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Ep.12 Mysterious Farewells And Missing Fathers
164 Plays4 years ago
Having accepted a contract from The Tower of Testing, Francine Einhorn tells a harrowing tale of her missing father Dilmar. Her story plucks the heartstrings of our heroes yet Krigs is apprehensive to return to the land he's spent much of his long life. Still, they agree to help Francine and prepare to set out for the Stone Mountains in search of Dilmar.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Mission
00:00:00
Speaker
Previously on The Hired Swords. Receiving a task from the Tower of Testing, our heroes are introduced to Francine Einhorn. She tells us of her father, Dilmar, that was lost some years ago. A scout for the armies of Helm, he was assigned to the Stone Mountains, a land far too familiar with Krieg's Goldr.
00:00:22
Speaker
Apprehensively, he and the party accept her mission to find information on Dilma, and if possible, bring him home alive.
00:00:53
Speaker
You're listening to the Hired Swords, the D&D podcast where everything is made up and the XP doesn't matter. So Devin says, so did you guys find out any information?
00:01:17
Speaker
Yeah, I didn't really see anything through the books, but she told me that there was a gnome. He's one of the leaders of the parties, and he told her not to worry about it. She seemed that as a weird thing, and Jaxa could probably tell you more about what he found, but he...
00:01:41
Speaker
He did find a ring of protection, and why would someone leave a ring of protection and not be wearing it? Yeah, so there was a room underneath the cabin, and I found a very
00:02:02
Speaker
ornate black statue, black stone statue of the paladin king, and apparently that means more to others than my memory for
Legend of the Paladin King
00:02:14
Speaker
sakes. Do I know anything about this? Would Craig be a scooper? Make a history check. Yeah, okay. It is a stone statue. I am a dwarf. I don't think it's gonna apply. I'm trying to get that advantage. You don't know about paladins, yeah?
00:02:31
Speaker
That's not how that works 17 plus 0 17. Yeah So you would definitely know of the paladin king. He was a lieutenant when you served with him and He was promoted very quickly because he served with a small group and kind of did favors for the the king at that point and the king of greater glintry he
00:03:01
Speaker
he served and became general over all the armies in the war against the creatures and servants of the gods of the abyss and as those gods kind of persuaded many of the people groups of the south to come come north and and attack greater glintry he led the armies against them and and curbed their attack the as he became general he then was
00:03:27
Speaker
shifted to Torch Key Island. Torch Key Island is an island to the west of the continent that you guys are on where the main, the end of the war took place after the
00:03:43
Speaker
Gods hid artifacts on Torchkey Island to lure more combat, to lure people into more combat. This did that. It had that effect. And so he won the battles, the Battle of Torchkey Island and Torchkey City, and he he purged
00:04:02
Speaker
the area of the portals that the army from the abyss was coming from. This earned him the status of King of Torchkey Island, and he served Helm directly. He was known as the Champion of Helm, the Paladin King.
00:04:20
Speaker
After he became king, his party dispersed. They all kind of spread out to continue and complete closing all of the portals that these creatures from the abyss were coming from, because there were still little pockets of insertion all through Greater Glintry and Torchkey Island. Well, he never returned and none of his party, except for a couple of them,
00:04:45
Speaker
ever returned from this mission, these missions. They all went separately to do this, and many of them never returned, him included. And you know, the last you heard, Unshadamal's brother, Leo Shadowmon, was ruling Torchkey Island as a stand-in for his brother not being there. It's his half-brother. Lord Dump. Well, that certainly is a lot of information, but I don't think that has anything to do with what we're doing, does it?
Connecting the Past and Present
00:05:14
Speaker
I just just find it weird that the paladin king and he too went missing and then then her father went missing after he had served the war with her with him. For clarification I shared the party my knowledge which is what you just told them. Yeah definitely. Joxer's eyes glazed over a bit and then come back around. You
00:05:40
Speaker
You served in the same war, correct, Krigs? Yes. I did. Okay. Um, we also found these two vials, which I'm assuming are potions. And she already said the, the ring of the ring that does protection. I need, I need to sit down. I'll take a nap. We'll finish this up.
00:06:08
Speaker
We probably won't leave till the morning anyways. What I did get some stuff for us, we have provisions to get us through the next couple of weeks. You are a saint. Yes, thank you. I believe it's pronounced sorcerer. You have a little too much that you can handle. I think, oh, lay down. We'll take care of this. Oh, saint isn't really that far off either. I know what I meant and I said what I said.
00:06:37
Speaker
But yes, a nap sounds great. Good night. Good night. Yeah, so it's afternoon at this point, just a little bit. And so he's taking that afternoon nap. What else does everyone want to do for the afternoon? Well, I, Krigs is, I just want to go to the Armorsmith for a second, see if there's anything that could be useful there. Okay. Okay. You go over there. Who else?
00:07:06
Speaker
Gwendolyn is gonna go lay by the fire. She feels a little drained. I'm gonna go lay down for a bit as well. Yeah, please, if you could keep an eye on Joxer as well. He's a little under the weather. Daven's gonna just kind of divvy up all the stuff that he bought, kind of spread it all out so everyone can take like a pack essentially to go instead of him carrying everything again. Is that trail mix? I got extra just for you.
00:07:34
Speaker
Thank you so much. Today we have trail mix. Don't eat it all right now though. It's going to last us a couple of weeks. I won't. She just grabs a handful, like a big handful, goes over and sits by the fire. Comfort food. Yes. You just hear. Scarf it up.
00:08:11
Speaker
Gwen, you do notice that Mariahs and Edie are nowhere in sight. They're no longer at the camp at all. Uh-oh. Might be for the best currently. Depends on where they are. Oh, dear. Davin, I...
00:08:31
Speaker
Have you seen Marius? Um, no. Not since early this morning. I don't see him or Edie. This kind of worries me. Well, I mean, you guys calmed him down earlier, right? I can't imagine what else they would be getting into. I guess you're right. I am a bit drained. I need to recuperate, at least for a moment.
00:09:00
Speaker
If you'd like, I can kind of make it walk around town and see if I see them anywhere. Would it be too much? Not at all. Make sure you keep an eye on our things, okay?
00:09:11
Speaker
Okay, so Daven's gonna go walk around. Joxer is taking a nappy poo and Gwyn is just having a rest. We'll go ahead and start with Krigs though as you have left the party probably before this conversation and made your way towards the armor bearer.
Gear and Personal Stories
00:09:29
Speaker
You arrive at the armor bearer and
00:09:32
Speaker
It is getting close to closing time, but not quite. The door is open and inside there you see this dwarf woman standing there. She is out in the store now stocking. She's putting arrows in a quiver and hanging them up and getting a few more arrows out of a little bucket and putting them in a quiver. She's just stocking the shelves a little bit.
00:10:01
Speaker
Good afternoon. It's nice to see you up and around your shop. Ah, hello there. How are you today? Doing great. Great. You're here to use the furnace again. No, I won't be needing that today. Thank you. Thank you for the little toy you left behind. That was magnificent how you made that thing. That was really great. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Sure. Just a little something I figured you might appreciate with what I had there.
00:10:32
Speaker
Yes, it was. I'll tell you what, Hurley would love something like that. He loves little knickknacks and doodads and he tries to make them himself, but there are never anything like that. That would be cool. If you want to make a bunch of those and sell them, you should go talk to Slim over at Hurley's place. He would put them on the shelf for you. He could make a couple gold off of those. Keep that in mind. I do fancy myself going a little bit of a blacksmith.
00:10:59
Speaker
I'm sure I could whip something together at some point, but we are going to be out of town for a little while. We have a new task we've been given from the tower. I did want to say prior to leaving, though, thank you again for your use to your forge. Of course. You've made it well worth my while, that's for sure. Great.
00:11:23
Speaker
Before we leave, we're going to be gone at least a week or two. Do you maybe have any provisions, something that might make our time on the roads a little bit easier? What do you have in mind? Something for protection? Some sort of weapon? What are you looking for? I've got a few things here that have come in once the party's returned, but what do you want? What are you looking for?
00:11:48
Speaker
Maybe protection. I have a few in my group that are a little less stout than myself, I suppose. Okay. Well, I've got a little bit of armor over there. If you look and you see a couple of chain shirts hanging there and you do see a breastplate hanging as well. Looking around the shop here. You're making an investigation check. Let's say 12.
00:12:16
Speaker
Okay, you have the chain shirt, the breastplate, and you do see a couple of leather gauntlets that are sitting underneath the breastplate, just kind of displayed there on a table under the breastplate that's hanging on the wall. Unfortunately, I don't know if I'm going to find anything that's of too much usefulness to us at this point.
00:12:42
Speaker
Anyway, before we take off, I did want to say, I wanted to clarify something I said to you last we spoke. You asked me at that time if the symbol on my shield meant anything to me still. It meant anything to me at all. It's not something I like to talk about. And I replied maybe a little dishonestly. It does mean honestly everything to me.
00:13:12
Speaker
But let's keep that between you and you and me if possible. Okay, I understand. I must say I've only ever heard of it. I've never seen it before, but it rang a bell as soon as I saw it because of just some legends I've heard tell, you know, you know us. I used to travel with those who like to tell stories and they especially liked to tell them to me because I turned them into songs, you see, and
00:13:41
Speaker
The story of Oak and Ember is one I've heard before. One of these days you'll have to let me hear these songs. That'd be fun. Well, I wish I could. I really do. I just don't have the voice for it anymore. Oh, that's fine.
00:13:56
Speaker
I appreciate what you've done. Maybe the little trinket I left for you, make it worth your while. It honestly made me a little homesick. Maybe that's why I needed to clarify, but I see you well. I do have a journey and hopefully we can reconvene when I get back and have a nice, nice conversation about these stories. Perhaps we can. I hope for you the best and I hope that your story
00:14:25
Speaker
This next adventure, there's nothing like that of Oaken Ember. I'll tell you that right now. I hope, I wish you better luck than that. Of course. I wish you a great, a great evening. Yes, thank you too. I'm just going to head back to the party and not really find anything. She gets back to her work. Okay. Gotta have that Dwarven Bond, man.
00:14:47
Speaker
All right, so if you head back to camp and see if you just happened to see him. Yeah, why are you walking around? Why are you walking around? Go ahead and make that investigation check. Actually, start with the perception. All right. It's a 10 plus one, 11. 28. Okay, an 11. You aren't seeing him currently. You walk out of the camp past the
00:15:13
Speaker
tower of testing, and where do you head at that point? Which direction? I'd probably head north toward the longhouse. Okay. As you head towards the longhouse, you do see the widow Tolliver is sitting on a stool outside of her little cottage, and there are a couple people sitting outside the longhouse and just kind of talking to each other, drinking, and just the typical scene there that you've come to know is what happens there always.
00:15:43
Speaker
Yeah, you don't you don't see.
00:15:45
Speaker
Marius or Edie currently He's he's looking around for them But he's actually kind of a little bit more distracted by seeing the widow outside now and he kind of keeps glancing over as he walks around and finally he just Kind of like begrudgingly walks over and he kind of stands right in front of her and he crosses her arm And he kind of uses his foot to just kind of draw around in the dirt a little bit almost like a pouty kid And finally without ever looking better. He kind of just says so This is this is this man is this thing is it something I'm gonna have to worry about
00:16:15
Speaker
She looks up at you and she says, I don't know who you're talking about. You don't know. You don't remember? You weren't present. Oh, I remember something, but it was the look on your face. It was like you'd seen a ghost or worse. I've never seen anything like it.
00:16:44
Speaker
That voice that I heard, it was frightening. I assume that's who you mean, but I know nothing about who it is. It came from you, not me. I thought maybe... I don't know what I thought. I'm sorry to bother you. I hope... You're no bother. You're no bother. I wish you the best. I hope whatever this is, you are able to sort it out. I
Concerns and Confrontations
00:17:08
Speaker
hope it doesn't have to come to that.
00:17:11
Speaker
I'm sorry for the way I acted, and he just turns the rocks away. You make a perception check as you walk away, as she says something under her breath. Okay. 16. Okay. You hear faintly as she says, the truth is often hard to take under her breath as you turn to walk away. He stops for just like an instant, but doesn't turn back and then just walks on, and then I'll head back to the camp.
00:17:41
Speaker
Noice. As you go back towards the camp, make another perception check. Third time's the charm. Nope, it's not. It was a natural seven. Uh, it looked like a one. It was an eight total. Okay. Yeah. You still aren't, aren't seeing any sign of Mariahs or Edie anywhere. As you walk out, walk down the road there. I'm like, no dice. And I'll, uh, okay. I was kind of sit down. I'll be like, I didn't see him anywhere. They must have been off on their own.
00:18:11
Speaker
Weird. I mean, she just sits there thinking for a while, thinking of how she left Marius. Cause he was in a good mood, wasn't he? After he had gotten food? Uh, he, yeah, he was hungover. He was okay. He was just kind of like, yeah, moaning and groaning from the overdoing it the night before. We, uh, uh, how long did it take for him to go up there and come back?
00:18:40
Speaker
It probably took him 20 minutes and a half hour or something like that. Do I notice? I look around where their Tint was is and see if they took their belongings with them Okay, they their belongings are still in the tent you still see you still see a couple their couple bags that their travel bags that they had and a couple spare Spare boots that one of them had and some stuff like that just sitting around about their weapons
00:19:10
Speaker
Those are not there.
00:19:24
Speaker
You know how he can be. I just just want to make sure everything's okay. I am just so drained. I want to help friends so much. I just... I can't find any clues. It might be best to just go out on the trail, but...
00:19:49
Speaker
You can't help everybody all the time, Gwen. Sometimes you have to let some people fall so you can lift others up. I guess you're right. And she just, like, just stares at the fire for a while. Devon doesn't say anything else either. He just kind of does the same. All right. Krigs, not too long after they've been sitting there, you make your way back to the tents as well, if that's where you're headed back to.
00:20:16
Speaker
Yeah. So you make your way back to camp and it's not quite evening yet. It's a, it's probably dinnertime, but it's not quite like dusk and you guys have anything to do as you sit around here or just going to sit, stare at the fire, wait for the night to pass. What are you up to? I'm passing the night myself unless something arises. Yeah, that's my plan too. Okay. Uh, jocks here would have probably stirred a little bit and
00:20:43
Speaker
and tried to find a little private spot to do, uh, look, look at some of the, the ingredients he has right now. And then, uh, and then probably returned, uh, to sleep. Okay. Yeah. You, you do have those new flower ingredients, the flowers from widow Tolliver's front porch.
00:21:05
Speaker
And as you check those out, you, you could, you get the feeling those would make a nice kind of light minty, kind of almost effervescent kind of brew. So those might be a nice thing. Can I just say that the widow is like an awesome band name or like an album name.
00:21:25
Speaker
It's true I like it Oh my gosh, yeah, no and the the first song is that the blue lily. Yeah, it's very 90s Really? So I'm gonna I'm gonna do like I'm gonna try to try to play with those a little bit and then probably head to bed So I'll I'll do those roles in a second
00:21:50
Speaker
Yeah, do that. That's great. Well, let us know what that is. Um, so yeah, after you guys are there, jocks just kind of tucked himself away working on what he's working on. But the rest of you are kind of sitting around and, and, uh, getting closer to dinnertime and dusk when Mariahs and Edie walk up from up near, up in town, they kind of walk down to the, to the camp and.
00:22:17
Speaker
They're just kind of chatting with each other, seem to be doing okay and normal as they walk down, just kind of joking and laughing and poking each other. Hey, it's funny. We'll see. It'll be all right. And they're just kind of coming in and sitting down. Hey there, you guys. It's good to see you. Comforting. Hello. I know the adventure camp is like toward the south end of town. Did they come from north, like up through the main part of town or did they come from like the south end? They came from the north, the main part of town. Yeah.
00:22:46
Speaker
Yeah. And they sit down and, and Marias is like, well, hello everyone. What, uh, what was your day like today? Um, mostly uneventful, I suppose. Where have you guys been? Oh, well, we had a conversation with the chief and, uh, and, uh, we're, we're.
00:23:03
Speaker
back now we're going to leave town tomorrow but in the morning but it's been good to meet you guys to know you Edie says yes we're going to just head on home you know and we'll see we'll don't know that we'll ever see you all again but it was a pleasure as Mariah said Gwendolyn has a confused face you spoke with the chief yes yes we went in to have a conversation with him Edie says
00:23:32
Speaker
And he welcomed us in and we had a talk and he kind of answered our questions for us and satisfactory. So we're just going to head on out and it'll be great. We're going to head back home and just see what's next for us there, you know. Do I notice anything weird about it? Because Gwendolyn is just like shocked. Make that insight check. This 180 move she's pulling.
00:24:02
Speaker
let's make it a 15. Your instinct tells you this is weird. She is genuinely believing what she's saying. You don't sense any fear or intimidated kind of feelings from her. But yeah, she's your instincts definitely red flags. And the same with Mariahs, I assume. Oh, yeah.
00:24:29
Speaker
I thought that we were going to investigate what was happening here. Why all of a sudden are you guys leaving? Well, Mariah says, well, we wanted answers and we got some answers. So we got what we needed and we're ready to go. What were those answers?
00:24:55
Speaker
Oh, they were very satisfactory. They were just what we were looking for. And Mariah speaks up and says, yes, they were more than satisfactory. I would say he looks at Edie and she looks at him and they both kind of nod their head. I would say they were plenty for our knowledge and for us to fully understand things. And we just feel like we can move forward now, thankfully. So yes.
00:25:19
Speaker
Do you want to explain it to the party what those answers are? Why your brother died and what is happening to these animals if you have the answers? Edie says, please, Gwendolyn, please calm down, of course.
00:25:39
Speaker
We've told you everything. I mean, we've said, we've said it was very, the answers were satisfactory and the truth is just all we needed. And having it is just, it's put our minds at rest and we're ready to rest well tonight and travel in the morning. But I'm sorry that you're upset. I don't understand. Mariah says, I guess, what more do we have to say to you? What more should we share? Things seem good and we are just happy to
00:26:04
Speaker
to move on and I miss my brother dearly, but the chief was very honoring of him and made him an honorary hired sword. And his name is written in the archives as someone who gave his life as a hired sword. And I just feel like he's very respectful and kind and we're ready to move forward now and just get on with life. You know, Edie and I, in fact, we think we may start a life together.
00:26:30
Speaker
With her mouth open, she looks at Dale. Am I crazy? Are you hearing this? And then she looks at the rest of the party. Dale is not hearing this. Can I can I try to tell that something is amiss with their reactions to the situation like it just doesn't seem right inside it. Yeah. Oh, not yet. No.
00:27:01
Speaker
That's a one. Okay. You're surprised, but that's it. Joxer is kind of rolling out with his new set of brews and he's ready to have the group join and kind of, can I get like a general idea of at least how distraught Gwen is? Why don't you make an insight check looking at Gwen?
00:27:30
Speaker
All right. As you walk out, I don't feel like she's hiding it. So it'll be a low, difficult thing. But yeah, so it's been known to be clueless. Yeah, that is. That is 14 plus four insights. My that's my thing. Wow. Yeah. So Gwen is Piest. Yeah. So so coming out like holding like my my proud like I. Oh. Oh.
00:28:01
Speaker
Gwen? What? Are you alright? Did you?
00:28:07
Speaker
Welcome I just they just brought Mariah's and eating are going that is just going home They spoke with the chief and now they're just gonna go home. They did what? Yes Am I crazy like they are perfectly fine
00:28:31
Speaker
I just, I just walk up and, oh, what? Now, now go into detail. We left, you were supposed to return here and what happened? Good luck, Joxa, cause I can't get anything and she just walks. She's fuming. You had a specific thing to do when I left you and it doesn't seem like you listened to me at all.
00:29:00
Speaker
Are you talking to Mariahs? Mariahs and Edie, but the general combination of... Yeah. Edie goes, I don't recall what it is you were expecting of us. Mariahs looks at her and I don't either. I know for a fact that we had to talk to the chief. We had to get some answers. We got those answers.
00:29:26
Speaker
Here we are. We're ready. We're satisfied. I don't know what more you are trying to get to here. I'm sorry. I'm confused now. And frankly, a little offended at your old attitude. We just kind of announced our engagement and you're just acting all angry at us. I'm not sure what's
00:29:48
Speaker
What's going on here? Edie, perhaps we should just make our way out now. I don't understand. Oh, no, no, no, no, absolutely. I'm sorry. I didn't hear anything about your two engagements. We must celebrate together. Please, I have a new, I'm going to call it a blue bubble. That's okay.
00:30:16
Speaker
It is the delay that made you ask the blue bubble. You waited that long and came up with a bubble, huh? A blue bubble. It has a bit of a unique sweetness to it. I would absolutely be honored if you joined us. And I'll look over at Craig's and kind of like link a bit.
00:30:46
Speaker
And I would love to celebrate. I don't notice some even winking at me to honor that.
00:31:00
Speaker
Okay. Play that one. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. Just, uh, to celebrate. Krigs, you like drink, correct? I'm just watching the fire. You're not going on or do I need to roll for an insight? Oh, you can tell what, what he's up to. Okay.
00:31:21
Speaker
He's being pretty obvious. Well, I mean, with like, uh, with, uh, Edie and Mariahs. Oh yeah, sure. Make a, make an insight check for them. 17. Um, you, you, uh, something's fishy and you kind of, you assume that something, something has obviously happened that is altering their feelings and how they.
00:31:51
Speaker
how they should be reacting in this situation. And obviously the night and day difference between the way they were last night and this morning and how they are now is a red flag for everybody, but for you, you're, you're seeing it as somebody they've been manipulated in some way to be this way. And, uh, yeah, it's, it's pretty obvious to you. Devin realizes this, but he doesn't say anything up until this point. Okay. Go ahead. I'm trying to calm down. Sorry.
00:32:20
Speaker
I'll try one of those bubbles. Ah, yes. I'll start grabbing what I put down earlier and trying to pour out as fast as I can to bring in our newly engaged couple.
00:32:39
Speaker
Great. Thank you. Thank you. Finally, thank you. They're very grateful to somebody to kind of bring some sense to this moment and they're smiling and they're excited, you know, and you could tell and they grab the beverage from you and begin to, they lift it up and like they look around like they're waiting for a toast for somebody to.
00:33:00
Speaker
I started this, I suppose I can... I have nothing but respect for Marias and Edie. You have shown courage and true honor in battle and the trust of friends.
00:33:19
Speaker
And hopefully you can continue to trust any friends around you and find more friends and potentially family. I'm not too sure about your background. We've had some sad moments and some darker moments and some really bright and enlightening
00:33:44
Speaker
drinks together. I hope that our paths will continue to find ways to intertwine our lives together, and your lives will enrich each other's to Edie and Mariahs. Oh, thank you. And they drink it and
00:34:07
Speaker
That was lovely. That was lovely, Joxer. Thank you, says Edie and Marias. It's long, but lovely. Well spoken. Well spoken. Yeah, it was good because it was long. When everyone does the toast, what I'm saying is, it's mumbles. Daven lifts his drink up, but then he just brings it back down and looks into it. He doesn't actually drink any of it. Okay. Craig's.
00:34:36
Speaker
I'm what's happening. Put down the switch. It's not even that. I know. I'm just kidding. Natural one is really setting in. All right. Um, so Josh, Josh here looks just disappointed at Craig. Just absolutely unsure what happened today. Okay. It's been a long night. You got your coins.
00:35:05
Speaker
You've, uh, you've not, you know, expressed that to, you know, or explained much of that to the, you know, awesome. So did everyone drink that? Oh yeah. That's right. She didn't even take a drink. She's just going to go.
00:35:22
Speaker
Does anything happen to Edie and Mariahs? So they immediately gain constitution and charisma. I'm not really sure how that works out for them, but for the next four hours, they have a little bit of a bonus. Okay, cool.
00:35:44
Speaker
They both grin and they look at each other. They're just kind of pleased and they look at you and they're very happy with, like, this was, uh, this was lovely. This is one of, I feel great after that drink. That was stout. Thank you. Mariah says, and Edie says, yes, indeed. I do too. I think, um, I think we're going to turn in for the night and we'll see you all in the morning if that's okay. Thank you very much for this toast. It was lovely, but a good night all. And they kind of look like they're about to head towards the tent. So.
00:36:12
Speaker
you to enjoy yourselves. Um, and at that point, like Joxer will go directly to probably Gwen at this point because no one else is at least responding. Mm-hmm. Sure. Am I crazy?
00:36:34
Speaker
Mariahs wanted to kill the chief but everything is fine Gwen I'm sorry I just long day no no absolutely it's not a long day there's something clearly again not right with Wild Hill I I can't even imagine we couldn't find um
00:37:04
Speaker
I don't know how they would have found him. I don't know. I can't, I don't know who they spoke to, but I really doubt it was who they thought it was. Devin speaks up now without looking up from the glass. He's still holding, like looking down the cup and he says, it's magic. He's
Speculations and Surveillance
00:37:25
Speaker
like, I've seen this kind of stuff before. I can't tell you exactly what happened, but somebody messed with their minds. They're not the same people anymore.
00:37:33
Speaker
Is there a way to reverse verse it? Depends on how powerful the magic. If it is really truly magic, it could be something temporary lasting an hour, maybe less. If it's powerful, it may never change. Probably best that they leave, honestly. If it's temporary, then they might find a lot of trouble leaving. I have a feeling if the people who did this to them were willing to let them go, they know they're in charge.
00:38:00
Speaker
Do you really think that they're willing to let them go? Or that they'd prefer doing the killing outside of town? Well, I suppose we could follow them if you think that's a worry. But I mean, I haven't seen them talk to anybody but the three, four of us. I don't see them having very many friends around here. I don't think the people in charge would worry too much about them going missing. If they wanted them dead, they would have done it already.
00:38:30
Speaker
I, there might be a connection to this with Fran's father and this magic that controls people. Maybe it was done to Fran's father. Is that too much of a coincidence? From your knowledge, how long would these spells last?
00:38:58
Speaker
I'm not a professional by any means when it comes to charming, but I imagine judging from the way that they are acting, I don't think they'll ever go back to the way they were. I don't think that they changed everything about them, but whatever they did changed their minds on the situation. They're not going to make that temporary if they can. I mean, otherwise they just come back and start the ruckus again. That, that was my concern. Yeah.
00:39:23
Speaker
It might be something else. They might have other chicks up their sleeve, but I've seen this kind of stuff before done with magic. And we know they have some powerful magicians in here. I didn't mean to overreact. I just, this, it just seemed so crazy. Okay. And I think it's best to let them go. Let them leave town. I guess you're right.
00:39:52
Speaker
I'll apologize in the morning for my reaction. Joxer doesn't really have a response. He doesn't agree with any of it. He just kind of walks up. Quinn, I like your hearts, but something tells me you won't see them in the morning. She just is silent. Daven gets up and he goes to his tent. So you guys are going to turn in for the evening?
00:40:20
Speaker
I already have been at this point. Okay. All right. Cool. Cool. Jackson is going to try to stay alert enough, at least like kind of sleep on his side to hear if they wake up and probably try to sneak behind him while the rest of the group is asleep if they don't wake up. Okay. Make a perception check with disadvantage as you rest.
00:40:49
Speaker
A natural 20 and an 18 and I don't know what my perception is. Let me double check my character sheet. Get him. Get him with that disadvantage. Uh, so yeah, 19 with disadvantage. I took the nap earlier. It really, really kicked in. Yeah, true. So as you're kind of light sleep, lightly dozing or sleeping, you.
00:41:18
Speaker
You hear faint whispering coming from outside the tents. Just a little. Yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah, fine. That's fine. Whatever. Okay. Just like faint whispering. So I probably wait just a little bit so I could hear what I'd imagine is them grabbing everything and moving off and then try to stealthily follow along. Okay. So they.
00:41:49
Speaker
They gather their things, they've gathered their things and they're discussing, they're just chatting and they kind of go to the, they walk out of the camp holding hands down the road and just walk out, just start walking out towards the end of town. If you're going to follow them, go ahead and make a stealth check as you try to follow them. That is insane. That's a 21. No way.
00:42:20
Speaker
No, 22. I'm sorry. Yep. 22. That's crazy. Cause she rolled a 21 to see you. So no joke. No joke. It's 19 plus three. So you rolled a 20 plus one. So, um, so she, she does peek over her shoulder in the back and the exclamation point above her head goes, right. And it starts to fill and then you hide behind a tree and it lowers again. And she must have been nothing and turns and keeps walking.
00:42:50
Speaker
And, uh, they just continue to walk out of town and you, you follow them past the tower of testing and towards the long house. And as you approach the long house, they stop and kind of think to look back again. And if you want to continue following them, I'll need you to make another stealth check. Okay. Oh, that's 12. Okay. So this time Mariah's turns jocks. Oh, have you come to see us off?
00:43:20
Speaker
Definitely. I just couldn't. I couldn't. It's so sad, Marias. I mean, it's happy for you two, but I'm sorry to see two companions go. Make a deception check. You filthy liar. I can't stop you. I'm just stalking you.
00:43:43
Speaker
Oh God, that is a nine. Okay. Marias walks up and he puts a hand on your shoulder and he goes, jocks, sir, you don't have to protect us. We can take care of ourselves. And besides all as well. Now we, we got what we needed. We're ready to go. Thank you though. You're very kind. And Edie says, it's good to have made good friends here. And they hold hands again and granted each other.
00:44:13
Speaker
and start to like wave at you and turn like they're going to just walk away. Edie nods at you and another thank you kind of nod. I'll nod back, but I'm at least going to watch you to as far as I can see from the edge of Wild Hill. They just keep walking in the distance, in the darkness. You kind of lose sight of them about 60, 70 feet down the road as they kind of just go off into the dark and keep walking.
00:44:46
Speaker
I'm gonna, uh, at this point, probably, um, it's a little too early for the, the long house. I'll probably just return to the camp. Okay. Yeah. You're talking two or three in the morning at this point. So it's definitely the middle of the night. Oh, well, just go back to lay down and, and, uh, just feel disappointed. Okay. Okay. Yeah. So they, they leave town and, uh, you did get to say your goodbye and.
00:45:16
Speaker
When the morning comes the it's very quiet morning. Not a lot of people milling about the town is still not You know full of adventurers like it once was When you first came in fact, it seems that the other party of adventurers that was here Soraya's party is now gone as well. So That's the morning
00:45:42
Speaker
Well, I guess it's best, uh, we get on our way looking for Francine's father. No sense waiting around too much longer here. I agree. Same. Um, so at this point, uh, Joxer would have explained, you know, the, the morning for, uh, Mariah Siniti, uh, leaving and then, uh, I'm assuming Briggs will naturally have been caught up on all the other goings as he was not available.
00:46:11
Speaker
Sure. Yeah. They let him know everything that had happened as he was sitting contemplating something. So yeah. All right. So you guys are just going to leave town now. I'm good. All right. So as you begin to travel, you head out of town and you, you have been told,
00:46:36
Speaker
just to head northeast to the mountains and that is where this fort is supposed to be a day and a half to two days journey up into the mountains once you find the trail of the mountains to the northeast through the northeastern section of the woods. Would I have any recollection of this fort? Like any kind of knowledge of it? Make a history check. 18 plus zero.
00:47:13
Speaker
Congratulations on your rolling except for that not one but you you There are several forts that have been kind of put up in the mountains. Some
Journey and Camaraderie
00:47:21
Speaker
of them have been by Giants some of them are by Tribes of elves that live in the mountains or dwarfs and there's several men. Most of them are underground Not all but most this one you're not sure what which fort exactly she didn't have like a name for the fort. She didn't know but you
00:47:30
Speaker
Okay. You are rolling good. First of all, second of all, you
00:47:43
Speaker
you are sure that if you can get to these paths, you'll be able to know the signs of how to make sure you get to where you need to go if there's a fort there. The size of the road, the kind of landscape and that sort of stuff, you feel confident once you get to the mountains, you'll be in good shape to find this thing based on what you do know about the forts. But you don't know this particular one because it really hasn't been identified and it could be any number of places that you've heard of.
00:48:13
Speaker
Cool. Just want to make sure I had an idea. So when we get closer, I can track it. The thing. Sure thing. Sure thing. Awesome. So this first day of travel, what am I trying to find? Oh yeah. This first day of travel, you guys are pretty, it's pretty boring. You traveling through the, the main bit of the main bit of, um, pathway that kind of speckled with trees and stones and stuff here and there.
00:48:41
Speaker
you kind of pass the place where you burned VIP before it becomes sunset and becomes the first evening. What would you like to do for the evening? Are we making camp guys who figure we've traveled far enough? I'm not wanting to travel through the night. I think it's probably a good idea to take up. Sounds good. All right. So you guys can take your camp and easily with
00:49:08
Speaker
With Davin's help and everything, you're able to easily make your set of fire and get all that going and get your camp going. Who wants to, first of all, as you kind of get rations out and start to eat and do all that?
00:49:22
Speaker
Is there any conversation, anything like that that needs to happen? Craig's, could you get some firewood? Yes. I go to a nearby tree and I want to smack you with my hammer. Joxer is an enabler. He needs a bit of enlightenment right now. All right, man, attack that tree.
00:49:48
Speaker
That is a 16 plus my strength, I believe. Oh, that's a dirty 20. Cool. Yeah. So you hit the crap out of this tree and it, it splinters up the middle of the, of the trunk and it rattles real big and several dry dead branches fall from the, from up high in the tree. They fall down and on the other side of the tree.
00:50:18
Speaker
not on you and they're not quite big fuel size, but they're definitely the nice kindling part of the fire that you can use to burn for a little while and you split down the middle of the trunk of this tree. Almost. You look surprised at your own strength there. Yeah, it's not something I've
00:50:48
Speaker
honestly expected to be able to do. I've never actually seen you break a tree with a hammer before, so you're impressive to me. I've seen it once, only once though. It's a bit of a long story, but I've seen my father actually splinter a tree like he swung an axe as hard as he could and just basically chopped it in half once.
00:51:16
Speaker
That's impressive. It was actually very impressive. Honestly, I guess that's why I've been doing it this whole time, to see if it's something I may one day be able to do. Looks like you're whittling away at it. I'm getting closer. I'm definitely getting closer. Whittling away.
00:51:47
Speaker
i know it's silly uh smacking a tree with a hammer that doesn't make sense but one of the last times i saw my father he explained to me we never really saw a side eye on very much he
00:52:08
Speaker
and my mother were very different people. My mother believed she gained her strength in life from her gods, her beliefs, her... was a gift. But for my father, he believed strength came from within. And... it's the last thing... one of the last times I ever saw him, actually. He split a tree with his hammer.
00:52:34
Speaker
And if he's right, and I honestly believe he might be, maybe one day I can find that strength from within as well. I always did follow after my mother's footprints, but I don't know. It's silly, but I'm getting there. I don't think it's silly. Thank you. If you'd like to help, we can gather some of these splinterings for Tinder and put them in our packs. It could be useful later.
00:53:01
Speaker
I'll help you. And she goes over and starts grabbing them splinters. Oh, Craig's you, you at least know how I feel about it. You, you have all the strengths you need between both your parents. It's you didn't take one, but you took both. It's nonsense to think otherwise. How did you two meet anyway?
00:53:29
Speaker
into some sort of a drinking contest. It didn't start that way. I'll tell what I remember. I can't even honestly remember what town we were in at this point. It's been, it's only been two years ago, if that. Um, what was, what was the first town I left for the monks in? Ah, no. Yeah. I drank at least twice since then. At least.
00:53:58
Speaker
You drank at least twice since we left town. Oh, mathematician. I thought you were a magician. He's a mathematician.
00:54:11
Speaker
You know, it was a tavern, just like a run-of-the-mill tavern, nothing too special. I, being a wayward dwarf that was a little on my way, kind of thought it would be interesting to challenge some of the locals to a couple of free drinks, drinking games and whatnot.
00:54:30
Speaker
May have gotten a little over my head though when all out of out of the corner the darkened corner as it always seems to be there's jockser Encouraging me to try one of his fancy little brews That's uh, yes, that was a good one, too That was at least three times the potency of the the local brew that was delicious Did it have a name?
00:54:59
Speaker
uh i think he called it the old dirty brown dirty brown ale that sounds nice it was very sweet trust me ah but it was it was absolutely ridiculous
00:55:17
Speaker
honey mead it was yes it was but it was it was unusual because it was probably it it had it was a little thicker than most um uh brews i've made at that time it was a little sludgy but once you once you took it down it was uh it was quite delicious
00:55:36
Speaker
It was. This makes me not want to try this particular brew. It was the dirty brown? What? It was the old dirty brown ale. Just like her eyebrows go up and looks at Davin like, would you want to drink it? Like. He just shakes his head. No, no, no.
00:56:02
Speaker
i don't know if there was three or four of these drinks but before we knew it both of us were on the streets we'd gotten kicked out oh it was quite cold that night too challenges didn't seem to stop though it turned into who could survive better i'm not really sure how it got there but uh yeah i feel like both of us are very boastful once we're
00:56:29
Speaker
A little inebriated. I don't want to do any brown ails and who knows where the night will take you.
00:56:37
Speaker
Oh goodness, that's very true. That one brought some dark nights. I remember we decided to go to the outskirts of the town and... I don't remember that part, but I believe you. Well, we wanted to survive on the wilderness, not just in the town. It wasn't going to be a nonsensical, let's live in the town kind of thing.
00:57:06
Speaker
Yeah, so was there a beast we were trying to... No, we were just trying to hunt. I think we tried to hunt together, or without each other. I remember you told me a story of an ancient fabled creature called a wolverjack of something ridiculous. It's the dumbest name, but I swore I was going to find it.
00:57:33
Speaker
That's right, the wolverjack. It's a rabbit wolf. I wonder if you've ever heard of this. Is this real? Make a nature check. Now this wolverjack, was it the size of a wolf or the size of a rabbit?
00:57:54
Speaker
I can't remember now that I think about it. I believe it was the size of a rabbit, but it happened. Yeah, it was the size of the rabbit which made it so hard to find, but it had the jaws and strength of the wolf.
00:58:12
Speaker
Of course we found it though. Absolutely we found it. I, I slain the beast. Well, I mean, well, I mean, I mean, you didn't, you didn't. What? Gwendolyn rolled a 15 plus five, so a dirty 20. Yeah, this doesn't exist. After they've slain. Okay. Gavin just kind of looks over at you at this whole story, been like, is this real? And she's just gone, nah.
00:58:42
Speaker
i mean i mean you you didn't slay it by yourself but i mean let's be honest i mean i'm i'm trying to be honest you look you look a fool right now well if you're going to get into who's foolish and honestly i think the only way we can settle this is for you guys to do it again why don't you go out in the woods first one to bring one back wins
00:59:12
Speaker
This isn't where the wu... You can't find a wolf attack in these parts in this season? Yes, you can. Well, okay, then if you find it for us, we'll say it. Yeah, miss tracking wolf changer person.
00:59:33
Speaker
clearly you're the best suited for for tracking we were only trying to find and kill it it was it was a bit of a mythical beast and it was quite exciting i thought that i mean they are dangerous animals so that's why i thought you two since since you've done it before could go and find find them
00:59:56
Speaker
oh it's we have we already have a mission but let's keep to task at hand i it's you could spend days could spend days trying to track a wolverjack i mean it's like the old saying don't spend your days hunting wolverjacks okay that's the t-shirt i'm gonna say that tomorrow
01:00:26
Speaker
That's a t-shirt.
Conclusion and Call to Action
01:00:28
Speaker
I'm done. I'm sorry. Yes. Don't, don't spend your days hunting wolfjacks. Glendolyn turns around and goes back to where the duck hunt is, and it's just like, no, wolfjacks. I'm like, no. She's laughing. Well, all in all, in the morning, we, we woke up closer to each other than we expected.
01:00:59
Speaker
Cuddling, huh? That's all the information that I need, more than I ever wanted, actually. We spoke many truths that next morning. I just don't know how we ended up in a tree. Well, it's the only safe place from Wilville, right? Oh, I mean, surely there'd be retaliation after we killed that whole family of them.
01:01:17
Speaker
Both, you're living.
01:01:28
Speaker
Absolutely. Family, Dale. Family. Of course. They have broods of at least 10, 15 Wolver Jacks in a in a wolver pole. Did a dale save me from all of this? I believe actually a group of wolver Jacks is called a delusion.
01:01:52
Speaker
I didn't say. I wonder what is beside herself. She's like, she went away but she's still listening. I believe you're incorrect. I believe it's a diversion.
01:02:05
Speaker
I thought it might be it. I thought it might be it. Good times, hunting wolverjacks. I just splat Joxxer on the back. Just good times. It kind of hurts. Yeah, yeah, literally like Joxxer is kind of like enjoying himself and that happens, his eyes just light up.
01:02:25
Speaker
Good times and and he he he just kind of lightly taps Towards the the center lower region of of kriegs ballsack Good times good times kriegs
01:02:50
Speaker
Ah, brother. I think that's enough laughing for me for tonight. We've got a long journey still ahead of us. We do need to focus. I still can't get over Mariahs and Edie. Maybe it's for the best, honestly, that they are as far away from Wild Hill as they can be. I hope they made it that far. Me too.
01:03:18
Speaker
All right, I'm off to bed. I'll see you all in the morning. I'll take a second watch. I'll take fruits, Raj. I will sleep and dream of wolverjacks. Greetings. In his eye, Krigs Galdor, slayer of all wolverjacks.
01:03:47
Speaker
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