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Ep. 104 To the Wall of Vines
35 Plays6 days ago
There's a wall out there. Once that they say you can't see. The Swords are out to find it. With the forest itself becoming more and more frustrated with their existence, will the party find their way to their destination or become lost in this strange land forever.
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:21
Speaker
You're listening to The Hired Source, a Dungeons & Dragons 5e actual play podcast. Now, with 25% more memes.
00:00:42
Speaker
Hello, everyone, and welcome to another phenomenal episode of the Hired Swords. I'm assuming it's gonna be phenomenal. We haven't done it yet, but it's gonna be great. You guys are gonna love it. I promise you're gonna love it.
Character Introductions
00:00:52
Speaker
With me is Derek. He plays David Mindstrider. This is gonna be fun, fun, fun. That's right. Blaze is with me as well. He is Critic's Golder, or Softfriend Ember Oak, or Mushroom Daddy, or whatever it is you choose to call him today, or Dale's best friend, whatever. I wasn't prepared to go second.
00:01:07
Speaker
Well, you don't get to decide that. I do. Mikey's here as well. He is jockser. Yeah, it's just me. He's got, he's looking sharp with a short haircut. He's everybody's favorite monk lock. Gwendolyn is played by Ash and she's with us as well. How you doing, Ash? You feel lighter than you did a little while ago? I did because my feelings of emotions are alive to see my dad. That's great.
00:01:37
Speaker
I'm so happy to hear that. Thank you. um Awesome.
Journey Through the Magical Forest
00:01:40
Speaker
Okay, so when we last left off in the last episode, the group had been traveling through this magical forest after defeating a horrible a bunch of monsters and things like this in the untouched lands. Having left Wild Hill, how far back do we want to go? ah They, they then are ah in this magical forest that they had arrived in from Teleport. They have traveled through like this homestead and now they have made their way. They're trying to find whatever is is here that they seem to have been brought here by this this being, this otherworldly being like a deity that has identified themselves as the seeker. They they followed this person into this world. Have we yet to find the hider?
00:02:25
Speaker
No, you have not, but just wait. mark You just wait. What about what? I thought we saw a polo. What about Carmen? No, just here you go. Where in the world? and alone forget about the weapon
00:02:44
Speaker
Obsessions. Sorry, Mike. Continue. Are we good now? Just kidding. Well, I mean, do we have a chance to find that weapon? Oh the the the fiery sword Yeah, yeah that you have an ice sword you want a fire sword now. It's a choice a chance You'd have to go back cuz he he's still probably Roman the Untouched lands back there somewhere. All right, everybody. Let's go back. Let's go back.
00:03:09
Speaker
I mean this is really important to me guys. So you're in this magical forest.
Encounter with the Banished Man
00:03:14
Speaker
but ah You guys have had several interesting encounters in this forest and one with a man who had these four big statues out back and he had a a greenhouse and you talked to him a little bit and learned a little bit about him being there.
00:03:27
Speaker
and having been there for a long time when he was basically banished to there from a spell but he knows that that spell typically only lasts about 60 seconds or so and he's still here though it's been months at least definitely possibly years and so You learned that, you continued traveling, you found the serpent lair or the serpent garden after fighting some of these serpents that you then learned talking to Thelindra, the statue you freed by putting a gemstone in these ruined rocks. You you learned that he had been or they had been put there by being taking that rune from
00:04:06
Speaker
or that that gemstone from the rune rocks and then immediately becoming a statue of stone, freeing the serpent statues in the garden, which is who you have now killed. And they also explained to you about Almanora and that Almanora is here. Almanora is not a place. It is a group of people. It was once a place, but the people have now taken the name of it.
00:04:28
Speaker
They explained that there is a wall surrounding the villages that Almanora now inhabits within this realm that you are in and has agreed to take you to this wall. However,
Forest's Growing Agitation
00:04:38
Speaker
they say that they were banished from this place because of being against the people ruling Almanora, explained that this realm had a leader Karthonak who came to keep the elves hidden. Thalindra was part of a group who was trying to overthrow Karthonak and was banished. They ran into this garden, removed the gems from the runes and became that statue. Thalindra also speaks of a previous elven leader who's being kept under lock and key because they wanted to lean the ah they wanted to lead the elves out of the realm.
00:05:14
Speaker
ah the party you are now just finished with a camp with camping and you are in this in the forest Gwendolyn had just tried to communicate with the trees and got this sense of anxiety and angst with your presence in the forest and Thelindra explained yes this forest is communicating with somebody in the temple of Almanora That's where the danger lies. Are you sure you still want to go there? And that's where we left off last episode. Five minutes later. What were we doing? I answered, yes, we want to go. What were we doing? Are we doing everything for the explanation? Yeah, I'm sorry, I was distracted. Can you tell you that? Sorry, go on. From the beginning again? Dude, you were muted.
00:06:05
Speaker
That's good. ah Yes. So Daven said, yes, we'd like to go. And so Thelindra just kind of picks up they're their things, what they have, and and starts walking through the woods, leading the way, ah you assume, towards where this towards where this wall was, where he where they think that it had been when they they were kicked out of Albinora.
00:06:32
Speaker
So as they're just walking, if you're just going to continue following, do you have anything to say or do or anything like that as you do so? Um, Gwendolyn is just going to be kind of quiet because she's just kind of nervous. Is this going to be a trap? Is this actually going to lead her to her father? She's just tightly holding Dale. Okay. Yes. Yes. All right. You tightly hold Dale as you continue to walk. Yeah. So, so I know that,
00:07:01
Speaker
you you're not able to see this i mean are we. Are we just going to hit a no i guess we're just going to keep walking if we can't get in is or do we hit a wall. When i turned back to to go back i i just walked in the forest until i.
00:07:22
Speaker
realized there is no way that I wasn't either in Almanora or there was just the illusion was just too good too great I don't know I don't know if I got disoriented and turned around not realizing it if I walked around the wall without contemplating what was happening yeah either way there was no finding this wall the conversation within those of us in the tribe of Almanora have always has always been that You only see the wall if you're welcome there. You only see it if you belong and having been banished, I assume I no longer but belong belong there. All right, Gwen. i think I think this one's on you because I i really doubt i'm I belong there. so I doubt the wall knows I even exist.
00:08:15
Speaker
Maybe we should start digging away. to swell person sorry go ahead dek Maybe we should start digging away of getting in once we actually get there. I mean, I don't know if we'll see the wall or not, but I mean, if they don't just open the doors to us, is it just like a single wall? Does that cover the whole city? Can you fly over it? Can you sneak under it?
00:08:34
Speaker
David, you're something of an enchanter yourself. Have ye any disenchantment options? Oh, i I've never done that before. um Even if I quote, I don't think I could do something of that magnitude. I mean, you just have to believe in yourself, that's all. Gwendolyn then says again, hole. What? The brew hole. um Oh, hole.
00:09:01
Speaker
So you're saying we could hide in the brew hole while one person enters? I can't think of any other way, but yes. And she's just kind of sharp when she says it. That's, that's, uh, we've done this before. We, it'll be difficult because we don't know what it looks like on the inside, but Davin, you could get us inside. What do you mean? I've seen inside your hole.
00:09:31
Speaker
ah to means What do you mean? I think he meant on the other side of the wall. What is it that we're talking about? I don't want to. It's a whole thing. Do you like? It's a whole thing. Oh, you're speaking of where he went to make the bruise last evening. i That's perfect. Okay, great. So you've been in there as well. I understand. I'm going to keep walking. So we we have used it to um teleport.
00:10:01
Speaker
short distances away while one person held ah the hole and everybody else held their breath. It's a little bit of whole espionage. You have to be holding something without your breath in the hole.
00:10:17
Speaker
Yeah, yeah it's it's one or the other. there's There's a whole thing about holding, and holes. And we want to keep the bag of holding away from the hole, because it's a hole, another thing, and the bag gets in the hole. It really is the hole of holding. i I've never thought of it. I mean, I've called it the brew hole, but hole of holding... I'd like to trademark that now, thank you. Could you just say holding and spell it different?
00:10:44
Speaker
I'll trace back that one. Wow. Wait. So you said you keep it away from your bag of holding. Why is that? Well, have you ever seen when a dwarf kind of has too much ale and everything sort of explodes from them? I haven't spent much time with dwarves, as I mentioned before. I've seen them, but never in a social setting, just purely business.
00:11:10
Speaker
It was a trick question. Dwarves can never have too much ale. But yes, it's ah it's a pretty... Well, we assume it would be a relatively terrible event. You're saying it would be an explosive result? Or, explosive is another option. Is it because of them both having interdimensional capabilities? Honestly, I don't understand anything outside of a smithery, but... Yeah, it's what they say.
00:11:34
Speaker
Yeah, i I didn't really pay attention too much ah whenever ah I was working with the monks on that, but their drawings or depictions of what happens didn't look good. It's a whole lot of bad. that would and That would terrify me, keeping it too... i would I wouldn't let you carry a bag of holding at all or anything like that. I have considered weaponizing it. I'm surprised it made it through the...
00:12:01
Speaker
portal to this realm. And that's a question for the DM. I'm going to what? You're getting in too. And Gwendolyn kind of stops and turns around. I will need a guide. If I arrive there, I assume they will kill me on sight. I don't know that having me with you is a benefit to you. In the hole. And Gwendolyn's like piercing Icedare at her. I would be concerned.
00:12:31
Speaker
but i I don't know a lot about magic, definitely not a lot about planar magic, but if you take something like that hole inside something like with this wall dome... Oh no, someone else holds the hole, like the person holding the bag does not get in the hole.
00:12:53
Speaker
Those stay separate. I'm concerned about the dome itself, the wall behind behind there. I wouldn't say this. Is it bigger on the inside? I wouldn't say this. It seems that it is. I wouldn't say this if it didn't. Is it a possibility that the reason I couldn't see it or walk through it is because there's some sort of.
00:13:15
Speaker
Interplaner magic just like your brew hole is but that's an important question jo we got to think about is if that's its own dimension can we bring another dimension in there or is that gonna be like what your monk said. well that's It's very i mean i didn't really consider that walking into. Potentially doors of ah town that is moved if it's interplaner than.
00:13:39
Speaker
Yeah, we're all, we're all dead. I mean, we'll, we'll teleport in there and then everybody dies because two, well, yeah that would be like a double interdimensional explosion, right? Gwen just starts. Gwen just looks weird at Joxer. Go ahead. Have you not considered just digging underneath the dome, the tunnel, perhaps? Why go over the wall when you can go beneath? I assume if you can see it, that could work.
00:14:08
Speaker
I just, I mean, um I don't mind that, but if we still have to get in, even if we dig under and then back up, I imagine the space is still interdimensional. Sorry, I forgot you don't understand dwarven humor. It's fine. So are you saying because you're a dwarf, you want to diggy diggy hole?
00:14:30
Speaker
that was implied yes yes yes i'm sorry to put it just just put it out there like that so obvious i apologize are you trying to to say that you want to take the the the lower hole i beg your pardon i mean the the the back the back entrance i beg your pardon the bottom enter i mean going underneath and and just entering from you know the muddy the muddy depths i beg your pardon i i I don't know how more to to to, you're talking about digging and going under. Okay.
00:15:08
Speaker
like so i will say the
00:15:12
Speaker
That might be interesting. The side that I, when I exited the wall was there and it is a large, viney, thorny growth of intermixed branches and roots that do seem to come from the ground. I'm not sure if they are as impenetrable beneath as they are above, but. I think we found ourselves into a pit of assumption. Maybe we could find it and ascertain different plans or strategies once we've actually seen the thing we're trying to... achieve? Yeah, I suppose if none of us can see it, then then we're not really gonna get any farther. That's wise. I can only explain it so well, especially having not seen it from the outside. We're not far now. We'll be just shortly after. Mid-depth. Ian, I mean, i I feel like this might be a problem to to figure out if we find the wall in the first place, I guess.
00:16:08
Speaker
So as you guys are walking through, the you know you haven't you haven't experienced like ah wind or a breeze or anything like that very much at all since you've been here. No weather really of any kind. In fact, if you'll remember, the sky doesn't even really go dark at night. It's these northern light type display in the sky at the time when the the man in that The man in the the homestead would would call nighttime and decide that's when they're sleep he's sleeping. Philindra also kind of called it a night at that time. So it seems that that is what that is. But at this point, you do see the the trees are rustling like if they were in the wind. And it's getting up at the top of the treetops pretty high. It seems to be pretty aggressive shaking and and and
00:17:07
Speaker
and like blowing in the wind, but you don't feel wind on yourselves. And as that's happening, you do notice, actually, everybody make perception checks or nature check, whichever you'd prefer. This rolls some dice, because it's Dungeons and Dragons after all. Got a whopping 12. 12? That will be an 18 minus one. 17. That equals 17. I can math.
00:17:36
Speaker
15. Sometimes. What'd you get? One, five. 15. Gwen? 30, 20. Hey, yo. All right, so Joxer and Gwen and, well, Joxer and Gwen, you guys notice that the trees are blowing pretty heavily, but not all in the same direction. They're just rotating, like they're agitated.
00:18:06
Speaker
Davin, you notice that they're all blowing and that you don't feel the wind. but And then, Krigs, you just sense or feel something something is off, something strange, but you it's hard to place what's going on, what it is. At this point, that just feels like any other day. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And then Thalindra,
00:18:27
Speaker
unfortunately, is too worried and concerned about what's going to happen when approaching this wall to notice what's going on around with the trees. So they just continue walking forward. Do you do anything? Do anything change as you move forward and with what you guys are doing? Um, I'm just watching my surroundings now, but okay still focused on the goal. Okay.
00:18:52
Speaker
Yeah, i'd I'd like to keep a ah little bit of eye on the agitation if it continues to get worse or if it seems to have a direction, like if it's worse to my left as opposed to my right. Sure. It seems like it's all kind of, I was going to say in unison, but they're definitely not moving in unison, but everything is equally, equally disturbed.
00:19:18
Speaker
And as you get further down, you can see the branches lower on the trees are starting to get involved as well. And it is getting pretty, the the whole forest just seems to be pretty agitated with your arrival in this area, ah similar to how it was earlier, but but still, it's it's worse now, it's more. And Gwen, as you are looking around, ah make another survive, make an actual survival check for sure this time instead of perception, just survival.
00:19:49
Speaker
The dice is rolling. 13. 13, yeah. You notice, ah just in the distance, you've you notice a few creatures just kind of scurry and you and you understand ah the the disturbing of the the plant life here is equally disturbing to any wildlife that is here and everything It seems like the the wildlife isn't necessarily affected by whatever's causing the disturbance in the trees and stuff, but it is affected just like you are by what's happening. So they're fleeing as if like, this is crazy. This is weird. I'm out of here. Not like a part of this whole agitation. It's like the control or whatever might be causing this.
00:20:33
Speaker
is is isolated to the plant life, and especially the trees. And they're all connected and intertwined. Their branches touching each other up up high. and And you know, because of because of your knowledge of plants and how it all works, that all their roots are intertwined. And so it's like the it's like it's all just shaking and murmuring. And then as you continue to go forward, i assuming you guys just continue to walk forward normally, nothing nothing changing?
Climbing for a Better View
00:20:59
Speaker
Going forward.
00:21:01
Speaker
okay so as you continue to go forward, suddenly the murmuring and shaking unifies. Everything starts shifting from in front of you. It's like it's blowing away slow slower and then back towards where you're going and then blowing away behind you and then back towards where you're going and behind you as if it's blowing in your like if like there was wind blowing in your face and gusts but there's no you don't feel any wind you just see the trees behaving as if that was happening and it's it's pretty big at this point just like like there's like gusts of movement towards you in the trees oh uh quinn what does this mean this does not look normal at all i don't know and she tightens her grip on
00:21:52
Speaker
dale Not choking him, but more of like sure a loving hug. Yeah, yeah. Keeping him close to her chest. does Does it seem like I might be able to climb up the trees and see above them or does it look like it's far too thick to even try?
00:22:08
Speaker
Um, you look, it looks like you could get a ways up. You don't know if you can get all the way up, uh, cause it is so, it gets so thick. Um, you know, 15 or so feet up, but if you want to give it a try, you know, you can see what you get to as you start to start to climb. Excuse me. Uh, do you think it'd be worth me trying to get a ah vantage point? I know the swaying, so it might not work out very well for me. Uh, yeah, sure. The only one of us that can't fly, you should go check it out. Go ahead.
00:22:37
Speaker
Well, I'm the only one who doesn't have to waste something to do it. Just time. It's probably when you're welcome. You might even be able to see the wall from up there if you can get high enough. That's, that's kind of the hope. I'll lean over to Craig's and I'll be like 10 gold pieces says he falls down at least 20 feet. Deal.
00:23:02
Speaker
All right, Joxer, as you start to climb, make your first acrobatics check as you just scurry ah up the trunk of the tree and get to the lowest branches. I need to know, Daven, if you and I have a special handshake we make whenever we do this deal, like fist bump, what are we doing?
00:23:19
Speaker
It's we ah twinkle our pinkies together and then we do a fist bump and then instead of explosion, we do like a wave with our entire on yeah as they move away from each other. That's rad. Yeah, dude. Okay, sick. Yeah, he's going to fall. That one's not super great. It's a 13. Okay. Now, first question though, before that, I should have asked, how high can you jump? Oh, um, so strength score.
00:23:49
Speaker
deadlock. Two and a half times your strength. No, no, wait. What's the stupid jump roll? I think it's the number of feet. Uh, your strength is the number of usually two. I have to, uh, high jump. When you make a high jump, you leap into the air a number of feet equal to three plus your strength modifier. Oh, so 13 feet of strength modifier. Yeah. So so what's your strength modifier? Uh, so it's a modifier is only a plus one.
00:24:18
Speaker
Okay. um But I believe... I thought you had something. Yeah, I feel like there's there's something with my drunken monk thing. Yeah. I thought you had a thing. It's been a minute since we played. We got to go back to the sheets here. It's been a while. Yeah, yeah. Looking drunk and techie. Let's try not to say that's what's been a minute. It's been a minute. How many can we do?
00:24:46
Speaker
I don't see anything for jump. Oh no, I think I have a spell that allows me to jump or. Gotcha. It's a warlock and vacation thing you got. Yeah, I do have a jump spell, but I didn't really want to waste any spells here. Okay, sure. That's fine. So yeah, you jump up about four feet, grab onto the trunk, like bear hug in it, and you're able to squirm your way up to the lowest branches and get a handhold to pull yourself up. As you continue to climb, make another slightly higher difficulty.
00:25:15
Speaker
Acrobatics. All right. Check. All right, all right. OK, so that one is going to be, because it was athletics, right? Or no, acrobatics. Yeah, the climbing. Well, whatever's best for you. You can use your strength to heft yourself up, or you can use your finesse. I think at this point, yeah, it's going to be finesse. I'll be yeah using that ah that branch to kind of swing around. So that'll be a 15, so 7 plus 8. Yeah.
00:25:43
Speaker
So that's what you needed. So you're able to shift yourself up. You're you're about 20 feet up now. The branches are getting a lot thicker. you're go to it's There's not gonna be any struggle on finding a handhold and a foothold. The struggle here is getting yourself contorted in such a way to work through the little gaps, the the smaller gaps in branches as you get higher up the tree. So your third of four rolls here to get all the way to the top.
00:26:11
Speaker
Go ahead and roll better than a 16 for me. Or better than a 16 or better for me. Or actually tell me the truth of what you roll though, but you know. Yeah, so that's a 19 plus eight. Go ahead and roll and tell me it's a 16. Just kidding. So that's a high number. That's a high number. And so yeah, you actually squirm through. And what's great is you don't even break any of these branches. It's blowing around as you get up high. Now you're up to the very,
00:26:40
Speaker
You're up to where you could really scurry up to these small, thin branches to kind of get a foothold on a few of them where you could peek just barely up over the leaves at the top of this tree to seek to get a view, a bird's eye view, so to speak. So beat an 18 and you succeed. All right. I might be using a luck die. I just got a bad feeling about this guy.
00:27:04
Speaker
Yes, that's a five plus eight. That's not going to do it. And then that is a nine plus eight. That's 16. 17. Don't wanna do another, I guess I can just use another luck die. It's your call. Yeah, let's do it. Or it's your call. Okay, so that'll be a ah dirty 20. Hey, there you go. So with a 20, what, eight?
00:27:34
Speaker
ah you you make it up and you're able to peek up over the top of this thing. And as you do, you you slip a couple of times on your way up and catch yourself real quick and continue up. Slip a little bit, catch yourself. You feel- Full time, Devin and I are just like, oh, every time you feel this is slipping.
00:27:53
Speaker
you feel pretty lucky that you made it as high as you did and so you get up there you poke your head up through the leaves uh like a like a groundhog poking its head up through the through its hole to try to survey to see how many more weeks of winter we're gonna have and you see tree tops just all over the place. Just tree, just in their different colors, right? You got the purple and the greens and the orange and you've got some blue and you got some darker purple and you got, you know, just some brighter reds, just tree chops everywhere. You also see in the distance what looks like a a hill where the the trees, it looks like it might be a little bit hilly. The trees kind of go up a little bit. ah Make a,
00:28:40
Speaker
perception check as you look, that direction. It's the direction you guys are headed. That's a nat 20. But that'll be a plus one. So 21. That's awesome. So as you get up as you look and you're you're just you notice yeah There's just something off about those trees in that, that once it starts to like, ah like the elevation goes up, there's just something a little off. It's like, it's almost like an uncanny valley sort of thing for trees instead of people, you know, something's just doesn't set right with you. When you look at it, you do see that the ah
00:29:20
Speaker
the distance to that is it doesn't look ah extremely far away ah anymore ah or you know as it did obviously when they had been flying up earlier but you do see that the treetops are agitated and moving around where you guys are but not ahead of you and not behind you anymore. ah Okay so So it's only where we're at that it's imitated essentially. Yeah. okay Correct. And you're literally like, as you're holding on and you're like, like almost like not quite riding a bucking Bronco, like riding the the mechanical bull on, you know, three out of 10 setting, you're having to kind of hold on and kind of keep your bearings as you, as you're kind of tossed around by the tree agitated and moving.
00:30:07
Speaker
Okay. Um, then I guess I, I get the, the sense we're definitely heading in the right direction and, and there seems to be something when we meet, I guess what looks like an upward slant. ah We are possibly in some unusual territory. Okay. Um, yeah, I'll swing down. All right. Make one acrobatics check to get yourself down all the way down. Yeah. yeah uh 13 plus 8 so 21 yeah you kind of just make yourself thin and slide down a few branches pointing your feet at one point to kind of change direction as you have to dodge some bigger branches to get down uh then you get down to where it's a little thinner you grab one do a little spinny spinny thing and and how do you land when you land at the at the foot of the tree i
00:30:59
Speaker
I make it look like i'm about to hit like the end of the ah or like the actual trunk that i'm sliding into and then i watch out for that and then i'll just kind of start. ah Grab my hand around it and do a little twirl around it slowly.
00:31:16
Speaker
Yeah, so he grabs the trunk and twirls the last eight feet down till he lands his feet, hit the ground looking at you guys and successful in his little adventure up to the top of the tree.
00:31:29
Speaker
Davin considers using Mage Hand to pull one of the branches away right before he can jump onto it, but instead he just pulls 10 gold out of his pocket and he gives it to Griggs.
00:31:39
Speaker
So, Krigs marked 10 plus gold, Davin minus 10. I count every single gold coin with a smile on my wrist. I don't think we've bought anything in 35 episodes. What do we even do with gold in this game? I don't think we've ever i don't Yeah, I've never kept track of how much gold I have. No, we we haven't done any shopping hardly at all. I keep track. I have 710 minus 35, which is 675. Is that what you sent to your family or something? That's what I have left after sending money to my family. I think that's all you did. All you've done with your gold is to haven't sent some to his family. I have 371. 260.
00:32:22
Speaker
Dude, you guys are rich in this land of where it doesn't matter. He started with 10, so you've at least got that. Because nobody spent any, because Michael didn't put in any shopping. Those are podcast episodes I skip when I listen to D&D podcasts. so um Okay, so I'm pretty sure I wasted a little bit of time here. We're definitely going in the right direction. It looks like there's a hill, but Surprised to no one, these trees are agitated with us. Well, what do we do to agitate them? I don't know. Gwen cast a spell on them. I cast a spell? Yeah, you tried to talk to them and now they're mad. I didn't make them mad. They were already upset. i i'd I'd have to take a, you know, we'd have to go back.
00:33:20
Speaker
And really remember maybe a time machine of some sort. Do you have any time magic? Yeah. Cause I don't remember if they were, they were already, she did that because they were already acting agitated. I mean, we have been being on the roots like every day. Yeah. Um, yeah. So it it looks like there is something a little amiss.
Understanding the Forest's Behavior
00:33:46
Speaker
ahead of us and it looks like it was going up in a hill weren't we under the impression though that the trees were basically acting something like sentinels as ah for whatever is potentially watching us which might be an indication as to why they're agitated strictly around us you know thes so No, go on. Philander speaks up and says, Oh, that is, that is what I was saying. These trees, they don't necessarily, they're not necessarily controlled by anyone, but
00:34:21
Speaker
the, they they could very easily send this message of our presence to Alvin Nora. And and i I believe that is what is happening in it. So we're basically surrounded by a scouting party. Exactly. there's There's no escaping it. What's strange to me is the way they're behaving right now. It's almost as if they're, they're shoving themselves in a different direction than where we're going. Like they're they're waving away from where we're walking.
00:34:51
Speaker
And that, that was kind of my, it's either we're going the right direction or going the wrong direction. I can't really tell because it's so you're the only one that has knowledge on this. Does this feel ominous to you or is that just me? I, to be honest with you, I can't decide. I've been thinking about it as we walk. I can't decide if the trees are warning us to go away. There's danger ahead by you know, moving in the direction behind us or threatening us to stay back. Either way, I don't think whatever is using these trees wants us to come to Almanora. I cast the Guardian of Nature. That sounds cool. What is it? I want to turn to a big tree. Oh.
00:35:46
Speaker
I'm going to turn into a great tree. um I've kind of done this before but not really. This time I'm actually going to turn into a tree and I'm going to assume I have eyes on this tree that I'm creating out of my body.
00:36:05
Speaker
okay but But more wind picks up as they're talking and I just kind of start to grow and start to grow skin that's bark-like and draw branches and leaves start to grow. I don't know if they're noticing it, but it's probably making a lot of gust around me. Yeah, they're they're noticing because suddenly they feel a gust because they didn't before, right? the The trees just moved without wind. So now it's like, what is happening?
00:36:33
Speaker
And I'm going to take my branches and intertwine them with the surrounding trees to kind of talk to them. And Phalindra goes, um I've never seen the forest do that before. oh Who's next? Oh, no. She's havatoring. Looking at their their hands and legs to see if they're turning to a tree. No, no, Jess, this is normal. but This is a Gwyn thing.
00:36:59
Speaker
You get used to it. That was disgusting. Did you see how her throat we got misshapen in the process? Honestly, I've almost farmed a hundred times on this adventure. It's in my mouth right now. I can feel it in the back. When the air spins down like he's going to throw up, I'm going to use minor illusion to make it look like a little branch is coming out of his ankle. Oh I told you there's something wrong.
00:37:25
Speaker
And then all of a sudden you just hear like a moan of a tree just, Oh, Oh, tree sounds like yeah I guess that's what this tree is going to sound my like. All right. So Gwen, as you, as you start to, to grow, you, your feet transform and start to shift into roots that shh.
00:37:49
Speaker
jut down into the earth beneath you and intertwine with the roots that are below you. Your branches start to spread out and stretch and intertwine with the branches of the trees around you. And when you do that, you start to get the same messages and and they they come as ah It's not an emotion like you you felt as a person it's more of like an instinct it's like knowing it's like when you realize your breathing or when it become you become aware of your heartbeat you're now aware of this.
00:38:26
Speaker
feeling of angst at the people that are standing near you and that all you can do is report through your all you feel like the message you're getting is report to me how close are they that's the vibe you get you have to make sure that your their presence is made known please make a a um I'm gonna say a Constitution saving throw As you get this feeling, you get to do that with advantage because of this spell, but do it for me, please. No, you do it for me. Thanks. You said constitution, yeah? I thought you said I'd do it for you. Yeah, constitution's saving through. Well, it looks like 15's the winner. The other one was a five.
00:39:14
Speaker
Yeah, I'll give you, that so I'll say that you should probably, you should probably choose 15. So you're able to shake this, this basically like control that's trying to be, that's trying to take you over, take over this tree version of you. You're trying to, you you basically shake this control and don't allow it to control you, but you get the message nonetheless, you feel what's happening. These these trees are being told to keep whoever, whatever is is is telling them this, to keep them informed.
00:39:52
Speaker
on the whereabouts of your group. That's what you feel. And the trees around you feel it too, and you feel what they feel, and you're aware of their agitation at your presence, and that that agitation, that presence must be made known. So the communication is going you know back towards, it's like through the root system, back towards wherever this is going.
00:40:16
Speaker
um I'm going to try to persuade the trees unless it's like a dis like an enchantment. You're going to try to do what? Save the trees? I want to save the trees. Okay. Kinda. A bunch of people out there that would be happy for that. Um, yeah, I would love, I would love trees to be saved. Um, what I would like to do is slowly like send a pulse of
00:40:48
Speaker
let go, and she's kind of saying it in elvish like wind throughout the trees, just let go. And if that doesn't work, I have another plan. Okay. ah Why don't you make a wisdom, just a straight wisdom roll for me. Okay. gonna do Fingers crossed.
00:41:12
Speaker
We're going to do a contested role against the collective constitution of these trees. Oh, it's 15 again. Get shrekt. Natural one on the trees, the So the trees, it's see it's as it's as if they were hoping for some kind of relief from this control and your being right there intertwined with them, your connection that you have formed with them, with your branches,
00:41:41
Speaker
and your roots and yeah it as you kind of send this message through your root system, you guys notice the rest of the group, you notice that where Gwendolyn, tree Gwendolyn is standing,
00:41:59
Speaker
From her, the trees right near her settle down, and then the trees beyond those start to settle until finally it's like a wave, like ah like a a ripple in in a where a stone's have been thrown in a pond, this ripple of calm just starts to stretch across the trees until they just stand there calm and silent again. And Gwendolyn, you feel now what they feel And it is just peace, just calm. It's just your presence has no effect. They're standing powerful as they always have and strong and immovable almost it feels. You feel like a sense of invulnerability. They can't be damaged. She really puts the ease in trees.
00:42:56
Speaker
no Got it. You see Gwendolyn's leaves as the ripple effect starts to work, because all she's saying is, be free. You are strong. You are willed. Don't give into temptation. Be free. And she's just kind of pulsing that. And her leaves start to turn from green to like a shiny gray, kind of the color of her hair as she does this until she starts to wind slowly coming down to the ground. Then the silver leaves, as she comes down, she gets more Gwendolyn size. The silver leaves stay for just a couple seconds as Gwendolyn takes form. Her hair looks like flowing leaves from her head at before finally coming back to her to to be visible as
00:43:50
Speaker
Gwendolyn's hair and she stands in front of you. Gwendolyn, the trees around are calm. I look at our traveling companion and I say, I know the first part was a bit vomit, but you have to admit that last bit was quite beautiful. They just stand their mouth open, eyes wide. Gwendolyn turns around this way, right? And then she starts going off with Sealdale in her arms.
00:44:16
Speaker
Thalindra looks back at you, Krigs, and says, who is she? Unlike anyone you'll ever meet again, I'm sure. That I have no doubt. And he turns and starts to follow, shaking his head a little bit as he walks behind her. It's just Gwen. This is our Gwen. I've never seen anything like it. He catches up a little bit, but keeps his distance a little from Gwen, like doesn't get all the way up to her.
00:44:46
Speaker
almost as a sign of like, she's the leader now, she's leading us. I mean, when wasn't she, let's be real. Let's be real. so we We might want to hurry in case their hold doesn't... Oh, they're like 20 feet ahead of me now. I just start like, I'm skipping a jump. I gotta walk twice as fast as it is.
00:45:09
Speaker
ah you guys walk for another few hours and the whole time the forest just seems peaceful and calm and you come out to a bit of a clearing it's it's not a big clearing like a meadow it's just a ah section where the forest seems to be much lighter or thinner than it's been this whole time.
Revealing the Magical Wall
00:45:43
Speaker
And Thelindra says, well, this is this is where I started when I was kicked out of Almanora over there. And he point they point over to a pile of branches
00:46:02
Speaker
that are leaned up against a tree that says, I did that. I marked there so that I could see, make sure I knew this is where I ah came from. So this is it. It's somewhere, somewhere here. Do any of us see a giant wall? Everyone make wisdom checks for me. o Just a straight wisdom. Straight wisdom roll. Wisdom plus wisdom or a roll plus wisdom modifier.
00:46:29
Speaker
Wow, I'm doing great tonight. 16. Sweet. 15. That'd be 16 plus one, 17. I'm so mad. You finally give me something that I should excel at with my plus eight wisdom modifier and I rolled a three, so it's a solid level. Oh my gosh. I would have helped you. I would have pointed at the the fuzzy area. So Gwendolyn and Joxer, right? You got a 15, Devin?
00:46:57
Speaker
yeah Yeah. You guys, you guys, you don't see a wall, but you see as you look beyond this the direction you were walking towards just about 60 feet ahead of you. Suddenly you see this shimmer and then about 15 seconds later, another shimmer across in front of you.
00:47:28
Speaker
There's something there, but you don't see it exactly. It's almost like it's, it's like somehow it's masked, whatever is supposed to be there. But the shiver, the the the innate, just like magic and and nature and whatever it is inside of you tells you that's, there's something going on there. That's where, whatever it is. And in actually jocks are,
00:47:55
Speaker
it gives you that exact same feeling you had when you were looking up above the trees. Does this meadow look like it's slightly raised from everything else? Like this might be the healed area we saw? Actually, it doesn't look like there's any elevation change at all. But as you look at the shimmer ahead of you, it seems to go in like a shape, like a spherical Up and over. This is it. You're right. It's here. And I'm going to take mage hand and just kind of like, I don't know, get get some a little bit of dirt and start like taking it around that area to see if I can either have it feel or stop on something like throw throw some dust on the wall to see if it stops or moves. Yeah.
00:48:52
Speaker
So when you walk up and you throw the dust there where you saw that shimmer, it just kind of falls down ahead of you like you would expect it to almost like whatever's there is it's like it's it's it's like it's the reflection in a two way mirror. Then I'm going to I guess, stick my hand through it? Yeah, you stick your hand in, and when you do, it's like it's like nothing, like it's not passing through anything. It's just normal. I just walk in. You just walk through? Yeah. Nothing looks different or unique. He pulled it when I turn around. You turn around, and you just look through, and you see your friend standing there. It just looks like you walked a few feet.
00:49:44
Speaker
You don't see a wall. You don't see anything like that. I don't see anything, but you guys said we're here, so maybe we need to like announce ourselves or something. Something's here. You're here. I am Krigs Calder, a dwarf. I've come to your dome.
00:50:07
Speaker
Does that work? Do we get let in? Open sesame. You get nothing. i Except a chuckle from Thalindra. I think if anybody is going to have to Gwen. I thought they'd surely heard the name Kriegskulte. Clan Ember Oak, whatever. It's fine. Go ahead Gwen. Gwen kind of walks up towards it and does the same thing that Draxr does where she throws the dirt. Okay.
00:50:38
Speaker
When you throw the dirt, ah nothing happens when the dirt and just kind of flies like it would fly through. um I try to touch it. You reach forward, and when you do, your hand touches wood. And as your hand touches wood, you sense the same feeling you got when you were in the trees, one of the trees.
00:51:06
Speaker
And it's like almost like wherever your hand is touching, there's wood and it's it's just a few inches around the print of your hand in the shape of your hand. You see this intertwined collection of vines with thorns and branches. And it's like you're putting your hand on this surface that is made of these intertwined pieces of wood with little leaves sticking up a thorn here, thorn there.
00:51:34
Speaker
And you can feel, you can sense the same things you were sensing, including that piece. It made it all the way here that you you gave the trees. In Elvish, I'm going to do plant talk to these thorns and leaves. Okay. And in Elvish, I just go, show me, please.
00:51:57
Speaker
When you say show me, everyone looks and sees this wooden. It's it's like, it's there. It's not like it, like an illusion peels away. It's not like a, it's just suddenly, it's just there. And you see it like, how did we miss this? And it's literally a, it looks like a giant dome that has grown from the ground.
00:52:26
Speaker
It's like a stadium that you would see like in the middle of a big town or something. This giant dome has grown from the ground and it's 100% made of intertwined branches, leaves, thorns. You see little almost like tiny shrubs growing from it up high. You see it's like its own series of plants all mixed and interwoven together with not a single gap. You can't see through it at all. It's just like a solid wall made from these intertwined vans vines and roots and branches. And Gwen, as you put your hand on it and and you say that, suddenly the whole thing becomes visible to you. And everyone behind you is standing there seeing it. And even Thalindra says, ah, I knew it was here. I knew it.
00:53:17
Speaker
Um, Gwendolyn still keeps her hand there and she goes, my love's thank you. What what happened with Joxer? Yeah, I was wondering if he's actually inside. I just, I just get launched after seeing it. No, you don't see Joxer. Joxer sees it from the, uh, Joxer still, you don't see Joxer, but Joxer still sees you.
00:53:41
Speaker
Interesting. It is a two-way mirror. So, so it's like Joxer is not in it, but you don't know where he is. Oh, yeah.
00:53:54
Speaker
What's, uh, what's happening? It's so funny. You don't see it? It's huge. Hello? Can we hear him? Can we hear him? Nope. Oh, you cannot say you said you said you said to the tree to the, to the wall. Let me in. Yeah. I asked if we could gain passage.
00:54:17
Speaker
Okay, the roots and the branches start to grow again and it grows around your hand and grabs a finger and then grows back up and from your knuckle down to your wrist and wraps around your wrist and it starts to envelop your hand into these vines. And as it does, you guys see Gwyn stiffen, her whole body stiffens. And she looks up to the sky, eyes wide, and this vine has grabbed hold of her, and she just stands there stiff as a board. Her hair turns back into leaves again, those silver leaves. And Gwendolyn, you get a sense that all this wall needs is to know your deepest purpose. And if your purpose
00:55:11
Speaker
is true and noble, you're allowed in. ah Gwen, is it attacking you or do we need to do something? Oh God, Gwen. I'll run over and ah like to the other side of the wall and like try to. like So suddenly as Joxer runs where he runs, he's there. like He's just standing in front of the wall right next to Gwendolyn and ho god he's just there. and The wall's now behind you, Joxer. It's there now.
00:55:41
Speaker
and jocks are suddenly standing in front of the wall looking dazed, Gwendolyn hands still on the wall, eyes looking up, eyes up, arm out, stiff as a board, haired leaves, vines wrapped around her hand and wrists. This doesn't seem to be crawling or moving anymore. It has her where it wants her, but it's stuck like that. um In my mind, I tried talking to it. Okay. To the entity, the plant entity.
00:56:10
Speaker
um And in a clear voice, she's just, I don't know my purpose. I thought my purpose was to find my father, to find myself, but instead I found friends and I, I'm still finding myself. I don't know what my purpose is, but I know I'm here for a reason. I was meant to come here.
00:56:37
Speaker
Suddenly, you get a sense and you hear a voice in Elvin. in elvin And the voice says, you are true. You are noble. And the vines seem to now, instead of being golfing your hand, it's like it's holding your hand and guiding you in. As the vines open up before you, Gwendolyn, you see this.
00:57:05
Speaker
Everyone else, you see the vines quicker than the blink of an eye, envelop Gwendolyn, pull her into them, as if she is now a part of the wall. I'm feeling cute, might be a wall-eater.
00:57:21
Speaker
hey Is that normal Cylindra? I don't
Episode Conclusion
00:57:27
Speaker
know. I'm going to find out." And Philindra runs over and puts their hand on the wall. It's going to go away. Puts their hand on the wall. It's the same thing happens. it gets Their hand gets wrapped in vines. They get to look up their hair and becomes this um tangled mess of vines and thorns as they stand there and then suddenly the vines come out from beneath them and grab them by the legs and it pulls them and just stretches them until they rip in half. who Laying there at the base of this wall and then it grabs them and pulls them in as part of the
00:58:13
Speaker
Like it, like it's part of the wall and that's where we're going to end the episode. Oh my My perspective. We got a 50, 50 chance. dady Yeah, Yo, I like making bets.
00:58:29
Speaker
but but your twenty grand drugs so it gets left
00:58:35
Speaker
When did this wall get here? i Yes. Yes. That was good. That was fun.
00:58:48
Speaker
This has been another episode of The Hired Sorts. On behalf of Mikey, Derek, Ash, Blaze, and myself, I'd like to say how grateful we are for every single one of our listeners, no matter of race, sexual orientation, gender identity. You are valid, you are seen, and we're grateful that you're here. We're glad you exist. We'll see you next time.