Latest / Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama / Episode 37 (S3E37)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Hey all, this is Sarah from Creative Typos Proud of
- 0:02Speaker 1: the Oathbreaker, and you're listening to Tale of the Manticore.
- 0:08Speaker 2: The following podcast is intended for a mature audience. Listener
- 0:13Speaker 2: discretion is advised. Welcome back to Tale of the Manticor
- 0:30Speaker 2: Season three. Like the creature from which it takes its name,
- 0:34Speaker 2: Tale of the Manticor is a mashup, a cross breeding
- 0:37Speaker 2: between two different species of storytelling. Here you will find
- 0:41Speaker 2: the unpredictability of old school paper and dice games with
- 0:45Speaker 2: the story craft of a dark fantasy novel. No character
- 0:49Speaker 2: is sacred and none will be spared if the dice
- 0:51Speaker 2: decide their fate is at hand. According to lore, the
- 0:56Speaker 2: Tale of a Manticre is barbed with cruel iron spikes.
- 1:01Speaker 2: There will be much pain in the days ahead. Last
- 1:13Speaker 2: time on Tail of the Mantigor, in the last chapter,
- 1:16Speaker 2: Faerwin starts to believe that he and his companions have
- 1:19Speaker 2: crossed a kind of boundary and entered a land where
- 1:22Speaker 2: magic is stronger and more chaotic. But it isn't creature
- 1:25Speaker 2: of magic that threatens the party as they make their
- 1:28Speaker 2: way ostensibly towards the home of odok Zygog Tantyr's life
- 1:32Speaker 2: is placed in jeopardy when he eats one of the
- 1:34Speaker 2: mushrooms given them by the Dryad. He had thought they
- 1:38Speaker 2: carried a handful of harmless and nourishing hedgehog mushrooms, but
- 1:41Speaker 2: unfortunately for him, they turned out to be Fool's funnel,
- 1:44Speaker 2: a fungus that resembles the benign kind superficially but is
- 1:48Speaker 2: actually deadly if ingested. Fortune favors the Elf, however, for
- 1:52Speaker 2: he is able to split the mushroom out before its
- 1:55Speaker 2: poison can enter his system. In the end, he suffers
- 1:58Speaker 2: nothing worse than a stomach ache. During the following day's travel,
- 2:02Speaker 2: the companions emerge from a hilly forest and get a
- 2:04Speaker 2: clear view of the mountains to the north. Moreover, Achillier
- 2:08Speaker 2: realizes that she recognizes the vista from Odoke's sketchbook, so
- 2:13Speaker 2: now they are certain the reclusive historian and presumably the
- 2:17Speaker 2: end of their quest, are not far off. Chapter thirty seven,
- 2:27Speaker 2: Part one, Day thirty three, two and a half days
- 2:32Speaker 2: from their destination. Evening mythic of ed meaning develop intrigues,
- 2:41Speaker 2: party status Achillee thirteen of thirteen hit points, Court eighteen
- 2:48Speaker 2: of eighteen. De Renni sixteen of sixteen, ten Tier nineteen
- 2:56Speaker 2: of nineteen, Fairwind twenty six of twenty six, Flicker fourteen
- 3:03Speaker 2: of sixteen supplies. The companions have eight portions of food
- 3:09Speaker 2: remaining spells available. Achille can cast enlarge message, glitter dust
- 3:17Speaker 2: and detect evil. Cord can cast entangle and slow poison.
- 3:24Speaker 2: Fair Wind can cast cure led wounds and protection from evil.
- 3:34Speaker 2: The miles fell away under the companion's steady feet as
- 3:37Speaker 2: they cut east, keeping the mountains to their left. As
- 3:41Speaker 2: the hours passed, the sun disappeared behind them, and twilight
- 3:44Speaker 2: came on, turning the lofty peaks a dusty purple color.
- 3:49Speaker 2: The moon above was a mere sliver, not even a
- 3:51Speaker 2: quarter fall, so when they discovered a large fur with
- 3:55Speaker 2: room beneath its branches for all, the party stopped for
- 3:58Speaker 2: the night. After arranging the bedrolls in his fragrant bower,
- 4:02Speaker 2: the companions drifted off to sleep one by one, with
- 4:05Speaker 2: Cord and Robin sitting outside holding silent counsel. Together, vivid
- 4:10Speaker 2: dreams visited each member of the party, and had anyone
- 4:13Speaker 2: been awake there to witness it, that would have seen
- 4:15Speaker 2: them tossing and turning in their sleep, even Flicker dreamed
- 4:19Speaker 2: with her paws running in place as she laid on
- 4:21Speaker 2: her side. Once or twice, Duranni moaned aloud. He was
- 4:25Speaker 2: having a more intense version of the same dream it
- 4:29Speaker 2: had the night before, and this was no mere fabrication
- 4:32Speaker 2: of his imagination, but a real memory, a haunting one
- 4:35Speaker 2: playing out in real time. Dramatis personae. De Rennie ten
- 4:45Speaker 2: years ago. One minute he had been lifting chests, listening
- 4:52Speaker 2: to Erlyn counting iron ingots, and the next he was
- 4:55Speaker 2: running for his life. Or Creators had smashed open the
- 4:59Speaker 2: doors of the dwarfing trading posts, bellowing in bloodlust and
- 5:02Speaker 2: swinging axes, maces and swords. Poor Ardor, the gentle dwarf
- 5:08Speaker 2: who had once confided in De Rennie that he would
- 5:10Speaker 2: rather have become a builder than a trader, was the
- 5:12Speaker 2: first to die, his skull split in two by an
- 5:16Speaker 2: Orcish blade. Three other dwarfs and one Elf had been
- 5:19Speaker 2: cut down before even a basic defense could be organized.
- 5:23Speaker 2: Kivish and Ashleet had been cut down in fountains of
- 5:26Speaker 2: bright Crimson poor Rolyn had taken the spear in the eye.
- 5:31Speaker 2: Now they were outnumbered two to one, and the only option.
- 5:35Speaker 1: Was run make for the trees.
- 5:38Speaker 2: The Old Crow's voice rang out in Elvish, and by instinct,
- 5:42Speaker 2: Derrenni and the three others who were still alive obeyed.
- 5:45Speaker 2: The dwarves did not join them, but stood their ground.
- 5:49Speaker 2: Derenni knew that, with their proud race, to die in combat,
- 5:52Speaker 2: especially when greatly outnumbered, was considered desirable. Not so were
- 5:57Speaker 2: the elves, who valued their skins above their legacies, including
- 6:01Speaker 2: the Old Crow and Doretti. Five elves broke free of
- 6:04Speaker 2: the trader's hut and sprinted for the tree line. The
- 6:08Speaker 2: Orcs were not long and taking up pursuit. It took
- 6:11Speaker 2: mere moments for them to butcher the meager Dargan resistance,
- 6:14Speaker 2: and then they gave chase. Dorani's heartbeat banged in his
- 6:18Speaker 2: ear drums as he raced to the tree line and
- 6:21Speaker 2: then beyond. Whereas they had been laboring all day long,
- 6:25Speaker 2: the Orcs were fresh, and soon the whooping calls of
- 6:28Speaker 2: their enemy could be heard, getting louder by the second.
- 6:33Speaker 2: That's why, when they reached a small clearing, the old
- 6:36Speaker 2: Crow called a halt. Though winded, he managed to get
- 6:40Speaker 2: out a breathless command, You.
- 6:42Speaker 1: And the others go ahead, I'll stay and delay them.
- 6:46Speaker 2: Deranni hesitated, shaking his head no. Using the Old Crow's
- 6:50Speaker 2: real name, he gasped.
- 6:51Speaker 1: I'm not going to leave you to fight them alone, Rayma.
- 6:55Speaker 2: The old Crow rounded on him with intensity, and I'm
- 6:58Speaker 2: not asking now go. Don't you make this beef nothing.
- 7:03Speaker 2: Derenni was compelled. He sped off after his fellows, who
- 7:06Speaker 2: had not waited. Hours later, exhausted, de Rennie arrived home.
- 7:12Speaker 2: The arrival of his fellows had already stirred up a
- 7:14Speaker 2: commotion in the settlement, but the Orcs did not follow.
- 7:18Speaker 2: He and the others were safe. The Old Crow, however,
- 7:23Speaker 2: would never be seen again. That new detail in Dernni's
- 7:30Speaker 2: backstory is my attempt to use the event meaning develop intrigues.
- 7:35Speaker 2: Deranni's memory of the escape from the Orcs at the
- 7:38Speaker 2: trader's Hut is a source of guilt, because ever since
- 7:40Speaker 2: that day he has wondered if he should have disobeyed
- 7:43Speaker 2: the Old Crow and stayed to fight beside him. Perhaps
- 7:46Speaker 2: if he had, they both might be alive now. While
- 7:50Speaker 2: not precisely an intrigue, I think the idea of Durnni
- 7:53Speaker 2: questioning his decision gets the job done, if obliquely so,
- 7:57Speaker 2: I guess I need a new pair of words from
- 7:58Speaker 2: the Mythic Tables using deep percentile fifty two and forty one.
- 8:06Speaker 2: Those roles give me adjourn advice adjourn. I'm going to
- 8:10Speaker 2: be honest. I had to look up this word to
- 8:12Speaker 2: be really sure it meant where I thought it didn't.
- 8:16Speaker 2: I thought it would indicate to end or terminate, as
- 8:20Speaker 2: in meeting adjourned, But the dictionary says it actually means
- 8:24Speaker 2: to put off until later or postpone postpone advice. HM,
- 8:29Speaker 2: no idea is coming to mind, but I'm sure it'll
- 8:31Speaker 2: make sense when the time is right. While I have
- 8:34Speaker 2: the story on pause, I'm also going to do hex
- 8:36Speaker 2: crawl rolls for day thirty four. A quick note to
- 8:39Speaker 2: say that even though I will begin the next section
- 8:41Speaker 2: of the story in the morning, I'll update the spells
- 8:43Speaker 2: available list in advance, both for those that will be
- 8:46Speaker 2: newly memorized and for those I anticipate will be used
- 8:49Speaker 2: later in the day, namely chords, spells of looking plants
- 8:52Speaker 2: and animals, and create water. With that said, we're ready
- 8:56Speaker 2: to begin for weather and eighteen. The day is slightly
- 9:00Speaker 2: overcast and cool, even better for traveling than it has
- 9:03Speaker 2: been of late stumble upon. The four means no result
- 9:09Speaker 2: forging with courts help two. These lands seem to be
- 9:13Speaker 2: quite bountiful, judging by recent forging roles. I'll figure out
- 9:17Speaker 2: exactly what this looks like in the narrative. But before
- 9:19Speaker 2: I do that, there's a wandering encounter role to make.
- 9:22Speaker 2: Hoping for a low roll here, Nope, I got a five.
- 9:26Speaker 2: So there will be an encounter. Maybe with some luck,
- 9:30Speaker 2: it'll be another sketchbook encounter, will it? I see Judge
- 9:41Speaker 2: thirty seven, Part two, Day thirty four, one and a
- 9:46Speaker 2: half days from their destination early morning mythic event meaning
- 9:52Speaker 2: adjourned advice party status Achillia thirteen of thirteen, hit points
- 10:00Speaker 2: eighteen of eighteen, de Rennie sixteen of sixteen, ten Tier
- 10:07Speaker 2: nineteen of nineteen, fair Wind twenty six of twenty six,
- 10:13Speaker 2: Flicker fifteen of sixteen. After receiving one point of natural
- 10:17Speaker 2: healing supplies, the companions have eight portions of food remaining
- 10:23Speaker 2: Spells available. Achille can cast in large message, glitter dust
- 10:29Speaker 2: and detect evil. Cord can cast entangle and slow poison.
- 10:36Speaker 2: Fair Wind can cast cure late wounds and protection from evil.
- 10:46Speaker 2: What what? What is the matter?
- 10:49Speaker 1: You were moaning in your sleep and crying out, de Rennie,
- 10:52Speaker 1: your face was all screwed up too.
- 10:54Speaker 2: Like this, Achillie contorted her face into an exaggerated copy
- 10:58Speaker 2: of the distress she'd seen on the else. Dernie sat
- 11:01Speaker 2: up and ran his fingers through his hair, which he
- 11:03Speaker 2: found to be damp with cold sweat. He rubbed his eyes.
- 11:07Speaker 1: I heard a very intense dream.
- 11:11Speaker 2: That that is all.
- 11:14Speaker 1: We all had strange dreams, just like last night. I
- 11:17Speaker 1: think Fairwind is right. There's something different about these.
- 11:20Speaker 2: Lands, something that hadn't ever occurred to her intruded on
- 11:24Speaker 2: Achille's thoughts. At that moment, She turned to Courd.
- 11:28Speaker 1: I suppose you've never had a dream before, have you?
- 11:31Speaker 2: She asked? The construct twisted back and forth to indicate
- 11:35Speaker 2: that he had not.
- 11:36Speaker 1: No, of course you wouldn't have. You don't sleep, but
- 11:39Speaker 1: it must seem a very strange thing. Then, to hear
- 11:42Speaker 1: us talking about ours, the side.
- 11:45Speaker 2: To side motion served as a shrug.
- 11:47Speaker 1: I wonder what you dream about, if you could.
- 11:50Speaker 2: She trailed off, suddenly noticing.
- 11:52Speaker 1: Something cord come closer, the.
- 11:55Speaker 2: Pink flower that Derni had received from the dry head
- 11:58Speaker 2: and had in turn given to the contr seemed now
- 12:01Speaker 2: to be attached to his barkie chest. Achillea pointed it out, adding.
- 12:06Speaker 1: And I'm positive that you're taller than when we started out.
- 12:09Speaker 2: Even Fairwood, who had known Cord for the shortest amount
- 12:12Speaker 2: of time out of all of the companions, was aware
- 12:15Speaker 2: that Cord had been going through changes, changes that showed
- 12:18Speaker 2: no sign of stopping. I know I have a wandering
- 12:25Speaker 2: encounter to figure out, but before I do that, I
- 12:28Speaker 2: need to take Chord through the level up process. Because
- 12:30Speaker 2: today he reaches the level five, he'll get a D
- 12:33Speaker 2: six of new hip points rolling for that six. Wow,
- 12:38Speaker 2: eighteen goes to twenty four. This is a good level
- 12:41Speaker 2: up already. Next, a quick check with the books to
- 12:44Speaker 2: see if anything special happens for a druid at fifth level. Okay,
- 12:50Speaker 2: so there's good news and bad news. The bad news
- 12:53Speaker 2: is that no special ability is unlocked at this stage,
- 12:56Speaker 2: though Court's connection with Robin will continue to develop, and
- 12:59Speaker 2: you know, I think going forward this improvement will get
- 13:02Speaker 2: passed on to the bird. The very good news is
- 13:05Speaker 2: that level five blows open a Druid's ability to cast
- 13:09Speaker 2: spells now in addition to Cord's two first and two
- 13:12Speaker 2: second level spells. He will be able to cast one
- 13:15Speaker 2: a third and one a fourth. Since these are inate
- 13:18Speaker 2: abilities and not spells or prayers, I'll rule that he
- 13:21Speaker 2: gets access to these right away. Like before, I'm rolling
- 13:25Speaker 2: at random to see what they'll be. For his third
- 13:27Speaker 2: level spell like power, Cord will get a three. Is
- 13:32Speaker 2: hold Animal fantastic? It takes no imagination to see how
- 13:36Speaker 2: that might be useful. Now for the fourth level spell liability,
- 13:40Speaker 2: it's going to be a four. Gives me speak with Plants.
- 13:45Speaker 2: I mean, it's perfect. The dice gods continue to thrill
- 13:48Speaker 2: and delight. A quick look at these spell descriptions tell
- 13:51Speaker 2: me that hold Animal can work on multiple animals and
- 13:54Speaker 2: can affect giant animals too. Speak with Plants could be
- 13:58Speaker 2: used to gather information, can clear a path, and it
- 14:01Speaker 2: can be used on plant based monsters. HM, isn't that interesting?
- 14:13Speaker 2: Chapter thirty seven, Part three, Day thirty four, one day
- 14:20Speaker 2: from their destination afternoon mythic event meaning adjourn advice party status.
- 14:30Speaker 2: The party status is unchanged, with the exception of Cord,
- 14:33Speaker 2: who may now also cast old Animal and speak with Plants.
- 14:38Speaker 2: Acid points have increased to twenty four out of twenty four.
- 14:46Speaker 2: This day was a little unusual in that Robin, who
- 14:49Speaker 2: typically spend every single hour perched on Cord's head or shoulder,
- 14:53Speaker 2: flew on ahead. Every so often he would return, pipe
- 14:57Speaker 2: something into the wooden man's painted ear, and then fly
- 15:00Speaker 2: off again. The companions were walking in single file, with
- 15:04Speaker 2: Tentier a little ways ahead scouting. He was followed by
- 15:08Speaker 2: do Renni, then court with fair Wind, Flicker and Achillie
- 15:12Speaker 2: in the rear. The half elf and the cleric of
- 15:14Speaker 2: Sadal were discussing their dreams and exchanging theories about the
- 15:18Speaker 2: nature of the region they currently traversed. This drew ireful
- 15:21Speaker 2: glances from Dorrenni, who preferred to walk in silence and
- 15:24Speaker 2: had been irritable all day because of his own dreams.
- 15:27Speaker 2: You prey too much, Achillie had said, at one point,
- 15:30Speaker 2: catching a look, Dornni had scowled, and she had laughed,
- 15:34Speaker 2: which made Flicker bark excitedly in a nearby woods. The
- 15:44Speaker 2: distant sound of a dog barking caused a sleek black
- 15:47Speaker 2: feline shape to tents ears lifted a low growl started
- 15:50Speaker 2: in the back of its velvet black throat. After rolling
- 16:02Speaker 2: for a wandering encounter and determining that there would be one.
- 16:05Speaker 2: I then rolled on a subtable to see what kind
- 16:07Speaker 2: it would be. It was not as I'd hoped, another
- 16:11Speaker 2: sketchbook encounter. Instead, I got a five, which indicated exotic, dangerous.
- 16:17Speaker 2: For that, I needed to make a sub sub table
- 16:20Speaker 2: with about six options. It took me forever to find
- 16:23Speaker 2: six good candidates, which came as a surprise. I thought
- 16:27Speaker 2: it'd be easy, but as I looked through the Basic,
- 16:29Speaker 2: then the Expert rules, and then the Monster Manual one,
- 16:33Speaker 2: Fiend Folio, and Monster Manual two, I came across very
- 16:36Speaker 2: few candidates that would work. In the end, I came
- 16:40Speaker 2: up with the following potential monster encounters. On a one,
- 16:43Speaker 2: there would be two owl bears, on a two to
- 16:46Speaker 2: one displacer beast on a three, one or more evil
- 16:50Speaker 2: tree monster or whatever that might end up being on
- 16:53Speaker 2: a four, a hydra, on a five two etter caps,
- 16:57Speaker 2: and on a six two or three needle men. I
- 17:01Speaker 2: probably don't need to tell you what I rolled. In
- 17:07Speaker 2: the afternoon, right after Robin returned from one of his trips,
- 17:11Speaker 2: Cord called a halt. He pointed first to a woods
- 17:14Speaker 2: a mile or so distant and slightly off course, then
- 17:17Speaker 2: to the spot on his abdomen, where his stomach would
- 17:20Speaker 2: be if he'd possessed one. The others took his meaning
- 17:23Speaker 2: and adjusted their march in the direction of the woods.
- 17:26Speaker 2: As they came closer, they could see that it was
- 17:29Speaker 2: dense with growth ferns, bushes, maples, and further in sumac
- 17:35Speaker 2: with its easily recognizable fuzzy red berries. These berries were
- 17:39Speaker 2: edible and had a tangy, lemony flavor. Ten Tier predictably
- 17:44Speaker 2: did not partake of the sumac berries and instead miserably
- 17:47Speaker 2: crunched on dry massa bell. The elven food made of
- 17:51Speaker 2: moss and algae had a fairly bland flavor, and ten
- 17:54Speaker 2: Tier did not dislike it. All the same, He felt
- 17:57Speaker 2: depressed once again, knowing he might never taste to berries again.
- 18:01Speaker 2: Sprite's curses could not be removed, and many of them,
- 18:04Speaker 2: especially the minor ones like his, lasted forever. He stared
- 18:09Speaker 2: at his boots as he chewed. It was not a noise,
- 18:12Speaker 2: but a sudden feeling of being washed that made the
- 18:15Speaker 2: young elf lift his head and look up into the
- 18:17Speaker 2: branches of a nearby maple. When he did, he saw
- 18:20Speaker 2: a pair of bright green eyes with vertical pupils staring
- 18:25Speaker 2: back down at him, with massam bell crumbs still stuck
- 18:28Speaker 2: to his lips. He muttered, Oh no, there is a
- 18:34Speaker 2: displacer beast in the tree within pouncing distance of the party,
- 18:38Speaker 2: but it is not tend to the creature is really
- 18:40Speaker 2: intent on. This kind of monster, which is essentially a
- 18:44Speaker 2: large black panther with six legs and a pair of
- 18:46Speaker 2: barbed tentacles growing from its shoulders, hates blink dogs. The
- 18:51Speaker 2: expert rules specifically says they will quote always attack them
- 18:55Speaker 2: and anyone traveling with them unquote, so uh, no need
- 18:59Speaker 2: for a reaction role. In other words, other than being
- 19:03Speaker 2: tough and deadly, displacer beasts also have a special ability.
- 19:06Speaker 2: They always appear three feet from their actual position, which
- 19:10Speaker 2: makes them hard to hit. Mechanically, this is represented by
- 19:13Speaker 2: subtracting two from any two hit roles made against them.
- 19:16Speaker 2: The displacement ability also gives the creature a plus two
- 19:19Speaker 2: on all saving throws. Statwise, displacer beasts have an armor
- 19:24Speaker 2: class of sixteen, Their tentacles each two two to eight
- 19:27Speaker 2: points of damage on a hit, and they have six
- 19:29Speaker 2: hit dice. This particular one has thirty hit points, which
- 19:34Speaker 2: is above the min out of twenty four so it's
- 19:37Speaker 2: a pretty big one. Additionally, even though the rules don't
- 19:40Speaker 2: give it any special ability to stock and ambush prey,
- 19:43Speaker 2: I think it should have this ability, so I will
- 19:45Speaker 2: rule that in this encounter, the party can be surprised,
- 19:48Speaker 2: but the monster cannot. Here's the role for surprise. Yikes,
- 19:53Speaker 2: I got a one, So the party is caught off
- 19:56Speaker 2: guard and the monster will get one free attack as
- 19:59Speaker 2: combat begins and during combat. Round one surprise round with
- 20:13Speaker 2: a hiss, the Displacer Beast launches itself a flicker. It
- 20:16Speaker 2: gets two attacks with its tentacles and needs an eleven
- 20:19Speaker 2: to hit the Blink Dog's armor class of fifteen. Here
- 20:22Speaker 2: come the rolls. An eighteen and a nine means one
- 20:26Speaker 2: of those tentacles does connect, doing five points of damage
- 20:31Speaker 2: from its barbed pad that rips a bloody path along
- 20:34Speaker 2: Flicker's haunch. The blink Dog yelps in surprise, then surges forward,
- 20:38Speaker 2: barking with savage ferocity as its enemy prepares to pounce again.
- 20:43Speaker 2: Round two initiative the party a three, the Displacer Beasts
- 20:50Speaker 2: a two. While caught flat footed, the party member's instincts
- 20:54Speaker 2: take over and their weapons are out in a flash.
- 20:57Speaker 2: Flicker is the first to attack, blinking away and then
- 21:00Speaker 2: right behind the Displacer Beast jet The sixteen is required
- 21:04Speaker 2: to hit, but an eleven is not enough. He was
- 21:07Speaker 2: not reflecturate expected it to be, and in fact, its
- 21:10Speaker 2: position seems to shift and swim in front of everyone's
- 21:13Speaker 2: eyes as a thing which was about it. Next up
- 21:16Speaker 2: is ten Tire, who's the first to see the monster.
- 21:18Speaker 2: He strikes with the sword of leir Haane, needing a
- 21:20Speaker 2: fifteen to hit a fifteen, connects and does four points
- 21:25Speaker 2: of damage. The Displacer Beast's blood is almost invisible against
- 21:30Speaker 2: its glossy black fur. During He is next, needing a
- 21:34Speaker 2: sixteen to hit a four. The ELF's sword carves through
- 21:38Speaker 2: the air fully two feet to the left of the
- 21:40Speaker 2: creature's actual position. Its course turn boom natural twenty Court
- 21:47Speaker 2: is figured out the monster's special defense. He aims for
- 21:50Speaker 2: the spot next to where he thinks it should be
- 21:53Speaker 2: and cleaves the monster four twelve points of damage. This
- 21:58Speaker 2: brings the Displacer Beasts down to just fourteen hit points,
- 22:01Speaker 2: less than half its maximum. It'll have to pass a
- 22:04Speaker 2: morale check to stay in this fight. But before we
- 22:06Speaker 2: get to that, fair Wind is up Unlike Court, the
- 22:09Speaker 2: cleric is baffled by the monster's dissolving after images. He'll
- 22:13Speaker 2: need an eighteen to hit with his cudgel A ten.
- 22:16Speaker 2: Missus Achille pulls out her dagger, waiting for the right
- 22:20Speaker 2: moment to throw it, but the melee is too thick
- 22:22Speaker 2: with allies for her to find a clear shot. She
- 22:25Speaker 2: holds her action. Now it's the displacer Beast's turn. Unfortunately
- 22:29Speaker 2: for it and fortunately for the PCs, it lost the initiative,
- 22:33Speaker 2: meaning Flicker is able to blink away before it can counterattack,
- 22:38Speaker 2: worse or better depending on your perspective. It must also
- 22:42Speaker 2: make a morale check. The rules assign this monster a
- 22:44Speaker 2: morale of eight, so on two six, a nine or
- 22:47Speaker 2: better means it will flee. I got a seven, so
- 22:50Speaker 2: it will stay and fight now. Even though I think
- 22:53Speaker 2: it's the hatred of blink dogs that keeps it here,
- 22:55Speaker 2: I still think there's a chance this monster will change targets.
- 22:59Speaker 2: A one to two on D six means it will
- 23:01Speaker 2: the roll A one. It does, the new target will
- 23:05Speaker 2: be fair wind an odd choice, but we'll chalk it up.
- 23:09Speaker 2: Do the hat a battle. It is round three initiative.
- 23:14Speaker 2: The party one the Displacer Beast A six fair wind
- 23:19Speaker 2: is standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.
- 23:21Speaker 2: Both of the creature's tentacles whip out, and they only
- 23:24Speaker 2: eight A six to hit his terrible ac of ten.
- 23:28Speaker 2: Here come the rolls, A seventeen and a nine, predictably
- 23:32Speaker 2: both hit, ripping across the clerics more or less exposed
- 23:36Speaker 2: flesh four a total of nine points four. It's the
- 23:42Speaker 2: pieces turned to fight back with luck to get in
- 23:44Speaker 2: the fight. This round, Flicker blinks in and strikes low,
- 23:49Speaker 2: going for one of the enemy's six powerful legs, but
- 23:52Speaker 2: a five misses ten tier is next an eleven No good.
- 23:58Speaker 2: Can Durni connect this time? He needs sixteen? A twelve
- 24:02Speaker 2: means he cannot. The displacer Beast moves in such a
- 24:05Speaker 2: way as to take full advantage of its special ability.
- 24:08Speaker 2: It faints left and right, leaving a fading residual onion
- 24:11Speaker 2: skin image behind. Cord picked out the pattern last round.
- 24:15Speaker 2: Can you do it again? At nineteen, Cord, you are
- 24:19Speaker 2: truly my hero. His axe will do just three points
- 24:23Speaker 2: of damage, but the forest floor is now wet with
- 24:26Speaker 2: displacer beast blood. It has just eleven hit points remaining
- 24:35Speaker 2: fair one strikes. A twelve is not enough a Killia,
- 24:39Speaker 2: unable to find an opportunity to throw her knife, dashes
- 24:42Speaker 2: in to try to stab the beast. She'll need an
- 24:44Speaker 2: eighteen to hit it. A nine is a miss. Well,
- 24:48Speaker 2: so much for ending the fight this round. We move
- 24:50Speaker 2: on to round four. Initiative the party, the six, the
- 24:56Speaker 2: displacer beast A six. Everyone clashes all at once. Will
- 25:01Speaker 2: the monster change targets this round? A two, Yes it will.
- 25:05Speaker 2: Who will it be? Ah? That makes sense. Recognizing the
- 25:09Speaker 2: greatest threat to its survival, the muscular catlike monster coils
- 25:12Speaker 2: and springs at Cord an eight and a thirteen. That's
- 25:16Speaker 2: one hit. Cord takes six points of damage as a
- 25:20Speaker 2: barbed tentacle slashes across his barki front. The wooden construct
- 25:26Speaker 2: retaliates a six. He was not expecting the sudden assault,
- 25:30Speaker 2: and the best he can do with his axe is
- 25:32Speaker 2: to deflect one of the incoming tentacles. Flicker blinks in
- 25:36Speaker 2: and goes for the monster's throat. A sixteen just hits
- 25:40Speaker 2: damages four points. A brutal strike, but content your land
- 25:46Speaker 2: another blow He'll certainly try. A nine misses. Durnni is
- 25:51Speaker 2: up Boom natural twenty. Wow, that is two in one fight,
- 25:56Speaker 2: and I see there's no need to roll damage. With
- 25:59Speaker 2: just seven hit points left, even a roll of one
- 26:01Speaker 2: will kill it because of the crid. This time, Danni
- 26:05Speaker 2: takes a second to study the creature's movements. He notices
- 26:08Speaker 2: that its blood is not dripping from where the monster
- 26:10Speaker 2: appears to be, so he aims his blade for the
- 26:12Speaker 2: space to its right and above the blood half. There's
- 26:18Speaker 2: a satisfying crunch as the tip of the sword pierces
- 26:20Speaker 2: the monster's throat, emitted a throaty gargle. The monster convulses
- 26:25Speaker 2: and drops to the ground dead. Thanks for listening to
- 26:33Speaker 2: Tale of the manticor if you'd like to support the show,
- 26:36Speaker 2: there are many ways to help. You can recommend it
- 26:38Speaker 2: online or to friends. You can like Edery posts episode
- 26:41Speaker 2: announcements on social media. You can pick up a Tale
- 26:44Speaker 2: of the manticor T shirt at Bare Arts dot store
- 26:47Speaker 2: or one of my offerings on drive through RPG. Rating
- 26:50Speaker 2: and reviewing the show on your favorite podcatcher is always
- 26:52Speaker 2: helpful too. Thanks to my awesome listeners for their continued support.
- 26:57Speaker 2: Speaking of awesome listeners, at this time, i'd like to
- 27:00Speaker 2: read a listener review This one is from Matt on Audible.
- 27:04Speaker 2: Matt writes, I discovered this podcast through an interview with
- 27:07Speaker 2: the creator. I must say I'm even more impressed with
- 27:10Speaker 2: and addicted to this story than I could have expected.
- 27:12Speaker 2: This is such an original concept. I highly recommend this,
- 27:16Speaker 2: especially for old school gamers and fantasy geeks. Thanks very much, Matt.
- 27:21Speaker 2: Reviews like this really do mean the world to me.
- 27:24Speaker 2: I'm so glad that you discovered the show and that
- 27:26Speaker 2: you're enjoying it. I really appreciated that you took the
- 27:28Speaker 2: time to write a review too. Cheers to all old
- 27:31Speaker 2: school gamers and fantasy geeks everywhere. Cheers are also due
- 27:36Speaker 2: to my cast of voice actors. Today it's Kylin and
- 27:39Speaker 2: Kevin Barringer giving us Derenni and Tentier, and these two
- 27:42Speaker 2: fine actors are joined by Chris Oldcrowe Atkinson in the
- 27:45Speaker 2: role of Well in the role of the Old Crow.
- 27:48Speaker 2: Thanks very much, Kylin, Kevin and Chris. For those curious
- 27:52Speaker 2: to learn more about Tale of the Madicor, I keep
- 27:54Speaker 2: a blog where I post all kinds of show and
- 27:56Speaker 2: RPG related stuff like sketches, maps, tables, crafts, and shown up.
- 28:00Speaker 2: You can find it at Tale ofthemanticor dot com to
- 28:03Speaker 2: get in touch with me. I'm at Solo Roleplayers Network
- 28:06Speaker 2: dot com, Tale of themanticor dot Blues Guide Social, Tale
- 28:09Speaker 2: of the medicor podcast on Instagram, or Tale of themanticre
- 28:12Speaker 2: at gmail dot com. Please get in touch. I would
- 28:15Speaker 2: love to hear from you. The adventure will continue on
- 28:19Speaker 2: the next episode or Tale of the manticor It's the
- 28:21Speaker 2: story where chaos roles