D&D is For Nerds - Stories of The Greyhill Free Company III #16 The Capital

Episode Date: July 30, 2022

Our ragtag group of heroes get an unwelcome surprise. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ahem. You're listening to the Sandspants Network. Home of comedy, culture, adventures, and ghosts. Previously on Stories from the Greyhill Free Company. Well, is this what you've come to talk about? Do you wish to retire? Eventually, sure, but no. I guess we couldn't put a stop to it initially.

I guess let's turn it on. So 400 golems up and left to whoever, I guess, made the contract. Morimash turns back thoughtfully towards all the scrolls behind him. Sweating bullets, Adam. Sweating bullets. He starts pulling at scrolls and starts setting them down on the table one after another. We need to go to the capital. This skips over Greyhill entirely. We need to go to the capital and speak to the distribution centre.

We need to speak to someone above us. What about if you make new friends here who are going to lots of different adventures and then you can just go with them and check the fireplaces when you go on the adventures? That might be a bit better because we're only going to one place, which is a city. Fire nods.

Okay. Do we have armaments for the people that can use them? Oramash at the stables turns around, snaps his fingers and says, yes, that's right. We should, we should, we should. He hurries you over to, there's like an equipment tent. Before you leave though, I would like everyone to bump themselves up to level five.

Ooh. Yes, yes, yes. You set off. You ride hard and you ride fast. You, maybe actually Morimash sends a bird ahead of you like a messenger bird ahead of you to another one of the mercenary camps and he just requests seven fresh horses halfway through so that you can ride the horses really hard and he pays you have no idea but when you get to this other mercenary camp he just gives them a big old bag

of gold you do not think he has paid market price for these horses he pays an exorbitant amount from a competing adventuring company but nonetheless you get seven fresh horses so that you can ride hard immediately again nice perfect all right okay i trust him you ride well into the, looming in the darkness ahead of you. You see like black upon black, shadow in the night sky. You see Fairburn Point, the capital of this surrounding area. Greyhill is but a small, almost nothing city compared to Fairburn Point. Greyhill does not have walls and does not have a castle or keep.

Fairburn Point has both of those. As you approach, you see the wall that extends all the way around. And also you can hear the crashing waves because it is a coastal city. You hear the crashing waves and you smell the salt air of being near the sea. As you approach the gates,

the gates are shut for the night and you see guards atop the wall oh who goes there uh more marsh call yeah i feel like we're all just sort of like waiting for more more marsh pulls his horse up his horse is like foaming foaming at the foaming his horse is foaming at the mouth no his horse is foaming at the mouth from the exertion that you have had riding this hard for this long he pulls his horse up and calls out i am morimash uh one of the higher ups leaders of the gray hill free company i demand entrance to this city immediately no one enters the city at Morimash shakes his head. Morimash attempts

an intimidation. How good is he at intimidating? He's pretty scary. He's pretty good, actually. The sentry hesitates. He turns around and he sees he's conferring with some other guards. Alright, then, you wait here. I'm going to go get someone to let you, who

might be able to let you in. He leaves. Morimash turns back to you and says, there is a distinct possibility that any person we talk to might be part of a conspiracy. So I think it's worth having a conversation now about what we might do. So we approach this person and we say, here's what we've got. Now, you role play.

You be the. Okay, more of us. You be more of us. What? We didn't get this last time. It's good. All right. So there's a distinct possibility that anyone we talk to might be part of a conspiracy.

Of course. So I see three distinct outcomes the first outcome is we are alone in their territory um and there is every possibility that they might just have us killed in which case we fight our way out to the best of our ability anyone who can makes their way back to gray hill um to the gray hill camp and we try to well uh we we're speaking with some sort of leader but they're not the lord and they're not in charge of the distribution center they're not not necessarily anyone too important so perhaps there is still chance to beseech um to beseech someone here the the lord of fairburn point or uh someone else higher on the scale yes um failing that we might have to go i don't know somewhere to like highdale to the

capital capital to where the king himself lives um and beseech them there uh then perhaps they uh they are shocked at this, and they decide, like I did, to bump this up the chain of command. Yes. In which case, obviously, we follow it to its very conclusion. Yes, because whoever's getting an army of mercenaries and an army of iron golems, I don't expect the king in Hyde should be warned,

at the very least. And then finally, most troublingly, perhaps, they are shocked. They tell us they are going to bump it up the chain of command. And then that night when we're eating dinner, we are poisoned. Yes, yes. We've had we are poisoned. Yes, yes. We've had very similar thoughts. Ah, yes. Morimaki pauses for a second.

Okay. All right. Well, it's good to know we sort of, we got the outcomes, right? You don't trust you more than us. No offense to us. I dread to think of it but there is actually maybe a fourth option yes it is possible that the rot is so ingrained that going up the chain is not going to help us in that case if it is too ingrained to even have a hope, then this entire city, we must assume, is hostile.

Every member of its gentry, every member of its working class, every adventurer within these walls is our enemy. In which case, we might have to flee. I mean, out of the country. Not just out of Fairburn Point, not just to Hydale, but out of Kandor. In which case, it is many weeks' ride, but Goldcrest is the closest land here that is not Kandor. land here that is not Kandor. The easiest way

would perhaps be by boat, but Fairburn Point is not without its own flotilla of sorts. So that carries with it a high degree of danger. So we need to make at least I guess at least one of us has to make this out of here

to perhaps warn the others. In case that person is not you, should we have any of your seals or something like that that we can tell any of the others back at camp that we need to leave? Big T, please, ride closer. Muramash, ride so that he is next to you. Turn around. Can I have your back

for a moment? Yes. Muramash pulls out pen and paper, puts the paper on your back and writes something on the paper. He rolls it up and then he signs it, rolls it up and then, well, he doesn't have a seal, but he ties a little ribbon around it

and hands it well... He'd probably make a few of these wouldn't he yeah he probably makes a few actually yeah you would have time as well he makes enough for one for each of you he hands one to each of you and he says each of those um divests control of the greyhill free company to the holder of that letter. Whoever gets back, if it is only one of you, with that letter, you should have the authority to take control of the company.

I hope it's all of us together. I hope it's you, Mo. Is there any... Is there anything that we would have to know logistically? Like, these are the keys that do this. These are the keys that do this. Speak to Hank keys that do this. Speak to Hank.

Hank knows everything. Is it just ask Hank? Yes, everything. Just go to Hank. Give this letter to Hank. Hank will know it all. I'm not terribly concerned about what state the company survives in, so long as it survives. Oh, yeah.

I mean, just, like, logistically, like, you have this. You have this. Give it to Hank. Hank will know what to do. Morimash grabs you by the arm, Globble pulls you in close and says, I trust you. I trust whatever decision you make will be the correct one. Failing that, Hank knows most of the operations of the company.

Do we have any, if that does happen, the worst case, I guess, do we have any contacts in Goldcrest? Not really. Hank might know some people, I guess. Do we have any contacts in Goldcrest? Not really. Hank might know some people, I'm not sure. But the brotherhood of accountants is widespread and ingrained. But yeah, you might need to rebuild things from the ground up. Yes. But that might not be the worst thing.

Should that happen, perhaps, I don't know, you could put your own mark on the greyhill free company i like to think i like to think that the things we build in life um show every bit of our dna as our children well let's hope it doesn't come to that after having this little discussion after him writing a note for each of you and each of you has one tucked away somewhere the gates to fairburn point slowly rise before you and then stepping through the gateway is a man a knight perhaps he wears resplendent armor it gleams in the moonlight it is simply beautiful he wears a long red cloak deepest deepest red, so rich in color that even in the darkness you can see it. He's an elf, impossibly handsome. He looks like a knight from a fairy tale.

And as he approaches, you see that he is old, but not so old that he does not have vitality about him. He's not Gloppel's age yet. He does not have vitality about him. He's not Glopple's age yet. As he approaches, you see that there is embossed upon his breastplate. There is a sigil, like a house sigil, or like I'm marking him as a membership of some sort of group. It is a dainty slipper. Glopple, that's so sad. Glopple, you never uh no one ever read you bedtime stories big t you you had a happy childhood

pages they they get all soggy when you go underwater it's fine looking at looking at the sigil not through zia mia's memory but with your own eyes and without the bloodstains as well you recognize this this is a this is the sigil this is the representation of grace's companions they are the adventuring company the group that every other company styles themselves after leopold's errant mercenaries the greyhound free company you are all pale in comparison to them while this insignia is probably less known which is why you didn't immediately pick up on it the tales of grace's companions are literally the stuff of legend if this person gives you their name there is a pretty good chance you will know them or know of them oh my goodness i i mean i knew

they were real but they didn't know they were real real or is it like very well known that they are if i'm telling if i'm being well it was a bedtime story am i like oh my god they're like a real If I'm being told it was a bedtime story, am I like, oh my god, they're like a real... It's just like how he was described in the picture books. The amount of mythologizing that goes on around Grace's companions, you absolutely could have been like, I thought they weren't real. It's like if Cass, if you, it could be Cass if you encountered a dragon. Oh. I mean, it makes sense, all the stories about them. Who?

What? They're famous. They're like the adventuring company. I got told about these guys when I was a kid. Who are they? When I was just your height. Who? That's so great.

It's his companions. Do I know the name, at least? Or did I just not even know? Yeah, the name, absolutely. The sigil is something a little bit less common, but the name, absolutely. You know Grace's companions. Oh. Oh. Yeah.

It's hard to be an adventurer and not have heard of Grace's companions. For you, I guess they're less of a fairy tale and more like you go to an area and you see a statue dedicated to them. Right. I'm fairly certain I collected cards of some of them when I was younger. Do you know who that guy is? Do we? some of them when I was younger. Do you know who that guy is?

Do we? If we rack our brains real hard right now, now that we know who they are. Free Stump, once again, you had a happy childhood. I had bootleg collected cards, I get it. There's a picture book depicting this person. His name is

Sir Laika Silvermoon. I think there's like a silver moon so like a silver moon um sir like a silver moon is one of the like periphery members of grace's companions still incredibly famous and important in their own right you know that like a silver moon so like a silver moon is like an old Silver Moon is like an old, old family friend of Sir Grace. Sir Grace being, obviously, the leader of Grace's companions. Right, yeah. It would make a lot of sense, Trista.

Well, no, once again, this is a beautiful, it happens all the fucking time with you two. you to but something that glupple knows and something that big t knows could overlap to give you so much richer and so much richer information but unfortunately glupple does not know who like a silver moon is uh but big t does and big t's knowledge that so like a silver moon is an old family friend of the graces would overlap with your knowledge that, oh, this person probably does a lot of managing for Grace's companions. So it would make a lot of sense for this person to also be here in Fairbairn Point where Sir Grace currently resides. I mean, I would say, oh, he's an old family friend. Like, I'm excited. I'm talking about them like it's K-pop

or something. Does that mean that Sir Grace is here in Fairbairn Point? Why would that mean that? It absolutely would. No, Big T, you would probably understand that much, at least. Oh, you're right. Oh my god, is he?

Do we meet him? What if he's bad? Um. No, no. So like a silver moon with his helmet tucked underneath his arm gets to you and with an incredibly charming smile he says, well, now, what seems to be the problem? Surely they might not know. I say the big T. They just might not know. what seems to be the problem surely they they surely wouldn't they might not know I say the big T

they just might not know they just might not know they're good guys waiting for more rematch again we're here with with very troubling information that we need to pass on to well I guess

Sir Grace is he here? so Silvermoon gives like a a little bit of a chuckle, but then looking from each of your faces, the very serious expressions you have, he matches your seriousness and says, well, I can only imagine fellow adventurers such as yourselves. You might be, if you are one who kind of mythologizes adventuring,

for him to call you fellow adventurers is probably a really big compliment. I tried not to shoot. I want to take the cue of what Morimash, like a glance to Morimash and maybe the other, like, yeah. Morimash does not seem in any way impressed by this. Okay. Morimash steps forwards. Well, he dismounts, steps towards Silvermoon and says,

Yes, I would like to see Sir Grace or someone, anyone, immediately, please. Is Sir Grace in charge of distribution? Yes, sorry. Distribution. Yes. Silvermoon responds, not directly. I handle a lot of the distribution for quests. You're Morimash, correct?

I believe we met a few times at a party up at the castle. Morimash nods slowly, kind of like half recalling it. Yes, I think we did. Yes, well, please, follow me. I'll send someone. He snaps his fingers and someone scurries away. I'll send someone to fetch Sir Grace himself. Can I get you something to drink?

You look like you've been on the road hard and long. No, I'm okay. We've packed enough supplies. You walk with Sir Silvermoon through the town. Would either of you have been to a major city before,

like Fairburn Point? I reckon we would have done it on occasion. Yeah, like we probably have been to Fairburn Point before. Like, if we've been in this surrounding area for a while. But like, you know, maybe five years ago or something like that. Going to the big city, it's not common. You're traveling with two other knights.

Both of them have that slipper embossed upon their armor. Neither of them seem particularly important. They just look like maybe foot knights or something like that. Unimportant knights. You're traveling through the city. particularly important they just look like maybe footnights or something like that unimportant nights you're traveling through the city you see that it is you both know that even a major city a major city sees a lot more nighttime activity than anything else somewhere like gray hill nighttime comes around it's dead nothing's happening no one is in the streets a major city like fairburn point you get a couple of people in the streets. A major city like Fairburn Point, you get a couple of people in the streets. Fair enough.

The city is abuzz with activity. You see people walking around, like loads of people walking around. Many of them appear to be knights with that embossment upon their armor. But you see other different types of banners and other different groups of people. So not just knights, but maybe guardsmen or foot soldiers, that sort of stuff. You see some mounted cavalry, stuff like that. Very quickly, you work out that it is only combat troops.

The city is full of soldiers. That's not good. A great deal, many of them, are taking around metal cages or containers of different sorts with strange exotic animals in them. You see beholders with hoods over their heads being led around on chain and leash. As you move your way through the city, you get towards the second wall.

There's an outer wall, an inner wall, and then the castle itself. As you approach the inner wall, you see that your ranks begin swelling. What was two knights plus Sir Silvermoon becomes four knights plus Silvermoon. Are we still all on horseback?

No, you all dismounted when Morimash dismounted. Unless you specify otherwise am i keeping up pace is that the the amulet made me by now you've been wearing the amulet long enough to attune to it you can keep pace yeah okay cool um maybe if we're noticing a lot of the the armies and like the military kind of like nature of everything and this is kind of new to us i i think this would be when uh muttering to morimash that i think we've made a terrible mistake morimash has gone alabaster white once more he doesn't say anything though you uh keep approaching the outer wall uh inner wall sorry no other option really by the time you

get to the inner wall four knights plus sir silver moon has become six knights plus sir silver moon you pass through you see that the this is something yeah you've both been in major cities you know inner walls on major cities don't typically have, unless there's a siege happening, they do not typically have centuries here. Unless, yeah, unless there's some special reason they would not have centuries. Sometimes, maybe for various reasons, some places do. Fairburn Point has no reason to have the number of centuries here that it does. This place seems like a

city that is currently gearing up for war, which you don't know what war is happening. When was the last time you were here, Morimash? Morimash glances at you and says, months.

And is much changed? I would say that it has become busier than it was previously. I would also like to add that at daytime, it's harder to notice things. That's fair. that at daytime it's harder to notice things that's here as you pass the inner inner wall you see on the inside of the inner wall so when you go through the wall you see on your left and right there are a bunch of sentries who are kneeling before little altars just inside, just where the gate is. The altar is like just a table with a white linen cloth thrown over it, and there is a bowl full of viscera. They are praying to it.

Maybe I'm going a little bit, Alabaster. Yeah, this is getting yuck. This is worrying. Awful combination. You begin to approach the keep, and as you pass through those gates, six knights plus Sir Silvermoon becomes eight knights plus Sir Silvermoon. Are we about to be murdered? The option four.

Which option was fleeing again fleeing is was if the rot was too deep and that was option four terrifying option four where the entire city could be considered hostile that is presenting itself

so I think I'll just maybe say I think option four is looking more and more likely now. Morimash says, I don't know if option four is a possibility anymore. But he looks at each of you and you see like he slows down for a minute. And as he slows down the last two nights, the seven and eight who added to your column, they're like right up the back as your group slows down that you could tell they purposely bump into,

I'll say maybe Sarin and Tavertine are right up the back. They purposely bump into them to hurry your group along. You are not slowing down on your journey towards the keep yeah but you slow down just that maybe a fraction slow enough that mora marsh can turn around and look at each of you and he says when it happens i will buy you the time i can and you do not look back i'm i just nod thank you yes thank you the way the city is designed they keep a butts onto the inner wall and the closest place between the inner wall and the outer wall is where the keeper butts to it the most defenses will be there, but if they are as they should be, they will be

guarding from the outside, not from the inside. So if you are quick, you may be able to use that as your exit. He looks back at the inner wall and you see that the gate for the inner wall is being closed after you.

Do not go out the way we came in. Yes. More homage. I'm sorry. The keep, have either of you ever been to Fairburn Point before, specifically, as opposed to other major cities? We would have. I reckon there would have been a time where we had to go collect an ingredient

for something from the city. Yeah. We didn't want to leave the city. Yeah. We didn't want to leave the city. Yeah. Or like go into the city. Yeah. The city keep was mostly not necessarily decorative. It is a defensive structure, but it was assumed that if an army made its way to the keep, it's basically done for.

There was no protections around the keep itself. Just the outer wall, the inner wall, and then the walls of the keep itself. protections around the keep itself just the outer wall the inner wall and then the walls of the keep itself a moat is currently being dug around the keep and you see other siege works going on not only are they digging a moat like a whole a a channel all around the keep they are using that dirt to make a wall on the inner part of the moat so you would need to get into the moat and then climb not just out but up over a little earthen hill okay is the moat. So you would need to get into the moat and then climb, not just out, but up over a little earthen hill. Okay. Is the moat full of anything, like water? No. Or is it all just empty? It's still under construction. Okay. Okay. I'm trying to clock any drainages.

You don't see any here. Okay. The gates, there's like a, do you know what a portcullis is? I feel like I've explained this before, but maybe it bears repeating. Portcullis is i feel like i've explained this before but maybe it bears repeating portcullis stabby stabby gate that goes down yeah yeah it's like if you've ever if you've ever seen a fantasy movie or even just a medieval movie of any sort when you're looking at a castle and it's like the metal grill that goes up or down over the door that's a portcullis you can see that the portcullis is being raised. A drawbridge, which has only recently been constructed that goes over the moat, is being lowered. And then massive wood and metal gates inside are being opened. Walking out through that gateway, you see the one, the only, Sir Grace himself.

Sir Grace himself. the background on my phone, or, man, this looks really cool. It sure would be neat to have that as my desktop, if only it was available somewhere. And, come on guys, you have the artwork. It's right there. It shouldn't be this hard. Well, do I have some good news for you. For at least a dollar, you can download the perfect desktop wallpaper for your computer or that little google machine you've got there right from our website sanspanseradio.com slash shop and click the downloads icon we've currently got several wallpaper packs available but do check back often as i'm sure we'll add more

maybe in a further 10 years so once again that that's sanspansradio.com slash shop and click that downloads icon. Hail and well met, adventurers, I say to the seven of you. I guess... Treesome does their best to keep their jaw attached to their second jaw. What does Sir Grace look like? As in, what do we see? Please, Sir Grace, describe yourself.

You described Sir Silvermoon as looking like a fairy tale knight, but I think Sir Grace looks almost like somehow the next step up from that. Maybe I've got my visor open to reveal my face. I like to think i have kind smiling eyes obviously with like kind of crow's feet on either side um and you know obviously like i'm an older man so that shows on my skin and in my wrinkles um a little smile on my face as well just like a little smile that you're not sure if it's if it's one of uh if he's just pleased to see you,

if he's just happy, or if he's laughing at you, if you know that kind of smile. You care. Oh, yeah. All right. And I guess, yeah. I don't care whichever it is. He's looking at me. So.

The Greyhill Free Company, I say, pointing to the seven of you. I know. And then I point to you, Glopple. Glopple, Glopple? Big T? Yes. Each in turn, I point out as though I know them. I don't shit.

Is that you saying that, or is that you describing your character? Describing it. Describing it. Well, saying it in character obviously is going to lead to confusion, isn't it? It has. I'm panicking.

I'm meeting God. To what do I owe the pleasure? I look at Morimash to see what Morimash is doing. I want to take their lead, really, at this point. Morimash says, can we speak privately of course of course yeah i absolutely please right this way i'll turn around on the drawbridge and head back into the castle everyone follows suit oh privately but all of us yeah i'll lead them into i assume there's a throne room in the castle? There is.

Yeah, there's a throne room. If you are genuinely looking for somewhere private, there is like an eating hall off to one side almost immediately as you come in. The eating hall, it's the very same eating hall that a certain unky dick was first introduced so long ago um is it private in there is there anybody else around or is it kind of hard to avoid just people in general this level of the castle is mostly unoccupied okay uh where's my dragon

well you can have the dragon wherever you want. Okay, I would like to take them to the throne room, which is full of gold and the dragon. But I imagine in front of the throne, there is like a table, maybe even with a map of the area that I've been maybe poring over. Yeah.

Sure. Can I ask, the dragon, would you have done it quickly or slowly with the dragon? Whatever would have... Probably quickly. Well, no, slowly, slowly, slowly. Okay, cool. Okay.

Okay. Okay. This whole time, like, what's the vibe we're getting? Yeah. Vibe check. Yeah, let's do a quick vibe check. Because when we walked up there's like people worship an awful yeah but then there's like this guy he's he's handsome

sure he's a little bit older but he's handsome we maybe as we're walking i'm even i'm even talking about like you know i do my best to keep up with all the adventuring companies you know that's just the done thing and let me tell you some of your exploits they've made their way to me and they're very impressive thank you up the up the back so silver moon and a bunch of the knights would probably be following unless given other orders by you sir grace yeah yeah that's fine they can they can follow unless this the the greyhill free company don't want them here in which case but if they don't voice that opinion. Literally anything. Again, what's that vibe, Jack?

What's the vibe? Is it good? Surely it's good, and we'll find out just how good it is next time on Stories of the Greyhill Free Company. free company. Hey there fellow adventurer. If you're picking up what we're putting down and want more D&D content Thank you. The further adventures of the Greyhill Free Company if you want shorter campaigns with beautiful guests. And D&D is for Nerds, not Ognot, where all our non-canon D&D adventures go to rest. Just search for D&D is for Nerds on your favourite podcast app of choice and join us on this epic quest of D&D podcast discovery.