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Ep. 38 We Go South
125 Plays4 years ago
Following the voices of the wild, through Salrin, we travel south.. Or so we think..
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Transcript
Solrin's Departure
00:00:12
Speaker
previously on the higher swords. Heavy is the heart that carries the burden of the wilds. Solrin Chris Farrin, though you withdrew for now at this part of the journey, your wild heart still lingers in the flowers of the fields to the canopy of the trees. Whatever god or devil sent you couldn't have picked a better messenger.
00:00:42
Speaker
Onward we go, through the forest and into the unknown.
The Hired Swords Introduction
00:01:11
Speaker
You are listening to the Hired Swords, where for 4 easy payments of absolutely free, you get to listen to a whole bunch of dungeons and dragons.
00:01:37
Speaker
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the Hired Swords. I'm your dungeon master, Michael, and I got Blaze, Joxer, or Mikey, Derek, and Ash joining me.
A New Companion Joins
00:01:53
Speaker
And we're going to play some Dungeons and Dragons and have a little bit of fun together when we last left off.
00:02:00
Speaker
We had a friend join us for an excursion into the forest, and as we excursioned into the forest,
00:02:10
Speaker
We had some interesting conversations and and kind of realized Krigs is kind of on a on a quest here after talk. Oh we talked. We spoke to the to the widow again and then went out into the forest and got some insight. You sound surprised. I just forgot. It's been a week. So.
00:02:31
Speaker
And now we're back into the forest. And after saying goodbye to our new friend Salrin, she was lovingly polymorph into a direwolf by Derek and wished farewell by the party. And she wrote off to kind of keep an eye on things to make sure the hired swords, our group here wasn't being followed.
00:02:54
Speaker
And that is where we left off. Everyone just kind of in the forest currently towards the end of the day, I believe, if I'm keeping track properly, which I believe I am towards the end of the day, after quite a bit of journeying and traveling that day, you are now just standing there in the woods after saying goodbye to this direwolf that your friend became.
Krigs' Southern Pull
00:03:17
Speaker
I believe at this point, I felt the need to travel south.
00:03:23
Speaker
Yes, that is what you are being urged to do this urge you don't near you don't quite understand but you you have an idea it's recognizable to you because
00:03:37
Speaker
It's familiar in that you would follow Helm when you would get these nudges and urges in the past. So it's familiar to you because of that, but it's definitely a different, coming from somewhere different, it's a different feeling. But south, south's the direction you feel.
00:03:59
Speaker
I don't know what exactly is reaching out to me, and I do appreciate all of you joining. This isn't exactly your fight, I suppose, but I get the impression whatever is calling for me is calling from the South.
00:04:17
Speaker
Well, the last couple of times that we've had situations come up, it seems like you've had some struggles with things I've seen you do in the past. If this helps clear things up and brings you back to the person you're supposed to be, that we need you at full strength, you are our leader at this point. I don't know if I'd just throw out leader, but I'll follow. I appreciate it.
00:04:46
Speaker
I told you I would follow you. South we go. What about Dale? He agrees. I promise.
00:04:58
Speaker
She kind of pats her bag because he wants to go north. South it is. And with that, I think I'm going to take kind of not an authoritative stride, but kind of a confident stride, having everyone with me. I'm going to head south.
00:05:17
Speaker
All right, you guys begin to head south and as you walk south through the rest of the evening time, nightfall comes and you continue southward. Somebody make a perception check as you begin to walk into the night. I suppose jocks are canned. Let's see what happens.
00:05:44
Speaker
That is a 16. Okay, so as you're walking you you notice that the the trail you're walking kind of how you're where you're going is fairly familiar to you you you've walked this trail keeping your own kind of a natural and
00:06:03
Speaker
game trail, right? So like animals have walked here enough to kind of wear it down. And you feel that feeling of, oh, familiarity. Oh, the sun kind of setting about a day's journey out of Wild Hill. The hills are over to the right hand side, the forest is to the left hand side. And you get a little bit of a shiver as you remember walking down to a
00:06:31
Speaker
a open meadow where you faced your first foe in the wilds. And as you're kind of walking, thinking about these things, the sun fully sets and you've fully come to nighttime now. This all seems like we're heading to where we began. I've been trying to not think about that, but it does seem to be the direction we are headed.
00:07:02
Speaker
Devin, how are you feeling about this? I don't know. Do you think it's just a coincidence or do you think there's something more to it? I feel there may be something more to it. What with me praying to the forests before and it seems like the forest we're calling out through Salarin to me. I don't know. I don't know what we're going to find at the end of this road, but it's definitely the same road we traveled.
00:07:27
Speaker
I think it's a reasonable assumption that whether it be good or bad, we are being pulled to a familiar place and potentially maybe a meeting with a familiar soul. I don't know. We should get some good rest then so in the morning we can face whatever comes our way. I'm okay with that. I'll start gathering stuff to set up a camp.
Camp Set-Up and Mysteries
00:07:55
Speaker
I will also gather. What if you make survival checks as you gather things up to make a camp? I've never really done that before, but let's do it. Let's roll dice. Let's play D&D. Yeah, I like it. That's an 18 plus one, 19. I didn't roll well, but I have a plus one, which brings it to a three. Oh, all right. Gavin keeps picking up, trying to pick up sticks and their roots so they won't come up and he's just having trouble finding like,
00:08:25
Speaker
Quality firewood or anything like that while craigs on the other hand you are able to track down Some edible mushrooms and some other stuff like that a little foraging is done successfully as well as some firewood and you kind of walk into the walk back to camp with an arm full of supplies and Daven just walks back with a scowl in his face because he he didn't get much at all I Was there for the moral support?
00:08:53
Speaker
Well, not every day has to be your day, old boy. Um, I, I think, uh, I'll, I'm, I'm going to excuse myself for a minute and, and you'll see, uh, Jockster lay out his, uh, his hole and start tinkering in, uh, in his little brew. It's been a little while. Yeah. Holy boy.
00:09:20
Speaker
So Craig's, what do you exactly do you think we're going to find or are you prepared for what we're going to find? No, not in the slightest. Honestly, it is terrifying. The idea that something unseen, unheard, not only knows my name, but has been calling out to me through someone I've never really met. That is terrifying, but
00:09:47
Speaker
I guess he lived to fight another day. I don't know. I don't know. We're headed headed into who knows what. So you've never talked to the gods? And I've talked to one god, the god that I pledged an oath to, Helm, fighting for him and his armies. That's not too uncommon, but this is something entirely different.
00:10:16
Speaker
All of the gods are the same to me. I don't really consider any of them better or worse than others. It all seems selfish from what I can tell. Yeah, you're telling me. Selfish, greedy, meddling souls.
00:10:34
Speaker
You see Jockster roll out one small keg and emerge from his little brew hole. His what now? It's a brew hole. He...
00:11:03
Speaker
How's everybody doing out here? Oh, probably better than what you found there in your brew hole. It's, uh... Effective. Strong. Strong. What do we got today? What's the good word? I'm...
00:11:23
Speaker
I'm not even sure if I can name this one. It... v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v
00:11:32
Speaker
Liquid vapor. Wait, that doesn't make any sense. Pour me a quick Stein, and I'll see if I can come up with a name for you, lad. Just toss over a cup to you. A goblet, if you will. He kind of sets it up, and he seems a little discombobulated right now.
00:11:54
Speaker
He was not expecting this. This stayed in a little longer than he intended. Pours it out and stumbles a little bit towards you. And when you drink it, please roll a d6. Oh boy. Okay. That's a three. Oh no.
00:12:17
Speaker
Uh, let's see here. So I'll put that number to constitution. Your constitution is dropped by one for how long? Uh, and I think it's the night. Hold on. Let me, it is for four hours. I think this one's name is the ghost that killed you. That's a long name. The Banshee brew, maybe.
00:12:47
Speaker
Oh, I like that one. Well, I didn't die from the banshee brew, and he's going to take a big swing. I certainly did. And I'm just going to sit down kind of abruptly. Are you OK? Oh, I'll be fine. Make a constitution saving throw, Krigs. OK. It's an 18 plus, well, I guess now, yeah, a B21.
00:13:17
Speaker
You get that familiar twinge in your stomach unrelated to the type of brew. It was just remembering that anytime you've drank, drank a brew over the last several weeks, you get this twinge in your stomach, but you're able to contain yourself and you do not vomit. Sweet. I wouldn't want to do that in front of everyone. Curious. Do you like write these down or do you just throw a bunch of stuff in a barrel and hope it works out?
00:13:43
Speaker
Uh, well, it just takes a swig. A little bit of both.
00:13:53
Speaker
I keep a log of the things that I think were properly made, but there are some that don't make the log for obvious reasons. Abruptly.
00:14:19
Speaker
Who's ready to sleep? And Kriegs just falls back snoring. I think I'll take first watch. I'm sick for a little bit. I think... I'm...
00:14:35
Speaker
Um, yeah. And you see jocks or just walk over and try to, to like, close up his hole and gets it out. And then he just kind of like rolls off on a log or something. That's right there. And Gwen, and she. When I'm going to wake you up in about four hours, you can take the second watch. I think these guys need a night's sleep.
00:15:01
Speaker
That's fine with me. No, Dale, you can't have any. Well, we're going to bed now.
00:15:09
Speaker
All right. Uh, Devin's going to sit down on a rock and he's going to use his telekinesis to like lift up a stick. He just compiles his hand on this chin and just stare at the ground as the stick kind of tries to draw and mimic the teleportation circle that he saw that other mage make. He's just trying to copy it in his mind. Okay. As, as the stick draws on the ground every now and then you see a little spark of blue lightning, uh, coming from just the power of the spell that's making that stick move around. Interesting.
00:15:39
Speaker
Uh, everyone else is resting. I is. Yup. Okay. Uh, Daven make a perception check. Absolutely. Ooh, a natural 20, which brings a total of 21.
00:15:53
Speaker
Okay. As you sit and you kind of look out into the woods, you hear the sounds of frogs. You hear the sounds of just other insects and maybe a small hoot of an owl and other critters out in the woods. And you're kind of looking down at your
00:16:10
Speaker
your stick as it's drawing in the ground and you look up and every now and then you look up and look around and get a good feel for the area and suddenly one of the times you look up about halfway through your shift here you see a familiar set of eyes in the woods staring down at you just like hovering floating off in the distance in the darkness of the trees just i always see his eyes
00:16:34
Speaker
just like glowing. You don't, you don't even see like eyes. You see two glowing beads like eyes staring down at you. Are they moving or they're staying in one spot? Staying in one spot currently. I'll stare at them back at for about a minute and see if I see anything change. Okay. Uh, make another perception check as you stare. 13.
00:16:57
Speaker
Nothing seems to change with them. As you stare and you get kind of a little more lost in what you see, the sound of everything around you kind of starts to fade. And you don't know how long you've been staring now.
00:17:22
Speaker
until finally you, you snap out of it and the eyes are gone. I'll take a look around. This forest is weird. Uh, I'm going to take a listen. Do I hear anything going on around? Make another perception check. Three in one, three in a row, one watch. 19.
00:17:44
Speaker
You hear the sounds of the forest again. Everything sounds pretty normal. You hear Craig snoring a little louder than you would probably feel comfortable. I assume, right? Craig's you snore pretty bad when you've had a little much to drink in your stomach. Yeah, sure. Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary at all.
00:18:04
Speaker
All right. I'll just finish my watch. Kind of thinking about that. Okay. Singing to myself, scrying eyes are watching you. Watching your every move. And then when I start getting sleepy, I'll wake up Gwen. Okay. Gwen, David comes to wake you up for your shift. Is it time already?
00:18:28
Speaker
Yeah, I need some rest. Um, keep a good eye out. There's something strange about this place. Uh, all right. And she kind of furrows her eyebrows cause she's, she's kind of cautious now. If you see anything weird or if you just don't feel comfortable, you can wake me back up, but I got to get a little bit of rest. Okay. Good night. Now I'll crawl up and go to bed.
00:18:56
Speaker
Go to bed, okay? So, Davin settles in and takes a rest. Gwendolyn, make a perception check as you are on lookout. Uh-oh. Ten. Okay. You think you hear the snap of a twig to your left, kind of away from the camp? You look over and don't see anything.
Krigs' Haunting Dreams
00:19:20
Speaker
Meanwhile, Krigs, you start to have dreams.
00:19:26
Speaker
You begin to dream of your father on his deathbed. You see him laying there, coughing up this black sputum, the same kind of stuff that you saw climbing up the trees, the tree. You see his eyes bulging a golden yellow, and he's reaching for you, but you can't move. You can't get closer to him.
00:19:54
Speaker
He's summoning you, beckoning you to come closer, and you just can't make yourself go any closer. And you lean in, and as you lean, he fades, and in fades the image of your mother riding away from a battlefield.
00:20:15
Speaker
And as she rides, you see flames engulf her and her horse and just they, they, they engulf her and then they fade away. And when they do, you see her standing like stone, like a statue in the same position she was in when those flames arrived at her. And you just see image after image.
00:20:36
Speaker
of pain, of suffering. Every face of everyone you've killed in battle, you see their eyes looking through you again, including that last young warrior that you sunk your axe into. And as he looks, his eyes turn a golden, bulging golden yellow.
00:21:00
Speaker
And out of his nose and his ears and his mouth comes this black tar like goo substance. And they consume him as he falls and becomes just a puddle of this stuff on the ground. Make a constitution saving throw. 12. You begin to cough violently in your sleep.
00:21:27
Speaker
And Gwendolyn, you immediately hear Craig start coughing, just hacking. I immediately get up and go over to him. Try to wake him up. Get up. Are you okay? Gwen, when you turn to him, make a perception check. Oh my gosh, that's so much better. 16 plus seven. 24? Wow. When you turn to look at him, you see a figure
00:21:57
Speaker
running away from him. They're already in the woods at this point. They're scurrying their feet moving faster than they should. From behind, it looks like the figure of a young woman, she scurries off into the woods away from where Krigs was laying as he sits up coughing.
00:22:22
Speaker
So much is going on in my head right now. Are you okay? And I'm trying to be loud. I just had the most terrible dream. I don't think it was just a dream. What do you mean? I immediately... How far away is this person when I ask him this?
00:22:48
Speaker
By the time you've gotten to Krigs and started talking to him, you no longer see them in the woods. They scurried off into the woods so fast. When you started to look, they were probably about 50 feet away from Krigs by then. And then you look up again after checking on him and they're nowhere in sight. I guess I immediately, Gwendolyn is just going to be staring around Krigs looking for any kind of tracks, footprints, anything.
00:23:16
Speaker
Okay, make a survival check as you look for footprints. I would say the other two, if Gwendolyn's not trying to be quiet, I would imagine you two pretty easily hear her and kind of making a fuss and you hear Krigs coughing as you're in the deep, deep dark of night, just probably not long after midnight. Is that the banshee brew still, Krigs? 17. Go ahead and answer. Okay.
00:23:44
Speaker
That wouldn't definitely was something but I know this is just a rough night, maybe. Another constitution saving throw, Krigs. 18 that time. All right, your coughing subsides. And as you wipe your mouth, it's a little bit of black mixed with your saliva. I very quickly wipe it off on my clothing like near the ground. Okay. When I see him wipe it off, do I notice it?
00:24:13
Speaker
You wouldn't notice the black in the saliva. It's very little. I guess I'm looking at the tracks. Yeah, and you're looking at tracks. Seventeen's pretty good. You see tracks, definitely, but it's confusing. There are several sets and they go in all directions in circles in some parts. It's very strange. It's like somebody was dancing here or something the way the tracks are. Very confusing.
00:24:41
Speaker
Is it a bunch of kids in a trench coat? It could be or it could be a little rascal. Trying to get that Banshee brew. Yeah, whatever it takes, you know, they're underage in Wild Hill, so.
00:24:58
Speaker
What is it, Gwen? She immediately just starts checking Krigs afterwards, not noticing the black stuff. There was someone here that they ran off. I just don't know and I stand up and start just looking. Maybe it was my imagination. I just
00:25:22
Speaker
It's probably not your imagination. I saw some eyes in the woods just a little ways off. I didn't see anything really. Then they disappeared after a while. It was very similar. There's footprints here, but it makes no sense.
00:25:45
Speaker
I'd like to look at the footprints and decide like if they're human size or like maybe beast. Yeah, make a survival check on them. Are we roughly in the same area as when me and Craig's had saw the eyes in the woods before? I think we were headed the opposite direction towards the fort. Correct. I think you're right. You are right. That's correct. What is my survival? So that is a 13.
00:26:13
Speaker
It's hard to tell. They look humanoid. They're barefoot, five toes, fairly small, but it's hard to know much more than that. Yeah, at least very small humanoid, not like adults walking around. Possibly a small adult, but not, or like a halfling or, you know.
00:26:36
Speaker
Maybe even a goblin or something like that, but it's definitely not a grown man, human man or elf man. I'm not sure. There's a lot of tracks here. But maybe there's one creature. How can it...
00:26:57
Speaker
I feel like you would interrupt her while she's talking. Whatever it was, it doesn't seem like it's too interesting attacking. It might just be curious. I look over at Davin just because we had that experience with eyes before and nothing ever came of it, but just watched. But this time it actually came up close. Gwen, how close was it to Greg's? Practically almost on it, but by the time I looked, it was gone.
00:27:26
Speaker
Gregs, how are you feeling? You woke up coughing. It could be just a brew, but it could be something else. I'm feeling okay at the moment, but I had some truly terrible, terrible dreams. The night is still early. This, whatever it was, seems to be interested in me, and I'm gonna be honest, I don't know if I can fall back asleep after those dreams. I can...
00:27:51
Speaker
I'll take watch for now and let you, you all get some rest. Cause if this thing does come after us, I am not in a position to be able to defend anyone very well at the moment. Um, you rest and be ready for a fight. I will try my best to survive the night. It's, it's either that or I mean, it's later enough, we could start moving along if we wanted to.
00:28:19
Speaker
It is pitch black. I don't think I want to travel when I can't see what's behind these trees. Reasonable. I don't want you to stay up alone. What if it comes back? I... How's this? You find a nice spot for you and Dale, and I will keep watch within a stone's throw, practically right next to you. And if anything comes, I'll make sure you are awakened.
00:28:51
Speaker
Okay. Gwendolyn is going to lay down in a spot, but she is going to have one eye open. She's not going to sleep. She's going to fake it. Okay.
00:29:05
Speaker
All right. I'm going to just take watch, but pace about for a little bit. Still kind of shaken up from what I witnessed. I'm going to try to feel the piece of clothing that I washed my hand off on and see if it's still damp at all and see if I can kind of contact rub any of whatever black goo it was to try to inspect it a little bit better. But you know, assume not because it was basically on the ground.
00:29:35
Speaker
And then after pacing for a while, probably just going to sit down relatively close to Gwen. Okay. You're not really able to wipe. You're not really able to find any of that black because you did wipe it off pretty good.
00:29:53
Speaker
And it was, again, it was very little. It was like your saliva was streaked with it, right? It wasn't like you had a big lump of it or something. And you feel, you get that feeling like you, you know, when you drink a glass of water and you accidentally breathe it in a little and choke on it and cough for like five minutes, but you're done coughing, but it feels like it's there still. You feel like that.
00:30:19
Speaker
That is a very uncomfortable feeling. I would not have been able to go back to sleep. It's a very uncomfortable feeling. You can breathe, but there's a little wheeze to it, you know? Like, I'm OK. I just tried to breathe in my drink instead of swallow it. You shouldn't do that. You know, wrong tube. It's that feeling. But it's just a little worse than a mild annoyance, right? And make a perception check as you sit and look into the dark forest. Okey dokey.
00:30:51
Speaker
You're looking and you're really, you know, hoping to see something. I think as you look, you're kind of squint here. You think you see a shape and there it is. There's something there's, and it's not really anything. And then I would definitely, definitely be looking at shadows and thinking I see movement and looking at one spot too long that I'm convinced there's something there for sure. I would be paranoid right now.
00:31:19
Speaker
So you're doing that and you are you you don't really ever see anything of substance until and then you start to see the sky start to change color as the sun starts to come up Gwendolyn make a constitution saving throw just to see if you can stay awake while you're watching him laying there.
00:31:40
Speaker
Cool. Yeah. I was making it a 10 DC. I figured you were pretty motivated to stay awake. So you beat it. And so yeah, you're, you're laying there one eye on him and you do notice as he kind of looks and squints and you kind of shift your head a little to look and see what he's looking at. And you don't really see anything either. And, um, make a perception check, just a general perception check for your ability to look out into the woods in response to his kind of glaring out there. So you want me to use my passive?
The Night's Watch and Glowing Eyes
00:32:09
Speaker
No, you're, you're looking intentionally. You didn't fall asleep. So 12 plus seven 19. Yeah. So you look out one point, he looks up and it looks like he looks to his left and it looks like he sees something up like halfway up one of the trees, pretty tall tree. And he's leaning and looking real close and
00:32:35
Speaker
You you're not sure, but you think just for just the time it takes to blink, you think you see two eyes glowing and then they're gone. I mean, there's nothing that there's no you don't see them anymore, but it's just like just a flash. And then they're gone. And Krigs just kind of looks away like, well, I didn't. There's nothing. It's nothing. I'm being paranoid, you know. And then it starts to become day. The sun starts to rise.
00:33:08
Speaker
Morning, everybody. How'd the rest of the night go? I'm still just like, I don't even notice he's awake. I'm still paranoid. You hear Joxer do this loud roar of like a really nice wake up after a good drink. I just spin around, start like grabbing my shield and stuff just at that sound.
00:33:34
Speaker
I feel like I'm being ambushed. Is everybody okay? Sorry. That was you? It's been a while since I've had such a stout drink. You're worried there's another Banshee coming after us. I would have been useless last night. Luckily the night was relatively uneventful. Yeah, you're welcome. I saved the day.
00:34:04
Speaker
I appreciate all your effort. Gwen, how are you doing? You look a little tired. She's still laying down, staring at where the eyes were. It was back. Sorry, Kriegs. I tried to sleep, but I couldn't. And there was eyes out there. I just didn't know what to...
00:34:27
Speaker
Don't worry. I knew you were still awake. Typically you, uh, you have a little snore. I didn't catch that. So, but, but I didn't see what you're talking about. I snore. It's kind of cute. It's like a snore. Dale snores. Dale snores. It's clearly Dale. She's suspicious of everyone now. It doesn't matter. There was two eyes out there. I didn't, I didn't see.
00:34:56
Speaker
What are these eyes? Can you show me where they were? Gwendolyn immediately points out there was two red ones. Is it the same area that I saw eyes? Yes, it is. Oh, it's about the same place. Yeah. David's going to start walking over that way. Okay, David. I'm going to get in that area and see if I see anything at all. All right, make an investigation check. Ooh, I like investigation.
00:35:24
Speaker
Well, it popped up, but that's okay. It's not great. It's, um, 10 total. Okay. It just looks like forest floor. I mean, there's trees, there's few little bushes, small things, you know, uh, some droppings from some animal, but not much else. I immediately pick up the droppings and inspect them. Okay. They're, they are, uh, make a survival check because you inspect the droppings. They are poop. Yeah, they are definitely poop. Uh, eight.
00:35:55
Speaker
They could be from either a deer or a mouse. You don't know. I'm going to need you to sniff those. The sniffing and licking was last session. Yeah, true. Devin, what are you doing? I don't know. I'm tired. There was something over here last night. It's not here now, but I just, I don't know.
00:36:18
Speaker
Jocks are a walk over there. What, what did you see? I, someone said eyes. I'm, I'm confused. I, uh, I dropped the droppings and I use press the digit, press the digitization. God, that's a hard word to say to, to clean off my hands and everything. There was a set of eyes here last night around this area, but there's no signs of anything here. There's no tracks that I can see. Uh, not to sidetrack, but press the digitization. That is hard to say when you use it.
00:36:46
Speaker
Does it like clean your hand off like a laser etcher or like what does it look like? I just need to know your description. I wave my other hand over the the poo hand and when I do it just all gets really crusty like that really dry cut crusty-ness and it just it just like blows off of my hand. Okay just like straight up Thanos ashes off. Yeah exactly. Hey spoilers spoilers.
00:37:11
Speaker
Five years later. Sorry to anyone who hasn't seen those four-year-old movies at this point. I know, right? Everyone saw four times over. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, how tall were the eyes? And I'll look or investigate or a survival check, whatever you want to... They were only probably about an inch tall.
00:37:32
Speaker
You could investigate, but how, I mean, were they standing as like a little child? Oh, that's an excellent question. Were they about, what height were they from the ground? You would think the size of the average human male. Normal size, I wouldn't say it's anything too small or too large. Okay, investigation's a terrible one. That is a three.
00:37:59
Speaker
you four minus one you don't I mean you this again like just like David I mean you see forest floor but you don't even really see the droppings like you just it all looks like dirt to you dirt in a few you know little shrubberies well don't stop there you just stopped in it you know in in in what oh oh
00:38:21
Speaker
And he's going to walk back towards the group and then you'll see him take both of his hands and kind of waft them towards his foot that stepped in it.
00:38:37
Speaker
There's like this little glitter that just kind of flies backwards and hits the floor as his foot is now clean. Let the glitter hit the floor. What was that? What did you just cast? Also pressed to digitization.
00:38:56
Speaker
Okay. It's not a roar instead, it's glitter so it seems nicely. Exactly. Like a Disney present. Very beautiful. This purple mist kind of flows through. Okay. Has anybody want food? To be honest, I don't have much of an appetite this morning.
00:39:19
Speaker
I mean, I don't wish probably have some extra trail mix, but I could either try to find something that maybe I'm sure there are plenty of animals around here, but looking at Krigs, I don't think he's going to stick around here for very long. I could use the wand if you'd like.
00:39:41
Speaker
Yeah, I can see why Delmar got sick of it for the time, but I'll probably be best. It's still a little bland. Even when you kind of give it flavor, it's still something's off about it. I don't know what it is. It's just not right. Yeah, I don't. Might be a little overkill for now, unless anybody's starving. I don't know. That beer is setting pretty heavy still, so I can move on.
00:40:10
Speaker
Krigs, which way do you feel we should go today? I'm going to lick my finger, hold it up to the air. Yeah, probably south still. Well, I feel like we all know the way at this point. Krigs, please make an intelligence saving throw. What? Saving throw? Yep. Oh, buddy. Ten. Okay. Sending you something.
00:40:41
Speaker
Uh, Oh, no. What was it? The Bo Burnham special again. So, Oh no. Okay. Well, it's a number that you rolled on your d12 nine. Okay. Nine. All right. So you guys begin travel again.
00:41:04
Speaker
Um, you want to tell me what's happening, chief? Uh, I believe so. Yes. Uh, we, uh, we are heading back to a very familiar place. So as you begin walking south, uh, everyone make a perception check as you leave the campsite area. Okay. That is 19. 21.
00:41:33
Speaker
13. 20 even. Gwendolyn and Joxer, as you begin to walk off in the southward direction, you kind of make one last look over the campsite thinking about the weird night you had, Gwendolyn. And you notice that those footsteps, they're all gone. The footprints that were in the dirt, it's all gone. It's like there was never anything there. What? Do you remember those footsteps?
00:42:03
Speaker
Gwen... Yeah, I... They're gone. You noticed it too. Yeah, I think we need to move. I don't like this place much.
00:42:17
Speaker
As they're kind of lagging behind saying that, I'm going to kind of pull Krigs Ford a little bit further. I'm going to say to him, Krigs, I'm starting to get a little bit worried here. Maybe, I want your opinion, but maybe we need to have a little bit of an intervention. I don't know if Joxer really knows how to make these brute things. You're going to ask me that at a time like this right now, whenever we are so close to whatever we're traveling to, you're going to ask me that at a time like this.
00:42:45
Speaker
I'm just saying it's got to be brought up sometime. Look, I don't want to hear it. South. We go south. Oh, Drakes. I've never seen you like this. Davin, I told you I didn't think you'd want to stay here long. Just look at him. Yeah. All right. All right. Let's go. Look at you. Let's go. You see, uh, uh, Joxer kind of looks over at Gwen like, yeah.
00:43:10
Speaker
Someone's got something. Gwen's a little astounded like she's never seen him like this. Yeah, Devin slows up until he's like kind of behind the group a little bit. We need to hurry fast. I don't trust what's going on here. All right, let's keep going.
00:43:32
Speaker
We are following Krigs, who is on a small rampage. So as he heads south... Does he quicken his pace, Krigs? I just... I've never stopped. Oh. Yeah, he's separated himself from you a little bit.
00:43:47
Speaker
You know, you guys have lagged behind just
Urgency and Missteps
00:43:50
Speaker
a bit. Not too much. You can still, you know, catch sight of him as he turns a corner around a little group of trees. You may lose him for a few seconds. And then there he is again, still on this little trail. But he's going to run up to make sure she is behind him. OK, so you're all. Look at the yellow flower. Do you remember, Jackson, the yellow flower, you stupid, you so into it.
00:44:18
Speaker
Ritalin turns around. What the? Just the- How long do the effects of that brew last? Yeah, I'm unsure if this is brew related. We can't be too far now. Let's just keep going. Krigs, I do remember the flowers. They were so distracting for me that day.
00:44:41
Speaker
Yeah, you were really, really into those flowers. I had you pretty entranced. Yeah, he's going to grab a flower and just walk with it. Gwendolyn is just looking around at the group trying to meet eyes with people like what is she has no idea what's going on. Gavin will definitely catch her eyes and be like, oh, there's something strange going on here. Yeah, just
00:45:09
Speaker
She doesn't know what to say. She doesn't understand this flower talk. She doesn't understand why he was just angry a second ago. What is the nature like around here?
00:45:21
Speaker
like birds and wind. Yeah, it's what you would expect in a forest. I mean, you're still kind of on the edge of the forest as you have been traveling along the edge of the forest between that and the hills. And as you head down, you can hear to your left as you head south the
00:45:42
Speaker
Walking of birds and you can hear every now and then you'll kind of run up on a small critter scurrying out of the bushes at the sound of you guys kind of traipsing through the woods and Yeah, it's pretty normal. Nothing out of the ordinary right now Okay, I'll believe you I Think we're just continuing on
00:46:05
Speaker
Okay. So you guys continue heading south and you walk out, uh, Craig's, are you staying a kind of ahead of everybody? Is everybody trying to stay caught up with him? How's that going? I'm walking into groups still. What's the story there? He definitely wouldn't be too far. I know Gwen wanted to, to, or was right behind him. Uh, I lagged back so that I'm in the back of the group now. So I'm keeping everyone in ice, you know, within distance, but I'm, I'm definitely a good behind.
00:46:35
Speaker
Did I hurt your feelings? He might have hurt his feelings a little bit. I just realized how much flack that's going to get me because Daven is the best boy in everyone's life. Daven's a fan fave. He's everyone's therapist. You can't treat your therapist that way.
00:46:57
Speaker
So you guys head south as you continue to head south you finally get to a point where the game trail kind of becomes almost no trail at all and you're just having to kind of weave your way through trees. Krigs I'd like for you to make a wisdom check for me.
00:47:18
Speaker
Come on. Okay. We're gonna get every stat this round. Oh, no. Six. Okay. You suddenly don't know where to go. Okay. You are...
00:47:38
Speaker
looking around, you're kind of now in this forest where you're surrounded by trees and everything looks the same. Every tree that they, sure they're different sizes and stuff, but as you walk, you don't know if you've been here before. And everyone else, as you're passing, as you're just kind of following Krigs, why don't you make, why don't you all make survival checks?
00:48:09
Speaker
Hey, that's a 16. 21. Nine. So Gwendolyn, you're the only one that realizes you're following Krigs and you walk for 10, 20 minutes, a half hour, an hour.
00:48:30
Speaker
And you start to go hang on. I thought he said south over and over again. He keeps saying south and you check a tree and you see kind of moss growing on one side of it and you check another one and you look up in the sky and you can't really see where the sun is because of the canopy. But you finally realize you're you're heading you're heading east. You're not heading south.
00:48:55
Speaker
Uh, Krigs, I feel like we're not going the right way. What do you mean? You see the way the trees are in the sun, wherever the sun is, that's where the moss grows and we're going east. You've got to be kidding me. This whole time we've been going the wrong way.
00:49:25
Speaker
I knew it felt like we were walking in circles, but I just don't know where I am anymore. Kicks, what's going on? I just need to go south. I don't... I don't know. I don't... That's what I felt. I don't feel it now. I don't know where I'm going or where I'm supposed to go. I just know it was south. But we're going... going the wrong way even now.
00:49:55
Speaker
It'll be okay. We just need to make a couple of adjustments, Krigs. We just need to keep moving south. I'm fairly certain it wasn't far from here. We lost a little bit of time. It's fine. Yeah, it'll be fine.
00:50:15
Speaker
The way, I guess. Gwen, you seem to have a better understanding of the directions. If we travel east, maybe we should go southwest a little bit. She shakes her head and she's like this way and starts to go southwest a little bit.
00:50:34
Speaker
um before or while she does it she's probably going to be watching krigs out the corner of her eye i think if we were to look back at krigs he would be looking away from the party and very likely have like one tear kind of like welling up
00:50:56
Speaker
He wouldn't be, you would see him depending on what side you were looking and I would have to assume he's looking away from the party, just looking at the trees, kind of astonished at the realization that he's been going the wrong way this whole time. All right. So as you guys continue to head south west at this point, you get into the thick of the woods and the forest and it just gets thicker and thicker and darker and darker and
00:51:26
Speaker
You it doesn't feel as familiar as the path did before it you felt like you were headed in the direction you did when you had that first encounter in Wild Hill, but Now you're not so sure none of you. In fact, everybody make a history check history Eight twenty nine fourteen
00:51:58
Speaker
So, Krigs, as everyone's walking, they're all kind of, you know, maybe confused and feel like, he said south, we're trying to get back to where we're headed south, but this feels, we kind of had an idea where we're going and this doesn't feel about right. But you, Krigs, you catch a whiff of something, a smell. You can't really place it.
00:52:20
Speaker
But it puts you right back on that first adventure in Wild Hill. Walking down the path, getting to know Daven and Gwen and spending a little more time with Joxer and starting to reveal a little bit about yourself on the journey until you arrived and saw Daven get just wrecked right off the bat. And you start to think of those things and remember and you just feel
00:52:51
Speaker
Like you're where you're supposed to be, you know, feels so good, so warm.
Lost in the Forest
00:52:57
Speaker
Everyone else, you don't know why, but this forest looks darker than it should. It looks dingy, kind of gross. Krigs, as you look around thinking of these fond memories,
00:53:14
Speaker
You're so glad to be in this forest. You're so glad to be here. It feels so welcoming and inviting, so good. The trees are just tall and beautiful and the forest floor is covered in moss and shrubs with berries or flowers. It's just, it's really nice. And everyone else, you come up to an opening in the canopy above you in the trees and
00:53:44
Speaker
You've been traveling for most of the day now, but you don't feel like you're where you're supposed to be. You don't feel like you're where you were in that first adventure. You don't know what this place is. That's where we're going to leave this session. That's a good episode. I'm lost. That's a good cliffhanger. Hey, thanks.
00:54:14
Speaker
No. Thank you, Michael. To celebrate, we're going to do this one from memory. Well, thank you for listening to this episodic installment of The Hired Swords. If you really liked our show, tell the friends. And if you really, really liked the show, tell the world and leave a review. That'd be rad. If you want to keep up with all the behind the scenes goofs and gaffs, I mean, check us out on Twitter and Facebook at The Hired Swords. We're really cool there. Love you guys. Thank you for listening.
00:54:51
Speaker
That's really a banger, isn't it?