Speaker 1: Hi. This is Jake Kerr, the writer and producer of
Speaker 1: The Thieves Guild. Before this episode starts, I wanted to
Speaker 1: express my thanks to you as a listener.
Speaker 2: This is The.
Speaker 1: Thieves Guilds one hundred and fiftieth episode, and I never
Speaker 1: expected to reach that milestone. You know, it's only possible
Speaker 1: due to you. From the bottom of my heart, thank
Speaker 1: you so very very much. You are what has made
Speaker 1: this journey so amazing for me. My only humble request
Speaker 1: as I personally celebrate this milestone, is that if you
Speaker 1: enjoy the podcast, that you please leave a review or
Speaker 1: a comment. Those things truly do help. And now let's
Speaker 1: find out what Rafe has discovered by stumbling upon that
Speaker 1: outpost in the Distant Hills.
Speaker 3: The Thieves Guild written by Jake Kerr, Season four, episode nine,
Speaker 3: The Dragon's Watch.
Speaker 4: They weren't men, and yet they weren't children. Rafe struggled
Speaker 4: to understand the two men or were they children that
Speaker 4: walked over to him. They walked with the assured gait
Speaker 4: of warriors facing an easily dispatched foe. Rafe dropped his
Speaker 4: hand to his side, and, with no idea what else
Speaker 4: to do, waved to the fire.
Speaker 5: There is enough warmth for all of us.
Speaker 4: The first of the two men, who was nigh four
Speaker 4: feet tall, walked directly over to Rafe and slapped him on.
Speaker 5: The back, a wise choice.
Speaker 4: He then sat down next to Rafe, while the other
Speaker 4: man or was it child, looked more wary and sat
Speaker 4: across from him. Both of them were small and stout
Speaker 4: of stature, with dark brown hair seemingly wild and dunkempt.
Speaker 4: The second man was even shorter than the first, yet
Speaker 4: they were both clearly men. Even in the firelight, it
Speaker 4: was clear they wore leather armor that protected nought but
Speaker 4: their torso. Their legs and arms were bare, but for
Speaker 4: rough tunics that did little to hide their rippling muscles,
Speaker 4: they appeared enormously strong.
Speaker 6: It has been a long time since we have been
Speaker 6: visited by a human. The Goutlanders fear us, while those
Speaker 6: from Ness still suffer under their curse and don't even
Speaker 6: know of our existence. So which are you, someone who
Speaker 6: is fearless or one who has regained his memory?
Speaker 4: Rafe didn't even begin to know how to answer. Clearly,
Speaker 4: he was referring to the outlanders, But who were the
Speaker 4: cursed memory people with no real idea? As to who
Speaker 4: these people were or what they were asking. Rafe went
Speaker 4: with the safe route.
Speaker 5: My name is Raith, I'm from Who are you?
Speaker 4: The two men looked at each other. Some unspoken agreement
Speaker 4: must have been reached, as the first man turned back
Speaker 4: to Rafe. I'm Gallic and that is falcon. We are
Speaker 4: in charge of patrolling the eastern foothills, and you, my friend,
Speaker 4: are camped in the eastern foothills. Rafe was thinking of
Speaker 4: a reply when the man named Falcion finally.
Speaker 2: Spoke, what is your business here?
Speaker 4: Not seeing any reason to lie, Rafe hoped his explanation
Speaker 4: would be non confrontational enough that they let him pass.
Speaker 7: I'm traveling to Gatland and wanted to avoid the Great Road.
Speaker 7: I knew of this path from the Barrow's Treaty.
Speaker 4: Rafe mentioned the treaty in passing, not thinking it would
Speaker 4: mean anything to the two men, but they once again looked.
Speaker 2: At each other. What do you know of Barrows?
Speaker 4: There was a tone to the man's voice, not quite threaten,
Speaker 4: but clearly approaching it. Rafe decided to tread much more
Speaker 4: carefully in his responses, moving forward nothing.
Speaker 7: I researched documents in ness, it is one of them.
Speaker 7: I don't know of barrows or anything else. You don't
Speaker 7: know of the great forgetting, I must have forgotten.
Speaker 4: Rafe's hoped that his joke would lighten the mood failed horribly.
Speaker 2: Tell us of your research.
Speaker 4: Things were going from bad to worse, and Rafe weighed
Speaker 4: his words.
Speaker 2: What do you know?
Speaker 4: The sudden questions surprised Rafe. The two men were intensely
Speaker 4: interested in how much Ness knew about what Rafe didn't know.
Speaker 4: He decided to plead ignorance, which was easy as there
Speaker 4: was sadly little he did know.
Speaker 7: I'm researching history, as it seems, as you have said,
Speaker 7: to have been forgotten. I have not been very successful.
Speaker 7: This is why I'm traveling to Goutland. There are documents there.
Speaker 4: Rafe kicked himself, saying the last sentence he was giving
Speaker 4: away too much, but Galick's response immediately changed his mind.
Speaker 6: You will find no documents there. The city's library was
Speaker 6: burned to the ground ages ago. We have heard of
Speaker 6: no other source of knowledge.
Speaker 2: Ah.
Speaker 5: Then I guess I'm just visiting for enjoyment.
Speaker 2: There is no joy in Goutland.
Speaker 4: Again, Raefe didn't know how to reply, but he didn't
Speaker 4: need to.
Speaker 6: Your time is better spent enjoying a visit to Dragon's Watch.
Speaker 5: I'm sorry, I don't know what that is.
Speaker 2: You'll find out soon enough. Gallic stood up.
Speaker 6: Pack up your things, I'll watch ends soon and we'll
Speaker 6: take you there.
Speaker 4: Raife was at least smart enough not to object. The
Speaker 4: two clearly were not open to negotiation, and despite their size,
Speaker 4: Raefe was certain they could easily overwhelm him. Okay, as
Speaker 4: he stood, he once again noticed the disparity of their sizes.
Speaker 4: His curiosity was just too great. Without even debating on
Speaker 4: the wisdom of the question, he blurted it out.
Speaker 2: What are you?
Speaker 5: I mean? You called me a human, so that implies
Speaker 5: you're not.
Speaker 4: The more he talked, the more nervous Rafe became.
Speaker 5: I don't mean to offend you. I've just never seen
Speaker 5: anyone like you.
Speaker 4: Rafe finally shut up, as Gallic looked at Falcon the
Speaker 4: Great forgetting. Gallic nodded in reply. Enough of Rafe's questions
Speaker 4: were answered during the journey to the Southern outpost to
Speaker 4: make him desperate to know more. Dragon's Watch was the
Speaker 4: Dwarven name for the outpost, and that's who the two
Speaker 4: explained who they were dwarves, a race of creatures that
Speaker 4: lived in the mountains. They didn't explain more than the
Speaker 4: name and where they lived, so Rafe filed his many
Speaker 4: questions away for further research. The Watch was a heavily
Speaker 4: armed garrison, but god in what they wouldn't say For
Speaker 4: every answer, Rafe had four more questions which didn't go answered.
Speaker 4: One question, however, made the two visibly nervous.
Speaker 5: So why is it called Dragon's Watch?
Speaker 4: There was no answer, and Rafe glanced to the mounted men,
Speaker 4: one to his left and one to his right.
Speaker 5: There is a dragon or a history of a dragon?
Speaker 2: Isn't there no answer?
Speaker 7: The mountains of the dragon's teeth It is called dragon road.
Speaker 7: The river is the dragon's tear. Now we have Dragon's Watch.
Speaker 6: You are a descendant of the Great Forgetting. It is
Speaker 6: not a memory you are allowed to keep once again
Speaker 6: with the Great forgetting?
Speaker 5: What is that?
Speaker 7: Had all of nests simply had their memory removed at
Speaker 7: some point? How could everyone forget a dragon?
Speaker 4: Rafe tried not to let his frustration show. You'll need
Speaker 4: to ask Cray. Who is Cray? It was another question
Speaker 4: that went unanswered. There was no entrance to Dragon's Watch
Speaker 4: that could see. In fact, there was no dragon's watch
Speaker 4: that Rafe could see, just a sheer mountainside with pock
Speaker 4: marks and natural ledges of stone. It was as well
Speaker 4: camouflaged as the thieves Tower, and that made Rafe wonder
Speaker 4: if they were both enchanted. Is this hidden by magic?
Speaker 4: Gallic laughed, It's hidden by dwarf and skill. That comment
Speaker 4: only made Rafe wonder if the dwarfs had created the
Speaker 4: thieves Tower, although he considered that an impossibility. They rode
Speaker 4: up a frighteningly steep path that Gallic and Falcon's horses
Speaker 4: trod easily, but Rafe's horse took a bit more seriously,
Speaker 4: although he too had little trouble. Behind an outcropping was
Speaker 4: a wide stone entrance. It was an arch door about
Speaker 4: ten feet high and five feet wide. The horses entered
Speaker 4: one at a time. As Rafe got used to the
Speaker 4: dim light of torches, he heard the murmur of voices.
Speaker 4: Three shadows approached a human. I cannot believe it by
Speaker 4: the gods, and other exclamations reached his ears. Another voice,
Speaker 4: what word falcion?
Speaker 2: A human? Sir? I can see that.
Speaker 4: A dwarf with golden hair, the color of the Wheat
Speaker 4: of the Inner Fields approached. He wore a dark brown robe.
Speaker 4: He paused in front of their horses as Gallic and
Speaker 4: Falcion dismounted, not receiving any guidance. Raife dismounted as well.
Speaker 2: He was camped in the eastern foothills. He is from
Speaker 2: Ness for.
Speaker 4: The first time, the dwarf, who was clearly some kind
Speaker 4: of leader, watched as Rafe approached him.
Speaker 2: You are far afield, human.
Speaker 5: I was just enjoying the beauty of the foothills.
Speaker 4: His jovial reply again fell on deaf ears.
Speaker 5: I was taking the southern road to Goutland.
Speaker 2: You know of the southern road. He mentioned the Barrows Treaty.
Speaker 4: At that the Dwarf's casual curiosity became much more serious.
Speaker 4: You know of Barrows, I know of the treaty. The
Speaker 4: dwarf in the robe nodded his head. A document, then,
Speaker 4: do you know of the man Barrows?
Speaker 5: No, just the treaty.
Speaker 2: Ah, the great forgetting has found another gap.
Speaker 7: I'm sorry? What is the great forgetting? Did something destroy
Speaker 7: the memory of everyone in Ness? How could that happen?
Speaker 7: Why did it happen? Who are you? What is this place?
Speaker 7: How have you remained hidden. You aren't that far. Did
Speaker 7: not the rangers know of your existence?
Speaker 4: The questions poured out of Rafe received by an amused
Speaker 4: smile by the robed man. Only such great curiosity can
Speaker 4: defeat the great forgetting, he laughed. Come, my name is Token.
Speaker 4: I need to take you to someone Cray. The answer
Speaker 4: led to an angry look from Token to Falcion and Gallic.
Speaker 2: And it appears great curiosity can also be dangerous when
Speaker 2: unleashed on the wrong people. A podcast Alchemy production