[Video]

[gundhamster]

[Gundham starts the video as he sets up his phone looking out onto an empty stretch of grass as he props the phone up on a stump. He sets a large basket down as he steps back and takes a steadying breath, still not quite comfortable with such broadcasts, but making it anyway.]

So, I've been thinking long and hard about how to bring more money into my animal shelter and stable to better fund the upkeep of it, and I believe I have struck upon something.

[He crouches down and pulls what looks like a miniature pumpkin with a large D painted on its side in dark purple paint.]

I've recently gained access to plant based magic as well as curses, hexes, and the like. As such I've decided to try and combine the two and...

[He turns away from the camera and tosses the pumpkin into the clearing behind him. As it hits the ground, it explodes into a cloud of what appears to be purple mist for half a second.]

I've managed to breed a unique strain of miniature gourd with seeds that cause the gourd to burst when thrown, and placed a curse of darkness on them as well. Any caught in the cloud will have their vision darkened as if it were midnight for roughly thirty seconds.

[As he speaks he picks up another one and tosses the gourd for a similar demonstration.] I've found it an effective way to shake off pursuers, when venturing into the forests. The only requirement I am going to enforce on its purchase is some kind of proof that you are venturing into dangerous territory for a quest.

After all, I cannot simply sell such weapons to anyone.

[There's a pause before Gundham glances at something off screen, making a face as if trying to get something to do what it was told before a bear paw could be seen swing into frame before launching the phone much to Gundham's... frustration. Thankfully the phone lands and ends the feed less than a second later.]

Comments

video; un: dellacacy

[sos_pilot]

[ excited gAAAAAAAAAsp. ]

PUMPBOMBS. Those are so cool!

[gundhamster]

[Gundham blushes a bit at the praise as he tugs up his scarf in an attempt to hide.]

I hesitate to call them 'bombs.' There is no combustion after all. Even should one directly impact someone, the most they would feel is a mild pressure. I've tried to make these as safe as possible to handle. They are a defensive tool exclusively.

[sos_pilot]

Yeah, but PumpPressure doesn't sound as cool. So I'm sticking with PumpBombs. Throw another one!

[gundhamster]

[PumpBomb is much cooler...]

So long as there's no misunderstanding in their capabilities, I will not object.

[Of course his cheeks tinge just a tiny bit at the enthusiasm of that last request. And wordlessly he takes one out and tosses it into the air... when his direbear familiar slaps it out of the air and into the ground, causing the resulting cloud to be a tiny bit bigger.]

Video; UN: Roseofdawn

[beautyrest]

Are... you saying you made exploding pumpkins? [Somewhere, Cinderella is screaming.]

[gundhamster]

Not exploding, no. I used the term 'burst' because there is no combustion to it. No fire or the like. Simple pressure built up within the gourd that causes the burst when thrown. I did not wish to make a weapon, after all. This is a defensive tool that causes no lasting harm, and even the burst itself should someone be directly impacted is at most an unpleasant pressure. Nothing more.

[beautyrest]

I see, well, that certainly is less dangerous, though a very useful deterrent. [Cindy is still screaming.] And very creative and skilled of you.

[gundhamster]

My intent was to create a tool to preserve and defend rather than destroy.

[Gundham lowers his voice to almost a whisper, unaware the microphone on the phone was able to pick it up.]

There's been more than enough destruction around me for one lifetime...

[immortalmarshal]

[Color this older man interested - and he had just about given up on AOL for a few days, given certain prior posts...]

Well, well - actually useful information, plus a much needed item that's very practical in its use. I have to admit, your creation is a clever idea altogether.

[Congrats, Gundham, you actually got a Compliment out of Cor from the beginning.]

[gundhamster]

[Gundham really isn't used to even the slightest of compliments and turns a shade less pale at the very least.]

I-I thank you. It is a skill I've had to develop over the years. Learning unlikely synergies between various things that is. My work in keeping various demon beasts from going extinct is a delicate one after all, and solutions are found in the oddest of places at times.

[Even in accepting a compliment he has to be weird.]

text; un: adler

[disasdeer]

Oh. You have an animal shelter.

That's a pretty interesting use of those two magics. I can see a lot of use in it.

text

[gundhamster]

And stable, yes.

[He leaves out the part of a petting zoo because he likes that to be a surprise to anyone that happens by.]

There is definite potential beyond this specific application indeed. However I must admit to hesitating to fully explore some of those avenues. These are a purely defensive tool, designed to be ineffective as a weapon.

Other curses would not be as safe.

[disasdeer]

Ah - for horses?

Oh, yes. Dark magic was what I started with here, and it can be difficult to learn and experiment. I definitely hurt a lot of plants in practice.

[gundhamster]

Horses are all that are stabled there for now, yes. I would like to expand the variety of what is housed there eventually.

Thankfully, plants are a perfect test subject for such experimentation. Life cannot exist without consuming other life, but plants are the only form of life to not have anything resembling sentience or the ability to feel pain. They exist to provide and be consumed, and thus propagate life.

video un: konpeito_oni

[konpeito_aji]

Bombs! [Thank you Zidane. He's going to do it. He's going to breed bombs.]

[Except not quite, because these are both plants, and magical. Oda wants the monster kind for a farm!] Could they be used defensively like a moat to cover the outlying farms should war begin an invasion?

But tell me more about your animal shelter and stable. What kind of steeds do you have? And animals.

video

[gundhamster]

Defensive bursting pumpkins.

[Gundham is very insistent on the defensive part.]

There is no combustion involved, so that even if thrown directly at someone or something the most that would be felt aside from the temporary blindness is a slight pressure.

[At the proposal though Gundham considers a bit.] I believe they could. I produced these by placing a curse on the vine they grew on. Planting such a cursed vine around the borders of a field or some such would produce such gourds that would burst when stepped on.

As for my stables, at the moment I only have horses stabled here. As part of the arrangement that established this shelter and stable, I help with the care and training of steeds for Camelot's knights. The shelter itself currently houses a small family of foxes whose den was caved in, a couple owls I found injured that I am nursing back to health, and a fox separate from the other family that has seemingly adopted me. There are also a couple of goats, and likely some rabbits making their home nearby.

[Gundham is a busy man.]

video

[konpeito_aji]

Then they're really perfect for moats. [Nobunaga thinks they're too bulky for grenades okay.]

[Also awwww animals :3]

Are they shy? Not the horses, the others. You might be able to fund care and feed by showing them to people, especially children, so they can better understand how to respect and identify the animals as well. And you could try making photo prints to sell of them too.

text; un; Kyrie

[sweetsurrenders]

Congratulations on your animal shelter...I've also gained abilities with plants, and this idea of combining the two makes me wonder if I could make plants that heal when eaten...

I'm not the type to go on quests myself but I hope your idea gives you the money you need.

text

[gundhamster]

Camelot was very gracious in aiding the establishment of and funding for my project. However, I do not like being beholden to anyone, not that Camelot expects me to repay their patronage.

I am sure that if my curses can be transferred to plants, healing magic should not be that different. If you require aid in such endeavors, I would be willing to offer what assistance I am able.

video; un: wolfcountry

[impostorsyndrome]

. . . I've gotta admit that was pretty cool.

[Damn, way to combine magic into something innovative with a definite awesome factor. Even Kadoc has to give props.]

I mean the gourds, but honestly, that was a hell of a way to sign off too.

video

[gundhamster]

[Gundham looks a little exasperated as he starts up the reply, now sitting on the stump the phone had been propped up on. His direbear familiar looking more than a little pleased with itself as it lounges behind him.]

I had hoped Grinzeld would be more careful with the device. He seemed more than amicable to aiding me with such a video, but I was not expecting... that.

[impostorsyndrome]

Your familiar, huh? He's pretty talented for a bear, but I guess none of our familiars are "just" animals. . . . Glad to see it was just the phone he threw around.

[For a moment there, Kadoc hadn't been 100% sure that the bear paw didn't come from some animal living at the shelter that might have been much more dangerous to be filming around than a familiar is.]

video; un: 0123

[scension]

[Some days you're just on your phone, idly browsing videos that you think are pretty neat and creative but don't have much to say about, and then out of the blue they get punched by some kind of large animal. Wow.]

Uh, are you all right?? What happened at the end there?

video

[gundhamster]

[Gundham simply looks exasperated when he starts the reply.]

I am fine. My familiar-- [Gundham swings the camera around to show the massive direbear with glowing red left eye grinning and seemingly laughing to itself.] -- was to aid me in making my announcement. I had hoped he would show more finesse when ending the video. Instead, he simply swatted at it and left me to retrieve my phone.

[scension]

Oh, your familiar...

[Sagi looks sympathetic. Familiars can be a lot of trouble sometimes, huh?]

Well, I'm glad it's not you he swatted. ...And that he isn't representing the stable you mentioned. That would be a hard sell.