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Ep. 32 Eye To Eye
147 Plays4 years ago
Through the skies and above the trees, a moment of peace can be found. Peace from Monsters. Peace from the ghosts that haunt our dreams. Just the skies and our companions that we've been lucky enough to have by our side through too many difficult decisions. I fear that there will be many more decisions yet to make. But for now. we enjoy this peace in the freedom of the clouds for as long as we can.
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Transcript
A Moment of Peace Above the Clouds
00:00:14
Speaker
previously on the higher swords. Through the skies and above the trees, a moment of peace can be found. Peace from monsters, peace from the ghosts that haunt our dreams. Just the skies and our companions that we've been lucky enough to have by our side through too many difficult decisions. I fear that there will be many more decisions yet to make, but for now,
00:00:41
Speaker
For now we enjoy the peace and the freedom of the clouds, for as long as we can.
00:01:12
Speaker
You're listening to the Hired Swords, where we believe we can fly. Just spread our wings and touch the sky.
00:01:33
Speaker
Welcome back everybody to the Hired Swords.
Chasing the Bear-Wolf Beast
00:01:36
Speaker
Let's jump right to it. When we left off, we were facing down a giant bear wolf blend creature that had been running through the woods. You had been chasing it. Some of you flying through the sky with magical capes or polymorph spells or druidic magic.
00:01:56
Speaker
some of you still running through the forest during the second half of this chase trying to beat Saria's party to the punch here but unfortunately when you finally catch up to this creature
00:02:09
Speaker
It hits a firebolt and this firebolt ruptures in its face. The creature cries out in pain. You hear the sounds of an arrow being shot and somebody calling out from the trees beyond. You hear somebody yell,
The Beast's Defeat and Mel's Victory
00:02:27
Speaker
now! And when they yell, now, this sword just pierces through the neck of this creature.
00:02:37
Speaker
And rotates around from one side to the other chopping this creature's head clean off.
00:02:46
Speaker
Is it live still? It is currently it falls to the ground in a heap and begins to begins to morph in shape back down into a more closer to the size of a typical bear and lays there with patches of gray and black and brown hair patches of hair missing. Its head is completely gone and standing before you.
00:03:13
Speaker
as he reaches down and puts up the head and looks at it is Mel and his sword is bloody. He wipes it on his pants and puts it back in his sheath and you can see there's this log right in front of him that he had been tucked down underneath and took advantage of that after that fireball hit the
00:03:35
Speaker
After the fireball hit this bear creature he stood up and swiped at it and looks at you all looking at the looking at the bear creature in his hands and its head and looks at you all as you approach going approaching looking like this dire wolf.
00:03:54
Speaker
Davin still flying overhead and sees this happen from overhead.
Encounter with the Tattooed Wizard
00:03:58
Speaker
Krigs, Joxer's on the back of Gwendolyn and Krigs, are you just making your way, are you still flying too? I am, I'm flying but I was basically dive bombing at this point. So when Krigs lands right there at the edge, you all kind of pull up and see this almost kind of the aftermath of what had just happened.
00:04:19
Speaker
He looks at you all grinning and out from behind another tree steps the wizard that you had spoken to, the wizard with bald tattooed head and face. That's all you see at this current moment is the two of them.
Gwendolyn's Wolf Instincts
00:04:36
Speaker
Impressive work. I will land and change form. Okay.
00:04:43
Speaker
Jockster was just going to like slowly pat at Gwen's form just like on her shoulder. I start to take off. I'm not fair. OK, but I am angry.
00:05:01
Speaker
Running away? No, I'm moving up towards the bear. I'm moving past Joxer. Okay. So Gwendolyn runs up towards the bear. This creature is laying on the ground and it's larger than a bear should be, but closer to the size of a bear after being killed. Its head also looks like it still has a little bit of a longer snout, more like a wolf would.
00:05:27
Speaker
and beyond that you'd have to make some kind of check to look at these things. Mel, as you approach, you're a direwolf still, yes? Oh yeah, I'm staying as direwolf. Yeah, so as you approach, his sword kind of, he doesn't like point it at you, but he kind of holds it at the ready and looks down at you. Oh, I growl at him. Okay. Joxers. I'm not having it.
00:05:47
Speaker
Yeah, Joxer is running up beside her. Mel, hold on. This one's one of ours, and I'm gonna try to grapple her a bit. Okay. I'm gonna resist. All right, make a contested string checks then. All right. This is a hot start. Yeah, that'll be a 14 plus one. 15. Natural 20.
00:06:16
Speaker
OK, so you're unable to hold Gwendolyn back as this dire will form. That kind of makes sense. And you're kind of slipping through the hair, the fur, and she's quite a bit bigger than your arms can wrap around at this point. You're just struggling to grab a hold of her.
Sensing Corruption
00:06:30
Speaker
And Jockster just looks over at the other two frustrated in the moment. I just start sniffing the ground. OK. Make a perception check. And around the bear.
00:06:45
Speaker
15 plus whatever a direwolf does. Get out of here. Gwen's rolling for real tonight. I am. Oh, I get to roll again. She does not like to see animals die. 15 and 14. 15 plus three, 18. 18. You smell on this creature. You smell its blood. It's got that iron kind of smell.
00:07:14
Speaker
You smell just dirt and plant life, just whatever it's been living around. You also smell just this kind of...
00:07:27
Speaker
almost like a ash kind of rot. I don't know if that makes sense. Something that was burned, like something was burned and then like it rained, like a campfire after it rains and you get this smell of the burned ash that has kind of gotten, been sitting there too long. I don't know if you know that smell very well, but it's kind of that wet, yucky kind of rotting ash smell.
00:07:50
Speaker
That part is a little off to you. But the rest of it is just like you would expect a forest creature to smell that has been wounded. But I mean, it is definitely dead beyond dead, you know, at this point. Okay. I'm going to smell around. And while this is happening, I'm wincing because I wanted to save this animal. I'll immediately look at Mel and start growling.
00:08:20
Speaker
Okay. Mel is looking down at you and looks up at Joxer and at Davin and is like, um, are you going to calm your pet? I take one step towards him. Something about dire wolves. It's kind of hard to calm them. Um, are you trying to intimidate him or something? Do you want to make a check for that? I do. Okay. Make an intimidation check. Oh my gosh. What is intimidation? Is it charisma?
Witty Banter and Reflections on the Hunt
00:08:51
Speaker
Oh, 16 minus two, 14. Even as a direwolf? Yeah. Well, charisma is low for a direwolf. It's kind of weird how charisma works, in my opinion. But he, as you growl at him, you said it was a what, a 14? 14? 14. I mean, we can use a 15. As you growl at him, he,
00:09:18
Speaker
he kind of winces back or like leans back and kind of squints his eyes. And you see this this grin on a little bit of a grin on his face. And I hate it. And he he says he says anyway, it looks like we win the race. Well, I suppose that will put us even. Even.
00:09:48
Speaker
Jockster will just smirk up at him. And he says, aha, yes. You know, took me half the day to get over that little competition of ours. I'm just growling at him still. Every time he talks, snarky. He seems to be ignoring you. The mage is kind of watching you.
00:10:15
Speaker
but not really in any sort of, you can't tell any intent there. He's just kind of keeping an eye on you. And slowly from behind them walks up the ranger, the kind of elven archer who you had seen with them in town. She kind of walks up and she says, well, I guess it's another one done. And- Can I see Sariah from here?
00:10:43
Speaker
Make a perception check. 19 plus 120. Let me check. She's not wanting to be seen. So you do not see her. I don't know. I don't know why you even traveled with these other people. It seems like you did it all by yourself.
00:11:09
Speaker
Well, that's not entirely true. This thing took a firebolt and an arrow before I got to it. Oh, don't be so modest. You could have caught its head off, no problem anyway. I think you should get all the gold. Wendell looks back at Daven, just with angry wolf eyes. Okay. Daven kind of just gives her a wink.
00:11:30
Speaker
Okay. Uh, when you say you should give her all the gold, you hear a voice from the trees kind of to yourself, uh, to kind of behind you to over your right shoulder, you hear a, ah, no, no, no. Uh, the plan was mine. If you remember Mel and Sariah steps out from the trees and, uh, Mel says, indeed, indeed you're the brains. I know. And she says, besides, and she walks over to the.
00:11:55
Speaker
to the werebear creature and pulls out two small darts from its body and puts them back in her little pouch and she says, you didn't see everything that struck this creature. He says, I know. You're right. You're right. We all did this together. We all reap the reward together. And she says, that's right. And as the leader, I don't take more than you and you won't take more than me.
00:12:21
Speaker
Well, it seems you all weren't quite quick enough to get here, were you? Maybe next time. Well, I suppose it would be expected,
Unnatural Creatures and a Mystery
00:12:32
Speaker
since you know this area better than we do. Although, I feel like we had other intentions. Other intentions? What do you mean? I feel like it's been difficult to corner you outside of Wild Teal.
00:12:52
Speaker
Well, what do you mean corner me? Are you up for a fight here or what? I bark at her. We don't want to fight. She laughs. I look back at Daven. She's angry. Got to get our wild cards under control here. Daven looks directly at the direwolf and says, we don't want to fight. Okay. I bark at him.
00:13:20
Speaker
Mel says.
00:13:51
Speaker
the chief. He does consider me one of his one of his leaders. I've been a part of the hired swords for a while. And anyway, there are some reasons that he kind of gives me information that's needed here and there, you know. But I wouldn't say I'm always right there with him. I just doing jobs like everyone else. You do seem to be
00:14:20
Speaker
Maybe not his right-hand man, or, I guess, woman, my apologies. But, uh, you have an inn with the chief more than most, I would say. I believe that's fair, sure. Since we got to Wild Hill, and Mel and others, I beg my pardon, but since we've got to Wild Hill, it seems
00:14:46
Speaker
unique. The jobs we've seen and taken since we've become hired swords ourselves, they've all been different, not something I would have expected coming into this town. Is that normal? I mean, this creature here, the creature we found in the wilds with Denaldi, these aren't normal creatures.
00:15:09
Speaker
you're you're right there she says and the mage speaks up and it's like yeah they're super weird that's it's kind of interesting finally something interesting and Gwen moves towards him when he says that and growls
00:15:24
Speaker
She doesn't like the way he's talking. He takes a couple steps back. And Mel kind of inches in between the two of you. He doesn't stand fully in between you, but he kind of steps that direction like, as if to say he if you tried something he would jump into. And Sariah says, Yes, calm down, calm down. And says we we have noticed too that there are creatures in the forest that
00:15:53
Speaker
weren't there in previous years. I think the chief knows something's going on, but I don't know. I'm not sure what's happening. I just know that as long as we can eliminate them, then we'll be fine. Unfortunately, some of the lesser experienced hunters have met their demise due to these creatures. I wish that wasn't so, but it seems that it is.
00:16:21
Speaker
As long as these creatures don't show up en masse, you know, in large numbers, I think we can continue to handle it. But is that enough? I mean, you said yourself, the frequency of these appearances has grown over recent times. What's to say that Wildtil isn't overrun before you know it? What does anyone really know about these monsters? To my knowledge, no one knows anything.
00:16:48
Speaker
The chief says, I growl, I growl when she says that, that she doesn't know or they don't know. You have to think of it like this. Ants, you could kill an aunt if you want to, but it's not really going to solve any problems. There's going to be lots of more ants. You don't kill it to solve the problem. You follow it back to the until. And once you find that, that's where you solve the problem. If you just come out here and just kill these things one by one sooner or later, the entire army of ants are going to come in to attack the town.
00:17:19
Speaker
Mel says, go ahead, Gwen. I was just going to bark in agreement. It's a more happy bark. Mel says, we're not paid to solve the problems. And Saraya says, Mel's right. Mel's right. We aren't paid to solve these problems. I immediately growled the problems. We're paid to- Mel, no offense, but you're not the brains. We weren't talking to you.
00:17:45
Speaker
He just, he just chuckles and looks at the head on it that he's holding and he says, but I get the job done. And Sariah's like, yes, you're very wonderful. Listen, and looks back at you and says, listen, he's not wrong. We know our place in Wild Hill. Our place is to do what we are hired to do. Earn our gold. We all have our reasons. We all have our, our purpose for being here. What's your purpose for being here? Why did you come to Wild Hill?
00:18:16
Speaker
Well, I was under the impression that your farms here in Wild Hill may have a specific crop yield that I'm interested in.
Concerns About Inexperienced Hunters
00:18:27
Speaker
My affiliation with the hired swords myself is merely coincidental, but I can't help but wonder if you are overrun by these monsters, if you are unable to actually quell the problem and understand what's happening, how much longer are you going to be able to take jobs when there's no one left to give them?
00:18:47
Speaker
And that point only follows truer when the younger hunters are killed, leaving just your parties. And as they dwindle and get replaced with less trained, what are you to do then? All of you make perception checks or insight checks when he says that. Gwendolyn, you're making an insight check as a direwolf. As a wolf. I have an 11.
00:19:17
Speaker
It's a wolf. It's a wolf. It's a 14. Do you only use your physical traits when you're in wild shape? And then you get to use your own, because you're still your brain, your mind in there. Yeah. So you make this insight check as Gwendolyn, not a dire wolf. Oh, sweet. Oh, snap. My insight's 23. OK. That's better. 19. You see.
00:19:46
Speaker
As you kind of look at the four of them standing there, when you say that, Sariah's stone-faced, Mel's stone-faced, the mage genuinely doesn't seem to care about anything you're saying. Typical mage. But the archer has a genuine look of concern on her face when you say what you say about
00:20:08
Speaker
The young ones are getting killed and, you know, are we going to be able to sustain this? And Sariah just says, I see your point and it is a good one. But there are many very capable fighters in Wild Hill. If something were to happen, I think that would be the worst possible small village for any creature or army to try to attack. The amount of fighting power in that town could be outmatched on this part of the continent.
00:20:39
Speaker
I just, the way that this works and how all of your teams leave the homestead, it leaves you vulnerable. There's not enough of you that are trained to stay in. Just as you said, you're out on jobs fairly frequently. Who's protecting it now? A garrison of sorts, you're saying. Indeed. I honestly believe until now
00:21:09
Speaker
There's been no reason to think of a garrison in Wild Hill. But we've always been an offensive type, right? Not a defensive type. You understand? Just like some new enemy here, though. This is not something that you guys have fought before. These are not normal creatures. These are being created somehow. Well, you're talking to someone who doesn't get to make the decisions. While they're talking, how close am I to the Ranger? Is this the Ranger? That's the Ranger.
00:21:37
Speaker
I am going to slow my roll on the growling, and while they're talking, I'm going to try to make my way as if I'm examining the bear, but I'm going to make a slight right and see if I smell any fear. I'm going to approach gently, but I want to smell fear on this lady. All right, make a perception check. We'll call it a perception check. There's not like a smell fear check, but we'll make it work.
00:22:03
Speaker
It's not, you know, do they smell like BO check, but yeah, 18. Okay, use as you kind of sniff around you smell. First of all, you smell the mage more than anybody gross. He's a he's a nasty boy. But you but you knew that after the time you've seen him in town and stuff. Yeah, the she she smells of
00:22:30
Speaker
I wouldn't say fear, like she's afraid of you or anything in particular. She smells cleaner than the others. You sense like she's definitely younger, not as experienced as they are in this. That might be where this little bit of concern in her eyes is coming from.
Questioning the Status Quo in Wild Hill
00:22:55
Speaker
Well, it's clear to me
00:22:59
Speaker
You're all very skilled and very combat ready individuals. I'm just concerned for those that are less skilled or those that are unprepared to face these monsters out in the wild. We faced a few of them ourselves and we'd lost. I guess I shouldn't say we'd lost, but there was a hunting party that we ran with that faced monsters that were unprepared for.
00:23:27
Speaker
And I get that as the nature of the wilds and the nature of the hunt. But that's not the monster they were sent for. They were felt very much like they were sent into a trap. Almost designed for them. I think that what you're suggesting is a pretty dangerous thought, don't you? I agree. It's a very dangerous thought. It's also dangerous to just go out there not knowing what you're going to be facing.
00:23:57
Speaker
It's also dangerous to mindlessly follow. And I believe that's why we hoped to speak with your group alone. This brings me back to my question. Why are you here? I get you were looking for some fruit, but that didn't mean you had to take a mission to go into the forest. Why do this at all? Why jump on our mission when we were perfectly acceptable
00:24:25
Speaker
It was perfectly acceptable for us to just take it and go and you showed up. There were other missions available, but you needed a racist to this one. What is it that you're after? I can't speak for the whole group. I don't know exactly why everyone has decided to come here and do what we're doing. But for me, I was looking for a new start, a new place to be, and a way of making money. And in this town, this seems like the way that you make money.
00:24:51
Speaker
But after doing that first mission, just it put a sour taste in all of our mouths. There was something going on here that we are not ready for, and that we don't think is really right. And we just wanted to find out why and what. Bork, bork. She says, your name's Davin, right? It is, yes. Did you serve, Davin? Did you spend any time in
00:25:17
Speaker
any of the regional armies. You don't look old enough to have served in the war, but just serve time in the armies at all. No, I did not. Some of us may have. Yes, well then you, you would understand.
Roles and Missions Under Scrutiny
00:25:32
Speaker
There are missions you are asked to take that
00:25:39
Speaker
You just don't understand. You're not asked to understand. And as Mel says, we're not paid to understand or solve problems. We're paid to achieve a goal and return with that goal having been achieved. It's simple. That's why I like it. So that may be the case. There are missions that you have to walk away from. I've yet to find one like that for myself, I must say.
00:26:08
Speaker
So let's just say just for an instance that something happens to Mel here and he becomes one of these strange creatures. God forbid, man, I like you. But say it happens and your next contract is to kill Mel. Are you just going to do it? No questions asked. She looks over at Mel and Mel kind of bristles and kind of stands with the shoulders back, you know, still holding that that creature's head and the sword in the other hand and kind of looks at her like you could try, you know, and she chuckles and she says,
00:26:38
Speaker
I think that no matter what happened to Mel, he'd still do what I said, wouldn't you, Mel? He says, he says, well, I guess we'd have to find out. I don't know, but I don't think I could meet you in a fight no matter what state I was in. And she says, listen, my men have my respect and I have theirs. That's all we have out here.
00:27:05
Speaker
the chief, he has my respect because he pays me when I do the job he tells me to do nothing more. If there's anything you want to know about what I do or what the chief is after, I suppose there's information that's available if you talk to him or maybe Tongba knows things. All I know is what he tells me and it's not a lot. Well, I suppose if anything,
00:27:35
Speaker
If any of you notice something super out of the ordinary and need someone else to mention it to, I would be all ears. I see. We're not trying to steal your jobs. We're just trying to find an answer. What's the question? What is this thing? What did you just kill? Who's, who's killing the forest? Who's, I mean, look at this creature. It's not normal.
00:28:04
Speaker
the boar we faced before coming into town, the one that nearly ran us up into the cells for Denali. While you're speaking, Joxer's gonna reach in his pocket and grab the little vial of blood that he grabbed from the boulder.
00:28:25
Speaker
or from the boar and then open it and pour like a drop next to Mel's, like not next to Mel's foot, but like near it on the log. Okay. And watch it sizzle on the wood. Okay. My hammer, I forged this hammer myself in the forges of my home. This boar, I'm going to toss the hammer over to Soraya gently. I mean, it's
Denaldi's Dangerous Experimentation Revealed
00:28:52
Speaker
not huge. Okay.
00:28:54
Speaker
Notice the damage on the flanking face side of my hammer. Those markings. That's from the boar's blood. You're saying blood of acid. Have you ever seen a boar with acidic blood? This is what we're talking about. Of course. These are not normal creatures. We don't know who's responsible for this.
00:29:22
Speaker
I don't know if we have the answers or even the question we're trying to ask, but I just need to know who was responsible for this. I've never seen anything like it. I've heard that Darnaldi had made an attempt to create some strange creature once, but I assume that's what you killed. He's been, from what I understand, he was not given permission to do that and was very
00:29:51
Speaker
very strongly recommended that he was not to do it anymore. So, Denaldi is in the interest of creating new beings? He was. He tried it, like I said, once. My understanding is, according to the chief, he did tell me this, that
00:30:14
Speaker
He wanted to make more money by charging more dangerous, charging more for more dangerous hunts for the nobles who came to town. Most of them, he said, would be, he said, don't worry about it. They'll be, you know, the creature will be bred in such a way to where it has a weakness that our guides know and everyone will be safe. And well, it didn't turn out the way he expected. Don't we already deal with enough from the gods without someone trying to play a god themself? I don't deal much with the gods.
00:30:44
Speaker
Neither do I anymore. Well, judging from the markings on your hand there, I would assume you did, but I guess not. I think just hearing that Darnaldi for sure has dabbled in these things might be an interesting step for us to ask questions.
00:31:10
Speaker
I do bid you a congratulations for a very well thought out plan, Sariah. Well, it was pretty easy once we realized where it was heading. It made it pretty simple to cut it off. Where was it heading? Well, it was headed to the
00:31:36
Speaker
Other side of the mountains here where the forest becomes dead and decaying. I'm not sure why, but was headed away from wherever it came from towards that direction. Something spooked it at Wild Hill. I start walking towards her. OK. And I want to see if she's lying. OK. Make an inside check again. As Gwendolyn or as the wolf? Gwendolyn. Oh, we don't matter, son. I got Nat 20. Man, geez. You are rolling like crazy tonight.
00:32:06
Speaker
These new dice. She is not speaking any untruth, but she may not be speaking the whole truth. And nothing but the truth? I bark at her, but not like a vicious bark, but like... Okay. I don't know how to describe it. I'm just like bark. Okay. Woof, instead of a woof. Yeah. She looks down and she says, is this your...
00:32:34
Speaker
Is this your druid friend? I assume. Yes. She more comfortable in that state. I feel she very likely is. It's, I mean, as like with most druids being closer to the wilds and being one with the forests is more comfortable than two feet. She certainly has a kinship for animals, the natural and the unnatural. I bark at her and then I,
00:33:04
Speaker
look over at the bear, and then I bark back at her. Look over at her. Okay. I'm going to roll here and see if she figures out what you're trying to do here. That'd be funny if she doesn't. Like, why? Like what? Like, Gwendolyn is trying to say why. Oh. I'll say yes, she did. She rolled decent. Okay. She looks at all of you and then finishes kind of her
00:33:34
Speaker
you know, catching each of your eye.
Sariah's Life Philosophy: Simplistic Yet Revealing
00:33:36
Speaker
She looks back at Gwendolyn and she says, I can't explain it any more clearly. We had a mission, we accepted it, and we followed it through. That is all I have ever done. And that is all I know how to do.
00:33:56
Speaker
I It's gonna seem like I'm gonna argue with this lady while in wolf form. Okay, I just bark at her and I lift my front paws up like almost like a little dog having a tantrum just bouncing up and like up and down with my front paws and just Barking as if I'm yelling at her. Okay when I stop I stand up as tall as I can on all fours and you just see a tear come out of my eye and
00:34:26
Speaker
Okay. Um, I feel like, are you trying to intimidate or persuade her into anything right now? What are you, what are you, what's your goal here? I'm trying to persuade her to, to feel guilty. The F word. Yeah. Like, obviously she knows something. She's not saying it and she's just standing there. Okay. I'm so frustrated as Ashley right now. Make a persuasion check.
00:34:58
Speaker
13, uh, I guess I wouldn't get it. I think on that nine plus three, 11, no 12. Okay. She says, listen, okay. Listen, I don't have anything against you people. I just, my life is simple, but when you start bringing these questions, questions, I don't ask myself intentionally.
00:35:28
Speaker
It makes my life less simple. If the chief wants to have deals with people in the village to do things, and I have to help him make that happen, then that's what has to happen. Because I get paid gold because he is making gold. It's simple. And simple is good. It worked when I was a child in the streets of Glint, and it works now. Understand? That is it. Loud and clear.
00:35:59
Speaker
Joxer is going to try to put like his hand on the back of Gwendolyn's shoulder, assuming she might try to go to all fours maybe. Uh, Gwendolyn is just staring at her. She hasn't lost her pose. She doesn't care. Okay. Then we better stop taking up your time. Time is money and you're losing money by standing here talking to us. You're not wrong. Um,
00:36:25
Speaker
Thank you, Sariah. Well, you're, you're welcome. I suppose thank you for, I don't know, making this a little more interesting by erasing us here. Um, I, I, I believe that you guys could be very useful in Wild Hill. If you just, just stop following the questions, settle down, do what you're asked and enjoy, enjoy your reward.
00:36:54
Speaker
In fact, would you like, would you like help getting back to town? I don't kind of look to the rest of the group.
00:37:03
Speaker
I look at Devon and be like, Jackson Jackson just looks at Gwen. OK. If a wolf could scoff, that's what I do. And I go like a sneeze, like a dog sneeze, a big hack. Yeah, my dog. But I do that when she says it. And I really go over to the body of the bear. I just slowly go over there and I just sit down and I just howl.
00:37:34
Speaker
So I think we'll enjoy the stroll back. I appreciate it. And Mel, next time, I'll be the victor. Well, I guess it is a tie now, two out of three. Is that what you're going for? Definitely. And you see that the mage, about when she said it could be off your, you know,
00:37:59
Speaker
help getting back to town, the mage started going over and drawing circles and the dirt and sprinkling stuff on the circles and messing around that way. And that was going to pay attention, saving, figure out any of it. OK, yeah. Make a investigation check as you watch closely. Is that going to be a ritual or just a spell from? It's a ritual. Eighteen. OK, it's taking him a little while. Oh, snap. Eighteen. OK. I would also like to watch the. OK.
00:38:29
Speaker
Um, I'd like to watch it too, but like, I mean. It's not going to do anything. Yeah, honestly, it won't for me either because I can't cast ritual spells. You know, you're just admiring the magic. All right, investigation. Oh, that's a minus one. So a 15. OK, so you both you both get a sense of that he's drawing runes and he's he's doing just an intricate
00:38:58
Speaker
detail and then once it's done it takes him about a minute to do that but then once it's done he just kind of holds his hands over it and he's just focusing and it starts to open up in the middle with this like red glow and the middle opens up and it's almost like a sinkhole forms.
00:39:19
Speaker
and starts to swirl. And they just all step into it and they don't like fall into it. They just kind of vanish as they as they enter it. And then it just kind of zips itself back up and swirls around and it's gone. As as Soraya was actually walking in there, Joxer would probably say, and Soraya, don't threaten me with jail again.
00:39:44
Speaker
Assuming it would happen right as she walked in. Okay. She doesn't show him in the castle. You don't see a nice. You don't see a reaction or anything. She just kind of vanishes in there. You think you, you think she probably heard you. You don't know for sure.
00:39:59
Speaker
I just look at dogs here and they say, nice. Nice. When the, I stopped howling when I noticed the ranger, the young one, um, go over towards it. Okay. I'm just going to stare at her. She has her eyes locked on you the whole time. She's walking towards the, the portal and she kind of, her, her face kind of turns like,
00:40:26
Speaker
question, like a questioning kind of face, not, not confused, but just like interested. And then she just takes that step into the, to the, uh, portal and they're gone. Well, I don't know about you guys, but I thought wizard mage guy, he kind of creeps me out. He smelled weird. I didn't like it. It was like a potato salad. That was weird. Have you, have you seen this now?
00:40:55
Speaker
Yeah, the one that you kind of left out in the sun for a little while. Yeah. I mean, yeah, it was not great. Moldy, crusty potato salad. Well, now I'm getting hungry. You got weird taste, my friend. It's about mid-afternoon at this point. Is Gwendolyn, are you still a wolf? Oh, yeah.
00:41:18
Speaker
I'm going to walk over to you and very non patronizing, give you a little scruff, little scruffle on the top of the head and say, I'm sorry for this. I wished we could have gotten here faster. Uh, I figured it was inevitable though, whenever I saw them porting from town, but maybe for your sake, we can do something with the, the body here, pay our respects and give it back to the forest. Would that be okay?
00:41:48
Speaker
Um, she had just been staring at the place where they had just teleported from the other group and she looks down and she, she kind of becomes Gwendolyn again. So I come out of wild shape. Okay. And I'm just sitting there on my knees and Craig's hand is just in the air.
00:42:13
Speaker
A lot shorter than the wolf. OK. It's a gradual change. And I say that's that's fine. Gavin, would you help me gather some some wood? We might need to get a little bit of fuel. I figure we can pay our respects and burn the corpse so it's not just left out here.
00:42:34
Speaker
This is becoming a habit I don't like, but I'll help you. I want to first take a look at the scene and I'm going to go over, I'm going to inspect it and see if there's anything about it that reminds me of, um, either, um, our friend whose name is escaping me all the time. Delmar. Delmar. If it reminds me of any sort of way of Delmar's affliction or of the, the bore that we had ran into or anything like that. Okay. Make an investigation check. Ooh, natural 20. That's 23 total.
00:43:05
Speaker
Sorry. Sorry, I figured if I'm going to be cutting it, I'll just get one in too. Get rid of your system now. And I will say my kids do listen to this when they go to bed at night, so I appreciate your editing. Your filtering. Yeah. What was your insight check? 23 total. Oh, yeah. Okay. Well, then in that case, as you look
00:43:34
Speaker
closely, you kind of look around this the body and you see patches of hair that have fallen out. And you see, or well, you don't see patches of hair, you see patches where hair has fallen out. And as you look closely at those patches, they look almost stone hard. And you get around to where the head has been removed. And
00:43:59
Speaker
The blood is a dark purplish black and it's that smell of rotting, burned, it's like rotten burned wood.
Connecting Corruptions: Creature and Delmar
00:44:09
Speaker
And it has this, that gross odor. And yeah, this thing definitely, the way it looks to be corrupted definitely rings some bells.
00:44:26
Speaker
Well, guys, just take a look at this thing. I feel like whatever is happening to us is the same thing that happened to our friend. Our friend, you're referring to Donald? Wait, Delmar? I think so. I mean, look over here. You can see, like, already there's like the skin is turning into like a stone, kind of like what he kind of had going on. But wasn't that isolated?
00:44:50
Speaker
That was far, far away from here. And Delmar, he didn't change into another type of beast. It wasn't a mixture.
00:45:04
Speaker
seems a bit unusual, but I suppose it's not impossible. Think of that thing that we fought that was inside of the keep, right? It's after we killed it, it kind of shrunk back down a little bit to its normal size. I mean, it was already a giant, so it was already kind of crazy, but it kind of shrunk down and turned back a little bit. This thing did the same thing when they killed it. It's true.
00:45:25
Speaker
Maybe... Maybe some creatures are less afflicted. Or, oh, well, I suppose this... We were looking at the long-term effects for Delmar. He had been in that form for so long. Maybe this is a fresh beast. It may be. We don't know how long it takes, or what stops it. I'm not the only one that noticed the ranger tonight.
00:45:53
Speaker
I'm assuming. Yeah. She seemed different. She either knows more than she's able to say around Soraya or she has the same fears we do. It might be worth trying to find her back in Wild Hill and see if she's willing to give us a time, the time of day to answer some questions or at least, you know, converse.
00:46:21
Speaker
I feel like if we do go that direction, we need to be careful. I don't want to put her in danger just because we wanted information. I think we already received a lot more than we expected from Soraya, Durnaldi, and just her stating that the chief could be making deals, and whatever deals he needs to make to make money, she'll help him with. So it seems that he is in the
00:46:50
Speaker
He's in search for any form of making money, whether it be generated beasts or just potentially putting others in dangers to reduce the hunters, I guess. I think that we could probably get answers from Denaldi. Let me rephrase. I think that he has answers, but I don't think he's going to give them to us. I mean, Gwen's spat on his face. And I'll do it again. I believe it.
00:47:19
Speaker
I don't doubt that either. I think, I think Denaldi would talk, but we would have very, very bad repercussions if we didn't have a plan. He didn't look like the strong man type. I don't much feel like you have a lot of luck walking around Wild Hill these days. Anyway, it might be, might be in our best interest to not go that route. Well,
00:47:45
Speaker
I figure we can take care of this board, pay our respects and head back to Wild Hill. I still had some, some business to attend. Um, I, yeah, I think if nothing else, we need to go back there for just a place to kind of regroup and figure out what we're going to do. But I mean, we have Tom, we have a good relationship with him. I feel maybe he can help us out a little bit. He's definitely a center point of knowledge in this town.
00:48:13
Speaker
There's something about him I feel like there's more than he lets on. I agree. I think he knows more. Also, the first day I saw him, the limp seems fake. I know that's silly. I just... I haven't noticed, but I think I've been distracted most of the times I've seen him.
00:48:42
Speaker
Why would you fake a limp? What would be the point of that? I guess it makes you look cooler. I don't know. Trying to get in with the ladies. I don't know. But I mean, he's the actual mastermind of this whole city. It just just seems off. Well, the first thing we got to do is take care of this, uh, this poor creature. Yes. Come on, let's get some wood.
00:49:12
Speaker
All right. If Gwen, if Gwen is still kind of kneeled down, uh, jocks are a walk over and, and see if she wants any help standing up. Okay. I take it. Okay. Reach your hand down and she grabs it. I'm sorry, Gwen. I, I really just didn't want any, uh, any danger with that group. It's fine. I, I just,
00:49:38
Speaker
I felt more comfortable being in wolf form because I would have let them have it, but. At that point, Choxer is just going to hug her and say, I'm just glad that we're all safe. She hugs him back. She is very exhausted from the day. Yeah, it's a big day. So they gather wood and
00:50:06
Speaker
They're able to you're able to find wood everywhere. I mean, there are trees that have been knocked down from the path of this monster all over the place. And so, yeah, you can find wood for a fire very easily, get the fire started. And are you just going to kind of camp here and burn it or get it started burning and leave? Or what are you what's your plan? As a player, I would like to leave school in.
00:50:31
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's a normal MO anyways is kind of like get it started. As long as as long as we can make sure it doesn't turn into a forest fire. I think that's what I started to think. I think it's funny that we're lighting a bear on fire and we're just going to start forest fires. Should we? Yeah. What Smokey says not to do.
00:50:55
Speaker
Take that, Smokey. Oh, the humanity. We could also try to bury him, maybe. Too late. We already got the wood. Let's go. We're burning this bear. But I do like the pun. We could bury it. Oh, OK. Thank you. Thank you.
00:51:21
Speaker
Oh, my God. All right. That was the polar opposite of the kind of reaction I wanted. Hey, guys, it's getting grisly. Stop it. Oh, my God. So bad, so bad.
00:51:38
Speaker
I'm a dad, I could do this all day. It's so unbearable. Let's just light the damn thing on fire and go.
00:51:56
Speaker
It light it. Yeah. Is there clearing enough that we'd feel comfortable that it wouldn't just light the, you know, forest on fire? Not really, no. There is a thick canopy, a forest that has been carved through by this creature going through. Jotzer would probably stay behind. I think it's maybe best that we burn or we bury it then instead of burn it. Quinn, would that be OK?
00:52:26
Speaker
Craig's is going to throw the sticks down and be like, what's all the sticks for? Build yourself a shovel. We'll take some with us so we can have a fire on the way home. Yes, we can throw it, throw it in the portable hole if, if needed. I just did you do the fire just to release, at least their soul.
00:52:50
Speaker
But we can bury him. His soul's already gone since they took his head. Krigs starts to make a fire to just watch them dig a hole because that's a big old bear and he's going to say, dibs not digging. Gwen, we could just say a prayer. Good luck with that. You're just spicy now.
00:53:21
Speaker
You don't know nothing. Well, the other problem is, does anybody have a way of digging hole? I've got not. I've got a dagger. That's not really help. I got a couple of hands and I ain't doing it. Gwendolyn puts her hands, both hands on the ground in front of the bear's body and in Elvish speaks to the ground, the roots underneath and asks
00:53:51
Speaker
I am in need of your service. Can you help me bury a friend? And I hope that they make a hole big enough or they take him into the ground. Sounds very awkward to say. The roots around this creature. You can see as it's laying there kind of at the edge of the trees,
00:54:20
Speaker
The roots kind of start to lift up and fold up after you ask for help and they wrap around the circumference kind of of this creature along the ground.
00:54:37
Speaker
and start to constrict a little bit. And there's this crunching sound as the bones of this creature start to break from the constriction of these roots.
The Ritual's Ominous Aftermath
00:54:52
Speaker
And it... Awesome, but disgusting. And the rest of the roots start to go over the top of it and it...
00:55:02
Speaker
starts to break and this blackish red goo of blood starts to come up from within these roots and pour up over the top of the roots. As it pours, it kind of pours down the roots and they squeeze tighter pulling them down underneath the tree into the ground and this black spot starts to form and climb up the front of this tree.
00:55:30
Speaker
and it doesn't go up and cover the tree it just kind of turns the root section in the ground section there where any of the grass and plant life starts to die right there where it took him under and the
00:55:44
Speaker
front of that tree now has about a, the trunk has about a four foot tall black spot on the front of this trunk where the bark has turned black, where it looks like it's been charred and it is glistening with almost like a goo kind of looking, that black blood goo. Oh, I don't like this at all. I feel like we should have burned it.
00:56:15
Speaker
This is, what is that? Joxer walks up and he wants to touch it. He wants to feel the tree. I don't touch the black part. I don't, I don't trust it. Do you touch the black part? I do. Oh no. He touched the butt. Nice. Nice. So you reach up and
00:56:42
Speaker
You put your finger on the tree where the bark has turned black and it's oozing. It's like sap oozing from this tree, but instead it's this dark crimsony black kind of blood and you swipe your fingers on it.
00:56:58
Speaker
And it's on your fingers. It doesn't seem to be doing anything. What do you want to do? I guess smell it or try to try to see if I can figure out what what really escalate. Like washed it at least. Yeah. Taste it. Yeah, that's the next step. Yeah. Not not quite tasting yet, but, you know, just trying to get a, you know, getting a small, small step. It's kind of your ammo tasting random brews. It has a.
00:57:27
Speaker
It has that same ashy, rotting flesh smell. It's still warm to the touch, but it smells like wet fire. We need to figure out what's happening in Wild Hill. And if it's not Denaldi, I'm also taking care of Denaldi.
00:58:08
Speaker
Alright, we're doing this for memory. Thank you for listening to the Hired Swords. Okay, that's all I can remember. Facebook and Twitter at the Hired Swords. Leave a review.
00:58:26
Speaker
Man, I really can't remember this.