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Ep. 20 Unwelcome Visitors
146 Plays4 years ago
"I was in an all too familiar yet completely foreign room. A barracks that had been carved into this mountain but for the purpose of housing prisoners. Victims. This is not the war I knew. How could our leaders have let this happen? How could I have let this happen? What happened here? I don't care I just need to find Delmar and GET OUT of this hell-hole before whatever creature has been following us gets in my head again. Wait, what's that? A room behind this small hole in the wall? I can barely see in. Stand back... Oh gods, what have I done!?" - Krigs
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Transcript
Mysterious Barracks and Prisoners
00:00:13
Speaker
Previously on the hired swords. I was in an all too familiar yet completely foreign room. The barracks that have been carved into the mountains but for the purpose of housing prisoners. Victims. This is not the war I knew. How could our leaders have let this happen? How could I have let this happen? What happened here?
00:00:45
Speaker
I don't care.
Quest for Escape and Delmar
00:00:46
Speaker
I just need to find Delmar and get out of this hellhole before whatever creature has been following us gets in my head again. Wait, what's that? The room behind this wall? There's a hole I can barely see in. Stand back. I wasn't expecting visitors.
Mutated Prisoner Encounter
00:01:32
Speaker
You're listening to the hired swords. Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap. I'm gonna die.
00:01:54
Speaker
Krigs, what are you doing? Identify yourself. Excuse me. I don't mean to be rude. It's just when I get excited.
00:02:08
Speaker
Welcome. I'm glad you are here. Have you, have you come to, to, have you, have you come to take me from this place? I can't, I can't, no, it's not come to take us from this place, don't you think so? And this guy is...
00:02:24
Speaker
seeming to start having a conversation with himself, and his voice goes from low to high, and he's
Delmar's Identity Crisis
00:02:31
Speaker
struggling. You see now, through the bars of this cage, this jail cell, that is, the door is swung open, but through the bars, you see, he looks like he may have once been an elf.
00:02:49
Speaker
because his ears are tall and pointed, his hair on one side is pretty long. It is matted and kind of rat-nest. He is wearing torn robes with leather, a torn tunic kind of robe with leather pants that are torn. He's got bare feet. You notice pretty, pretty quickly
00:03:12
Speaker
that his left shoulder and his left arm are bare and his shirt is torn around it and it looks like he has boils growing all over his shoulder and his arm and his back is hunched up really high. He has this big arch
00:03:29
Speaker
uh bulge on his back and his his left arm is bigger than his right arm and his hand is bigger and looks like his fingers are melding together and he he's currently looking at the door and he turns his head and looks at you and you see one of his eyes that left eye looks like it's bulging out of his face and he takes a deep breath as he sees you and he goes
00:03:59
Speaker
You are a military man. It is good to see they have sent someone. I don't know how long it has been. Who sent you? That is of no consequence at this moment. Who are you? What is your name? We have several names, but no one.
00:04:25
Speaker
I... I'm quickly losing the idea of who I am and was. I must... You're not losing it! We are taking it! Shh!
00:04:39
Speaker
I think, I think I was once named Delmar. I remember a young, a young woman saying goodbye. That is all I have held on to. That is, I can see her waving as I leave the path. That is all you have created. That is all I remember. And it is all that keeps me from losing myself to this monster inside.
00:05:10
Speaker
Have you come to take me to someone who can help me? Yes. There is no help for you. You can- And he, as he, as he shifts back and forth from these voices, you can see when, when he, when his voice goes low and gravelly, he
00:05:30
Speaker
he tenses up and his left side especially tenses up and his arm starts to rise up and it starts to swing down like he's like violently while his right side kind of just tries to stay calm and peaceful and you can literally see the battle.
Investigation and Discovery
00:05:47
Speaker
on his body as he's doing this and he's inside of a open jail cell currently inside of a jail cell that is yeah the door is open and make a perception check as you look in this jail cell look around him while he's doing that can we hear the voices coming through that whole like you guys make perception checks to good question 21
00:06:15
Speaker
Mine was twenty two. Fifteen. Oh, no. Twenty. I apologize. Only one plus one percent. Three. I'm trying to put together that thing that the jocks are broke. OK, OK. All right. I swear I've got extra parts all of a sudden. I told you to look at it. Craig's what way did you did you go?
00:06:37
Speaker
You guys definitely hear them. They hear when his voice gets loud and growly, they hear that. They can't make out words. They just hear something growling in the chamber beyond. When you look in that room, you can see a basket that has been filled with some kind of tar and it's filled with water. You see a water skin sitting next to it. You see a small desk that has been set up there with
00:07:05
Speaker
a couple some parchment in things you can see a bed that is changed to the wall you know like the.
00:07:13
Speaker
It's a wooden bed, and it is built into the wall, one big plank, and there are chains going from the edge of the bed up to the wall to keep the far side up while the inside part is attached to the wall. It's just a jail cell bed, but he has a bed roll, a camping bed roll. It's just dilapidated and old-looking sitting there, about to disintegrate, it looks like, and you do see a couple piles of
00:07:40
Speaker
dirty food and you see some sort of stick item sitting on that desk as well. And he, as you're looking closer and he looks at you and he says, please, please give me a minute. I can usually contain myself when I'm not so excited. I try to meditate. Please, I had someone teach me, give me please a few seconds. And he just kind of sits on the floor and starts breathing, like these breathing exercises. And you can hear as he's breathing,
00:08:09
Speaker
every now and then the exhale sounds. Does he seem to be actually calming down?
00:08:20
Speaker
After about 10, 15, 20 seconds, yeah,
Creature's Threat and Memories
00:08:24
Speaker
he starts to, and he looks the same. His appearance isn't changing, but he's starting to breathe more steadily and slowly, less hyperventilating, and then just as he starts to settle down, you guys hear,
00:08:41
Speaker
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,
00:08:59
Speaker
They must not be out there. Please let them in. And he points over to the door and the door you see has these instruments, all this stuff that has been, there's chains, there's shackles, there's all these different instruments of torture, these long poker looking things. There's these bracings that have been ripped off of like the table that's there, the torture chamber. And they've all been like wedged onto this door to keep it closed so that it can't be opened.
00:09:29
Speaker
And he says, I set it up to where I could see if someone was here, if they figured out my little contraption out there, and I would be able to see that they've come, and I could let them in. You somehow bypassed the door, and I'm grateful. I assume you can use some sort of magic. But to let your friends in, you must let them in here. Immediately, we have to be safe.
00:09:57
Speaker
Is he capable of assisting me with the door? Are you asking him? Yes.
00:10:05
Speaker
Okay, he says, oh, I suppose, and he walks up, are you just gonna approach the door? It's about 30 feet away from you, just across the room. I'm gonna approach the door, but I'm keeping my eye on him specifically. He looks over at you and he tries, you notice that as he's walking, he's presenting that right side to you, not wanting to present his left side at all. And he reaches forward and he grabs this,
00:10:34
Speaker
long rod that has been shoved into the wedged into the like back portion of this door under one of the the hinges to keep it and he grabs it with just his left hand and he just pulls and it just
00:10:51
Speaker
just pulls right out of there with no problem. And you see that this left arm is super strong. His fingers don't separate because his arm is becoming like his hands becoming like a club, but he can wrap his hand around and pull and so he starts pulling stuff off of there. I assist in helping open open the actual door if there are
00:11:12
Speaker
levers or anything that's actually pressing against the door that I can reach. Yeah, there's several things that are pressed up against it and you guys can pretty easily, you and him together can pretty easily take everything down with your access from this side. He gets the door open and it kind of
00:11:31
Speaker
slides open. He says, I have I haven't been out here in quite a while, please come and you guys see suddenly Gwen Davin jocks or you guys see this door start to swing open and scrape against the the stone stone against stone, you know, and the door sliding open and you and you just see Krigs standing there because he's hiding behind the door as he opens it not hiding necessarily, but he's he's just behind it where as he pulls it open.
00:11:58
Speaker
the, the, this guy who's called himself Delmar. Quickly inside. I don't believe you want to be out there right now. Probably best be able to get inside. Gwen doesn't hesitate. She immediately goes in. Joxer starts to walk towards the door and then looks back at the mess he made. That just happened.
00:12:26
Speaker
leave it. Devin says fine. He throws down the pieces clangling and he goes off to the rest. All right, you guys come in and as soon as you come in, he shuts that door again. He says quick wedge it wedge it shut it. It's very strong.
00:12:42
Speaker
And he starts wedging stuff up against the door. And he puts one of those bars into the crevice in between the door and the wall. And he bends it. And it just kind of bends over the door. And he says, there needs to be more than this. Please come. And as he starts to get kind of riled up trying to do this, he's like, you have to block the block it.
00:13:05
Speaker
Can you guys handle this? As he makes the voice change, I just hold one hand up. I'm standing closer to him than I am the actual party, kind of in between, but I just hold a hand up to the party as kind of just a don't panic kind of motion. Okay. He begins to back up and he turns his right side to you and keeps his left side facing the back wall of the room. And he kind of backs up and hits the bars to the prison cell behind him.
00:13:34
Speaker
And he just sits down on his butt and crosses his legs, crisscross applesauce, as they say, and starts breathing again. After Joczer hears that, he's going to start trying to pry more things into the door. A little confused, but yeah. OK. Yeah, you guys make, everybody makes strength checks as you start to like,
00:13:59
Speaker
Or if you can think of a a different thing to do, then obviously to keep that door sealed up, then whatever. But there are all these different instruments. 20 is there good. 13 on a strength check. OK. Is there any weeds in here? Weeds? Yeah, like in the tiles. No, no, there's no plant life down here at all.
00:14:25
Speaker
Well, why not? I'm joking. Except the smelly rotting, except the smelly rotting fruits and vegetables and things that are kind of piled up around the room. All right. I'll roll strength check.
00:14:38
Speaker
Oh, no. Well, you don't have a strong druid. Oh, I guess it's 18. Oh, gosh. I rolled a 13. Okay. Yes, it's only you've got five. No, no, no, that's right. No, it's wrong. It's 10. I was looking at the wrong number. I can't. I was going to say, when did you get so buff?
00:14:58
Speaker
I know for a second, I was like, damn girl, you got some stories between these episodes. I know we leveled up recently, but man. Mine was 18. Okay. So you're all able to pretty easily find things.
00:15:15
Speaker
I'm sort of helping, but it's mostly I'm just handing things off. I'm just pointing at like a big heavy thing on the ground saying, that one right there, pick that one up.
00:15:32
Speaker
Yeah, Gwen keeps walking over to stuff like, oh, no, no, okay, I'll get this one. I'll get this thing. Okay, that's really too heavy. And then walks up to one thing and it looks like some sort of mace almost, but it's got really razor sharp needle looking things on it. And she approaches it and realizes this is like a torture chamber and decides she doesn't even want to touch the thing. And so then this creature is still sitting there or this elf creature, whatever, is still sitting there breathing.
00:16:05
Speaker
trying to keep himself calm. And then suddenly he opens his eyes and looks at you. And one of his eyes, you guys now notice as he's looking straight on, and Kriegs has already seen this, it's that big bulging eye. It looks about three times the size of his right eye, his left eye is. And when he blinks, his right eye blinks, his left eye doesn't. And he says, he says, how rude of me. It shouldn't be able to get in. Are you hungry?
00:16:32
Speaker
Well, I had a little bit of an appetite, but not anymore, to be honest with you. Okay, okay. He stands up and kind of scurries over into the prison cell, and he just sits on the bed there. And the bed creaks when he sits on it, like he's getting heavier, and it's starting to not take his weight as easy. What were you saying? Devin looks over at Krigs, and he's just got a look of like, what in the world is going on here?
00:17:01
Speaker
Craig just looks back at Delmar and again, still not understand, not that he doesn't understand, just looks at Delmar and asks, son, identify yourself. He looks at you. You call me son. That's funny. I could probably be your father twice over.
00:17:26
Speaker
Oh, it's good to laugh.
Debate on Delmar's Fate
00:17:28
Speaker
I haven't laughed in some time. Um, I told you, I believe, I believe my name is Delmar. I believe... Delmar, how do you, how do you believe you got here? Well, last I remember.
00:17:47
Speaker
Well, if I could piece it together, there are competing memories now in my mind. Delmar's memories are coming in here to save
00:18:01
Speaker
save those that I came to serve. Um, I don't know that I know even what that means for sure, but that keeps echoing save those who came to serve. But either way I came in here. I do know that the creature that's making that sound, um, it, it cornered me. And when I saw it, I felt something inside me change.
00:18:30
Speaker
I ran in here, I sealed myself in, and I've been here ever since. I could only live because of being able to conjure food with this wand a friend gave me.
00:18:52
Speaker
I don't remember much beyond that. I don't remember anything hardly before coming in here, except I told you her face. I see her face. She's waving her eye. Friend, does the name Francine mean anything to you? He takes a deep breath.
00:19:17
Speaker
I can't place it, but that must be her. The name made me feel... I haven't felt that in some time either. Like the laugh, I felt like the laugh inside me. Friend scene. That must be her. Is she my lover? Is she... It kills me to not know when he starts to look agitated and irritated.
00:19:44
Speaker
I immediately, once I see what's going on, I calmly walk over to Delmar to calm him down. And I just slowly just go into a hug. Because in Gwen's mind, he's been through a lot, and there's been no human connection. And so she feels like if she
00:20:09
Speaker
If she makes him feel somewhat human again by giving him a hug, then it might help. Yeah. When you first touch him.
00:20:19
Speaker
He kind of pulls back like, what are you doing? And he kind of settles into it and you turned it into a hug and he just, he smells you and he looks at you with a half of a smile. The left side of his face doesn't smile, but the right side does. And he says, I know that smell too.
00:20:48
Speaker
I whisper in his ear that you'll remember her when you see her. See her? How long have I been here? Has she moved on? Does she love someone else? You'll know who she is. And Gwen doesn't stutter. Telmar, I understand that there's a lot of confusion going on in your mind right now, but what is this thing out here that we need to worry about? Oh, well, I
00:21:18
Speaker
I believe that it was once just a normal person like me but it is much larger. It must have been a much larger person and or perhaps I don't know but it is very big and it's I
00:21:38
Speaker
did this, and he looks at his body at his left side. It takes and it shows you things, and then you begin to change into whatever it is. I don't... I suffered that slightly in our approach here. Just the sound of it. It sent my thoughts nowhere, nowhere where I expected they could possibly go at a time like this. You're not alone.
00:22:06
Speaker
Yes, it's for the first time in a very long time. I think you might be right, he says. You're saying it never touched you. It just glared at you. That's exactly what I'm saying. I watched it rip my companions to pieces, some of them. I assume some of them made it out, but I
00:22:34
Speaker
I just hold myself up in here. I guess I took the coward's way, but I knew I could stay here for a long time. Are you sure you're not hungry? I can... I'm getting kind of frustrated at the idea he considers himself a coward. Kriegs just kind of stands up squarely. Soldier, you remember your companions. You remember giving yourself for their safety.
00:23:05
Speaker
You're still in there, Delmar. You are still Delmar. I've been hanging on, somehow. There are days I don't think I remember. I've awakened with the door standing open before. Put it back together as quickly as I could. I've had moments of clarity. That's when I built that contraption to
00:23:32
Speaker
that you shine light through the hole so I could see that someone was out there knowing that that creature could not think to do such a thing. I don't know that the creature can even get in that chamber beyond this door, but...
00:23:47
Speaker
I'm not sure I can go out there if it's there. I don't know. I'm afraid that the panic and the fear that what it causes in me will cause the creature inside to come out to defend me. I don't want that. Do you remember your companions going into combat with this creature? I only remember the dreams I have.
00:24:12
Speaker
dreams in which he crushes them with a hand that looks like a club, dreams in which he grabs them with his other hand and just squeezes them until they are ripped in half. I don't know if I've created this creature into something he's not in my dreams or if that's really what he's like. I've only laid eyes on him.
00:24:34
Speaker
the once, and I believe two other times from behind as he was moving away from me, but he becomes one with the stone. He can, he can disappear in these halls of stone. He must be, he must be made of stone somehow, or perhaps comes from a place of stone and knows how to, I don't know, he,
00:24:57
Speaker
Devin looks around the whole room that they're in is made of stone. Yes. Yeah. Well, the walls, the wall, the walls, the wall, the doors are in and the door is in is a, is a hewn built stone wall. The rest, the other three walls are all natural cavern walls that have been kind of carved out mind out. So are we really safe in here?
00:25:23
Speaker
I mean, if he can travel through the stone, I can't imagine just keeping him out too well. He hasn't come here yet. I don't know if he feels like I've already been defeated or what, but I haven't tried to venture from here knowing that someone would come. I felt someone would come. They knew we were here. I mean, how long has it been?
00:25:51
Speaker
We, we, we don't quite know. I recall back to the ledger and, and I don't have that off the top of my head and my note right in front of me, but can I give him an approximation? Yeah. It was the last entry was 14 80 and the current year is 14 91. So it's 11 years, 11 years. And I think Francine said 10 years, right? Yeah. She said 10 years.
00:26:20
Speaker
I just didn't know if he was in here longer. Yeah, yeah, so, I mean, a minimum of... Safe to say, roughly a decade. Yes. Soldier, it's been a number of years. I would say close to at least 10, 11 years you've been here. That's a very, very long time, I suppose, I mean, when you've lived.
00:26:49
Speaker
more than a hundred.
Curse and Potential Solutions
00:26:50
Speaker
It doesn't seem that many, but I can relate. It feels a lifetime. Can I walk over to into a cell and take a look at the parchments that are on the desk? Okay. You walk up to the desk and there are several parchments there that have been written on and
00:27:13
Speaker
They look like it's been a while since they were used. They were written on. You see a little pen, like a quill and an inkwell, but the inkwell is long dry, empty. The writings are letters. It's just writings. It's hard to make them out. They're all kind of scatterbrained, it seems.
00:27:36
Speaker
You know, you see one that starts out with, maybe if I write to you, I can keep myself from losing it. Maybe if I tell you how much I feel for you, I can continue to keep my own mind. And then it goes into, it just suddenly changes to all caps, like scrolling scratches. And it just says, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't over and over again. And, uh,
00:28:04
Speaker
just more of that. It's like attempts to write in a way to gather himself and then it just shifts into this hideous just scrawlings. Next to that you do see a wand that is the base of this wand looks like an apple and the wood has been carved in such a way to look like
00:28:30
Speaker
branches that have intertwined to a point at the end. And then there's a water skin there with water, a big bucket of water, like a basket with tar inside and water next to it. So this creature
00:28:50
Speaker
How do we get around it? What do we do about it? Well, I, and you hear outside and he looks at the door and he looks at you all and he says, well, if I knew that I'd be gone from here, I suppose. I don't know if it can be killed. There were some
00:29:14
Speaker
Pretty well-trained soldiers trying to kill it that did not succeed. We weren't as heavily armed and staffed as some armies, but they were capable. But I figure you made it to here, perhaps. Did you encounter it on your way? Only the noise. Del Mar, I feel like you need to believe in yourself more. You've survived this long.
00:29:44
Speaker
need to understand that there are others waiting for you outside these walls. I've never encountered an animal quite like this.
00:30:03
Speaker
Do you know a weakness? Gwendolyn is getting super fustered because now she remembers that the beast is outdoors after hearing the noises. Do you remember anything about how they got him in here? Anything at all? Dreams? Anything? There has to be a weakness.
00:30:32
Speaker
All I know for sure is that it wanted to kill the loudest thing you could find. I remember that one of our, one of our casters, I think I remember cast a spell that just caused this very loud booming sound and
00:30:59
Speaker
The monster did not like that. It looked to hurt it very much as the sound caused the stones and the walls to crumble and fall in this creature. It's funny because it makes such a horrible sound when it moves and slings its big fist around that you'd think it would
00:31:21
Speaker
You would think it would be used to it, but man, when that caster cast that spell, it became a target immediately because of the damage it did, and he approached him and just crushed him with one swing. I do remember seeing that in my dream. I believe I'm dreaming memories, perhaps not. I don't know. Sometimes I dream its dreams, I think, too.
00:31:50
Speaker
As if you're looking through its eyes? Or... It's like... It's like I'm dreaming. It's memories. It's for it. It's... It's... It's home. Before it was this. Have you ever seen it reach these halls? You say you don't think you're unsure if it could make it outside of this door.
00:32:19
Speaker
I don't know. I feel like it has been close enough that it could have pounded or has pounded on this door before. I don't know that my barricade has truly been tested, though, and I don't know why, but I don't know. I also am just so confused all the time. You have to understand. Gwendolyn is not trying to think this, but she wants to know
00:32:49
Speaker
She didn't like the comment that when he said that he was dreaming its dreams. So she's a bit concerned. Okay. Um, she wants to know, I want to know a lot of things to be honest, but I don't know how to ask him without you. Cause I know you're not going to be able to reveal it. Um,
00:33:10
Speaker
Well, ask what you want to ask and you can make insight check or something. Okay. I want to know if him and this creature are basically connected. Like if she gets a vibe in her gut that either he is the creature or he's able to control the creature or the creature is controlling him. Okay. Well, why don't you make a either history or nature check? I have a bunch of ideas in my mind. It's all right. Oh my gosh. 18 plus five.
00:33:39
Speaker
Was this nature? Nature, yeah. Okay. You have, you understand in your studies, there are creatures that they spread their kind
00:34:02
Speaker
through a reproduction that is like an infection instead of typical reproduction. And that the creatures that do that, there could be, and you've read about monster kind of creatures that do this where they imprint on their so-called offspring or whoever they infect
00:34:31
Speaker
You know of physical infections and that sort of thing, but this is something that you are aware of that is like a mental and psychic infection.
00:34:47
Speaker
that takes over a person and it actually manifests physically as well.
Confrontation with Delmar's Monstrous Side
00:34:53
Speaker
So you would understand that him saying he's dreaming this creature's dreams, there is a link, but you wouldn't know for sure if it's a they are currently linked or when he was infected, he was imprinted with this psychic kind of echo from this creature that infected him.
00:35:12
Speaker
Okay. Because outside like metagaming wise, he said that the arm basically was like a club and obviously looking at this guy, his left arm is bigger. Right. And it's more bulkier, correct? Correct. And it's got boils all over it. And its fingers are like growing together, like webbing. So, Kriegs, I'm going to walk up to him.
00:35:40
Speaker
I'm going to walk over and look him dead in the eyes and then focus my attention more to his left side. And who are you? He quickly shifts to where you see his right side. And, um, I don't, I don't know what you mean. Um, I've told you I'm Delmar. Um, soldiers stand at attention.
00:36:07
Speaker
As Krix is doing this, Gwen is going to walk over more towards Joxer and Davin. Okay. Slowly. Yeah, no longer sitting like hugging him. Yeah, we got done with that hug. Yeah, he slowly stands up and his eyebrows kind of furrow. And he doesn't stand at attention really. He does stand and he's looking at you and he's still presenting that right side and he's only shifted over a little more to where
00:36:34
Speaker
You could still see plenty of what's on his left side, but he feels more comfortable leading with this right side. And he's just kind of throwing his brow, looking at you like, what, what, what are you, what are you talking about? You know, you heard me, sir. Stand at attention.
00:36:50
Speaker
Okay, you keep calling me son. All right, and he stands up as straight as he can. He's hunched over that left side, you know, and he can't stand fully up, and so he's kind of like he's trying. Not trying to be cruel, but being more or less intense, Craig still focuses on that left side, the one that's more boil-y.
00:37:18
Speaker
I repeat myself, who are you? Delmar closes his eyes real tight. I think I know what you're trying to do. Please, please, I bet you don't. You have to trust me. At this point, Joxer would probably walk up and put his hand on Craig's shoulder and whisper.
00:37:47
Speaker
There are curses for some that can be cured. Not... I feel like Craig's isn't gonna listen to that. He's gonna still stand there, very squared. And ask one more time and say, you have to trust me. Who are you? Okay, hang on. Roll again.
00:38:17
Speaker
Okay, he closes his eyes again and turns to the left where you see his left side and that eyeball looks at you and there's no pupil, it's just like yellow eyeball and then one big red like filled in red circle instead of and with no pupil in the middle and it just looks at you and it says,
00:38:46
Speaker
I am of no circumstance to you. That's not what I asked. You will answer me. We are named names. Are meaningless. How many different voices do I feel like I hear coming out of them? There's Delmar and
00:39:16
Speaker
at least two others is what you're noticing.
00:39:20
Speaker
As Davin's listening, I nudge him and get as close as I can without making him feel uncomfortable. Try to whisper him my knowledge that I remembered. He possibly has imprinted with the creature. We need to be wary.
00:39:46
Speaker
Because Gwendolyn is now a little more terrified after after everything like seeing all the bodies just be torn apart like none other like she is little on edge. She was there for him. Don't get her wrong. But now that she's the way he talked before and now she's a little more on edge. OK. So I'm speaking not to Dilma and I'm speaking to someone who claims to have no name. That's not acceptable.
00:40:16
Speaker
Maybe you can name us, then. Sorry, that voice. Is it dripping with fantasy? Yeah, it's sweating with fantasy. Oh, yeah. It's oozing. Jonzer walks away just annoyed. Dunmar, you're still in there. You ran him off with your friends.
00:40:44
Speaker
You're speaking with me right now. Focus directly on me when I speak to you. Why are you here? I did not ask to be here. Well then why do you stay? We were born. You were born? You didn't ask to be born. You were just born, weren't you? This is fair. How old are you?
00:41:17
Speaker
all these other people we Delmar starts to break through I can't understand what why why would you want to know he loses it again and he just why would you want to talk he's getting weaker that's where you're wrong
00:41:44
Speaker
What is with your friend outside these doors? Why do they chase us? He want to eat. Destroy. That is all. He only wants what he needs. And what does he need? Mostly revenge. Mostly to destroy.
00:42:12
Speaker
I have no time for revenge. What is his name? Name? You don't listen too well. We don't take names. Craig Sire.
00:42:31
Speaker
I have a feeling that we have a problem here. I mean, obviously we have a problem here. We're all kind of on the same page that this is not right, but I'm afraid our friend might be doomed. Joxer will look over at Daven at that moment. No one's doomed until it's over. He's holding together, except when someone forces it
00:43:00
Speaker
and just walks up towards the door that's closed just to look away. Jack starts to consider it a stress test. If we escape this place, if we bring our friend out here out, we've got to make sure that he's not going to infect other people. Gwyn here says that it's like a disease, like a curse. Now if he's got it, he could pass it on to any one of us, any one of them out there. They're curious for a lot of diseases out there.
00:43:26
Speaker
I don't know about this one, she interjects. There's a lot of diseases that don't have cures as well. Um, so, uh, it is like a disease, you think? Do you remember getting infected? I remember exactly. I remember the eye and seeing
00:43:51
Speaker
everything that everything wrong I had ever done and everything that I had broken or destroyed or killed in my life and every mistake I've made it all I saw it all at once and began to break me down and that is that is what that is what made us welcome
00:44:17
Speaker
Gwendolyn starts pacing around the room because as soon as his voice slips, she immediately just thinks of Francine. Can Joxer do, oh, sorry. Oh, no, go ahead. Can Joxer do like a history check, something that reminds him of these effects? Yeah, you're a pretty learned guy too. That is a 16.
00:44:47
Speaker
18. Yeah, there are curses that
00:44:57
Speaker
are very magical and powerful. It's not like a curse that is called a curse, but it's really a sickness or disease. But because of lack of information or knowledge, you call it a curse. This is something that something has been cursed, and now it has passed it along to Delmar. And you know of this happening.
00:45:24
Speaker
You probably aren't aware where this particular thing comes from, this particular curse. I'll just say it this way. The fact that you're not aware of where this curse comes from tells you that this creature that has caused Delmar to experience this
00:45:49
Speaker
doesn't belong in perhaps this plane of existence at all. Yeah. Would the monastery have seen any creatures with like the similar deformities, maybe a giant eye or like club-like arm-esque?
00:46:15
Speaker
I would say that the closest thing you would have heard of to what this kind of sounds like, it's not necessarily the physical manifestation of this that's familiar to you. It's the kind of mind wiping aspect of it. You have this knowledge of
00:46:37
Speaker
spells or magics that will replace someone's mind with something else. And this seems like a not a natural way to accomplish that, but it's something has something has the power to do this to people. And it has done this to Delmar. OK, at that point, I would just kind of outwardly state
00:47:08
Speaker
I'm not here to judge those who have any curses or bloodline deformities. I am here to help them. And if it's to kill a beast or to escape a beast, we need to get Delmar out of here before we can make any assessment. Neither of us or none of us are at all qualified to make this kind of judgment.
00:47:38
Speaker
You're right. You're right. I hope that you'll trust me to keep control. I don't remember the last few minutes, but I can assure you, I feel like I was provoked.
Containment and Next Steps
00:47:54
Speaker
I have no intention of crossing to the others. I have to stay calm. And he sits down again and starts just slow breathing.
00:48:09
Speaker
I look at Joxer and I have worry in my eyes when I look at him. I will follow you Joxer, but if it comes to saving many lives, I don't know what would happen to him.
00:48:36
Speaker
And I don't think like that. Normally, I want to save everyone and Francine deserves a father. But I don't know what this is. I don't know a cure. I don't know of any curse.
00:49:01
Speaker
Well, what we do know is the fact that it has not yet taken him over completely. There's still, there's still Dilmar inside there, which means that we could fix him. It's possible. And then in my opinion, if potentially this has taken 11 years to even do anything, I feel like.
00:49:22
Speaker
It could easily be reversed or fixed. If I may, I hate to interrupt, but I hear what you're saying. I just, I must say, I haven't felt so lucid as to when I feel like there is hope to see her again. And if that is where you are taking me, perhaps, I don't know, perhaps I can get better at maintaining my consciousness.
00:49:49
Speaker
I don't know about when I am sleeping though, but beyond that. A question to the DM. Did he respond at all to Gwen saying Francine as his daughter?
00:50:07
Speaker
He didn't seem to know. He, I don't know that he put, yeah, you don't know if he put together, either he, you either don't know if he overheard all of what you were saying, or if he put together what she was, you know, Francine and what she was saying about her. There you go. I anxiously walk towards, back towards Delmar. I'm sorry, I, there is doubt.
00:50:36
Speaker
But you should leave this place. You deserve to be free.
00:50:42
Speaker
I want nothing more. I just, I know I do not seem to look like I would be acceptable around others. I also, I don't know if you get out there and that creature is there and I don't know what my breaking point would be when I cross over and don't return from what this creature is, if the fear or the,
00:51:10
Speaker
The danger of it all will push me over that edge. I don't know. I don't know. Gregs, what is your thoughts? Do you think we can get him out of here? Do you think we should leave him here and take on the monster? Or do you think we should get more help? I never had a single idea in my head about leaving him behind. I do understand my actions might be confusing at times.
00:51:37
Speaker
But there's just too many factors, too many contingencies to consider. I don't know if what he has a hold of him can be removed, but I do believe we can get him out of here at least. I just, I need to know something. And my friend, I do apologize for this.
00:52:05
Speaker
As he says that, he pulls his hammer from his back and pulls his shield from his back, holding one on each hand. He hits his shield with his hammer, making a relatively loud clang in that small room. Okay, that's a plan. Okay. So just... Delmar, Delmar kind of flinches real bad. It takes a few steps back and I'm rolling something.
00:52:35
Speaker
And when he does he looks down and then he suddenly looks back up really fast and he just goes That's what I thought
00:52:52
Speaker
And he's just standing there with his big, the big fist in, you know, prepared. And he's in a, he's in a fighting stance and he's just breathing heavy and growling. How close to the jail cell is he?
00:53:06
Speaker
He's he's backed into the doorway again from that startle, but he's standing right outside the door right inside the doorway of the jail cell. Just I approach him and with my shield, I'm going to try to push him into that cell and get the door closed at least to contain him in the event that the monster shows up. OK, make an attack roll. God, this is dumb. Oh, man, Gwen is in shock.
00:53:35
Speaker
That's 18 plus probably nothing because it's with my shield. Yeah, it's it hits those success. And he's going to why don't we do? So you you successfully make contact. Let's do contested strength checks. Sure. While he's doing that, Devin's going to rush over and peek through the hole and see if he sees anything in the other room. OK, 15 plus four and 19, 19. OK, Devin, make a perception five. No.
00:54:07
Speaker
It's an 18 strength so oh well saving throw so is a 19. What did you roll? Myself I rolled a 19.
00:54:16
Speaker
Oh, so it was okay. So you guys, you clash into him and his big, the big, uh, strong arm comes up. And as you hit him, it, he scooches back, like just barely a couple, you know, a couple few inches, but he's, he's almost cleared the door, but not quite. And he just.
00:54:37
Speaker
He's starting to rise, like his growl is rising into more anger. And he's going to lift his big arm up and swing down in a slam attack against you, against your shield or you. And he rolled a two on that. So he didn't hit, he hit your shield and just, you know, bangs off your shield. What do you want to do next? Continue pushing him back as much as I can into that room and look at the guys and just say door, door now.
00:55:07
Speaker
Okay, so you get him through into the jail cell successfully. Joxer is just ready. He kind of moves Daven back a bit and starts trying to pull off all that things they've already jammed. On the big door? Okay. Yeah. I'll rush over and I'll push the cell door closed. Okay, with Krigs, did you get inside or?
00:55:31
Speaker
I'm not inside the door with him. I'm trying to get them to close the jail cell and leave the main door. I'm going to have Joxer, why don't you make a dexterity saving throw to try to squeeze yourself in there and shut that at the right timing of Krigs knocking him in and scooching back out. Dexterity. Saving throw.
00:55:56
Speaker
Uh, oh, and I get a plus one for that because of the rings and they get a plus two for me Oh, did I say jockster? That should be davin. Oh, sorry. Yeah, that's my bad deck safe Yeah, sorry davin's the one shutting the gate or the the jail door That's a 10 total a 10 12 with me. Nope. I already included that six
00:56:20
Speaker
So as yeah, so as the door starts to clang shut, the hand comes up and grabs it just before it latches. And Krigs, you get kind of caught in between the door and the wall of the jail cell.
00:56:40
Speaker
And you have to squeeze yourself through and he's the this monsters grabbing on this gate and pushing against it trying to get you get you get the door to stay open and he's just And pushing against this gate Blaze you or or krigs makes his way out of the gate and and you can and you're now free from the gate But he's still holding that gate open Okay
00:57:07
Speaker
Uh, help me close this damn thing. Is it wedged? Like if you try to push on it, it's just his hand is through it? No, no. He's holding onto the bars. Not the, it won't wedge. It'll like, he's just pushing, pushing on the door. Yeah. He's not wedging it open or anything at this point yet. Uh, I, I push the door with Devin trying to latch it at this point.
00:57:33
Speaker
Okay, you guys together are able to latch that door and he just bangs against the bars and just lets out this roar.
00:57:57
Speaker
Thank you for listening to this episodic installment of the Hired Swords. If you liked our show, tell a friend about us. And if you really liked our show, tell the world. Leave a review. If you want to keep up with us and get all the behind the scenes goofs and gaffs, you can find us on Twitter and Facebook at thehiredswords or at thehiredswords.com. Again, thank you for listening.