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Ep. 49 Everyone Dance The Goblin
134 Plays3 years ago
As the Swords travel north, they're met with a familiar face. Hopefully, past transgressions can be overlooked and left back in Wildhill. This could also be a great opportunity to gauge what the landscape is they will be walking into in the near future.
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Transcript
Introduction and Dedication
00:00:01
Speaker
Hey, everyone. I just wanted to say a quick thank you for the understanding and the patience in regards to the lengthy delay that it took to release this episode. If you wanted to continue to support us, you can tell your friends the hired swords are back. And yeah, thanks again for the support during this time.
00:00:26
Speaker
Without further ado, welcome back to the Hired Swords. This episode is dedicated to my dad.
Recap of Wild Hill Events
00:00:39
Speaker
Previously on the Hired Swords. I think I might actually miss Wild Hill. What for the short time we actually stayed there?
00:00:51
Speaker
Alas, I know Tomba is going to tend to the Bogus Shack, and Soraya and Council will actually take some steps to improve Wild Hill with the fall of the Chief. If nothing else, the promise the Council gave to Solran's parents to honor her sacrifice will give me at least some comfort for Wild Hill's future. For now, though, I need to focus on the task at hand.
00:01:17
Speaker
If the things hurriedly said about these jewels or artifacts, whatever they are, if what he said was true, I fear the Chief could have just been a pawn to a game we never realized we were playing.
Episode Introduction and Characters
00:01:54
Speaker
You're listening to the Hired Swords. Welcome back, Hirelings.
00:02:14
Speaker
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to another episode of The Hired Swords, season two, episode two. I'm Mike, your dungeon master, and with me, I have Mikey playing Joxer. Oh, I'm first, what? Hey, do you see this happen sometimes? Hi, guys. And then Gwen is playing, no, Ash is playing Gwen, or sometimes you never know. Who plays who in the same season? Yeah, that's right. Howdy. Derek's here, he's Daven. Hola, como estas?
00:02:42
Speaker
Blaze is also here. He plays Krigs. I'm last. Well, you're like the bottom right on my on the bottom right corner of my little video feed here. So I'm I put you at the bottom of the list. Sorry. Hi, guys. Zencaster did.
Magical Necklaces and Investigation
00:02:58
Speaker
We are back to season two. We just kind of wrapped up things in Wild Hill in the last episode, everybody. We chatted a little bit with each other, kind of learned a bit about what had happened in Wild Hill in the meantime, since the chief died in the last several days. And then
00:03:17
Speaker
You guys were kind of came together again, ready to leave and go start heading up north. And as you started to head that way, you were summoned by Slim who called you to ask if you would be willing to speak with Hurley. And you agreed, followed him, spoke with Hurley and he told you of
00:03:39
Speaker
some lore, some information about the gemstone necklace that you had found on Tomba's neck. He explained that it was one of a pair that was actually
00:03:50
Speaker
that pair is a part of three pairs of necklaces that are all controlled by something or someone and they allow someone to control like they allow control over each other as well and so they're very powerful magical items mind control and so you learn about that and decided to go check out the Chiefs the Chiefs body where he had died because he had
00:04:17
Speaker
been controlling Tomba, it seemed.
Arrival at Goblin Village
00:04:19
Speaker
And sure enough, after some interesting attempts to try to find it, you finally did using Gwen's help with nature. You finally did find this necklace. It was another one of these gemstone necklaces with an orange gemstone that the chief had been wearing when he died. You looked at that, discussed it a little bit, and then Davin went ahead and just put the thing on.
00:04:43
Speaker
And when he put it on, he didn't feel anything right away. Joxer put on something out, put on the other one or try like kind of held it up to his chest to see if anything happened. And it didn't seem to have any effect at all. So then you finally left town and you walked pretty peacefully.
00:05:00
Speaker
through the northern road that heads north, kind of on the border of the wilds and the hills. And as you walk that direction, you finally approach a large, not a large, but a small village. You see these these grass and wooden huts. You see small humanoids kind of moving here and there through the area. And then a familiar face as you approach a familiar face comes out and it's a little goblin.
00:05:29
Speaker
who waves at you and says, I know you guys. And it was Gis. And that is where we left the episode. What's your response to seeing Gis today? Gis. Oh, my God. Hey, how are you doing? I'm pretty good. You guys come on in. You want to you want to come into town? Yes. Is there possibly a place to stay? Oh, yeah.
00:05:56
Speaker
We have great places to stay here. We haven't had very many people come through in the last few weeks. So yeah, there's some really nice places. Come on in. And he turns and starts to walk away, walk and let you follow him. And as he as he walks there, you can look and see this village has it has probably it's got
00:06:19
Speaker
nearly a dozen of these grass and wood huts around and you walk kind of through a couple of these huts and you see a very small dozen or so hut village. In the middle of this village is this kind of rectangular shaped animal pen with three big boars and a couple big giant goats in the middle.
Village Life and Darnaldi's Absence
00:06:44
Speaker
You see goblins scurrying about just kind of doing work, doing hustling and bustling. They look towards you and you notice many of them kind of scurry off a little bit when they see new people arriving. These are all goblins. Everybody in this village, it looks like, are goblins. And you can see, everybody make perception checks as you look around and walk kind of towards, into the entrance of this village.
00:07:14
Speaker
Oh, that's a big nine. Seven. I beat you barely with a 10. Oh, no. Gwen? Sorry. You said oof, but I didn't know your roll. Oh, it's not going to be great. It's not going to be good. Not good. Oh, it's not bad. Thirteen. OK. Gwen, you're the only one that kind of notices that they're the ones kind of scurrying away
00:07:44
Speaker
are the look like, they're dressed more like the women, female goblins kind of scurrying away. And the kind of men are kind of coming around, they're working, doing some stuff. There aren't very many of them. There's, you see about a dozen or so buildings here, half of which are identical, round,
00:08:08
Speaker
grass huts and then there are a couple of square cube shaped huts in the distance. Before that, there is a kind of open area with a campfire, not built, it's a campfire area. There's no fire currently burning in it and big logs would look like for sitting and a couple tables out there and some tree stumps out there too that look like they've been carved down for sitting. There is a
00:08:38
Speaker
To the left of you, as you look to the left, there is a larger, pretty nice looking hut. It's like the nicest of all of them in this place. And it's got the only one that has a door on it. It has an actual wooden door. All the other huts you notice, everybody can kind of see this. All the other huts just have this small open doorway that kind of arches. And they're all about goblin size, those doorways.
00:09:07
Speaker
the the doors to the the doorway to the two kind of square areas over there square buildings over there they they are larger like for humanoids and then right to your right you see what looks like some sort of little tavern it's it's
00:09:24
Speaker
got a couple tables out front and you see a couple goblins out there sipping beverages. But when they see you, they put their beverages down and kind of pick up the cups and go back inside and they're putting stuff away. And Gist just says, we haven't seen anyone for a while. We've just kind of been just kind of living, just doing our own thing. Are you guys here for another hunt or what?
00:09:51
Speaker
What are it mostly just passing through? To be honest with you guys, I was... For some reason I imagined that it was just you here by yourself. I didn't realize you had a whole village. Oh yeah!
00:10:01
Speaker
It takes all of us, we all kind of have to work to breed and raise these animals. Plus, we serve the hunters when they come here, they usually stay a couple days. So we help them when we serve them, we've got place for them to drink and eat. And we've got, we serve them food and places to stay and all that. So, you know, they, they hang out here most of the time for a little while. And so we have to work to help them out with all that. Do you guys have parties?
00:10:27
Speaker
Oh, we don't. We always throw a little party for the hunters when they come. We have some dances and stuff that they said are fun and they like to watch them. They call them, it's kind of funny, they call them like tribal dances like it's goblin tradition, but we've never seen them before. They just have us do them because, I don't know, people don't know goblins.
00:10:51
Speaker
Why don't you party, Gis? Coblins. I mean, this looks like a very quaint little village. Well, we would. I mean, we considered. I mean, you saw a couple of guys over there. They were kind of drinking and just hanging out. But we usually have too much work to do. You know, he runs a pretty tight ship around here. We have to just keep things moving. He who? Darnaldi. That's right. He's still in charge here, isn't he?
00:11:18
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, he hasn't been here for like three weeks, but we still feel like if he comes back and these boars are gone or something's wrong and things aren't ready, it's going to be bad. That's probably why everybody's acting scared. They don't know who you guys are. Looking here, can I tell if these boars are at least what I would kind of perceive to be normal?
Boar Exploitation Discovery
00:11:39
Speaker
Yeah, they're giant boars, but they're definitely not manipulated in any way. They're just the boar of the giant variety, just like the goats are as well. Can I do a check to see if it's the boar as we rode? Sure. Make a nature check. I need to know if it's our friends. 16.
00:12:04
Speaker
It's it's hard to tell for sure you're not an extremely like heavy-duty like animal expert But you don't get the vibes you feel like they would be they would know who you are after that time you spent with them and and you're really hoping deep down inside that your Your boars are still out there running free. I Sure, I sure hope so Yeah, yes, you say you say darn Aldi's not been here for something like three weeks. Is that typical of him? I
00:12:34
Speaker
Well, not this long. He goes away. And when he does, he always comes back with a lot more work for us. But this time, it's been about a week longer than usual. And it's been strange, him being gone so long, but especially with Carmen not being around either. There's really nobody in charge, so I've just been kind of trying to help out wherever I can. Normally, my dad would do it, but I guess it falls to me now.
00:13:04
Speaker
There's been a few changes over in Wild Hill. It might be that you won't see Dernaldi for a while. I don't even know if he'll come back, to be honest. I don't know where he went. Did he say where he might have gone before he left? He always heads into the wilds, and I don't know where he goes after he goes into the forest, but... Which direction into the wilds does he go?
00:13:28
Speaker
Sometimes he goes directly east, sometimes north. This time he went north, but I don't know where he's going to. He left his house completely put away already, like he was gonna be gone for a while. I don't normally go in there, I'm not allowed, but I did and when I saw, he'd been gone for so long, so I went in there to take a look, and when I did, I realized he may not be back for a while just from looking around, you know? So I guess he won't mind if I
00:13:58
Speaker
Enjoy his quarters for the night. Oh, he would mind. I don't mind. The problem is what he might do to me if he finds out you were there. You understand? I don't want to get, oh man, it would be so bad. I guess I understand. Your safety is paramount to me at this point. I don't want to do anything that would get you
00:14:48
Speaker
I can't stop you. And after everything you guys have done for me, I feel like the least I could do is let you in there if you want to look for a minute, if you need to. I don't know. It's OK, Kiss. And this is to you. What time of day it is? I mean, how long have we been traveling? Yeah, you were coming up on dusk. It was like the end of the day when you guys arrived at the village.
00:14:48
Speaker
in trouble with any
00:15:15
Speaker
I think, I think we might take you up on that offer of checking out Darnaldis, but I think we could probably stop for a drink and stay the night in one of those rooms. What say you? We'll definitely take some rooms. We couldn't use a good night's sleep.
00:15:34
Speaker
Absolutely. Yes. I think you deserve to have my bed for the night. You guys worked so hard. I couldn't bear to let you sleep. Now I feel rude. I gotta, I gotta stay with mom. I gotta stay with mom. She's, since dad died, she's been freaking out. Like she tells me she's having dreams where she sees him and he's talking to her and she, I catch her up walking around at night. I have to stay with her, but it's weird.
00:16:03
Speaker
So I'm going to stay with her, but I'll make sure you guys have everything you need. Nothing costs anything to anyone when they come here. So you just have what you want, drink what you want, eat what you want. I don't know how good the food is right now because a few of us, a few of us.
00:16:18
Speaker
thought maybe Darnaldi wouldn't be back for a while. So we just ate a lot. So we'll see what's there. We'll see what's available. But if if there's if there's enough, there's enough for you guys to eat. I just some of the best stuff. Maybe I don't know. Kevin may have eaten most of it, but we'll see what's going on. So you guys can have whatever it is that you want. And if you find your way into Darnaldi's place, I can't stop you. But those two, the two huts over there and he points to the two square ones.
00:16:47
Speaker
that are kind of set up into the trees to the right as you walked in, just beyond that little campfire setup area. He says, those two are, those are the nobleman's barracks. There are, there's four beds in each one. You guys can use both of them as much as you want. We don't go in there. That's too soft. The beds are so soft. It makes me feel like I'm, I don't know, I'm sleeping in mud or something. It's disgusting. I don't like the beds make you feel icky. I feel fine.
00:17:15
Speaker
I feel icky. It's icky. That's a good word for it. So I would say I'll go into the tavern and I'll start getting things put together to get you guys something to eat. And you guys can either go get settled in the huts or wherever else you want to look around is fine with me as well. OK, we'll see you later. And he starts to turn to go as he's going. Guess I'm really glad to see you doing so well.
00:17:40
Speaker
Well, I'm really grateful that you guys spoke to the chief the way you did because I really just wanted to be here and take care of these animals, but it's been really nice to be able to kind of take care of my whole village for the last couple of weeks, you know? I do know. It looks like you've been doing a wonderful job.
00:18:01
Speaker
Thanks. And he turns around and starts walking off and you can see his as he walks off. He's kind of when you first saw him before he was geared up like for for battle, right? He was a he was you met him fighting. And so he looks really different now. He's not wearing his little leather helmet thing he was wearing. And you can see this tuft of like orange red hair coming out of the top of his hair of his head. And it's kind of tied in the top with a like a almost like a waterfall like a little kid water fountain pigtail thing sticking up.
00:18:30
Speaker
He's wearing a brown sash across his chest and it kind of goes into a tunic that's pretty short just down to his knees and he's wearing boots that go up to just under his knees and he's wearing a dagger on his side but he's got pouches on his belt with just stuffed full of stuff, whatever it might be.
00:18:51
Speaker
He's just walking with confidence and seems to be doing pretty good. And he walks towards the tavern. What are you guys going to do? I'm going to turn to the party and kind of cheekily say, guess who'd have thought we we did that. Well, he's a chatty one, isn't he? It seems to be. Did you hear that? Do not he's going north? Do you think we'll meet him? I don't care that you're obsessed there. I hope not.
00:19:20
Speaker
I wouldn't be surprised if our paths do cross once more. If I see him, I need to see Gwendolyn just grit her teeth. I would love to ensure that he doesn't bother Gis any longer. As Gwyn's gritting her teeth, I'm gonna hold my shield up and be like, oh, down, down. In mild rage, she's just gonna
00:19:45
Speaker
and then walk over to where the boars are and just start petting them and just looking at them, hanging out with the animals. Even if there's more than boars, just going to hang out with them. You're starting early, early Krigs. Um, bothering Gwen that way. Hi, Chi. Have you seen her these days? She's, it's a hot head. If I've ever seen one, I kind of like it.
00:20:12
Speaker
She definitely does have a a gear for action. You hear in the background, she's a little far, a little far away, and she goes, no, Dale, I'm not mad. Leave me alone. And you got you walk through.
00:20:32
Speaker
walk towards the animal pen and you walk in between a couple of these tables set about 10 feet apart you're able to walk right through in between those and you come up to this fence and these animals are actually make a nature check as you look at them 19
00:20:55
Speaker
Yeah, you've seen wild boar. I mean, you've definitely seen giant boar and you've seen some giant goats and you know a little bit about these creatures. And you can tell just from looking at these that they are extremely overfed. They're sluggish. They're walking around like, you know, they're just fat and sassy, so to speak.
Gwen's Ethical Dilemma and Decision
00:21:17
Speaker
And you would normally, with these wild boars, you would expect them to be a little aggressive. But when you approach them,
00:21:24
Speaker
They just kind of walk up to you like they're expecting their meal or something like that from you. They walk right up. No, I think you guys have had enough. I look around to see if the handler is around. No, there's currently no goblins nearby. As you've approached, they've kind of started keeping their distance from you. Oh, I'm sorry. I just... Are you guys hungry?
00:21:55
Speaker
i mean i can i can give a little bit and i'm going to pull some trail mix out of my pocket don't worry dale you'll still get some and throw some on the ground and i want to have them come up to me and i just want to pet them but while i'm petting them i want to feel around if i can just to see if there feels
00:22:16
Speaker
This is gonna say weird, whether or not they're just fat or if there's something hiding inside them. Everything I'm saying sounds weird. No, I get it. Okay. Everything I'm saying just sounds weird.
00:22:33
Speaker
As you, since you reach out food and you start to offer them food and they are, you know, they've already approached you. When you reach out to pet them, they just allow it. They're used, it's like they're used to it. In fact, one of them kind of nuzzles your hand, like it's used to getting affectionate scritches, you know, and you, you're feeding it, it's eating the trail mix and then it kind of like starts sniffing at the fence, like towards your, where your, your pouch and pockets are, like it's,
00:23:03
Speaker
looking for more and the other one there's two that just approached you the other one as you're rubbing it and you kind of reach under its neck you definitely feel you definitely feel the the blubber of a normally a wild boar like this that has to hunt and live out in the wild it's lean and muscular you know these these are just like blubber they're just fat pigs basically
00:23:30
Speaker
Because I was thinking there would be tags or a time bomb in my head because I go from 0 to 100 in a minute. But now that I've had a closer look, it seems obvious that they're either fattening them up to eat. And that kind of hurts my feelings. Gwendolyn's just like, oh. But it doesn't make sense why these wild boars are so
00:24:02
Speaker
not wild. Okay, make a perception check. I wanted to say why are these boars so comfy, but that's my everyday life. You said nature again. I know this is a perception check. Perception. 12, 13, 14.
00:24:24
Speaker
Okay, as you're screeching this guy, you kind of look up and look around the pin and you see a couple other animals, including the couple goats that also look extra hefty. And you see a small goblin child sitting up in a tree just just beyond the fence. The tree actually kind of hangs over the fence a little bit.
00:24:44
Speaker
And they're looking at you super curiously, just staring down at you with their teeth kind of gnarled out, bigger than too big for their face a little bit as this young goblin. No hair except little bits of scraggly bits of hair strands sticking up around their ears and their back of their head. They have no shirt on. They're just wearing these kind of little brown shorts and sandals.
00:25:12
Speaker
and they have like what looks like a little wooden dagger tucked in the little belt of their shorts and they're just kind of looking down at you. Gwendolyn thinks they're smiling so she smiles awkwardly like how there's how she thinks they're smiling even though it's just their tests are too big for their mouth and she's just waving at them like awkwardly like they
00:25:33
Speaker
They real quick react and that kind of startle. And yeah. And when they startle, they lean back real quick and fall out of the tree and just immediately run. I run over the goblin. OK, sure. When you get there, you can only have one. When you get there, this goblin is is kind of leaning on one arm and trying to lean and get up and say, oh, sorry, and turns to like kind of try to run away.
00:26:03
Speaker
It's, it's, they're acting really quite afraid of you. It seems like just nervous around you. I'm going to attempt to grab him before he gets up and cast Cure Wounds. Okay. Uh, make a, no, you can grab him pretty quick. He's not very quick. He rolled really low on this like last roll I did. So he's still slow and in pain. So you grab him, you cast Cure Wounds and he's like, Oh,
00:26:28
Speaker
What was, what was that? Is that better? I didn't mean to frighten you. I'm not really fighting. We're just, we're not supposed to talk to hunters. We're supposed to stay out of the way. I'm sorry. And he starts to, they start to turn around. You can talk to me. I don't like to hunt things really. What? That like completely like,
00:26:55
Speaker
uh flabbergasted so they turn around and look at you and kind of look at you really confused with this confused look on their face and the tongue comes out and they lick their upper lip that's weird why why are you here i came with some friends i i love nature and i pull out dale because that's my safety go-to
00:27:21
Speaker
This was my friend once, but he, I didn't hurt him, but he died once. This is Dale. They'll say hello. And I push out, I push out, she ignores it. I just push out the chipmunk and like, just eagerly, like, I feel like people can't see my face in a podcast, but I'm making faces while doing this. They reach out and they like kind of touch their head.
00:27:50
Speaker
Dale, nice to meet you. I'm Stag. He seems nice to meet you too. Neat, what's your name? I'm Gwendolyn. Gwendolyn. We're just passing through. I notice they're boars. They're beautiful. Yeah, they are. Two of those, my...
00:28:18
Speaker
My uncle used to help make sure they lived and had babies. That's cool. Why are they fat? Because Gwendolyn's never really talked to children, so she's just gone straight to the punch. We feed them a lot. But why? Soon they will just roll instead of walk.
00:28:44
Speaker
That'd be funny if they're rolling. That'd be funny. I think they, I heard one time my uncle say that they feed, they have to feed them a lot. So they're slow. When the hunters hunt them, they want them to be slow. Gwyndolin starts to start her cause she,
00:29:12
Speaker
Everything seems rigged now in her mind. If she could think of the word simulation, she would. Cause now it just seems like this whole hunting gig in these towns are, it's all fake. It's fake news. All episode of Westworld. Am I real? One time I heard my uncle say that these noblemen have never shot a bow in the day in their life. That's why we have to give them crossbows.
00:29:47
Speaker
So you're just letting these animals out there to die? I know. She starts yelling at a little kid. I like to take care of them. I feed them and I pet them and I sit on the trees and watch them because they're funny, especially because they're so fat.
00:30:11
Speaker
Gwyndolin realizes that she's yelling at a child and she sees
00:30:30
Speaker
herself kind of in him because she was that kid to give her her chipmunk and dog extra scraps. And her mother used to get onto her. And I'm sorry, I didn't mean you're doing a good job. And she awkwardly pats the top of his head just crying when they take them. Every time they take one and I or I wake up in the morning and one of them's gone and I
00:30:59
Speaker
I don't like it, but it's what we do. It's why they're born. Gwendolyn thinks, oh no, what have I done? And so she reaches in her bag and puts Dale away and grabs some trail mix. Here, here you go. I appreciate you talking to me. You're doing a fantastic job. I listened to the Boers. They really like you.
00:31:25
Speaker
Oh, that's neat. And he grabs what you gave me because what's this? It's nuts and berries. It's real tasty. Dale and I eat them. He puts it in his mouth and you see it's like falling out of his teeth and stuff like in a berry just gets stuck right on the end of one of his little tusk kind of things. And he's like, yuck. Oh,
00:31:52
Speaker
Thank you. Sorry. It's it's not for everyone. Can I offer you some bark? She pulls out a piece of bark that she had from Wild Hill before she left. No, thank you. Oh, okay. He turns and puts it back. They turn and start. He turns and starts running away. Like pitter patter in a way by towards the
00:32:20
Speaker
those round huts, those circular huts that are kind of near the back of the village. You see Gwendolyn just stare off and realize what's happening and kind of just turns around and starts to reconvene with the others wherever they're at, tries to find them. And while she's walking, I didn't yell at him that loud. She keeps going. Craig, where did you go to?
00:32:49
Speaker
I was there kind of with Joxer and Devin still. I don't think we actually took off or anywhere. For some reason I was thinking you had walked away, so that's cool.
00:33:01
Speaker
She kind of takes off and this is all happening. What are you guys doing while she's just kind of over there by the animal? I kind of feel that I would have just stared and watched this whole thing. Well, awkward. And what is what is she? What's going on back there? Do you see that, Griggs? What? Devin, Devin's going to get a room. OK. Yeah, so you
00:33:27
Speaker
You can walk straight, straight through the the tavern area or that not the tavern, the village area. And you walk past the tavern and across where the camp area is. And there are those two square huts there with, you know, larger or medium humanoid sized. Doorways there that you can walk through. And how close is the one that has the door, which is presumably at least
00:33:54
Speaker
That is right to your left as you walk into the, to the village. It's like first thing and it's a, it's kind of across the village from the other place. I'm going to show you the map right now. Um, Devin's going to glance over as he heads toward his, where he's going to pick up a room and he's going to see if there's any windows or a back door that he can see just walking at Darnoldi's place. Yeah. Okay. Make a perception check. Okay.
00:34:20
Speaker
That is either seven or 10. I think it's a seven. Yep. Seven. Okay. Um, there are some windows there. Um, they are shuttered with wooden, like shutters, uh, from the inside. You can see like the it's, you could see that the windows themselves are just like,
00:34:44
Speaker
carved out holes in the in the stone of this side and this and as you look around you realize this is the only building with stone walls and the stones carved out and there's the there's wood on the inside of this stone window that has it seems to be shuttered and latched closed and you see a couple windows on this side that that's right there as you walk in.
00:35:09
Speaker
All right, I'm going to just walk in and set myself down and kind of just relax for a minute. OK. Walk into the to the hut. Yes. OK, so you walk across the campfire area. You see a road that leads out of the village into the forest. You see another road that heads straight up to the into the northern area above north of the village. And you go into this hut and inside here it is it is
00:35:39
Speaker
one hallway and there are four doors and These doors are actually they actually have wooden doors in here one of them's open as you look in there you see a Pretty small but nice room with a nice bed. It's got a rug underneath there There's a chair and a little table for sitting and doing things to the left there that the the bed itself is kind of up against the back right corner of the room and there's there's
00:36:08
Speaker
quill and paper there for writing or whatever might be necessary, and a small trunk at the foot of the bed, like a small chest that is unlatched with a lock sitting on top of the chest. I'm just going to set my bag down right next to that footlocker, and then I'm just going to lay down in the bed and just see if it's as comfortable as he thinks it is. Okay. What kind of bed does Daven like?
00:36:34
Speaker
And a medium firmness, I guess. It's probably a little soft for you. These are like luxurious pillow top action. You don't know what they did for this to make this happen, but this is very comfortable mattress. Very soft mattress, I'll say. So it might be a little soft. You may have a stiff neck, but it feels like laying in a cloud. All right. Yeah. I can see what he is getting at. Krigs?
00:36:59
Speaker
I'm going to just sit having sat there and just watched with the jocks or everything that went down with, with Gwen.
Discussion on Village Practices and Change
00:37:07
Speaker
Uh, I'm going to kind of start walking towards her as she's coming towards us in her reconvening. Okay. And, uh, troubles with the locals, Gwen. Why didn't you speak up? Uh, no, no, it was just, just fine.
00:37:26
Speaker
And she's doing a weird face like she's trying to hide it. It looks like it went well. It did. Did you notice the boys are not what's the word? They're not strong. They're not. They're just pure fat. Not like they're not wild.
00:37:50
Speaker
We prefer the term husky, us more blessed individuals. I've never heard this word. Yes, I did recognize they were not in fit shape, much like we had our friends on stone mountains that we rode. They haven't seen the wilds for
00:38:16
Speaker
a good long time it would appear. My new friend, she sits there for a second. Because she forgot his name. He told me that they fattened them up for the hunters to find. Something isn't right. That would surprise me at all.
00:38:40
Speaker
Yes, I believe when we were originally talking to Geth, these beasts are made just for the rich hunters from Wild Hill, the ones who can pay the little extra, because they're not for the higher swords. This is for the rich. You know, I almost have to wonder, though, with the shakeup in Wild Hill and all and Darnaldi being gone, if
00:39:08
Speaker
the goblins here don't haven't had any orders or any hunts and they just continue to feed these boars in preparations for a hunt and that is why they're maybe a little extra husky why do people do that and she just looks at Craig's and jocks her with big kid eyes why aren't I
00:39:33
Speaker
Always like you, Gwen. People aren't always kind. There's a difference between a man who is nice and a man who is kind. A man that is nice wants something from you. And you, you are kind. Not everyone is like you. It's unfortunate that there are those nice in the world that would pay for a non-sporting hunt whenever it's in season. But you are kind.
00:40:02
Speaker
And that is sometimes all you have for comfort in times like this.
00:40:11
Speaker
Yes, and when we were in the previous chief's house, the trophies that he displayed, he didn't hunt those himself. He enjoyed displaying them to show that they have power, but in the end, they don't really have that power. They depend on others to do it. It's really an unfortunate event.
00:40:42
Speaker
These people make me sick. And... I agree completely. That is why I don't enjoy Darnaldi that much as well. Gwen wants to spit on the ground when he says Darnaldi.
00:41:00
Speaker
He who shall not be named. Thank you. I just thought if we got out of Wild Hill, most of the evil would be gone. But I guess I haven't seen the world that much. Gwen, I'll promise you this. How about this? Before we leave, maybe we can have a sit down with Gis and
00:41:26
Speaker
Maybe they don't have to be fed for hunting, and I understand Darnaldi is still some kind of power over these folk here, but I don't know, maybe they can at least change things a little bit for the meantime. I don't see, maybe with the changes in Wild Hill there's no more need, and then maybe that's why Darnaldi hasn't been back.
00:41:50
Speaker
Maybe that's why he's gone and left these behind, these lands. Maybe you're right and you see her perk up a little bit. Maybe he left for good. Maybe. We'll speak with Gis before we leave. I promise you, at least have a little peace of mind.
00:42:10
Speaker
We should definitely give a quick look at his place just to make sure that he didn't leave anything that might be of interest of maybe where he went. Well, it is nearing, you said it was like dusk right around now. Indeed it is, yes. It's after nightfall at this point. Well, it is close to the twilight hour, Joxer. I feel like
00:42:39
Speaker
Maybe one of us could pay a visit and do so without raising too much attention and the rest of us, well, maybe it's time we showed these goblins a proper party. I am down for both of these ideas. Who should check out the house? I feel like we could catch up with Daven. He might be the easiest to get in and out. And you, sir, you owe me a better brew.
00:43:10
Speaker
I do, I do. Where is Daven? I reckon he went on to find the lodgings. It's been some traveling and whatnot. He's not one to quarrel with a soft bed, I recall anyways. I don't think he's much for bothering the locals either. And I'll give a funny little look at Gwen.
00:43:37
Speaker
She doesn't know. So she's just, she's kind of doing the same look back. I'm just imagining that Gwen just constantly copies everyone's facial expressions. This is what I should be making. So shall we, uh, make our way to the lodgings reconvene with Daven? I feel a party coming on. Let's, let's make it happen.
00:44:03
Speaker
All right, so you guys head back, head over to those two huts where you saw Daven walk over. I say huts that they're small, but they're nicer than huts. I mean, they've got wood frame. Yeah. It's like, it's like, Oh, I'm staying in a grass hut. But like when you're on a like high dollar all inclusive resort and staying in a grass hut, right? Like the, like the nice tent camping where it's the big glamping thing. So you're in, you're in one of those. When you walk in there, you see three other rooms, three other doors.
00:44:34
Speaker
and inside there's each an identical room to what Davenslap is in. It's the bed in the back right corner there's a chest in the front with the lock unlocked and sitting on the top and on the left of the left side there's a small table with a quill and a parchment and a little stool chair there for you to sit. There's a
00:44:54
Speaker
Each of you have a different little painting in the room and it's just random scenery. Are all the doors closed at the moment? The other three are. The one that Daven went in was not, but the other three are.
00:45:08
Speaker
I'm going to kind of, not barge in, but make my way in. Oh, magic man. David's sitting on the floor, like cross-legged, you know, in front of like the footlocker and he's got the lock on it. He's got his lock picking tool set out and he's just practicing. He's like, quiet, quiet, quiet. I've almost, dang it. I'm going to go to this. I'm going to get this. It's not your fault. I'm about it. Are you interested in practicing for real? I don't think that's practice if you're doing it for real.
00:45:37
Speaker
I mean, one man's trash, another man's. Anyway, are you interested on a little bit of, I don't know, espionage this evening? Oh, absolutely. It's one of my favorite things to do.
00:45:50
Speaker
Well, I think we do a little bit of a party and can create enough of a distraction in town where, uh, you might be able to slip in and out of old Darnaldi's abode and see if you can find anything of interest. Uh, I know Gis said we could be welcomed in, but honestly, the ignorance can in fact be bliss when dealing with types like Darnaldi. That's probably better. I mean, the less he knows what we do, the better.
00:46:17
Speaker
And the last thing we need is for Gist to try and lie for us. We've put him in danger enough as it is, but honestly, he's doing very well for himself. It's nice to see some good come out of Wild Hill. I like this place. It's peaceful. There's something about it to us. It reminds me of home, actually, a little bit.
00:46:38
Speaker
What is home like? I lived on a farm with my family. So it's kind of like this. It's more spread out. There's not like a whole bunch of huts. What is? Just us, my family. There were some neighbors about a couple of hours away. They weren't too far. You know, it's quiet. Nothing special. It's kind of what I liked about it.
Party Planning and Investigation
00:47:01
Speaker
That sounds pleasant. I would be very interested in visiting someday and in our travels if they
00:47:08
Speaker
If they take us that direction, I hope we're finding better days. Well, we're going the wrong direction right now, so we'll have to make it another trip. That goes for myself as well. From the south. Jocks, I don't really remember exactly where you're from. Miltown. That's where my family is, at least. I thought it was pronounced Milton.
00:47:36
Speaker
Something like that. I thought there was a W in there, but you know, I could be wrong. Wilton? Oh, anyways. Who's up ready for a little bit of trickery? Are you saying that with a smile? Yeah. I think I think Krigs is quite excited to be over here. Honestly, I'm just looking for a party. Are you already tipsy?
00:48:06
Speaker
I did not bring my flask. You know better. I've left that behind. I left that for Tomba. Is he lying? I want to know. Sorry, that's a go ahead and make a. Inside check on him, I guess. Are you trying to deception? No. Yeah, we'll see. Whatever she rolls. OK. Well, it's looking really good, bud, because it's a really good roll.
00:48:36
Speaker
How's 11? Okay. I'm going to roll against that for PvP in right now. Okay. I got a four. I very much still have my flask. There you go. Devin says, it might be time to bring out the whole joxer. It's been a little while. It has. I've been working on a couple of things.
00:48:59
Speaker
Well, I will. I will. And I'll probably run off to one of the rooms and and kind of settle it out and try to try to clean up a little and bring out some kegs in a minute. Do are we all taking separate rooms in here? Was that kind of may have misunderstood? I mean, it's it's available to do that, it looks like, if you would like.
00:49:25
Speaker
Are we all taking this room here? Are we gonna split up for the night? It's not too bad. Proximity anyways. I would just need room for me and Dale.
00:49:38
Speaker
I'm going to go to one of the available beds there and I'm going to plop down my shield and plop down what little bits of armor and I'm straight up going to go like street clothes for this. I'm going to freshen up pop my collar and we're going into this goblin tavern ready to mingle.
00:49:57
Speaker
Oh my gosh. Craig has a collar. Whoa. I mean, he's been a friend this whole time. I like it. He just folds up part of his beard. Beard collar. That's good. Daven will change into his common clothes that he's been carrying. That's where the term baller came from. Okay. Daven's going to look like a commoner now. Yeah. He's got some common clothes on. Gwen takes off her green bloke cape that she has. Okay.
00:50:26
Speaker
She's always hiding in it exposed, but not really. I'm also going to take off the new necklace that I have. I'm going to put it in my bag. Okay. It's not like the new one that you got. Yeah. Make a, make a, um, wisdom saving throw. Really? Oh my gosh. Really? Um, with them. It's a 15.
00:50:52
Speaker
Okay. When you reach back to take it off, you're like, no, I want to leave it on. I don't want to take it off. Looks good. Yeah. Fancy. It's my fancy necklace. Yeah. It's too nice. I'm sitting there now. I'm reaching to pull it off and I guess hasn't seen it yet. You might like it. I'll leave it on for now. It's not going to hurt anything. It brings out the color in your eyes. It makes me feel beautiful.
00:51:20
Speaker
I'm so pretty, I'm so pretty. All right, so you guys are headed into the tavern, except Joxer. Yeah, I'll be rolling in a second, and then I'll be arriving late. Yeah, fashionably late. Roll for your brew skills, Broski. Gotta find it, pull it up here.
00:51:41
Speaker
So I'm going to go straight into that tavern, like, well, he's dealing with his bruise and Davin is trying to get his old secret agent man going and Gwyn's kind of coming along. I'm popping into that tavern and I'm like, oh, hello, friends. Who's ready for a dance off?
00:52:00
Speaker
You walk in and there are four goblins in there. Two, they are dressed in like tunics from their shoulders down, like kind of tank top tunics. They have aprons around their waist. They have hair braided, longer hair braided, and then there's two behind the counter.
00:52:21
Speaker
and they have four drinks poured right there, like on the counter, and they're looking at you with, all four are looking at you with eyes like, come on in, come on in, you know? And when you say, what did you say, who's ready for a dance party? Who's ready for a dance-off? Honestly, I'm just here, I'm here for a rematch from the great Dwarven Goblin dance-off of 47 that I lost in the final round.
00:52:50
Speaker
They're all looking at you with like crooked eyes like what? They don't know what they don't know what you're talking about really but they're they're grinning they're like happy to see you and to serve you so Gwen what are you doing? Are you walking in there? Yeah, she follows Craig's with Dale in her hand and
00:53:17
Speaker
When he says dance off, she just kind of stares at him along with the goblins. Okay. I'm not ready for this. And she goes straight to the bar. Okay. Can I have one mead and then.
00:53:32
Speaker
See what happens. The goblin there slides one across to you. This is a goblin who has, he's got a hat on and it's kind of like what a cow, kind of looks like what you would see, like a cowboy hat, but the bill or whatever around that edge is very flat and kind of floppy and he's wearing an apron with a, like a leather apron with a dull red, like faded red shirt on.
00:54:01
Speaker
And he's the, he's, you can see now cause of where, cause sitting up on the counter or on the, on the stool by the counter, you can look down and see that there's like a behind him behind the counter there. There's like a level up that it has been built up to where tall people sit in the front. And these, these goblins can stand in the back, even though they're shorter. And so he's standing up there and he slides you your meat and he picks a pitcher up and stands there with it waiting for you to need another, another pour. He's just ready to serve you.
00:54:32
Speaker
I might need to. OK, he's right there. Sorry, go for it. No, I was going to say he's ready. He's ready. We're going to go to serve you and do whatever he can to help you out. What were you going to say? Are there instruments? Is there any kind of bards or anyone there for like the tavern?
00:54:54
Speaker
No, it's pretty quiet, in fact. You see a little space over on the side where there's this musical contraption sitting there. And it's not an instrument as much as it looks like several instruments made into this contraption, but there's nobody over there using it. OK.
00:55:16
Speaker
I'm going to, I'm going to leave the dancing on the table for now. I'm going to get myself some drinks and kind of post up with Gwen. Not really needing a tall chair because I just don't need one. Um, I'm going to post up with Gwen and just kind of communicate in, in collectively try to spark up conversation with those that are here. See if there's anyone that's kind of like willing to talk.
00:55:45
Speaker
How strong are these drinks? This one, this mead you've got, it's quite sweet. It's hard to know if it's very potent or not drinking it because of how sweet it is. It's like a molasses kind of based sweet mead kind of thing.
00:56:04
Speaker
Who Gwendolyn really likes it. So she's already drawn. He, when he comes up, she's already drowning the second one cause she didn't realize how thirsty she was. Okay. And she just grabs it out. She goes, you know, I listen to me. Hi. Yeah. Make a competition. Check constitution check. Taylor, you know better than to talk back to Gwen.
00:56:31
Speaker
I need just look at him. 13. Oh my gosh. Am I blind? Yeah, I am. 17. Okay. You're feeling good, but you're not feeling... That didn't get you crazy yet. Too much. Too drunk. This is also a girl who just get high on life. Exactly. And you feel good. Like I said, worries and cares are starting to go.
00:57:01
Speaker
Kind of coming up and seeing Gwendolyn kind of perked up a little bit her attitude and she's not feeling as I guess just as down as she had been since we were in Wild Hill. I'm going to kind of sneakily try to to get something going in this in this pub. I'm going to take one of the goblins aside and I'm going to have him grab a couple of his spoons and I'm going to make a makeshift spoon instrument and be like, here's what you do to get a
00:57:31
Speaker
I'm just going to show them this and I'm going to go to another goblin and be like, all right, this is a stein. What you do is you just run the rim just with your finger, just and it starts making the coming sounds and get the rhythm and get the rhythm. And before you know it, before long, there's just like a really subtle but kind of a lively beat building up with all the different goblins. And hopefully they're kind of getting into it and understanding what's happening. And I'm going to quit, quit.
00:57:59
Speaker
Can I have this dance? It's been far too long. You give me a fair share of trail mix. I, and then Gwendolyn starts, she starts taking the chipmunk on the counter and just turning him like he's dancing. Because she starts to hear the music. And she just like, what, what are you doing? And she turns around and she just screaming just, oh,
00:58:28
Speaker
She's very happy at the sound of musics. Yeah. I rolled performance checks for those goblins. The first one's having trouble keeping that beat with the spoons. He's just kind of like the clink, clink, clink, clink. He keeps having to kind of start over, but the guy that's getting the, he's kind of feeling it. The guy with the glass, he's like, oh yeah. And so you're kind of getting a rhythm from the guy with the Stein making that.
00:58:53
Speaker
all right sir spoons i noticed your little rhythm impaired uh hold on i'm gonna grab two steins and like chug most of one chug a little bit of another and just like just use the spoons like this you don't have to worry about trying to hold in your hand it's fine i'm writing down his name is sir spoons by the way okay he starts to make that he starts to make that work a little better and uh and uh
00:59:20
Speaker
They're they're kind of putting together a little bit of a of a tune for you. Are they vibin' it? Are these goblins vibin' it or are they just confused? They're starting to. They're starting to. The two behind the bar are still pretty confused but these are the two that were out kind of waitstaff and they're kind of like oh this is interesting. Nobody you can tell nobody's really ever given them the time of day so this is kind of an interesting thing and then um
00:59:42
Speaker
As this is going on, another goblin, this is an older looking goblin, he kind of limps out from the back behind the counter and he looks and you see him snapping with your groove and he walks himself over to the corner where that little contraption is and he picks it up. He puts his foot in a stirrup and he grabs a
01:00:11
Speaker
bow not like a bow and arrow bow but like a violin kind of bow and he puts his hand in a glove and starts moving his fingers and his foot to your rhythm and it's you've suddenly got this beat and these like these these weird like air like this this this thing's like pumping air from beneath him from his finger movements through these pipes that are going
01:00:35
Speaker
and he's got this whole thing going, and he's full on playing this little tune with your little, and he's just jamming now, and now you've got this full on like, that you called the bard out into the tavern. I'm gonna go, go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go
Goblin Dance Party
01:00:53
Speaker
for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it.
01:01:00
Speaker
I'm going to ask Gwen's hand in having a dance, just a proper dance and just letting loose a little bit in this bar. Kid, they'll come. Absolutely.
01:01:13
Speaker
This is when I assume Joxer walks in with two smaller kegs on his arms and then one that is being held aloft by a somewhat invisible hand and he's just gonna slowly strut to the bartender area.
01:01:36
Speaker
all right the floor walk over there and give them your uh give them your um your bruise yeah i get a couple of the bartenders there was it uh
01:01:50
Speaker
I guess I'm gonna just, I'm gonna kind of, while dancing here with Gwen and Dale, I'm gonna kind of mark over, friends, friends, my friend, my friend Joxo here, he can bar just fine. Why don't you join us? Come on, let's have a proper celebration for tonight. Yes, please, I'll take over. You go out there. You deserve this more than you realize. Come on, let's have a proper go.
01:02:18
Speaker
Before you can say, let's have a proper go, their aprons are off and they have jumped the counter and they are out there shaking their green behinds to this music. And one of them points over and you hear him, he points over at the guy playing music and he's like, Vail, you're the best.
01:02:44
Speaker
They're just dancing now. They're in it. I think while all of this is happening, as silly as it actually seems, I think time is going to somewhat not slow down, but just Krig's kind of perception of time. He's going to try to take in as much of this moment as possible because for months now, it feels like it's just been darkness and running from
01:03:09
Speaker
running from himself and running from everything else. And this is the first time that there's been just goofiness and actual excitement. And he feels happy to just be here and not have to be worrying about the oncoming storm for a night. Awesome.
01:03:30
Speaker
Yeah, you just see jocks, you're kind of like seeing the excitement around and he's just pouring out drinks and getting them all ready on the table so people can just walk up, grab chug, grab chug. And they are. The goblins have started. They're starting to feel like they can do whatever they want now with you guys here, I think rightfully so. And so they just start drinking and dancing. And sure enough, pretty soon the doors kind of open and a few more come in and a few more.
01:03:59
Speaker
You even see some of the young ones come in and they kind of start playing in the corner and dancing around in the music. Davin, as you kind of, I assume, kind of looking out and seeing what all is happening in the village here?
Stealth Investigation of Darnaldi's Storage
01:04:16
Speaker
Yeah, so I've been kind of just sitting in the room feeling like I'm waiting for a cue, kind of looking out, peeking out every once in a while. And once I hear the music start to pick up and I see people moving in that direction, I say to myself, I guess this is the best time is theirs.
01:04:29
Speaker
Uh, and then Devin is going to cast invisibility on himself. And then he's going to just casually walk out across the way over to turn all these plates. Great. Yeah. You walk, you walk along towards turn all these plates. It's just right across this courtyard where there's this little camping area set and you get to the front door and you, you
01:04:54
Speaker
had to kind of stop and let a couple goblins kind of scurry past you. But they are they're not even looking to see if you might be if somebody else might be around. They're oblivious. They're just going to see what that sound is. Sounds like a party and they're going to go check it out. And yeah, so you don't see anybody noticing you or paying attention to you at all. What do you do at the door? Is it can I check to see if it's locked? Yeah, check and see if it's locked.
01:05:24
Speaker
I don't know what role that is. Oh, it's not a role. You check to see if it's locked. You check to see if it's locked. I don't know what I, I know what I was thinking and it was like three steps ahead of what we're doing right now, which made me go. You check the door. The door is locked. Okay. That's all. What are you going to do? You took like an inhale, like there was so much, there was something else coming. And, and I know it sounded like I was going to say more.
01:05:54
Speaker
But there was no more. OK, I grabbed my bag and I look inside for the my lock picking kit and realize I can't see anything because everything's invisible. And this wasn't very thought out, was it? And I'm going to try to walk around and find a window. All right. Yeah, you go to the one window you had already seen, and it's kind of got that the shutter on it on the inside. There are two windows on either side that are that way that have those shutters and they seem to be locked down, like shut down pretty
01:06:23
Speaker
I mean, it's hard to tell if they're like shut down tight, just looking, but you don't, they're, they're shut completely. You don't see any gaps or anything. Okay. Um, and there was no backdoor. Yeah, there's just, there's a backdoor. Uh, when you go to the very back, you see a, uh, there's a, a pile of like chopped wood and stuff and, uh, some like,
01:06:50
Speaker
Like a little axe on a stump or it looks like a small axe like goblin size and there is a There's a little door that open that looks like it opens into just a room in the back of the house there I will try and enter through that door if it's unlocked. Okay, it is unlocked. Okay, and When you step inside
01:07:15
Speaker
You step into a like little storage area with a few. A few crates and barrels and some like bags of goods kind of stuff looks looks like rash food not rations but like food supplies just living supplies.
01:07:35
Speaker
a little mop and broom and stuff, goblin sized mop and broom and some of that over in the corner of this room. And you stand and look inside and here's darn all these, you're in darn all these little storage room and you can hear the echo of the music coming from outside. And we will leave it here and you will explore on the next episode. Oh, no, of the higher sorts.
Closing and Social Media Reminders
01:08:22
Speaker
Thank you for listening to episode two of our second season.
01:08:27
Speaker
We really appreciate you joining us for this adventure. If you enjoyed our show, tell a friend about us. And if you really enjoyed it, tell the world and leave a review. Be sure to also check out our shop at thehired.store. If you want to keep up with us and what we're up to, you can find us on Twitter and Facebook as well as Instagram at thehiredstores. And again, thank you for listening.