell you what's in there, but if you'd like to look for yourself, that's fine as well. Anything you'd like to search or look at, it's fine with me.
00:40:08
Speaker
Francine, I did notice that there's a room underneath this cabin. Is that used for any purpose? My father stored some things down there. I've been down there a couple times to find things to sell, but I don't really have a market for some of them here. I'd have to get them to a better city. But yeah, you could look down there if you'd like.
00:40:36
Speaker
I would I would I would like to do that after we look through these. Yeah, so I would just like to look through the room after we go through some of these other documents. Sure, OK, OK. She she says seeming to be as compliant as you know, as compliant as ever. She's just very. Yeah, no, no problem. OK, so you guys are just going to start digging through the other stuff.
00:41:05
Speaker
I think for politeness, it would probably do to sit down and just have some tea and then look at those things after.
00:41:19
Speaker
Okay, so yeah, sure, you sit and have some tea and she's just kind of sitting and looking at you all while you're drinking the tea. And she's like, okay, well, this book here is kind of my journal of the time my father was gone. And I've tucked in there some of the letters he sent to me while he was out in the war. There's only a few of them. I hope that many of them didn't make it because I felt like he would have sent more to me than it seems like he did.
00:41:47
Speaker
they're in there along with my journal. The second book is kind of another journal that I've written in as I've been searching for him and kind of telling what it is I've done as I've been looking and who I've spoken to and what they've said. And the rest of these notes and things are just kind of my scrawlings and scribblings as I've tried to kind of piece together everything. And this is really what led me here to Wild Hill is finding out that this is the nearest place to
00:42:14
Speaker
the fort that I believe he was sent to. She says, this is kind of what led me here and there's not much since I got here. I know that I wouldn't last a day in those wilds. I've seen the heads of the things they bring out of there. I was here the whole season last year. There's no way I'd make it in there. I just needed someone to take this seriously and since all I have was this 500 gold to offer that nobody would take it.
00:42:45
Speaker
Fran, can I call you Fran? I guess, no one ever has, but if you'd like. Is there anything that sort of stuck out, like something someone said or a letter your father wrote, something that doesn't seem right?
00:43:07
Speaker
Something that, yes, one of the, one of the, the main like leaders here, I don't know. I think they call him the heads of party or the heads of, I don't know. They, one of them, he told me once that the, he was a magic user. He told me once that he had heard of what happened there and to give up, there was no way anyone survived, but I, I couldn't get any more out of him than that. Do you know his name?
00:43:33
Speaker
Did he have teeth? Oh, he did. He did. He was like all his teeth. He was a gnome a gnomish man with with the rose and he had a strange staff with a gym on it. It's one of the leaders. Wasn't the one I spoke to today. Thank you. Oh, okay. Yes, he just said not to not to bother but I just have this feeling I don't I don't know how to explain it. He's alive. He is.
00:44:01
Speaker
She takes a sip of her tea and her cup starts to shake a little bit and kind of rattle on the little saucer that the teacup sits on. And she just, he has to be, I'm sorry. And she just gets a little broken there. I put my hand on her. Okay. Either her leg or her arm as like reassuring, not like, Hey baby. Okay. No, I got what you mean. Hey. Yeah.
00:44:29
Speaker
She looks over at you and nods her head in appreciation, you know, and you're all very kind, not only to take the job, but just seems that you're doing it out of the kindness of your heart. And you're the first people I've run into in this town that seem to have much of a heart at all, to be honest. Yeah, a lot of these, these people just seem very narrow lined
00:44:56
Speaker
I don't know about the Daven guy quite yet, but, uh, and just Craig's laughs to himself. Just you, are you okay? It's been a long night.
00:45:16
Speaker
I obviously did. I'm sorry Francine. Did you say that there was a specific war that your dad was scouting? I know the location, but was there like any specific item or war going on?
00:45:35
Speaker
Well, I mean, the great war that most of the soldiers here fought in is really, that's what it was. He served as a scout for the armies of Helm and he had been on the front lines for so long and they pulled him back to secure this fort so that they could be sure that there was nothing coming up from the south towards the mountains and the wilds.
00:46:02
Speaker
I don't know, it's the only war I've really heard of here, the one that was just, what was it, 30, 40 years ago that it ended? Then when it was over, he was sent to these courts, yeah. I'm sorry, you said 30, 40 years ago it ended, but your father was missing 10 years ago? Yes, yes, he's continued to serve and he was sent there to just
00:46:32
Speaker
create this ability, this place for a base for the army to work out of in the mountains. And then they just ceased all efforts to do so when they heard of whatever happened there, that I just don't know what it was. It does seem quite unusual and Wildhills seems to just know no bounds at how things can be unusual.
00:46:58
Speaker
Yes, I think it is pretty frustrating. At least my experience here has been that no one really has any real answers as to how this town really works. As I speak with everyone, it's very confusing. And you said that you spoke with an unknown. Yes, yes. I look at Krigs and Joxery. Was there a known party leader?
00:47:28
Speaker
Do I remember a gnome party leader from the long house whenever I took that drink? Because I know the three were there. The first time, yes, you
Mysteries and Leads in the Basement
00:47:41
Speaker
do. And the announcement of them, there is this gnomish sorcerer with the staff that had a red gem hanging from these like this hooked staff that he had. Gotcha. His name is Sabre. Yeah.
00:47:55
Speaker
Gotcha. So, yeah, Joxer didn't know his name because he didn't join that announcement. Right. Oh, that's right. You weren't at that. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. So Joxer is like, I know he's one of the three main leaders. I don't know much more than that. I saw him at the Long House whenever Devon and I went out.
00:48:24
Speaker
Oh, yes. Yes, he's... I've only spoken to him the one time and he just wrote me off and told me to give up. That's unusual. Speaking of Davin, he should be back by now, should he not? Back where? He didn't know where to go. True. Never mind.
00:48:52
Speaker
Never mind. I thought maybe just Krigs didn't know, didn't think about it. Yeah. Well, that's it to me. That was like, that was kind of the thing. It's like, Oh, he should be. Oh, no. Yeah. Oh, I just thought, I don't know. I was kind of confused. It's like, should we, it feels like we've been here for an hour. I just expected him to show up.
00:49:15
Speaker
Well, yeah, I don't know. You continue. I'll probably ask to go see the room soon. Okay. Is anyone else? Yeah. I think, thinking of the leaders and stuff, she remembers Daven all of a sudden. And she's like, we didn't tell Daven where we were going, did we? No.
00:49:43
Speaker
He had something to attend to, said it'd be about an hour. It's been about an hour. I'm wondering if I should go find him. I think that that would be the best. I'm just going to grab my shield and make my way out the door and try to look for Daven. OK.
00:50:05
Speaker
Francine says, thank you again, sir. Are you sure the gold? I've been saving it for anyone who could go. Francine, don't worry about it. Knowing your reaction, sorry. Let's go over these journals, and I just sit there with her.
00:50:31
Speaker
Okay. She, she opens the journals and just please, I've kind of told you what's there. Take a look at them and I'll let you make an insight check or investigation check with advantage. She's kind of guiding you through it. Okay. Oh my goodness. That would be an 11.
00:50:53
Speaker
Okay. It's just, it's what she said. I mean, you're, you're, the journal just speaks of the, the journal from him during him being gone is, I mean, it's a full big book packed with all these writings. And she's just talking about, you know, living, living in town and going through and doing the things that she had to do with her, getting her servants to take her to do things and stuff like that. And then, and then, uh, later on in that, it kind of speaks of her
00:51:23
Speaker
having to, because her father isn't there, you know, finding out that her, some of her estate's not available to her. And so she's having to let servants go and they're leaving and all this. And then you get to the other book and it starts just kind of documenting her searching for her dad. And she's writing, you know, things like, today I
00:51:48
Speaker
I went to the tavern here in town and I found someone who knew of this mission. He was an old soldier and he knew that they had been sent to a fort somewhere in the stone mountains. I've got to find a map and just things like that where she's just writing about what she's learned. She's totally got in these parchment. As she starts to show you, she spreads them out, all these little pieces of parchment.
00:52:14
Speaker
know, always sunny in Philadelphia with the thread going to all the papers. She's like, okay, so here's how it is. And she's starting to get a little excited. Like she's super proud of her work here. And you kind of sense that the sadness is leaving as she she feels that hope and she's getting a little excited to show you. So you see if they sent him, if they sent him just just about 15 years ago, and he was supposed to be there for
00:52:38
Speaker
for five years, then we find out he's not coming back and it's been 10 years since then. So we search that and we can know that here in Wild Hill, they've only been doing these tests or hunts or whatever for the past 20 years or so. And she just starts kind of going through all this stuff.
00:52:55
Speaker
And so that's what led me here to Wild Hills. I think this must be, there's got to be something here. And then I found out that I was looking through our information and found out that we had a home here that my father used to come visit before I was born and
00:53:10
Speaker
take my mother here. And so I thought I'd find it and sure enough here it sat still in our name. And so I was able to convince the chief that this is where I should stay. And it was, it's amazing, but this is, this is where we should go from here. From there, I've just hit a dead end, not being able to find anyone these last two seasons to go find my father.
00:53:29
Speaker
uh gwendolyn is starting to choke up inside her eyes are starting to get red and it's bringing up a lot of memories to her and so she looks up and she goes fran can you and like she does a big sigh she's like can can you show joxa the room downstairs i i can handle it from here and she just looks at joxa with like teary eyes yeah
00:53:59
Speaker
He immediately kind of nods and, please Fred, let's look at what we can find downstairs. Okay, sure. I've only been down there a couple of times, but, okay. So she reaches, she goes back through the archway and is gone for a couple of seconds. It comes back with a key on a long string and she walks out the front door, says, follow me, and walks around to the back there.
00:54:29
Speaker
reaches down and unlocks that lock, pulls a pin out of the latch and swings the door open. And she says, please, it's very dark down there, but you're welcome to go on down. At that point, I would kind of pull out a torch from my belongings and try to light it to go downstairs or down there. Okay. All right. So you light your torch and
00:54:59
Speaker
you walk down and it's more like a ladder, but it is at a little bit of an angle so you can kind of walk down. It's just awkward. You kind of walk down six or seven stamps and this room is pretty small. It's only like 15 by 15 feet and it is a dugout room with hand padded dirt on the floor and the walls and the ceiling is just the floorboards of the house, right?
00:55:27
Speaker
And you can even kind of see the light from above, just little shafts of light and dust kind of flickering through the shafts of light. And there is a, uh, there is a human looking figure that stands about two feet tall standing in the corner with a, but it's, it's, it's in the shadows. It's in, it's standing in the corner and that's it. That's all that's there. Did she follow me down? No, she's standing outside.
00:55:58
Speaker
And out of what I can see, it's just the floor of the building were under a human figure and it's completely barren. Yes. It's just 15 feet room dirt. And she said she's been down there a couple of times and taking stuff out to sell.
00:56:18
Speaker
But all that's left is this whatever the travel. Francine, you spoke of a handful of things that you thought you could sell but not here. Is it just one thing? Yes, there's the figure down there and there's a
00:56:41
Speaker
a little bag with stuff in it near there too. I, I don't know if it's worth anything to anyone here. Well, the little baggie, I was just kind of saving just in case, but the, the, the figure down there, I thought possibly I could sell somewhere, but no one here seems to want it. Okay. Uh, so I guess I'm going to try to inspect, uh, or get closer to the little figure. So you walk up to the figure and hold your,
00:57:09
Speaker
hold your torch over it and it is a small statue of a warrior and this warrior has a shield, a big shield and a large sword strapped to its hip and it's got a big bushy beard and big long hair and a golden crown on his head and
00:57:37
Speaker
it's just standing, looking upward, like it's looking up to the sky. And this is a black stone, it's like a dark black stone statue or carving of this warrior. And down beneath it is a small leather pouch tied up with string on the top of it. So the pouch is just like,
00:58:05
Speaker
like he's holding it or just there's just a pouch on top. It's just sitting, well, not the floor, but it's sitting on the like base of this, the base of this stat little statuette figurine or figurine. It's about three foot tall, so it's bigger than a figurine. It's more like home decor kind of thing, but it's very ornate and nice looking. OK, so I'll could I guess look, grab the bag slowly and then look inside of it if I can.
00:58:34
Speaker
OK, inside the bag are two small vials of liquid, red liquid and a ring. Two vials. Does the ring look abnormal? Does it have any can I see any inscriptions or? Make an investigation check in your torchlight as you look at the ring. OK.
00:59:02
Speaker
That is, it's not a flower. That's an eight. Okay. There are writings in it. It's just a, it's a silver metal ring with the inside of it has some sorts of like glyphs inside of it, like hieroglyphic looking drawing and writings inside of it. Very small. Would it be a particular language of some sort?
00:59:33
Speaker
Um, or is it magical because that, that is a thing that from being a linguist. Mm-hmm. It's, it looks like magical, not language. Okay. Like not just, yeah, not just. Okay. Okay. Then at least a baseline there. Um, yeah.
00:59:53
Speaker
Um, then, uh, at that point, uh, I'd like to inspect or investigate the statue a little bit more. I'll, I'll close that up. Um, knowing that that that's there and. Okay. Make an investigation check on the statue. That is a 12. Okay. The statue has a in an engraving on the bottom of it at his feet. And it just says.
01:00:24
Speaker
In common, it says the paladin King. Okay. Make a history check as you read that name. History history history. Ooh, that is a seven. Okay. You feel like you should know this. There is no, you do know there is no current King.
01:00:53
Speaker
in this continent that basically everywhere is now its own kind of like city state, right? There is no like overarching government of a collection, a large collection of cities. Every city kind of rules its own area. So you don't know of any king per se. Okay.
01:01:20
Speaker
After that, I just want to give a good sweep over on the rest of the dirt and area, see if there's anything that I can see that seems unusually lumpy or dug out. Make an investigation check.
01:01:37
Speaker
Unusually lumpy. That used to be my gamertag. That's a three. I still don't find any flowers. No, it's very just dirt in here, it seems like. You're old son. Pretty great, I mean. Yeah, yeah. I made that drinking contest, and then after that. That's about it.
01:02:05
Speaker
So I just kind of dart out, work my way up the angled ladder. And thank you, Francine. There may be some interest of that little bag. And I have some information to at least provide to the group. OK.
01:02:32
Speaker
What was in the bag? I mean, I know what's in the bag. Did you find it of interest? I wasn't sure what those items were, but they seemed important. Vials can be filled with a handful of concoctions, but the ring seems to have some definite purpose. I'm unsure. It was pretty dark down there. I'd have to bring it to the light and probably
01:03:00
Speaker
take it to someone who's a little bit more versed. Do you have it? I didn't bring it. It's your belongings. I wasn't trying to take anything from you. Well, I still stand by my word that if you're willing to go try to find my father, what's mine is yours at this point. All I want is him back. I guess I'll retrieve it and see what the rest of the group
01:03:29
Speaker
wants to do with it if you don't mind. So I'll go back down and grab the bag. I understand. I was seriously considering selling anything else down there for gold to purchase this mission from a hunter. So it's all the same to me. It truly is.
Decision to Help Francine
01:03:49
Speaker
I need him back. He is everything to me. At that point, I would have brought everything back. And I understand.
01:04:00
Speaker
I'll see how the rest of the group feels about this, but I don't intend to take anything that you don't, that we don't need. And then let's go see Gwen up in the main quarters. Okay, how do they find you in the main quarters? What are you up to up there? She's looking over the notes and part of her,
01:04:28
Speaker
Obviously relates to this but another part of her is just like she doesn't know if her father is alive or not like Fran's father Yeah, but it does seem weird how the snow will just tell her to drop it. No one's taking these quests She's just thinking about all this and she's kind of talking to Dale, but not really Because she is just a little She's very upset Okay Just as a curiosity as
01:04:58
Speaker
As we walk in, do you have Del on the table? Are you holding him? I have him under one arm while I'm going through. I'm sifting through the books. OK. I'm seeing. Yeah. Knowing kind of the element that we're in, Joxer might sit down.
01:05:26
Speaker
Does Dale have any information for us? No, he's been a bit quiet. I can't decipher anything more than what she's told us. I can't seem to find anything. Did you happen to see anything while you were down there? Francine was kind enough to offer whatever she has. There's an unusual
01:05:56
Speaker
statue and some common that stated Paladin King. I'm not too sure if you're familiar with that statement and then also I'll kind of open the little bag that was in there and lay out the two vials and the the ring now that it's there's a little bit of light
01:06:22
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. The two vials have that dark red liquid in them. Kind of thick liquid. Would Gwendolyn have read about? Make a history check. Okay. Where are my dice? I found it. 17. Yes. You have heard the story of the
01:06:46
Speaker
paladin who fought in the great war and led the armies in the battle of torch key island. Uh, and in the battle of torch key island, he, he was called the paladin. He became known as the paladin King as
01:07:07
Speaker
Torch Key Island became its own kingdom and he was lifted to the status of king and then disappeared afterwards and no one knows where he is. And it is rumored that his half brother now rules Torch Key Island in his stead.
01:07:32
Speaker
Do you know anything about the Paladin King? I feel like I absolutely should, but that contest earlier made me seem to forget a lot of things.
01:07:50
Speaker
That makes her chuckle. I forgot that you did have a bit from the morning. He became known as the Paladin King and he too ended up missing. And you saw a statue down there. It was a black stone statue and it was extremely ornate.
01:08:20
Speaker
I wasn't sure it would be relevant to bring up here. I can go retrieve it if you'd like. No, I believe that it's there. It's just interesting that these people went missing. It does kind of connect a bit of a line that I hope is not directly relevant.
01:08:46
Speaker
But, oh, I see you have, what are these, are they potions? Um, on, I, I didn't inspect them. It was a little too dark downstairs, but I'd imagine normally, um, these vials would contain a potion and, and this, uh, this ring seems to have an inscription in it. What is it written in? It's something magical. Uh, uh,
01:09:13
Speaker
I'm I'm I'm not exactly able to decipher much. Can I tell what it's written in? Yeah, it is. It is actual like runes like magical runes like there's a there's an enchantment on this item. Pretty obvious to you. You've seen it before. And I can read it. You can make a arcana check.
01:09:40
Speaker
Well, I'll do that. Okay. Oh my gosh, 23. Give it to me. Sorry, you needed a 25. No, I'm just kidding. So this is.
01:10:00
Speaker
Can I get this to show for you guys? Yes, this is a ring of protection. It is a simple magic item and it will make you a little bit tougher and allow you to kind of overcome obstacles really a little bit easier.
01:10:29
Speaker
So mechanically, it is plus one AC plus one is saving throws. This is a ring of protection. Why would it just be lying around? For a second, Joxer's eyes kind of look over at Francine and then back at Gwen. I imagine as an army scout,
01:10:58
Speaker
uh, this, this might've provided your father with, uh, some extra protection. I couldn't imagine why if it was his, he would have left it behind. Well, I, I didn't realize that it was a magical ring. I, but I, he was always big on contingency plans. Maybe he thought he may have to get out of here quickly for some reason.
01:11:25
Speaker
Needed some supplies. If so, I don't know. Possibly. We need to get with Krigs and Dadaven. Something is definitely not right. I agree. Francine, I'm afraid we should probably cut this short and try to reconvene with our companions. Okay. Well, please let me know as soon as you found anything. I know it will be some time to travel.
01:11:54
Speaker
We will don't don't worry
01:12:13
Speaker
Thank you for listening to this episode of The Hired Swords. If you enjoyed your adventure with us, be sure to tell a friend. If you really enjoyed it, leave us a comment or a review. Be sure to tune in next week as our brave heroes set out to find Francine's father. You can find us on Twitter and Facebook at The Hired Swords. Follow us for updates, bonus contents, and maybe a spare laugh or two. We thank you again for tuning into the show, and we can't wait to see you in the wilds.