Latest / Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama / Episode 44 (S3E44)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Hi, this is Soulosdventure and you are listening to Tale
- 0:03Speaker 1: the Manticor. The following podcast is intended for a mature audience.
- 0:11Speaker 1: Listener discretion is advised. Welcome back to Tale of the
- 0:28Speaker 1: Manticor Season three. Like the creature from which it takes
- 0:33Speaker 1: its name, Tale of the Manticor is a mashup, a
- 0:36Speaker 1: cross breeding between two different species of storytelling. Here you
- 0:40Speaker 1: will find the unpredictability of old school paper and dice
- 0:43Speaker 1: games with the story craft of a dark fantasy novel.
- 0:47Speaker 1: No character is sacred, and none will be spared if
- 0:50Speaker 1: the dice decide their fate is at hand. According to lore,
- 0:55Speaker 1: the Tale of a Manticre is barbed with cruel iron spikes.
- 1:00Speaker 1: There will be much pain in the days ahead. Last
- 1:12Speaker 1: time on Tale of the Matigor, Chapter forty three opens
- 1:16Speaker 1: in a prison cell in the seclusium of odok Zygog.
- 1:20Speaker 1: The pieces are chained and weaponless, but they still have
- 1:23Speaker 1: the rest of their belongings. Some of them, court especially,
- 1:27Speaker 1: are injured when the magic Mouth appears on the cell
- 1:30Speaker 1: door and tells them to consider their folly. While they wait,
- 1:33Speaker 1: they realize there might be time to make a plan.
- 1:37Speaker 1: Several ideas are considered, but nothing really workable emerges. In
- 1:41Speaker 1: the end, they decide to rest and memorize new spells,
- 1:44Speaker 1: hoping to perform some healing magic and to find a
- 1:46Speaker 1: new opportunity in the morning. Achilia knows that the animated
- 1:50Speaker 1: suits of armor that captured them were not created by
- 1:53Speaker 1: evil magic, and therefore that odok Zygog, who presumably made them,
- 1:58Speaker 1: is not likely to be evil himself. For this reason,
- 2:01Speaker 1: among others, when the magic mouth reappears and tells them
- 2:04Speaker 1: that the Master of the House has decided to speak
- 2:06Speaker 1: with them, they decide not to resist. The animated armor
- 2:10Speaker 1: comes to collect them, walks them deeper into the complex,
- 2:14Speaker 1: and brings them to their destination. It is a room
- 2:17Speaker 1: of white marble that contains little other than a huge
- 2:20Speaker 1: floating ball of fire. Terrifyingly, the face appears in the
- 2:24Speaker 1: flames that identifies itself as odok Zygog and commends the
- 2:28Speaker 1: companions to fall to their knees. While I am impatient
- 2:38Speaker 1: to proceed with the story, it would be imprudent to
- 2:40Speaker 1: do so when there is a level up scheduled for
- 2:43Speaker 1: this episode. I think it makes good sense to do
- 2:46Speaker 1: that now before we take the meeting with the Zygog
- 2:50Speaker 1: fireball thing any further. For reaching level five, ten Tire
- 2:54Speaker 1: gets at D six of new hit points. I feel
- 2:57Speaker 1: like his last couple of level ups have been pretty underwhelming,
- 3:00Speaker 1: so I am hoping for a nice, shiny six here.
- 3:05Speaker 1: Let's roll and find out what he will get. A five, Hey,
- 3:08Speaker 1: not bad, I'll take it. Nineteen goes to twenty four.
- 3:13Speaker 1: Stat increase rolls are up next, and you know, with
- 3:15Speaker 1: that good first role, I'm ready to accept whatever else happens.
- 3:19Speaker 1: Here we go for strength before nothing there intelligence. We've
- 3:25Speaker 1: got a five wisdom A six here sure would be nice.
- 3:30Speaker 1: A one okay, dexterity a five, constitution a six, Oh
- 3:38Speaker 1: is that? Yes? It is? Oh, this is important. Ten twos.
- 3:43Speaker 1: Twelve goes to a thirteen, and that means he will
- 3:45Speaker 1: get four extra retroactive hit points added to his total.
- 3:50Speaker 1: That is very very good. Twenty four jumps to twenty eight.
- 3:54Speaker 1: Only fair Wind is hardier than the young Alf Now fantastic,
- 3:58Speaker 1: and there's still one role left to make Charisma a three.
- 4:03Speaker 1: The final part of this level up is to take
- 4:05Speaker 1: Tentyre's basic attack bonus from a plus two to a
- 4:08Speaker 1: plus three. I'll tell you I am more than happy
- 4:11Speaker 1: with these improvements. Will they be enough to impress a
- 4:14Speaker 1: giant talking fireball? I think we're about to find out.
- 4:23Speaker 1: Chapter forty four, Part one, day thirty seven, sometime around noon.
- 4:31Speaker 1: Mythic event meaning abuse magic party status Achillia eight out
- 4:39Speaker 1: of fifteen hit points, Court ten out of twenty four,
- 4:44Speaker 1: de Renni eleven out of nineteen ten Tier twenty eight
- 4:49Speaker 1: out of twenty eight, fair Wind nineteen out of thirty three,
- 4:55Speaker 1: Flicker sixteen of sixteen. Supplies. The companions have been without
- 5:01Speaker 1: food for one day, and henceforth will not be able
- 5:04Speaker 1: to heal naturally until they have eaten. Spells available. Achillea
- 5:09Speaker 1: can cast, shrink, message, detect evil, glitter, dust, and dispel magic.
- 5:17Speaker 1: Cord can cast, entangle, locate plants and animals, create water,
- 5:23Speaker 1: slow poison, hold animal, and speak with plants. Fair Wind
- 5:28Speaker 1: can cast old person Cord fear gripped Achilia almost automatically,
- 5:58Speaker 1: she sucked to the floor, which she simultaneously felt the
- 6:01Speaker 1: heat from the fire on her face and the cold
- 6:04Speaker 1: of the marble floor against her bare knees, Perhaps compelled
- 6:08Speaker 1: as she had been, or perhaps following her lead, the
- 6:10Speaker 1: rest of the party members did likewise flicker barked wildly,
- 6:17Speaker 1: but Achilia put a hand on her back, and the
- 6:19Speaker 1: animal quieted. Before them, the terrible fireball with the jack
- 6:24Speaker 1: O'Lantern eyes and mouth glared down upon the moon. Despite
- 6:28Speaker 1: her terror, Achilia knew that all the reasons that they
- 6:31Speaker 1: were here stemmed from her decisions. It was up to
- 6:34Speaker 1: her then to make it right, and besides, she still
- 6:38Speaker 1: had a promise to keep. It was this last thought
- 6:41Speaker 1: that rekindled her courage. She drew a deep breath, and then,
- 6:46Speaker 1: my name is a The force and the power of
- 6:59Speaker 1: the wizard voice was enough to blow her hair back
- 7:02Speaker 1: and send a wave of blistering heat into her face.
- 7:14Speaker 1: Why had odog Zygog brought them before him only to
- 7:18Speaker 1: refuse to let them talk. When the magic mouth that
- 7:20Speaker 1: appeared at their cell door that morning, it had said.
- 7:23Speaker 2: Intruders, a great and powerful wizard, odog Zygog has decided
- 7:28Speaker 2: to speak with you. Prepare to explain your presence in
- 7:30Speaker 2: his home. Attempt at trickery will be unsuccessful. Attempts to
- 7:35Speaker 2: resist will be dealt with severely.
- 7:37Speaker 1: A Chilie could hear the message replaying in her head.
- 7:40Speaker 1: Was the wizard mad? It was utterly confusing. Beside her,
- 7:47Speaker 1: Fairwind was having similar thoughts, but the cleric's perception cast
- 7:51Speaker 1: a somewhat broader net on their situation. Without the burden
- 7:54Speaker 1: of responsibility for their being here, he was able to
- 7:57Speaker 1: think more freely received the contradiction that troubled Achilia. But
- 8:02Speaker 1: he also noticed the lack of fuel, the lack of smoke,
- 8:06Speaker 1: the cold marble against his knees that should have been warm.
- 8:09Speaker 1: He also thought he detected a familiar scent in the room,
- 8:12Speaker 1: hiding just behind that of the blazing fire. At first
- 8:16Speaker 1: he could not place it, but then it came to
- 8:19Speaker 1: him without a doubt. It was the smell of books.
- 8:24Speaker 1: The exact same smell was in the library that the
- 8:27Speaker 1: church of the Sacred Flame, and so moral thinking of
- 8:30Speaker 1: that place made him once again recall Sister Amadan's lesson
- 8:33Speaker 1: about optical illusions. Ferwind willed himself to see something other
- 8:38Speaker 1: than the enormous fireball in front of him, but it
- 8:40Speaker 1: was impossible. He might as well have held his hand
- 8:43Speaker 1: in front of his face and tried to disbelieve that
- 8:46Speaker 1: it existed. Still, he knew things were not right. He
- 8:50Speaker 1: stole a glance over to Achilie and saw something in
- 8:52Speaker 1: her features that told him she must be thinking the
- 8:55Speaker 1: same thing he was. He elbowed her in the side.
- 8:58Speaker 1: She turned toward him.
- 9:00Speaker 3: There's something.
- 9:12Speaker 1: That ended the cleric's attempt to communicate quickly, as Achillia
- 9:15Speaker 1: snapped her mouth shut and looked away. Flicker barked again,
- 9:20Speaker 1: and Fairwind noticed that the dog was not barking at
- 9:23Speaker 1: the gigantic flaming face above the dais, but off to
- 9:26Speaker 1: one side. Now that he thought about it, she had
- 9:28Speaker 1: been barking slightly to the right of the fireball before. Too.
- 9:32Speaker 1: This train of thought was interrupted by the sudden presence
- 9:34Speaker 1: of Achillea's voice in his head.
- 9:36Speaker 3: Fail there's something not right about all this, the cleric wondered.
- 9:40Speaker 1: If he were to think a reply very loudly in
- 9:43Speaker 1: his head, would Achillea hear it. He tried his best, Achillie,
- 9:47Speaker 1: I don't believe any of this is real. I think
- 9:50Speaker 1: our senses are lying to us. Earlier, you said you
- 9:55Speaker 1: might break the enchantment of our manacles with an anti
- 9:58Speaker 1: magic spell. Could you use it instead on that thing?
- 10:03Speaker 1: Ferwin didn't know if she had heard him or not.
- 10:05Speaker 1: All the same, while Neeli, the magic user's hands came
- 10:08Speaker 1: up as she began to cast a spell commanded the fireball,
- 10:15Speaker 1: but Achilia did not stop, neither did any of the
- 10:18Speaker 1: animated suits of armor try to prevent her. Her new
- 10:21Speaker 1: incantation spilled out of her, and when the last of
- 10:24Speaker 1: the arcane words passed her lips, something incredible happened. I
- 10:34Speaker 1: was half way through writing that last scene before I
- 10:36Speaker 1: thought I remembered something. A message spell can accept a
- 10:40Speaker 1: reply from the recipient. Was I just making that up?
- 10:43Speaker 1: I checked, and sure enough it can, I mentioning it
- 10:46Speaker 1: here in case anyone listening was also wondering the same thing.
- 10:49Speaker 1: But the main reason I stop the action was to
- 10:52Speaker 1: take a really close look at the spell entry and
- 10:54Speaker 1: the rules for dispel Magic. Here's what I learned. Dispel
- 10:58Speaker 1: magic ends spell effect within a twenty foot cube area.
- 11:02Speaker 1: It automatically dispels effects created by a lower level casters
- 11:06Speaker 1: for those cast by a more powerful magic user. It
- 11:08Speaker 1: has a five percent chance to fail for each level
- 11:11Speaker 1: of difference between the two wizards. Finally, magic items are
- 11:14Speaker 1: not affected by the spell. It's interesting that it says
- 11:17Speaker 1: spell effects, not effect. It's plural, which is really going
- 11:22Speaker 1: to be important in this situation, as you'll soon see
- 11:25Speaker 1: since Achilia is casting at odok Zygog directly, it will
- 11:29Speaker 1: not affect the animated suits of armor, but you might
- 11:31Speaker 1: be surprised at what it will affect, or i should say,
- 11:35Speaker 1: might effect. The spells she's attempting to unravel have been
- 11:38Speaker 1: cast by a wizard of higher level than herself, So
- 11:41Speaker 1: I'll need to make a roll, actually several to see which,
- 11:44Speaker 1: if any, are dispelled. I'll do these roles now, but
- 11:46Speaker 1: will keep the results hidden. Okay, the dice has spoken.
- 11:58Speaker 1: There is the huge face. Mid flow began to melt
- 12:01Speaker 1: from existence, so did what looked like a superficial layer
- 12:04Speaker 1: of reality. The dais of white marble and the white
- 12:08Speaker 1: marble wall behind it both faded away to reveal a
- 12:12Speaker 1: second scene. Where there was once a fire and white stone,
- 12:16Speaker 1: now there stood a pair of wooden chairs with the
- 12:18Speaker 1: side table between them, all arranged in front of an
- 12:21Speaker 1: enormous shelf that filled the space between floor and ceiling.
- 12:25Speaker 1: Stacked upon the shelf were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds
- 12:30Speaker 1: of books. It was like looking through a large hole
- 12:33Speaker 1: into another dimension. For at the edges of this library scene,
- 12:36Speaker 1: the declining vestiges of the original stark white marble chamber remained.
- 12:42Speaker 1: If this were not enough, as the one layer of
- 12:44Speaker 1: perception gave way to reveal the other, a person shimmered
- 12:48Speaker 1: into view. This person was very small, only about two
- 12:53Speaker 1: and a half feet tall. As the illusions filling the
- 12:56Speaker 1: space declined, they removed their doll like hands from their temples,
- 13:00Speaker 1: and their eyes, which had been narrowed in concentration, slowly
- 13:03Speaker 1: widened with the realization of what was happening. Once that
- 13:07Speaker 1: concentration was broken, what remained of the illusory scene began
- 13:10Speaker 1: to break down quickly. After just a few moments, the
- 13:13Speaker 1: companions found themselves standing no longer in a white marble
- 13:17Speaker 1: room dominated by an angry fireball, but a musty library
- 13:21Speaker 1: lit by a soft lamp light. The recently revealed person
- 13:26Speaker 1: stared at the companions. They wore black boots with toes
- 13:29Speaker 1: that curled up at the ends, brown pants, and a
- 13:31Speaker 1: black leather jerkin with a shirt of white beneath. They
- 13:35Speaker 1: had dark, curly hair that fell around pointed ears, and
- 13:38Speaker 1: very large eyes set wide in a face that wore
- 13:41Speaker 1: a look of growing apprehension. They took a step back,
- 13:45Speaker 1: moving their hands in a placating motion. The person stammered helplessly.
- 13:53Speaker 1: Achilie and the others were still kneeling on the ground,
- 13:56Speaker 1: and the three animated suits of armor still surrounded them.
- 13:59Speaker 1: Both sides simply stared at each other for the space
- 14:02Speaker 1: of several pregnant moments, and then, barking loudly, Flicker tore
- 14:07Speaker 1: away from their group. She raced across the room, directly
- 14:11Speaker 1: towards the diminutive stranger. Hang on, hang on, what the
- 14:22Speaker 1: heck is happening here? Maybe I should pause and explain
- 14:25Speaker 1: a few things. Achillia has just dispelled an elaborate phantasmal force,
- 14:30Speaker 1: the giant floating fireball, the dais, and the way marble
- 14:34Speaker 1: where all illusions. This room is actually a large library
- 14:38Speaker 1: and study. The Achillia spell also disrupted a second spell.
- 14:43Speaker 1: Standing to one side under the cloak of magical invisibility.
- 14:46Speaker 1: Was the person responsible for the trickery? Let's talk about
- 14:50Speaker 1: illusions a bit. I no longer have my AD and
- 14:53Speaker 1: D second edition DMG. That precious tone was abandoned when
- 14:57Speaker 1: I went away to university several decades ago, to be
- 15:00Speaker 1: tossed out by my parents. I can't blame them at
- 15:03Speaker 1: the time. I never expected to want or need that
- 15:06Speaker 1: stuff ever. Again. Ah, how foolish I was in my youth. Anyway,
- 15:11Speaker 1: if memory serves, that book had a section in it
- 15:13Speaker 1: about adjudicating illusions. Even in a regular game of D
- 15:17Speaker 1: and D, handling illusions is tricky business. Playing solo, it's
- 15:21Speaker 1: even more complicated. Here's some advice from that edition of
- 15:25Speaker 1: the DMG that I found online. I think it's useful.
- 15:28Speaker 1: It says, all illusions are cases of DM adjudication. Illusions
- 15:33Speaker 1: usually cease to affect a character if they are actively disbelieved.
- 15:37Speaker 1: Disbelief must be stated by the player based on clues
- 15:40Speaker 1: provided by the DM. Players. Stating disbelief must give a
- 15:44Speaker 1: reason for disbelief based on sensory information available to the character. So,
- 15:50Speaker 1: using this advice, I decided to make fair Wind suspect
- 15:53Speaker 1: that the scene in front of him was not real. However,
- 15:56Speaker 1: simply allowing him to disbelieve the illusion felt a bit
- 15:59Speaker 1: like I considered having him make a wisdom check, but
- 16:02Speaker 1: in the end went with the saving throw versus spells.
- 16:05Speaker 1: I rolled that off Mike and got an eleven against
- 16:08Speaker 1: a target of fifteen, so he failed to disbelieve the illusion,
- 16:12Speaker 1: but he still felt that something was wrong when he
- 16:15Speaker 1: tried to communicate this to achillea. He was silenced by
- 16:17Speaker 1: the illusory' zygogue, but Achille used her message spell to
- 16:21Speaker 1: achieve a brief secret exchange between the two. Anyway, I
- 16:25Speaker 1: figured this was enough to allow her her own saving throw,
- 16:28Speaker 1: and when I threw the dice, she passed for the
- 16:30Speaker 1: sake of the other companions. Achille then used her new
- 16:33Speaker 1: dispel magic incantation to reveal the truth. I needed to
- 16:37Speaker 1: make two roles here, because both the phantasmal force and
- 16:40Speaker 1: the invisibility enchantments were cast by a magic user of
- 16:44Speaker 1: higher level than Achillia. These roles were both successful, so
- 16:47Speaker 1: Achillia managed to dispel everything, and that's where we are now.
- 16:58Speaker 1: When they shrieked and tried to run, Flicker suddenly blinked away.
- 17:02Speaker 1: She reappeared only a dozen feet from the small figure
- 17:06Speaker 1: Flicker No. Achille cried out after the animal, but this
- 17:09Speaker 1: time her command was not heated. The dog's target managed
- 17:14Speaker 1: only a few steps before they were tackled and borne
- 17:16Speaker 1: to the ground, where the two rolled around in a
- 17:18Speaker 1: bundle of clothing and fur. There was a cry of panic.
- 17:25Speaker 4: Flicker.
- 17:28Speaker 1: Achille tried again let go. This time the blink dog obeyed,
- 17:34Speaker 1: releasing the person's sleeve from their jaws and backing up
- 17:37Speaker 1: just a little, but ready to spring again. A low
- 17:40Speaker 1: growl escaped her throat, causing her prey to freeze when
- 17:43Speaker 1: they tried to scoot back and away from the pale,
- 17:45Speaker 1: blue eyes and bare teeth that threatened them.
- 17:48Speaker 2: Please please, please, don't let it. I was always trying
- 17:54Speaker 2: to fight.
- 17:55Speaker 1: So you what it?
- 17:58Speaker 4: Back?
- 18:00Speaker 3: You are, owed oak Zygog, asked.
- 18:02Speaker 1: Achilia, looking upon the pathetic and frightened creature. It did
- 18:05Speaker 1: not seem possible. Despite her incredulity, she continued, so be it.
- 18:11Speaker 5: Call off your guards or I'll have my dog rip
- 18:13Speaker 5: your throat out.
- 18:15Speaker 2: No, I mean yes, of course, right away, honor glory
- 18:19Speaker 2: your weapons and step back.
- 18:22Speaker 1: The suits of armor instantly obeyed, backing away with a clank.
- 18:26Speaker 1: They lifted their halberts so the butts of their weapons
- 18:28Speaker 1: were planted on the floor, with the tips pointed at
- 18:31Speaker 1: the ceiling. Cautiously, the other companions rose to their feet,
- 18:35Speaker 1: but Achilia was not finished.
- 18:37Speaker 3: Let's a start, now, release us from these.
- 18:40Speaker 1: She held up her hands to show her manacled wrists.
- 18:43Speaker 1: The other hesitated, but another growl from Flicker was all
- 18:47Speaker 1: it took all right.
- 18:48Speaker 2: I will, but you must promise not to let me
- 18:51Speaker 2: come to harm.
- 18:52Speaker 1: See lear At the arcane word, the companion's manacles all
- 18:57Speaker 1: opened of their own accord and fell to the floor
- 18:59Speaker 1: with a chorus of Achilia had no intention of making
- 19:02Speaker 1: any kind of deal with this person and completely ignored
- 19:05Speaker 1: their request for a promise. I believe, she said, stepping
- 19:09Speaker 1: forward with.
- 19:10Speaker 3: Menace, that you have some explaining to do, although.
- 19:15Speaker 1: She did not see it. Behind her, the other party
- 19:17Speaker 1: members were trying to adjust to their new reality, with
- 19:20Speaker 1: mouths acape and eyes blinking, as though emerging from dreams.
- 19:24Speaker 2: Just go, just leave me me. Take whatever you can
- 19:28Speaker 2: to steal and leave. I won't stop you. Just please
- 19:31Speaker 2: go off your animal.
- 19:33Speaker 1: The diminutive person had now scooted themselves back as far
- 19:36Speaker 1: as they could go, and their heaving shoulders were pressed
- 19:39Speaker 1: against the row of thick books that spanned the length
- 19:41Speaker 1: of the bottom shelf. Pale, sweating profusely and shaking visibly,
- 19:46Speaker 1: they looked like they might turn to ash in the
- 19:48Speaker 1: heat of Achilia's wrath. But Achilia did not relent steal.
- 19:53Speaker 3: We did not come here to steal anything. When we arrived, we.
- 19:57Speaker 5: Announced our presence and asked for a audience.
- 20:01Speaker 1: Well, that was true. The next thing she said was
- 20:03Speaker 1: not entirely accurate. She said it anyway, and.
- 20:06Speaker 5: It was you who attacked us and took our belongings
- 20:10Speaker 5: and threw us.
- 20:11Speaker 4: In us out.
- 20:12Speaker 1: Da Hafelf's blood was pumping now. She felt her face
- 20:16Speaker 1: go hot.
- 20:16Speaker 5: Worst of all, you pretended friendship to my master, only
- 20:20Speaker 5: you betray him.
- 20:22Speaker 1: Here, Achilia pulled the sketchbook from her bag and opened
- 20:25Speaker 1: it to the final page. She then held forth the
- 20:29Speaker 1: inscription and recited the words for memory.
- 20:31Speaker 5: I hope these poor sketches will remind you that you
- 20:35Speaker 5: will always have a home in the North.
- 20:38Speaker 1: Achilia was raging.
- 20:39Speaker 3: What do you have to say for yourself?
- 20:41Speaker 5: Oh doak zygod, does my voppie still have a home
- 20:45Speaker 5: in the north with you?
- 20:47Speaker 1: She spoke the last words in a poisoned sneer, with
- 20:50Speaker 1: spittle flying from her lips. Achilia hurled the sketchbook at
- 20:53Speaker 1: the cowering figure and then drew her wand holding in
- 20:57Speaker 1: front of her as though it were a knife.
- 20:58Speaker 5: Oh would you prefer his stays frozen forever in cold
- 21:01Speaker 5: stone while you pilver what you will from his book
- 21:05Speaker 5: of spells like a murderous thiefe.
- 21:07Speaker 1: There were tears streaming down Achillia's cheeks. Now she was
- 21:11Speaker 1: so full of emotion that she felt she might burst.
- 21:15Speaker 1: She also had no idea what she was going to
- 21:17Speaker 1: do with the wand in her hand, only that it
- 21:19Speaker 1: felt right that her Voppy's attacker should squirm and beg
- 21:22Speaker 1: for their life.
- 21:23Speaker 3: Well, she roared, what have you to say for yourself?
- 21:32Speaker 1: What do they have to say? It's a good question,
- 21:35Speaker 1: and I am split. Part of me wants to just
- 21:38Speaker 1: keep on writing this scene as it occurs to me,
- 21:41Speaker 1: but another part wants to stop and add a pinch
- 21:43Speaker 1: of chaos. Since I did stop, I guess you can
- 21:46Speaker 1: guess which part one out. I am going to make
- 21:49Speaker 1: some kind of role here before I continue the narrative.
- 21:52Speaker 1: I have a few options. A reaction role would do
- 21:55Speaker 1: the job. Another idea would be to make amoral check.
- 21:58Speaker 1: That makes even better sense. But I think I'm going
- 22:01Speaker 1: to use a third kind of check, a charisma check
- 22:04Speaker 1: for Achilia's ability to intimidate her target into real submission.
- 22:08Speaker 1: This will be a role under stat kind of check.
- 22:11Speaker 1: Since Achilia has a charisma score of nine, not a
- 22:14Speaker 1: great score, and represented in the previous scene by her
- 22:17Speaker 1: barely holding on to restraint. She needs to roll that
- 22:20Speaker 1: number or less on a D twenty to succeed. But
- 22:23Speaker 1: I'm going to award her a minus three to the
- 22:25Speaker 1: role to account for the situation and sudden imbalance of power,
- 22:29Speaker 1: So that makes a sixty percent chance to get what
- 22:31Speaker 1: she wants. Here comes the D twenty roll an eight. Okay,
- 22:36Speaker 1: it's clear what needs to happen next. The little figure's
- 22:46Speaker 1: eyes flicked past Achillia as they became aware of the
- 22:49Speaker 1: two very grim looking elves, now fitting arrows to bows
- 22:52Speaker 1: behind her, with shoulders slumped in defeat and with tears
- 22:56Speaker 1: springing from their eyes. They sniffed miserably and blubbered.
- 23:00Speaker 4: I don't know what you want me to say.
- 23:03Speaker 2: I am not the person you think I am.
- 23:06Speaker 1: Not a thief, not a murderer, snapped the half helf
- 23:10Speaker 1: looming hugely over them. Flicker punctuated the question with a bark.
- 23:14Speaker 4: Eh no, I am none of those things.
- 23:18Speaker 5: Do you undo what you have done to my Bobby.
- 23:22Speaker 3: I don't care if I have to march you all the.
- 23:25Speaker 5: Way back home at the point of my dagger, but
- 23:28Speaker 5: you will undo that spell and restore him, but I can't.
- 23:35Speaker 5: Oh you can and buy a Haya you will.
- 23:41Speaker 4: You don't understand?
- 23:43Speaker 3: What don't I understand?
- 23:45Speaker 4: I've been trying to tell you.
- 23:47Speaker 1: Their cheeks now glistened with tears, tell.
- 23:50Speaker 4: Me what I am not? Oh doak Psygog.
- 23:57Speaker 1: Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone, and of course thank
- 24:01Speaker 1: you for listening. If you'd like to help to support
- 24:03Speaker 1: the show, you can recommend or liken repost episode announcements
- 24:06Speaker 1: on social media. You can purchase a Tale of the
- 24:08Speaker 1: mantagor T shirt at bear Archstarts store or what are
- 24:10Speaker 1: my Offerings on drive through RPG, and of course you
- 24:12Speaker 1: can rate and review the show on your favorite broadcaster.
- 24:15Speaker 1: If you happen to listen to the show on speaker,
- 24:18Speaker 1: you can join the Supporters Club for two dollars a
- 24:20Speaker 1: month and get all episodes add free. I mentioned a
- 24:23Speaker 1: few episodes ago that I had always thought this was
- 24:25Speaker 1: the case, and it was not, but it is now.
- 24:28Speaker 1: By extreme gratitude to those who were patient while I
- 24:30Speaker 1: dealt with the issue, and a massive double thank you
- 24:33Speaker 1: to those who joined the remain members of the Supporters
- 24:35Speaker 1: Club even when they were not getting ad free content.
- 24:38Speaker 1: My listeners truly are the best. And speaking of that,
- 24:41Speaker 1: here's a listener review I would love to share. This
- 24:43Speaker 1: one was left on Apple Podcasts by ghost Entry. Ghost
- 24:47Speaker 1: Entry rights absolutely brilliant. Tale of the Mantigar is the
- 24:50Speaker 1: podcast I had been searching for, and since I have
- 24:53Speaker 1: your attention, here's why. First, the hybrid storytelling is incredibly immersive.
- 24:57Speaker 1: Watching these characters face the real possibility of their her
- 25:00Speaker 1: own death creates attention and connection that simply cannot exist
- 25:03Speaker 1: in a format where the listener knows they're ultimately safe.
- 25:06Speaker 1: It bonds you to them in a way that nothing
- 25:08Speaker 1: else really does. John's fidelity to the dice make every combat,
- 25:11Speaker 1: every risk the characters take into a meaningful thrill that
- 25:14Speaker 1: makes it hard to stop listening. The older I get,
- 25:16Speaker 1: the harder I find it to really connect to new
- 25:18Speaker 1: characters in fiction. Most stories don't even really try to
- 25:22Speaker 1: make care about them till the manticor achieves this connection
- 25:25Speaker 1: and care in a way I find genuinely unbelievable. Hey,
- 25:28Speaker 1: ghost Entry, this season, the characters have been dodging bullets
- 25:31Speaker 1: left and right. That shrope. They can keep it up because,
- 25:34Speaker 1: like you, I genuinely care about them. Thanks so very
- 25:37Speaker 1: much for the review, and I have more thanks to give.
- 25:40Speaker 1: Let's talk about this episode's cast of voice actors. We've
- 25:43Speaker 1: got Dave Cooper here playing fair Wind as always and
- 25:46Speaker 1: in both the voice of the Magic Mouth and the
- 25:48Speaker 1: mystery character who's revealed at the episode's conclusion. It's Amanda Tea.
- 25:52Speaker 1: Check out her art at Wicked Underscore, Loving Underscore Lies
- 25:56Speaker 1: on Instagram. Thanks so much Dave and Amanda for breathing
- 25:59Speaker 1: life into this tale. For those curious to learn more
- 26:02Speaker 1: about Tale of the Manticor, I keep a blog where
- 26:05Speaker 1: I post all kinds of show and RPG related stuff
- 26:07Speaker 1: like sketches, maps, tables, crafts, and showows. You can find
- 26:10Speaker 1: it at tale of Themanticore dot com. To get in
- 26:13Speaker 1: touch with me, I'm at Solo Roleplayers Network dot com,
- 26:16Speaker 1: Tale of the Manticor dot blues Guide dot Social, Tale
- 26:18Speaker 1: of the Manticore podcast on Instagram, or Tale of Themanticre
- 26:21Speaker 1: at gmail dot com. The adventual will continue on the
- 26:24Speaker 1: next episode or Tale of the Manticor. It's the story
- 26:28Speaker 1: where chaos rolls.
- 26:31Speaker 4: Oh