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Ep. 89 The Demon Within
123 Plays1 year ago
Unexpected voices have things to say.. Will *he* listen?
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Transcript
Introduction to 'The Hired Swords'
00:00:22
Speaker
You're listening to The Hired Sword, a D&D podcast about Dyson stuff.
00:00:41
Speaker
Everybody clap in three, two, one. I clapped really fast. Wow. So impressed at the speed in which you clapped. I can also clap very slow. Watch.
00:00:55
Speaker
That's just called holding your own hand. All right, you ready? Hang on, I'm a little hot here. There, am I less hot now? Nope. What? Not as long as you're wearing that sexy blue sweatshirt. Am I too hot still? I'm not peeking. I'll be fine. I'm not peeking. We totally got this. It's fine. I think it's going to be a really good show.
Meet the Characters: Dungeon Master and Heroes
00:01:23
Speaker
Okay.
00:01:25
Speaker
Hey, all you folks out there. Welcome to another episode of the hired swords. My name is Michael. I've been your dungeon master since 19, 2020. And, uh, with me, I've got Derek. He's Daven. I've been with you since 1983. Cause I'm that man. Hey, that's when I was born. Mikey's here. Also he's jocks. Dungeon guy. I appreciate it. 1986 here. Okay. Okay. Ash is here.
00:01:54
Speaker
Hi, he plays Gwendolyn. You're 92, baby. He was born in the 90s. How sad for you, baby, baby, the baby at the group. What about you, Blaze? 1867 represent 1867. He was born during the Civil War. Wow. Congratulations.
00:02:16
Speaker
Yeah, thanks. I think it's an Agent 67. I really need to make sure. I thought he said 1867. Agent 67 reporting. Anyway, that's actually two years after the Civil War ended. My apologies. OK, so. All right. The resident historian has failed to say. I felt really bad. I felt really wrong when I said that. And then I was like, I'm wrong. That's not right. That's not correct. And I had to double check myself and I want to admit that I was incorrect. So that's an instant level for us, guys.
00:02:46
Speaker
All right. Inspiration. Yes, you all have inspiration. Not in the game. You're just inspired by
Journey Through the Foggy Forest
00:02:53
Speaker
me. OK, so let me last left off in the last episode. By the way, I don't think we said that Krigsgalder slash Sofrin Imboreau. That's who Blaze plays. Yeah, I get around. I got multiple names. He's got all the names. Mushroom Daddy's one of them. What's another one? What do you think of another one? The big hammer. And late for dinner. That's my nickname in high school.
00:03:14
Speaker
So we're going to let's recap the last episode now that we're probably a solid two minutes into the last episode. You. You heard us going through the dark.
00:03:29
Speaker
forest that is the untouched land. And as the party, these hired swords, traveled through, they made their way into this dark fog that we've had so much experience with lately. This dark fog kind of started to mess with their heads and their minds, causing some of them to freeze up and be paralyzed, causing some of them to
00:03:52
Speaker
struggle with concentration and focusing and causing one, the NPC companion that was with him, the name of Carmen Stone. He ended up darting, running away out of fear from this unfortunate
00:04:05
Speaker
consequences of this dark mist that had hold of them.
Exploring the Mysterious Gemstone Village
00:04:09
Speaker
And after a pretty ingenious idea of riding away on a mount while some of these party members were inside the brew hole of Joxer, they darted through and made their way out of the dark mist, finally settling in and continuing after some rest to finally make
00:04:31
Speaker
make it to this gemstone village that they had heard about at the previous village where they had grown ice, things like that, to seemingly distribute amongst some of the village. So using a map of the villages of six different villages and their kind of desire to see what these gemstones might be all about, this is where they decided. We ended the last episode with them walking up to this huge
00:04:56
Speaker
pit in the ground with buildings kind of silhouette across on the other side of this pit. And that's about what they can see from this this vantage point as the trees kind of break around this seeming small village with surrounding this huge pit in the middle of the ground. What are you guys going to do? So are we are we coming from the south on this map or the north south?
00:05:23
Speaker
OK, so we we see the big pit first. Yes, you do. I fall into the pit. OK, make a no, just kidding. No. Whoopsies. You're going to love me for this, but as a dwarf, do I have any knowledge of the stone around me? Make a knowledge of stone check. A hardness check. Let's see here. You fall into the pit. That got me.
00:05:53
Speaker
I rolled a 13, but what is it? What do I add to that? Like what? Yeah. Roll with advantage and just add your intelligence to it. We all follow. Or wisdom, whichever is better. Neither are particularly great. I'll do wisdom. So we'll say 14. That was with advantage?
00:06:17
Speaker
So this is a stone that is softer than most stone that you are used to. It's not like the stone mountain where I mean it takes
00:06:32
Speaker
days of work to carve into, you know, carve these tunnels into even the best miners, the best dwarven workers would, would work for days to create a nice tunnel. But it seems like this is a softer stone, clay based stone. It is hardened. It's not like moldable or by any means, but it is, seems to be kind of simpler. You've really never, never experienced anything like it.
00:06:58
Speaker
in in natural where you where you've been. But but you've definitely experienced like it feels like almost like ceramics but definitely not you know form it's literally just the ground here and it's just this area it just seems like this area has this in where you kind of came from and around you the trees while they're much smaller like I think we said on the last episode they're much smaller like maybe this
00:07:25
Speaker
clay stone, there's a layer underneath the soil somewhere. This is a place where the soil has completely given way to just the clay. And it looks like perhaps this may have been like the top of this hill that has been now dug down into with this pit. But yeah, like I said, this clay is unique to you, something kind of different than what you've experienced in the past. This is some unique stone.
00:07:52
Speaker
You got this. Definitely proper energy. That is rock. Look like. Good like rock. This stone not seen stone before. Stone hard but soft stone like clay ceramic stone. He thinks this ground is dirty.
00:08:29
Speaker
I know, but Gwendolyn doesn't know. We're out of Joxer's hole, right? And we've been this. Okay, great.
Aerial Survey as a Giant Owl
00:08:37
Speaker
Cool. I thought she should know from the master.
00:08:43
Speaker
Can we not call him the master? He's the dungeon guy, bro. My bad, the dungeon guy. That was weird that I just said master and not DM. Sorry. Goodman's probably gonna walk around while Krigs is looking at stone and saying stone look weird. And I'm gonna turn into a giant owl.
00:09:12
Speaker
And I'm going to surveillance around. Yeah. Stone look weird. Oh, bird. That's a, that's a giant owl. Did it need to be giant? Was that a thing? It was the character thing. Yeah. So this big owl leaps up into the sky.
00:09:31
Speaker
starts to flap its wings flying around and as it does it gets about 20 feet in the air and this blackness above it starts to swirl down like the flapping of the wings is causing this mist and fog to kind of swarm down underneath there like current of air not like it's reaching for her but just the natural it's just she's getting close enough I guess so are you trying to fly between between there or
00:09:57
Speaker
Uh, kinda. I want to stay in a safe zone because I don't want to go too high. Um, cause Gwendolyn's owl is going to be kind of like a beacon. So she's going to be, she's going to have some white on her and she's going to try to circle around these houses in the area that she can see. Okay. Make a perception check. Dark vision that this owl should have. Yes. And probably, probably.
00:10:26
Speaker
advantage on the roles for any kind of wisdom check. Does she get advantage on hooting? Hooting is a free action act. That was quite the hoot. Thank you. I feel like a giant owl would be a little bit more hooty.
00:10:53
Speaker
Do you say perception? I did. Okay. Uh, I get plus five for that. And so 21, 16 plus five. Oh yeah. I rolled a 15 out of 16. Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
00:11:08
Speaker
So you look down this is definitely another abandoned village you definitely see that the corruption. That was that is kind of on the soil and stuff is it's dinner here there's not as much of it and it just seems like. Maybe it didn't have as much to hold on to grab onto but you definitely see that this these buildings are all this same kind of clay you see.
00:11:29
Speaker
Six real like clay buildings with these clay tile roofs and you see. Just above the in this okay what this is this
Uncovering Magical Preservation
00:11:39
Speaker
it. Is a hole in front of all these buildings and you see that it has been it has been carved down in a. Not perfect by any means but a kind of spiral downward as it's been carved where it's like a ramp.
00:11:57
Speaker
ramping it down along the outside edge, all the way around swirling down into this, into this pervas in the ground, so to speak, down into the darkness beyond where you can see. And then it looks like the, these, these buildings are built on the top couple levels of where this has been carved down until finally you get to the top ground level that you have been walking on all this time.
00:12:24
Speaker
And that ground level has a couple of buildings, a couple of statues that look like elven, elven people from the distance you're at. And it also has, uh, several kind of born and dilapidated stone or not stone, but, um, it looked like fabric, some sort of fabric. Tints like living spaces.
00:12:47
Speaker
And that's what you see from up here as well as this big crane looking thing that kind of hangs over the edge of this hole in the ground and has a big bucket type thing dangling from it. Gwendolyn's probably going to actually flies around and notices all this. She's probably going to go on one of the statues, probably the one that has a top hat and she's going to
00:13:18
Speaker
the top hat that you drew on it. It's not. Yeah, I drew a top hat. It's canon now. It's a neon green. It's a statue that's closest to one of the buildings and I'm going to sit on it. She's closer to cyan. I am. And she's just gonna.
00:13:38
Speaker
You see your landing on the statue? Yeah. I'm just going to sit there and keep guard. Okay. You sit on that statue and as you approach it, you get closer. You can see both of those are statues, like I said, of elves. One of them is holding both hands in front of them, holding a pickaxe. And the other one is...
00:13:57
Speaker
has a, it looks like it's holding a large bag that is, that looks like it's bulging full of some sort of thing. It's not a bag. It's a clay statue carved image of a bag. So I'm not saying like, go see what's in that bag, but you know what I mean. And yeah, that's what you see as you get to those.
00:14:16
Speaker
Can you see what's in that bag? Looks pretty hefty. It looks like there's some not real carved out gemstone looking things in the bag, but they're carved from clay. So the statue isn't real. The statue is not an enemy. Yeah.
00:14:34
Speaker
As long as you keep calling me master, the statue is not going to be anything. I did that. Thank you, master. I'm going to try to give them a shout out like, woo hoo.
00:14:51
Speaker
Typical Gwen going ahead of us. Do we go? She's who-ing. I mean, I guess we should probably stick together, right? I would, you know, some of us think that, but... Gregs, what do you think could possibly grow in this kind of dirt?
00:15:08
Speaker
It's weird dirt. I'm actually, I'm actually going to look at Gwen now sitting on top of that statue, look at the statue itself and see the pickaxe and I never.
00:15:22
Speaker
I never really took the elves for being the more industrious type. I don't know what they were up to up here, honestly. As far as what could grow, there could be any number of minerals or even gemstones. These have to be at least fertile soils in some degree, even though everything we've stepped in so far has been some terribleness. This is the most normal thing I've seen.
00:15:48
Speaker
How far across is this chasm-ish hole? This chasm is ginormous, about 250 to 300. All right, we should walk around it instead of trying to leap across. Yeah, that sounds like a safe plan. I'm good with that walking around in this scenario. Krigs, would you make another intelligence check for me?
Investigating Gemstones and Documents
00:16:12
Speaker
Sure.
00:16:13
Speaker
I'd like to give him some extra help. That's a nat 20 on my first roll. That's all you need, buddy. Wow. Yes. Nat 20 because... Who's this guy? I'm zero intelligent. Okay. Well, as you approach this and you see the, you see the hole there and you see the kind of the way it's carved out, this is obvious to you. This is surface mining has been, that's how that's done. Pathways down and carve out the middle as you create these.
00:16:40
Speaker
short tunnels going into the walls that you've made by carving down. So this is a full-on elven surface mine. That's what you've realized.
00:16:49
Speaker
I don't know that there's anything particularly too deep in this land, but they've been, if you see the patterning of the actual path that they've created, they've been digging with intent, with intention. It's not strip mining. It's not going into the depths as dwarves are one to often do. This is
00:17:11
Speaker
I don't know what they would be after here. Can I with my dwarven eyes see any indication like in the actual chasm? Any tools or any are there remnants of anything left behind? Obviously, they would have had to have moved these things. So maybe there's tracks or carts or any any veins or anything in the actual like. Make a perception check. Sure.
00:17:42
Speaker
17 with my plus is not great. It's a whole not that great plus 118.
00:17:53
Speaker
First of all, everything seems to be pretty tidy. Things were put away. It doesn't look like things were just thrown about. But there are pickaxes on a couple racks just a short way down as you walk to approach that statue. You see the pickaxes on a couple racks that are up against the stone wall and in a perfect location to grab as you head down the ramp.
00:18:19
Speaker
But yeah, it's just a few things like that. Some, some parts like wheelbarrow kind of carts that you would pull things around sort of stuff. Well, honestly, just from the first, we could spend all day. I mean, I would love to, honestly, at this point, we could spend all day digging and trying to discover what they were doing here. But I don't, I don't see anything particularly in this chasm that would really indicate what their goal was. Uh,
00:18:47
Speaker
looking around, there are, there's other buildings here. They might have manifests. They might have surveys of the actual gyms or minerals that they were trying to, to withdraw from these mines. Perhaps we could find a little bit more information there, but this is unusual for elves. Historically, they're soft. He laughs to himself. We can start right here at this first building, I guess. Right. As good as one as any, I suppose.
00:19:16
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, if I, if I look at the map, it does, I mean, it shows a gem. So, I mean, it doesn't seem like, I mean, if you have to trade, then if you're in an area that has some gems, regardless of being, I guess, huh? Um, you know, probably makes sense. I'm assuming that we've approached the statue at this point. Yes. You guys made your way up to the statue. That's where you're. Is there any writing? You walked past a couple of buildings. You walked.
00:19:47
Speaker
Is there an introvert in here? As you look around, you definitely see a couple of... First of all, you pass a warehouse. And it's an obvious warehouse. It's got two big doors. Looks like things can be pulled in and out of it. You've got this obvious temple right at the edge of...
00:20:06
Speaker
this crevasse here and the temple, you see this a small or not small, but as you look into the doorway, you see this life-sized normal person size statue of some kind of elf. It looks like, and then there's like a further temple space beyond it. That's kind of turned the opposite direction.
00:20:29
Speaker
This is the kind of the most the nicest most ornate kind of looking building and then you can continue up the ramp a little ways turn a little corner come up and you come up to that statue and just beyond that statue is a large. Rectangular building with a door normal sized door in the middle.
00:20:49
Speaker
made of the doors made of wood. The rest of the buildings made of clay with blue slate play isles on the top. And there's some words etched in elvish across the top. Weird, though, the elvish word is is not easy to read, even though it's you know, it's elvish, but it's not that you're what it is right away. I don't speak English. I don't know what this is. I only know the swear words. I'll take a look at it and see if I can assess it.
00:21:19
Speaker
Yeah, uh, it looks, you get the meaning of it because of just kind of, it looks like there are words that maybe come from this word, but it, it's basically a place for gathering or a place for having a meal together. That seems kind of like, um,
00:21:42
Speaker
I mean, it doesn't give me the same understanding that I would, but it's kind of like a family area, like a gathering place, and maybe more of kind of like a festive. This is a place where you would dine or eat and party together is kind of what I'm gathering. I don't, it seems, I don't know, something seems off.
00:22:10
Speaker
Sounds like you're describing a banquet hall almost. Kind of. And I mean, I guess that makes sense. We did. The last village had kind of a trading slash, you know, main area. Well, let's see what's behind door number four. And I'm going to just walk inside.
00:22:29
Speaker
You approach the door when you do, it's shut, but it doesn't lock. There's no mechanism. It just wings open when you push it.
Curious Temple with Soft Gemstones
00:22:39
Speaker
And inside, clay floor, clay walls, a couple of long windows, like almost floor to ceiling, but just barely four or five inch of wall above and below each window. It goes all the way down the wall, just window after window. And the back wall is just tables lining the back wall and with bowls and
00:22:59
Speaker
other plates, dishes, things like that on it. And they're small round tables. These are made of wood and chairs kind of strewn throughout. They look like they, they were, some of them are kind of in like an orderly fashion, like set out nicely, but then some of them look like thoughtlessly kind of pulled together with the chairs surrounding two or three of these round tables, all
00:23:24
Speaker
Like people want to sit all together like multiple groups and they pulled all their tables together it doesn't really make sense in the room but that's what they needed for time to eat still kind of set that way and you do see plates and bowls and some. There were things like that sitting around the thing around the on the tables here and there. There's also a on the back wall a large banner hanging there if it's a white banner in the middle of the banner is just a gemstone.
00:23:53
Speaker
You probably hear going outside, just going woo hoo. Uh, is there any sort of other rooms or is it just one large room? Just looks like one large room. And there's no like shelves, containers, cupboards, anything about anywhere. Yeah. The, the large table on the back, the large counter space area, it looks like it has this diff, this, uh, sections of shelving beneath it as well as sections with doors like cabinet beneath it that can open.
00:24:20
Speaker
I shall rummage it all. Go to make investigation checks as you look through there. Oh, I love doing this. Make three for me. Three investigation checks. And you hear outside the walls, you hear do it for me Gwen. Yeah, that. First one is a nine. Did anyone else here do it for me Gwen?
00:24:43
Speaker
The second one is a 19. Yes, master. And the third one is a 20. Nice. Gradually growing. Never going to live that down. That's my other end of the mic. Yeah, it is. So you said a three, a what, a 20? Nine, 19 and a 20. So the first one you're looking through and it looks mostly just like kind of rotted and dilapidated food garbage.
00:25:13
Speaker
As you look inside one, it's super cold and you find a couple more veggies like carrot looking vegetables in it and one with some other kind of vegetable that's got a strong smell, but they're all frozen. Again, in a couple of those little gemstones are in the bag and they seem to be keeping the vegetable frozen. So yeah, they're completely fine and untouched by any corruption at all. They're all frozen. And then as you dig, you continue to dig through and look at a couple more of these shelves.
00:25:40
Speaker
You do find on the shelving a small wooden box. It's not super small, just like the size of a loaf of bread. And then when you open it, it's full of more of these peppercorns.
Daven's Mysterious Thunderous Encounter
00:25:54
Speaker
Craig's come bring that bag. We got some more food we can store. I kind of gingerly kind of waltz in. Just bring in the bag. Oh yeah. Didn't they give it to you?
00:26:07
Speaker
Well, I almost used it to kill us. Oh, I would. I would have definitely handed that to you after you got out because I would not have kept that bag on me because I had probably done the stupidest thing. So yeah, I got the bag then I come in and I'll just hop, skipping and jumping.
00:26:23
Speaker
Yeah, and when you come in, Craig, this looks very familiar to you. This is an obvious, like, worker camp canteen. It's similar to, like, the longhouse. You know, that's kind of what the longhouse seemed to have been modeled after at Wild Hill. But it's this, everyone works together, families are here, we all just gather for meals together. I guess I just bring the bag and, like, whatever you gotta give me, peppercorns, whatever else. I give them the peppercorns and the carrots and whatever the other vegetable is.
00:26:52
Speaker
It's kind of like a radish, like a strong smell, spicy. I take a bite. Why is it spicy? It's also frozen. You might have chipped a tooth. Oh, it wouldn't be the first time. And I smile and there's like six chipped teeth. Oh gosh. Oh no. I don't know if mending will work on. All right. It doesn't seem that there's much else in here. This is mostly just a meeting place, you know?
00:27:21
Speaker
It's very reminiscent of the longhouse. If you look at it, it's just a standard bunk cabin, honestly, where they, they met here for meals and just the gathering after hours. Nothing too unusual. Doesn't tell us what this place is for or where the people went, you know? I just said this place was for eating. Were you not listening? Yes, I heard you. I'm interested in going to check out that church or temple, whatever it is.
00:27:47
Speaker
That sounds like no place I want to be. I'll go check another building. You know, you, you had that way. All right. And I will head toward that temple. I'll follow you to the, the temple. Okay. So Gwen, as you're sitting on top of the statue, you see Briggs and Daven both walk out of this building.
00:28:06
Speaker
and just start walking down the trail. It's split, actually. Davin starts to head down towards the temple as Dr. Follows them and you see Krigs start to head off a different direction. Where are you headed, Krigs? Looking on the map here, there is a row of buildings, one, two, three, four, blah, blah, blah. Which one did we just enter? Four. Temple is...
00:28:28
Speaker
6 and 7. Where was that one? 7? So Temple is a little bit down the way. Temple would be south for me. I'm going to go west to 3 and see what that is. Wendland's probably going to go towards these little camps and kind of hop on the ground a little bit, just going, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop. Camps are what, northeast of the church? Yes. They're just northeast, literally like the outskirts of this area.
00:28:56
Speaker
Yeah, and it's literally like 50 steps from that. From my little statue, yeah. And I'm just going to go in and out of the little tents just going whoop whoop whoop. Okay, so this owl, this giant owl is peeking around through these tents. Briggs, we'll go with you next as they walk down to the temples a little longer so you get to see before they do what's going on. You are just about as far away
00:29:21
Speaker
From where you're headed as Gwen was, he's headed and you approach this house. It's a, it's a,
Discovering the Village Network Map
00:29:27
Speaker
or not house. This like this building that has like a porch on the front with railings around it. And, uh,
00:29:35
Speaker
The railings are made from wood and there are a couple steps leading up to the middle where the railing is not there for you to walk in. And as you walk in, you see a couple small chairs there. And I mean small as in not large and impressive, just normal wooden chairs. Humble.
00:29:54
Speaker
Yeah humble chairs the door is there are the doorway is there and it arches at the top but there's no door in it and it doesn't look there's no hinges or anything to make love ever was. When you walk inside you see clay floor clay walls a couple of windows carved out of it.
00:30:12
Speaker
And you look to the corner and you see in one corner. To your right you see a round table with a couple of chairs and you also see next to that a longer desk like table with a chair sitting in front of it. On the table you see several several different papers and books and things like that just thrown about.
00:30:42
Speaker
It had been being worked on but must much of what's on the desk is stacked nicely pretty organized um, and then you see three are on the wall to your left just under a window you see a like a a shelf like thing that almost like a like a chest of drawers actually Not a chest or drawer. No a chest of drawers chest or there are four four drawers there and on top of it though are um three
00:31:11
Speaker
wooden displays of some kind. It just looks like the wood kind of weaves in and out of each one. Each one's a little different. The organization of them are a little different. And you see there are three gemstones, an orange one, a pink one, and a green, green one sitting on these displays. So there's three different displays with gemstones sitting on top of them. Is that what you're saying? Each one has one gemstone on top. Yes. Yeah.
00:31:38
Speaker
And that's kind of what this room looks like. I want to rifle through the papers and see if there's anything that looks interesting that isn't just, you know, fiction or something of the lines. I want to look and see if there's anything that would indicate what we have here or what they were doing manifests or just plans, anything that looks interesting, honestly.
00:32:03
Speaker
Well, as you look through the paperwork, you definitely find a book that when you open it, you cannot, cannot read the, the writing. It's all in Elvish. Um, but it is actually make a, make a history check. Uh, 12. Hold on. Hold on. I need to check my plus cause I actually might be good at this. I lied 12.
00:32:31
Speaker
Actually do it with advantage though. Yeah. Ooh, 18.
00:32:37
Speaker
Because of your experience in mining and sort of stuff, you definitely know a log of what's been found, like a daily log of what's been found when you see one, no matter what language it's in, right? And so you see that's what this is, just from the way it's designed and organized. Like this guy, and in fact, you think maybe whoever did this may have learned from some dwarves how to keep track of this stuff because it's very well organized.
00:33:03
Speaker
And you do notice a couple of, a couple of etchings on there are like numbers, elven numbers that you recognize just from your time in that, you know, experiencing, uh, that different culture a little bit, just seeing signs or them writing their own stuff.
00:33:20
Speaker
you can start to pick up other languages simple words exactly exactly yes and no and the number seem to be the most easy thing for you you know to for anyone really to have picked up you also see a library you also see a on the on the on top of the desk
00:33:38
Speaker
to the right-hand side, there is a piece of parchment. It's kind of small. It's mostly rolled up, but it looks like it's the nicest piece of parchment.
00:33:54
Speaker
And it has actually these little wooden border things on the top and bottom of it, like as if to keep it from getting damaged and messed up. And next to it sits a little wooden tube, like it goes inside of there. This little parchment as well. I'm going to collect the log at least and that parchment. I'm going to collect them to kind of show the others and
00:34:20
Speaker
kind of rifle through the drawers and the desk if there are drawers and see if there's anything of use. Nothing. I mean, looking for silly trinkets, but if there's something that actually looks like appealing, if something stands out. OK, make an investigation check as you look through the drawers and stuff. 18 again.
00:34:38
Speaker
OK, so you see you do find like a cap looks like like a wooden cap that looks like it would fit on that tube and kind of close it off a cap. You also see two small vials full of some kind of dark, dark blueish liquid.
00:34:57
Speaker
I'm going to collect those as well. I'm going to make note of the fact that these gyms are here, but not knowing what they are and knowing if there's any volatility involved. I know that there are some minerals and things that can be mined that have reactionary consequences if used or handled incorrectly. I'm going to leave them for now.
00:35:14
Speaker
make note and I will come back with others. And if we, if we find anything that these could be of use, we'll definitely keep an eye that they are in building three or this fun little house and I'll exit and start kind of heading over towards where the others would have been. There's not too much between me and I guess them at the, the walk down that they've had down. So you can walk down there and probably three, five minutes.
00:35:43
Speaker
So as you guys walked down, you what? I was just gonna say, I noticed that Gwen's obviously not in the statue anymore, but I might see her poking around the camp. I just assume she's very giant and you can hear her little, yeah, that sound. Sorry. I should have had you do that as you, uh, as you, and you can look over to the, to the left and see where she is as you walk straight down the pathway a little ways.
00:36:09
Speaker
to where that temple that you passed is. And as he's walking down there, as he's actually, as he's searching that house, Daven and Joxer, you guys are walking into the temple. You walk into the first little area. It's like an entryway to this temple. And in the middle of this entryway, well, first of all, it's all made of clay.
00:36:34
Speaker
And it's not full walls. They are clay pillars all the way around that kind of hold the roof on top of this thing. This is a different roof than any of the others. It's a, it's a lot more like flat that flat on the edges and then comes to a very sharp lifted point in the middle, like sharp triangle. And in the, in the middle of this entryway space, you see a statue and it's a statue of an elf.
00:37:03
Speaker
And he's standing in robes, some sort of like, it looks like wizard robes kind of to you. You've seen like mages and spellcasters dressed this way. He's got long, looks like long hair that the way it's carved, it looks like being blown by the wind. And so does his, so do his, his, his robes that he's wearing. He has two hands stretched out to the sides. One in there, they're stretched out with his, his head looking upward.
00:37:31
Speaker
like he's looking up to the sky, and his face is kind of in a look. His eyes are closed. You can see that his eyes are closed. His mouth is open slightly, like in a state of receiving, like he's waiting to receive something. That's kind of the look that this statue has. And you see on the front of the statue, there's a one-word carve in Elvish.
00:38:00
Speaker
This definitely gives me some more religious temple of rhymes and then i'll try to read that little text. Okay make a history check as you look at that range elvish word that was okay. First one rolled off as a fifteen and that is a seventeen plus you said religion minus one sixteen so.
00:38:26
Speaker
You it's a name and the name. It's I think you're trying to think it's something like. Arella or choral or choraleon or choraleo or something like that. It's hard to make. It's hard to remember exactly. You don't know if you've seen it before in elvish like this, but it just sounding it out and kind of using your knowledge of the language. Something it's some sort of name and you feel like it's like.
00:38:54
Speaker
chorello or chorilla or something similar to that. I can't decide if this is the deity or maybe the preacher choral, choralon. I guess it doesn't really matter at this point, but I just, I can't quite, something's weird with this text. What do you mean there's something weird?
00:39:20
Speaker
So maybe it's more, I don't know, archaic. It doesn't have some of the updated dialect or the expected
00:39:39
Speaker
Um, I just, something just doesn't quite fit whenever, whenever I look at this, like, and then I'll point at like what I think is like the C or K sound. And then I'll describe what I, you know, it should look like this, but it's so close. I imagine it, it's probably a K or a C, but I'm just.
00:40:04
Speaker
I just don't know. It's definitely older. So are you saying it's like maybe a different sort of dialect of Elvish or is it like something that's so ancient that it's just changed over time? I would more gather that it's more primitive. So it's changed over... Man, I can't even think of how long it's been from what we've seen.
00:40:32
Speaker
I know nothing of a religion, and I know nothing of statues or the elves for that matter. So I just have to trust that you're more knowledgeable than this, than I am. So I suppose I trust what you're saying. Daven? Yes. Make a wisdom saving throw. Oh, no. Oh, no. That's an eight. I know who it is. What? Chuck, sir, if you give me a minute, I'm going to walk outside.
00:41:01
Speaker
You know, I'm gonna check to make sure he didn't follow me. I'm gonna just walk around the corner and say, what do you mean you're not what this is? Are you wanting to listen or just talk? I don't like talking, but I listen. I served against him, only for a short time. Not him exactly, those under his command. Yes, who? Who is he? I don't know who he is, other than the Protector of the Elves, Korilong.
00:41:28
Speaker
I don't know if I'd be watching, but I definitely would have tried to listen real hard. I don't think- Make a perception check. Oh, snap. That was, uh, so that is a 19 plus one, 20. What is it? What do you mean you surf against him like you were enemies?
00:41:47
Speaker
Only for a short skirmish. He wasn't there, only those fighting on his behalf. Are you, like, on the same level as him? Like, what did you- Who are you fighting for? I don't- What is going on? You should know. You met him shortly after you tricked me. I don't remember that, yes. Sorry. Anyway, um, we didn't really introduce ourselves. Make another wisdom saving throw. Alright.
00:42:14
Speaker
Better? Better? 17? You know mine. I know yours. What more is there to know? You haven't really been speaking up lately, so I'm a little surprised that now it seems important for you to say something. When you hear of something, of your own unfinished business, you tend to speak up. So, are we in danger here? I don't know where here is. Well, you're not as helpful as I was hoping you would be.
00:42:40
Speaker
Listen, there's too much explaining to do, so why don't you keep quiet for now? Joxer, with your role that you made, you're seeing every time you can kind of hear that Davin's talking, and every time he stops.
00:42:58
Speaker
talking sounds like distant thunder somewhere rolling the distant and you're like storm or something and then it then you realize oh it's happening every time Daven stops talking like weird white noise but like thunder and then just and then he speaks again
00:43:19
Speaker
Yeah. And you can't really make out what he's saying, but then you hear the distant thunder and it's, it's not like, Oh, it's coming from over there. It's like, it's there. And then the next time it's, it's back here now. And just kinda very strange. Interesting. Um, I probably after just hearing a little bit of it would have tried to quietly walk back to the statue. Just, uh, I was just trying to understand why he left.
00:43:46
Speaker
If you needed a private moment, then you need a private moment. I just, you know, making sure he wasn't gonna be something weird. Gotcha. And Daven, that's the last that you say or hear at that point. When you tell him to be quiet, you don't hear anything else from him. I undo my belt. And then I walk back in and I reattach my belt. I say, sorry, man, sometimes when you gotta go, you gotta go. Yeah, I'm I don't know why you would have taken that direction. But
00:44:16
Speaker
I did Gwen see you in that side or? Oh, I hope not. It was it was kind of messy. Oh, she's still over there doing her thing. Just going to think she's found anything yet, right, master? Who farted? Oh, well, there's the name of the episode. That's the name. I don't know.
00:44:43
Speaker
definitely corral, I just can't, can't get, it's whatever. I've actually heard of it before. It didn't. Well, I guess if I take this letter and God, that's crude. That is crude. Oh, they, they really just slaughtered this language. Um, I just, let's just go inside. Uh, interesting.
00:45:11
Speaker
So they head inside Gwendolyn as you are jumping around as a big owl. You could barely fit your head inside these openings of these. You have to bend way down, put your head inside the openings of these buildings, but not, they're not fully buildings. They're like, like tarp tents, most of them with wood. And most of them are kind of have holes and they're kind of dilapidated by all this.
00:45:37
Speaker
darkness that is kind of corrupted everything and as you look around look through there. You see that they are several that seem to maybe have been protected by just slightly better building materials are some that have little bit of clay and stuff on on the bottom half of the main part of the home and then the fabric is above that make a perception check as you look around.
00:46:04
Speaker
Oh my gosh. So I get advantage for perception and I rolled two sixes. Oh no. Plus five, so 11.
00:46:15
Speaker
So as you look around, you see the, the homes here are, they all look almost temporary, like, like they could be moved somewhere else at any time. And then one of them though, over nearest the tree line, you notice is a little nicer and it's made from actual, most of its actual clay with a cloth roof on top.
00:46:42
Speaker
And the dark goo that's kind of climbing around everything seems to only have climbed into the kind of cracks of this of this clay and not actually broken through to like destroy the construction of this building. It is the only one that's a little nicer than the rest. Oh, are you going to do you want to do anything to any of those places? Look in inside most of them or because sorry, my brain froze. It's okay. I was looking at spells. It's okay. So we've all been there.
00:47:12
Speaker
Yeah. So they're all pretty much run down. There's just not really, is that what I just heard? Yeah, they're all run down except one looks like it is, it is nicer with the walls kind of made from this clay.
00:47:26
Speaker
Then I make my way towards that. I'm sorry. Okay. That's okay. So as you, it happens sometimes for me, it's a monster, you know, stat sheets that I'm waiting for you guys to find. So you, you walk up to the, this building, you're still this giant owl. Literally the, your head is above the roof of this building as this huge owl. And, uh, you poke your head inside and as you do.
00:47:51
Speaker
You can kind of look around and make another person make an investigation check actually as the old or is investigations what intelligence based yes that's you not the owl. Yes correct i rolled in eighteen minus one so seventy. You look inside here and you see.
00:48:15
Speaker
something hanging on the wall in the distance, it looks like some sort of map. And you also see, as you continue to look around, you see a couple of rolled up, some sort of
00:48:29
Speaker
fabric or canvas items rolled up stacked over in the side with a hammer leading up against the wall next to them. And then you do see a small table with a little stool there. And sitting in front of it is a stone goblet with three gemstones set into the side. And they are green, orange and pink in that order around the side of the
00:48:53
Speaker
Um, is there any writing on the map as you try to go inside and look a little closer? Yes. This map is fabric. It's stretched out and stuck to a thin flat piece of stone. Uh, the map looks like the map you guys have of these surrounding villages, but there's a little more detail on there with names for the villages. And the name seemed to just describe the role they played in some like symbiotic relationship between these groups of elves. And that is the.
00:49:23
Speaker
That's what this map displays hanging on the wall there. You hear Gwen go, and she turns her head to the side, and then she can read Elvish. She can understand common Elvish and Sylvan, so I don't know if she can necessarily read them. But she's going to hop up to the stool and then hop up onto the desk. Is there anything else on the desk besides the jeweled cup?
00:49:52
Speaker
There is the jewel, just the jeweled cup and it's kind of stained with some sort of drink, something. And, uh, there are a couple of, there's like a little file with a couple of quill pins sitting there, but that's it. Just the pins and ink and a, and a goblet.
00:50:11
Speaker
I take my owl face and I put it in the cup like a cat, and I go, hoo hoo, as it echoes. What do I smell? Birds can smell, can't they? Yeah, man, sure. Make a perception check. They got little holes on the top of their beaks, don't they, most of them? Yeah. That's day nose. I don't know. Do you say perceptions? Yeah. Oh my gosh, our roll is 20. So 25. Thank God.
00:50:38
Speaker
Yeah, you smell this kind of strong, fermented beverage smell of some kind, like real strong, like whatever was drank out of here was heavy duty stuff. Just because I was curious and for the interesting fact, owls don't have a sense of smell. No way.
00:51:02
Speaker
Yep. That's what it says. Uh, almost all of the dioneural birds of prey, like eagles, hawks, and so on are the same. They have no sense of smell. Really? Today. You're welcome, kids. You're welcome. Knowledge. All right. So I stuck my head in and instead of smelling, I went, and I just took out my little tongue. Right? Yeah. It shows how much I know about birds. Okay. You're drunk. No, I'm just kidding. Yeah. You can kind of taste, uh, Gwen knows that flavor.
00:51:31
Speaker
very average of that flavor as Gwen, and it is when Daven makes a particularly strong brew that he doesn't really want anyone to drink. Daven? Daven's make Daven's name. No, not Daven Joxer. Literally looking at you, Mikey, on the video here and said the wrong name, like my children. You see the little owl pull its head out, and it's basically around its white face. There's just this dark smudge of the, what I assume was wine.
00:52:00
Speaker
And she just kind of shakes and it doesn't come off. And then, whoo-hoo! And then she turns back and she turns into Gwen. And she starts wiping her face as it smudges all over her. Ugh! Tastes worse than jocks or stuff, at least has flavor. And she picks up the cup and kind of holds it and sets it down, crawls off the table.
00:52:29
Speaker
and goes up to the map and she kind of takes it off the wall carefully. I put it in your where you should be able to see it in real time. Looking show to players. Everybody get access. Only the ones that are in the journal. Yes, the journal.
00:52:47
Speaker
Oh, so on the map, I see these little, are they vines? It looks more like places where there's elevation changes, like cliff walls. Oh. You're seeing a little more details on the terrain as well as the pathway and the names of these different village locations.
00:53:11
Speaker
Oh, yeah, the names. Sorry. I was too, I was too into the nature of this. It's fine, Gwendolyn. Geography. How very Gwendolyn of you. I know, right? This might help. And so she rolls it up, goes back to the cup and grabs it and just looks at it kind of with disgust. And then she heads out. Grab it.
00:53:38
Speaker
All right, so you guys head out of the, you head out of the particular building there and then camps. Krigs, you show up at the temple right about the time that David and Jockster begin to walk past the statue. You see what I explained to you.
00:53:55
Speaker
That's the statue of core law and you walk past the statue as they are there in kind of the entryway looking into a small worship area there are rugs on the ground pretty dilapidated and kind of worn and gross. On the clay floor the walls are clay but they seem to have been they've been etched
00:54:20
Speaker
with kind of etchings and carvings and writings all, all over the walls and different points of them. You see like gemstone used on some spaces. There's gemstones are used for eyes and on some spaces, gemstones are used for a belt buckle or something, or they're just anywhere. They could use one of these gemstones to kind of highlight something in this art that they've etched. They've got these gemstones here and there.
00:54:46
Speaker
all different colors, all different kinds. The color seems to match kind of the theme of what you're seeing. And some of it's like pictures and stuff. And some of it it's like writing in the gemstone, just like, you know, dots, whatever letter is there, you know? As I hear Craig's entering behind us, I say, Craig's these gemstones, do you know what they are? I would like to investigate to see if I know what they are. Great. Make that check for me.
00:55:10
Speaker
Do I get advantage since I'm technically identifying rock? Do this is your moment to shine? Dwarf City, baby. Wow. Wow. It was like a three before that. Nice.
00:55:26
Speaker
So yeah, these are these are these gemstones. They you can look at them and and as you they're all very different in color and shape. And it's just like they're very unique, all of them. And you actually.
00:55:45
Speaker
can like put your fingernail in them and you kind of push and it kind of leaves an indention of your fingernail. They're like really soft gems for gemstones. It's very, very different. They, yeah, they just kind of decorate this whole place. You've really never, you've seen different colors, but they didn't all seem like, like the different colors typically meant a different kind of stone, but these all seem like the same types of gemstone, but they just come in different varieties of colors and they're softer than any gemstone you've ever seen.
00:56:13
Speaker
What I wouldn't have had any like terrestrial knowledge of these from any of my digs or anything like that. Like these are completely unique to this location. 100%. Yes. Do I, is there anything similar that you could correlate them to? There are a few gems that you can get like
00:56:33
Speaker
like a softer white of this kind of gemstone versus the more like beige kind of tan color of the gemstone or like there's like black gemstones but there's different phases of black that like the blackest are more valuable because they're the most rare but nothing that is like
00:56:51
Speaker
green and orange but the same everything else except that right honestly i'm not i'm not sure what these are but they've adorned so many of the decorations with them it's a softer gem that i've noticed it's not. It has to have unique properties we've not discovered yet i'm gonna continue to walk around and look what else there is.
00:57:14
Speaker
David's going to continue to look around and see what he can find in this room. Go ahead and make, what are you looking for exactly? Anything specific you're looking for? I'm looking for a golden reliquary. I'll help you. Perception check then.
00:57:35
Speaker
Um, actually 17. So looking around this, uh, place you, you see the etchings and the carvings and the, in the walls around it seem to kind of start on the right-hand side and move.
00:57:50
Speaker
towards the back of the room and around to the left the outside of this room of this building was very much a rectangle but the inside of this is sort of like an oval shape. And you notice a couple doors to the back of the back of the building one on each side to the right and to the left.
00:58:08
Speaker
And then you see that the etchings kind of continue all the way around from one side to the other. And these rugs are set out kind of all the way around this oval shape where in the middle is just an empty space where a symbol of this
00:58:28
Speaker
Or looking item it's like it's an etched in but it's it's really nicely with shading and stuff like that to look like an orb in the middle of this. Of this room and those rugs those like prayer rugs are all around it. Surrounding this thing in the middle and yeah that's kind of what it all looks like there's no nothing gold in here nothing looks like there's of course him stones all over the place.
00:58:53
Speaker
You don't know how valuable they are or aren't. I will say that Briggs knows the hardness of a gemstone increases its value or the softness typically decreases it, but this soft seems pretty rare. So I don't know. You don't know. Yes, for sure. There, there's nothing in here that gives us any insight to why or what they were worshiping, but you know, besides core lawn, core, lawn, core, lawn, core, lawn, or low.
00:59:22
Speaker
The end is silent. Coral. Yeah. Coral. Kind of French sounding. Coral. So like, there's nothing in here that maybe would lead to what he believed in or what type of like society this was other than soft gem society. SGS. The center is a, it's like a symbol, right?
00:59:46
Speaker
Yes, it's, it's definitely this circle around this like nicely carved and shaded like orb. It looks like it almost, it's so nicely done. It almost looks like an actual orb on the ground, but it's definitely carved into this. Does anybody recognize the symbol? I mean, I'm sure it's his symbol, but does anybody know it personally? Trying to make a check. History check. History. What symbol and Gwendolyn has found 19 minus one 18.
01:00:17
Speaker
Gwendolyn found you. Gwen, when you walk in, you see this statue. And I want you to make a history check when you see the statue outside. I want you to make a history check. Got it. I rolled a 374. I rolled a 375. Uh, 14 plus. I need to have Gwendolyn's sheet out. Because I exited out. Don't do that.
01:00:45
Speaker
2 plus 14 doesn't help me much. 16? Yeah, yeah, yeah. His face looks familiar to you. Face definitely looks, rings a bell on this statue. Is it possible for me to just go up and touch the statue? I mean, yeah, you could definitely touch the statue right in front of you. Well, I mean, is it like my height or is it like? Yeah, it's the size of a normal elven person. Okay. A little taller than you, but like by a couple inches, not crazy.
01:01:15
Speaker
Is this, as she goes and touches its cheek, anything happen? When you touch its cheek. Does he come to life? Nothing happens. Does he combust? Nothing happens. I kind of, I pull out Dale and kind of just put, I don't even say anything to him. My hands are juggled. So I pull out Dale and I'm like, oh no. And I'm, I'm juggling the map and the cup and I kind of drop the cup.
01:01:45
Speaker
Clank, clank, clank, clank. Oh, no. You guys hear a clank clank outside behind you. Quickly turn around. Yeah. Immediately try to save whatever cup is there. Just nature. I found some things I just. Can you get that? I will. And she points at the cup awkwardly. Pick up the the cup and I see. I see a green orange pink, right?
01:02:14
Speaker
which backwards is pink, orange, green, which is P-O-G. It pogs. Pogs is the answer. I solved it all. Good job. Whoa, that's the end of the hired swords. Game over. Good job, everybody. You solved my pogs puzzle. Got it. 90. You still got to get to flip over, though. That's true. Well, pogs flip over. Well, season three is called Slammer. Oh.
01:02:49
Speaker
Thank you for listening to this episodic installment of The Hired Swords. If you like the show, do us a favor and leave a review. If you really like the show, do us a favor and tell a friend about us. If you want to keep up with us, you can find us on all socials, basically, at The Hired Swords. Again, thank you so much for listening and see you in the wild.