C03 - Ep. 48 - Under Oondar Fire - Hot Cross Bunlap

Summary

Tales from the Stinky Dragon

Season 3, Episode 48: "Under Oondar Fire - Hot Cross Bunlap"

Release Date: July 22, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode continues the comedic, high-adventure journey of the Stinky Dragon crew as they navigate strange magical chambers, reunite with an old ally, solve puzzle-filled environments, and attempt to recover the stolen Wilder Shield. Along the way, they banter, forge new bonds, and grapple with bizarre dangers—ranging from enchanted paintings to rickety bridges and charm-infused parties. The group’s chemistry shines as they riff on each other and improvise increasingly creative solutions to their problems.

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Key Discussion Points & Highlights

1. Opening Banter & Character Introductions

[02:49-11:37]

• The players, in character, share what charity they would start, riffing on puns and wordplay:
  • Toys for Bots (Tol): Donating/refurbishing old technology for robots (Blaine Gibson, [04:00]).
  • Make a Fish: Providing nutrient-rich fish for Gunther’s village (Chris Maris, [05:00]).
  • Minds of Midris Initiative (MOMMY): Promoting education in Midris (Doug, Barbara Dunkelman, [07:09]).
  • Natty’s idea focuses on damage repair after her pet, Gigi, causes chaos—eventually named “reinstaFarm” (John Risinger, [11:21]).
• The cast enjoys playful acronyms and jabs about the puns.
• Set the mood for a collaborative, joke-heavy episode.

“You guys and your puns, play on words today, 10 for 10.” – Doug Boone ([05:37])

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2. Reuniting with Bunlap and Fireside Talk

[12:12-20:48]

• The crew discovers evidence of Bunlap and soon reunite—Bunlap appears, described as impressively muscular, shiny, and “safe” (Gus, [13:00]).
• Bunlap, hungry and exhausted, proposes sharing a meal and fireside chat ([14:05]).
• The group inquires about his recent quest, spiritual doubts, and the judgement passed by the Wilderflower, Bunlap’s deity.
• Emotional dialogue around Gunther’s faith crisis and loyalty issues:
  • Bunlap reports that Gunther has been accused of forsaking his goddess to consort with other deities ([15:25]).
  • Gunther insists his intentions were only to recover the Wilder Shield, not to betray his faith ([16:39]).
  • Friends vouch for Gunther’s loyalty—Tol delivers a heartfelt defense ([16:47]).

"He is so devoted that it has come at a great cost to his personal well-being because of his devotion to the Wilderflower." – Tol/Blaine Gibson ([16:59])

• Scene peppered with jokes about Gunther’s croak folk customs (e.g., handshakes, tongue-relations).
• Bunlap pledges to stand by Gunther’s side in his quest, rekindling their alliance ([20:26]).

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3. Meals, Skills Exchange, and Party Dynamics

[20:48-32:08]

• Bunlap and Doug bond over a shared meal—including freeze-dried flies and jokes about Doug’s culinary and smithing skills ([14:48], [25:55]).
• Doug helps repair Bunlap’s armor, skillfully infusing it with an enhanced defense (+1 AC), impressing Bunlap ([40:11]).
• Bunlap confesses a desire to develop his own skills, especially blacksmithing, and hints at being a "book burrower" ([25:55]).
• Party members continue friendly bickering and gags about their anthropomorphic features and abilities.

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4. Exploring the Cistern and Retrieving Missing Items

[41:14-45:36]

• The party plots their next steps, recalling objectives: defeat the Chimera, recover the Wilder Shield, reclaim Tol’s skin from mischievous grandkids, and aid the Goldenrod ([41:14]).
• Tol retrieves his skin, finding it swapped and defaced by prankster kids:

  “[...] The feet are where the hands should be and the hands are where the feet should be.” – Gustavo Sorola ([44:05])

• They ascend back to the forested lake, choosing which auditory clue to follow (music vs. grinding stone, [45:36]).

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5. The Enchanted Party and Mermaid Painting Trap

[45:36-57:44]

• Drawn to the northwest by the sound of music, the group stumbles upon a lavish, illusory revel with enchanted guests and a painting of a saxophone-playing mermaid ([46:33]).
• Gunther is enthralled by the painting’s magic, as is Doug; both become unwilling to leave ([50:56], [54:43]).
• Natty deduces the source of the charm (Arcana check) and casts “Mode of Hell” to silence/contain the magic, breaking the spell ([56:17-57:22]).
• The illusion fades, revealing a heap of garbage and corpses—realizing the party was an enchantment to ensnare victims ([57:44]).

“I’m pretty used to being at a party and wanting to leave, and the people I’m with don’t want to leave.” – Natty/John Risinger ([57:47])

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6. Crossing the Rickety Bridge and Navigating Environmental Hazards

[61:19-71:20]

• The group comes upon a dangerous-looking bridge with a suspicious bag of gold at its center.
• Natty hovers across with a rope for safety while the group riffs about coin purses and nugget quantities ([65:03]).
• Giggy, Natty’s pet, eats the tossed safety coin ([67:00]), leading to further hilarity as the party improvises.
• Natty ultimately uses “Shadow Portal” to ferry everyone safely when the bridge collapses ([71:20]).

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7. Jeremothy’s Studio, Painting Portals, and a Bizarre Art Mystery

[72:03-88:10]

• The group finds a small house by a water-mill, which doubles as both an art studio and an alchemical lab ([75:06]).
• They discover references in a diary to the creation of magical paintings commissioned by King Myzer, with mention of “hopeless sight dust” and other alchemical pigments ([81:58]).
• Evidence, including a self-portrait and a conspicuous pile of clothes beneath a roof hole, suggests the fate of Jeremothy: likely a victim of a magical rapture, referencing previous events where all humans disappeared ([86:47]).
• Doug, coached by Bunlap, attempts to paint a portal to the treasure vault room ([78:03]).
• With a successful check, Doug gains proficiency in painting tools ([89:31]).

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8. The Vault, The Chimera—and a Three-Way Standoff

[91:58-93:44]

• The group leaps into Doug’s freshly painted portal and emerges in the treasure vault.
• Chimera is on the ceiling, morphing between beastly forms, Wilder Shield visible embedded in its scales.
• The vault quickly devolves into a standoff between the crew, Undarian torses (locals), and Goliath goldchasers.
• The episode ends with an epic cliffhanger as all parties prepare for confrontation:

“We’ve got a three-way standoff. This is going to get hairy.” – Tol/Blaine Gibson ([93:37])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Is sacrifice not a sign of faith?” – Bunlap (Devin Finn, [17:32])
• “B is for brave. B is for Bunlap, baby.” – Tol (Blaine Gibson, [53:56])
• “He figured it out.” – Natty (John Risinger, on Doug’s painting, [89:51])
• “We will bugbear with you.” – Gunther (Chris Maris, [36:51])
• “It’s like Wall-E where it gets squashed into cubes...” – Doug Boone, on how robots digest ([38:55])
• “Under the water where it is hotter, take it from me...” – Gunther, singing mermaid painting ([50:20])
• “This is the infernus killing gun machine painting. And then I walk in, I pull it out, and then bada bing, bada boom...”—Tol (Blaine Gibson, [89:57])

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Important Episode Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment / Event | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:49 | Cast introduces themselves and answers the “charity” prompt | | 12:12 | Reunion with Bunlap, fireside meal, pivotal faith confrontation | | 25:55 | Blacksmithing/skill-share discussion between Doug and Bunlap | | 40:10 | Doug enchants Bunlap’s armor (+1 AC) | | 45:36 | Arrival at enchanted party; discovery of mermaid painting | | 56:26 | Natty’s “Mode of Hell” breaks the painting’s charm | | 61:19 | Encountering the rickety bridge; giggly coin debacle | | 71:20 | Shadow portal bypasses collapsed bridge | | 75:06 | Investigating Jeremothy’s studio, clues about magical paintings | | 78:55 | Doug begins painting the vault portal | | 89:31 | Doug gains painting proficiency | | 91:58 | Entering the vault; Chimera showdown begins | | 93:36 | Cliffhanger: three-way standoff at the vault |

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Episode Tone & Language

The episode maintains a breezy, energetic style filled with puns, jokes, affectionate teasing, and D&D references. The cast leans into their characters and meta-commentary, creating moments that are both accessible for newcomers and rewarding for fans.

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For New Listeners

This episode showcases the group’s blend of improvisational wit, collaborative storytelling, heartfelt roleplay, and playful D&D puzzling. It’s filled with running jokes, character-driven emotion, inventive use of in-game powers, and effective use of D&D mechanics for both comedy and plot. With a high-stakes standoff setting up next episode, now’s a perfect time to jump onboard.

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Cliffhanger:
Will the party recover the Wilder Shield, defeat the Chimera, and escape the vault standoff?

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Next Episode

Tune in next time for the dramatic resolution to this three-way showdown in Tales from the Stinky Dragon!

Transcript

[John Risinger]

Best thing that's ever happened to you financially. Go easy.

[Blaine Gibson]

Sold my car on Carvana.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Amazing offer, really.

[John Risinger]

I hit 200 on the scratcher.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Did the scratcher come to your house and hand you a check?

[John Risinger]

No.

[Gustavo Sorola]

How many scratchers did you hit to get that? I hit a button on Carvana.com once.

[John Risinger]

Okay, that's fair.

[Gustavo Sorola]

It's like the lottery, except you always win.

[John Risinger]

Not like the lottery at all, actually.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Exactly. Inexplicably good offers worth bragging about.

[John Risinger]

Sell your car today on Carvana.

[Gustavo Sorola]

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[Sponsor Voice (State Farm)]

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[Narrator/Storyteller]

Pleasantries all you plane watchers, soar into the Stinky Dragon and ingest our latest infusion Clear for takedown. It's a mixture of magic resistance, Matcha Word, bound water, Celestial soy milk, a radiant lasso of ice cubes, and topped with an enervating blast of extra planar juices. One pour of this pinpoint potato and you'll be saying, there's no plane like home. Previously, our adventurers clashed with the conglomerate Chimera. After a quick conflict, it cleared out into a cavernous canvas. B team then bound their way up a slippery slide into a body of water. They met mushroom minions and their matron, Grammy Fungus. Finally, they flew down a flight of stairs into a facility of filigree and found a secret space beneath a cistern where a stud named Bunlap stepped in on them. Latch onto our libation and let's leap into our lore.

[Chris Maris]

Hello, everyone.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Welcome to Tales from the Stinky Dragon. I'm your dungeon master, Gustavo Sorola, and I'm gonna hit our four players with an Arrow.

[Chris Maris]

If you're.

[Gustavo Sorola]

If you were to create a charity, what kind would it be and what would it be called? And that's from Zack, the Street Fighter. Can't wait to see you in the new movie, Zack.

[Blaine Gibson]

Not sponsored.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Not sponsored at all. That movie looks bonkers. And I want to watch it.

[Blaine Gibson]

I'm going to roll the D25 16 8.

[John Risinger]

Got this out of my system. Critical failure.

[Gustavo Sorola]

So, Cole, Gunther, Doug, Natty, you already asked the question.

[John Risinger]

I'm sorry.

[Doug Boone]

Yeah, he did.

[John Risinger]

The. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Chris Maris]

The.

[Gustavo Sorola]

The. If you were to create a charity, what kind would it be? What would it be called? From Zack, the Street Fighter. I know we got a little distracted.

[Blaine Gibson]

That was the part of that whole thing that I got focused on. I was like, oh, man.

[John Risinger]

Yeah.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Hadouken.

[John Risinger]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hello.

[Blaine Gibson]

It's me, Blaine Gibson. I play Tolv, the male thaumatech barbarian. Yoo hoo. Oh, wow. First. That's a first. Okay, well, charities. I am going to start one that is near and dear to my heart. It has to do with recyc. And you know when you're like, you've got, like, an old piece of technology and you're like, I don't know what

[Chris Maris]

to do with this.

[Blaine Gibson]

Should I throw it away? Should I recycle it? Well, you can donate it to my charity. It's called Toys for Bots. And we take old technology and then we, like, use it for spare parts or, you know, refurbishing it to make it into, like, a cool little gadget or gizmo for us robot folks. Uh, yeah.

[Doug Boone]

I got gadgets and gizmos aplenty.

[John Risinger]

I know exactly what he triggered with Barbara.

[Blaine Gibson]

He said it.

[John Risinger]

Barbara inhaled, and I was like, I know what she's thinking.

[Gustavo Sorola]

She's.

[John Risinger]

She's trying to.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah.

[Blaine Gibson]

Is that Beauty and the Beast?

[John Risinger]

No.

[Doug Boone]

Little Mermaid.

[John Risinger]

Oh.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.

[Doug Boone]

I love the Toys for Bots. I'm guessing that's a Toys for Tots reference, or am I going crazy?

[Blaine Gibson]

Toys for what? I know it's called Toys for Bots. I don't know what you're talking about.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Oh, that's so true. I don't even know what tots are.

[Gustavo Sorola]

It's a boys for Tots reference. All right, to doing. Doing good charity work there for up and coming bots. Thank you. Up next, Gunther.

[Chris Maris]

Hi, I'm Chris Maris. I play Gunther, the male crook folk fighter. And for me, that is an important charity is that there are sometimes when people in my village, they get sick, they need extra nutrients and Extra. And they do not have enough food. And so we need to. There are particular type of fish that we give that are very nutritious for them, but they are hard and hard to hurt to come by. And so I would start a charity to help to make sure that every child that needs one has one. It would be called Make a Fish.

[Doug Boone]

You guys and your puns play on words today, 10 for 10.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Make a fish. So you go to a body of water and you assemble fish parts, and you make this. You assemble this.

[Chris Maris]

Somehow you would do the charity to grow these. To start a fish hatchery. Hatchery.

[Doug Boone]

Start a fish.

[Chris Maris]

And then to grow them, to let them.

[John Risinger]

It's like. It's like a build a bear, you

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

know, but with fish.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah, I. I do want to say, Chris, your. Your gunther intonations and cadence are on point today. I was like. I was on that journey.

[Blaine Gibson]

Food. It was.

[Gustavo Sorola]

It was bad.

[Chris Maris]

It was.

[Blaine Gibson]

It was good in my picnic basket.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Toys for bots and make a Fish. I can't wait to see the parade of puns continue. You're up next.

[Chris Maris]

Hello, everyone.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

It's Doug Boone, played by Barbara Dunkelman,

[Doug Boone]

the male bugbear artificer, currently level eight.

[John Risinger]

I'm sorry, you said played by Barbara Dunkelman, the male artificer.

[Doug Boone]

That's me. I'm the male artificer. I've been working on it.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

But, you know, these are some really good charities that you guys are starting, you know, some real good play on words. But, you know, Doug was thinking about how could he really help the people, you know, of this place, of Midras specifically. And so he actually wants to start a charity called the Minds of Midris Initiative, also known as Mommy.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh, that caught me off guard.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

You know, just to, like, really help people who are wanting to, like, expand their knowledge of science and. And just everything there is to learn in this world. So, yeah, the Minds of Midras Institute or Mommy.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Mommy Help.

[John Risinger]

It feels like the. The birth of that idea started with the. The word and then went backwards is what actually didn't. No, it didn't.

[Chris Maris]

Okay.

[Doug Boone]

I was thinking of, like, something that can involve the word Midris in. And then I was like, well, Minds of Midris.

[Chris Maris]

Good.

[Gustavo Sorola]

I would love for their programs to be things like uppies, like other things that is like. It's just acronym joke acronyms all the way down, man. Yeah, it's fun. Funny. When you were saying that, I was, like, in my head trying to figure out what the acronym was and what the joke was. I couldn't get there. And you. You beat me to it, so. Yeah, that was really good.

[Doug Boone]

Although all this talk of build a bear, I feel like that's a direction Doug should have gone in in some capacity.

[John Risinger]

Oh, yeah, it's just an engineering charity.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Build a Bugbear.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Build a Bug Bear. It's just.

[Blaine Gibson]

It's just like one of those things. Beanbags or whatever.

[John Risinger]

It's a fat camp for bug bears.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh, John, we need to do a. We need to do a bugbear beanbag chair.

[Doug Boone]

Yes, we could do that.

[John Risinger]

Right? Like the big Snorlax thing.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. All right. Thanks, Doug. Then last. Definitely not least, we got Natty.

[John Risinger]

Yeah, definitely not least, it's John Risinger here. It's your boy, John Risinger. It's your. It's your 41 year old dad. Boy.

[Doug Boone]

Boy. We're all just boys and girls here.

[Blaine Gibson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[John Risinger]

I play Natty Wonder who is the drow warlock, drag Queen, mother of Mr. Gigglesworth, and I don't. You know what? Y' all are too clever. Y'.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

All.

[John Risinger]

Y' all are too smart. Y' all too clever. Y' all too funny. And so since y' all are that while I'm describing my charity, I don't have a name for it. So now it's gonna be a race to who can come up with a name or acronym or pun. But my charity that I had in mind was obviously going to be centered around my center of the universe, my baby, my angel, Mr. Giggies. And it's mostly about. I don't ever want to, you know, say no to Gigi, but I also am not ignorant to the trail of, we'll call it damages that Gigi leaves behind him.

[Doug Boone]

Definitely thought you're going to say something else completely.

[John Risinger]

He cleaves the trail of all kinds of stuff. Bodily fluids, mayhem. And I just. I just, you know, I love my baby, but I also love other people. So I just want to set up a charity that is all about replacing lost items and lost, well, mostly pets that Mr. Gigi eats along the way so I can replace to the people who have. Who've, like, you know, been visited by Gigi, and maybe I have a little bit less than what they did before he came and stopped by. And so, yeah, my charity would be about replacing and helping people kind of find, you know, filling the hole that he left. Sometimes it's actually a hole in the wall, and I just need somebody to fill that hole in their. In their. Their downstairs den.

[Chris Maris]

They would follow around behind Gigi and it could be the march of crimes.

[John Risinger]

There you go. See, I knew one of y' all did it. I knew it.

[Gustavo Sorola]

I was wondering, like, Chris was raising his hand. I was like, I wonder why. Like, oh, he's making sure he gets in there with his.

[John Risinger]

I couldn't even tell, though, if he was raising his hand because it was the most, like. It was like kind of a. Just a limp hand up kind of thing.

[Chris Maris]

I didn't want to interrupt. I didn't want to make sure you got through before I.

[John Risinger]

That's fine.

[Chris Maris]

Yeah.

[John Risinger]

I'm glad it didn't matter. I'm glad that someone jumped in. I'm glad it was Chris.

[Gustavo Sorola]

But, yeah, that's.

[Blaine Gibson]

That's.

[John Risinger]

That's my idea.

[Gustavo Sorola]

I was thinking of some kind of insurance pun, like people pay into and get their damages covered. Micah says that you. You kind of had rookie of the year hand when you were raising it there.

[Sponsor Voice (State Farm)]

Yeah.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Well, maybe it's like, you know, if he's eating a lot of people's animals, you know, there could be animals he's eating, like, cows and goats and stuff. So maybe it'd be called State Farm.

[Blaine Gibson]

Barbara, you can't sponsor them. What are you doing?

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah, and people can gather in the gigihood.

[John Risinger]

It'd be more like reinstate Farm is what it would be.

[Doug Boone]

Oh, that's good.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Oh, that's pretty good.

[John Risinger]

Okay.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Great charities. I can't wait to see the work you all do in the future. Really looking forward to you all making the world a better place. But on that note, speaking of worlds and better places, let's dive into the episode.

[John Risinger]

To be clear, I'm just trying to leave in the world in the same place it was before Gigi was there. So that's. That's just to clarify.

[Unidentified Guest/Listener]

Right.

[Gustavo Sorola]

But it's like the world gets worse and then you're making it better with respect to where it was.

[John Risinger]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Doug Boone]

Well, I mean, does it seem like someone has, like, been in this room recently? Yeah.

[Gustavo Sorola]

You take a look around and you see, like, a sticky pouch in one of the corners of the room under a cushion.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Let me pick it up, see what it is.

[John Risinger]

What's a sticky pouch?

[Gustavo Sorola]

It's like a pouch, but it's sticky on it. I think of it like a pouch that an adventurer would carry, but it's sticky.

[John Risinger]

Okay.

[Doug Boone]

Okay.

[Gustavo Sorola]

You open it up, take a look, and inside you see freeze dried flies.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Wait, could I hold it up and

[Doug Boone]

show Gunther and ask if he recognizes this or if he knows Bunlap has.

[Chris Maris]

Oh, it looks delicious.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Well, Like. Okay, I don't know how long these have been sitting here, but is this bum lapse? Have you seen him wear this before?

[Chris Maris]

Yes, and freeze dried is a way to preserve them and take them on long trips.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Well, if he wouldn't mind you eating the rest of his snackies, then I think you could go.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

I would mind him eating the rest of my snackies.

[John Risinger]

What?

[Chris Maris]

Oh, that forest.

[Blaine Gibson]

My snackies.

[Gustavo Sorola]

You'd look up and see a very handsome. His muscles glistening with sweat, looking down from the still propped open door.

[John Risinger]

I defend myself off Natty got startled

[Blaine Gibson]

too much and shoots him with an eldritch flask.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Save some of those for me.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Bunlap has a few scrapes and bruises, but all in all he still looks as dapper as ever. His height is accentuated at this angle. Looking at him from below the cistern. His biceps and forms ripple and glisten from the humidity. The golden flakes in his eyes peer into each of your souls. And you know it. Within yourselves you are safe.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

I see you found the same hideout. May I join you folks for a spell? Unless I'm intruding

[Chris Maris]

space?

[Blaine Gibson]

Right here, sir.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Right here. How gracious of you. I am in need of nourishment of both body and soul.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Well, sorry to interrupt, but I happen to have found this little pouch of freeze dried flies. I was thinking maybe I could cook some over the fire here. And maybe make you a little meal.

[Blaine Gibson]

Hand feed them to you. Massage your feet.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Oh, I can see you have found my rations. What would you all say to a shared meal and fireside chats?

[Gustavo Sorola]

Doug. He looks at you.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Are you skilled in the culinary arts?

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Why yes.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

The Wilder Flower smiles upon us. Perhaps we can cook a meal together for everyone.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

You and me together?

[Chris Maris]

Yes.

[Gustavo Sorola]

He offers a winning smile to you, Doug. And slowly removes his green plate armor. You notice a platelet is missing. But what catches your eye even more is how the firelight of the hearth casts a playful shadows across his washboard.

[Chris Maris]

Abs.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Now, what topic shall we discuss first?

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Maybe we should talk, Abs. I mean about Michaels. I mean.

[John Risinger]

And then. And then. And then Doug just farts out of embarrassment.

[Chris Maris]

It is good to see you. I. I was worried we would not find you in time.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Oh, fear not.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

We have been brought back together for a greater purpose, I suspect.

[Chris Maris]

I hope so. I was very sad when I was. When you had left because. Well, I. If you may. What did the Wilder Flower say to you, by the way?

[Blaine Gibson]

I was more sad when you left. That's beside the point.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

She exclaimed. She was growing impatient and desired for the Wilder Shield to be returned at once, and that you are not the devoted croak folk you once were. That you are no longer worthy of such a quest. Her words, not mine.

[Chris Maris]

Did she say why? What did I do?

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

I humbly protested such a claim against a fellow croak folk who bravely freed me from unwarranted imprisonment. But she insisted that you. I'm embarrassed to even repeat such an outlandish accusation. She insisted that you were fraternizing with other deities that you had given over to blasphemy. She must have been misinformed.

[Chris Maris]

Who's the wolf of. Well, no, you see, I was. Fraternizing is a very strong word. There was just a commute. There was communication only in Ninza that I was trying to get to find more information. Not about like.

[John Risinger]

We should turn the camera to see Natty. Natty has got her arms crossed and is giving a scowl to Tove. A little bit of a disappointed mom look to Tove.

[Blaine Gibson]

I told him. I go listen.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

I can't believe my ears.

[Chris Maris]

No, it is. No.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Why, Gunther?

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

What made you associate with those other so called gods? Surely you have a good reason.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

I.

[Chris Maris]

No, there was. The only reason was to get closer to finding out where the Wielder shield might be.

[Blaine Gibson]

If I may step in here in Gunther's defense, he is like way too into the Wielder flower. Like, troublingly so. He would never.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Troubling?

[Blaine Gibson]

No. Like, no. Okay, hold on now. My God, you're so muscular. He is so devoted that it has come at a great cost to his personal well being because of his devotion to the Wilderflower. There is no doubt in my mind that this man loves his deity. It's just that he is trying to pursue the goal of the Wilderflower that requires him to somehow interact with other deities, but not in a way of worship or cheating.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Is sacrifice not a sign of faith?

[Blaine Gibson]

I mean, he's sacrificing like he's sacrificing his own health and his safety.

[John Risinger]

I wish we had cams on for this show so that people could see both Chris and Blaine just like the spinning rainbow shoes, umbrella.

[Chris Maris]

But you look, the. The other deities, they. They started talking to me first.

[John Risinger]

They kissed me first.

[Chris Maris]

It's Minthra thing.

[Doug Boone]

They came on to me.

[Blaine Gibson]

He's literally tried to use like a different Persona and was like entrapped by other deities to talk to them. And he was like, my name's Nonther. You know, he doesn't. He doesn't want to associate with him. But personally, Bunlap, I don't think that there is a reasonable expectation from the world of Flower. But that's just my opinion.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Yeah. You know, I want to just back up what Tolev is saying here. Like, our friend Gunther here is. He is devoted. And, you know, I also could be very devoted, you know, to the right person, some might say. But just like, you know, I would trust him. He never, you know, ever lost his face. And he's always been so devoted to the Wilderflower and completing the mission and, you know, I understand the confusion, though, Gunther.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

It appears you have fast friends who are willing to watch your back in my absence. For that, I am very pleased.

[Chris Maris]

Yes. Well, now you do not have to. Now you can have the same.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah.

[Blaine Gibson]

We'll wash your back.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Wash your back. I'll wash your back.

[Sponsor Voice (State Farm)]

Yeah.

[Gustavo Sorola]

He turns around and his back is somehow even more shredded than his front. How is that possible?

[Chris Maris]

You've already washed it.

[Doug Boone]

What's the opposite of a bench press? Like, where you're going backwards.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Like.

[Blaine Gibson]

Like lap pull downs, or.

[Doug Boone]

I'm like, trying to think of, like, if you're bench pressing.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Bench pressing behind you.

[John Risinger]

A bench push.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Yeah.

[Chris Maris]

My friend, do you have any insight into how I might regain the good grace to wither Flower?

[Gustavo Sorola]

He puts a hand on your shoulder. Gunthern.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

I dare say, if it were me, dear friend, I would repent of my transgressions and seek the Wilderflower's forgiveness. But perhaps there is something we can do to show that rather than tell. Perhaps retrieving the Wilderflower will change her mind.

[Chris Maris]

I hope so. But she said, do not do that. She told me not to, but I. So I'm both very.

[Blaine Gibson]

Yeah.

[John Risinger]

He found it like a week ago and then hid it further so that. Cause he was like, I gotta be opposite.

[Blaine Gibson]

That's not true.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Maddie's a bit of a joker here. She's a comedic relief in the group.

[Chris Maris]

That is not true. I feel at odds because they have both said to. To not come here. But I have to come here. Because if I don't come here, if I do not retreat the shield, I will not be able to return to home.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Since the hour I left your side, Gunther, I've done nothing but regret it. I know I was only doing the will of the Wilderflower. But I owe you my life. The least I can do is stand by your side once more in your hour of need. It would be my privilege to assist you in retrieving the Wilder Shield. We will bring honor not only back to the fly flats, but to the windbreaker name.

[Gustavo Sorola]

And with that bunlap reaches out his hand.

[Chris Maris]

Yeah. Gunther does this handshake where they grasp each other's forearms. Forearms.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Yeah.

[Chris Maris]

And then they. No, that's too weird.

[Blaine Gibson]

Do they just like croak with their necks getting like. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, they do that.

[Gustavo Sorola]

I would think. Also like you grasp forearms and then you like interlock legs and then like hop around on one leg each.

[John Risinger]

Anybody else want to know where Chris was going with that before he stopped himself?

[Doug Boone]

Just the, the neck little pulsating thing.

[Blaine Gibson]

We'll cut this part out. Just tell it.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Go ahead, tell us.

[Blaine Gibson]

Yeah, I was gonna say it's like,

[Chris Maris]

oh, they like, they like grass pans and then their tongues loop around. But I was like, that's a little weird.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

No, no, no, no.

[Blaine Gibson]

I'll try that. You know, if you want me to demonstrate.

[Gustavo Sorola]

I don't think that's necessarily from a meta perspective. I wouldn't think that's weird in the croak folk society just because of it Seems like croak folk use their tongues almost like a utility, like. Yeah, it's a worked out thing. And you use it in some attacks. So I don't, I wouldn't say that's necessarily a weird thing. I think that's a, that's human inhibition creeping in.

[Chris Maris]

I'm once again too weak.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

I am curious. You know, Gunther and bun lab. I don't know if we ever heard the story about how you two actually met.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Yes. Tis a humorous tale, to be sure.

[John Risinger]

Maybe you guys could like, tell it back and forth a little bit at a time. You know, like you tell some bundlap and then you tell some Gunther. I think that'd be a fun game.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Well, let's see how this goes first.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

We will immediately froglets in fly flats and quite wet behind the tympana. I think you call them ears. A goggle bird came out of nowhere and I fell into the sacred oasis. What am I doing? Gunther can tell the tale far better than I. Go ahead, my friend. Oh, and don't forget the part about the fireflies.

[Chris Maris]

So yes, he fell into the sacred oasis and he was, was like, you should not be there. And so I, I was like, what fool? I don't know who this guy is. And I saw, I, I, I used my tongue to grab hold of a heavy boulder and I rappelled down in after him. I grab him. And then the part with the fireflies is the funniest. You tell that part.

[Blaine Gibson]

Seems like you guys are passing the fireflies part back and forth here. Tell me more about these fireflies.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Then we came out onto the street and we had to dry off. And as we were drying off, Gunther said, oh, I am peckish. How about you? And we turned and saw some fireflies. And then.

[Chris Maris]

Or then we saw those fireflies and we said, I'll race you to see who can get one. And you got all of them.

[Doug Boone]

And then did he say? You would not believe your eyes.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Oh, what a story.

[Blaine Gibson]

So, Bunlap, I know that Gunther has a mate whom he loves very much. And at home. Punya. What? Do you have a mate?

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

I've courtened many a fetching croak folk back in fly flats.

[Chris Maris]

No, that's true.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

But sadly, no. I haven't had much time for such a romance as of late. Especially due to my incarceration. Though many inmates have expressed interest.

[Blaine Gibson]

I just like that we just made this legendarily hot character. How big is. How big is Bunlap? Like, I know he's bigger than Gunther, but he's still like a croak folk. So is he like still kind of small or what?

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah, yeah, he's, he's. He's definitely taller than most croak folk and muscular. So I would say like maybe 4ft tall and just like 4ft tall, but 200 pounds of just pure muscle.

[Doug Boone]

Sounds familiar. That was Bart when you came by.

[John Risinger]

A lot of people don't know this. Barbara's four feet tall.

[Doug Boone]

Boba, 200 pounds.

[Gustavo Sorola]

It's all those bench pushes you do.

[Doug Boone]

All my back pushes.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

So like when you say like he's like strong enough to like, like carry someone really heavy like Doug or anything like that. Like hold him in his arms and stuff like that if needed.

[Chris Maris]

Are you injured?

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Well, yeah. I mean, I mean I could be. We're in, you know, pretty precarious situation here.

[John Risinger]

Doug is looking around for something to hurt himself with.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

I am strong. But you are a very tall bugbear. Doug. I don't know if I could pick you up.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Okay, that's fair. Maybe you and Gunter could work together and kind of, you know, if you need to.

[Chris Maris]

Yes, you are always. As always, not think high of yourself enough.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Okay, let's pick Doug up.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Meta wise, there's no way he could pick you up.

[Blaine Gibson]

I know.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Well, you know, is there anything. Like you said, you're not really that strong. But you know, is there anything you might be wanting to like, learn or a skill that you might want to improve because you seem so talented and you know, Gunther here was saying, you know, you shouldn't, you know, talk down on yourself? But is there anything that you wish you could improve? Because, you know, Doug knows a lot of stuff and maybe Doug could help.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Learning is a thrill for me. Most folks don't know this, but I'm a bit of a book burrower. But there is one area that I haven't found much expertise in. Blacksmithing. I've always had to have professionals assist me with crafting my armor or weaponry. I'm ashamed to admit it, to be honest, but how else is one supposed to learn if they don't confess when they need help? Right?

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Wow.

[Chris Maris]

Oh, we found some of your armor.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

I did, I did, yes.

[Doug Boone]

Could Doug take out the piece that they found before?

[Blaine Gibson]

Yeah, he's been sniffing it a whole lot just to make sure it's up to snuff, I guess.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

I don't know, just making sure it's like, not on fire or anything like that.

[Chris Maris]

Up to sniff.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Up to sniff. I mean, snuff.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

I could use assistance in reattaching this.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh.

[John Risinger]

Suddenly Doug gets pushed back by Gigi

[Gustavo Sorola]

pushing him back and going.

[John Risinger]

Cracking his knuckles and coming over

[Doug Boone]

visual. Okay, I guess. Could Doug help him reattach it?

[Gustavo Sorola]

Sure.

[Blaine Gibson]

You.

[Gustavo Sorola]

I mean, he can keep talking while you two work together to reattach this platelet to his armor.

[Blaine Gibson]

It's a scene in Ghost, but it's just Doug wrapping his arms around.

[Gustavo Sorola]

It's the other way.

[Unidentified Guest/Listener]

It's.

[Gustavo Sorola]

It's Bunlap wrapping his arms around Doug but not getting all the way around.

[Unidentified Guest/Listener]

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[Gustavo Sorola]

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[Doug Boone]

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[Chris Maris]

I must ask, what have you found so far since you have been here? Because I know you have been here and you have been. You have been sneaking.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Oh yes. I found a foyer entrance. Then I found a bizarre contraption that spins and takes you down and up.

[Chris Maris]

Ah yes, we have found that as well.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Ooh, very confusing. From there I found this lab in this area we are in in a great hall. In that hall I was able to travel to A room with riches. But there was a monster. So I retreated back to the hall and made my way back here to recover.

[Chris Maris]

Was it the Chimera?

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

I don't know what that is, but that sounds appropriate.

[Chris Maris]

Did it have but a bison on one side, a raptor in the middle and an ostrich on the right. With big, big wings of the manta ray.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Oh, and covered in mirror shards? Yes, yes.

[John Risinger]

Nope, that wasn't the Chimera. Sorry. That was something else.

[Blaine Gibson]

So, Bunlap, it seems like things are all patched up, right? Like, are you in Gunther, like, on good terms now, despite of all the, you know, disagreement stuff with the Wilderflower.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

I owe Gunther my life. He has been a tried and true ally through all the years between you and me.

[Gustavo Sorola]

And he leans in close to you told. And you notice he smells like fresh sandalwood and lemon zest. And he whispers softly in your ear.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

I've always looked up to Gunther. He is what I would call a croak folks. Croak folk. I don't know how he does it, but he exudes such confidence and strength without even exerting effort. Surely you've noticed this whilst traveling with him.

[Blaine Gibson]

Definitely, for sure. I don't want to blow up Gunther's spot, Bun lap. But he admires you very dearly as well. I think you guys are good, good friends. And I hope that nothing ever come causes a rift between the two of you. Because clearly he admires you as much as you admire him.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Oh, nothing could come between two friends. The bond is extremely tight.

[Blaine Gibson]

Well, I could think of one thing. But, you know, we don't need to get into religion.

[John Risinger]

That was a good little laugh. I like that. I want that. I want that sound.

[Blaine Gibson]

When we started these characters, we were like, you know, something that was like a. Like a thought provoker was like, okay, what are some missions? What are some objectives that you can get? I think one of Toll's new missions is to get Gunther off of the Wilder Flower.

[John Risinger]

You think?

[Blaine Gibson]

Because I see how bad they are for him. Anyways, I just wanted to state that in case it wasn't clear enough. All right, all right.

[John Risinger]

It's been pretty clear.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Yeah.

[Blaine Gibson]

Yeah.

[Chris Maris]

Have you. Have you seen or heard the Six Toad Swordsman?

[Blaine Gibson]

I would say that's again, for people who have broken speakers in their car.

[John Risinger]

He just. We just look down and Gunther's just

[Blaine Gibson]

like lips to the dirt.

[John Risinger]

Just speaking.

[Doug Boone]

Yeah, but they understand each other, though.

[Blaine Gibson]

One once more. Less base, more treble.

[Chris Maris]

The Six Sword Swordsman. Also known as the Eleven Toad. Depending on where you're counting from?

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

I'm afraid not. But I will keep my eyes wide as if for flies.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Smart, Very smart. My last question for you, Bunlap. You know, as we're getting to know you more, you know, we've had time to really get to know each other and what we want to, you know, achieve and stuff like that. But what is your goal in life? Like, what do you wish to achieve?

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

I simply wish to return the Wilder Shield back to Fly Flats and with it, the village's honor. Beyond that, I've had many a dream in my heart, but the one that soars above the rest is that which Gunther has already achieved. Love. He and Punia found each other and they made a family together. It is a beautiful life he has made for himself. I don't know how he stands being away from her for so long. I hope to experience such longing for my future love one day.

[Chris Maris]

It is not easy I say this. I sometimes have to lie down because I cannot stand it.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Oh, that's beautiful. I think Doug's crying a little bit.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Oh, my God,

[Barbara Dunkelman]

he's so beautiful.

[Blaine Gibson]

Well, as. As good as this is that we're all reconnected and, you know, talking and stuff like that, I think we need to get back to the mission at hand. Find this darn Chimera and hopefully the wielder shield so that you guys can get back to your village. So how about it, gang?

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

But first, a meal. I am quite peckish, are you not?

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Oh.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh, my God.

[Chris Maris]

I'm so sorry.

[Blaine Gibson]

I'm a robot, so I don't necessarily need food, but. Yeah, go ahead.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Okay, well, I'm cooking us up a dish. I haven't really experimented with the freeze dried flies before, so you're gonna have to bear with me.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Oh, this shall be a treat.

[Chris Maris]

We will bugbear with you.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Inspiration. Die.

[Unidentified Guest/Listener]

Come here.

[Chris Maris]

Thank you.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Okay, so we're gonna start with this appetizer. It's a Caprese salad with.

[John Risinger]

I never know how to say that word ever. I'm not saying you said it wrong. Every time that comes up, I try a new way of saying it.

[Blaine Gibson]

Caprese. Yeah. Sounds like a cool 90s.

[John Risinger]

I don't know, jazz artist.

[Doug Boone]

Is it Caprese or Caprese?

[Gustavo Sorola]

No idea.

[Chris Maris]

I just don't order it.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah, no idea. When I find out, I'll order it for the first time.

[John Risinger]

I like the salad. I like that salad.

[Blaine Gibson]

Menus with the numbers are a blessing because you could just point and say, yeah, number 14. And you don't have to stumble your way through the pronunciation.

[John Risinger]

And to be again, very clear. I don't know if Barbie, you said it right. You just brought up that word every time. I'm like, I like that salad. I'm gonna just try it.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

It's very good. But then for our main course, of course, we. We have flight. A chini Alfredo. Oh, I don't know if you guys like a. A cheesy sauce, but, you know, it's Doug's personal recipe, so. Here you go. Eat up.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

It will be you who suffers later from the dairy.

[John Risinger]

Where'd you get the cheese?

[Barbara Dunkelman]

You know, Doug likes to pack some cheese in his pack.

[Chris Maris]

Oh, Bun Lap can croak in more than one way.

[Blaine Gibson]

Is that a fart?

[Chris Maris]

Yes.

[John Risinger]

Okay.

[Doug Boone]

I think Doug will also just, like, stand there nervously watching everyone eat his dish.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Oh, I think, yeah. Bunlap is famished. I think this. This would be an excellent dish. But even. Even if it was not, I think Bunlap wouldn't care at this point. He just begins wolfing down the food.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Save some for others. Bear. Bun Lap.

[Blaine Gibson]

Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Yahoo.

[Blaine Gibson]

10

[Sponsor Voice (State Farm)]

Tolv.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

How do you like it? Where's it going in there? In that stomach?

[Blaine Gibson]

I think I've established this, but I can absorb food and absorb the nutrients. I just don't want to see how it comes out. That's all I'm saying.

[Doug Boone]

It's like Wall E where it gets squashed down into cubes and then, like, you take it out.

[Blaine Gibson]

That's exactly what I was thinking. Really?

[John Risinger]

Yeah.

[Doug Boone]

That's so great.

[Blaine Gibson]

Wait, do I have my skin?

[Gustavo Sorola]

No, the grandkids still have it.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Okay.

[Gustavo Sorola]

They stole it.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

There's one left.

[Blaine Gibson]

Was Bunlap surprised by that? I don't know. If he had met me with my.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

No, no, no.

[Blaine Gibson]

He probably had because we were. We went to the.

[Gustavo Sorola]

He knew. Yeah. Because during the breakout. The prison breakout. Yeah.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Okay, Doug, I am very impressed. You are skilled not only with the pan, but with the hammer as well. The quality of this armor repair is second to none.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Well, thank you. It's an honor to get a compliment from you, Bunlap.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

I have much to learn from you in the smithing arts.

[Doug Boone]

Is it possible to also. I should have thought of this earlier, but I don't know if we have the time to do it to do some infusing of the item.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Oh, yeah, yeah. What were you thinking?

[Doug Boone]

Yeah, I think I would have given it enhanced defense, which is for a suit of armor or Shield. So I imagine this piece of armor could be infused onto. So a creature gains a plus one bonus to armor class while wearing the armor or wielding the shield of the infused item. The bonus increases to plus two when I reach level 10, which is not yet. So it's just a plus one to his AC.

[Gustavo Sorola]

That's pretty good.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Doug, how have you made this even more effective? The quality is amazing.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

You know, I've been studying for a while and, you know, we've had this piece for a bit, and I just been kind of tinkering with it on and off and thought if we ever ran into, you know, you'd appreciate it. And, you know, we want to protect all the hard work you put into those muscles and stuff like that.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

You know, perhaps we should hug frequently so that I can absorb some of your knowledge.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Great idea. Wow, you're a smart guy.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Okay. Yeah, he is. Needless to say, Bunlap is very impressed and very happy with the repair and the quality of the work.

[Doug Boone]

Doug is also very sweaty, by the way, right now because he's very nervous.

[John Risinger]

Yeah, you're looking actually like Tremor. You know, like when those Pomeranians get washed,

[Doug Boone]

lose half their volume.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Is there anything else anyone wants to talk about or wants to do? Or we can, like, just count this as, like, a little bit of downtime and move on.

[Doug Boone]

I think Tov was saying something about the plan.

[Blaine Gibson]

Okay, so right now we're going to go after the Chimera, right? We're looking for the. The Wilder shield. Avi. And what am I missing? I need to get my skin back and to get my pop pop yorn. Yeah. Am I missing anything here?

[Chris Maris]

Look for this swordsman that killed that. That. That responsible for so much of pain in our village.

[Blaine Gibson]

That's more like. Okay, sure, we'll add that to the list. I don't know if that's gonna happen or not, because I also have to find like, eight brothers and sisters, but I don't expect to find them in the next. Next day or two.

[Gustavo Sorola]

I do think you all also promised the Goldenrod you would fix the painting in the treasure vault, too.

[Chris Maris]

That is true.

[John Risinger]

That's right.

[Blaine Gibson]

Yes. Okay, so I say we get out of this cistern and we start like, you know, carrying on upwards to the. The top of the tower, because that's where the Chimera is. That's right. Where the. What was it? It was like a vault or something that we're going to.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yes. Just a quick refresher on geography. You all are like this in this kind of Secret room below the cistern, which is under the lab. From the lab, there are two exits. There's one to the northwest, which is that archway you came through, which had the trap with the beam of light and the water that turned you to gold. And there's another door to the south, which is dark and drafty. And in the previous episode, you all had concluded that you had been to the other side of this corridor. That on the other side was most likely the banquet hall that you all went to when you first entered Chimera. Keep. So, Tol. Team leader, what's the play here? I think you have successfully summarized your objectives, and now it's just about figuring out the next step.

[Blaine Gibson]

Nadia the navigator.

[John Risinger]

Where are we going?

[Blaine Gibson]

I just want to head upwards. Well, God, do we have to go bother those stupid pesky kids? Do I see my skin anywhere? Bjorn skin.

[Gustavo Sorola]

I mean, y' all are still in that little secret lab cistern area, so. No, not down here.

[Blaine Gibson]

Okay, I'm gonna pop out then to get back to where the entrance of this place was.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Okay. Yeah, yeah.

[John Risinger]

Well, I'll follow.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah. There's that archway. You remember to avoid the beam of light in order to avoid tripping the trap that spills the water and turns you into gold. And hanging from the archway, you see your Bjorn skin.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Oh.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh, they folded it. Wow. It's wrinkle free. That's very nice of them.

[Doug Boone]

How is it folded? Kind of like with the arms across each other, like Dracula style.

[Gustavo Sorola]

I pictured it was hanging like they had pinned the arms up into the archway, and it's just kind of hanging and flapping down in the wind.

[Chris Maris]

Something out of a serial killer movie.

[Doug Boone]

Yeah.

[Blaine Gibson]

Smells like sandalwood.

[Chris Maris]

We could be a trap.

[John Risinger]

Oh, Cole puts it back on. And Natty can see that over the forehead, they wrote jerk and marker.

[Blaine Gibson]

Is there anything different about it? Is there anything that I can can tell.

[Doug Boone]

Drew a mustache.

[Blaine Gibson]

Yeah, he's got a beard.

[Gustavo Sorola]

It seems like they did mess with the skin a bit. And the feet are where the hands should be. And the hands are where the feet should be.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

The kids got the.

[Blaine Gibson]

I correct it and put it on.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Okay. It's funny you said that, John. Micah and I bounced a bunch of ideas off of each other of what the grandkids could have done. And one of them was write a swear on the face. Just like, trying to think of what, like, mischievous little kids would do just to cause trouble in a situation like this. Okay. Yeah. You're very adept at maintaining Bjorn skin, so it's not a Big deal for you. You're able to easily swap out the. The hands and the feet and put them back in their appropriate place.

[Blaine Gibson]

Upwards and onwards.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Let's go.

[Gustavo Sorola]

If you continue on this path, you'll end up back at the. The room where you encountered the grandkids and granny fungus that like the forested lake room. So, yeah, you continue back up. You walk up that stone path, because you had walked in down a stone path to get here. So you do the reverse walk up the stone path, and you end up back at that forested lake. You still hear that distant singing. And there's evergreen trees everywhere on either side of the lake with fog lingering on the tops. To the north, you see a rocky, rushing river mouth which feeds into the lake. And from here, from this room, there are a couple of different exits. There's obviously, of course, the stairs that you just ascended. On top of that, there are ridges that continue up to the northeast and the northwest, like forested slopes that go in either direction. From the ridge and the northeast, you hear what appears to be the sound of grinding stone mixed with water splashing. From the northwest, you hear the sound of mellow music.

[Blaine Gibson]

Let's head that way towards the music.

[John Risinger]

Music.

[Blaine Gibson]

Would we be heading the same direction or. You said northeast is the music, and then north is the sounding stone.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Northwest is the music, Northeast is the grinding stone. So they're both north. It's just whether you want to take more of a westerly path or an easterly path.

[Blaine Gibson]

I mean, I am a sucker for the tunes. Let's go check out the music. Maybe pop by the jukebox joint, huh?

[Doug Boone]

What kind of music are we hearing, Gus?

[Gustavo Sorola]

Perhaps that'll become more clear in a moment when you. When you proceed a little further.

[John Risinger]

I think they call this dubstep.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh. Oh, this is my second language.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Sound of me walking. It's a dubstep step.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Oh, very, very, very good.

[Unidentified Guest/Listener]

Take a.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Take an inspiration. I like it. All right, so you're going to the northwest to the sound of the music.

[John Risinger]

The hills are alive with it.

[Gustavo Sorola]

You go up there?

[Blaine Gibson]

Yeah, doll.

[Chris Maris]

The deer. Female deer.

[Gustavo Sorola]

You go up the northwest ridge, and we find a stone colonnade and the sound of mellow music. There's a large painting chained to a tree that seems to depict a mermaid with blankets of gold, silver trays of gourmet food, and handsome folk enjoying merriment and music in the air.

[Blaine Gibson]

Handsome.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Handsome.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Oh, these are my kind of people.

[Doug Boone]

Like, good looking.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

I would agree with that. That's for sure. Bun Lap. You'll fit right in.

[Blaine Gibson]

But I guess we're going to approach and say, hello, handsome people, party people. I don't know where I'm going with this.

[Chris Maris]

And Gunther dances up.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Toll's doing, like, a really aged dance. Like, oh, I'm hip, I'm cool.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah. You approach and there's gold, food and merry folk. There's lavish amounts of gold coin, rare jewelry and silk apparel. There appear to be succulent meats, cheeses, fruit and delectable wine. There's folks of all kind dancing, singing, laughing and eating it's just a good time.

[Blaine Gibson]

Wal to is like, raising the roof. And, like, he'll spin around in a boogie and he'll look to his gang and under his breath go, don't eat anything. Don't do anything that might be, like, cursed. I got the heebie jeebies about this place, but everybody act cool. What's up?

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Oh, wow.

[Blaine Gibson]

I'm going to come and join the party.

[John Risinger]

To be very clear, Gigi has already eaten a whole plate of something.

[Chris Maris]

Keep that child on a leash.

[John Risinger]

He is.

[Gustavo Sorola]

It's just a very long leash.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

One more time. Too much merriment.

[John Risinger]

Captain Grumbles. What? They say

[Gustavo Sorola]

the singing and dancing, or I should say the dancing, seems to accelerate and pick up the pace.

[Doug Boone]

Does it seem like they're actually speaking a language we understand, but they're just kind of, like, slurring their words? Or does it seem like a different language?

[Gustavo Sorola]

That's a good question, Doug. Why don't you make me a. I'm inclined to say intelligence check. Yeah, make an intelligence check.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Okay.

[Doug Boone]

That is a 14.

[Gustavo Sorola]

It's not coherent. It's almost like if it's a language, it's one you don't understand. And it's slurred, almost like drunken. Column A, column B. Yeah, like. Like it's being slurred by drunk people or intoxicated people.

[Chris Maris]

What's the mermaid painting doing? Is it an actual painting or does it seem to be moving?

[Blaine Gibson]

Yeah, one of them portal things.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah. Gunther goes and to take a look and dances over.

[Unidentified Guest/Listener]

Yeah.

[Gustavo Sorola]

The painting has a frame of black pearl, and there's chains wrapped around the painting and a cedar tree, and it looks like it's a lifelike depiction of a mermaid playing the saxophone.

[Chris Maris]

What'd she do? Am I right?

[Doug Boone]

Did you guys come up with this painting using a Mad Libs?

[Gustavo Sorola]

It's a stinky painting. Gunther, make me a. Let's call it an investigation check.

[Doug Boone]

There is a painting of a noun playing a musical instrument.

[Blaine Gibson]

Yeah.

[Chris Maris]

Not great.

[John Risinger]

Six some Might call that bad

[Doug Boone]

synonym. Not great.

[Chris Maris]

Yeah.

[Gustavo Sorola]

You could swear you saw the painting move or like its eyes. Look at you, Gunther.

[Chris Maris]

Oh, this is such a beautiful painting. I shall investigate. I shall look at. Enjoy it. Closer.

[John Risinger]

Okay.

[Chris Maris]

I guess they're approaching and be like, hello. Are you. Why are you chained up?

[Doug Boone]

Oh, help me. I'm imprisoned. I'm being forced to play music for these folk for their merriment.

[Chris Maris]

It's a very good tune that you play. Under the sea, under the sea under the water where it is hotter. Take it from me.

[Doug Boone]

I love how we've had two Little Mermaid song references in this one episode. It makes my heart happy.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Just keeps popping up.

[John Risinger]

Gunther, you should kiss that girl.

[Doug Boone]

Free me and help me, and I can reward you.

[Chris Maris]

Can you reward us with telling us how to go out of here to hop high to the top of the tower?

[Doug Boone]

I have not been there, but I'm sure I can figure it out.

[John Risinger]

Can Natty grab Gunther real quick? Like, not like a rude or mean way, but kind of just, like, put her hands around her shoulder and kind of take him away from the painting real quick?

[Gustavo Sorola]

Gunther, roll me a D20.

[John Risinger]

Oh, no.

[Chris Maris]

15.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Natty comes and puts her hands on your shoulder to pull you away from the painting, and you do not want to leave.

[Sponsor Voice (State Farm)]

Oh, it's.

[Doug Boone]

Oh, the siren sounds. Oh, she's drawing you in.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Natty is trying to stop you from helping this poor, defenseless mermaid. Why would Natty do that to you? Gunther, why would you do this?

[Chris Maris]

Natty? Natty that. You see that she needs us. She's a poor, defenseless mermaid. She's been chained. She's in trouble. We must help. Look up. Look at it. Painting.

[Doug Boone]

Could Doug come over and cover Gunther's ears?

[Chris Maris]

Yeah, We've already established it doesn't happen.

[Gustavo Sorola]

That's exactly what I was thinking about

[Doug Boone]

the sides of his head.

[Gustavo Sorola]

I was like, we just talked about this. Crowfolk ears keep coming up in this episode for some reason.

[Doug Boone]

Cover the holes that are receiving the sound.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah, Doug, you walk over and do that. But I think Gunther is probably worked up from Natty trying to grab him, and he's gonna resist that. So each of you roll me a D20 high number wins.

[Doug Boone]

5, 13.

[Gustavo Sorola]

You go over and, you know, put your hands on Gunther's head. He's, like, thrashing around because he doesn't want you to do that. However, you are able to put your hands around Gunther's ears. You got Gunther there thrashing around with Natty's hands on his shoulders and Doug's hands Over his ears.

[John Risinger]

Okay, everybody, everybody, team meeting. Team meeting.

[Unidentified Guest/Listener]

Do.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Do. Get over here.

[Blaine Gibson]

Yeah, I'm.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

I'm.

[Blaine Gibson]

I'm. I'm coming. It's just that Gunther's being belligerent at the party again.

[Chris Maris]

It better be some cool new dance.

[John Risinger]

So I just want to clarify something because I've been operating this assumption. Bunlap, you said you've been to where the Chimera row was, right?

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Yes.

[John Risinger]

Okay, so that means you could just show us where to go to get to the Chimera, right?

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

No, I went through a passage in a painting in a great hall. I have not been through here.

[John Risinger]

Okay. Okay. Yeah. Was there, like, a fish hook in that hall?

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Yes.

[John Risinger]

There we go. Okay. All right. Well, then perhaps we should leave this party be, considering the effects it seems to have on our crow folk buddy over here and. Yeah, yeah, this is John asking where are the egresses in this room since we came up into this colonnade?

[Gustavo Sorola]

Good question. There's the one, of course, that you came up from the southeast, which was the ridge to the north. You see Ivy Tunnel, which is appears to be long and straight. It's kind of damp and cold. And to the east, there's a rickety wooden footbridge.

[John Risinger]

Okay, well, team leader, you want ivy or footbridge?

[Blaine Gibson]

I'm quite fond of precarious, scary bridges, you know?

[Chris Maris]

Sorry.

[Blaine Gibson]

I feel like footbridge. That sounds like a lot of fun. Sounds.

[Chris Maris]

Something.

[Blaine Gibson]

I don't know. There's just something about being around Bunlap

[Narrator/Storyteller]

that I wanted to do.

[Blaine Gibson]

Dangerous, adventurous things, you know, throwing caution to the wind.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

He makes us all brave, I think. Yeah, she has that effect on people.

[Blaine Gibson]

Okay, B is for brave. B is for bun lap, baby.

[John Risinger]

Doug, you should just hold on to Gunther until you feel him. Like, maybe get this out of his system.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

I just have a feeling that maybe whatever music is coming from this mermaid painting is. Has everyone kind of under, like, a spell or some type of trance?

[John Risinger]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Everyone make a charisma saving throw. Except for Gunther. Not Gunther. You already failed it.

[Doug Boone]

Charisma saving.

[John Risinger]

12 plus 7. 1912.

[Blaine Gibson]

I rolled a 5. But I'm gonna take it again with my inspiration. Die. 19.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Okay, Doug, you do not want to leave. I think you take your hands off of Gunther's ears. Natty and Tolv, you're the only two who seem to want to leave. Doug, the mermaid painting starts talking to you.

[Doug Boone]

It's not me who's keeping you here. It's these people.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Really? What are they? How are they doing that? What are they doing?

[Doug Boone]

It's the same way they compelled me and trapped me.

[Gustavo Sorola]

The people are chanting.

[John Risinger]

Oh, how many people?

[Gustavo Sorola]

We'll say six.

[Doug Boone]

Did you hear their language? That's how they get you.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

What are they saying?

[Doug Boone]

I don't know, but it's hypnotic. It traps you.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Yeah, I do feel pretty trapped.

[Chris Maris]

Gonna.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Are you enjoying this as well?

[Chris Maris]

Oh, yeah. I think this is a good song. But also, we have to help. You have to help her.

[Doug Boone]

I am Halison.

[Chris Maris]

Allison.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Well, it's a beautiful name.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah. She appears to be a teenage mermaid with red hair and a tank top of sailcloth. Her lower half is of shimmering emerald scales.

[Doug Boone]

Teenage mermaid with red hair, huh?

[John Risinger]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Natty and Tol, you know that something here is trying to charm you. Both of you were able to resist it, but something unnatural is trying to grab hold of you.

[John Risinger]

I'm pretty used to being at a party and wanting to leave. And the people I'm with don't want to leave.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Time for a speedrun.

[John Risinger]

Yep, yep, yep. Time for an Irish goodbye. Okay, I'm gonna ask, like, with Natty's connection to the arcana as a warlock, you know, daughter of the priests of the temple, is there something that maybe Natty could do to try to. I'm convinced there's magic here causing, you know, charm. I want to figure out a way to determine, is it the painting or is it the people? Is there something Natty could do?

[Gustavo Sorola]

I guess you could make an arcana check. Unless you have a better idea.

[John Risinger]

I don't have an ability, so that's why I'm like. I'm fishing for just, like, Natty's nose magics. Yeah.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Make an arcana channel check.

[John Risinger]

Okay. 19.

[Blaine Gibson]

Not bad.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Pretty good.

[Doug Boone]

Excellent.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Excellent.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Using your spidey senses of arcana.

[Chris Maris]

Yep.

[Gustavo Sorola]

You think that the source of this charm is coming from the painting?

[John Risinger]

All right, Natty, cast mode of hell on the painting.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh, my God.

[Gustavo Sorola]

We've been through this before. That's how you got a Captain Grumbles.

[John Risinger]

Yep. And what that does is that it creates that Mode. It's a 15 foot radius. But I'll cast in a way that no sound can leave. Oh, no. No light, no sound can leave the mode of hell.

[Blaine Gibson]

Very clever.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Oh, that is. That is super clever. So it's totally dark and totally silent on the painting. Correct.

[Blaine Gibson]

Yeah.

[John Risinger]

And before Natty says it says, this ain't. This ain't. No disrespect to you, darling. You looking pretty and everything, but we got. We got business to do.

[Chris Maris]

And she cast it we're supposed to help her.

[John Risinger]

I did.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

I can't hear her anymore.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah, you cast Mode of hell on there. And Gunther and Doug, both of you, like, snapped. You. You realize that you were under some kind of magical influence that was compelling you to stay here. And when that happens as well, all of you look around and you see all the people, the gold coin, the jewelry, the food, all of that's gone. Instead, you see a pile of garbage, rotten food, and corpses.

[Doug Boone]

Corpses also. It's all like, illusionary, basically.

[Blaine Gibson]

Yeah, that's why Giggy was so into it. Wow. Yeah.

[John Risinger]

Giggy is still.

[Blaine Gibson]

Giggy is still eating the food, even though he's more into it. He just doubles down. He just goes.

[Gustavo Sorola]

He coughs up a tin can.

[Chris Maris]

Sorry, guys. I think I painted up myself into a corner there. His party's dead. Hey.

[Doug Boone]

So all that. There are no people. They're all dead people.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah, it's corpses.

[John Risinger]

Yeah, it would have been you guys if we just let you here, but why don't we go down that romantic bridge and see what's down that way?

[Chris Maris]

Well, thank. Thank you, Nancy, for saving us. I thought I was so enraptured by that painting. It was a very. You did a very good one.

[John Risinger]

Yeah. You guys make fun of me, my connection to death and hell. But, you know, it kind of came into handy. Did it?

[Doug Boone]

Do we make fun of you? I feel like we very much appreciate it sometime sometimes.

[John Risinger]

You know what? You're right. It's mostly that robot over there that gets. That gets weird about my. My people's religion.

[Blaine Gibson]

To. To is staring off into the distance. He can't hear any of this because he's turned himself to mute mode where he just. Just deafened.

[Gustavo Sorola]

He's got built in discord.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Yeah.

[Sponsor Voice (State Farm)]

Yeah.

[Chris Maris]

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[Gustavo Sorola]

You have a good idea?

[Chris Maris]

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[Gustavo Sorola]

Queen Carvania stood

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

haloed by the morning sun.

[Gustavo Sorola]

An army hung on her every word. My champions, I have sold my chariot on Carvana. Twas a lovely suv, an inexplicably queenly offer. They're even coming to the castle to collect it.

[Blaine Gibson]

Tonight we feast.

[Doug Boone]

An offer you can feast on. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pick up fees may apply.

[Blaine Gibson]

Okay, so I think we would boot Scootaboogie out of here. Let's go to the rickety bridge.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Okay, sounds good. You depart this area to the east, and you see what appears to be a rickety footbridge that's about 60ft in length, swaying in the wind. It's chipped with golden paint, and it crosses over a rushing river below. In the middle, you see a coin purse hanging on the handrails.

[Chris Maris]

Oh, God.

[Blaine Gibson]

If it wasn't for the coin purse, I would have felt like this is a trusty bridge. But now it feels like a trap.

[John Risinger]

Maybe it's a toll.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh. Oh, that's not a bad idea.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Just to the west from here is the area you just left with the painting and the illusion. Then there's the bridge. And then to the east on the other side is the other exit. And from that side, you hear that familiar sound of grinding stone again that you heard in the previous area.

[John Risinger]

Interesting.

[Blaine Gibson]

So across the bridge is the grinding stone sound.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Correct.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Oh, okay.

[Doug Boone]

That worked out.

[Gustavo Sorola]

If you think about it, you were in one area, and you went west to the illusion, and now you're cutting east. And then from that, from the area with granny to the northeast was where that grinding sound was. So it's probably. You would think it all kind of connects.

[Blaine Gibson]

Okay, does anybody have rope? Because I think we should probably send someone out attached to some rope. And then if this Is inevitably like a true trap. Then we can catch them and pull them back and go the other way.

[Doug Boone]

I'm pretty sure I do.

[John Risinger]

Natty just starts hovering off the ground.

[Blaine Gibson]

I wanted to come up with some sort of way that we could safely cross this.

[John Risinger]

Natty is now just, like, turning upside down and like, doing. Doing little, like, little slow rotations around to's head with her head.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

It's one of the safest ways to

[Blaine Gibson]

have, like, some sort of thing that we could grab someone, pull the weight back, you know.

[John Risinger]

She's now cast dancing lights around herself. And it's just lights are all dancing around. She's flying and floating.

[Blaine Gibson]

Natty, do you want us to attach rope to you?

[John Risinger]

Yeah, actually, I would. You know, stuff can happen where you can't fly anymore, and so that's probably just safety first kind of stuff.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

I got some rope.

[Blaine Gibson]

Yeah, just do it. I'll grab hold of the other end.

[John Risinger]

Thank you.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Top. Could you actually help me tie a knot around Natty?

[Blaine Gibson]

She's right. Talking to the right guy here, dog.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

I. I have been reading your book, your various books on it. But I, you know, figured I would watch from the expert.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh, of course, of course.

[John Risinger]

What kind of knot you doing?

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh, don't do this. Come on.

[Gustavo Sorola]

A Google knot.

[John Risinger]

Oh, that's a really high number knot.

[Blaine Gibson]

I want to do. Hold on. I know that there are some knots that can get tighter and then they become, like, dangerous because they.

[Chris Maris]

Oh, yes, A garlic knot would be good.

[John Risinger]

Yeah, of course Chris would say that.

[Gustavo Sorola]

I'm kind of hungry now.

[Blaine Gibson]

Bowline knot.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

What?

[Blaine Gibson]

Bowline knot.

[John Risinger]

Okay, wait, I couldn't. I couldn't hear you. There was some other guy talking bow line knot. There you go.

[Doug Boone]

This somehow easier to understand when he did it in to's voice than blood.

[Blaine Gibson]

Or maybe an anchor hitch. That would be fun.

[John Risinger]

All right. Nanny starts to walk forward, but then turns around and goes, if they need money, I don't have any.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Well, just call back if so.

[John Risinger]

Okay. Okay.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Tol's got a lie right, To.

[Blaine Gibson]

Yeah, I got. I'm pretty fluid liquid.

[John Risinger]

He's like our walking ATM machine right there.

[Doug Boone]

You try to put the bill in, and it won't go in because it's just not registering, so keeps spitting it back out.

[Blaine Gibson]

Yeah, A crap out of Dr. Pepper and not a coke.

[John Risinger]

He's a vending machine, too. No, we already fought one of those.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah, we went through that.

[John Risinger]

Natty. Yeah. Kind of just floats over to the middle of the bridge and investigates that little baggy look.

[Chris Maris]

Rope floats.

[John Risinger]

Yep.

[Gustavo Sorola]

So you have the rope tied around you, and you float. And you go out to the middle of the bridge.

[John Risinger]

Yeah.

[Gustavo Sorola]

You know, as you're floating over it, you can see that the bridge is very precarious.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

It's.

[Gustavo Sorola]

It's missing planks of wood. And as the wind causes it to sway, it creaks at every slight movement. You float out to the middle and, you know, you. You grab at the coin purse, and it's pretty heavy. You open it up and you find five gold nuggets inside of it.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh, chicken or.

[John Risinger]

Okay, Neddy turns back to the group. There's five gold nuggets in the bag. Do you think I need to put one in there?

[Barbara Dunkelman]

I mean, it does typically come in a six piece or a ten piece.

[Chris Maris]

Really?

[Barbara Dunkelman]

I guess there's a four piece.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Barbara, you are killing me today.

[Blaine Gibson]

That was so good. Just for safety's sake, I'll flick a gold coin over to Natty. So I think I'd rather. Rather play it safe in the bridge, not give way.

[John Risinger]

Okay, so what check should I do, Gus, to see if I catch it?

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah, Cole's making that. Both of you actually make an athletics check.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh, OK. Good thing I have a plus six. 25. This could not be more accurate.

[John Risinger]

Natty has a plus one modifier and got an eight.

[Doug Boone]

Hold on. But flash of genius. Butt flash to give you plus four to your roll.

[John Risinger]

So 12, which is lucky when you're

[Blaine Gibson]

doing stuff with to that's not to

[Gustavo Sorola]

pers you and your flash of genius. The gold coin flick is spot on tol it like spirals.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Hold on, Gus.

[John Risinger]

Just gonna roll a dice real quick.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Oh, Giggy would not.

[Blaine Gibson]

They're not even on the bridge today. Can't float.

[John Risinger]

You don't think I brought Giggy with me? He's on a leash.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Giggy's, like, carrying, like, Natty. Adjust it so it's like one of those peppers or something, like where you're carrying it in the front and Giggy's just, like, hanging there.

[Doug Boone]

So, Blaine, we all float down here every episode.

[Blaine Gibson]

We made that joke so many times.

[John Risinger]

It's so funny.

[Gustavo Sorola]

It's a good one.

[John Risinger]

I rolled a nine. And so that means Giggy's gonna try to eat the gold coin.

[Gustavo Sorola]

I was gonna say that. The coin spirals out and was gonna hit Natty in the forehead, but at the last second, Giggy kind of leaps up as much as he can and swallows the gold coin.

[John Risinger]

Perfect.

[Doug Boone]

I take back my flesh of genius.

[Chris Maris]

Just kidding.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

I'm just kidding.

[John Risinger]

I need. Hey, to. I need another One.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh, dang.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Look at that.

[Blaine Gibson]

That was my last one. Oh, shucks.

[Gustavo Sorola]

That was your last one. Told you're all out. What are the odds?

[Blaine Gibson]

No more. I guess. You have to put the child in there. It should count fine. It's.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

It's cool.

[John Risinger]

Natty just tries to see what happens when she floats past the pouch.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah. You continue all the way to the other end and.

[John Risinger]

All right.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah, we're floating on the other end of the bridge.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Well, here's a question though. You've been. You've been floating all the way across the bridge. We don't know if the bridge is going to hold up for people walking across it for some of us who can't float over here.

[John Risinger]

Okay. Since. Why don't you send somebody who's, who's dispensable over there?

[Gustavo Sorola]

Put Captain Grumbles out there. Captain Grumbles steps on the bridge and dies.

[Doug Boone]

No, he steps on the bridge. Bridge and dies. You don't tell us how he dies.

[Gustavo Sorola]

This planet needs him.

[John Risinger]

How about this? How about you do a buddy system? You hold hands and one of you holds each side of the. The bridge rope and you guys just come across.

[Chris Maris]

Or why don't you tie the rope that is on you to something on the other side and we could use it as a.

[Blaine Gibson]

Like an extra, extra piece of.

[John Risinger]

Sure, sure, sure. Yeah, I do that. So you guys tie something on your end and I'll tie it on my end. And there's another like extra safety rope.

[Blaine Gibson]

Yeah. Then I tag Captain Grumbles to me in a papoose type situation.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Perfect.

[Blaine Gibson]

And cross the ropes. Gus.

[John Risinger]

Precious cargo. Precious cargo.

[Doug Boone]

I would also say that Doug is holding onto the rope on the other end of the bridge because he will make sure you guys get across fine and then just come with the rope so he doesn't lose it.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Oh, you get to keep the rope.

[Gustavo Sorola]

And I did say that it was forested on both sides. So Natty, you're able to tie the rope around a tree on your side of the bridge, which extends now all the way to the other end with Doug holding it on the western side.

[Blaine Gibson]

And Natty, make it a good knot. You've been reading my books, right?

[John Risinger]

Not a lick.

[Gustavo Sorola]

So at this point, it's either going to be to or Gunther. Who's going to go across? Who's going to go.

[Unidentified Guest/Listener]

I'll go.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Okay, Tolv, you said it first. I assume you're holding onto the rope and trying to cross the bridge or. Why don't you. You paint the picture for me. Why Am I painting it for you?

[Blaine Gibson]

Okay, I Fs captain. Captain grumbles over one shoulder, and then I hold on to the rope with the other that's taut between Natty's tree and Doug, and I walk across carefully.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Okay. Yeah. You pick up Captain Grumbles, step foot on the bridge and make me a dexterity saving throw.

[Blaine Gibson]

Okay, well, I have advantage, so that's a 7 and a 17.

[Gustavo Sorola]

As soon as you put the slightest amount of weight on the bridge, it immediately collapses beneath your feet. You're able to, like, pull your weight back onto the west side of the bank.

[John Risinger]

I got you guys. I got you. I got you. I got you. Okay, I'm just going to be burning all my slots, so if we have to fight something a little bit, like maybe a chimera, I'm just going to be shooting Eldritch Blast.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Okay, not that I'm trying to direct you, but before you make any decision with that, don't forget, in the previous area where the painting was, there was all also an exit to the north. If you want an alternate route. Just saying that there was another way.

[Blaine Gibson]

But this is such a cool. You know, like, it's a crazy, scary bridge.

[Gustavo Sorola]

I'm not telling you to do it. You can stay here.

[John Risinger]

All right, let's just. Let's just. Let's just solve this puzzle with magic the way that our DM loves us to solve everything. And Natty cast shadow portal. That's my last fourth level slot. So I don't got any of those spells for what's coming up ahead. And makes two doors on each side of the bridge that they can just shadow portal across.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Why don't you do that to begin with?

[John Risinger]

Because I was trying to save a spell slot.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Natty opens up a shadow portal, which is way more convenient. And you all see it open on your side. You've seen this before. You know what it is?

[Blaine Gibson]

Yeah. Put Captain Grumbles through cargo vip.

[John Risinger]

Natty takes Grumbles and then drops the spell. No, sorry.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Spell stays up.

[Blaine Gibson]

Doug Tolville goes through.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Okay, same.

[John Risinger]

Natty hugs everyone as they come through.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Can you untie the rope there so I could grab it and come through the portal?

[John Risinger]

Yeah, Natty does that.

[Doug Boone]

Thank you.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah, you all go through Natty. I don't think I said it. Each of those gold nuggets is worth 50 gold pieces.

[John Risinger]

Oh, I didn't take them.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Oh, you didn't? Okay, they're in the river then.

[John Risinger]

Okay, cool.

[Blaine Gibson]

You're so bad with money.

[John Risinger]

I thought he was cursed. You know you got a bag of gold on a rickety bridge, and like some sort of possessed.

[Blaine Gibson]

You're cursed. You are accursed.

[John Risinger]

All right, I'm out of spells. Next puzzle is on you guys.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Okay. Yeah. So from here, you see that there is, like, a forested area to the east from here, which is the origin of the sound of grinding stone mixed with water splashing.

[Blaine Gibson]

Everybody's across, right? Yeah.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Okay. I assume you continue in that direction.

[Blaine Gibson]

Yes. Let's go to the scary grinding stone noises.

[Doug Boone]

Okay.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah. You continue a little further east, and you find yourself in a forest glades. The sound of grinding stone mixed with water splashing fills the air. There's a small home made of brownish red bricks and wooden beam, flat roof. There's a wooden water mill on the side of the home that flows with the river. From this area, their exits are, of course, back towards the bridge to the west. There is a ridge down to the southwest, which geographically you suspect probably goes back to where granny fungus was. And then to the north, there is a moist corridor.

[Blaine Gibson]

Moist corridor.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Sounds pretty good.

[Doug Boone]

Yeah.

[Blaine Gibson]

Everybody make sure you don't slip and slide.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Bunlap. Any of this seeming familiar to you at all?

[John Risinger]

He went to the painting.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

I know, but, like, maybe he also, like, saw other surroundings when he went through.

[John Risinger]

Oh, like, we're close, maybe?

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

No, I have never seen this before.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Oh, okay. Well, stay close just in case.

[Blaine Gibson]

I will hold my hand.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Doug, can I hug you?

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Of course.

[Chris Maris]

Okay.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Bundlap attaches himself with, like, a one arm around you and a side hug, and he. He draws his weapon at the ready.

[Blaine Gibson]

Doug, if you get tired, I. I can take over.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I feel so safe.

[Blaine Gibson]

Something tells me you have a lot of stamina for. For this kind of thing, though. So I don't.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

I don't know if I'll get tired for a while here.

[John Risinger]

Cool.

[Blaine Gibson]

Carry on through.

[Gustavo Sorola]

What does that mean?

[Narrator/Storyteller]

That means.

[Blaine Gibson]

That means I send Giggy ahead.

[John Risinger]

Nope. We solved the last thing. You guys figured this out.

[Doug Boone]

He's going through the. You said the moist tunnel area?

[John Risinger]

Yeah, Corridor.

[Doug Boone]

Corridor.

[Blaine Gibson]

Unless there. Is there anything to. You said that we're, like, at this water mill. Is it like a building or is it just the machinery?

[John Risinger]

Seems like a little house.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah, it's a small home made of brownish red bricks and a wooden beam, flat roof. And there's a wooden water mill on the side of the home that flows with the river.

[Blaine Gibson]

Okay, well, then we gotta go into

[Gustavo Sorola]

the home, and then there's the corridor as well.

[Doug Boone]

Okay.

[Blaine Gibson]

Before we go to the corridor, I Say we look into the home.

[Doug Boone]

Yeah.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Examine it. And it appears to be a quaint, beautifully built home. The bricks are defaced with obscene graffiti. Tol. What? What? What do you see? What? What is it? What is it that you see with your graffiti here?

[Blaine Gibson]

It says, like, fart face. Inter only. Do not pass unless you have poopy pants.

[Chris Maris]

Do not pass unless you have gas.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Doug, what do you see?

[Barbara Dunkelman]

I just see, like, a big, frowny face.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Oh, got it.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

It's so rude.

[Blaine Gibson]

The gangs.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah, Maddie, it.

[John Risinger]

It's. I see. I just see a bunch of flowers and rainbows and bubbles.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

How offensive.

[John Risinger]

And puppies and kittens. Yeah.

[Chris Maris]

The worst.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Oh, Snatty. Sorry. We're looking at this house over here.

[Doug Boone]

Natty to mouse.

[John Risinger]

Oh, yeah. That was disgusting. No, I see skulls. I see. I see ghosts. I see zombies. They made a whole mural. Looks like death metal just made into a painting.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Underneath all of this graffiti, this terrible graffiti, you see small, deep set windows and a wooden cedar door that's open. And there's a ladder on the side of the building that leads to the flat roof terrace.

[John Risinger]

Okay. Natty knocks on the door.

[Gustavo Sorola]

It's open.

[John Risinger]

Natty walks in.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah. You walk in and you see what appears to be an art studio. And you get. You get, like, the smell of paint. And inside there's a stone mill that's grinding. There's pipes and a hand pump that feed a basin. And there's a shelf of jars with different colored liquids and a crate of brownish red rocks. And it appears like there's a set of clothes on the floor.

[Doug Boone]

Are there any paintings that we could see that are, like, in progress or completed in here?

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah, you see, like, various frames set up and canvases around the room. It seems like one of them just has a. Like one of them's just being started out. Like, it's got a wash on it. Like a white wash of some kind.

[Chris Maris]

This man may be the paintings that create the transportation portals.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

That's what I'm thinking.

[Blaine Gibson]

I was gonna say, based on the canvases, the frames, and the paint colors and things like that, does this seem to look like the other paintings we've encountered?

[Gustavo Sorola]

One of these paintings looks exactly like the forest outside that you just walked through.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh, that's trippy. Can I. Can I Mario 64 this thing?

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah, you. So for our younger listeners, the describe what that means.

[John Risinger]

God. How old is Mario? 64.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Like 30 years old at this point.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

I was saying it's gotta be at

[John Risinger]

least, like, close to 30.

[Blaine Gibson]

Disintegrating into my chair. Well, okay, well, I walk away 15ft with my back turned to the painting. And then I go, wa, wa, wa,

[Gustavo Sorola]

wa, wa, wa, wa.

[Blaine Gibson]

And then I, I, I do that back skid that you can do in Mario to fast travel. And then I do a backflip and

[John Risinger]

he goes to the pa

[Blaine Gibson]

and then there's a shimmer noise. Kind of like, you know. Yeah, it's like.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Yeah.

[Chris Maris]

And then that.

[Blaine Gibson]

And then it says how many stars we have to earn? And then what the world's name is.

[John Risinger]

Okay, we've made enough Mario 64 references. What happens?

[Gustavo Sorola]

You jump into the painting and the other three of you see Tol disappear, but you hear Tol screaming outside of the house. So silly Toll, if you find yourself

[Blaine Gibson]

outside of the house, where did it, where did I exit from? Was there like another portal or is it just like air?

[Gustavo Sorola]

Just air out. Out in the forest. Near the bridge. Near the side of the bridge.

[Blaine Gibson]

Okay.

[Chris Maris]

Do you remember what the room looked like?

[Blaine Gibson]

The Chimera room.

[John Risinger]

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Like the vault room.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Yes.

[Gustavo Sorola]

And metagame wise, you also kind of know what it looks like because you did see that painting before it got knocked down.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Yes, I remember.

[Chris Maris]

Perhaps we could draw it ourselves.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh, my God, this is gonna go bad.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Gunther. You know, the only painting I can do is finger painting.

[Chris Maris]

This is a good one, though, for me. Or maybe someone who is good at painting.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Bundlap would look at the party.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

Are any of you here skilled with the brush?

[John Risinger]

We got one guy in our party that is catchphrase. I can figure it out.

[Doug Boone]

Doug looks around.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Yeah, Yeah. I mean, I, you know, it's. Painting's gotta be simple, right? You see something and then you use, you know, your hand to recreate it. It should be pretty straightforward, right?

[John Risinger]

You got like an eidetic memory, right?

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Yeah, definitely

[Doug Boone]

identic.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Doug, you know, as you're looking around saying this, you see, I mentioned that there were some clothes in the room. You see that they include a tunic, a paint splattered apron, pants, an orange beret, and a leather eye patch. Perhaps you could use like, the apron to protect your own clothing and your fur.

[Doug Boone]

I think I'd put on the apron and the beret.

[John Risinger]

Oh, but over here, there's actually just, there's a wig. That's a, it's a Afro. It's like a brown Afro. I'm going to put that on you

[Doug Boone]

instead to paint happy little trees.

[Blaine Gibson]

Denim on denim.

[Gustavo Sorola]

We discovered a happy accident here. All right, Doug, you're gonna, you're gonna give this a Go.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

We you painting? Magnifique painting, Gustavo.

[Gustavo Sorola]

I love it. I'm here for it. Yeah. Does Doug have any experience painting, like, stuff like this in the past?

[Doug Boone]

Probably not. I think he has experience drawing when it's like, he's, like, making a blueprint for something or, like, some specs and stuff like that. But I don't know if he has any experience actually with, like, colors and, you know, painting. But, yeah, he's a good. I think he has a good idea of, like, visuals.

[Gustavo Sorola]

I think that, you know, Bundlaps, like I said earlier, was already attached to you. I think he would be very interested in this. And between your memory of the painting and then Bundlap helping give guidance and description of what he saw and experienced firsthand being in there. You know, you begin work on putting paint to canvas and trying to recreate what you think that the vault looks like. It'll take a few minutes for. For Doug to bang out this work of art. Is there anything anybody else wants to do in the meantime? If not, we can just continue with.

[Blaine Gibson]

With Doug Tolve is continuously running through the portal, ending up into the woods. Running back in the house through the portal, he's just. This is amazing for him. He's like, whoa.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Now to play with portals while they're

[Chris Maris]

painting, I just look around and see if he can plan anything more about what. Who this person is that's doing these paintings or if there's any paintings that show anything that could be important that are already drawn.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah.

[John Risinger]

Hey, Gunther, come look at this painting. It's a bunch of frogs at a table, and they're playing poker.

[Gustavo Sorola]

You can see that. You know, there's a mill in here that's powered by that water mill outside. It's a hand pump that seems to be connected to the ri. The river outside where. Which feeds river water into this basin. Various painter supplies. And on the shelves and jars of almost every color dye imaginable. As Doug comes and goes, you know, picking up various paints. You know, maybe some are missing. Maybe Doug's got them. I don't know. And there's clothes on the floor.

[Blaine Gibson]

The fact that there's clothes on the floor. Did it look like someone raptured out of here? Like it's like it's in a way where someone fell down and poofed out of the clothes. Were they laid out like that?

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah, I guess you could say that.

[Blaine Gibson]

That.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah, That's. That's. That is what you picture it would look like.

[Doug Boone]

Or is it the situation where it's like you have tummy ache and you have to go to the bathroom and you get so hot and sweaty you take off all your clothes.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh my God, Barbara, you just described my morning.

[Doug Boone]

That was this weekend.

[John Risinger]

Hey Gunther, do you want to while. While Doug's painting, do you want to check out the roof with me? Since there was a ladder out there,

[Gustavo Sorola]

I was going to drop one more thing here for Gunther. Yeah. And on top of all of this, you find a leather bound book with an inkwell next to it on one of the tables.

[Chris Maris]

Oh, did I read the book?

[Doug Boone]

Yeah.

[Gustavo Sorola]

You open it up and the first page says the diary of and private property belonging to Jeremothy. Jeremy Jeremothy. This was another one of those words I've looked at a million times in the module. And I'm saying it out loud for the first time like. Oh, that's a. That's an interesting word to come off the. Jeremy.

[Doug Boone]

Jeremy.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah, Ma had it right the first time. Jeremy, you've flipped through and it seems like it's the diary and the personal musings of. Of an artist.

[Chris Maris]

They say anything interesting or noteworthy or about what they're why they're doing this.

[Blaine Gibson]

Totally bummed today. Decided to cut off ear. Did not go well.

[Gustavo Sorola]

I don't feel any better now. I can't hear. Yeah, you know, you read a couple of entries and there is talk of various topics, not only art, but alchemy as well. Talk of something called hopeless site dust and color pigments. There's talk of being commissioned by King Miser to paint part of the keep as a forested lake.

[Unidentified Guest/Listener]

We're.

[Doug Boone]

Wait, we're in the keep, right? Oh no, we're not.

[John Risinger]

Yeah, we are.

[Chris Maris]

Did we go through a painting to get here? Is that why. Is that why we're in this forest?

[Gustavo Sorola]

I will say it's been a little while since we recorded that previous episode. But Natty and John, I think you were very confused about how there was a forest in the keep and you asked Granny Fungus if you were still in the keep when you were talking to her.

[John Risinger]

Yeah, no, I get it. I'm deducing that this Jeremy is not only creating portals, but he's actually creating these places.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh, can I try something out real quick? I just had an idea. Since I've seen the Notebook, I say, drimothy, are you in here by the way? Like if you're naked we can like leave, get. Let you get dressed. We might have come in at an inopportune time and I recognize that you might be Hiding because you're just like buck naked. You know anybody?

[Gustavo Sorola]

You get no reply. Okay.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

All right.

[Blaine Gibson]

Drimothy's not here.

[Chris Maris]

And what was it? Who was the king? Who. Who is he drawing?

[Blaine Gibson]

King Miser.

[Gustavo Sorola]

King Miser had commissioned him. It's M Y Z E R. Okay, what's.

[Blaine Gibson]

You said hopeless sight.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Hopeless sight? Yeah.

[Chris Maris]

Dust. And what was the other thing?

[Gustavo Sorola]

A lot of talk of alchemy. Hopeless sight, Dust, dyes and painting. Gunther, anything else you want to look at or try to figure out?

[Chris Maris]

No, I can let Natty raise the roof.

[Gustavo Sorola]

All right, Natty. Does anyone want to accompany Natty? I think she had reached out offer to maybe toll for someone to go up there.

[John Risinger]

Gunther.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Gunther.

[Chris Maris]

All right, let us go. Not that we know who's.

[John Risinger]

Let's just see. It's kind of weird. There's a ladder outside, a little terrace up there. Let's see.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah. Both of you climb up the the ladder and on the rooftop you find a wooden stool and an easel with a painted portrait on a canvas of a human.

[John Risinger]

What's he look like?

[Gustavo Sorola]

The painting appears to be that of an androgynous young adult with a birthmark on their forehead, wearing an orange beret and a leather eye patch. You recognize that beret as being the one that Doug is wearing right now.

[John Risinger]

And there was an eye patch in the pile of clothes. So it's like a self portrait. We got like a Norman Rockwell situation going here.

[Chris Maris]

Yeah.

[Gustavo Sorola]

And there's a palette and a paintbrush with dried up paint in front of the painting. And looking around, you see a gaping hole in the roof. Roughly the size of a person.

[John Risinger]

Wait, so Jeremothy, they were up here painting their portrait. They fell through the roof and then somehow they gone. Clothes not gone.

[Doug Boone]

Right.

[Chris Maris]

Hey, Jeremy, are you in there?

[John Risinger]

Oh, is that Jeremothy in the painting?

[Gustavo Sorola]

It does not reply.

[Chris Maris]

Okay, but does it move?

[Gustavo Sorola]

No, it does not move.

[Chris Maris]

Is there any movement?

[Gustavo Sorola]

It's not a mermaid painting, is the whole.

[Blaine Gibson]

Okay, so Tolv is still in the room. Is the Hulk. Can he see Natty and Gunther up on the roof? Is that where the hole leads down to?

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah, yeah. Now that they're looking down, you see it? It's right above where the clothes were on the floor.

[John Risinger]

What's underneath all the clothes?

[Gustavo Sorola]

One of you made a comment in passing that I just want to circle back on earlier to. You remember how you described the clothes being laid out on the floor?

[Blaine Gibson]

They were like. I asked if they were laid out in a way where it's like they got raptured out. Like as if they just poofed. Disappeared out of their clothes.

[Chris Maris]

So today get summoned back into their painting and then sucked up into the roof. Back into their painting. Can I tickle him? Can I tickle them?

[John Risinger]

What are you doing? What are you doing? What's going on here? Gunther. Should we take a second here?

[Gustavo Sorola]

You start tickling the painting, but nothing happens.

[Blaine Gibson]

Can I look through the clothes? Maybe they got shrunken in size. Maybe ought to teeny tiny now.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Did you. Why? Why did you say it looked like someone got raptured? Blaine slash toll. What made you think about that?

[Blaine Gibson]

Just because, like if the clothes were just in a way where it's just like they fell down and disappeared, it'd just be so strange. Otherwise. I feel like they'd be like folded or stacked on top of each other and put on like a chair. The fact that clothes are on the ground so unceremonious means like.

[John Risinger]

Yeah.

[Gustavo Sorola]

I thought maybe to was recalling a fairly recent experience he had witnessing people getting raptured.

[John Risinger]

The Blood Bather.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh, remember that?

[John Risinger]

He took the humans.

[Blaine Gibson]

The humans?

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Yeah.

[John Risinger]

I think Jeremy was a human.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Yeah.

[Gustavo Sorola]

You know that they are human because you saw them on the painting.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh, wait, so then does that mean that all humans. It wasn't just the ones at Fort Meo, it was like all humans.

[John Risinger]

Yeah. We can write a book about what is lack of for us to be left behind by them eventually.

[Doug Boone]

I know I'm not there, but can we recall if we've actually seen any humans since?

[John Risinger]

Yeah.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Doug, you don't think you have seen any humans since then?

[John Risinger]

Yeah. Wow. Okay, so they. They were. They were like in the middle of their. Their self portrait and then they got. They got taken away.

[Blaine Gibson]

Okay, but why would they have fallen through a hole and then poofed out of their clothes?

[Gustavo Sorola]

You could think of it like maybe they had come back in for a drink of water or to get a supply or something.

[Blaine Gibson]

Like, why is there a hole in the roof?

[Chris Maris]

They got sucked up maybe.

[Gustavo Sorola]

There you go.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh, God, how painful.

[John Risinger]

Ouch.

[Blaine Gibson]

Wow.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Because that is how you saw.

[Doug Boone]

It came off when they tried to go through the hole.

[Gustavo Sorola]

That is how you saw it happen at Fort Meadow. The humans were extracted into the sky.

[John Risinger]

Okay.

[Blaine Gibson]

Kind of horrifying.

[John Risinger]

Okay, well, now there's.

[Sponsor Voice (State Farm)]

They're.

[John Risinger]

They're okay. The blood Bather's protecting them. They're fine. Yeah.

[Chris Maris]

Yeah. What is. They're left to protect but the broken neck.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Who needs necks when you're in. When you're in heaven?

[John Risinger]

Let's check on Doug's painting and hope that he. That he hasn't painted Bunlap into the painting.

[Gustavo Sorola]

I think you're putting the finishing touches on it, and it looks amazing. Are you sure you've never done this before?

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Well, you know, I think. Well, maybe Doug picked up a new skill. Actually, that's really good. What do you guys think?

[Blaine Gibson]

How good does it look like on a scale from 1 to 10?

[Doug Boone]

Should I roll?

[Gustavo Sorola]

I was gonna say it's really good. I was gonna give you the benefit because you're also working with bundlap. Let's say if I were to rate it on a scale of one to ten, it's like an eight. Eight and a half.

[Blaine Gibson]

So this is basically Doug's painting of Bunlap's recalling of the room that they

[Chris Maris]

were in and of the painting that we saw.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Right. You all did see a window into it as well when you were in the hall where you were talking to the goldenrod.

[Blaine Gibson]

Okay, so he's got. So Doug has some inspiration.

[Chris Maris]

It's like someone who saw a painting and then tried to recreate the painting.

[Gustavo Sorola]

And also talking to someone who was there firsthand to help guide the direction of the painting.

[Blaine Gibson]

I mean, I'm willing to be a guinea pig and jump through this portal painting if we want to give it a try.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Doug, I am going to do something here before. Sorry. You can try that. Absolutely. But, Doug, I want you to make me a performance check.

[Doug Boone]

Oh, no.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Why?

[John Risinger]

Six? What's a six gonna do? Guess.

[Gustavo Sorola]

All right. I mean, you're gonna stay with that. Don't want to use anything else. It's up to you.

[Doug Boone]

I use my inspiration. Die. My performance is just so bad. Oh, okay.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

13.

[John Risinger]

Can you flash a genius yourself?

[Doug Boone]

I don't think I need to.

[Gustavo Sorola]

The painting's great. It's still 8.8.5. Really great piece of. Piece of art, I'm gonna say, because you rolled a decent performance role, that you have gained proficiency in the painting skill. You gained proficiency in painting with these tools, I should say.

[Blaine Gibson]

Now that's job security right there. Way to go.

[John Risinger]

Dog in awe. Natty just whispers. He figured it out.

[Blaine Gibson]

I mean, if this works, though, we've unlocked some crazy power. I mean, we could just paint like. This is the infernus killing gun machine. You know, painting. And then I walk in, I pull it out, and then bada bing, bada boom. We're killing furnace.

[Chris Maris]

But maybe it needs hopeless dust to work. I do not know.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

Or, like, a certain type of canvas or paint or something like that maybe it only works in certain situations.

[Gustavo Sorola]

We'll have to dig. We'll have to find out more.

[Chris Maris]

Gunther. Stick a finger. Test the waters.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Yeah. You stick your finger in into the painting and it disappears. Like it.

[Unidentified Guest/Listener]

It.

[Gustavo Sorola]

It's like through the painting.

[Chris Maris]

Wait.

[Blaine Gibson]

He pulls it out. It's gone. There's no.

[Chris Maris]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Is it like I punch a hole through it?

[Gustavo Sorola]

No, no, no, no. It goes into the painting.

[Blaine Gibson]

You're the nine fingered toad.

[Gustavo Sorola]

It's. It's a memento situation.

[Chris Maris]

I think it is it get worked.

[Blaine Gibson]

Shall we all hold. How big is this painting? How big is the canvas?

[John Risinger]

He didn't make it scale

[Blaine Gibson]

a 24x12 inch.

[Gustavo Sorola]

We'll say like a 24x36. Something like that.

[Blaine Gibson]

Okay. Like movie poster size. That's. That's not bad. We can't go in all together at the same time. But I. I have some 24 by 36 over there to you and I

[Barbara Dunkelman]

might be a little too big for this.

[John Risinger]

You can fit into small places. You're a bug bear.

[Gustavo Sorola]

You can squeeze through.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

That's true to. You might have some issues with this.

[Blaine Gibson]

As a good friend once told me, I can figure it out.

[John Risinger]

Natty pulls out a power drill. Is like we could take you apart and make you. So it's just patience.

[Blaine Gibson]

Looking for the off button. I swear to God, it's not going to happen. I will not tell you. You're not gonna find it.

[Chris Maris]

Shall we?

[Barbara Dunkelman]

I guess so. No time like the present.

[Blaine Gibson]

I think we shall Looseka Doo.

[Gustavo Sorola]

What order do y' all go in?

[Doug Boone]

I'll go in first.

[Gustavo Sorola]

All right.

[Blaine Gibson]

That's confidence. That's an artist confidence right there.

[Doug Boone]

I was debating first or last because I'm like, do I go down with the ship or.

[Gustavo Sorola]

You know, Bunlap will follow you and go in right behind you. Doug.

[Blaine Gibson]

I'll go behind Bunlap. I'll make sure he's secure.

[Chris Maris]

I'll follow.

[Gustavo Sorola]

And then Natty, bring it up the rear. Okay. You all dive into the painting and emerge in what appears to be a vast treasure vault. The floor trickles with gold coins reflecting torchlight. All around the vault are arched caverns filled with mounds and of unique golden treasures like weapons, furniture, and so on. On the ceiling, you spot a gilded frame painting. And next to it is what you assume to be the Chimera. But it looks different. All the heads and body parts have changed to different beasts. And it stands upside down on the ceiling. Roaring down, but not at you, but at a group of undarian torses clanging with cowbells and throwing Cadillacs at the enraged monstrosity. One torpedo spots you all. Oy, that croak folks back.

[Unidentified Guest/Listener]

And he's got friends with him, eh?

[Gustavo Sorola]

And slam. Another golden door across the vault swings open and a posse of Goliath goldchasers bursts in.

[Chris Maris]

In the name of the goldenrod, you should all vacate his vault at once.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Gunther. That's when you spot it. Betwixt the three heads of the Chimera lodged into its glass shard scales is the sacred relic stolen from your village, the Wilder Shield.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

We found it.

[Chris Maris]

We found it.

[Blaine Gibson]

We've got a three way standoff. This is going to get hairy.

[Chris Maris]

Especially because they have three heads.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Find out how it all resolves in the next episode of Tales from the Stinky Dragon.

[Blaine Gibson]

I can't believe that that plan worked. That's so cool.

[Gustavo Sorola]

Well, let's see if it may have led to victory, it may have led to your death. We'll find out next time.

[John Risinger]

Most fine with me.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Summer is hot. But what's even hotter is our Patreon. And what's even hotter than that is our Patreon. With memberships at 20% off, get all your content ad free, tons of bonus shows and podcasts and access to our discord by becoming a member of our party. All memberships, both monthly and annual, are available for 20% off using code SUMMERSTINC. It's all one word, all uppercase. That's S u M M E R S T I n [e-mail] Join our Patreon for 20% off any and all memberships. This is only available for the month of July, so join our party and kick off your summer with us. New episodes of Tales from the Stinky Dragon premiere every other Wednesday, wherever your streams of podcasts flow and on The Stinky Dragon YouTube channel. Tired of waiting for the next adventure and looking for a quest? Join the ranks of the Stinky Dragon [e-mail] to get early access to episodes and unlock a hoard of exclusive treasures and powerful artifacts. For example, every one of our patrons gets access to our members only Discord. That's like entering an adventuring guild, where you instantly gain thousands of allies, fierce fellowship and incredible insights. Say goodbye to tp. You can also receive a coveted shout out on the show. Just like Onion Rings of Hell. Anderson Levine, Boris Sokolov, Sokolov, Sokolov, Carter Brewer. These putrid patrons directly support the show and get access to all of these perks and more on our Patreon. Stop missing out on the adventure. Become a [e-mail] Some NPCs were named after patrons from our Stinky Dragon. Discord and some of our friends provided voices in this tale, including Bunlap. What a Guy voiced by Devin Finn. Evancruthers Halison, named after Ally the Nerd, voiced by Chloe Naylor, co on Socials and Twitch Undarian Torious, voiced by Bennerstion Goliath Goldchaser, voiced by Joel Rubin. Hejol Hole. This week's arrow question was submitted by Zack the Street Fighter. Look out for them. This episode of Tales from the Stinky Dragon was produced by Ben Ernst and Michael Reisinger, written and composed by Michael Reisinger and edited by Alina Lakorchek. Join us in the tavern next time for another aromatic adventure of tales from the Stinky Dragon.

[Doug Boone]

Sam,

[John Risinger]

John has a question. What is sandalwood and why does everybody like how it smells?

[Doug Boone]

Oh, I actually don't know what it is.

[John Risinger]

Is it a plant? Is it?

[Doug Boone]

But it's a very like nice, like masculine kind of smell.

[Gustavo Sorola]

It's like it's a tree. Yeah. Because it has wood in the name. But I've never. I've never looked.

[John Risinger]

Y' all just been loving this smell. You don't know what it is.

[Blaine Gibson]

It's like.

[John Risinger]

Yeah, you smellers are weird. Everyone's googling right now.

[Doug Boone]

It is a fine grained wood derived from trees in the Santalum genus. I don't know what that word is.

[John Risinger]

A tree. It's a tree. Yeah. Okay.

[Doug Boone]

Yeah, it's really nice. It's a very like masculine woody smell.

[Barbara Dunkelman]

It's very good.

[Blaine Gibson]

Oh, smells like outdoorsy.

[John Risinger]

Oh, okay. Thank you.

[Blaine Gibson]

Put it in like a nice way.

[John Risinger]

Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Gustavo Sorola]

And lemons are a very tart fruit. They're yellow.

[John Risinger]

Thank you. That was my follow up question. Beat me to it. Hi, Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Are you looking for a beach read this summer? May I suggest your big wireless bill? It's got suspense, mystery, a slightly flat emotional arc, and a shocking twist where you realize you've been overpaying the entire time. Fortunately, though, Mint's story is better. Every plan, $15 a month, even unlimited.

[Bunlap (NPC voiced by Devin Finn)]

That's it.

[John Risinger]

Happy ending, zero tears. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment

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[Doug Boone]

Good news.

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[Doug Boone]

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[Doug Boone]

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