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Ep. 95 Not The Wilds You Know
119 Plays7 months ago
Season 3 Premier!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'The Hired Swords' Season 3
00:00:22
Speaker
You're listening to The Hired Swords, a Season 3 extravaganza.
00:00:41
Speaker
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the hired swords. The hired swords. Hired swords. There's only two of us here, the other one's quit. No, I'm here. The other one's quit.
Meet the Hosts and Group Dynamics
00:00:55
Speaker
I'm here with Mikey, he's Joxer. Hi Mikey. Hey baby, how's it going? Nah, a long time no see, good to see you. Derek is Daven. Yo, yo, yo, what up? And Blaze is here too, he's crewed.
00:01:07
Speaker
I kind of figured if I didn't say anything, maybe I just like wouldn't be here. Okay. Okay. Great. And then, uh, we have, uh, Gwendolyn is played by Ash. Hi, Ash. Hello. So yeah, they have a lot to say. We're talking to tonight. It's going to be a great audio experience for everyone. A real journey. Well, we're also going to add a video. So if you don't like to hear us, you can just watch us. Just watch us sit here and say nothing. I can tell you it's so much more thrilling to watch us.
00:01:38
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, four people, five people with headphones. And a little doggy in the background. John's got his gym shirt on, so we're good. There's a doggy in the background. There's a doggy, so that is worth the price of admission, at least. Enjoying two pillows. You have to subscribe to our only rolls. Oh, yeah.
Recap and Setting the Stage
00:01:56
Speaker
You don't get to see Blaze's face, though. That's not for anyone else to see, so. That's extra.
00:02:02
Speaker
Anyway, we left you a while back. And this is the beginning of season three, everybody. Season three, the ultimate final season of the hired swords. I hope you enjoy. Enjoyed season two. We sure enjoyed making it. I think it's been a while. I think we had fun.
00:02:24
Speaker
I remember having some good times, and it's really about the friends we made along the way, even though they're now dead in the untouched lands. So speaking of that, when we left off, yeah, when we left off, we were... Still want that sword. Yeah, that thing's probably long gone.
The Decision: Safety or Adventure?
00:02:46
Speaker
But when we left off, we had finished a large battle, very large battle with a shadow giant in the depths of this gemstone mine in the elven villages in the untouched lands. There's a lot of in-bus in that one. That's what you had done. You had finished this battle. In this battle, you all fought very, very bravely, Gwendolyn falling to her full-on death, losing strength completely until she died.
00:03:14
Speaker
Not even from the lack of hit points, but strength being removed from the shadow creatures that were draining the strength from her.
00:03:21
Speaker
But with a potion of Revivify saved from the Live, Laugh, Love fountain many moons ago. I'm just, hey, I'm just buying in now. If you can't beat them, join them. And so that potion saved her life. She's back. They have no more potion left, but she's alive again.
Through the Portal: New Beginnings
00:03:40
Speaker
And Krieg's had a little encounter with Dale, the chipmunk in that experience, but then also,
00:03:49
Speaker
but then ultimately gave Dale back to Gwendolyn. And here they finally, wrapping that up, they had a visit from the seeker. The seeker thanked them for what they did and invited, told them that their plane of existence, where they are and where they're from,
00:04:09
Speaker
has been purged of this darkness and that they had a choice to make. And their choice was to either go back and live in this safe land that they had created, the safe planet they had created, or
00:04:27
Speaker
they could step through and end this once and for all and come find the source of this problem. And whether it was to solve the source of the darkness or just to track down that darn Denaldi Boguesha and destroy him, they all decided they were going to step through the portal in front of them, this wall of light that they stepped through.
00:04:52
Speaker
When they stepped through it, they were all swallowed by this
Vision of Wild Hill's Peace
00:04:57
Speaker
light. And that is where we left off the last episode. So did you guys get all that? Yeah. I remember it like it was yesterday.
00:05:05
Speaker
yeah yeah definitely because it was just like yesterday it was exactly yesterday we started this the very next day yeah right untrue so as you step through this gemstone wall this wall remember was was illuminated by the death of this shadow creature really just
00:05:26
Speaker
the removal of the shadows in this pit caused the light in this wall to form again. It's almost as if the natural state of this space is supposed to be this illuminated wall and the gemstones that surrounding this pit lit up in different colors caused importing white, shifting white light through these crevices in the walls to this portal
00:05:56
Speaker
this this gemstone wall door portal sort of thing and causing it to be illuminated in a bright white light and So as you step through that You're surrounded by this blinding light it invades your mind begins to stretch through every fiber of your being each of you are filled with with warmth and
00:06:20
Speaker
It's like sitting next to a fire after a long day of travel and it feels like your stomach's full and like you've eaten plenty.
Personal Reflections and Inner Conflicts
00:06:31
Speaker
You've had plenty of rest and it's like your journey has ended and you hear a voice in your minds and it's the voice of the seeker who says, this boon is my reward for your sacrifice. You have no idea the realms that have been aided by your deeds.
00:06:48
Speaker
Your journey has been arduous, but as you will see, it has been worth it.
00:06:55
Speaker
As this bright light is all you can see, it begins to fade. And as it begins to fade, it becomes this blur. And the blur focuses into an overhead view of a small village on the crest of the mountains rising to its west at the edge of a forest stretching to the end of view in the east. And immediately you recognize the village of Wild Hill.
00:07:22
Speaker
You see pathways filled with people walking here and there, pushing carts, carrying bags. You see children and parents walking hand in hand together. You see men and women who look like adventurers. You see people who look like they're carrying bags of milled grain or carrying lumber, just this market filled with colorful tents. It's a booming village once again.
00:07:51
Speaker
your focus shifts to the steps of the tower of testing there stands around leo speaking to a small group of armored adventures. Behind them sits a cart with barrels and crates one crate open overflowing with a familiar looking root vegetable.
00:08:08
Speaker
you can almost taste the meals and ale that you had at the long house and is that memory fills your mind your vision shifts to an internal view of that massive hide in wooden building tables and benches stretching from the doorway to the back wall.
00:08:24
Speaker
The benches are full of people, adventurers and commoners alike laughing and celebrating, singing a song silent to your ears. But the glasses, their glasses and eyes are raised to a large set of golden antlers hanging from the ceiling in the center.
00:08:40
Speaker
of the room. In the middle of this gold, these golden antlers, you can see the symbol of the hired swords as a slight form of some of the coins seem to have survived the smelting and molding process.
00:08:55
Speaker
Now your vision cuts away again, each of you staring at a different scene before you. Joxer, white light swallows you up again. You feel the sense that you had been standing and lost your footing and like you begin to fall, but you're not falling down, but instead you feel like you're falling upwards or backwards. It's hard to tell. Suddenly you feel as if you're looking down from the sky.
Joxer's Journey of Growth
00:09:21
Speaker
looking on everything below from a distance further out than you were looking at wild hill almost like looking at a topographical map you see forests below mountains you zoom in a little see a meadow. Spotted with flowers then you see yourself standing with your companions facing off with a herd of giant elk.
00:09:44
Speaker
As if it was the first time all over again you see Davin being smashed by this elk charging upon hearing you all approach. Your vision then flashes again. You look down from this nighttime sky and you hear the sound of shrieking of the banshees in the woods.
00:10:00
Speaker
Your companions all fall lifeless, causing you once again to stand alone against the undead creatures. Again, your vision darkens, and you stand in a dark hall of the stone mountain fortress. You hear the roar of a giant monster in the distance, and you see Krigs mumbling and questioning himself. I can't say anything. I'm going to say it if I keep going. I just don't know what's happening.
00:10:25
Speaker
The helplessness you feel is familiar, and just as you reach to try to comfort Krigs, the environment around you changes. You hear the shouts and sounds of combat all around you. Turning, you see swords of enemy combatants lunging towards your friend Krigs, who seems to be of the right mind again. The enemies attack only for their swords to pierce you, causing extreme pain, except it isn't you, was it?
00:10:53
Speaker
No it was it was already you're no longer hurting from the physical and attack but instead the pain is inside as you watch the friend you had only made days before transitioning back and forth from direwolf to herself. Until finally falling and breathing her last breath.
00:11:10
Speaker
The sounds of combat continue. Now, however, you're in the Goblin Village. It's night and the shadows are moving. Every light seems dimmer and you see Krigs again in trouble. He falls only for a flash of light in the howl of a wolf in the distance to cause him to rise up again, standing to fight once more. The darkness takes you over as you're plunged into the depths of the Black River. You can just barely see your friends being washed through the water towards the darkness hovering overhead.
00:11:39
Speaker
One by one, they disappear as you follow again for a few seconds, being left to watch your friends fall into the unknown.
Gwendolyn's Garden Vision
00:11:48
Speaker
Gwendolyn, you're inside of a room. It's filled with this light, and as the light fades, you see that you're once again in this room filled with walls of white. There seems to be no door, no way in or out anywhere. The brightness around you pulses suddenly, giving you a splitting headache, and you hear the voice of Dale.
00:12:10
Speaker
What are you doing here? This is not where you belong. You're trapped. They trapped you here. You've been placed here, isolated from what you can be. Dale's getting emotional. He's feeling bothered by this. How do I get out? I don't know. I don't know. Let me look around. Make a wisdom saving throw. Oh, no. Oi, noi. Oi, noi.
00:12:40
Speaker
suddenly australian or nor nor 24
00:12:50
Speaker
So you begin, you look around like you're looking for a door, feeling, looking for something, and you hear Dale's voice in your mind. Yes, just there, just there, think back, think. You can find the answer if you think, and you begin to think back, and your memory takes you to your childhood. And suddenly you're no longer in this room looking for a door, but you're walking down a path, holding the hand of a woman. You look up, and it's your mother.
00:13:17
Speaker
You look behind you and you see a small cottage, a small garden, a well and a small wooden shed near the back of this little house. This is home. Memories of your life at home with your mother flood your mind and you're overwhelmed with the emotion of it.
00:13:34
Speaker
Through your tears, the visions change. Now you're sitting on the wooden floor of a small classroom. Other kids sit around you on benches, watching a teacher that you can't see as she speaks about different types of plants.
00:13:48
Speaker
This one is a fungus. This one is a flower. What is this? A small boy raises his hand. A tree sapling. Very good, Absell. It's the sapling of an oak, blah, blah, blah. Tree, blah, blah. Giant forest, blah, blah, blah. Your young mind is elsewhere. Noticing the urge to make that sapling grow into a giant oak tree right here in the middle of this room.
00:14:13
Speaker
You grit your teeth and resist the urge knowing it will result in another letter home to your mother and a week away from class. This won't do. Your mother would be so cross, you only care about making her happy. It's hard for her to be happy after she got the news of your father. That brings on more tears. Then the blur shifts to another vision. You're older now. Caught and embraced with someone. Again, it's your mother. Promise me, when I'm gone,
00:14:43
Speaker
You won't stay here. Don't stay because of the memory of me. You need to live a life for yourself. What? I don't know if I can go on without you. I just... I don't want to lose you too. You're not going to have a choice. Life doesn't give us those choices sometimes. What will you do? I haven't thought about it. I just thought we would live our lives together.
00:15:14
Speaker
I thought that too. I thought that too, but I always knew. I always knew there would come a time where we had to say goodbye. I also knew that you were meant for more than this garden and this little house and there's a whole world out there. Don't you want to see it? I do, but I don't want to be alone.
00:15:39
Speaker
Wherever I'm going, I will ask whoever's in charge there to make sure that you're not alone. And if they have anything to say about it, you won't be. I promise. I promise.
00:15:53
Speaker
Her eyes close and she leans back, resting in her simple straw bed covered with
Krigs' Contemplation and Magical World
00:16:01
Speaker
a woven blanket to make it soft and comfortable. And her head rests on rolled up, another blanket rolled up. Her eyes close, her breath becomes very shallow and dulled until it stops entirely.
00:16:19
Speaker
Kriegs, this light around you is disorienting. There's so much of it, and it's so bright, and you find yourself just hurling, topsy-turvy, upside down, flipping end over end through this brightness. Make a concentration check. Okay. Magasturo dice. Well, you said constitution? No, a concentration check. So you just roll and beat a 10.
00:16:49
Speaker
Oh, I definitely did that. 17. Okay. Now, add your intelligence to that. Uh, 19.
00:16:57
Speaker
Right. So as you're tumbling, uh, you begin, as you're tumbling, you begin to write yourself and you kind of, you kind of focus a little bit and you don't really know where up is or down, but you know that the direction you're falling, you, you're now facing that direction and you're not tumbling into over in anymore. And as soon as you find your bearings, you're standing in a field
00:17:22
Speaker
of mossy ground. There's vines growing from the sky, seemingly out of nowhere, vines that have flowers of all different colors. And as you look closer, you realize that the petals of these flowers flicker like flames.
00:17:38
Speaker
there's fungus growing in mushrooms coming off of several of the vines so you've got vines with flowers vines with mushrooms and vines with just bright green leaves and as you look around you see that in the distance the far distance you see the the outline the shape of an elk familiar to you it's got that gentle bluish green glow
00:18:04
Speaker
It looks like a physical actual elk, but its antlers are massive. This glow is otherworldly, almost ethereal. It's a bluish green aura around it. The elk bows its head. And when it does, some of the vines around it push away, not touching the antlers, but almost as if they're parting to allow its antlers to pass as it lowers its head and turns, looks away and runs the other direction. You feel an urge, a pull to follow. Do you follow?
00:18:33
Speaker
Uh, yeah, absolutely. I would. You run through, you begin to reach your hand out to push the vines away. And when you do, you notice the same bluish green aura surrounding your hand and your arm, and it covers your whole body just as it covered the elk. As you push through, it's like the vines sense it and they move out of the way. But while the vines move away, the flame like flower petals and the fungus all shift in a direction towards you as if they're reaching out for you.
00:19:02
Speaker
The vines that are attached are pulling away from you and you cross the field to an entrance to a forest of massive trees. You look up and you see to see the sky, but instead you see a cavern ceiling.
00:19:17
Speaker
glowing with luminescent plant life clinging to the stalactites that hang from above.
Daven and Elek's Complex Relationship
00:19:22
Speaker
The trees look like they're giant spruce like trees with the branches not beginning until 20 or 30 feet above your head. The full tree trunks are three times the width of your own body. The elk is weaving back and forth and so are you as you're following the elk. It turns and lays down at the base of one of these trees.
00:19:42
Speaker
As you approach the tree, you can see that there's a ripple down the middle of the massive trunk. And this ripple has a soft white glow emanating from the inside of it. Davin. Davin, as you're falling, as you're moving through this light, you can, it's strange to see, to be so...
00:20:06
Speaker
just inundated with the light, but see it moving past you anyway. It's a weird, almost nauseating experience. And as you're flying through it, you suddenly see a doorway opening in front of you. And before you can actually go ahead and make an athletics check. Oh, okay. It's not my greatest.
00:20:34
Speaker
10 minus one, it's a nine. Okay, so you're heading towards the doorway and as you get to the doorway, you're flying fast and your shoulder hits the doorway and you turn and twist inside the door and tumble onto this wooden floor and you're inside this big room in this house.
00:20:58
Speaker
The doorway you just came through is now gone. And as you stand and look around, make a history check. Okay. Ford. Okay. Thank you everybody for listening to the episode. No, just kidding. Ruining this serious moment with a laugh.
00:21:21
Speaker
So with a four, you look around and it's dark. Your eyes are adjusting, trying to figure out what's going on in here as you look around. And you get this feeling of this weird nostalgia comes over you as you look around, but you can't place it. And you see this room that you're in has wooden floors. It's got a large,
00:21:46
Speaker
It's got a large rug in the center. You see a fireplace on one wall and you see several several a couple of long tables with chairs around them and this this looks like some sort of
00:22:01
Speaker
like mansion, like meeting space, like almost like a conference hall where people would come and sit and talk and have some meetings of some sort. And in fact, you see on the other side of the room, you see a kind of pedestal, like where somebody would stand, like a lectern is a good way to put it. And make a, now make an either investigation or a, what's the other one called? Investigation or perception check. Don't you see dragons? It's been a minute.
00:22:30
Speaker
Well, that's 18 total. That's better. Good. So as you're looking around, you definitely see a doorway, a door behind the lectern. You also see a book sitting on the lectern. And the book is turned open to a page where on this page you see a similar, you see something you recognize and it is three circles
00:22:59
Speaker
With writing on in each circle and kind of like a Venn diagram kind of looking thing with the center circle Sitting there and then a circle on one side of it that intersects with one section and then the other side intersects with it as well and
00:23:15
Speaker
and you see one is written, and the language that is written is unique, it's very different, and it's abyssal, and you realize that it's abyssal, but you understand it, which is kind of weird, I think, right? Do you know, do you speak abyssal?
00:23:30
Speaker
not normally no i didn't think so but you understand it in this scenario you know what it says and what it says is in the center it says in this the center circle says it says existence the right side circle says light and the left side circle says shadow and
00:23:51
Speaker
And sure enough, the shadow circle is dark. The white circle or the light circle is light. And there's a green, a greenish kind of tint to the center circle that says existence. And it's just the page of this book. Is there anything else you want to do in this room? Can I close the book and see if it has a title in the front?
00:24:14
Speaker
Yes, you close the book and there is no title. Instead of a title, you just see the image of a shield with a sword going down the middle of the shield and three blue lightning bolts on either side of the shield with the sword through it on the front of this book. I'm going to walk through the door. You walk through the doorway
00:24:42
Speaker
And when you walk through the doorway, you are in a hall, a hallway. There's no door in front of you, but there's the hall stretches to your right and to your left. To the left, it doesn't go very far to a window. And when you look out the window, you can barely make out a dark horizon and the sky is glowing an almost reddish color, like
00:25:04
Speaker
like a dusk when the sky is nearly dark, but there's that red hue still there. It looks similar to that, but a deeper, darker red than you've ever seen. And when you look to the right, you see another doorway with what looks like firelight flickering through the doorway on the right-hand side.
00:25:26
Speaker
Can I go to walk up to the window and take a look outside, see if I recognize where I am? Yeah. You go and you look out the window, and as you're looking, it's like no city you've ever seen. Every building
00:25:42
Speaker
is currently just a dark silhouette against that red deep red sky but you notice that every building contains these elaborate spires that just come up from the roof and stretch to the sky and some of them have ornate kind of what you would imagine to be some sort of metal work on the top almost like the top of a
00:26:08
Speaker
a really nice like metal fence right that has the kind of artistic designs on the top of it weaving through it and this is just every building you see and it's quite the expanse of city but you seem to be on one of the tallest sections of this and in one of the tallest sections of this building that you're in as you look out over the side.
00:26:32
Speaker
out the window. I don't recognize the city at all, do I? You do not. You do not. It's like nothing you've ever seen. Yeah, the architecture, the architecture, the layout, the layout looks spiral in nature, almost like everything is almost like what you can see is laid out in circling this building you're currently in for some reason.
Joxer's Inner Peace and Duty
00:26:54
Speaker
And there's only one other door and it's on the other end, right? Yes. I will head to that door.
00:27:00
Speaker
Okay, you head that way, and as you walk through, walk into the doorway, I won't say you go through the door yet, but as you walk up to the doorway, sure enough, there is candlelight flickering inside of there, this soft orange candlelight.
00:27:18
Speaker
As you look in through the door, you see two chairs sitting next to a table. The back of one of the chairs is to you sitting very high up, higher than you would imagine someone's head would be. But you see the arm of someone on the armrest of this table, of this chair, I mean, I'm sorry, the armrest of the chair. There's an arm resting there and there's a blue cloak, it seems, a sleeve on this arm.
00:27:47
Speaker
And the hands illuminated by the candlelight on the table you can see are a gray-blue color. I'm sorry. I don't know exactly where I am. I hope I'm not intruding here. You're not. You're welcome, Daven. Sit down. The voice of Elek invites you to come and sit with him. It's you. I should have known, I guess. I'll walk over and I'll sit down. Okay, we're going back to Joxer.
00:28:15
Speaker
Uh-oh. As you watch your, as you finish watching your friends fall into the unknown in the Black River, suddenly the darkness takes you and you're standing in an old rotten battlefield. You're watching the members of an elite Dwarven battle unit walk towards their fate. The vestiges of their face is turning ethereal and then fading as they realize that they had already fallen in a past battle.
00:28:42
Speaker
Then behind you could be heard the rattle of spider pincers. You hear a scream as Gwen cries out. When you look, you can see her standing with two giant spider legs pierced through her torso. She leans back, slumped over, barely breathing as the spider removes its legs, ripping flesh from her and causing her to scream out again. You're too far away. Again, you're too far away and you can't do anything.
00:29:09
Speaker
As you approach Gwyn, the spider fading away as the images around you change to the internal cavern of a deep chamber, you're surrounded by bright, glowing crystals, shining together, causing the whole space to be lit up white. Gwyn is in your arms, but she isn't breathing. There's no heartbeat. You pour the vial of fluid from the elven fountain into her mouth. You can't help but think, this is it. We don't have any more of this.
00:29:37
Speaker
She coughs, beginning to breathe again. Darkness. You're not good enough. Why can't you ever get anything right? You hear a man's voice yelling at you. A familiar voice. One you've been listening to your entire life. This time, however, the voice in your head also sounds kind of like you. The tone shifts and changes until you hear your own voice make a wisdom saving throw.
00:30:07
Speaker
Oh, no. Okay, 11 plus something. Wisdom 2, 13. That's gonna be a high 13.
00:30:19
Speaker
A high 13 is not enough. The voice, your voice changes again to the voice of your father, increasing, speaking louder and louder in your mind until you fall to your knees. You're not good enough. Why can't you just do anything right? It's simple. We ask you to do it right and you don't do it. And you've seen, you've seen this before. It's cycled through your mind over and over and over
00:30:47
Speaker
reminding you that you're not good enough. I just thought it could be better. It can be better. It's not gonna be better unless you make it better. You have to do something about it. What have you done? What are you even doing?
00:31:01
Speaker
What have you done except for the same things? The same things over and over. Don't bring me into this. It's not about me. This is about you. And you saw it just now. All of your friends falling because you can't do anything to save them.
00:31:17
Speaker
You're right, I still need more. Finally, you said it. Finally, I'm right. Yeah, you're right. You're always, you've always been right.
Elek's Insights and Apology
00:31:30
Speaker
Isn't that, that's all you wanted to hear, right? Make another wisdom saving throw. It's a 13 again, high 13, boom.
00:31:41
Speaker
you are overwhelmed with the emotion of this. And the voice that's been yelling in your mind has been cutting back and forth from the voice of your father to the voice of you.
00:31:54
Speaker
telling yourself you're not good enough. The his voice echoing, his voice leading, and then your voice echoing his behind it until you're on your knees just weeping. You look up through the tears. You're there again underneath lonely hill.
00:32:16
Speaker
the moment that feels almost like one of the best, most whole moments in your life when you felt most worth anything and the seeker has your face in her hands and she's looking directly into your eyes and you hear her voice and it says, you are enough.
00:32:40
Speaker
I've made you enough and you blink. And when you blink, you're suddenly you're holding a book in your hands.
00:32:49
Speaker
and you look up at her and she looks down at the book and she gently grabs your hands and keeps the book in your hands, but opens it. And it's so white, bright white, almost brighter than the light that's been surrounding you and the light that comes from her face. And you know immediately what this book is. These blank pages will hold the names of those that you're going to protect. This is where it stops.
00:33:19
Speaker
You will not fall. You will not fail. You will protect the ones you love. That's what this book is for. Can you do it? She says. I have to. There's no other choice. She laughs. You have to. That's a good answer. She puts both of her hands on the book.
00:33:42
Speaker
grabbing one of yours and setting it on top of her others and kind of sandwiching one of your hands in between her two hands. And as she does, she slips her hands out, turns, and as soon as she begins to step away from you, she vanishes. Gwendolyn. I'm sad. I don't want to answer with too much excitement.
00:34:00
Speaker
I understand you are sitting next to your mother after just saying you goodbye and you kind of come to yourself and remember to know this is maybe not exact, but it's a form of a memory.
00:34:15
Speaker
This happened already, you realize that, you know that. And so the emotion is a little bit stunted by the fact that you've lived and grieved this experience. So you walk outside and suddenly the land around your home is now a garden.
00:34:35
Speaker
Beautiful garden, flowers of every color stretch out before you. And in the air, you hear the sound of birds singing, you hear water trickling. You feel a sense of peace washing over you. You realize you've never felt so calm and content in your entire life. As you begin to walk through this garden, you notice that there's several paths leading off in different directions.
00:35:01
Speaker
You feel drawn particularly towards one of them. As you follow that path, you realize you're not alone anymore. Walking beside you is an elven man. He smiles at you, takes your hand, leads you down the path. As you walk together, he tells you stories of his life, of Almanora, the world outside this garden. He tells you of the dangers that lie ahead and the challenges that you face.
00:35:29
Speaker
But he also tells you of the joys and wonders, the friendships, the power that awaits you. You feel a sense of gratitude towards this man for showing you this beautiful garden and for guiding you towards your destiny. You know that you have a long journey ahead, but you also know that you're not alone. He's by your side and you have your own strength and your own courage to guide you.
00:35:53
Speaker
As you continue to walk, you can't help but feel excited about what the future holds. You know that there's going to be challenges and obstacles, but you know that you have the power to overcome them. And suddenly you notice the sky begin to turn darker. The sounds and smells of home fade and are replaced with silence and the murky, ashy smell of the untouched lands. A face flashes in front of your eyes. The face
00:36:17
Speaker
of this elven man. His eyes are deep blue, his skin shining with a creamy olive complexion. He speaks, the voice of Dale coming from his lips. Gwendolyn, trust only your dreams, your sleeping consciousness. What your mind and eyes see are untrue. Only believe what your heart is saying. The vision fades to black.
00:36:45
Speaker
And a small pinprick of light appears before you. As you begin to walk towards the light, again, you hear sounds of birds chirping, water running.
00:36:55
Speaker
and the light begins to glow ahead of you as if you're walking towards a doorway. Krigs, you're standing in front of the elk who's laying down at the foot of this giant tree. You see the ripple down the middle with this soft white glow emanating from inside of it. You can see what appears to be movement and almost feel like air, like it's an entrance to something, like you can go through there.
00:37:25
Speaker
but then you hear questions in your mind. The first one, why did you leave home? There wasn't a place for me there anymore. I destroyed an entire generation of legacy in just a couple of mistakes. Why did you betray your God? I started to realize one day that
00:37:51
Speaker
The act of following gods, well, it did nothing but kill and destroy and all for what seemed like needless entertainment for the divines. I couldn't have anymore. Not, not senselessly, not for the amusement of the mountaintop watchers.
Reunion and New Adventures
00:38:14
Speaker
Then the voice changes to the voice of the seeker.
00:38:18
Speaker
Why did you follow me into the untouched lands? I'm not sure I know now. Choices sometimes make sense and other times are made for you by yourself. You just know that's what you have to do.
00:38:38
Speaker
As you finish saying that, you hear the crunch of the bark and the wood separating and parting in this tree as this sliver of light in the middle of it begins to open up into a circle where you see on the other side,
00:38:57
Speaker
another forest, but this one colored strangely with bright colored tree leaves, grass that kind of glows and pulses with light. You see the sky in the distance, but it it doesn't seem to be one color, but almost like it has a pearl shimmer to it as you begin to. Are you do you want to step through to this through this portal? Um, you know what? Yeah, let's go.
00:39:25
Speaker
make a wisdom saving throw. Oh, man. Well, that's real high, bud. That's 27. Yes, okay. As you step through, you feel a blip of darkness suddenly in your mind and you hear the echo of a voice
00:39:49
Speaker
a woman's voice in the back of your mind, but you shake it off and you continue to step through and you step into this beautiful, colorful forest, Devin. You're sitting now across from this table, the face of Elek illuminated by this candle.
00:40:12
Speaker
And you look up to him and he's massive. And you fought him once, you've called him in to fight once, you've seen him, but you feel like a child sitting on this chair with your feet not touching the ground as he sits in this thing, just filling it with his massive existence. And he looks at you and he says, I've done my best to make the most of this place and looks around.
00:40:42
Speaker
So this, this is the inside then. Well, it, it hasn't always been like this, but I found that, uh, I found that I control what it's like. And if I can maintain control, it can be livable at best. How did you get here? You know, that's a very good question. I'm not really sure I know how to answer it. Get here you are. I'm here. Well, I want to, uh,
00:41:10
Speaker
Since you're here, I want to apologize. We said we would work together, and I heard you calling. And when you called, I came. I thought, hey, this is it. This is the time we're going to work together. And I did not know that I was not as powerful as I had thought.
00:41:31
Speaker
I am not who I once was when you summoned me and I apologize for that embarrassing display. To be honest with you, it might have been partially my fault. I called you to help, but I was sort of scared of letting you out completely, letting the entire power of you out. I didn't know how much I could trust you.
00:41:56
Speaker
I understand that, I suppose. I can't say I fully trust you either.
00:42:06
Speaker
Are you comfortable here? Is this okay? And he looks at the wall and when he does, a fireplace appears and the place starts to feel a little bit warmer as the fire starts to flicker in this fireplace. The candles go away. The room now illuminated by the light of this fireplace. It's identical to the one that was in the other room. You're not sure if it was moved here or,
00:42:34
Speaker
if that's just the only fireplace he can think of is that what that looks like and so that's what it shows what's what shows up here but there it is and. He looks back at you after looking at the fireplace and says i hope this helps i realize i know i keep it pretty cold here in europe you are a human yes. Yeah i mean i don't know what i am right now what does normally yes do you feel.
00:43:01
Speaker
Anything right now. Nervousness, I suppose. I don't know how I got here, and I don't know how I get out of here. I don't know either. If I could get out of here, I would be free, of course. Of course, but it's supposed to be... Well, there was kind of... You know what? Never mind. I don't want to get into the details. The details. You would probably be disappointed to know that some of the details of our encounter, our initial encounter, have started to become clear to me again.
00:43:31
Speaker
Do you remember that? Remind me. Your face I've never forgotten. The look in your eye I've never forgotten. I now know you are not who killed me. I remember that. But I also remember that you are the reason I'm not alive. Does that make sense? You are dying. I thought in a way I was saving you. I thought in a way you are just, you are gone already.
00:43:58
Speaker
I don't think you understand how my kind navigate these planes that we serve in. My death in this plane just would have been a reawakening in another. I've experienced it a couple of times before. You didn't save me from death. You kept me from going home.
00:44:25
Speaker
Really? Well, I didn't understand exactly what I was doing and I apologize for that. I don't know what to say about it. I don't know how to fix it now. I don't know if I can just let you go or how that works. I feel like there's some sort of a connection between us now that
00:44:42
Speaker
I can't just like sever, you know? I agree. I feel this way too, because I don't sleep, but I dream your dreams. The dark ones, full of nothing. I have flown over the expanses and I have fought beings of such might that you could not understand. I've been in planes that burn so hot
00:45:11
Speaker
That they would boil your flesh. I've never experienced anything as terrifying as the darkness that you dream. Glad I can experience something new with you. Well, you can stay as long as you'd like. I don't know how you got here or how to tell you to leave. I guess I could put a door anywhere I'd like. So I'll just say you can put a door anywhere you'd like. How's that? I would like to put a door out too.
00:45:38
Speaker
Well, to be honest, I don't even know where I was going. I don't know where I had to go now, but that'd be great. Sure. Give me power within your space. I said it. So you have it. I'm going to imagine a door, the door that we had walked through to start this entire thing. Okay. And see if it appears that crystal portal doorway appears shining bright white light again.
00:46:02
Speaker
And it hums almost. And the brightness causes Alec to kind of squint a little. He looks up at it, you know, his eyes adjusting from just sitting in the firelight. He gives you a little salute and says, I will do better next time if you summon me again, please. I want to help. I'll help too. I'll give you a little bit more next time.
00:46:27
Speaker
Well, if I walk through the store and I'm gone, then it was good to see you. Sure. And he just turns back towards the fire and suddenly he's reading a book and he has small glasses on little spectacles as he's reading his book. They just suddenly appeared on his face as he's reading. Devin laughs at the thought of him needing spectacles. And I'm going to see if I can walk through the door. Indeed. You walk through the door.
00:46:52
Speaker
Surrounded again by this bright light, but it is very fast, almost like a camera flash. And then suddenly you're standing on bright, almost lime green, glowing grass. Surrounding you is a forest with tree leaves made of multiple different colors, a sky that shimmers with a pearl-like color. And next to you stands Krigs, Gwendolyn,
00:47:21
Speaker
that pinprick of light ahead of you begins to approach you quickly, coming ever quicker and quicker until finally it completely engulfs you, like wraps itself around you, almost like it's that circle of light is eating you and you're standing there looking at a shimmering pearl sky.
00:47:41
Speaker
tree leaves, multicolors, bird sounds, animal sounds everywhere that you've never heard before. Standing next to you is Daven and Krigs. Joxer, suddenly everything beneath you vanishes and you fall.
00:47:59
Speaker
As you begin to fall, you're falling through this white light. It's rushing past you. And then suddenly, as you open your eyes and look upwards, you see this pearl sky above you. Now you're falling through treetops, hitting branches on your way down.
00:48:17
Speaker
make a acrobatics or an athletic saving throw or the dexterity saving throw. That's what I wanted. Dexterity saving throw. Sorry. Again, it's been a minute since I've D&D'd. All right. So that even with a poor roll is a 16. Yeah. So you guys here,
00:48:38
Speaker
as Joxer lands next to you in the superhero three point stance, falling from his vision from the sky, landing, looking around, you see glowing grass, these trees, trunks, even these different shades of brown, white, dark brown, light brown, white, and even some that are this faint gray, different colored tree leaves everywhere.
00:49:06
Speaker
You don't know where you are, but it is not the wilds. And that's where we'll leave this episode.
00:49:27
Speaker
Thank you for listening to this episode of The Hired Swords. Hope you enjoyed it. If you want to keep up with us, finding us on social media is a little bit difficult. It's kind of a terrible place to be. But you can keep up with us and subscribe on pretty much any pod chaser if you'd like. We're going to start releasing season three episodes, and I hope to see you in the wilds. Thank you. Bye. Love you.