Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Ep. 115 The Legend of Shadow Breath
0 Plays2 seconds ago
As shadow vines retreat throughout the ancient temple, our heroes uncover the truth about the entity behind the shadows. Now the adventurers await the opening of a sealed door that will lead them to their final confrontation.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to The Hired Swords
00:00:21
Speaker
listening to The Hired Swords, a Dungeons & Dragons 5e actual play podcast, and I'm holding a cat. You really are running out of ideas, Dad.
Blaze's Humorous Lead Role
00:00:41
Speaker
Welcome, you're listening to The Hired Swords, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast. My name is Blaze, I'm officially going first this time. Thank, everyone's been wanting it, let's be honest. Everyone's sent in emails, we have stacks and stacks of emails just wishing, hey, you know what, let's make it an all Blaze show, all Blaze all day.
00:01:00
Speaker
So with me I have you Blaze, hi, how you doing? Great, thanks, thanks for being
Character Introductions
00:01:06
Speaker
here. And then I have Michael as our DM, our our daddy master.
00:01:11
Speaker
Hey, you never got to do that. So I wanted you to have an opportunity. We have Derek as David. yeah yeah what That's great. We have jocks are Mikey. Mikey plays jocks are. Hey, and then we have Gwen who is Ash.
00:01:28
Speaker
hi This was great. I'm going to hand it over to you now, Mike. Oh, what a good energy. It's a good energy here today. everybody. How we doing? Oh, what's up, guys? Oh, wow. Hey. Oh, it's so much better with you talking.
00:01:41
Speaker
Yes. How? He said the quiet part out loud.
Darnaldi's Magical Plan
00:01:46
Speaker
Hey, we are here for another episode of Dungeons & Dragons. We call this the Hired Swords, I guess. And, um... ah Yeah, the last time we we played, we were in the same dungeon that we've been in for like four episodes, and the team was going after trying to figure out what's going on with Darnaldi, trying to find him, but they're going through this place with Kriggs fighting a battle with himself, literally and figuratively at the same time.
00:02:12
Speaker
day. Yeah. I know, isn't it, though? It's just hashtag same brother. And Gwendolyn finding her dad, but then not knowing how to process it struggling a little bit as papa starts explaining what he's been doing there trapped stuck in this dungeon also stuck with his mind being controlled by this magical gemstone that is similar to what so many other people in this particular adventure have been victims of and he uh
00:02:48
Speaker
has been trying to help Darnaldi against his own will. He's been helping Darnaldi try to figure out a way to drain the sources of magic from all these different realms so that he can make himself more powerful and take over these realms with darkness and shadow and make that more, a more powerful force in the overall universe.
Navigating the Astral Plane
00:03:11
Speaker
So, then after kind of talking and figuring that out with, uh, Carrick, they, well, Kriggs and Davin found a spot where, uh,
00:03:26
Speaker
Elec, the creature or person trapped in Davin's necklace, the angel trapped in Davin's necklace, had ah told him, hey, you need figure out what's going on in there.
00:03:38
Speaker
I feel something. They went in, they found the Radix or the the Cradle of Magic from Elec's world. When they went to try to engage with it, they found themselves taken to the astral plane.
00:03:53
Speaker
Also, Joxer had walked to try to find where else he could possibly help clear out the the mist and fog in this place because Carrick had said, you've got to weaken him. You have to clear these out first.
00:04:06
Speaker
So... We pick up with Davin in the astral plane surrounded by colors and stars. And it's like smoke and fog. and And like the amazing telescope images you've seen of space and galaxies all around him.
00:04:25
Speaker
Sound travels farther. Vision is brighter and and clearer. And Elek has started moving towards...
Davin's Transformation
00:04:33
Speaker
um towards Davin and moves a bunch of feet he he actually we're doing a little mini game here whoops that's the wrong thing we're doing a little mini game here in order to move through the astral plane you have to think what direction you want to move and you have to so to think what direction you want to move you move in that direction but we roll the d twenty double the result and that's how far you move they find themselves nearly 400 feet away from each other in this astral plane space elec has moved towards you sword extended what do you do davin
00:05:09
Speaker
i I don't think you understand. that's You're no longer in charge. i don't know if you ever were in charge, but you think that you're still some big powerful angel, but I am that big powerful angel now. And I'm going to use my action to cast Crown of Stars.
00:05:24
Speaker
And you see these seven motes, like glowing molts, start floating around my head, almost like a halo. Okay. Okay. And then as a bonus action, I'm going to pull out my wings um that I can now do so that I can kind of mimic the look of an angel.
00:05:40
Speaker
And then I'm going to move forward as far as I can go. Okay. Which I rolled a two. I moved a total of four feet. Four feet. Okay. So I think the minimum you can go is five. So we're going go five feet.
00:05:53
Speaker
um And so you move just a little ways away from him or closer to him. and ah he calls out back to you as you finish your speech and he says, no one is in charge here.
00:06:08
Speaker
Here we must just exist. Try to see how we can get out of this place. We have to join together as he moves towards you 10 feet.
00:06:21
Speaker
What do you mean work together? I thought you brought me here so that you could attack me. I'm going to move forward. I'd roll the natural one. Oh, no. A natural one means something.
00:06:33
Speaker
So when you roll a natural one in this situation, um you have to roll again d20. A d twenty
Emotional Reflections
00:06:41
Speaker
ah seven. Seven. So you you move 15 feet. We're going round up to fives because of grids.
00:06:49
Speaker
ah You're going to move 15 feet in a direction determined to by a d4. One is north, two is south, three is east, four is west. Three. Three. So you move 15 feet east.
00:07:04
Speaker
So away from him. Yes. So I flap my wings, but because ah everything's weightless, I i end up like trying to flap in one direction to like get the you know the motion, but it turns out I just flipped myself the wrong way.
00:07:17
Speaker
And in my moment of trying to look like a badass, I just started floating upside down and spinning around, moving the wrong direction. right And when you do that, um you find your your mind starts to echo with memories.
00:07:31
Speaker
And it's like it's like the the motion swirling around you, everything swirling around you causes you to remember um the moment that you put Elek in this position.
00:07:47
Speaker
And you remember standing over his body after clearing out this this place of treasure, watching him laying there nearly dead and opening this this this locket in this necklace,
Negotiating Collaboration
00:08:07
Speaker
extending it to him and willing the soul that is left in this almost lifeless body of this angel creature.
00:08:15
Speaker
willing this into the necklace, trapping it there. And you remember the feeling of power when you did this. And you also remember the feeling of guilt, like almost a feeling of like everything that you've ever done that you regret, this is worse.
00:08:35
Speaker
And then shaking it off and just moving on. And at that, Elek moves now as well. He moves 20 feet closer to you.
00:08:46
Speaker
And he calls out, I do not desire to fight you. I only desire to partner with you for freedom, to free me from these shackles and to free you from what binds you here.
00:09:00
Speaker
I'm going to roll again. Okay. Much better. 18. Yeah. yeah You rolled an 18? I did a roll an 18. Nice. So you move 40 feet.
00:09:10
Speaker
So that's nearly max. So you make a large move toward him. And on that move, your brain goes back to when you decide you're going to set off to pay your debts.
00:09:22
Speaker
and you're standing your your memory you remember standing in front of your sisters and as you stand there telling them goodbye you see the tears in their eyes saying goodbye to you and What do you remember saying to them as you leave?
00:09:42
Speaker
There's no reason to cry. I'll be back. ah This is only a temporary change so that we can make things work out. These debts need to be taken
Merging Powers
00:09:51
Speaker
care of, otherwise they'll keep coming for us and our family.
00:09:54
Speaker
ah But I'll be back. It won't take long. The older sister... What if they come for us while you're gone? I don't believe they will. I think they're they' are good enough people to not go after the women of the family. you You have nothing to do with this.
00:10:10
Speaker
But if they do, you can tell them that I'm going to Wild Hill. I'm going to be moving around looking for some money. But that's where they can find me if they want to come and collect. The younger one grabs the other one's arm and buries her face in it and starts sobbing. And the older puts her hand on her shoulder and nods, sadly but confidently, towards you.
00:10:30
Speaker
We'll take care of things here. Take care of yourself. I will. And the vision flashes out of there, back to you, still floating in this astral sea again, as Elec moves towards you again, another 20 feet, and says, i ah can't force you to do this.
00:10:50
Speaker
You have to do this willingly. We have to work together. I'm going have you roll one more time before we cut to so to the next, to someone else, since you're about halfway. Twelve, so... ah You rolled 12, so you're going 25 feet. if we separate, what happens to this power?
00:11:09
Speaker
What happens to either of us? As he moves again, he answers your question, just so I don't forget what your question was. um And he calls out, I do not know that.
00:11:22
Speaker
There is only one way to find out. We must try something, anything. And now I'm going to cut back to inside the temple. underneath where joxer you have found yourself.
00:11:37
Speaker
Uh, first off real quick, Craig's, did you follow Davin into here? And are you standing there with him or did you follow joxer around after you got Davin into this space? I think I followed Davin if I remember correctly. Okay. So you're standing in there watching him as his necklace is hovering in front of his face, just like, and, standing in there, the electricity jolting between his eyes and the necklace. And obviously he's doing something with that necklace.
00:12:07
Speaker
You can't tell if he's casting a spell, if he's entranced by it or what's going on, but he's just standing there. uh, un disturbed by your presence at all.
Joxer's Vision and Discovery
00:12:19
Speaker
Not even taking note of the fact that you're there.
00:12:22
Speaker
This is fine. I go, uh, see what oxer's up to. No, I'm kidding. Um, this looks good to me. I approach very slowly and just... I had my own experience, which was terrifying. I approach very slowly in and to like pinky touch and see if something terrible happens. But I try to like test the waters and see how safe it is to touch him.
00:12:46
Speaker
Okay, when you reach out to touch him, make a ah constitution saving throw. Oh boy. Yeah, good times. Okay, big money, big money, big money. I rolled an 18.
00:12:57
Speaker
Well, you save. 15 plus three. You get this little zap of almost like getting shocked by somebody. of Static electricity. This little jolt of lightning. Very, very frightening hits you.
00:13:09
Speaker
And ah you take half of six, three damage from it. Because you see. Rude, but whatever. um What'd you say? That's rude, but whatever. Is there anything like, does he obviously look like he's taking damage?
00:13:23
Speaker
Because I knew that looks like I obviously was spitting up blood when I woke up. Right. No, he doesn't look like he's hurting at all. He's just in a trance. And he's, it's literally like mouth kind of open and like almost like, like no no sound coming out, but just that, you know what the face looks like when it's making that sound. That's basically what you got going on.
00:13:42
Speaker
Yeah, not great. But also not like he's hurting, just like almost brain, like mindless in this situation. Um, realizing that there's probably not a whole lot I can actually do to bring him back or touch like him in any kind of way without hurting myself.
00:13:57
Speaker
I just, I just say like, hang on there with me, old boy. i I can't lose you. Okay. And hope for the best. Okay. Can I roll a hope check? Yes, please do.
00:14:08
Speaker
ah This isn't Daggerheart. 20. They have hope dice. A 20, you succeed. You're very hopeful. Joxer, you make your way down here. These vines are there again, um blocking the way into this space here with ah with shadow and vine.
00:14:22
Speaker
What is it that you'd like to do as you make your way south towards this entryway into another room? Yeah, walk through that kind of pinkish room with the little motors and then head south, and then I have a ah left or a right, and I'm going to...
00:14:35
Speaker
left here and then kind of with that extra motivation of what ah we've already seen oh i'll i'll uh throw the cantrip up for you know create bonfire i will start casting uh chill touch so you know the skeletal hand just starts trying to pull these, these vines out of my way. And I pull out that fire rapier and I'm just trying to carve through here to get through this room. I'm, I'm like frantic now. Okay. It takes you a few minutes, a couple minutes, two or three minutes to get through, but you do, ah you make it through these vines fighting you all the way.
00:15:16
Speaker
um And when you do, you get into this room that is made of a stone, like a finished stone floor. And the walls are still cavern, but this stone floor is is nicely kind of ah laid in stone with a kind of disheveled and broken down what looks like to you like a reusable teleportation circle in this middle of this room.
00:15:45
Speaker
But it's very much deactivated, and even some of the runes and things are very faded and and jacked up as if it's not really usable anymore. um i'll I'll take a second to investigate that if there's any and use for it at this point.
00:16:00
Speaker
Sure. Yeah. You don't see, ah just first glance, you don't see anything to tell you where it would take you or what it is used for. You can make an investigation check to learn to know how confident you are about anything else that might be available.
00:16:17
Speaker
That's my favorite stat. Good old minus one. Eleven minus one. and' Ten. You don't see anything that rings a bell of being useful to you in this moment. And you definitely don't see a way to activate
Quatska's Importance
00:16:31
Speaker
this thing in this room.
00:16:33
Speaker
It's useless. And then I start like hacking my way backwards and go to that other room. and Okay. You make your way back around to the other room, hacking and slashing and and busting and breaking. And um you get into a room that suddenly this humidity hits you.
00:16:53
Speaker
And it's like you're in a jungle forest. in this room with a tree growing in the center of it and little plants growing here and there around it. And on the tree, you see these little ah bright green fruits growing.
00:17:12
Speaker
And they are, um, some are like closer to a yellow. Some of them are a bright green and, um, yeah. And the, the branches there's, there's several branches, branches, the way this tree is, it's like the branches are, many are covered in leaves and many are like half of them aren't. They're just, they just kind of grow out and it's like some leafed branches and some not. It's very unique looking tree.
00:17:36
Speaker
And so, um, What do you do here? think for a second, I ah get a little, a little confused looking at this plant. And then I, my, my first thought is that there, there's no way this, this isn't, we're not finding this here where I'm, I'm kind of in, in this mood where, where I, I know what I'm here for, but I,
00:18:07
Speaker
ah my My first thought kind of goes to like, it's a bit of a throwback because it's been a hot minute, but the Quatska fruit that I've been looking for for a while. So i'm I'm going to look at like this this fruit or these fruit and kind of like looking if they're if that even makes sense. Like, is this the, does this have any of the same traits that I that i expected to see in this fruit?
00:18:33
Speaker
um Yeah. ah Make Make a check on them using your spellcasting modifier. All right.
00:18:46
Speaker
So 16 plus numbers. Prisma is 2. two So 18. 18, yeah. This looks like it has the right properties that you...
00:18:59
Speaker
imagined that you heard of for the Quatsika fruit that you originally were seeking to help cure Kriggs from his curse, but also to use to make a fruit tea that you've been seeking for and that a certain ah patron had asked you to make them the, and in the past had had you sit and try to make them the best possible.
00:19:29
Speaker
tea you could brew for them you knew this is the fruit that would do it I I guess I reach for one and I I just kind of and like open it up and inspect it and try to I don't know like taste it and then i don't know whatever whatever I can do in this moment i'm I'm a little frantic to to be honest like this is this is not what yeah where I was going in my head trying to explore the rest of this uh this area Yeah.
00:20:00
Speaker
You grab the fruit and start to explore start to like crack it open, you know And it it breaks open fairly easily. The outward peel of it or or skin of it is pretty soft, but the inside the fruit is, is harder. There's several small hard seeds in the middle of it.
00:20:20
Speaker
And there's like kind of veins running through it. It's a, like the, the, the fruit of it is white, but the there's a green, yellow, whatever the outside skin color is. There's also veins of that color running through the middle of the fruit and And as you crack it open and you take your first bite and start to chew, your mind begins to wander and you find yourself falling.
00:20:44
Speaker
And when your body hits the floor, the ground, this ground is covered in moss and grass. It's like a forest floor here. You find yourself sitting on a bench.
00:20:56
Speaker
in a very familiar winery. You smell the smell of fermenting alcohol nearby. The place is completely empty. There's nobody here. And you're sitting on a bench right at a little table.
00:21:11
Speaker
And behind the bar is a woman standing, wiping out wiping out a glass. She looks over at you and her gentle face slightly grins and Her head tilts to the side and she says, ah, finally, please make me a glass of tea.
00:21:33
Speaker
Not a problem. um And then I'll find all the supplies in that room um and try to ah slice the the fruit in as finely as I can possibly do it.
00:21:53
Speaker
and filter it to be, uh, into a tea. Okay. So you find all the supplies you need. They're, they're near there. You have to kind of gather them to the table and sit and begin work as you do. She just continues to dry glasses and put them away every now and then looking over at you and chuckling at your frantic work, hair blowing and wind that's not there. And,
00:22:20
Speaker
We're going to jump back to Davin.
Confronting the Past
00:22:22
Speaker
Davin Mindstrider, it's your turn to move. I will continue to move forward.
00:22:30
Speaker
I rolled a 19. Great. So that is a 20 plus Or 20 times two. So you move 40 feet total. um I keep accidentally closing the notes for this stuff.
00:22:44
Speaker
um So, yes, I prepped and I have notes. ah So you can go 40 feet. Good. That's a good little distance there. You cut. you cut Literally, you guys, have have between you both working together to try to get closer to each other,
00:23:01
Speaker
You've cut down about three quarters of the distance to each other. As you move, you get a little closer to him and your memory jolts again. And ah when it does, you get this jolt of a memory of being in this house and going through different things.
00:23:23
Speaker
drawers to see what you could find and then walking over to other drawers and not being nothing being in there and getting frustrated, slamming the drawer. And you're the fear of not being able to have what you need to pay what you need to pay starts to rise up as you start looking around and you're feeling that fear again, as if you're there for real. And this isn't a memory, just a memory.
00:23:45
Speaker
Until you come around the corner and you see it right there, this jewelry box just loaded with jewelry. And um what do you do in your memory? What did you do in that moment when you were in this situation?
00:23:57
Speaker
I believe in my memory, I remember that I wasn't alone, that I was working with a group. So I'd make sure that there's nobody else around. um And then I go over and I take the the jewelry box and I open it up.
00:24:11
Speaker
And then I just quickly grab everything that I see that's in there and put it in my bag. Put the drooly box back. Yeah. And then you turn around and begin to walk out. And um the as you walk out, big guy a big guy standing there with ah a club in his hand, this big half-orc.
00:24:30
Speaker
And he says, D, what'd you get? Find anything? D. Unfortunately, it was another bust. These people have all been cleaned out already.
00:24:42
Speaker
Oh, this place sucks. Let's get out of here. And he turns around and goes to the back door and slams it open, busting the lock and just walks outside. Like it doesn't care if anybody knows that you guys were there and your memory fades out again.
00:24:56
Speaker
And, um, And at that, the, or Elik, the angel being, the guardian, ah gets to go another 35 feet as he gets closer to you.
00:25:09
Speaker
And he calls out and he says, just, we have to get close enough to work together and we can propel ourselves out of this place. I know it. What are you going to do? I'll move forward again.
00:25:22
Speaker
I roll a 10. Okay. And I'll say, and then what? We just go back and everything goes back to what it was. We'll have to find out. I don't know. I'm hoping I can go back and help fight whatever this scourge is that's after my people, just like it's after yours.
00:25:39
Speaker
And he rolls his and he's able to go another 10 whole feet. We're getting there. We're inching our way towards each other, buddy. How far away are we from each other now?
00:25:52
Speaker
Um, it's only about 40 feet now. Okay. I roll again. Okay. Choosing the dice. 17. So that gets you, uh, if you roll the 17, that gets you 40 feet.
00:26:07
Speaker
So you're there, you're right there next to him. He looks at you and his sword is risen above him. And as the sword is up, he puts his other hand out to you as if to like dab up, right? Like to give you a handshake for you to grab onto his hand.
00:26:19
Speaker
What do you do? um I look down at the necklace for a second and I i kind of clutch it in my left hand, kind of unsure what's gonna happen. And then I'll reach out and I'll grab his hand.
00:26:31
Speaker
You clutch the necklace. You grab his hand. he grins He smiles at you and looks up. And when he does, lightning shoots from his sword upwards above you guys.
00:26:42
Speaker
and And need you to roll a D10 is this one. Yeah. is this one yeah does anybody else have to put their dice in order to make sure they grab the right one? I just use the digital ones. It's easy.
00:26:55
Speaker
Seven. rolled a seven. Okay. All right. So you, as as his sword is raised, the lightning shoots from his sword and then it begins to pour down around you and encapsulate you both.
00:27:12
Speaker
You find yourself being feeling like you're being pulled and tugged at you the very atoms that make up who you are, your being, your consciousness, your mind. Everything seems to be intertwined and mixed together.
00:27:26
Speaker
And as that happens, you who realize you are merging with Elek in this situation. You are becoming one as and you're gaining his power and consciousness along with yours.
00:27:46
Speaker
And as that happens, you see memories of, a world in some other realm and some other plane where angels walk around like people and gods sit on thrones and rule like kings.
00:28:00
Speaker
And you see lightning being used as a resource for floating traveling machines to move people from place to place. Things like Almost like ah things on railings that people and cargo can get in. And the energy and magical lightning shoots these things like bullet trains from community and town to town.
00:28:22
Speaker
And all of his as all of his memories and his understanding of existence merge with yours, you find that as he is gone, only left is you standing there.
00:28:36
Speaker
You're standing now back in this room. in the dungeon. Um, and your necklace is empty. And Kriggs, as you look at Davin, you can see that his, um, you can see that his,
00:28:55
Speaker
eyes have a blue lightning glow to him and his skin has little faint, like almost like he got
Emerging with New Powers
00:29:06
Speaker
little faint light blue tattoos in different sections of his chest where his shirt kind of opens a little and on his hands and arms in certain sections, these light swirls of lightning looking tattoos and his, his image has changed and Davin,
00:29:25
Speaker
Elec is no more. He is now a part of you. Is the bowl still there? The bowl is there and the mist, the the black mist and fog has been consumed by the power that came out of you when you merged with Elec and is just the purple emanating, billowing up from this bowl now.
00:29:47
Speaker
And so you have, you've eliminated the the mist from this area as well. you Are you with me? What? Oh yeah. Everything's fine.
00:29:58
Speaker
Shall we move on?
00:30:01
Speaker
Typical man. Hmm.
00:30:05
Speaker
All right, Joxer, you are sitting or you are working on this brew as this bartender. She finishes her work and comes over and sits across from you.
00:30:17
Speaker
And she looks into your eyes, her eyes flickering a familiar glint. And she says, here we are again. What have you made me? it's It's a rare brew.
00:30:29
Speaker
Not my usual kind, but it is ah it's ah it's a wonderful tea. It starts off bitter and it's then it goes into a light sweetness from the kawatsuka fruit. You knew it was here this whole time.
00:30:43
Speaker
And then I think the biggest difference here is Joxer, instead of unable to look at his patron, is more that there's ah familiar respect or familiar, like, it it is it is an understanding and a mutual relationship of of sorts.
00:31:04
Speaker
not just unable to to feel wanted or feel like that they deserved any of this help. Yeah. ah She takes a sip.
00:31:18
Speaker
She smiles and she says, haven't tasted the Quatsika since I was a child. You know me. And as she says that, her form gently, slowly shifts to that ethereal glow that you're familiar with.
00:31:35
Speaker
And her face is visible, though, and her hair is still flowing and colorless. almost She's almost transparent. She puts her hand on your hand and she says, i brought you all together.
00:31:50
Speaker
but I knew you would follow. Thank you. And she puts her hand other hand on your face and says, let me show you. And suddenly you're standing with her in the same place, front of the same tree that you were in in the dungeon. But this time it's in a grove of trees like this.
00:32:11
Speaker
pocked with other similar trees that don't grow fruit, some taller, some more coniferous, so some evergreen trees here and there. She looks around and you see other ethereal looking fae beings walking around this forest.
00:32:28
Speaker
greeting you, waving hello, waving hello to her. You look down at yourself and you've taken on the form similar to hers, this ethereal look. And and you've got this Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve situation going, except they can see you as just as you can see them. And she says, you will return our cradle back to our land as well.
00:32:51
Speaker
This was my adventure and you're about to finish yours, but I can't go with you. can't. I understand. But we still need your support, whether you're there or not.
00:33:03
Speaker
I will return this cradle, this fruit, this tree, and all these worlds will go back to the way they're supposed to be. We won't allow Darnaldi to get his way.
00:33:17
Speaker
I know you won't. I believe it. And i also, I need you to know something. Darnaldi, he's powerful. Yes, he's, his magic is strong and, but it is nothing compared to that of Scathenil, the shadow breath.
00:33:36
Speaker
Where Darnaldi is power most powerful, she will be near. Be careful. We will. Thank you. I, Is there any information you can give about Scavenil?
00:33:48
Speaker
Scavenil. Her wings are shadow. Her breath is shadow. She drains you of life. She's not satisfied with her realm.
00:34:00
Speaker
Always hungry for more. You must stop him. They're the ones who started this. They're the ones feeding across these these planes of magic.
00:34:12
Speaker
The shadow consumes the magic like like ants on waste or termites on the roots of a tree consuming it, strengthening themselves.
00:34:26
Speaker
The shadow won't stop. You have to stop it. Darnaldi wants to give scathenil everything. So scathenil is not part of any of the Magical planes we've seen so far? They're from a different world, or they're connected to all of them?
00:34:47
Speaker
They're all connected in some way. Several ways. Darnaldi found that the cradles of magic, the birthplaces of the arcane were connected, and that's how he's been able to do what he's done.
00:35:02
Speaker
The shadow planes that they are from, I suspect you will find their cradle in that cavern somewhere as well. Would Destroying that cradle stops scathenil?
00:35:15
Speaker
Or should we focus more on scathenil itself? If you can stop scathenil from appearing to begin with, you might survive.
00:35:26
Speaker
Your friends need you. You must go. And she fades away and the vision around you fades and you find yourself standing there still chewing scathenil. this fruit, this slightly bitter, first bitter taste dissolving into a sweetness as you continue to chew, kind of just enticing you to take another bite right away.
00:35:49
Speaker
And that is, um but what would you like to do now? Take another bite, move on. What do you want to do now? I think... I think I would take these, at least a handful of these fruits and start heading back to the main room.
00:36:04
Speaker
Unless i I feel like, we're maybe I'll take the long route to see if I can find any other crevices. But ah as far as I can tell, unless there are anything else but is anything hidden, um I will return.
00:36:21
Speaker
As you walk through, you see the the fog has been... removed from mo almost all of these chambers and halls and the different areas, the rooms that you're in are still not glowing with the brightness of magic that you think they're fully capable of, but there's no more vines draining them of magic. And you think maybe couple spots look like they might be even a little stronger than when you had left them previously, like they're regaining power.
00:36:54
Speaker
But you get back to the main chamber, the library, and Gwyn is still standing there with Carthanact, or Carrick. Yeah, she's kind of came out her stupor. Okay.
Carrick's Past with Darnaldi
00:37:06
Speaker
Davin and Crig's walking in the entrance there as well. And Carrick says, as you all kind of regather, Carrick looks at all of you and says, Is it done then?
00:37:18
Speaker
He looks down at the vines and sees them kind of retracting even from this room under the doorway that leads down to where he said Darnaldi is at. And he said, if if those vines are retreating, then in a matter of an hour or more, you can open that door.
00:37:39
Speaker
An hour? So it can't be opened before then? I don't imagine unless those... Vines move faster than they are now. They're kind of spread all over this place. It'll take a while for them to retract into unraveling that space so that it is no longer locked so solid.
00:37:59
Speaker
Carrick, are you familiar with the transportation circle in this area? Oh, yes. Yes. it It was used. We used it previously.
00:38:14
Speaker
This is how much of the work that's been done here has been done. It's how this library, we we gathered the resources we need for it. But unfortunately, Darnoldi decided we no longer required it. And he has deactivated it and started destroying it as well, unfortunately, to keep us from trying, keep me from trying to leave.
00:38:36
Speaker
But how did he give you... Gwendolyn starts saying as she's looking over these books. Because as everyone's been gone, she's kind of talked to Karthinak and... Okay.
00:38:48
Speaker
Went over how they... Once the mists are gone, what are they supposed to do? And... Mm-hmm. She's just... I... How did you even fall for Dernaldi's... Like, how did you even come to work with him?
00:39:02
Speaker
i was always... He actually walks over and sits in the chair and kind of looks at you, at all three of you, like, and ushers, like, kind of motions to the floor and the chairs and around and says, and the the couch little couch space and says, you do have time to rest.
00:39:20
Speaker
I can admit to you that I was... fooled by Darnoldi originally, but only for a brief time before I saw through what it was he was trying to do.
00:39:32
Speaker
You know, the problem is that fear... Unfortunately, fear is a better convincer persuader than reason.
00:39:45
Speaker
Convincing someone to be afraid of other people or types of people, convincing a group that they are in danger from the encroaching threat, is much easier than convincing a group of people that they can be a difference or an influence somewhere.
Threat of Scathenil
00:40:03
Speaker
And so eventually my goal became to stay close to the one I disagreed with so wholeheartedly in hopes to be able to protect some of our people from his end goal. And then i thought I had made it when I do remember he gave me that necklace and said it was the symbol that my word was as strong as his. And if I spoke something, everyone would listen as if it was him. And It ensured that no one would stop listening to the things that I was discovering as I did my research. It assured that they would hear what I said and take into account my findings. And I don't remember much after I put that thing on.
00:40:50
Speaker
You really have to be careful with necklaces. Yes, indeed. You look a little different. You've changed. But haven't all? I think this place has changed its heart a little bit.
00:41:03
Speaker
I... Well... I learned more from my patron, and I'm... I'm curious, Carrick, are you familiar with... Scafinil?
00:41:13
Speaker
Scafinil? Gwyndolin, bring me that... Over there on the shelf, on the far wall, the one standing by itself. Bring me that purple bound book there with the red lettering on the side. Bring me that one. Would you mind?
00:41:29
Speaker
I'm sorry. Would you mind, dear? um Glyndalyn just goes over to the bookshelf and grabs it and yeah frees it over to him. He takes it from you and quickly quickly opens it up and begins scanning through and he says, here, here, here, here.
00:41:45
Speaker
Yes, ah that that name, Scathenil, it's a name of legend, an old name. um
00:41:55
Speaker
It takes many forms according to... To legend, you see here, and he he lifts it up, and you see a picture there of a giant um like demon-looking person standing with a giant giant sword, and they're in dark black armor with...
00:42:17
Speaker
It looks like they've drawn, somebody's drawn this mist and fog pouring out of the eye holes of the helmet and the arm where the cuffs meet the gloves and the smoke's billowing from it. And then he turns a couple pages and he shows you another picture. And this one shows a giant sea creature with tentacles rising up out of the ocean and mist and fog pouring.
00:42:37
Speaker
coming off of its head like steam. And um he shows you picture after picture, four, five, six pictures, different giant beasts or magical looking mages that all have the name of Scathenil.
00:42:52
Speaker
And he says, the name itself just means shadow breath. I believe that Scathenil is what is driving Darnaldi.
00:43:05
Speaker
And if we don't stop him and stop the continued drain of all of these areas, we're going to be facing a much greater demon.
00:43:18
Speaker
Davin just kind of lies down on the ground. he says, well, we've got 52 minutes and then we'll kill him. Carrick says, yeah yes, perhaps a little more. um Please take your rest here. ah Let me offer you something else as well. And he walks over to the the table that is the the stone table sitting over by the doorway.
00:43:39
Speaker
And he pulls a little stone drawer out. And in it is a few vials of this liquid. And he says, this was we had many of this many of these that we we stored in the temple for whenever we needed to do long time, long prayers and work long hours.
00:44:04
Speaker
it It gives you energy as if you You've rested longer than ah than you
Preparation for Confrontation
00:44:09
Speaker
do. So if you can rest an hour or so, drink this. ah It will feel like you've had a whole night's rest. And it's all we have left. But perhaps when all of this is over, if we're all still here, more can be made. um I really hope to put the temple back where it belongs and increase the worship of Korillon again, just like it should be.
00:44:30
Speaker
He looks at Gwendolyn and smiles and says, just like why I left it to begin with. I nudge jocks her to get the recipe. Yeah. I might very well already have the recipe if there was a room with a the kawatsuka fruit, Craig's.
00:44:49
Speaker
Yeah, I'll take two.
00:44:52
Speaker
i' So it over to you guys... Go ahead, sorry. was going to say, I'll have one float over to me and I'll take it, uncork it, and gulp it down. bottom top So this this potion of long rest will give you guys long rest, obviously.
00:45:08
Speaker
And you will have the first rest you've had in like 10 episodes. Yay! It's about time. And um you also level up to level 18. Ooh.
00:45:21
Speaker
Yeah. All right. And that's where we're going to leave this episode, even if it's a little shorter, because here we go.
00:45:32
Speaker
It's time. Down we go. Wahoo. Wahoo. Okay, bye. All right. All right. Bye.
Podcast Closure
00:45:52
Speaker
Thank you again for listening to another episode of The Hired Swords. We have a lot of fun making this show for you, and I hope you have a lot of fun listening to it. If you do, don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast listening app. If you've already done that, then the next thing you can do is tell somebody you know and love that they would love The Hired Swords. So tell your friends, and we'll see you next time.
00:46:12
Speaker
Thanks a lot. Bye-bye.