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Ep. 42 The Man They Call Hurli
135 Plays3 years ago
The Swords set out to finally speak with Hurli. They've had the question, and they'll hopefully, finally get their answers.
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Transcript
Reflecting on Krig's Abduction
00:00:14
Speaker
Previously on the hired swords, it was good to have Krik's back, both physically and... well, I just hope the woman who tried to take him is gone. For what reason she was here, I can only assume it's connected. Everything just feels connected. We need answers. And it's time we stopped asking the wrong people. It's either the Chief or Hurley. Best to start with Hurley. We can make plans, set up a meeting, and find out who he knows. He has to know something. I hope he knows something.
00:00:44
Speaker
Whatever this corruption in Wildhead is, it needs to stop.
Introduction to 'The Hired Swords' Podcast
00:01:14
Speaker
You're listening to the Hired Swords. Our roles are critical. We're always in the zone of adventure. And we take SEO very seriously.
Cast Introduction and Encounter Recap
00:01:36
Speaker
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the Hired Swords. I'm your dungeon master, Michael. I've got Blaze with me here. Joxer, played by Mikey. Blaze is Krigs, by the way. Joxer. Yeah. Your monk luck right here. Monk luck. And I've got Derek's Daven. That's me. I am Daven and Derek both. And everyone's favorite chipmunk owner, Gwendolyn, played by Ash. Howdy. Howdy.
00:02:03
Speaker
Hadby. And when we last left off, we had a encounter with Slim at Hurley's knickknacks after we had come back into town. We talked to him about meeting with Hurley and he went back and got permission to schedule a time, said he'd let you know.
00:02:23
Speaker
Turns out you guys are going to meet Hurley after breakfast the next day.
Evening Plans at the Longhouse
00:02:27
Speaker
So the party decided to kind of spend the evening at the longhouse resting and drinking and eating and just kind of enjoying some civilization after having traveled for a little bit to figure out what was going on with Krigs and see his new kind of new boon from the wilds.
00:02:45
Speaker
And so we ended with people just kind of asking each other questions. I think you were playing 20 questions, right? They're playing a game or something like that. Some version thereof. Yeah. The question came, some questions back and forth revealing some information about each of us. And then Gwendolyn asked Krigs, why are you bald? And that is where we sit in that space between that question and the answers where we are currently living.
Gwendolyn's Playful Experiment with Krig
00:03:15
Speaker
Her bag is open and she's just waiting, her eyes wide. Why am I bald? Yes. You haven't heard the legends. She looks around at everyone else. I look around the room, you know, secretive just to make sure you're like, you know, no one is listening. You know, legend has it that if you rub a bald head,
00:03:44
Speaker
You get good luck. Is that true? I mean, we're still alive, aren't we? First thing I do every morning. It's the first thing I do every morning, too.
00:04:02
Speaker
Let's test this. Let's see what's going to happen here. Uh, and Devin's going to pull out a dagger. He, he's never used before and he holds up in the air and he uses telekinesis. So it floats up in the air and then he's going to set his hand down on the, uh, on the table to finger spread apart. And he's going to rub Craig's bald head. And then he's going to stop casting telekinesis with the knife above his hand. What are you doing? Testing a theory. See if it works or not. So let it drop and see if it lands between a finger on my hand.
00:04:31
Speaker
All right, roll a D6. Oh, okay. Oh, it stays to you. Odds is a finger, evens it's a hand, it's your hand, or odds it's your hand, evens it's the table. It was a one.
00:04:46
Speaker
All right, so it falls and it nicks your pointer finger on that hand and blood immediately starts to kind of ooze out slowly as it nicks it and sticks into the table between your fingers. All right, all right. That was a stupid idea.
00:05:07
Speaker
You can't play with luck, boy. Of course, of course that didn't work. Did I rub you the wrong way? You gotta rub him the right way, Devin. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I thought that was gonna work, or at least I could recast it in time, but apparently I'm really slow on the trigger.
00:05:35
Speaker
I mean, you definitely... you don't toy with luck quite like that. You're gonna end up being the loser every time. Well, good to know. Gwen, I hope you learned a lesson here today. What's the lesson? Don't carry a knife. And he's just gonna throw the dagger across the table. Gwen doesn't know what to think. She's just...
00:06:04
Speaker
I don't... This luck, this legend, does he... Does it work in small amounts or like fortune crackers? I mean, they went on a little secret. Something Daven may not have taken into account.
00:06:31
Speaker
Luck is fickle. Luck is not to be toyed with. If you are tempting fate, that's when you're the loser.
Morality and Heroism in Wildhead
00:06:44
Speaker
If you're just asking for hope, by all means, and Krigs is going to kind of lean his head down with the anticipation of, yeah, he's probably going to get a noogie. Uh, Gwendolyn reaches out.
00:06:59
Speaker
She kind of hesitates and then she pulls Dale out instead and takes his alarm. Well, she makes sure she holds his alarm and does like a little pattern on top of Kirk's head. Oh, we'll see where that, that gets us. And she puts Dale back in their bag. Joxer's jaw is like open right now watching this.
00:07:29
Speaker
Greg sits back, I take my drink that I have and I just give Joxer a little wink like, I don't know, just being silly at the table. Do I notice this wink? No, I don't want that. Insight check. Joxer goes to take a drink and realize he's empty and he's trying to decide if he wants to try to use Mage Hand again or go get more. What does he do?
00:07:56
Speaker
I think he's going to try to use mage hand. He's going to just float the mug he already has over to try to get it. So a mug is floating your direction from the table and people are kind of walking through coming and going in between you guys and the table that's got all the food being served. And as it floats towards you, somebody, well, hang on.
00:08:19
Speaker
Now, somebody walks right up and sees it right in time and just kind of stops and puts both hands up and like, whoa, hey, you know, and they keep walking and don't run into it, but they almost did. And then it finally makes its way to you. Devin's thinking now, has he seen anybody besides us using magic in town ever? I mean, we did see the teleportation spell being cast like dead center of town. Yeah, you've seen a couple of people, but not many.
00:08:48
Speaker
So we're flaunching it a little bit more than most people do. Yeah, you've only ever seen it in context of a hunt. You've never seen it in town like that. None of these little cantrips or anything like that. Well, that one's going to take it a step further and he's going to cast cure wounds on his hand. Stop the bleeding. OK, Josh is up. Josh's face just lights up at the idea that he just retrieved this and he's just elated. All right. So I think I still have my question.
00:09:19
Speaker
Oh, that's right. You do. What do you got for us? Take a big sip of my drink. Kind of set it down. You all think we're doing the right thing here? Um, I, that's a, I think that was a question for, for jockser. I, I think the problem with the idea of right or wrong is it really depends on what side of the fence you're on. Um,
00:09:49
Speaker
It takes a drink. I personally think that we are doing the right thing, at least where I stand, but I'm really starting to wonder how many in this town would believe the same.
Evening Stories and Motivations
00:10:08
Speaker
I don't know. I just keep, I keep going back to the conversations we had with Salarin and what we saw in the woods and
00:10:17
Speaker
I just hope when this is all over that we look back and realize we made the right decisions. She did say that Wildhead was not the place for heroes. We've kind of been playing the part of the hero a lot lately. Maybe we're just not worth them. Hero in whose eyes? Our own, I think. She also mentioned that the things happening now are much different than when
00:10:47
Speaker
are different than the normal hunts that they've been dealing with. I feel like that's super important to keep in mind. That is true. What time of day is it? Evening. Yeah, it's evening. It's the end of the day. This is dinner. If y'all will excuse me, I think I'm going to head back to the Bogus Shack and
00:11:15
Speaker
Just kinda get some rest and preparation for tomorrow. By all means, stay here, drink, be merry. I hope we got a possibly busy day tomorrow. Gwen is gonna pop one strawberry in her mouth and I think I'm gonna go with Krigs. I'm feeling pretty tired of myself. How do you feel, doctor?
00:11:43
Speaker
I definitely feel like I could chug a couple of more before heading out, but I don't plan on being out much longer either. I'll stay with one more drink for you. Appreciate it. We'll see you guys back at the house. Don't stay out too late. Of course not. I do plan on making it back tonight. I'll make sure he does.
Krigs and Gwendolyn's Forest Prayer
00:12:16
Speaker
And I'll get up and I'll get us another round. Um, as we're headed back to the bogus shack, I don't expect to see her, but I am going to kind of keep my eyes peeled for Solerand because she was headed back this direction last, last we saw in the wild. Okay. You can make a perception check. Uh, seven.
00:12:41
Speaker
You don't see her or any sign of anything that makes you think anything of her whereabouts. Just walking through town and realizing that I'm not like seeing Salarin and whatnot. Walking back with Gwen, I'm going to ask, hey, Gwen, do you mind? I know we're headed back to the Bogus Shack, but. Would you would you walk out with me just slightly into the forest here? Not we're not going far, I just.
00:13:10
Speaker
It's been a journey these last few days and I'm still trying to learn and lean on the things that I am hoping I know. You have a connection with the forest unlike I have ever seen. I wouldn't mind if you would come with me. Of course. I'm still learning myself so I can try to help.
00:13:39
Speaker
And we'll just kind of like walk. I would like to head out kind of in not far into the forest, but just the the tree line out behind the the barracks and the Bogoshaq area. OK. So go ahead, go for it. I was going to say you head down towards the the trees there that kind of border the the farm behind where the Bogoshaq is and
00:14:08
Speaker
They're all kind of more orchard-like and you can kind of head a little further down towards the forest proper if you'd like. Okay. Whenever we get into the forest there, when they're with me, I'm gonna kind of just ask, I am really new to this and you've helped me
00:14:37
Speaker
You've helped me very much so far. I need to ask a question of the wilds and hope, I don't know, we'll see what happens. And I'm gonna walk up to just one of the trees and I'm going to place my...
00:14:58
Speaker
hand that had the original mark of helm that is now glowing the greenish and bluish color kind of phosphorescent light from that that marking now and i'm going to hold it against the tree and i'm going to pray similarly to how i prayed to helm but i'm now praying to the wilds and i'm i'm going to say dear spirits of the forest please hear me now
00:15:29
Speaker
I spent a lifetime fighting for what I didn't believe in, even though I knew it was what was supposed to be right. I have agreed to fight for you as your sword of vengeance, as it were. You can use me in battle and however it needs to be, I accept, but
00:15:57
Speaker
It's not fair to use another's life and leave it hanging in limbo without balance, without direction. I will fight for you, but you are not allowed to forget Sauron. And then I just take my hand off the tree. When you said the word Sauron, your hand, the glow from your hand put out a beam
00:16:28
Speaker
that made its way through the little wedges and pieces of bark on the tree and kind of spread like a net around the tree and then absorbed into it. Gwendolyn, make an insight check as you watch this happen. You went with him, correct? Yes. Yeah, make an insight check as you watch this happen. Uh-oh.
00:16:59
Speaker
four plus oh no four eight so you see this come out of his hand and wrap around the tree craig's only you see a faint glimmer of this same green glow kind of pulsate from the trees down into the forest just faint just like
00:17:22
Speaker
almost like a whole bunch of fireflies flicker suddenly on top of the tree at once and the tree behind it and then some trees further down until you can't see it anymore. And that's your whole response. I think that's enough for me. I definitely would feel like my message got out with that.
Bonding Through Prayer
00:17:44
Speaker
Yeah. Would I have heard him say this prayer?
00:17:49
Speaker
Yeah, you you were I wasn't hiding it. I wasn't hiding the fact of what I was doing. Normally, my prayers have always been personal and kind of in secret because I prayed out of shame and I feel like this is the first time that my prayer has not been shameful. Awesome. OK. So that's it. Yeah, that that kind of pulsates through the forest and
00:18:18
Speaker
You do feel a warm sensation inside, like a satisfaction. How'd it go? Well, I'm hoping it went well. I know what it's like to spend a lifetime just wondering if what you're doing is right and to feel like you're just a pawn in a life that you have no control over.
00:18:47
Speaker
That's not a fate I can ever wish for somebody else. I'll never forget what Saladin did and the sacrifice of carrying that, even though it might seem so small. It could change everything that's happening here in Wild Hill. I hope it does. Gwendolyn.
00:19:14
Speaker
reaches down, and she picks up some bark that was near one of the trees. I think we should commemorate this with some bark. And she hands Craig a piece of bark. Not knowing what to do, he just starts, like sticks it in his mouth and starts chewing, like looking at Gwen, is this what I'm supposed to do? Roll a percentage die, D100.
00:19:43
Speaker
Oh, snap. I didn't have that bad boy ready. It's not like a magic table or anything. It's just a percentage chance of something 40. Yeah, this is not whatever Salarin had picked for you. So it is got this like, it's got this like grass, but
00:20:08
Speaker
like bitter flower petal taste to it, not bitter like a bitter coffee or pickle or something, but more like maybe there's something on this to keep deer and stuff from eating it because it's not good. Nice.
Preparing to Meet Hurley
00:20:22
Speaker
So I choked down the bite that I took and then
00:20:26
Speaker
I just look back at Gwen and smile like, like I feel like I did something right. And I just have moss just stuck in between my teeth. Just like, Hmm. 100%. Good. This, this must be a new flavor. She just continues to chew. And then she does that awkward thing where she wants to put her hand in between his arms, but
00:20:51
Speaker
Again, the height difference and she just pats them again on the shoulder. Let's go rest. After you. A new flavor. I'm dying.
00:21:10
Speaker
All right. So you guys heading, just heading back to the, to the Bogus shack at this point. I got no more business out. Okay. Joxer and Daven. What are you guys up to? Wait, before we go, I figured it out. It's Bart Skinn Robin's 31 flavors, right? Thank you everybody for listening. We'll see you next season on the hired source. Five new podcasts.
00:21:42
Speaker
What are we doing, Joxer? I intended to mainly drink, but you're bringing more drinks, so I guess we're having a heart-to-heart with alcohol. I don't really drink that much, I'll be honest with you. This is my second of the night and this will probably be my last.
00:22:05
Speaker
I understand. We've already talked, especially, you know, you're not that interested in beers. I haven't had a chance to make any more, you know, more brews. Of the ones I've tasted, yours is a little bit better than this one. Why is it so bitter? Just depends on how long and what ingredients they're using. Well, they need some fresh ingredients, I think.
00:22:34
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think they bring the better brews into the longhouse here. I'm sure there's a couple of interesting stocks where Hurley's at. When we first came here, you said you were looking for a fruit, like a specific kind of fruit? Yes. Kawatika, I believe it was called. Why? What is so special about this fruit?
00:23:03
Speaker
It apparently only grows here. It's extremely rare. There's not much that it's really used for. There are some documents and kind of legends, if you will, at the monastery before I left of some of the healing agents that it might contain.
00:23:33
Speaker
And I'm always looking for a way to maybe help friends and find new flavors for Bruce. So you want it for medicinal purposes more than its flavor. That's interesting. The friend I talked to you about on the way back here. Yeah, I remember.
00:24:00
Speaker
She has an interest in, I guess, unique brews. And just when I met her for the first time, it took me from one of the darkest places I've ever been to almost an enlightened self. I can't even explain how
00:24:29
Speaker
how different I am now to when I was in the last bit of my monastery days. I just, I was leaving the monastery. I didn't intend to stay there any longer, although she did convince me to learn from them, at least a little bit more.
00:25:00
Speaker
How did you meet this woman? When I had intended on leaving the monastery, I had seen her essentially as I was running away. It was interesting because I saw her in the distance and it's like the more I ran to her, the further she got.
00:25:26
Speaker
But eventually, it was like I instantly met up with her. She didn't speak to me, but I knew what she wanted and what she wanted help with, and she gave me purpose. That's funny talk, sir. I believe that we have more in common than neither of us really realized.
00:25:52
Speaker
Before I met up with you guys a couple of years back, I was a thief. We didn't call ourselves thieves, but that's what we were.
00:26:01
Speaker
We'd buy these contracts from this man and he would have information about places that were kind of left abandoned. People who died in the war were gone for whatever reason. We didn't care. And we'd go there and we'd just take their things. We'd take it and sell it. That's how I made my money. I needed it out of that business. I didn't realize at the time that I needed out of that business, but I also found someone who helped me escape. It's interesting that we have similar tracks that we have been following.
00:26:30
Speaker
I wonder if that's why you became friends, how we came together. It's not impossible to all meet up in this very special town. It's unique how it can happen so fast for so many different reasons. Let's just hope it's an improvement over what we had before. That's true. I am a bit concerned.
00:27:00
Speaker
The night before, whenever you were sleeping underneath the Bogoshack, you might have been a nightlight for a good chunk. Yeah, that's new. I don't know what's really going on here. As we mentioned on the way here, then I'll keep an eye out for you.
00:27:24
Speaker
Same. And he's going to chug the rest of his drink. Say, I think it's probably best that we take it home. We, we kind of early morning tomorrow and we don't really know what to expect. I'm right there with you and finishes this drink and, and I'm, I'm ready to go. Devin's going to pick up his dagger, put it away and head for the door. All right. You guys head out, just heading back to the debug shack and he pit stops along the way.
00:27:49
Speaker
He's gonna stop and pee in a bush, but other than that, he's good. Yeah, of course he is. You bet he is. All right, then. You guys head back to the Bogoshack and you come in and find, I assume, Krigs already in the living room area. Yeah, I'm definitely on my rocker. All right, and yeah, there you go for an evening rest.
Arrival at Hurley's Shop
00:28:14
Speaker
Anything gonna be done or said at the Bogoshack before beddy by time?
00:28:18
Speaker
Devin's going to head toward his room, but on his way, he's just going to stop and rub Krigs's head one last time. It'll go into his room. Um, Joxer is going to, uh, go back down. He's going to go into his little, his little brew hole and then, uh, and just kind of tinker. Okay. Oh yeah. She's in a room sleeping. Okay.
00:28:46
Speaker
All right. So as everybody kind of goes about their business, uh, you guys settle in for the night and it's pretty uneventful night. The morning comes and Craig's you're awakened by a little bit of sunlight shining on your face from the window in the door. And it's morning scratch his head.
00:29:15
Speaker
Oh, feeling lucky. Yeah. I walk over not and just start knocking on the doors. When knock on Dav Davin, we got person's day to ruin. And then I go back and start getting ready. Gavin will slowly make his way up, get dressed and make his way out to meet the rest. OK, you'll hear Gwendolyn in her room just.
00:29:45
Speaker
Like she's talking to Dale as she gets ready. I step out the front door and just like kick the entrance to the cellar. Jogzer! Time to get going. You just see the black hole in the ground.
00:30:05
Speaker
And you don't, you don't see jocks or immediately until his head slowly pops up until it's just looks like he's like maybe trying to climb out of a hammock. I figured we could get some breakfast or I don't know. We can head over. I don't know. I just get, I'm going to go get ready. Yeah. Oh, I'll be there. Devin comes walking out holding his head. Oh,
00:30:35
Speaker
That drinking stuff is not for me. Where's everybody? Gwen, wake up. I am up. Why don't you get dressed and get out here? We've got stuff to do today. Well, if someone else will wake up, of course she's talking about Dale. We're like a little family.
00:30:58
Speaker
I know, right? Kids, get out of bed. Jockser, you know, folds up his, uh, his brew hole and then heads back up. Uh, Gwendolyn comes out and you just see her. You keep quiet the rest of the day and she just closes her bag. He's getting a little ornery these days, isn't he? I know. I just, oh, I don't even want to talk about it.
00:31:26
Speaker
Maybe we may need to make him a little muzzle, you know, show them up whenever we don't want to hear him. How does Gwen feel about that? She just stares at Daven. She's just, she laughs it off, but it's very uncomfortable. Daven just kind of shrugs and goes back to holding his head, rubbing his eyes. Daven, you shouldn't threaten Dale while he can still hear.
00:31:54
Speaker
Oh, you're right. Those bags aren't soundproof. I'm not really much for food this morning. I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to just get going whenever we can. Honestly, same. Agree. Yeah, I can probably skip out this morning. I reach into my pocket. You got a little bit of leftover bark? Nah, just no. And I just throw it behind me. What was that?
00:32:23
Speaker
Oh, it's, you know, some snacks for later. I'll just save it for later. Okay. So what exactly is our plan? We're going to go in there. Are we going straight forward? Are we going to try and beat her in the bush a little bit? What's straightforward to you, Devin? Are we just going to walk in and say, I want to buy artifact.
00:32:48
Speaker
Is that straightforward to you? That's being quite compared to our real purpose of going there, right? Big, funny, evil thing now, please. I'm saying that I think that one of the reasons we're going there is we're suspicious that he might be one of the ones causing these creatures, right? We don't know that for sure, but I think that he had something brought into town that was used to create these
00:33:17
Speaker
weird boars and bears. We want that information. If it's not bashing or creating other kinds of ruckus, I'm probably not best suited. When we get in there, it's probably best any of you do the talking besides me. I think that I agree with you.
00:33:41
Speaker
Krigs, I think that the question here, are we trying to make friends with Hurley or are we trying to make an enemy of Hurley? Because if we walk in there and just act too straightforward, we're gonna get kicked out and I'm going to have a target on my head by another man. I think we can be straight to the point.
00:34:10
Speaker
without sounding so rude. Oh, then you and Dale can start the conversation. That's fine. I do have to assume word spreads around pretty quick in a town as small as this. So it may be best to assume Hurley is expecting us and at least our true intentions. So being too coy may not be best suited.
00:34:38
Speaker
I might as well play by here. No, no, no bush beating. All right. I'd rather not beat any bushes. The bushels be left alone. I don't have anything to contribute. I think we should just go. All right. I think we head for the door. All right. If you guys head for the door, let me start heading out. Um, you are,
00:35:07
Speaker
able to just walk down the road towards where Hurley's is without, you know, it's not super busy out yet. People are just kind of, a few people are out and about starting to move around. You do see a few hunter types gathered around near the statue, like they're waiting on others to show. They're just kind of standing there chatting while they wait. Nobody you really recognize of interest, just you could tell they're hunter types.
00:35:37
Speaker
And then you continue on over to Hurley's where you can enter the knick-knack shop there. You find the door unlocked, ready for somebody to come in. Slim, we're here. We're a little early. We skipped breakfast, but hopefully that's all right. Oh, hey. Hello, he kind of opens the door. Yeah, you caught me. You caught me just as I was opening up here.
00:36:06
Speaker
Come on in, and he welcomes you to come inside, and walks towards the back. He says, let me go check and see if Hurley's finished with his breakfast yet. If he is, we'll take your own back, okay, to see him. Does that sound good? That sounds fine to me. How is Slim acting? Is the acting rushed because he's trying to open up the store, or? You know you're going to have to roll that inside. Yeah, I know.
00:36:35
Speaker
Yeah, I know. Oh, nineteen plus four. Twenty three. He looks nervous. He doesn't really seem scared. He's just a little anxious, it seems. OK. He kind of walks his way out the back behind the counter, out the little door that's back there. You hear another door shut as he enters a back room and then seems to exit it.
00:37:06
Speaker
And it seems to, you remember last time he was gone for several minutes. Anything you want to do in here while you wait on him to return? I'm just going to take a gander around, see if there's anything new or interesting that maybe I've never noticed before.
00:37:19
Speaker
Yeah, as you look around, you do see knickknacks and stuff, just the little piddly things that he's that have been made by assuming by Hurley and that, you know, like, like the little creature that you had purchased. And you do see a couple new ones. One's an owl. It just looks like a normal owl, though. Nothing super interesting. And you see one that's shaped like a small weapon, like a little dagger, but it's
00:37:45
Speaker
It's very small. I mean, it would be like the size of a, you know, like a, I don't know, like a straw or something, just really little. And, uh, yeah, that's the only thing of interest you see other than just the typical, it looks like there's been some restocking happening there. You know, there's more ropes up there than there were last time and things like that, but nothing super exciting. Oh, you've got to like a little carving of a tiny little dagger here. I just stabbed myself with a dagger last night. That's probably just a coincidence, right?
Meeting Hurley and Artifact Exchange
00:38:16
Speaker
It probably is, Devin. It probably is. I think I'm just thinking too much into things. He's going to put it down. When you put it down, that wound on your face. No, I'm just kidding. Oh, no. I'm just kidding. I think Joxer, just from doing a little bit of thinking last night, he's going to peruse to see if there's any kind of
00:38:44
Speaker
I guess mercury around in the shop. OK, any mercury? Yes. OK, make a kind of make a perception check as you look around, see if there's anything like that, chemically kind of alchemical items. There's just like a science kit in the corner. That will be a 10. You don't see anything
00:39:13
Speaker
Um, as you look around, you know, you don't see any thing that looks alchemical in nature or anything like that. It just seems it's everything here is pretty basic and your normal general store, other than the little section of wooden carved knick-knack things. Okay. I think we just continue to wait then. All right. So a few minutes later, even after that, you guys literally just standing there awkwardly looking around at each other, waiting.
00:39:43
Speaker
the music playing in the speakers in the ceiling. Just kidding. You stand there just waiting and then
00:39:57
Speaker
You hear from the back room, that door closed and then feet as he walks back in and he says, okay. Um, yes, he, uh, I apologize for the wait. Uh, he was just finishing up his breakfast, but he's ready to see you now. If you'd like to come on in, come on back through the back room here. If you, if you're okay with that, it'd be quicker to go that way than back out around the front. Sure. It's all the same to me. All right. He waits there by the counter for you guys to approach and come, come with him.
00:40:27
Speaker
And then he turns as you guys get closer and starts heading into that back room. In the back room there, you see a couple of barrels full of grain and some vat with water and stuff like that and a towel and maybe a little bar of soap kind of something. And just a little back room of a shop kind of area with a little hand washing station.
00:40:52
Speaker
He says, please, everyone, wash your hands as you as you guys walk into that room. And then he opens the door and stands with the door open, waiting for you all to wash your hands and follow him. It's low to, by the way, the perfect size for Craig's. Everybody else have to kind of bend down a little to wash your hands. I appreciate the convenience and wash my hands. Great. I don't mind the inconvenience and I wash my hands. OK.
00:41:20
Speaker
So as everybody, I assume, washes their hands. Anybody reject the hand washing? No, I would have just, yeah, I would have just waited for everybody in front of me just because it feels super weird being the taller one. Okay.
00:41:35
Speaker
And so you guys head back out. You end up back, you walk down like four steps going outside. Literally the steps are outside. The door opens to the outdoors and you step down three steps or four steps to go down to the ground and follow this little cobblestone path behind a couple more of these like Hurley's lodging buildings. And you follow them around the back and you end up at this
00:41:58
Speaker
this building you have passed, it's kind of set up on a hill away from the road a little bit and it doesn't have like a pathway or an entrance that goes up to the front of it. The only entrance seems to be on this side that is accessible through this cobblestone path. And so you approach it that direction and you see the path kind of ramps up to the door and instead of steps, it ramps up to there.
00:42:28
Speaker
And the door there, he slim, grabs a little handle, a simple handle and turns it down and it unlatches and he pushes it open. And the door is pretty nice, kind of ornate. It's got some carvings and engravings in it and a nice large knocker on the middle of it. And he steps inside and kind of squints as his eyes adjust to a little darker in there and invites you. He stands with his back to the door and his hand on the door
00:42:59
Speaker
as he holds it back for you and kind of motions you to go ahead and enter in front of him there. I would walk in. Okay. So I know I'm assuming you guys walk in. I just want to make sure nobody's like, I don't know. I'm going to check us something. You know, if you want to do anything, I'm going to, I'm going to give you that space for that. But anyway, so as you walk in, I'll just say this, just interrupt me. If you want to do anything like that, that's fine with me.
00:43:26
Speaker
So I don't have to have these pregnant pauses. So you walk into the room and it is lit by candlelight. It is a dark room. There are no windows in this room. There's just this door and you can see what looks like sunlight coming in around door like cracks to a couple other doors in this room. The room is about
00:43:46
Speaker
It's about 15 by 15 square there. And there's the door that you entered in with light coming through there. There's two other doors. It's definitely this room can't be the...
00:43:57
Speaker
Excuse me, the only room in this building because of the size of it. So you but you assume this is just the darkest. This is just the back room or something. And you do see some shelving here and there and the doors are are wider and they are closed. And there is a there is light coming from there. But this this room is as her as a slim steps over to one of these other doors and opens it.
00:44:22
Speaker
You are able to to see his light comes back in into this this doorway you he kind of points in a direction or points the direction through the doorway and invites you to step on through and And as you approach to go through there, he kind of
00:44:38
Speaker
looks at one of you to hold that door back as he walks on in and he says okay please come in here and have a seat right over there he points to a couple of benches that have pads on them and you notice the floor is wooden hard floor
00:44:56
Speaker
There are no rugs, no nothing, but there are very nice things hanging on the walls. There's looks like works of art. There's some tapestry and things like that hanging on the walls. There's a few like candelabras sitting here and there on on on shelving that's hanging from the wall. But other than these couple of benches,
00:45:13
Speaker
There's nothing really like in the room as far as like furniture goes and And so he turns and he walks towards a little hallway towards the back of the room and He kind of leans back. He says they're they're out here sir, and he walks over to the windows and he closes these curtains and covers the windows so the sunlight doesn't come in anymore and and
00:45:43
Speaker
He turns up the the couple of of candles that are there like like oil oil lamps to to brighten it up and he just leaves a little bit of a little bit of sunshine shining shining in
00:45:57
Speaker
on one of the windows, but not, but everything else is pretty, pretty well closed down and make an insight check or perception check, whatever, as he does that with any of those investigation, insight, perception, whatever you want. All of us. Yeah. Just to see if you notice this, um, 16 for a jocks here. Okay. You said insight or perception, uh, 14. Okay.
00:46:25
Speaker
How does a cool 14 sound? It sounds real cool. Neat. I got a natural 20 plus four. Nice. All right. So so everyone notices that only one window is left partially open with sunlight shining in and it shines and kind of illuminates the room pretty well. The whole room is kind of filled with sunlight. But Davin, you notice that the
00:46:49
Speaker
Unlike the other windows, this one is actually like etch, like sandblasted kind of to where you can't see in and out of it. It just lets light in.
00:47:01
Speaker
then you hear what sounds like kind of a, like a cart or something, a small cart, like rolling your direction. And out of that little hallway that, uh, that slim, you know, called down, you see the silhouette of somebody that looks like they're sitting and moving towards you. And as the sunlight hits this person, you see a man, uh,
00:47:29
Speaker
turning a crank on a chair that he's sitting in and the crank is attached to a wheel on the chair that is pushing his chair down this hallway and he goes down a little ramp that you can see has been built over the top of a couple of steps and he kind of rolls down that ramp and he
00:47:50
Speaker
As the sun kind of goes up the floor and up the bottom of the chair, you don't see any legs until you do see that his legs are no longer there. They've been detached at the knees, it seems like. They're gone at his knees. And the sun continues to kind of go up his body and you see one of his arms sits, the arm that's not cranking the wheel sits very limp and loose in his lap.
00:48:17
Speaker
and the other arm cranks the wheel as he rolls forward and the light comes up and hits his face and when you see his face you can see it is scarred and very
00:48:29
Speaker
It looks pretty messed up. He looks like he is probably a half elf based on some of the features that you notice. But he's definitely not what he once was. And you can see, as far as his full abilities, full capabilities, or whatever, and you can see that he has an eye patch on one eye. And everyone make perception checks as he rolls towards you.
00:49:02
Speaker
be 16 again. 14. Natural 20 plus seven. Natural 20 plus four. Dice. So you guys, what dice are y'all rolling? My dice. Some of them good, good ones. I rolled, my natural 20 was with the hired sword dice. Yeah. So you, what was the, what was the lowest? 14 for me.
00:49:26
Speaker
Okay, so everyone except Davin notices that it looks like some kinds of like boils are around the eye patch. And then Gwen and Krigs, you both noticed that the boils look to be like stone hard, almost like rock on his face that's around that eye patch. And he smiles at you and he's missing several teeth. And he says, he says,
00:49:55
Speaker
I can't tell by the looks of you if you would be worth the time that Slim said you would be worth, but I welcome you to my home. Please understand that I am used to people's reaction the first time I am seen, so you do not have to hide your
00:50:18
Speaker
disdain or your emotion from seeing me. I did not wish to be dramatic, but you were here earlier than I had planned. So anyway, I am Hurley. It is a pleasure to meet you. It's nice to meet you too. I think you have a lovely home here.
00:50:43
Speaker
Thank you very much. I have worked very hard to get here. It has cost me very much. Slim, we may have customers soon. I think I will be okay. Please, you may attend to the store now. And Slim goes, okay, please just let me know if there's anything you need. You pull the cable and I'll hear the bell. He says,
00:51:11
Speaker
I appreciate your service, Slim. Thank you. And looks to all of you again with his one good eye and nods his head and says, I hear you are a...
00:51:23
Speaker
interested in certain artifacts. I'm willing to discuss this with you at some level, but first I feel I must learn a little bit more about each of you and what it is that causes you to desire such items. Please, we will begin with the young lady there. What is your name? What are you doing here in the Wild Hill?
00:51:51
Speaker
My name is Gwendolyn and these are my companions that I found here in Wild Hill. I was actually on a journey of my own but I stopped here for some reason. I... Something's wrong here in Wild Hill and I feel you...
00:52:19
Speaker
know of what I speak or know something. Devin leans over to Craig's and he says, she didn't even look at the bush. She just went right past the thing. That sounds quite a bit like Gwen. And Gwendolyn, she kind of kneels down so she can be on his level.
00:52:42
Speaker
And she's not doing this to be rude. She's just doing this because she wants to look into his good eye. Yeah. Just to show she's not meaning here to be rude or interrupt or hostile. Something's wrong here. And I feel we feel we can fix it. Interesting.
00:53:13
Speaker
What about your friend here next to you when he looks at Joxer? I like him. I also think you would like him and his mead or ale. She tries to correct herself.
00:53:27
Speaker
I love the fact that we have three charisma based characters and we push the awkward druid forward to do all the talking. Yeah. Yeah. What the heck? I was actually joking earlier, but I have a negative. I got a plus four. She's got that bald head look. Uh huh.
00:53:49
Speaker
He looks at Joxer though and he says, okay, do you speak for yourself or? I definitely speak for myself and I do appreciate. I'm a broom maker, but I'm probably the most likely to be interested in your artifacts here. I may not look it, but most of that is intended.
00:54:16
Speaker
is definitely something unusual with this town. We have overheard that there was an exchange of a powerful artifact to a dear friend of mine, Durnaldi, and it has caused us concern. We wanted information as well as we were interested to talk with you.
00:54:46
Speaker
on this manner.
00:54:51
Speaker
Well, we can see what kind of deal we might be able to strike for information. I get that the artifact may not be the reason for your visit. I'm seeing that now you there with the necklaces. I notice items with magical properties when I see them. Tell me, what is your deal?
00:55:19
Speaker
Daven realizing now that they were sticking out, make sure he tucks them back in. He says, my name is Daven Mainstrider. I came here to this town looking for a first start.
00:55:31
Speaker
I'm at these companions here, and like them, we've kind of noticed together that there are some strange things going on. I almost, to be honest with you, I did not come here to buy any sort of artifacts. In fact, it was kind of a guy's just to get into a meeting with you, because we had heard that you had some connections with Rinaldi, and we think that maybe he's done some less than honorable things here in town.
00:55:55
Speaker
Now, maybe we can work out some sort of a deal where you could help us and then we could help you or maybe pay for that information in some way or another, or maybe we can continue on. Jocks are here, might actually be interested in something. I don't know. You see, you, the dwarf. Yeah. My name is Kriegs Golder. These are my friends. We've just asked us to see you.
00:56:25
Speaker
Well, you see me, I am not much to look at. I am afraid I must be honest with you. You have done a couple of things that I have heard about that confuse me. One of them upset me greatly.
00:56:51
Speaker
The other was a great benefit to me. Therefore, I feel we are neutral in our relationship that we are just beginning. And I would like to offer you
00:57:09
Speaker
Perhaps some time to ask me things that you are seeking information about because I believe there might be something we can discuss in return for my answers.
Podcast Reflection and Gratitude
00:57:25
Speaker
So what is the first thing you want to know?
00:57:48
Speaker
Thank you for listening to this episodic installment of the Hired Sword. You know what? Hold on, wait a minute. Alright, that's a little better.
00:58:01
Speaker
Let's let's have a quick heart-to-heart you and your best friend Kriegs Safran in Baroque I Just wanted to stop for half a second and really just say thank you again for everyone that has listened it's been It's been about a year since we've been working on the show and it's been absolutely incredible having everyone on this journey We are
00:58:29
Speaker
If you haven't told by the story so much, there are some things being revealed and story happening that could very well be coming up to a finale for season one in the very near future. You shouldn't worry, though. We are already in the works for getting season two in order and getting the ball rolling and getting those episodes out as soon as we possibly can.
00:58:59
Speaker
So just hang in there with us. I'm absolutely ecstatic to bring Season 2 and to explore so much more of this world we're creating. One favor, I guess. You've all done an incredible job of just showing support and
00:59:21
Speaker
showing the love to the show and to the cast and everybody uh... be sure you know take a second throw a tweet out throw it's all word of mouth all the listeners that we've had have been from you guys telling people that the show is actually worth listening to and that's that means the world it's it's incredible to think that there's actually someone out there that wants to listen to this story
00:59:50
Speaker
It was a silly goofy story about a chipmunk and all his friends. Anyway. Yeah. Leave a review. Tell your friends. We're super excited for where this is going and I'm very happy to have you on this trip with us. Thank you. Alright, let's get back to it.