Episode 69
Episode 69 - Cantos Mirabilia
The Agents learn much about Esinpiel and its history.
Cover of 'Colquhoun's Story' by Michael Nyman & Damon Albarn performed by Chris Hamje
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Transcript
Hello?
Speaker B:What time is it?
Speaker A:Who is it?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker C:Situation green.
Speaker C:Eternal festival.
Speaker A:Sorry, love, I have to take this.
Speaker A:This sound is loud and jarring and it actually wakes everyone up who's in the house blearily blinking their eyes, taking in these new arrivals.
Speaker A:I'm gonna go ahead and give you their picture now.
Speaker D:Aw, they're so sweet.
Speaker A:Good morning, esteemed guests.
Speaker A:He's carrying a sachet over his shoulder while leaning on his cane.
Speaker A:As he hobbles inside loudly, his wife, a plump woman of similar age, smiles and bows.
Speaker C:Hello.
Speaker C:Good morning, she says.
Speaker A:She also speaks English very fluently.
Speaker C:I am Margarita.
Speaker C:I hope you enjoy the food that we are about to prepare for you.
Speaker C:Welcome to our village.
Speaker C:Welcome, she says.
Speaker A:They make their way over to the cooking area and you watch as from many burlap sacks they produce fresh tortillas, eggs, tomatoes, onions, chilies, ground spices.
Speaker A:Margarita begins heating a skillet with an unlabeled oil and Felipe begins expertly chopping the vegetables on a wooden cutting board.
Speaker A:He also moves to brew coffee over a freshly stoked fire in the hearth.
Speaker A:As they do this, they hum and laugh and speak to one another in, well, it doesn't sound exactly like Spanish, but maybe something similar.
Speaker A:Felix, you don't recognize this language, but it reminds you of Nahuatl.
Speaker D:Thank you so much for your hospitality.
Speaker D:Heck, it feels like you were waiting for us to come show up.
Speaker A:Margarita smiles.
Speaker C:I am just so happy to have guests for whom to cook.
Speaker C:I so rarely get to cook for so many eager guests.
Speaker A:Felipe nods and smiles as he continues to brew the coffee over the fire.
Speaker E:Yeah, I think Frankfurt will get just kind of get his things together and get ready.
Speaker E:But he's gonna keep a close eye on them as they cook, just to make sure nothing sketchy's happening that's getting put into his drink or his food or something.
Speaker A:Yeah, you watch those vegetables carefully, you don't see anything but freshness.
Speaker A:As Felipe moves to go back to chopping and providing these delicious looking tidbits to Margarita, who is filling up.
Speaker A:Well, she's covering a tortilla with some of this and then pressing another tortilla on top and frying the whole thing in oil.
Speaker E:Kill me, dude.
Speaker E:It's so hungry.
Speaker D:We'Re protected from zest.
Speaker F:Is it a unholy freshness or.
Speaker A:You'll have to get closer and engage your divine olfactory centers.
Speaker E:Okay, did you all have any luck finding Zar Zamora last night?
Speaker A:Margarita looks up.
Speaker A:Oh, Zar Zamora.
Speaker A:She laughs and Felipe shakes his head Knowingly.
Speaker C:We know him well, though his visits are infrequent these days.
Speaker C:He has always chosen to remain at a distance from Saint Piel.
Speaker C:But he takes our mezcal as barter to bring up machined parts and other things we need that cannot be grown from soil.
Speaker C:He.
Speaker A:She laughs and Felipe takes over.
Speaker A:He appears to have broken into the Mescalaria last night.
Speaker A:As I suspected, he must have had some desperate need, as he typically never comes far into Assimpiel.
Speaker A:Did something happen on your journey here?
Speaker B:I think he just ran out of the couple of bottles we gifted him to help us out.
Speaker A:Felipe nods.
Speaker A:Well, we have left him to rest as he sleeps against your mule near the north inn of the village under El Pinon de los Nuevos Santos.
Speaker A:Felipe looks over at the window and nods toward the looming crag that towers over the village.
Speaker E:Have you all had any other visitors come through recently, or just us?
Speaker A:Margarita.
Speaker A:Sup?
Speaker C:Yes, we have had a recent visitor.
Speaker C:A man came through a few nights ago, but he was not interested in partaking in the festival of St. Bartholomew.
Speaker C:He seemed preoccupied with climbing El Penon.
Speaker F:And El Penon is that mountain there?
Speaker C:Yes, El Penon de los Nuevos Santos.
Speaker C:It's the tallest peak there, near the eastern edge of the village.
Speaker C:He left with equipment days ago.
Speaker C:He hasn't returned.
Speaker C:But we will look for him once the festival is over.
Speaker C:If he has still not come back.
Speaker F:Well, I mean, we've got all this gear, we may as well look for them for you.
Speaker F:So no sweat there.
Speaker F:Least we can do is a thank you for putting a roof over our heads and feeding us.
Speaker A:Oh, no, no, no.
Speaker A:That, that is impossible, I'm afraid.
Speaker A:Approaching the mountain summit is forbidden during the festival of St. Bartholomew.
Speaker A:Except by some of our elders.
Speaker A:This is the same we told this man.
Speaker A:I do not recommend making the climb.
Speaker A:It is a simple thing if you have vaulted the summit since your childhood.
Speaker A:But it is treacherous even for seasoned climbers from outside.
Speaker A:As Simpiel.
Speaker F:Oh, I didn't mean to offend.
Speaker F:I, I, I had no idea.
Speaker F:My apologies.
Speaker C:Oh, no offense.
Speaker C:We just wish for you to remain safe.
Speaker C:The man, he went against our wishes and against his safety.
Speaker C:He seemed.
Speaker C:She looks at Felipe, perhaps unbalanced from his long journey.
Speaker C:He spoke of strange things.
Speaker C:Little that made sense.
Speaker C:I heard him yelling at the carvers one morning, insisting that there is something important hidden on top of the mountain.
Speaker C:There is not.
Speaker C:I used to climb it daily as a child.
Speaker C:And there is only a beautiful view of our valleys.
Speaker D:Well, I'm curious Why?
Speaker D:It's closed off during the.
Speaker D:The festivals.
Speaker D:I mean, if there's nothing there, you.
Speaker A:Can still visit El Penon.
Speaker A:You just should not claim it.
Speaker A:We have many shrines around the base of the mountain.
Speaker A:They are tended to by our eldest.
Speaker A:During these times of veneration and celebration, we ask you to simply look, not touch again.
Speaker A:Do not scale the cliffs.
Speaker A:They are very, very dangerous.
Speaker E:I would love to see the shrines after breakfast if that would be okay.
Speaker A:They both nod and smile.
Speaker E:But still I wonder.
Speaker E:I know you said it's dangerous, but you didn't tell us why it's forbidden to climb.
Speaker E:Is it forbidden to your people as well?
Speaker E:During the festival?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker C:Only the eldest can scale the mountain during the festival.
Speaker B:Who's the eldest here in your village?
Speaker A:Ah, that's Ishelotto, of course.
Speaker B:Is that something that Isheloto would want to do or need to do?
Speaker A:Ishaloto is preparing for the last night of the festival.
Speaker A:You will see him soon.
Speaker A:Felipe smiles.
Speaker F:Oh, what happens on the last night?
Speaker A:Margarita smiles as well.
Speaker C:The end of the festival is typically, well, the most enjoyable.
Speaker A:We wouldn't want to ruin the surprises.
Speaker F:Faith.
Speaker F:Dry swallows.
Speaker A:Gulp.
Speaker D:Are they cutting out carrots in a big pot with like a huge cauldron.
Speaker B:That fits a person inside?
Speaker F:No, no, that's scrubbing.
Speaker F:Faith in it.
Speaker E:Serious midst summer vibes.
Speaker A:They're now.
Speaker A:They're now starting to serve you.
Speaker A:And these compressed tortillas that have been fried in oil are in front of you filled with delightful fresh vegetables and eggs.
Speaker A:There are spicy chilies on the side as well and looks and smells delectable.
Speaker A:Fresh coffee is being poured into clay mugs as well.
Speaker A:It smells chocolatey and rich.
Speaker D:I'm gonna keep an eye out for any books that say you know, how to serve.
Speaker F:How to serve man.
Speaker D:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:There's no documents or books in this house that you can see.
Speaker A:Dang.
Speaker A:Does anybody eat the food?
Speaker D:I'll eat it.
Speaker F:Oh yeah.
Speaker F:Be rude not to.
Speaker B:What kind of oil is that?
Speaker F:Oil of man.
Speaker A:Does Forest actually ask what kind of oil it is?
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:I have allergies.
Speaker B:I was just wondering what kind of oil you're cooking in.
Speaker C:Oh, it's just oil brought up from one of the other villages, I think.
Speaker C:Just cooking oil.
Speaker A:Margarita looks like she truly doesn't really know.
Speaker A:She's struggling to think what it could be.
Speaker C:Do you not like cooking oil?
Speaker B:Oh, just.
Speaker B:I have certain allergies.
Speaker C:I've never heard of anyone having an allergy towards this oil, but I can make you something else if you would like.
Speaker C:What are you not allergic to?
Speaker B:Oh, meat products.
Speaker C:Are eggs available to you?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Yes, thank you.
Speaker A:She goes ahead and fries you a few eggs.
Speaker A:After trying to clean the skillet as best as she can.
Speaker A:The eggs stick to the pan and she looks upset and mutters under her breath.
Speaker A:But she does provide you a plate of several eggs.
Speaker B:I'm sorry for any difficulty.
Speaker B:I appreciate that.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker A:The meal's hearty.
Speaker A:It's flavorful, it's rejuvenating.
Speaker A:And again, the coffee is a very chocolatey, dark roast that even though it's very hot outside already, it seems to refresh your tired limbs.
Speaker A:During the meal, Margarita frequently asks you how you're enjoying her cooking, and you find yourself constantly reassuring her that you like it and that you're enjoying it.
Speaker F:Faith can't help himself, making moans of pleasure as he's chewing.
Speaker B:What does that sound like?
Speaker D:Yeah, this is a radio show.
Speaker E:I don't really gotta.
Speaker A:She's nodding and seems very pleased with your orgasmic sounds.
Speaker D:And Felix will shoot his fingers like guns up into the air in excitement.
Speaker D:You know, as a Texan, Nice.
Speaker A:Felipe looks at that and he's like, this is awesome.
Speaker B:This group I like Forest is going to say delicioso.
Speaker A:They don't understand that word.
Speaker A:They look confused.
Speaker B:She struggled with a language barrier the whole time.
Speaker A:The couple elects to take on cleanup duty.
Speaker A:They refuse to let you to lend a hand.
Speaker A:Felipe welcomes you again to explore Asimple and to experience the continuation of the festival of St. Bartholomew.
Speaker A:Margarita suggests that you might want to visit the Mescalaria to connect with Zar Zamora or even perhaps to relax even more deeply.
Speaker A:Again, they emphasize that you should hold off looking for the target of your expedition until the end of the week when the festival celebrations have ended.
Speaker A:Felipe also assures you that he and Margarita will be at the communal house if you desire anything at all.
Speaker F:You've been far too gracious with us, and we're so grateful.
Speaker F:Thank you so much.
Speaker A:They both bow their heads deeply.
Speaker A:It is our pleasure to provide hospitality and to represent the village to you esteemed visitors.
Speaker E:Oh, appreciate it so much.
Speaker E:And the food is delicious and thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker E:Yeah, and I was hoping I could visit the shrines you were telling us about.
Speaker E:Can you give us some rough directions on how to get there?
Speaker E:I know you said near the base of the mountain, but from here is it back through?
Speaker A:The pathways are maintained scrupulously.
Speaker A:You will have no trouble finding them, I assure you.
Speaker E:Great.
Speaker E:Frankfurt kind of looks at the rest of the Group and like, I don't know, maybe we go check on Zar Zamora, make sure he's, you know, here and.
Speaker E:Okay.
Speaker E:And then go take a look at these shrines.
Speaker F:Sounds good.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:You four step out onto the well lit streets of Asimple.
Speaker A:You spot immediately pink, blue and green smoke billowing up into the sky from various points of the village.
Speaker A:And as you walk forth, well, you inevitably run into a long, slow procession, a series of long, slow processions.
Speaker A:Processions of villagers carrying effigies similar to the ones you saw the night before.
Speaker A:However, these are serious, deliberate, and they lack the energy and wild passions of the previously witnessed revelry.
Speaker A:You can't help but continue to note that depictions of any saints, the Virgin Mother and Christ, well, they.
Speaker A:They all have third eye ornamentation.
Speaker A:Processioners wave sticks with long tapered colored paper streaming from them, and a single drummer beats rhythmically.
Speaker A:But other than the shuffling of feet along cobblestone streets, you hear no other sounds.
Speaker A:You do your best to move around these processions, and there are quite a few going through the streets, snaking through various unknown paths.
Speaker A:But you move now between what look like textile markets.
Speaker A:There's beautiful clothing and tapestries already hung out under shaded tents.
Speaker A:A dye maker's hut.
Speaker A:There's large hanging nets of bright gold flowers awaiting sifting.
Speaker A:A giant agave acreage on one side marking a boundary of the village, and it stretches up a steep, lush hill to the west.
Speaker A:There's black pottery of all shapes and sizes that line other stalls.
Speaker A:Colorful and intricate alebrijes carved from copal wood that hang from windowsills and onions.
Speaker A:You do notice that all of the adults that should be tending these stalls, these marketplaces, are missing.
Speaker A:But there are village children looking out from windows, peeking out from behind stalls, giggling, laughing.
Speaker A:One runs up to Yew Forest and holds out what looks like a small bit of sliced melon on ice in a bowl.
Speaker F:Oh, for me.
Speaker B:No forest for me.
Speaker A:Oh, I'll share.
Speaker B:Okay, Faith, I'll share.
Speaker F:No, you keep your melon.
Speaker B:Well, thank you.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:And I'll take the melon and put it sort of up to my face, like I'm going to take a bite.
Speaker A:This child has a blue tattoo in the center of her forehead.
Speaker A:She laughs shyly and darts away, back into a darkened home.
Speaker A:It seems wherever you tread as you walk through the village, the focus is on the many morning processions, and only children and the elderly remain in their homes.
Speaker A:They mostly seem preoccupied with praying before the various Catholic effigies that Stand sentinel in their doorways.
Speaker A:But you're greeted warmly nonetheless, always in perfect English as you proceed through asinpl.
Speaker F:That's not weird.
Speaker A:Does anybody have any medicine at all?
Speaker F:Definitely not Faith.
Speaker B:Definitely not forest.
Speaker D:No.
Speaker A:Well, I will let you know that the elderly villagers seem to have much larger, larger ornamentation on their foreheads, even larger than that adorned by Felipe and Margarita.
Speaker A:Deal with that as you will.
Speaker D:That's where we have to shoot them.
Speaker B:I'm wondering if that is what protects them.
Speaker B:Sort of like the jewels.
Speaker B:Or was it a necklace that we learned before to protect the people from going crazy?
Speaker B:Am I making no sense whatsoever?
Speaker F:I remember what we were talking about in the lore.
Speaker F:It was a war between two factions, and I believe it was a Julius.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker E:Supposed to make them immune to the madness.
Speaker A:At the northern end of the village is a traditional adobe structure with a thatched roof.
Speaker A:And it blends almost seamlessly into the outlines of the surrounding landscape.
Speaker A:The strong scent of roasted agave permeates the air.
Speaker A:Here.
Speaker A:You realize you must be getting close to the Mescalaria.
Speaker A:There are two open barn doors that allow you as you approach, to get a clear view inside.
Speaker A:And right outside the structure.
Speaker A:Tied to a low post is Frank, your trusty pack mule, lazily chewing out of a feed bag that's been fastened around its neck.
Speaker A:It perks up as you walk closer, turning to regard you, its ears twitching.
Speaker A:You see that much of your heavier equipment is sitting close by to Frank, and it's propped up against the side of the building.
Speaker A:Walking inside, you see that there's colorful artwork and murals of what must be the mezcal making process that adorn the walls here.
Speaker A:And in the building center is a small wooden bar.
Speaker A:It's been elegantly crafted into the shape of an oval so that guests can be served from all angles on single benches.
Speaker A:There's a shelf covered by thin red pottery that stands at its very center.
Speaker A:The craft itself dominates the rest of the floor.
Speaker A:There's a large cone shaped earthen oven, tiny, sending gouts of fragrant smoke up through a blackened jerryrig flue.
Speaker A:This has a circular opening where you see a man currently inserting large cut portions of agave heart while quickly beating away the unforgiving smoke.
Speaker A:Nearby him is a large stone pit.
Speaker A:It's covered in ancient layers of maybe generations of roasted agave.
Speaker A:There's a giant stone wheel there for crushing that's rigged to allow maybe a pack animal to pull it in a circle to help mash the roasted substance.
Speaker A:Now there's no animal there right now, but the deep circular furrows on the dirt floor covered with straw, seem to reveal the purpose.
Speaker A:There are beaten copper stills positioned on iron frames above several fire pits that line another wall.
Speaker A:Their construction is complex and the layers of copper, patna and score marks.
Speaker A:They appear to mark the equipment as quite old.
Speaker A:Finally, there are wooden barrels of all sizes and a small workshop of barrel making tools.
Speaker A:We're talking axes, saws and hoop drivers and sanders that fills the rest of the room.
Speaker A:Despite the slight hint of manure, it's the complex aromas of the roasting process that dominate the building's interior.
Speaker A:As your eyes return to the central bar, you see Zarzemora.
Speaker A:He's head down on one of the rough wooden stools.
Speaker A:There are two red clay decanters next to him with a smaller clay vessel barely clutched and maybe an unconscious hand.
Speaker A:Before you can move to wake him or rouse him, the man beating smoke and attending the roasting oven steps down from the ladder after replacing a clay cap and he strides towards you.
Speaker A:This is a man in his late 50s.
Speaker A:He's got sun kissed skin and it's crisscrossed with deep lines.
Speaker A:His eyes are dark, deep set and severe.
Speaker A:His hair is now streaked with silver and tied back into a ponytail.
Speaker A:Maybe it was once jet black.
Speaker A:He bears a single small copper piercing set in the middle of his forehead and he seems very wary, suspicious.
Speaker A:Take your guide your animal and leave.
Speaker A:This is not a good time to be an snpl.
Speaker A:The others are too open, too hospitable, too willing to share our gifts in a crisis.
Speaker A:Faith in sublime, but faith in strangers is arrogance.
Speaker A:Leave.
Speaker A:He barks at you.
Speaker F:We didn't intend to offend you, sir.
Speaker F:I very sorry.
Speaker F:I will take him.
Speaker A:You've been misled.
Speaker A:The others do not see that outsiders cannot understand you.
Speaker A:All misuse you.
Speaker A:Corrupt waggles his finger at you.
Speaker A:Now the festival has gone on too long and Ishioto has been unable to emerge to end it.
Speaker A:You must leave.
Speaker A:The scenepl will not be so welcoming if the festival cannot end soon.
Speaker A:With that, he kicks out the bench from under Zar Zamora, who abruptly awakes on the dirt floor, gasping.
Speaker E:That's the your eldest.
Speaker E:Eldest elder, you said he can't emerge, you mentioned.
Speaker A:Shoo.
Speaker A:Get out.
Speaker A:Get out.
Speaker A:He yells.
Speaker A:He begins making shooing motions towards you and kicks at Zarzamora, who stands up awkwardly, sways from side to side, blearily eyed, begins to stagger past you and out of the Mescalaria.
Speaker E:Wait, wait.
Speaker E:Did the problems begin a few days ago when another man came through.
Speaker A:You've all corrupted the festival.
Speaker A:Leave.
Speaker A:He now pushes against your stout arm and tries to move you out of the room.
Speaker E:Frankfurt starts walking, letting the man push him.
Speaker E:He says, look, he came here looking for that man.
Speaker E:He's been causing problems.
Speaker E:It sounds like he's causing problems here.
Speaker E:Can we.
Speaker E:Can you just talk to us for a minute?
Speaker A:Outsiders are the problem.
Speaker A:You must go back where you came from.
Speaker A:He starts to try to close the sliding barn door, continuing to move all of you out of the Mescalaria.
Speaker E:If you can just.
Speaker E:If you can just talk to us for a minute, we'll leave and maybe we can take this other guy with us, too, and then we'll all be gone.
Speaker E:That's what you want, right?
Speaker A:You are all corruption.
Speaker A:You all must go.
Speaker A:He tries to push you some more.
Speaker F:Okay, Paris, that's enough.
Speaker E:I'm trying.
Speaker E:Well, I'm trying to get to persuade Roll, I guess.
Speaker A:You can.
Speaker A:You can.
Speaker A:You can Roll.
Speaker A:Persuade.
Speaker E:Okay, yeah, yeah.
Speaker E:That's what I was wanting Damon to do.
Speaker E:Let's try and figure out what he wanted.
Speaker E:No.
Speaker E:Oh, man.
Speaker D:99.
Speaker E:Well, 99.
Speaker E:I somehow got myself up on top and fell off the building while trying to persuade him.
Speaker A:It's not 100.
Speaker A:It's not 100.
Speaker A:It'S a 99.
Speaker E:That's a good point.
Speaker E:All right, so I've rolled a 99 in my attempt to persuade him to help us.
Speaker A:Critically failing, he spits with great vitriol, repeating his words about corruption and how you, the outsiders, must leave the village.
Speaker A:And before you know it, his ravings are muffled because he's completely closed the two doors and latched them together.
Speaker A:Smoke begins billowing again out of the top of the Miscalaria.
Speaker A:But now you are on.
Speaker A:All of you are on the other side.
Speaker A:You're no longer inside this room.
Speaker A:Zarzamora is seated in the dirt out here, his head between his knees.
Speaker E:Well, that could have gone better.
Speaker F:Yeah, I think so.
Speaker D:I don't know what Frank did, but it really pissed him off.
Speaker B:I mean, he seemed very panicked about our presence here.
Speaker E:Yeah, but I think we still learned a few things he mentioned, and just want to make sure I got it right.
Speaker E:He said the festival's been going on for too long and that Ishalotl, who we were told earlier is the elder, hasn't emerged.
Speaker E:Did I hear that right?
Speaker F:That's how I heard it.
Speaker D:Maybe it's not the elder that's emerging, but something inside of it.
Speaker D:Or him.
Speaker F:Look, we just don't know.
Speaker D:I'm just saying we deal with a lot of critters that emerge.
Speaker F:Oh, I know what you're saying, but.
Speaker E:We have all these.
Speaker E:These gems on their foreheads.
Speaker E:And if I remember the lore correctly, I was thinking about our conversation earlier.
Speaker E:Like that's.
Speaker E:That's what they used to prevent them from going.
Speaker E:At least according to the story, prevent them from going crazy.
Speaker E:But then didn't that also enslave them to the.
Speaker F:Whatever, the other guys.
Speaker F:Yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, you hear from Zarzamor?
Speaker B:Zarzamor, wake up.
Speaker B:Get up.
Speaker F:Okay, buddy.
Speaker F:You had a rough one, huh?
Speaker A:Are.
Speaker A:Are we.
Speaker A:Are we in a village?
Speaker A:He slurs, quite pronounced.
Speaker F:Yeah, buddy, we're in the village.
Speaker A:He nods, looking up at you, his eyes bleary.
Speaker A:He tries to straighten, straighten his hair a bit, smooth it down with his hands, and staggers to his feet, leaning against the walls of the mezcalaria.
Speaker A:Miscariros Gringos.
Speaker A:Thank you for coming back for me.
Speaker A:I must have.
Speaker A:I must have imbibed a lot of mezcal.
Speaker A:He laughs again, slurring his words.
Speaker F:Yeah, it looks like it.
Speaker A:But are we ready to return to now?
Speaker F:We were going to check out the shrines over here on the mountain.
Speaker F:Maybe you could tell us a bit about this festival while we do that.
Speaker A:Jacint Piel is always celebrating something.
Speaker A:He waves his hand dismissively.
Speaker A:Always celebrating.
Speaker F:What about this festival?
Speaker A:I do not like coming close to the village when they are celebrating.
Speaker A:I try not to know about this.
Speaker A:He waves his hand again dismissively.
Speaker E:Why is that bad?
Speaker E:Experience.
Speaker A:The spirits.
Speaker A:He looks up toward the mountains in the distance and then looks up at the giant crag.
Speaker A:El Penon.
Speaker A:Spirits do not like this place.
Speaker E:Wondering if we should pay a visit to this Isha Lotl.
Speaker E:Look, if something's wrong, this.
Speaker E:Our target here has done something else.
Speaker E:I don't know.
Speaker D:Plus, he's gonna be the one who knows about the most about this festival and ritual and whatnot.
Speaker E:Yeah, Joel noticed they.
Speaker E:This morning we were asking about why the mountain's forbidden.
Speaker E:The kids, they kind of dodged our question, didn't they?
Speaker E:They just kept saying, oh, the elders are only allowed up there.
Speaker E:But they never kept.
Speaker E:They never told us why only the elders are allowed up during the festival.
Speaker E:Thought they were just going in a circle.
Speaker F:Yeah, I caught that too, bud.
Speaker F:I. I don't know.
Speaker A:Ah, mis quiros gringos.
Speaker A:You seek to conquer the tall, tall mountain, huh?
Speaker A:He points up at the.
Speaker A:At the crag, maybe.
Speaker A:But spirits of the mountains, they whisper his Secrets only to the sober half mind.
Speaker A:He taps his temple harshly.
Speaker A:Let us wait till the shadows of intox, the mezcal recede and the clarity of dawn illuminates our path.
Speaker A:I will show you the way up then.
Speaker C:But for now, let's revel in the.
Speaker A:Mysteries of the valley.
Speaker A:See, the mountain will wait, just like the stars in the sky.
Speaker A:He looks up at the beautiful blue sky above.
Speaker F:Faith looks at everybody else and shrugs and says, yeah, I think you need a minute.
Speaker A:He stumbles over to Frank and puts his arms around the mule's neck.
Speaker A:And to your perception, he appears to fall asleep standing up, hugging the animal.
Speaker D:That's precious.
Speaker D:I'm taking a picture of this too, definitely.
Speaker A:Again, you notice that you have no cellular signal.
Speaker B:Okay, so we won't be making contact then with Snedger from up here.
Speaker A:Maybe with some semaphore, but not with your cellular phone.
Speaker D:Let's go to the shrines.
Speaker D:The statue.
Speaker D:Yeah, the statues, shrines.
Speaker A:So y' all walk towards El Pinon.
Speaker A:And Felipe was right.
Speaker A:The footpads here, or I'm sorry, the footpaths here, are well trodden and very easy to make out.
Speaker A:It's nothing like the hiking that you've endured over the last three days or so.
Speaker A:And yeah, nestled among great lush greenery along the base of this crag, as you get closer and closer, are what seem to be dozens of openings into maybe what is a maze of caves leading to maybe one great system beneath the mountains.
Speaker A:But the foot traffic indicates that there are many accessible entrances.
Speaker A:Some, as you get closer, have gravel and stone pathways that someone has maintained.
Speaker A:And these lead to candle lined thresholds of rock.
Speaker A:Effigies of St. Bartholomew are here, usually depicted holding his own flayed skin.
Speaker A:These are frequently present along and amongst the trails.
Speaker A:The landscape is dotted by these grisly totems.
Speaker A:The beatific smile of the saint staring up into the sky as he holds his own skin in front of him like a beloved piece of clothing.
Speaker A:You four walk closer and you step into one of these rocky enclosures that these paths lead to.
Speaker A:Again, that line lying the bottom and base of this mountain.
Speaker A:Inside is a well decorated room.
Speaker A:It's large enough just for about three to four adults to simultaneously stand.
Speaker A:So you're fairly close close quarters in here.
Speaker A:The air is a little bit musty, but you can all smell the scent of copal incense.
Speaker A:It's clinging to the walls and the ceilings.
Speaker A:Unlit candles litter every flat surface.
Speaker A:There are long twisting webs of bright red yarn that hang from ceiling mounted Bolts and hooks.
Speaker A:There are also unpainted alebrijes here.
Speaker A:They're in webbed within.
Speaker A:Creates sort of a clunky beaded curtain.
Speaker A:These carvings, though, are not the usual festive animal carvings that you have seen not just in Assinpl but throughout your Oaxacan travels.
Speaker A:Instead, they, as you look closer, they appear to be more grim effigies of St. Bartholomew.
Speaker A:Now, let's talk about the murals on the cave walls.
Speaker A:Because they're new and they're presented to you in fresh and vibrant paints.
Speaker A:I think forest has an art skill, am I correct?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Well, it's photography that'll work.
Speaker A:You can see very clearly that these depictions, forests, they're meticulously reapplied and expertly maintained.
Speaker A:The patience and skill of a professional restorer is something that you note here with the level of maintenance that you glean.
Speaker A:So unlike the ancient Mesoamerican pictographs you found in Yolotl Xochotli, these are very clear despite there being no words.
Speaker A:So you begin studying them, all of you talking through them together, trying to piece together everything you can.
Speaker A:And in the end, you determine that the narrative here is clear and ubiquitous.
Speaker A:It begins with a great glowing light that appears above a stretch of agave fields that are tended to by villagers.
Speaker A:They crane their necks to watch the celestial event.
Speaker A:The light destroys the top of a nearby mountain.
Speaker A:It causes the summit to partially disappear.
Speaker A:And then the mountaintop glows with the same light.
Speaker A:A dark red tree like being now stands on the mountaintop holding a glowing five sided object.
Speaker A:You see several other similar beings that appear trapped inside the mountain.
Speaker A:Painted black.
Speaker A:The villagers soon worship the red tree being.
Speaker A:And then, catastrophe.
Speaker A:The black.
Speaker A:Well, a black tree being escapes the mountain prison.
Speaker A:Villagers flee, clawing at their own faces in terror.
Speaker A:Some villagers appear with their eyes gone black and they are depicted maiming their fellows with great violence using scythes and knives.
Speaker A:Black tendrils from the escaped creature seep into them as if it is puppeting their murderous actions.
Speaker A:The red tree being places its tendrils on the foreheads of several warriors and a priest figure.
Speaker A:They suddenly have bright shining third eyes in the middle of their foreheads.
Speaker A:The empowered villagers kill those who are doing the black tree's bidding.
Speaker A:You see dark nebulous smudges flying out of their bodies, and the warriors destroy those as well.
Speaker A:The warriors continue to the prison on the mountaintop and confront the remaining trapped black tree beings.
Speaker A:They drive back their black tendrils and the warriors crush them and the resulting curling smoke Shapes that arise from their corpses.
Speaker A:The priest and the warriors come back down from the mountain with the red tree being carrying the five sided object.
Speaker A:The mountain no longer glows, but instead the same glowing property leaves with the object itself.
Speaker A:The villagers with third eyes crowd around this object, smiling.
Speaker A:The other villagers though they look very upset and they pack up mules and carts.
Speaker A:One of the dead black tree beings corpses and they leave the valley.
Speaker A:The red tree being stretches up above the scene while the remaining villagers are appear ecstatic and they wave their hands in praise or supplication.
Speaker A:Other black corpses meanwhile are burning atop the mountain.
Speaker A:The red tree being takes the glowing object and goes back to the top of the mountain among the ashes of the others.
Speaker A:The third eyed villagers then continue their worship.
Speaker A:Now these recent and more modern paintings align with what you were told by Dr. Isabella Ramirez with some additional insights and details.
Speaker A:But the story continues.
Speaker A:Again, the meaning is clear after you discuss and absorb what you're looking at.
Speaker A:In the next few murals you see Spanish conquistadors and Dominican priests arriving in the peaceful valley by horseback.
Speaker A:You see them preaching to the villagers, but then you see that they begin capturing and binding them.
Speaker A:It's not clear why they do this.
Speaker A:There are scenes of torture and violence and these are graphic.
Speaker A:The priests look on despondently while the soldiers, the conquistadors, work their gruesome tasks.
Speaker A:The priests hold up their crosses and Bibles.
Speaker A:In one climactic scene, two third eyed villagers grin and are flayed alive by the armored Spanish soldiers.
Speaker A:The red tree being appears again on the mountaintop.
Speaker A:The glowing object floating above it.
Speaker A:Tendrils reach down to the flayed villagers take their discarded and flayed skin.
Speaker A:Glow surrounds the skinless duo and they are soon depicted floating above the ground.
Speaker A:The priests, the soldiers, they cower in fear, dropping their books and crosses and swords and flaying implements.
Speaker A:The Spanish run away down to the most well armored conquistador as the two floating and skinless villagers chase them from the valley, their third eyes blazing white.
Speaker A:They soon appear to ascend to the mountaintop to join the red tree being which seems drained, smaller and weaker.
Speaker A:The final scene shows third eyed villagers dancing in a circle around a tall pole in front of the mountain.
Speaker A:None of them have skin.
Speaker A:The glow on the mountain begins to grow stronger.
Speaker A:Everyone roll an alertness plus 20% please.
Speaker D:Success.
Speaker D:14 out of 88 Frankfurt succeeds.
Speaker A:Success.
Speaker F:67.
Speaker E:Success.
Speaker B:Success.
Speaker A:You all hear as you finish your discussion in your perusal.
Speaker A:The laughing and hoarse yelling of a man echoing through the walls coming from some chamber or vista above you.
Speaker A:It stops as abruptly as it began.
Speaker D:Chris, if the bad guy is the joker, you have to tell us.
Speaker D:I can't take that.
Speaker D:That's.
Speaker D:That's too much twisted.
Speaker A:It could be very twisted.
Speaker D:Well, it looks like St. Bartholomew is like a.
Speaker D:Like a saint that represents all the folks who were killed by the key doors.
Speaker D:But I guess this red tree being empowered them to be able to fight back.
Speaker D:Doesn't seem like those were living people who were fighting back, but something, you know, wearing its skin.
Speaker E:Frankfurt walks over to the painting that shows the.
Speaker E:The villagers dancing around.
Speaker E:And you, Chris, remind me there's.
Speaker E:There is near the end there.
Speaker E:They're dancing around without their skin and the mountain's glowing brighter again.
Speaker E:Is that right?
Speaker A:Yes, that's the very last scene.
Speaker A:These are all third eyed villagers dancing in a circle around a tall pole in front of the mountain.
Speaker A:None of them have skin.
Speaker E:Frankfurt walks over, looking at these villagers without skin in the mountain.
Speaker E:He's like, yeah, I don't know if I want to stick around for tonight.
Speaker E:I think I like my skin on my body.
Speaker A:You hear that?
Speaker A:Music has started up again from the heart of Esimpl.
Speaker A:It's more discordant, more frenetic than before.
Speaker A:The drums are offbeat, the flutes are trilling at seeming random.
Speaker A:You hear shouts of joy, but they mingle with yells of fear or anger.
Speaker A:You continue to discuss, but the sounds grow in volume and frequency.
Speaker A:What would you like to do?
Speaker D:Felix will dig through his pack quickly as he's looking at the mural and pulls out the picture that he got from the corpse of the dancing bodies.
Speaker A:The Danse macabre.
Speaker A:Mm.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You take a look at this block print reproduction that was obviously torn out of some book.
Speaker A:It does seem reminiscent to you, but the scene depicted on the mural.
Speaker A:Mural is so much more grisly, so much more evocative.
Speaker A:But you would say the same joy or exuberance exists in both artistic works as those who are dead yet alive celebrate their own broken existences.
Speaker E:Well, we're here for Dante, and I'd be willing to bet that's him up on top of this.
Speaker F:Yeah, I think you're right.
Speaker B:Do you mean the laughing?
Speaker E:Yeah, I think that's him.
Speaker E:He said, put money on it.
Speaker B:I mean, I was actually thinking that those creepy, weird sort of actions with the maniacal laughing is similar to actions of someone infested with a bug.
Speaker E:Yeah, the thought crossed my mind as well.
Speaker D:And remember the fella that we ended up finding on the Way here.
Speaker D:He was tortured to death.
Speaker D:A grisly torture, just like.
Speaker D:Just like these conquistadors did to these folks.
Speaker B:Yeah, whatever we decide, we have to be smart about this.
Speaker B:We can't risk our lives on this one.
Speaker B:There's too many other factors here.
Speaker E:Yeah, I hear you, but I don't know how much time we got.
Speaker E:Something about what?
Speaker E:That man over at the Mescal.
Speaker E:Mescal Rhea or whatever he said.
Speaker E:It's really just getting under my skin.
Speaker F:What about it?
Speaker A:I just.
Speaker E:I think.
Speaker E:I don't think we have a lot of time.
Speaker F:Oh, yeah, that.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker E:What's the surprise that they were talking about earlier that Felipe was mentioning?
Speaker E:I don't like it.
Speaker E:I don't like any of it.
Speaker F:Yeah.
Speaker F:My least favorite surprise would be not having my skin.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker D:And you can see in the.
Speaker D:In the drawing here, the red tree being.
Speaker D:Its power can flux.
Speaker D:It can diminish.
Speaker D:Maybe.
Speaker D:Maybe this Dante's trying to take it out to open the doorway for more of these critters.
Speaker B:So, say, what would a bug want with this?
Speaker E:Well, look over here.
Speaker E:And Frankfurt kind of walks over to some of the earlier pictures and points at those, like, black clouds or black smudges coming out of the bodies.
Speaker E:It's like, what do you think these might be?
Speaker E:Could these be bugs?
Speaker D:Sure looks like it to me.
Speaker E:It's a bit of a.
Speaker E:It could be a stretch, but.
Speaker E:I don't know.
Speaker F:Faith kind of squishes up his face as he's trying to see it and shakes his head and says, I don't know.
Speaker B:They would have been here a lot longer than any of us or even the program's aware of, if that's the case.
Speaker E:Yeah, you're right.
Speaker B:I mean, not to say it's not possible, but.
Speaker D:Wow.
Speaker D:Well, it sounds like they were able to lock it down.
Speaker D:Maybe the ones that we have are a different crew that came here, but.
Speaker D:But, heck, I. I'd rather not them open up this.
Speaker D:This can of worms here.
Speaker E:Yeah, I just kept wondering, you know, Dante's infested, right?
Speaker E:And looks like the.
Speaker E:The red one doesn't like the.
Speaker E:These bugs either, right?
Speaker E:And so he's here corrupting things, messing things up.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker E:I don't know.
Speaker E:It's just.
Speaker F:Look, we heard him laughing in there.
Speaker F:We gotta.
Speaker F:We can put a stop to it now.
Speaker F:We've got our gear.
Speaker F:We've got everything we need.
Speaker E:Sergeant Moro's not gonna be any help for a while.
Speaker A:Just leave him.
Speaker F:He's fine.
Speaker E:He did say he knew a Path up.
Speaker D:But you know who else does?
Speaker D:The eldest.
Speaker D:We should get him.
Speaker D:I mean, if they have some sort of magic five pointed star thing that could keep us from, you know, losing said skin.
Speaker D:You know, I know I haven't mentioned it yet, but I do like my skin on my body as well.
Speaker E:It's a good place for it, you know?
Speaker F:Well, at least that makes two of us.
Speaker B:I'm too young to lose my skin, so we're all in agreeance here.
Speaker E:But I think Ishalotl.
Speaker E:I think they're the ones we need to be worried about.
Speaker F:I don't know who to trust.
Speaker F:And I don't.
Speaker F:Yeah, I think we should just go in, find him, do what we need to do.
Speaker F:Yeah, and get the fuck out of here.
Speaker E:You know, I think the only person aside from you three that I do trust in this place is Zarzemora and Frank.
Speaker D:Now, Frank's solid.
Speaker E:You can always rely on Frank.
Speaker A:You look at your camera roll, Felix, and just to remind yourself how great Frank is, you revisit that picture of Zar Zamora hugging him.
Speaker A:Frank has no reflection or.
Speaker A:No, nothing was picked up on film.
Speaker A:Zar Zamora is hugging nothing in the air.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Frank's a vampire.
Speaker F:It was Frank the whole time.
Speaker A:That was a joke, okay?
Speaker E:It's always been Frank.
Speaker D:I do want to take a picture.
Speaker D:I do want to take pictures of this mural, by the way.
Speaker A:Yes, yes.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So the understanding here is that y' all are spending some time in here, because this is, first of all, it's a more modern representation of what you had seen in Yolotal Shoshotli, but then the story continued by those apparently, ostensibly who have lived in this valley since.
Speaker A:So you're taking pictures, you're discussing it, you're interpreting.
Speaker A:You're spending a lot of time in this small enclosure, this small shrine.
Speaker A:And as you four step out, you look down now at the rooftops of Essin Pielle.
Speaker A:Across the rooftops, and you see that large plumes of red smoke now are wafting up from between the buildings.
Speaker A:At different points in the village, colorful flags are being waved as parades and small entourages are quickly winding through the streets again, carrying effigies and dancing erratically.
Speaker A:Likewise, you can see figures once again revolving around the 30 meter pole erected in the village square.
Speaker A:But it's clear to all four of you as you step out, blinking in the noonday sun, it's clear something is different.
Speaker A:The four circling dancers, they're spinning much, much, much faster, too fast.
Speaker A:You feel knots form the base of Your stomachs.
Speaker A:Each dancer has had a great deal of their skin peeled back and attached to the circling mechanism by large jagged hooks.
Speaker A:Their skin is drawn tight by ropes that bind them to the revolving wheel at the top.
Speaker A:Each figure has a unique portion of their body hooked into the bizarre carousel.
Speaker A:One has large wing like flaps peeled from his back, revealing glistening pulp upon each rotation.
Speaker A:The peeled skin below the collarbones attaches a second.
Speaker A:The third swings by the de gloved and stretched tissues of his calves and feet.
Speaker A:And finally the last spins by loose skin carved from his scalp yet still attached to his upper back.
Speaker A:This last particular individual seems unresponsive as his ragdoll body careens lifelessly through the air around the the pole.
Speaker A:A lone man who you all soon recognize as Felipe straddles the top of the pole, screaming as he uses an agave saw to cut jagged strips of flesh from his own arms, peeling, pulling them off to be cast toward the crowd below.
Speaker A:The blood spatters down upon numerous effigies of St Bartholomew and a gentleman jubilant crowd.
Speaker A:The villagers seem to writhe in ecstasy as they stamp about and yell, only briefly pausing to raise their faces up to catch some of the red mist upon their skin.
Speaker A:White eyes and pearly teeth gleam from otherwise blood spattered forms.
Speaker A:Those of you who are not adapted to violence, please roll sanity.
Speaker D:Hey, we found out they're Juggalos or Cenobites.
Speaker E:Could be Cenobites.
Speaker A:They're definitely Cenobites.
Speaker F:I am so glad we're not over there right now.
Speaker E:Yeah, that's a big fuck no from me.
Speaker F:We need to get the up this mountain and deal with this guy and get the out of here before we.
Speaker A:Get the out of here and get.
Speaker B:The fuck up the mountain.
Speaker A:Address these sanity rules.
Speaker A:So would you like to project any potential loss?
Speaker A:This means burning willpower and a bond reading.
Speaker A:Or would you like to take it?
Speaker D:I'll take it.
Speaker B:I'm gonna take it.
Speaker A:Oh, we should give you some willpower for us.
Speaker A:You did get a good night's sleep.
Speaker A:At least enough to get some willpower back.
Speaker A:I forgot to give that to you.
Speaker B:Thanks guys for the rest.
Speaker A:I think it's a 1D6.
Speaker E:Frankfurt looks over is like.
Speaker E:Well, when you're immune to violence, you can take a guard shift as well.
Speaker D:He starts just peeling parts of his body off as well.
Speaker E:Yeah, this looks like my kind of party.
Speaker E:Might as well.
Speaker E:Catch you guys later.
Speaker E:Oh, gruesome dude.
Speaker E:That is a gruesome description.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker E:Oh my God.
Speaker D:Yeah, that was gross.
Speaker B:Barf sounds.
Speaker E:That was Gross.
Speaker A:No problem, y'.
Speaker E:All.
Speaker B:Forest throws up and then everyone throws up by watching her throw up.
Speaker B:And then everyone's just throwing up a.
Speaker E:Circle of throw up selfie.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Solid one.
Speaker B:Yay.
Speaker A:All right, seven out of ten.
Speaker A:Willpower.
Speaker A:Ooh, I'm also gonna just be really nice and give you a 1D3.
Speaker A:Actually, I'm gonna give you just one hit.
Speaker A:Point back.
Speaker A:Just for fun.
Speaker D:Woo.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:You're seven out of ten.
Speaker A:Now.
Speaker B:Do I.
Speaker B:Did I happen to.
Speaker B:Do we have a sat phone or anything that we can contact Sned Igar on while we're up here?
Speaker F:I do believe we have a sat phone.
Speaker A:You do have a sat phone?
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:You have a sat phone.
Speaker B:Cool.
Speaker B:I think we should do that before we press on.
Speaker E:Can we requisition, like napalm draw?
Speaker F:There needs to be a military drill over this.
Speaker F:Flying over and accidentally lose its bombs on the village.
Speaker E:Yeah, just take this whole fucking thing out.
Speaker D:We still have napalm, right?
Speaker D:We could use that.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker E:This napalm situation.
Speaker A:You all feel like it's only a matter of time before the people in the crowd below you begin to turn on one another.
Speaker A:You watch in horror, taking in this gruesome tableau.
Speaker A:You hear the loud sounds of a careening and panting man as someone is running up one of the footpaths towards you.
Speaker A:Zarzamora, who has somehow recovered his hat and is holding it upon his head, stumbles up, eyes wide, covered in sweat.
Speaker A:Please, you must listen.
Speaker A:St. Pierre's no longer safe.
Speaker A:The villagers, they've lost their mind.
Speaker A:Madness grips them.
Speaker A:I fear what they might do.
Speaker A:Jax.
Speaker F:Yeah?
Speaker A:We must flee before it's too late.
Speaker A:Yeah, we do too, before they consume us all.
Speaker F:We gotta get up this mountain and we gotta fuck this guy up.
Speaker F:Then we leave.
Speaker A:That moment, you hear a great laughing scream echoing from above you, perhaps coming from the summit of El Pinon.
Speaker A:It's hoarse intensity.
Speaker A:It speaks of a man in the clutches of a mad delirium.
Speaker A:It's made so much more clearer now by your proximity to shifts between agony and bubbling sick, sick laughter mingling with reverberations from the relentless drums of a scene.
Speaker A:Piel.
Speaker E:Yeah, that would be the one.
Speaker F:You gotta get us up there, Zarzemora.
Speaker D:Our lives are on the line.
Speaker F:You said you know a piece path.
Speaker F:No, we got to get.
Speaker F:We got to get up there.
Speaker A:We must leave.
Speaker A:I can take you around the village and we can go back to.
Speaker F:It's bigger than this village, bud.
Speaker F:It's.
Speaker F:It's bigger than I know it doesn't seem like it, but this is huge.
Speaker F:We have got to get up there.
Speaker F:We can put an end to this.
Speaker A:Roll your persuade, please.
Speaker F:It's huge.55 crit fail.
Speaker A:He ignores you completely and turns to look down at the village, which again, its undulating crowds are holding their hands up in the air at various intervals, covering themselves in gore that flies down upon them.
Speaker E:Zar Zamora.
Speaker E:We gotta move now, okay?
Speaker E:We're gonna keep you safe.
Speaker E:We get through this.
Speaker E:All the tequila you could ever drink.
Speaker A:I need to roll his sanity.
Speaker E:We just gotta move now.
Speaker B:Oh, damn.
Speaker B:Hey, does a satphone work if you're running and trying to talk at the same time?
Speaker A:You go ahead and.
Speaker A:As they're talking to Zar Zamora, bring up your sat phone, go ahead and roll your sigint, please.
Speaker A:Or intelligence, whichever is higher.
Speaker B:Dang, I don't even have sigint.
Speaker A:Okay, you do.
Speaker A:You have to.
Speaker A:That's like your main thing.
Speaker A:How do you not have that?
Speaker B:You tell me.
Speaker A:You're.
Speaker A:You're an imagery analyst.
Speaker A:We need to fix that.
Speaker A:You have sigint.
Speaker A:Go ahead and roll your intelligence for now.
Speaker B:Haven't done that in a while.
Speaker B:Here we go.
Speaker B:It says I'm a genius.
Speaker B:I shouldn't have said that out loud.
Speaker A:Hey, yeah, that was a mistake.
Speaker A:You almost got a 100 success.
Speaker A:All right, you start to activate the phone.
Speaker A:It's got plenty of battery power, of course.
Speaker A:You've been making sure you charge everything every night, but it can't find signal.
Speaker A:Your brow starts to sweat more profusely under the sun.
Speaker A:Because that shouldn't be possible.
Speaker A:Unless there's some malfunction with the equipment.
Speaker B:The hell.
Speaker B:This shouldn't be happening.
Speaker B:It's not working.
Speaker F:What's going on?
Speaker B:There's no signal.
Speaker B:This doesn't make any sense.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:It's good to go.
Speaker B:Look past the phone.
Speaker F:What am I looking at?
Speaker B:What?
Speaker F:Listen, look, this doesn't matter right now.
Speaker F:We gotta get the fuck up there.
Speaker B:This all matters.
Speaker A:Zar.
Speaker A:Syl Mora is staring down at the village, his fingers up at his lips as they shake uncontrollably.
Speaker E:Frankfurt steps in front of Zarzemora, puts himself between Zarzemora and village, so he can't see that.
Speaker A:He looks up at you, grabs him.
Speaker E:By the shoulders, like, I'm gonna turn you around.
Speaker E:Zarzemora.
Speaker E:We gotta move now.
Speaker E:Let's go.
Speaker B:Forest gets on the other side of Zarzemora and Frankfurt, and she kind of grabs him by his sleeve of his shoulder to sort of pull him along.
Speaker B:Get him moving.
Speaker B:Let's go.
Speaker B:Come on.
Speaker D:And I'll grab Frank.
Speaker A:Frank is down below in the village.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's our son.
Speaker A:Didn't bring Frank.
Speaker A:I thought about it, but I don't think he'd be in the right mindset to do it.
Speaker F:Our burrow is a burrito.
Speaker E:Frankfurt just throws Zar Zamora back to the village.
Speaker A:Fuck you, Zarzamora.
Speaker A:You left Frank behind you, Dick.
Speaker A:As you push Zarzamora away, he's silent, his eyes wide.
Speaker A:But they dart from from both forest to Frankfort.
Speaker A:Back and forth.
Speaker A:As you're pushing him towards the shrine, towards the base of Elpinon, you do all take notice that the unruly bedlam grows worse.
Speaker A:Members of the crowd are collecting fallen pieces of what's fallen upon them.
Speaker A:Fliers, the flares.
Speaker A:You see them raising these tidbits up in adoration to some unseen watcher.
Speaker A:Zar Zamora throws down his heavy pack and he looks at you, forest.
Speaker A:He looks at you, Frankfurt, who has the lower persuade force.
Speaker A:Roll your persuade plus 20%.
Speaker B:Oh, I missed that.
Speaker A:But no, it's okay.
Speaker B:Success.
Speaker A:Very well.
Speaker A:If you insist on this, on this perilous path, then I will guide you, if only to get away from the madness.
Speaker A:He looks back down at the village and then quickly turns back away and looks at you, Frankfurt.
Speaker A:Now I can see.
Speaker A:I can see he stares up at the face of the cliff.
Speaker A:Right here above the shrine.
Speaker A:You were just standing for maybe an hour, maybe more.
Speaker A:I can see they.
Speaker A:They have planted many false trails.
Speaker A:He begins to come out of whatever half drunk, half terrorized emotional state he was just in.
Speaker A:And the expert guide, perhaps his default personality, takes over.
Speaker A:I can see they've planted many false trails here.
Speaker A:Look at them upon the cliff face here.
Speaker A:To distract the unwary, to become death traps for those who they have not allowed to pass.
Speaker A:The villagers have truly ensured that the.
Speaker C:Secrets of the summit are not easily revealed.
Speaker A:The price of knowledge may be more than you are willing to pay.
Speaker A:He turns back towards you when he says this.
Speaker A:But I will do my best if you are convinced that something up there can stop this horrible sickness.
Speaker A:Still, I fear what might await us.
Speaker D:Well, nothing can stop the great Zozumora.
Speaker A:He doesn't smile or laugh.
Speaker A:He just nods sagely to himself when you say this.
Speaker D:Dang, we're no longer friends.
Speaker A:He bends down, opens up the heavy rucksack.
Speaker A:He pulls out crampons, pulls out carabiners, belay ropes, repelling ropes, two harnesses.
Speaker A:Let's move quickly.
Speaker A:I will guide us to the top of El Penon.
Speaker F:As he's turning to do that, Faith puts his arm on his shoulder and says, hey, thanks, buddy.
Speaker A:Sam.
Speaker D:Sa.
