Latest / Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama / Episode 72

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Episode 72 · Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hi, this is Martin from Daddy rold to one and
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: you are listening to Tale of the Manticor.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: The following podcast is intended for a mature audience. Listener
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: discretion is advised. Welcome back to Tale of the Manticore
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Season two. Like the creature from which it takes its name,
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: Tale of the Manticor is a mashup, a cross breeding
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: between two different species of storytelling. Here you will find
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: the unpredictability of old school RPG paper and dice games
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: with the story craft of a dark fantasy novel. No
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: character is sacred, and no character will be spared if
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: the dice decide their fate is at hand. According to lore,
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: the Tale of a Manticore is barbed with cruel iron spikes.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: There will be much pain in the days ahead. Last
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: time on Tail of the Mantigor, Chapter seventy one begins
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: with Jace's ascension to level seven. When we rejoin the story,
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: the fighter has lifted the woman on the altar into
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: his arms and is carrying her back the way they came.
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: While the others discuss whether or not they should proceed
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: now that they have an unconscious woman in their charge.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: Jace is rapidly falling in love. He has no idea
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: that the woman is actually a succubus and that he
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: has succumbed to her charm enchantment. That's why when her
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: eyes flutter open and she invites him to kiss her,
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: he does so readily. Of course, a kiss from a
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: Soccubis is really bad news. The moment their lips touch,
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: things go from blissful to agonizing. Jace is drained of
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: the level he just turned, and then as Vaughan transforms
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: into her true demonic form and the companions fall back
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: in yock and fear, he loses another. Savon clearly intends
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: to drink his soul to the dregs, but Shawnee manages
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: to hurt her with Culfrey's sword, The Sentinel. This changes
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: things for the Demonesse, who thought herself immune to harm
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: for mortals. A quick battle follows in which she is
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: further hurt by Shawnees and yellowflies enchanted blades, but before
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: they can destroy her, she vanishes in a cloud of brimstone.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: Chapter seventy two, Part one, Day one hundred and eighty four.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: Time unknown party status yellowfly thirty two of forty four
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: hit points Shawney twenty eight of thirty three, Jase thirty
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: three of thirty eight, Kat Spain seventeen of twenty one,
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: Basu nineteen of twenty one spells available. Cat's Pain has
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: memorized detect magic, magic, missile, web, mirror, image, haste, slow,
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: and dimension door. Basu has prayed for cure like wounds,
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: light bless, locate object and cure serious wounds Shartoon's breath.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: What was that some kind of devil?
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: I believe, in fact that it was a demon, one
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: called sakibis.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: Kat'spain had read about soccubi and other types of demons
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: in Zygogue's pantology Demonium, though he wouldn't have recognized it
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: had it not taken on its true epistle form demon.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: Did you kill it? Kat'spain, No, replied the young mage.
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: In fact, I don't think I even hit her. She
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: merely disappeared.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: Yellow Flies spun around, raising his sword as though he
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: expected the demon to reappear right behind him. Creature was gone, Jace.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: It was Shawnee. She had thrown herself on the floor
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: beside the pale and withered fighter shore Is. He began,
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: Yellowfly coming over with a worried look on his face.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: I I don't know, he's just look at him. Jace
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: appeared dead. He was lying on his back, with his
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: legs blade out and his face looking hollow and old.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: Jase's eyes, once bright blue, were now the color of
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: Robin's eggs, and they stared straight up, unblinking and nothing. Basu,
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: come here, Yellowfly barked. The clerk had walked away to
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: retrieve his holy symbol, but now he hurried back to
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: tend to his fallen companion. As soon as Bazu touched him,
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: Jay sat bolt upright and sucked in a huge breath
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: of air.
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: Where is it?
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: He said, in a panic, looking around with terror in
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: his eyes. Where did he go? And then, without another word,
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: he collapsed into racking, uncontrollable sobs. Bazu and Shawnee held
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: him and stroked his hair, now streaked with white, while
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: Yellowfly and Cat'spain looked on, feeling a mixture of relief
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: and pity. Jase looked like a man who had lost
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: part of his soul. By now, most of the incense
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: haze and brimstone smoke was gone, and Yellowfly could see
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: just beyond the dais an opening in the wall that
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: led further on into the dungeon. Can you walk, Jesse,
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: give him a minute, said Shawnay. Cat, you see he
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: isn't ready to move yet. I'm sorry, replied Yellowfly. Jace,
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: take all the time you need. Just as he finished speaking,
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: something caught his eye. From back the way they had come,
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: beyond the fountains and water features in the statue's courtyard,
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: the legion of candles was beginning to dim, going out
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: one by one. From where the companions were, it seemed
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: like a cloud of darkness was slowly creeping their way. Cat,
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: spain your lantern, said Yellowfly.
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: Right, yes, good idea.
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: Replied the mage, producing its hinder box and kneeling down
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: to strike flint. He had the lantern lit by the
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: time the last of the candles went out, and now
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: the companions once again found themselves in the amber circle
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: of its glow, unable to see very much beyond. They
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: stayed where they were for another quarter of an hour
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: until Jace said he was ready to continue. He still
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: looked old and withered. On the inside. He remained heartbroken.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: The feeling of love it had seemed completely real. Impossibly
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: it still did. If he had magically been granted a wish.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: Just then he would have used it to go back
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: to when he held the woman in his arms. As
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: long as he had lived, there had never been a
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: moment when he'd felt happier. Loss, shame, the sudden wrenching
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: twist from sublime joy to abject misery. It was devastating.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: He wondered how he would ever feel good again. At
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: least he still had his friends, that was something. He
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: was on his feet now, and Shawnee still had her
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: small arm under him. He'll be all right, Jase, she
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: said soothingly. Wee here for you. Bazu also put a
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: hand on Jase's shoulder and support Well, I'll be all rot,
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: said Jace, trying to believe it. He reached up and
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: felt his cheeks and under his chin there were puncture
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: marks and dried blood. Let's go, everyone, be on your guard.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: Yellowfly was in the lead. That thing disappeared, it might reappear.
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: Be ready for that. The hallway behind the dais was
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: too narrow to permit the companions to walk to her breast,
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: so they had gone single file. Cat's pain, then Basu, Jace,
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: and finally shot Ay in the rear The passage took
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: them straight for thirty feet, then down a short flight
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: of stairs and into another passage heading in the same direction.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: It terminated in a round arch, beyond which they could
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: see a room. Well before they reached it, they could
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: smell it. An odor of unwashed bodies and death, similar to,
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: but stronger than, the smell from the prison level above,
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: was present in the air beyond. Your guard, repeated Yellowfly.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: The warning was unnecessary. Everyone could sense that they were
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: walking towards something dreadful. Hold up the lantern. Yellowfly instructed
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: Cat's pain. As they passed under the rounded arch, the
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: mage did as he was told, illuminating the space in
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: front of them. They were in a strange chamber. It
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: was shaped like a capsule, longer than it was wide,
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: and rounded at either end. The fire wall was curved,
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: as was their own, and a second identical arch mirrored
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: the one they now came through. The side walls were
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: festooned with chains and manacles. Most were empty, but not all.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: Three rag clad bodies drooped against the left wall. The
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: middle of the chamber was not empty either. It featured
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: a low square of iron the size and shape of
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: a bed, though from a distance, its purpose was not
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: readily apparent. There was something on the floor behind it too.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: As Yellowfly and Cat'spain moved further into the room, they
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: saw that it was not a thing but a pit
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: behind the square of iron. Cat'spain's lantern light also revealed
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: some more detail of the square as they drew close.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: It appeared to be a bed of nails, an iron
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: frame with dozens of sharp spikes sticking straight up from it.
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: Waten Vassel in his name, muttered Yellowfly. Was this another
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: torture device like the ones they had seen in Calfrey's dungeon.
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: Reading his thoughts, Catspain looked from the hanging corpses on
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: the wall to the bed of nails.
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: I can think of only one use for something like this, Yellowfly.
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: Shawnee, and Jase were still by the arch, talking in
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: hushed tones. Meanwhile, Bazu had walked directly toward the left
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: wall where the corpses hung. The cleric's heart was still
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: racing from the encounter with the succubus. He had intended
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: to threaten her with a righteous and holy command, but
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: she had not been cowed, not in the least. In fact,
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: she had laughed at the attempt and returned to the
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: thread of her own. He could remember every syllable.
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: As your sons, fobbits.
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: Is that what she had been doing with these poor individuals,
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: he wondered. Looking up at the corpses devouring their soles,
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: he suddenly realized that he recognized the face of the
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: middle one. In life, brother Lego had been somewhat plump,
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: but this corpse was no more than a slender strip
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: of bones held together by skin. Bazu sighed heavily, squeezing
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: his eyes shut against the sight, and then turned his
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: back on his former brothers, moving into the middle of
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: the room to rejoin his companions. Shawnay and Jace were
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: there too.
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: Now it's a bed of nails and a bit, explained
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: Jace as the cleric approached.
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: When he asked what was in the pit, Jace replied,
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: you don't want to know, Bazu, but the cleric looked anyway.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: It's been seven years since the mast Court fell and
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: the Empire began dying its final death. Once a member
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: of the elite Imperial Special Service, now turned bounty hunter,
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: Sejean Luschale fights for survival in a universe full of
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: turmoil and confusion. She's use her wits, her lais pistol
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: in the power of the void to face the growing
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: tension in the Casstin system. This is Steve Morrison of
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: the Errant Adventures podcast, and on this new season, I'm
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: using the tabletop RPG Traveler to bring to life my
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: own space opera setting full of bounty hunters, religious zelots,
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: and people struggling to survive and find joy in the
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: dying lights of an intergalactic empire. Join me for this
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: new adventure, and welcome to Book one, Meridian. I'll see
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: you out in the Deep.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: Chapter seventy two, on day one hundred and eighty four,
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: time unknown party status. The party status is unchanged. I'm
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: not sure how much more of this I can take,
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: said Jeanne, her voice thick. She was looking into the
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: pit behind the bed of nails, ten feet down. At
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: the bottom were a number of corpses. Shawney thought they
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: were seven or eight of them, but it was hard
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: to say precisely because they'd been thrown one atop the
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: other in a heap. They were so shriveled and desicated
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: that they were little more than husks. My head is
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: starting to hurt, said Yellowfly, also looking down at the
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: grim scene. Actually, Yellowfly's head had been throbbing ever since
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: they had inhaled the demonic incense back at the Dais,
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: and it wasn't just a headache. His conscious mind was
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: being invaded by sporadic flashes of intense visions. One was
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: of the demon's leering face, another an endless mass of
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: writhing insects. The most recent ones were fantasies of violence.
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: The thoughts were not his own, and he wanted them
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: out of his head. He looked away from the pit,
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: wiping his face with his forearm, and regarded the others.
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: Were they going through the same thing. We should give
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: this place a thorough search, he said. Having something to
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: do would make them all feel better. Journey could inject
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: the other arch, the rest of us could examine the walls.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: The companions agreed and split up. Shawney circumnavigated the pit
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: and approached the arch of the far wall. Bazu walked
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: to the wall without the hanging corpses to conduct a search,
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: and Jace went with him. Yellowfly and Kat'spain took the
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: other side. The maide knew rother Lego, but he did
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: not recognize him or the other two priests. Deprivation and
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: suffering had caused too much change on their faces, and besides,
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: Katspain avoided looking at them too closely. Like Yellowfly, he
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: concentrated on the wall itself as they searched. A thought
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: recurred to him that he'd first had while they were
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: waiting for Jace to recover back at the dais what
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: is it? Cutspine? The fighters seemed very intent on the
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: stones of the wall, pushing and tapping each one in turn.
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: I was wondering about a couple of things. Did you
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: notice how the demon reacted to us?
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: Reacted? I'm not sure what you're getting at.
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: I mean she recoiled when she saw your sword.
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: I cut off her damned wing with it, so that's
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: not surprise.
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: No, no, I mean before that, I think she recognized it.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: That had not occurred to the Yellowfly. He stopped tapping
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: stones and looked at the young wizard. That would make
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: a certain amount of sense. What else were you going
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: to say?
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: I'm sorry?
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: Didn't you say you were wondering about a couple of things?
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: Oh no, I just the point about your sword.
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: That's that's all, well, said the Yellowfly. Scratching his light
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: growth of beard. His head still hurt, and he was
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: beginning to doubt his ability to concentrate. Well, if it
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: fears the sword, perhaps it'llly the alone.
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: I yes, yes, I do. Hope you're right.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: Katspin did have another thought, but had decided at the
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: last minute not to share it. He was certain that
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: the demon had deliberately avoided him, specifically, at one point,
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: it made as if to lunch his way and then
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: turned and attacked Shawney instead. He would have sworn that
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: it happened, even if it had all occurred in the
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: space of a single second. Yell a Fly had turned
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: back to his stones, trying to find the one he'd
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: inspected last, and resuming his search from there. I think
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: there's a chance that the PCs will discover something during
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: their search. And since my dmside hasn't made a decision
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: about whether or not there might be any traps or
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: secret doors in here, let's ask the dice for the arch.
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: I'll roll a D twenty and on a one there
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: will be a trap. There's no need to roll Shawnee's
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: find removed trap skill until that's being determined. Here's the
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: roll A ten no traps, and so no further role
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: is required. How about the other pieces? They're looking for
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: secret doors in either wall. With two pieces at each side,
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: Normally there'd be a one and six chance to find
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: a secret door if there was one to be found.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: But in this case, hmm, I'll use a similar mechanic
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: as with the arch. I'll roll a D twenty, and
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: this time on A twenty, there will be something hidden
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: from sight. As with Shawnee, the role to discover it
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: can wait. Rolling for Jase and Bazu's side A two.
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: Now for Yellowfly and Cat's pain A nine. Looks like
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: everything to be found in this room is disturbingly in
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: plain view. Since I have the action paused and some
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: dice near at hand, let's make a couple more rolls. Earlier,
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: Yellowfly worried that the demon as might suddenly reappear and
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: attack them by surprise. I briefly considered having her do
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: just that, but the thing is. Savon fled for her
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: life and even lost a wing to the silverthorn, which
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: she does, of course course recognize. She's in no hurry
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: to tangle with the man who wilds it again. On
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: the other hand, she serves Azorazul, and these mortals, she
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: now realizes present an existential threat to her master. Furthermore,
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: she's been instructed not to harm the wizard in the group,
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: as Azorazul intends to inhabit his body and would prefer
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: it to be fully intact when he does. I think
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: a reaction check makes more sense than a morale check
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: in this situation. The lower the number on two six,
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: the more likely she is to stock the party and
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: attempt to harm them in some probably indirect way. On
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: a very high roll, all rule that we will not
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: see her again at all rolling but three on the
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: dice means she is not going to give up. Her
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: fear of Azora Azul is greater than her fear of
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: the Silverthorn. I suppose there's one last thing I wanted
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: to discuss while I'm away from the narrative. Let's talk
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: about dungeon design. I've said before that I don't have
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: a map for the Ruin, and I still think that's
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: the right way to go, even though I can see
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: certain benefits to having it be predetermined. At one point
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: I even considered using, or rather abusing my ultra light
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: game one shot in the Dark degenerate a map on
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: the fly and at random. That seemed like a cool
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: idea at first, but as brief as that game is,
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: where every room could be navigated in a minute or two.
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: Used for this purpose, he could potentially drag the pacing
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: down if I ended up with too large a dungeon.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: Maybe that's something I can say for season three. Right now,
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: I think the tempo needs to ramp up, and that
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: means from here on in it's all killer and no filler.
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: Yell a fly, Perhaps we'd best be moving.
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: The fighter had once again lost his place. Had he
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: already tested this stone or not? His concentration kept on
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: being broken by horrendous thoughts.
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: Perhaps we should be moving on. There's not much oil
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: remaining in the land stern.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: It it only just occurred to him to check. But
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: when Katspin had seen that there were only a couple
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: of hours hours worth of fuel remaining, it had given
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: him a chill. The thought of being in the ruin
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: without so much as the light of their lantern was unthinkable.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: Oh I see, replied Yellowfly, immediately adopting the other man's concern.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: Let's get the others and go. He glanced over at Shawnay,
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: who was by the fire arch. In response to his
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: tilted chin, she silently kissed the air in the direction
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: of it, a common cant sign that indicated that the
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: way ahead was clear. Yellowfly then collected Basu and Jace.
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: The latter did not look good. Are you able to
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: go on? Jase only nodded dumbly, and Yellowfly was not convinced. Basu,
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: Is there not you can do for him? Some healing prayer,
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: you can say? It was a fair question. Bazu had
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: healed them all in the past at one time or another,
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: but the cleric's only response was to look at his feet.
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: Jase answered for him.
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: He already told me that his magic could only cure physicals.
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: What happened to me was something deeper than that. There's
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: nothing he can do.
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: Bazu sniffed, and Jase patted him on the back.
• 20:03
  Speaker 4: That's all right, Ballzu, I know you'd help me if
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: you could.
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: Yellowfly didn't know what else to say about it, so
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: he just nodded stiffly and walked over to Shawnee's arch.
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: After a moment, everyone else followed, and soon the party
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: was moving through a new hallway and went straight for
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: forty feet, then turned right and continued for a similar distance.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: They could see that the passageway terminated not in a
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: door nor an arch, but a cave like opening. Long
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: before they reached it, they were struck by a new smell,
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: this one even more unpleasant than that of the occupae's layer. Oh,
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: rotten fish, said Yellowfly, stating the obvious. The stench grew
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: stronger and stronger as they progressed, until it was almost
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: enough to make them wretch. At some point, Shawnee covered
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: her nose and mouth with the hammer for cloak. Yellowfly,
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: Basu and Jase would have done likewise if they'd had
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: a free hand, And the stink was so powerful that
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: after a while Kat's Baden sheathed his magical dagger so
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: that he could hold his nose as well. He was
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: currently third in their marching order, which had Yellowfly in
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: the lead, Shone a second, and Jase and Bozzi bringing
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: up the rear. As they made their way, Yellowfly instructed
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: the clerk to check behind them every so often. He
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: was still worried that the Demonesse might reappear, but she
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: did not, and they made it all the way to
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: the cave like opening, unmolested save for the ever worsening
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: odor of dead fish. Ahead, they could make out a
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: dim light, so Yellowfly told Katspain to shutter their lantern
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: for the time being. Once that was done, he led
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: them to the end of the hall and through the
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: opening they found themselves on the upper lip of a
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: large bowl shaped cave some fifty feet across and beeper
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: again by half. It had a ceiling crowded with stalactites,
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: and a ridge that spiraled down and followed the edge
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: like a corkscrew. The light was coming from below. Yellowfly
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: crouched down and had his companions do likewise. He put
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: a finger to his lips, and then they all crept
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: to the edge and peered into the pit. At the bottom,
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: a trio of braziers described a triangle around a large
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: pool of water some thirty feet in diameter. Its depth
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: was unknowable, although yellow Flies surmised it must not connect
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: with the same body of water they passed after the
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: room with the hell hound statues. If it had, the
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: water level would have been much higher all the way
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: to the roof of His understanding of how these things
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: worked was correct. Then again, in a place like this,
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: perhaps the laws of nature did not always apply. The
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: braziers were lit, and the reflections of their flames bounced
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: off the water and all over the cavern, even all
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: the way up to the stalactites that overhung it. Their
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: shadows played weakly in and among the underside of the
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: dripping stone forms. All around the pool, ringing it were
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: dozens upon dozens of fish carcasses, and perhaps the thousands
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: of bones, of all shapes and sizes, so many that
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: they covered the entire floor. Some were small, but others
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: were as long as a man was tall. Among the
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: heaped fish bodies were tentacled things and shell fish, all dead.
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: On the far side was what Yellowfly took to be
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: an enormous, stunted stalagmite, at least until it moved. When
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: that happened, he jerked back from the edge, stifling a gasp,
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: as did his companions. They all looked at each other
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: with wide eyes, before creeping back to the lip and
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: peering down once again. What in Marith were they looking at,
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: Yellowfly wondered. Perhaps they really weren't in Mareth. After all,
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: the thing at the bottom of the pit was alien, monstrous.
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: It was no stalagmite, but a hulking toad like creature.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: Even seated against its hind legs, it must have been
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: ten feet tall. It had mottled gray green and knob
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: behind malformed limbs in a broad wedge shaped head. Slime
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: dripped from its chin and glimmered in the firelight of
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: the braziers, which lit the creature dramatically. From underneath, yellowflies
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: saw that one of its eyes was missing. The other
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: was bulbous and round, with a horizontal pupil set in
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: a yellow green irin Mercifully, and perhaps because it was
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: half blind, it did not seem to have noticed them.
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: The smell coming up from below was eye wateringly strong,
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: and yellowfly could feel his stomach beginning to churn. He
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: swallowed down the rising taste of bile and tried to
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: breathe through his mouth, but it didn't help. Just then,
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: the monstrous toad thing below shifted its weight and lumbered
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: over to the half eaten carcass of some giant fish.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: It reached out an arm, and although its hand was clawed,
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: Yellowfly saw that it looked more like the arm of
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: a man's than a toad's. It scooped up a chunk
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: of soft gray white flesh and came away with a
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: handful of meat. He could tell by the way it
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: sliced open that it was putrefied. The mouth that opened
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: to accept it was wide enough that it could have
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: eaten a man whole. When the creature turned again, as
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: one the companions pulled back, the yellowfly looked at the others,
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: and then pointed back the way they had come. But
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: Kat's Bain shook his head. Didn't you see, whispered the
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: magic user. Yellaw Fly squinted, not understanding. He knew Katspan
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: wasn't referring to the monster, as no one could have
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: missed that. Katspin pulled close and whispered his explanation right
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: in his ear.
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: There's an exits at the bottom. If we are to
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: go forward, we must get past this damon.
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to Tale of the Manticor if you've
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: enjoyed the show and would like to help the support it,
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: there are lots of ways to do so. You could
• 25:31
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  Speaker 2: One Shot in the Dark, the Pendulum world building tool,
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  Speaker 2: or Encyclopedia Manticorica on Drive through RPG. And finally, you
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: can rate or review the show on your podcatterer of
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: choice by thanks to everyone for their support of the show.
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: I'd love to read one of your kind reviews at
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: this point. This one was left by Hammadith on the
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: podcast addict app. Hammadith writes, this podcast was one of
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: the first of its kind. It's not unique at this
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: point in time, but it's still the best. Guest, I
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: always go back to s. One e thirteen. Girios's awakening
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: is an amazing scene. The narration, the choice of music,
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: the emotion. You're a master of your craft, John, That
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: is too kind, Amudith. I'm pretty sure I am not
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: a master of the craft, but I am a dungeon
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: master of the craft. I should take this opportunity to
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: thank able Enzo and the Iron Realm podcast. This was
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: and is the original semi actual play and it is
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: hugely inspirational. Anyway, thank you for your review, my friend.
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: Speaking of friends, where would I be without my voice talent?
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: This episode features two of my tumble Dye amigos Ky
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: Ellen and Kevin Playcat's Babe and Jace. For listeners who'd
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: like to get in touch with me. I'm at Manticore
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: Tale on x or Tale of the Mantcor podcast on Instagram.
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: If you prefer email, I'm at Tale of Themantcre at
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: gmail dot com. Finally, I keep a blog where I
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: post all kinds of show and RPG related stuff like art, maps, tables, crafts,
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: and show notes. You can find it at tale of
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: Themantcre dot blogspot dot com. The adventure will continue on
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: the next episode of Tale of the Manticor. It's the
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: story We're Chaos Roles.
• 27:09
  Speaker 5: Hey there, man. Of course, I know you have an
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• 27:19
  Speaker 5: Tabletop Talk is the podcast for you. I'm Craig, and
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