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Ep. 67 Live Laugh Love image

Ep. 67 Live Laugh Love

S2 E67 · The Hired Swords
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174 Plays2 years ago

I can't accept this. We've found no reason that so many lives were lost in this place.

We scraped by yet another fight that could have expired Gwen.. It could have taken us all. So why here? There can't just be nothing. There has to be more than a cruel joke or is this really just a cave many swords were sent to as a means of execution. 


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Transcript

Introduction to the Hired Swords podcast

00:00:05
Speaker
previously on the hired swords. I can't accept this. We found no reason that so many lives were lost for this place. We scraped by yet another fight that could have expired Gwyn. It could have taken us all. So why here? There can't just be nothing.
00:00:28
Speaker
There has to be more than just a cool joke, or is this really just a cave many swords have been sent to as just a means of execution?

Meet the Dungeon Master and Players

00:01:02
Speaker
You're listening to the hired sort a dnd podcast where the vast majority of outcomes have been decided by starbuck dice. Hey, so, uh, we have a fitness studio at our office and a guy proposed to a girl there and she said, no, they didn't work out.
00:01:30
Speaker
Oh, a little bit. Oh, I'm adding this. I'm not taking it out. This is all getting added. I was about to ask what? Yeah, that's why I hit the punchline fast because I don't because I was going to say so she's single now. Yeah.
00:01:48
Speaker
I don't know her, but I'm interested. I have a staff member at work who's always like, I need the dad joke for the day. And so I'm, I'm getting more up to par on some of my dad jokes. Anyway, you ready? Let's go. Let's do it. I know that's a soft, that's a cold open now. So whatever. Hello everybody. And welcome to another episode of the hired swords. That's with a W of the hired swords. I am your dungeon master, Michael, and I'm super excited to be playing this game with my friends.
00:02:17
Speaker
And those friends are Derek playing Davin. Yes, that's true. This is actual facts. I mean, I assume they're my friends. They may say otherwise, but Blaze, he has to be my friend because we're family. He's playing Krigs Galder or Saffron Ember Oak. Yeah, I've only had a choice. You do, you could be Krigs Galder. Mikey is a new, a newish friend of mine. He plays Joxer. I am definitely, definitely your friend.
00:02:44
Speaker
I love it. Ash, you are my best friend and you're Gwendolyn. That I am. I was wondering what you were going to say.
00:02:54
Speaker
I do agree, we're best co-friends. He's just trying to write off the coattails of your success. That's exactly right. The most popular character in the show. Are you best at co-friending or being dual friends on Blaze over there? You're thinking way too much about this. He has no answer for it. I'm just making it very clear that the reason I decided to be a dungeon master is so I could have friends because that's
00:03:23
Speaker
That's a good, an easy way to have friends is decide to run a Dungeons and Dragons game. And then everybody wants to play Dungeons and Dragons will be your friend. I'm going to create an app and it's going to be called dual friends. Yeah. Okay. Anyway, so we're super glad you guys are listening to the show and our

Battle Reflection and Mushroom Concerns

00:03:38
Speaker
adventure. When we last left off our, our party had just defeated a huge nasty plant monster.
00:03:45
Speaker
and with just really just this amazing combination of radiant attacks and monk rapier fire attacks and just amazing cool stuff and charred this monster into nothingness and then did some investigating looked around swam around a little bit in this lake surrounding this cave floor that they have had this battle in and
00:04:12
Speaker
Then after just kind of investigating looking around some interesting shape shifting back and forth from like a gill man and and gwyndolin being a shark and scaring the gill man after a little bit of that fun stuff we had a decision to go up and see what was going on upstairs with all of our.
00:04:30
Speaker
mushroom friends. When we discovered that these friends were no longer sentient, the Krigs and Daven came down to explain that. And I believe the last session ended with a brief discussion about not wanting to have mushrooms for dinner that night as they decide to head up out of this lower section of this cage. So we're going to cut in to you guys walking up this spiral staircase, making your way up towards the upper level
00:04:59
Speaker
of Lonely Hill Cavern.

Eerie Ascent and Nervous Banter

00:05:02
Speaker
And here we are. I will rush up to the top of the stairs and I will start thinking to myself, Jockster, can you hear me? You hear nothing. I will also run up the stairs as if there's something chasing me because now I'm feeling really nervous that like he saw something I didn't. And like, I'm just kind of like, why are you running up the stairs for?
00:05:28
Speaker
I don't know. Why are you running up the stairs? I wanted to get away from the party and see if you guys could hear me. Could you hear me thinking? No, don't scare me like that again. Well, that's a good thing though, right? We can't hear each other's thoughts anymore. I think to myself, did you hear that? I thought that was the joke. The fact that you were going to say, I could tell if you were, I could tell if you just sort of lost out what you wanted to say or if you were purposely doing that.
00:05:57
Speaker
Well, I guess it works. All right. What are you guys doing up there? I'll tell you in my thoughts. Did you hear anything? No. Exactly. We fixed it. Quick jokes, or it's behind you. Gwen? Gwen starts laughing. I guess I'm not as good as that. Because she doesn't know what to do. So she's just thinking that this is just some funny joke. Just tries fitting in.
00:06:28
Speaker
Oh my god. I like inside jokes too. I would like to be a part of one someday. Let's... I think we all need some fresh air. That seems fair, right? So we're just gonna head out. Go back out. We have a perfectly relatively, I mean, relatively safe place here we can
00:06:54
Speaker
Look, we're all a little bit battered after that. I don't know about you, my back. I'm getting too old for this. I wouldn't mind bedding down here, at least for the night, before we head back out into the wilds. We at least know these mushroom friends have existed this long without too much interference. I imagine we can at least get through a night. Yes, I would like to go talk to our mushroom friends.
00:07:23
Speaker
Oh, um, Oh yeah. We didn't mention that. Did we mention what, did you see that other creature that was down there? It looked like some sort of undead monster when we were fighting last night, snapped and beat and hit. I remember I just, they were, they were dead adventures, right? People who had been killed previously. It seemed to bring them back to life. They looked miserable and happy, right?
00:07:51
Speaker
I mean, that's not the kind of life that you want to lead at the end of your life. You want to rest whenever you die, correct? Did you say miserable, happy? I'm just saying that those creatures had died and they wanted to stay dead. I think that in a way we did a similar thing with the plant life up here. I think that they were not meant to be living and they didn't want to be in the same way that we are. And we freed them of that.
00:08:17
Speaker
They're not dead. They just might not be as talkative anymore. What I'm trying to say is just talkative. They're not, they're not, they're just regular mushrooms again. They, they wanted to be free and, and it seems like we, we accomplished what they asked. Those that are sporing are back to being boring.
00:08:43
Speaker
Oh, come on. You cannot groan at my joke and then do that. Oh, wow. I can do whatever I want. I don't get that joke. What does it mean? It means you can't talk to them anymore.
00:08:57
Speaker
Well, that's... You do some pretty interesting things. You could probably spark up conversation, but let's just say the rest of us, they aren't saying hello to us anymore. No more mushroom hugs is what I'm saying. There's no more mushroom hugs. How about we just go upstairs?

Cave Changes and Mystical Discoveries

00:09:13
Speaker
I feel like this is something that's easier to show. You know how we can't hear Dale? It's kind of the same thing now. It's another joke.
00:09:31
Speaker
Dale, do you get it? And she just looks in her bag. Gwen, let's go find a place to rest. Let's go. You just go ahead of... I'm just gonna... I'm gonna wait here behind you.
00:09:46
Speaker
So then I head up the stairs. Yeah, as you come up the stairs, you kind of spiral up finally. I'm imagining you guys are standing in the middle of the spiral stairwell surrounded by cavern walls, just like having this conversation in this dark cavernous. That's very us. Yeah, that's very us. Standing in the middle of the store in everyone's way in the aisle as they're trying to get the applesauce from around us. And we're just like, so hey.
00:10:12
Speaker
How was your day? Just completely oblivious to the fact we're just doing this. Can you believe what Becky said? I know, standing in front of the ketchup dispensing machines while waiting for your order while somebody else needs to get ketchup, but you're in the way. That sounds very specific. When you're trying to get a drink and you've only filled up the ice but haven't got the soda because you're still talking to your friend and someone else is trying to get the ice, but you're still there. Another specific one.
00:10:36
Speaker
Hey, guys, let's play D&D. And so they kind of come up over the edge of the stairs into that upper area. And again, you hear the rushing of that river that's just around the corner and it just rushes that just kind of the sound.
00:10:53
Speaker
the sound of it just kind of hits you as you come up over and this kind of smell this there's this must smell but it doesn't smell as rotted and sweet and stuff it's just this must smell a little bit a little bit of the the mist of this river is kind of floating around you no longer see the spores kind of hovering around like you did before either
00:11:14
Speaker
and the glow while it's still there the little bluish green hue it's much dimmer and sure enough the mushrooms are all there but they are just mushrooms none more than a few inches tall and they're just kind of growing in the corners and along the edges of the wall and you can walk up and to the left is that hallway and forward again is a couple rooms like you explored earlier.
00:11:40
Speaker
Did those Bingham boys kind of shrivel up or what happened to the really tall boys?
00:11:45
Speaker
If you go into that room and you look at the walls, you can see mushrooms have, are growing from all the cracks and crevices in these walls. And, and yeah, it looks like they've kind of changed into several large mushrooms protruding from the wall in the area where those, those mushroom beings were, but they are no longer looking like they're trapped or stuck or trying to, they look like they're growing free where they'd like to grow.
00:12:14
Speaker
That feels nice. I like that. Gwendolyn will go up and shake what was a hand before. And hello, friend. Oh, I guess we did set them free. Your joke earlier wasn't that funny now. I'm sorry. I'm not very good with words. I have them, but sometimes they come out sideways. I am sorry.
00:12:43
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. But it's OK. Sometimes jokes are hard and she kind of just walks away examining the rest of the mushrooms. I feel like Jox here is trying not to laugh at Krigs just because that that just seems like a really huge, huge moment. Just it's just like, wow, she said that to you. I mean, it's true, though.
00:13:12
Speaker
Words are hard sometimes. It's true. So what's the plan? Are we going to sleep in here? Do we want to cross the river first? I don't think we need to do anything too harrowing at this point. There's rooms here beyond the river. There wasn't too much for us. That's not true. There was one of those rooms. I had a bunch of bunk beds in it, I believe. Davin's right. We can probably stay there.
00:13:41
Speaker
Also, if we want to use some sort of magic to try and cross this river, it'd be better to use it now so we can rest and then be that full strength tomorrow. That's fair. Well, I think, uh, yeah, we could cross the river and, and camp out there. I'd like to have at least one more look around to make sure we're not leaving anything behind. I still, still am interested to see what's worth sending so many to Lonely Hill for only to have them one by one.
00:14:08
Speaker
Not return. So if there's something to be found, I want to make sure we're not losing it here. What? Shall we cross them? And wait, so we were supposed to be going here. This was our plan, right? To Lonely Hill? This is, yeah, this is Lonely Hill. We've established through different texts that we found previously. This is what was known as Lonely Hill and where they were all being sent to.
00:14:36
Speaker
Yeah, but we weren't really going to Lonely Hill. We were heading north to find out what was causing the corruption. It could be further north from here. We stopped here because we saw the campsite, we saw the cave, we realized that this was one of the other jobs that the high swords were doing. Oh, and Gwen dropped that dagger on us. Yes, almost impaling me, yes. I knew where you were. I wasn't going to kill you.
00:15:02
Speaker
The way you say that is very, very comforting. She glares at him. Oh, is that a joke too? Jokes are hard, huh? Why are you being so mean to me? Dale, did I do something? And she just looks down at Dale. That's what I thought. I didn't do anything.
00:15:28
Speaker
I just feel, like, shamed now. I... maybe... maybe we do need... Does anybody have a better way of crossing the river? I... I wasn't sure. If you don't mind, if you guys... trust me, if that's alright.
00:15:44
Speaker
Absolutely. How far across is it? Not to trust anybody. Since the crazy mist and fog and everything isn't thick with the spores, you can see across pretty easily now and it is, I believe it was about 30, 40 feet across. All right. Who wants to go first? Oh, I'll go.
00:16:09
Speaker
While they start kind of one by one-ing their way across the river, I'm just going to mosey around and meander and see if there's anything else worth seeing on this side of the river. Okay. Are you going to go anywhere in particular on this side or? Well, there is what appears to be a number of rooms that we may not have fully investigated. If I'm looking at the map correctly, there's three total rooms, four total rooms.
00:16:39
Speaker
Yeah, there are four rooms you do remember following Davin into the room that was the kind of bunk or like bunk for like a captain's quarters. It looked like with a round circular room in the in the distance. That's where he handed you that book that had the the strategy was written in elven, but it was about tactics and strategy and he kind of went through that and it's also where you found
00:17:01
Speaker
the scrolls of teleportation, they were in here as well. And then you do remember going around and looking at the large mushroom creatures up in the kind of dining hall or storage area up at the top, the far north.
00:17:17
Speaker
And then in the central square room that you were in was where that dilapidated rug and maps and things and stuff where the jocks are had looked in. And you remember him talking back and forth about the maps and some of that kind of stuff. So you do remember that it was looked around, but you're more than welcome to keep looking if you'd like.
00:17:33
Speaker
I'm going to handle this kind of in the way whenever your dad is trying to rush you out of the hotel when you're on vacation and like you're like, well, I got to make sure I don't leave my switch charger behind. I'm basically just walking around the hotel room and making sure there's like not anything under the bed or I'm not leaving like chonies in the corner of the room or something that I've, I don't want to leave behind. Yeah. Make an investigation check. I can do that. As he kind of goes wandering off, I say, don't go too far because I can only lose for about 10 minutes.
00:18:00
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I put my hand up, like, I know what I'm doing. 19 plus nothing.
00:18:10
Speaker
All right, so as you look around, you look under the bed, first person to look under the bed, and you do see a chest plate under there, like armored chest plate. And it is small, not small, it's like humanoid size, not dwarven size or whatever, but small, like for a small humanoid creature, like an elf kind of person.
00:18:36
Speaker
And it is silver and with white and gold lacing on it, like trimming. Hmm. It's very it's very fancy looking. I'm going to collect that and carry on my wayward son. And while he's doing that, I'm going to cast telekinesis and I'm going to lift Gwyn up in the air and I can do it up to 60 feet away. So I will move her from the edge of one side to the edge of the other way.
00:19:03
Speaker
Oh, yeah. So she gets carried across the way. Is she holding Dale out like he's a little bird creature or what's his true travel like? He's safe and cozy in my bag, but he's probably peeking out at the top. Yeah, I figured he would be looking at. Oh, that that seems way easier than what I did last round. Yeah, but it takes a lot of energy to. That was fun. Is it because I'm overweight?
00:19:33
Speaker
She yells across.
00:19:35
Speaker
Oh, what are you talking? No, it's fine. Joxer, you're up. And I'm just going to lift up my hand and he raises up in the air and I just move my hand across and he goes floating across. Well, and I honestly think that like Joxer is going to flail a bit like, you know, a dog being held above, you know, and just. He's just paddling, dog paddling like dogs do. When you hold him over the water. Exactly. I'm going to see him doing that. I'm going to be like, Joxer, stop moving. I can't control it anymore. And I'm going to dip him down just barely above the water.
00:20:04
Speaker
I need to dry that off. This water's rushing so fast that as you go over the rocks in the water, it's splashing up on you now as you're dipped down so low in it. And right as I get to the other end, I'll rotate him around so he's almost upside down, then rotate back and put him on his feet. Well, Devin? Devin. I'm imagining the
00:20:28
Speaker
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory like soda or whatever that makes them float and just flip it around. Busy lifting drink. Whatever you want burp. Busy lifting drink. Or a flubber. You remember the like floating scene in flubber? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. There you go, okay.
00:20:40
Speaker
I would have made it to the next room that I think at this point they're still doing their stuff. I'm kind of still making sure that I didn't leave my toothbrush in the sink area or, you know, phone charger there. Are you open the round room, the circular room? So it's a circular room. It looks like kind of like an office with a little table with chair and a couple of books. The book that's on the floor is the one that Davin kind of left because it's just dilapidated and make your investigation check as you continue to look around in there.
00:21:10
Speaker
uh, 17. Yeah, you look around and you do a pretty thorough job of looking and just realize it's, Davin must have got everything that's worth getting out of here. You just find mostly rotted extra clothing and papers and a rotten book that's destroyed. Uh, I'm gonna start heading back towards the group and there's still the two rooms, but
00:21:38
Speaker
Yeah, I'll head back to where Devon is there by the shore of the river. You you see you see jocks are hanging upside down and glaring at Devon in that moment. And it's your fault for squirming. It's your fault. When I get to Devon and see them having this like standoff, I'm going to be like, let's let's give them like 30 seconds to just kind of take a breather. Check with me. There's two more rooms left. If you want to grab one, I'll grab the other. Then we'll get out of here.
00:22:07
Speaker
All right, let's not take too long, though. I don't want to lose this. Oh, nope, yep. I'm totally fine. I just, Joxer doesn't look all too happy to be on that side of the river now, so. All right, I'll follow him, holding concentration. Okay, how long you got? It lasts for 10 minutes. Okay, so which room are you heading in? There's that center square room, and then there's the rectangular room up further up at the hallway that's kind of like a storage area.
00:22:34
Speaker
I think for him to be able to keep concentration, he can have the smaller room and I'll take the bigger one and just kind of do a cursory glance and start. If there's a chest or if there's anything that's open, I'm just swinging it open and double checking there's not anything blatantly obvious.
00:22:52
Speaker
Okay. So no check needed. You, you look through everything and the storage room, much like that office is just full of, of garbage. I mean, there was some food, food stuffs, like in bags and set down inside of these crates that are there. There's these three kind of.
00:23:13
Speaker
Chests and one of them is kind of busted up with plants kind of growing up through the middle of it But the other two were were fine and closed but just looking inside of them. Yeah, it's just basically destroyed old rotten foodstuffs and Gavin in the other room go ahead and make an investigation check for that room. I rolled a 14
00:23:35
Speaker
I'm going to peek my head in the door and be like, well, nothing in that one. Just as you look in, Davin, you see, just leaning up in the corner, a quiver. And it's a quiver with three arrows in it. Well, I mean, I can't show these things, but maybe somebody else in the group can. I think I'll take that from you for now. I have an idea. Sure. I'm going to keep that and kind of wrap it up with that
00:24:03
Speaker
breastplate or whatever, whatever technically it was that I found kind of, was it more chain or more like solid? It was like a solid breastplate. Think like, think like Roman armor. Okay. Like centurion breastplate. Yeah. Like the shape of like a muscular chest that it's been formed into. It's too big for me. All the stuff. It is. It does seem like it's the size of like a man elf or somebody like that. Hey, hold on. It just says a real man. What are you trying to say? You man, sorry.
00:24:32
Speaker
All right. Shall we go? Yeah. I think I've exhausted all of my desire to be on this side of the river. It took you nine minutes and 31 seconds to do that. And I'm just kidding. Run back. All right. I'll get to the edge and all right. You ready? Your turn.
00:24:51
Speaker
Lift him up in the air and I will as fast as I can move him across. I will just basically chuck him across the way I've got I've got my legs up and my arms wrapped up like I'm I'm bowling ball craigs now so you guys see from the other end you look up and you see this and
00:25:11
Speaker
Rolling in the air you just see like legs shield leg shield leg shield leg shield as he turns Rolls through the air and then lands on the ground beyond I feel like after already being kind of
00:25:29
Speaker
hung upside down, I would have been ready for some something. And since I know I'm going to rest, I'm going to cast Feather Fall. And so you're going to start falling very slowly instead of falling onto the ground.
00:25:45
Speaker
And as soon as I land and like kind of shake it off, shake my head and recompose myself, both arms straight up. That was awesome. Just like one of the coolest things he's ever done at this point. We're using that someday in combat. Um, and then I'm going just to mention door myself across. I just show up right next to everybody. You see this big puff of smoke, just kind of like up here and then I'm right there.
00:26:16
Speaker
So there you are

Heartfelt Moments and Magical Exploration

00:26:18
Speaker
standing there. You've got an entrance to a room to the left and then you've got the two doors right and left ahead of you down the hallway just as you leave that riverside.
00:26:26
Speaker
Gwendolyn would walk into the bedroom, so the one on her left, if she's walking towards it. Okay. Yeah. You walk in there. I'm going to follow Gwendolyn in there. Okay. Inside that bedroom, there are several bunks there. Most are pretty dilapidated and destroyed, but some of them might be manageable.
00:26:48
Speaker
I'm gonna take kind of a moment while the others are still arguing and bickering about how terrible the ride across the river was. I'm gonna approach Gwen and... Gwen, I'm really sorry earlier about my snarky attitude. It's been an interesting journey, to say the least, and I know this isn't exactly Al Minor that you were looking for, but I mean, there are signs elves were here, and maybe if anything else,
00:27:18
Speaker
maybe it'll rekindle some of that hope that we will find Elmenora and I'm gonna hand her like the the breastplate and show her the fact that it was very like ornate and elven and the quiver and be like your people your father's people this is a part of where they were so definitely think that we could still find we could find him one day and I do apologize again for my snarkiness
00:27:45
Speaker
Um, Wally's talking, she hadn't thought about Al Menorah, um, until now because her focus was helping the mushroom people. And you see kind of like a dim.
00:28:01
Speaker
I don't know why in her eye it kind of fades out it's I didn't think it was snarky I just it's been tough on us and we're trying to go north and I just hoped and she looks at the sigil of the items that he's holding and
00:28:20
Speaker
reaches out. I hope we find him. And when she reaches out to the sibble she puts a hand on Craig's shoulder. Thank you. I think I'm going to walk around for a bit by the river. I'll be back. And she places her bag on the farthest bed
00:28:45
Speaker
Emples out Dale and walks out past Daven and jocks her and just kind of listens to the river as it rushes by Okay Sounds good When you you appear? Daven I think jocks are kind of laughing to himself but also kind of that like fun annoyed he'll he'll just kind of like
00:29:13
Speaker
push your shoulder. I'm sure it was all my fault, I'm sure. We gotta have some fun, right?
00:29:22
Speaker
Yeah, I'm, I'm glad everybody's okay. Did you know I wouldn't drop you on your head, right? Well, not, not without a good reason, at least. Yeah. Maybe someday it'll be a tactic we use, right? Head first into the danger. That's great hearing that from the other room. Yes, please. I feel like, I feel like that currently is our tactic. I'm not sure we haven't gone head first yet.
00:29:52
Speaker
The irony is the people closest to the dangerous team seem to be the safest That's that's true. Did did anybody check this? I'm I'm really concerned about the battle tactics that I'm I just Yeah, I don't I'm that'll be a conversation for another day. Did anybody check this this area right here? I
00:30:19
Speaker
and just like the left right next to the water. No, that's where that one guy came from, the mushroom man, but we didn't go in there. Oh, I think I'm just going to run in there and see if there's any remnants of maybe a hired sword or anything that we've, we can find. Let me know if you find anything good, but for now I need to rest. I think I'm still bleeding. I'm going to go take care of that. Yes, yes.
00:30:49
Speaker
Alright, so as you go into that room, you walk in, there's a hallway that kind of ends right in front of you, but there's a brief little left that you can tell the walls on the outside of this thing are kind of built to kind of hug the curvature of the river, but you end up in a room that is
00:31:06
Speaker
is another kind of like a hexagon with straight walls, but made to make the room kind of rounded. And in the center of this room is a round fountain. And from the center of this fountain rises three tiers of bowls that seem to have once flowed with water, but right now they're covered in moss and the fungus and stuff is growing out of them. And there's a little bit of water still pooled at the bottom, but it's green with this layer of like green film over the top of it.
00:31:36
Speaker
And there's a actually make an investigation check. Okay. Uh, so that is a 16 minus one. So 15. So as you look at it, you do see the last few letters of an, of a word engraved. Uh, the rest is covered with some of this fungus, but there's an engraving on the, the.
00:32:00
Speaker
bowl of this fountain that is kind of at eye level. It's engraved with something in, you see the last couple of characters of some elven script on it. Um, I'll probably clear that off and read it because I do understand elven. Yeah. So as you clear it off in elvish, it says, if you are not living, live. If you're alive, live longer.
00:32:25
Speaker
Oh, so it's a live, laugh, love elf sign. Got one next. This would look really good above my entry door. Let's take this above my sink. Take it back to the bogey shack. I'll just acknowledge it and maybe even try to write it down or keep it to memory and then
00:32:53
Speaker
Maybe this will mean something to Gwen. I'll probably wait till tomorrow to bring it up, but it seems just like an odd time. And then if that's all I can see, then I'll probably just make sure that there's nothing in the actual fountain that I can just obviously see. And then I'll head back and probably find a bed.
00:33:20
Speaker
Okay. Just looking at this fountain, you can see there is still, there is a trickle at the top of this thing, a trickle of blue, bright blue water kind of trickling down the top of it. That is still flowing. Like this fountain could work, but it's clogged up or blocked, but that's all you really notice as you continue to look at it. I think in that scenario, I'll probably just take a, the, the flame rapier and just kind of burn off that top, uh, and see if that kind of ignites enough to get it going. But otherwise.
00:33:51
Speaker
Yeah, you kind of burn that top in a lot of the fungus and stuff there. A lot of the stuff that's on the top does kind of burn away and it's on the edges. But the stuff that's down in the water, like that's down in the bowls, they've been soaking in this water and they are, as the flames kind of go over the top of them, these mushrooms themselves look like they burn away and then they just swell back up.
00:34:18
Speaker
into living again. And it kind of continues down the whole thing. And it's like you cleaned the stone part of this fountain, but the mushrooms that were living in this fountain stay living. Even after being burned away, they come back as they're kind of sitting down in the liquid that is in these bowls of this fountain. Interesting. But I should probably get some rest and then I'll walk by and kind of lay down and then dive in there.
00:34:48
Speaker
There's an interesting, uh, statement, um, written on that, uh, um, fountain that's in there, but nothing, nothing of, uh, nothing of importance. What was the statement? I definitely remember and wrote it down and I, it was, if you are living, if you are not living live, if you are alive, live longer. Yeah.
00:35:17
Speaker
Alright. Was that a magic fountain? How was that magic? I wasn't talking. I was just trying to get some sneaky sneaks out of the DM there. Seems like a magic fountain to me. Seems like a little bit of a strange thing to say, but maybe just elves. I don't know. Meanwhile, I'm checking underneath all of these beds because I found stuff under one on the other side of the river.
00:35:46
Speaker
Yeah. So as you keep looking, it's just disheveled and multicolored growing fungus all over. There's nothing really of note. You do, you are able to kind of scrounge up a couple mattresses that aren't too bad and some blankets and pillows and stuff that you can kind of dust the, the fuzz off and lay down. If you want to use those for laying down, preparing a little like barracks, neat.
00:36:16
Speaker
Devin's cleared off one of the beds a little bit and then he notices that Gwen's not around. He says, why don't you two go get some rest? I'll get Gwen and I'll take first watch. We should probably just keep a watch just in case. Sounds good to me. I think I'm going to state one last little stop in the other room over there. I didn't pop in there as we were headed down the first time through. I
00:36:40
Speaker
I don't know. I still can't get over the fact that so many people died here and for what? It's kind of, it's hard to believe that it was senseless. Well, I guess it almost makes sense in the sense that if they had a reason to come here, so there was a monster they were trying to hunt, but then no one returned.
00:37:07
Speaker
It was more of an interest and became kind of extra important maybe i mean i didn't see anything of. Importance from that that plant but maybe it was he was the chief was hoping for some super magical item maybe a right. I don't know if it's just the old soldier and me and.
00:37:31
Speaker
not wanting to leave someone behind but there's gotta be something that makes this make sense to me and well I don't know I'd rather not leave any stones unturned and I'm gonna walk off into the other room
00:37:45
Speaker
Devin just looks to Dr. Darkser and he says, to me, it's a pit full of spikes. If you see a bunch of bodies at the bottom of a pit full of spikes, you just think those people are not very smart. That's what it kind of feels like to me at this point. I mean, I'm sure that if we could have maybe tamed that plant in some way, then maybe it would have some super magical properties, but it got a little burnt up.
00:38:14
Speaker
Yeah. I don't think it'd make a very good pet. Didn't, didn't seem to be able to move very far. No, but had a good reach. I'll tell you that. That's, that's true. That's true. I, uh, I'm going to go check on Gwen. I'm going to start circling around in this room and kind of quietly, not entirely under my breath, but just quietly like mushrooms, people, wilds, I don't know.
00:38:43
Speaker
something in here help me make sense of this just calling out thinking maybe these mushrooms talk to me at one point maybe they can be a conduit to like the spirits of the wilds or something i'm like come on this this feels just like a waste of so many lives in here
00:39:08
Speaker
Hello, everyone. It's your Dungeon Master, Michael, just interrupting the show real quick to tell you about a couple quick things. First of all, thank you very much for listening and for following us on Twitter at the Hired Swords and on Facebook as well at the Hired Swords. You can check out our Discord. Just look at the pinned tweet on our Twitter and you can
00:39:31
Speaker
Look at our store. We have a store where there's some pretty fun merch, including a Dale mug, a mug of the month, some t-shirts, something featuring our new amazing artwork. It's at thehired.store. You can check those things out there as well. I also want to talk about a super cool new deal. We're able to give you guys, our listeners, with Zencaster. Zencaster is a software website we've been using to record our podcasts nearly since the beginning.
00:39:58
Speaker
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00:40:13
Speaker
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00:40:32
Speaker
You get 30% off. If you sign up, they'll give you a 14 day free trial of the professional version of Zencaster. And then if you decide to sign up, you get that 30% off. If you use our promo code, which is zen.ai, that's zen.ai, slash the hired swords, zen.ai, slash the hired swords. So do all the things I just said, you'll love it. Go check us out on Twitter, on the Facebooks, you can
00:40:59
Speaker
Obviously, subscribe to the show, tell your friends about us, leave a review, all that fun stuff. And check out zen.ai slash the hired swords to get your 30% off and to help out our podcast a little bit. Thanks again so much and enjoy the rest of the show. Bye. Make a arcana or religion check, whichever you'd prefer.
00:41:28
Speaker
Okay, I don't know how good I'm actually in either of those. It'd be really great if I pulled up my character sheet for that. Just kidding. It's been up this whole time. You guys are so ready for me. I'm kidding. It wasn't up. I'm just buying time. We play D&D here. Is that arcana or religion?
00:41:46
Speaker
Well, I have zero and both. So that was a solid 17. Oh, man. At least your dice like you. So is this new is this new fancy dice that I'm rolling with currently? I got, you know, swords dice. You think back to your.
00:42:06
Speaker
studies and studying other religions. And you can't remember who the deity is, but you know from your time with other armies, armies that are elven and who they pray to, who they worship, there's a God who a deity who they consider responsible for magic.
00:42:25
Speaker
He was responsible for life and the bringer of life in these lands. And you remember this phrase, if you are not living, live, if you are alive, live longer, as a blessing this deity gave when it would create and bring something to life, especially those who
00:42:46
Speaker
served this deity or fought for this deity. You can't remember this God's name, but you're like, there's something to that phrase. It is tied to an elven legend about life. Awesome. I kind of go back and I start thinking about battle, and with the battle, I start thinking about the commands of Helm.
00:43:13
Speaker
everything that we kind of lived and experienced and dealing with the deities and realizing that they are something I have a hard time trusting. Because it always seems like there's an ulterior motive behind everything that they do. And having that recollection of like this, wait, there was a legend, there was a lore stories from all the people that I ran into and fought with and everything that kind of gave this
00:43:42
Speaker
this story of this deity or being that would use that kind of like a phrase or not even a motto, just kind of like a call to action for its purpose. I would feel like I had a hunch and I'm gonna head over to that fountain and not say anything to anyone because I feel like they're already getting a little bit tired of my
00:44:10
Speaker
They don't feel the same way that I do and I don't feel like involving them if they don't feel compelled or they don't have that. I don't want them to have that same burden that I feel for making this make sense. If they can live their life without having that burden, awesome. So I'm just gonna head in there quietly. This will now be my thing. I'm gonna go look at that fountain. Okay, you walk in there and you see that fountain. It is very clear now this fountain is flowing
00:44:39
Speaker
a lot more than when joxer was in there after joxer kind of cleared it off it seems now it started to like spurt back to life and there is blue water it's a lot like if you the the mini golf courses where they make the water look blue to keep it from growing stuff but this is this water glows and glistens blue as it pours down this top
00:45:00
Speaker
this top bowl where it kind of bubbles up and spills over the edge of this top bowl down to a slightly larger bowl, to a slightly larger bowl, and then to the bottom of this fountain. And in all of the bowls is this life of these plants that are growing. And it's different plants, fungus, mushrooms,
00:45:21
Speaker
flowers, different kinds of plants now have all started to grow in this now that these bowls have filled with this water. And that's what it looks like now. And you can see clearly that etching engraved on the front of this bowl, the edge of the bowl that's facing the entryway into this room. Okay.
00:45:43
Speaker
I'm still kind of leery about it, but I also am extremely curious. That ring that I previously had been forming and set that gem into, I'm going to take a little leather lashing off of my armor. I got a little extra, not necessarily tassels, but I'm going to tie it off onto this. Sure, I got tassels. I'm going to tie it off onto this ring, and I'm going to
00:46:09
Speaker
dip it in this water and see if there's any kind of effect or anything that happens. I'm just going as dumb scientifically as possible. Yeah, as you dip it down, you don't see any effect from. The the the ring itself or the leather strap or whatever dipping down inside this liquid. OK. Well.
00:46:39
Speaker
This is dumb. I'm going to put my hand down and scoop up a little bit and just straight drink it. Okay. So you put your hands in and you take a drink.
00:46:50
Speaker
And it tastes super bitter, but very refreshing and clear and pure. And you've had water out of like pools that have grown like film over them, like plants are growing in it and you've just drank it because it's all you had while you were out on a mission or whatever. But this, you knew what to expect tasting this, but it did not taste like that. It tastes fresh, but there's a bitter twinge to it. I need you to roll a D12, please. Oh boy.
00:47:22
Speaker
Okay. 11. So you gain 11 plus six temporary hit points as you feel invigorated. And you just feel a little bit strengthened by this, the what you just drank. It's either temporary hit points or healing, whichever, if you're at this point, it's healing. Yeah, I thought it might be so. So you get 17 hit points back, you feel some of your wounds kind of closing up and you're like, Oh,
00:47:51
Speaker
I feel a little better now. Uh-huh. Feeling slightly validated because I feel like I've found something. I don't think it's necessarily the pool of like fountain of youth that some might believe exists in our world, but I feel at least somewhat validated by this. I'm going to,
00:48:19
Speaker
I'm going to take a little bit of my water pouch, I'm going to dump it out then grab a little bit of it and remembering that Daven was pretty wounded and I still saw some blood seeping from the side of him. I'm going to head over towards that direction and see if he's somewhat interested in having a sip.
00:48:43
Speaker
Um, the whole time while that's going on, I've wandered over to talk to Gwen. So I've met her over by the river and I'm just going to go stand right next to her. Hi Gwen. Uh, hi. And before, before Daven walks over, um, Gwendolyn found a spot for Dale to sit down and like, what would look like a little recliner of mushrooms. And she kind of just placed them in it and she's just skipping rocks.
00:49:12
Speaker
I got four that time. Here you try and she hands over a pebble to Gavin. Thanks. Um, how you doing? He'll say as he just tries to skip it. It just goes straight into the water.
00:49:26
Speaker
can't skip rocks. Skipping is not my thing. The current of this river, literally the four or five skips and the thing's almost out of sight downstream because this thing's flowing so heavy. You're talking, you don't have to do this, but you're talking is like,
00:49:45
Speaker
You're kind of having to shout a little bit over the sound of this water going, but you don't have to do that. But just for immersion's sake, that's kind of how this situation's playing out. And there is like a mist from the just kind of keeping you slightly not quite dry. I'm fine. I just. Maybe I'm just tired and she skips another rock. Three.
00:50:15
Speaker
your hands. Another pebble to Daven. Daven's just going to kind of turn in his hand and you know, when I was a kid, I was, I was the only boy in the house, really. My father, he was either at the farm or when I got older, he went off to war. You got to turn your hand so you can throw it. Anyway, um,
00:50:37
Speaker
I, you would think of being the only boy in the house that I'd be the protector, right? The leader, but I wasn't. I just wasn't that kid. You know, my, my sister Aurelia, she, she was the leader. She was the oldest and wisest. Uh, even Geneva, the younger one, she, she just had that personality, right? That, that leadership that I never had. Geneva. Anyway, I remember when my father left to go after the war, he told me, listen to your sisters. They're smarter than you are.
00:51:04
Speaker
I always looked at the heart that they were the smart ones, the protectors of the family, not me. You're pretty smart too. Gwen, earlier today when I saw you go unconscious and I looked over there and I saw, and I couldn't tell if you were alive or dead, I was scared. And I have to say in that moment,
00:51:29
Speaker
I thought of you the same way that I thought of my sisters, that if it was one of them in that same situation, I would be terrified. And I can't have that. We've got to be more careful. Listen, the point I'm trying to make... I'm not your sister! We don't have the same parents! The point I'm trying to make...
00:51:53
Speaker
Listen, Gwen, I understand that you are looking for Almanora. And this may not be Almanora. I don't think it is. I... I... Daven, you're my... You've become one of my best friends. You've become mine too, Gwen. I was working to your upsets, but you'll seem to be fine about this.
00:52:18
Speaker
Dale likes you too, even though I exploded your necklace. I don't care about the necklace. Hang on. Yeah, Dale says he's not your sister either. I don't know where you came up with this. All right, Gwen. I'm sorry I brought it up like that. I just wanted to let you know that I care about you and I don't want you to die.
00:52:49
Speaker
She hears that last part. I wouldn't die, but I would die for you and for the rest of our friends, right Dale? She shakes her head. Well, so if you're willing to protect me, then you are my sister. She kind of stares at him. You mean like Jenny? Just like Jenny.
00:53:18
Speaker
And David's going to try to skip this rock and I'm going to use Mage Hand to float it in the air and get to skip like six times like going against the current. Whoa! That's the biggest one yet you did it! And she passes back and she goes in for the hug. David will like freeze for a second, like just really confused by this entire conversation. We're like, all right, and they'll just hug her back. And she whispers in his ear.
00:53:51
Speaker
I think you're smart. Don't doubt yourself. Did I say I was stupid? I don't think I said I was stupid. What? As she pulls back. Because the current. Never mind. Go back to skipping your rocks. It's called skipping, not scooting.
00:54:12
Speaker
Oh, hey, Craig. Good to see you. I'm just sitting here. I just want to unmute for everything. I can't. I'm trying not to laugh because I can't. That's too much. You're not going to explain this one. It's normally jocks here with the fancy drinks to try. I got something for you. I might put a little pep in your step.
00:54:40
Speaker
Alright, at first point I'll try anything, why not? I hand him the cask of blue goo. Of blue milk. Alright, it's safe, right? I mean, I'm still here. Well, for some reason that's not reassuring and I don't know why. Yeah, that makes sense. I'll take a little sip of it. Okay, you take a little sip, just a little hit or whatever, and
00:55:08
Speaker
You feel the tingle and the warmth of it, and you gain a hit point, and you're like, oh, this is pretty good. And you can feel just that it gives you that little bit of life and healing. You definitely are familiar with that feeling of being healed magically. And there's a little slight bit of it, but it's enough for you to realize that's what happened. Huh. Where'd you get this from?
00:55:37
Speaker
Well, I'm not gonna say I told you so, but I told you so. That fountain that Joxa found earlier, I'm starting to believe that's why so many were sent here, was either in an effort to identify if this actually was a magical fountain of sorts, or if it could be used, or, I mean...
00:56:00
Speaker
Let's just say we're lucky that we didn't have our swords at each other's throats by the time we stepped in this cave, what with how entering each other's minds can be a little bit daunting. But, uh... I don't know what you're talking about. I have nothing to hide. Oh yeah, me either. But this fountain was right in there and it definitely gave me a little bit of a boost, if you will.
00:56:27
Speaker
All right. I'm going to take a bigger sip now, like a big chunk of it. Roll a D12. A four. A three. So a total of 10, it's plus six. So it's a D12 plus six hit points when you take a mouthful worth of drink of this thing. And for your weak little self, that's most of your HP. I think I'm stop bleeding. Yeah. Why don't you offer some to Gwen? She took some pretty big hits too. While you're at it, she's pretty upset about this whole alma mater thing, maybe console her a little bit.
00:56:57
Speaker
Oh yeah. Hey Gwen, I just kind of showered over. And David just walks away laughing. Thirsty huh? Gwendolyn goes around, does a double take to see if Daven's there. And she's like, where did he, and when she turns, she sees he's walking away and sees Krigs over there. And she's like, I'm skipping rocks. And she holds up a rock.
00:57:25
Speaker
Oh, okay. I come over and I grab a rock and I'm like, all right, I'll show you how it's done. And then I just hurl that, that bad boy. Does it skip or does it just plunk in? I don't know. If you want to make a, if you want to make a sleight of hand check. Sure.
00:57:47
Speaker
Right? That's not a strength thing. That's like a finesse. Oh, yeah, it's definitely like finesse and that's a five. You got to have the right. Make it strength, but automatic fail no matter what he rolls. It's a five. Yeah, you throw it and it hits the ground in front of the bank of the water and then skips and splashes into the water. Nice try, but you got to angle your arm.
00:58:11
Speaker
Okay, I thought I would do much better at that than I did. That was slightly embarrassing. I'm glad it was only you that saw that. Are you thirsty? Yeah, it was really embarrassing. Yeah, okay. Uh... Got some cool elf stuff if you want to see it. What is it? It's stinky water. You want to check it out?
00:58:41
Speaker
She kind of just looks down at the river, just like... Oh, trust me, it's cooler than this. Oh, okay. I'm gonna lead her off to that room and I'm gonna take her to the fountain, not just like the cask. I emptied that out mostly with Devon. I pick up Dale from his recliner chair, his room chair. Nice.
00:59:07
Speaker
I'm gonna take her to the fountain and be like, this is the fountain jocks are found. It says live, laugh, love on the side. And well, I guess he got it working again. And I'm starting to believe this is what so many were interested in Lonely Hill for was this fountain. Have you heard the legend of live, laugh, love? Does that ring any bells for you?
00:59:33
Speaker
Live, laugh, love. Hang on. And she does the... Oh my gosh, what is it called? Squeeze your nose and blow to get the air out? Yeah. Pops are ears.
00:59:47
Speaker
It's like I do the Vassala method. Is that what it's called? I don't know. I'll send you an edit. Okay. But yeah, that's basically what she does. She holds her nose and blows to block out her ears. Oh, that's better. I can hear you now. You said live, laugh, love. Where did you hear that? And then I actually say what's been written down in Elva. She can read it. It's right there.

Gwendolyn's Plant Connection and Fountain Mystery

01:00:15
Speaker
Yeah, Gwen, as you look at the thing, you read it. It says, if you are not living, live. If you are alive, live longer. Would I have recognized this when I look? Make a history check or religion your choice. Okay. Go ahead, Krigs, while I roll. I don't know what links
01:00:39
Speaker
There are those in this world that would go to links beyond anything any of us, I believe, would be willing to do for something like Eternal Life. And if they believed that it was capable just by merely drinking some water from a fountain or harnessing the magic of this place, wars would be fought over something like this. I rolled a 12.
01:01:06
Speaker
I took a drink of this, this liquid blue milk, I'm now calling it, it sounds disgusting, but it invigorated me in ways I did not expect. I didn't expect to feel, well, healthier after taking a sip of this. You took quite a big hit during that last battle, and
01:01:34
Speaker
Well, your heritage is here in some way, form, or fashion. Maybe, I don't know, maybe you would partake of the water and see if you also feel healthier or healed in some way.
01:01:51
Speaker
Gwen with your 12, you definitely remember the late, the legend, the same legend I told Craig's about where this, this is a bringing of life and whether it's health or maybe even life to, you know, a re re not reanimation, not like necromantic, but very much like a, a deity who can bring life. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here just ripping bail on it.
01:02:19
Speaker
My good boy, you're just dipping him in moth's water right now? No! It sounds familiar, I just... Does this fountain look familiar? Like from my dream familiar? It does not, not this fountain, no.
01:02:38
Speaker
Michael, come on. You gotta, you gotta pull me out here, bud. Cause I can't, I can't play D and D this way. I'm joking. What with mysteries, you don't like mysteries. Um, I go and I stick my hand in the water. Oh, Dale, I didn't know you were going swimming and cause she sees Craig's dipping Dale in the water.
01:03:06
Speaker
Oh, I didn't actually do it, no. Oh, you didn't do it? I just imagine you doing it. Dale is still in my hand. I said Dale on the side and I put my hand in the water and I kind of feel around and I can feel the mushrooms and the moss and I am going to speak to plants and ask them, let me see the fountain in its full glory.
01:03:35
Speaker
Okay, okay, okay, okay. Please. Make a persuasion check. No, just do it. I'm joking. Otherwise I wouldn't be D&D. 15 plus... 13. Is it a minus? Yeah, it's charisma.
01:04:05
Speaker
Yeah, I thought I thought it might be bad, but it's okay because you you asked to see the fountain in all its glory and the plants that are under the water, they all kind of like they seem to grow just a little bit each of them a little more.
01:04:24
Speaker
And as they all kind of grow and some of them, their, their leaves and little bits of the plants start to kind of fall over the edge of the, of the bowls in this fountain that, and it creates, it's like almost like a hanging planter now, some of these, and it does look very beautiful, but it, it's almost as if to say like, we are the splendor, the glory of this fountain.
01:04:54
Speaker
In Elvish, I still say to them that I think they're beautiful and that they shouldn't change a thing about them. One of the one of the leaves that's nearby just kind of slowly shifts over and sets on top of your hand. I'm watching this just kind of stunned. I'm like, what the. I take a finger and I pet it. Do I get any kind of sensation from it?
01:05:23
Speaker
Or vibe, vibe check. No, it's very similar to the feeling you always get when you do speak with plants and you ask plants for help. And it's the same vibe, the same feeling. These plants are very, but you do feel the vibrance and life in these plants. There's nothing but just light and life and living energy in this plant life.
01:05:52
Speaker
In Elvish, I still go, why you're so very kind. I am very glad to meet you. Have you been here long? You don't get much of a response really from it. It seems there is no, maybe no understanding of what you're saying. I think Gwen is going to try to understand like as if she's talking to Dale.
01:06:23
Speaker
Um, she asks the plants again in Elvish, do you want to meet my friend Dale? And I take my hand and I slowly reach it down to Dale who's sitting on the side of the fountain. Okay. As you gesture towards Dale.
01:06:46
Speaker
a couple little vines of this plant kind of come up out from the water at the base of the fountain and just kind of
01:07:00
Speaker
wrap around the backside of Dale, not like grabbing him or anything, but just kind of like creating like this, almost like he's sitting with, sitting in like this, this half circle loop of vine now that is, it's just kind of almost embracing him as he sits there. Wow. He literally just got a vine bean bag. I asked the plants once more before I go.
01:07:30
Speaker
I think the water should be free for this fountain. So that way it can flow and give you guys new life and Elvish. And that'll probably be my last thing. So you finish and you kind of take your hand away and step back and you hear a
01:07:54
Speaker
as this bubble kind of at the top bursts and the fountain begins to pour down its kind of full its full expanse and what it's able to do as it like it's the full
01:08:10
Speaker
amount of water flowing from the top down into these bowls and down and it's it's lovely and the the plants even seem to kind of stretch and grow from it a little bit as they they benefit from the what this water the boon that this water gives them this life that flows with it and
01:08:29
Speaker
It flows up to just a couple inches from the bottom of the from the top edge of the bottom part of the fountain and seems to just stop and continue flowing but never overflow.
01:08:42
Speaker
I go to pick up Dale and I stick my hand making my hand wet but still like little droplets can come off of it and I take the vines and unwrap Dale from it and I get more water so my hand is more wet and I just start petting the vines with this water.
01:09:01
Speaker
Yeah, as you continue to pet the vines that are up out of the water, they kind of grow in diameter and, you know, you'll pet. And when you put your hand up, a couple more little leaves will have sprouted on it. And just the more it gets exposed to this, the just more living and alive these plants are.
01:09:21
Speaker
See, I told you, you wouldn't like this. And she still speaks in Elvish to the vine. Here, grow my new friends. And she puts it down. Puts the vines down next to the fountain. Alex krigs. Look, I got the fountain working. And she just walks away to go to bed. I'm just kind of dumbfounded. It
01:09:46
Speaker
There are times when I've never doubted Gwyn's abilities or capabilities, but there are times when she seems so carefree in a way that I almost envy it. I almost envy this carefree nature where it seems like the happy times come much easier than the sad.
01:10:14
Speaker
And to just watch what I thought was an amazing, oh, check it. I may have found like a fun little healing pool that she just had this whole rather profound experience with. I'm kind of left dumbfounded again by Gwen and what she is actually capable of. Awesome. So Gwen, you've headed off to go to bed. Daven's headed off to go to bed. Jock, sir.
01:10:43
Speaker
Yeah, so I probably would have just kind of sat down against the wall in that room after everybody had left. Yeah. And after. After kind of a little bit, I just kind of put my hand out and call back spell slots and and just kind of sit there, you know, kind of kind of communicating back and forth. And and then I feel like
01:11:12
Speaker
There's there's kind of this frustration that's coming over you know yeah we we made it through this moment but it's just another moment where everybody was in such dire straits and I'm. I'm just I'm just kinda like drawing it with like maybe a piece of rock on the ground just kind of I don't know frustrated and.
01:11:35
Speaker
And then I just imagine that, you know, the spell slots is just kind of crawling up and down like my shoulder or whatever. And then if Davin does walk back, I'll kind of remember. And Davin, do you have any energy left? I used that spell. I know what you want. I know the fix you need.
01:12:18
Speaker
Oh, well, that's actually here. And he's going to pull out one of the scrolls of teleportation. He says, it's a teleportation scroll. I found two of them. It's probably best that we split them up just in case we need them. Yeah, I mean, I might be able to. And and this is one of those few times you've actually seen it like he'll like just a book will appear. This kind of purple, ethereal book will pop out of nowhere. I might be able to throw it in here.
01:12:28
Speaker
Can you give me that picture? I got the goods.
01:12:47
Speaker
You have more things that just pop out of nowhere than I've ever seen before. I just feel like knowledge is important. And the more that I know, the more I can protect everybody.
01:13:07
Speaker
Why learn things when you can just know them? If only we were all that good. Maybe I'll teach you someday. It's not that hard. I would appreciate that. I would love to learn more.
01:13:24
Speaker
You failed the first lesson. All right, I'm going to go to bed. Yeah. I'll stay up a little bit longer to make sure that everybody makes it back in here. All right. Does everyone else come back in and go to bed? See, that's Elvish for yes.
01:13:52
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think I just. All right. Head in and nothing fancy. OK, so as everyone kind of one by one jocks or you watch everyone walk by and everyone starts to get settled and kind of find space on a moldy.
01:14:10
Speaker
kind of moldy mattress or pillow and some blankets curled up in the corner and they find the best they can and get settled in to rest. And everybody seems to be finally settling down, going to sleep. You even hear a snore from over in Safran's direction. But as things quiet down and everybody settles in, you hear, psst, come in here.

Mysterious Whisper and Cliffhanger

01:14:40
Speaker
That's where we'll leave the episode. What? No. What? My goodness. Who is that?
01:15:06
Speaker
I guess if you want to find out, you're going to have to listen to the next episodic installment of The Hired Swords. If you want to keep up with us and all the behind the scenes goofs and gaffs, you can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at The Hired Swords. Be sure to check out our merch shop at thehired.store. And if you want to tell the world about us, be sure to leave a review. We'd super appreciate that. Thank you again. Have a wonderful day.