Latest / Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama / Episode 61 (S3E61)

Transcript

Episode 61 (S3E61) · Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama

0:00
Speaker 1: Hello, This is Robin from Stories from the First Watch
0:03
Speaker 1: and you're listening to Tale of the Manticore.
0:10
Speaker 2: The following podcast is intended for a mature audience. Listener
0:14
Speaker 2: discretion is advised. Welcome back to Tale of the Manticor
0:32
Speaker 2: season three. Like the creature from which it takes its name,
0:36
Speaker 2: Tale of the Manticor is a mashup, a cross breeding
0:39
Speaker 2: between two different species of storytelling. Here you will find
0:43
Speaker 2: the unpredictability of old school paper and dice games with
0:46
Speaker 2: the story craft of a dark fantasy novel. No character
0:50
Speaker 2: is sacred, and none will be spared if the dice
0:53
Speaker 2: decide their fate is at hand. According to Lare, the
0:57
Speaker 2: Tale of a Manticore is barbed with cruel iron spikes.
1:02
Speaker 2: There will be much pain in the days ahead. Last
1:15
Speaker 2: time on Tail of the Manticor, Chapter sixty begins right
1:20
Speaker 2: after Achillea hurls something into the maw of the Purple
1:23
Speaker 2: Worm that causes it to turn into a cloud of vapor.
1:26
Speaker 2: Achillie explains that it was a potion of gaseous form,
1:30
Speaker 2: something her Voppy had concocted a long time ago. The
1:34
Speaker 2: companions exit the test of Earth through a small tunnel
1:37
Speaker 2: under the pink beacon Flicker has been hurt badly and
1:41
Speaker 2: there is no cleric to help this time, but Cord
1:44
Speaker 2: once again astounds everyone by using his natural magic to
1:47
Speaker 2: heal the animal. In a flashback to the beginning of
1:50
Speaker 2: the story, we see through Belario's eyes as he departs
1:53
Speaker 2: the Iron Tower through a hatch in the roof, and
1:56
Speaker 2: in wasp form, takes to the air in search of
1:59
Speaker 2: Achillia's home. He finds it quickly and touches down, reverting
2:03
Speaker 2: to his natural gnomish s form before knocking politely on
2:06
Speaker 2: the door. Aldbay greets him and invites him in, but
2:09
Speaker 2: the moment his back is turned, Belario once again polymorphs
2:13
Speaker 2: into a giant wasp and leaps on to the other
2:15
Speaker 2: man's back to deliver his deadly sting. We return to
2:19
Speaker 2: the present and the companions who emerge from the mountain
2:22
Speaker 2: to discover a beautiful valley of lush, green pines. Feeling
2:26
Speaker 2: joyful and relieved to be out of the mountain, they
2:28
Speaker 2: enter the valley and discover a kind of sanctuary in it.
2:32
Speaker 2: It's a pool fed by a gentle waterfall. The decision
2:35
Speaker 2: is made to camp, rest and refresh themselves here and
2:38
Speaker 2: continue on. In the morning. Unbeknownst to them, Belario, still
2:42
Speaker 2: in lost form, is near by. In fact, he is
2:46
Speaker 2: almost directly overhead, clinging to the branch of a tree
2:49
Speaker 2: and Eavesdrobbing on their conversations. He decides that if an
2:53
Speaker 2: opportunity presents itself, he would be well served by delaying
2:56
Speaker 2: Achilia's group, or even better, harming them. Evening becomes night
3:01
Speaker 2: and no such opportunity arises. But then in the morning
3:05
Speaker 2: fortune presents him with a chance when de Renni separates
3:08
Speaker 2: from the group and wanders off alone. This episode, and
3:16
Speaker 2: the next and the one after that too, are all
3:19
Speaker 2: level of episodes. It should prove to be an exciting
3:22
Speaker 2: run to day. It's Achille who gets some improvements to
3:25
Speaker 2: her character sheet. Let's dive right in as a Magic Gazer.
3:29
Speaker 2: She gets a D four of new hit points. Here
3:31
Speaker 2: comes the roll A three. Hey, that's pretty good. I'm
3:34
Speaker 2: happy with that for macs of seventeen goes to twenty.
3:38
Speaker 2: Next up are chances for stat improvements. Going straight down
3:42
Speaker 2: the line with my D six and hoping for a
3:44
Speaker 2: bunch of sixes for strength, I've got a three, intelligence,
3:49
Speaker 2: a four, how about wisdom? Nope, that's a one dexterity
3:55
Speaker 2: nice A six fourteen goes to fifteen, but there's no
3:58
Speaker 2: mechanical change. Unfortunately for constitution, I've got a five and
4:03
Speaker 2: charisma a one. You know, so far, so good. Achillia's
4:08
Speaker 2: role for new hit points was better than average, and
4:10
Speaker 2: she got one stat increase. It's not bad as a
4:13
Speaker 2: magic easer. Her basic attack bonus at level six is
4:16
Speaker 2: plus two, and unfortunately it doesn't change at level seven.
4:20
Speaker 2: Of course, this barely matters, as Achillie doesn't get into
4:23
Speaker 2: melee very often. Saving throws likewise remain the same, and
4:27
Speaker 2: that's too bad. But here's something that might well make
4:29
Speaker 2: up for it. At level seven, Achillea gets not one
4:33
Speaker 2: but two new spells, one a first level and one
4:36
Speaker 2: a fourth. So color me excited for the next minute
4:39
Speaker 2: or two. I've already prepared my list of twelve potential
4:42
Speaker 2: first level spells, especially for use with this season. A
4:45
Speaker 2: reminder that if I roll a duplicate of something already
4:48
Speaker 2: in her spell book, I'll use an expansion table of
4:50
Speaker 2: exotic spells. Here's the role on a D twelve. I've
4:53
Speaker 2: got a one that's charm person. This is actually a
4:59
Speaker 2: very powerful spell. For being first level, some would say overpowered.
5:03
Speaker 2: I'll use the OSSRD version for Achillia. It says the
5:06
Speaker 2: spell causes any human, demi human, or human like monster
5:10
Speaker 2: to save versus spells or else view the caster as
5:13
Speaker 2: a trusted friend. The effect can last a long time,
5:16
Speaker 2: with highly intelligent targets getting a chance to save and
5:19
Speaker 2: break the spell every day and those of lower intelligence
5:22
Speaker 2: saving once per week or even month. So yeah, that's
5:25
Speaker 2: a very powerful spell. It might well overshadow whatever Achillia
5:29
Speaker 2: rolls for her first ever fourth level spell. Let's find
5:32
Speaker 2: out what that will be once again using the OSSRD list,
5:35
Speaker 2: as is identical to the one given in the Expert rules.
5:38
Speaker 2: There's twelve spells on this list too, so I'll be
5:41
Speaker 2: rolling this D twelve once again. In past seasons, I've
5:44
Speaker 2: used Wizard I and Dimension Door, so if I roll
5:48
Speaker 2: one of those, I'll create a new list of exotic
5:50
Speaker 2: spells using some other favorites from the D and D
5:53
Speaker 2: First Edition Player's Handbook. Here's the role A ten gives
5:57
Speaker 2: me Zouie Wall of Fire. That is much flashier of
6:03
Speaker 2: a spell than I expected to get. Here's a quick
6:06
Speaker 2: description of what it can do. It can create a
6:08
Speaker 2: wall of flames one hundred and twenty feet long and
6:11
Speaker 2: ten feet high, or sixty feet long and twenty feet high,
6:14
Speaker 2: or shaped in a ring, or whatever. So long as
6:16
Speaker 2: the tuttel doesn't exceed twelve hundred square feet, monsters of
6:20
Speaker 2: less than four hit die cannot pass through this wall.
6:22
Speaker 2: Stronger monsters can, but take a D six of fire damage.
6:26
Speaker 2: Side note here it seems to me that the one
6:28
Speaker 2: D six damage would be for a wall that was
6:31
Speaker 2: ten feet thick, so to speak. One that was twenty
6:35
Speaker 2: or thirty feet thick and commiserately shorter in length, I
6:38
Speaker 2: would assume to cause more damage. Given the spell's description,
6:42
Speaker 2: I see no reason this spell couldn't produce a fire
6:44
Speaker 2: field in effect and do much more significant damage. I'll
6:48
Speaker 2: make a ruling if it ever comes up. Well, I'm
6:51
Speaker 2: not sure if we'll see either wall of fire or
6:53
Speaker 2: charmed person in play, but I guess that's the beauty
6:56
Speaker 2: of a procedural story. You just never know. All Right.
6:59
Speaker 2: With that interesting level up complete, let's get into the narrative.
7:08
Speaker 2: Chapter sixty one, Part one, D forty five Dawn mythic
7:16
Speaker 2: event meaning harm the innocent party status Achille fifteen out
7:24
Speaker 2: of twenty hit points after leveling up and receiving four
7:27
Speaker 2: points of healing from the Holy Sanctuary. Court thirty two
7:32
Speaker 2: out of thirty two after receiving three points of healing
7:35
Speaker 2: from the Holy Sanctuary. De Renni twenty one out of
7:39
Speaker 2: twenty six after receiving four points of healing from the
7:42
Speaker 2: Holy Sanctuary. Ten Tier twenty seven out of thirty five
7:48
Speaker 2: after receiving four points of healing from the Holy Sanctuary.
7:52
Speaker 2: Flicker sixteen out of sixteen after receiving four points of
7:55
Speaker 2: healing from the Holy Sanctuary. Spells available cast shrink, enlarge charm,
8:04
Speaker 2: person detect evil, glitter, dust dispel, magic flame, arrow and
8:11
Speaker 2: wall of fire. Cord can cast, entangle, animal, friendship, slow poison, bark,
8:18
Speaker 2: skin hold animal, tretia, speak with plants, cure serious wounds,
8:25
Speaker 2: and pass plant for de Renni obligation, his sense of
8:33
Speaker 2: duty was his north star. Achilia had saved him from
8:37
Speaker 2: the Orcs, and he had pledged to aid her and
8:40
Speaker 2: defend her until she reached the end of her quest.
8:43
Speaker 2: Tantire had essentially run away from home so that he
8:46
Speaker 2: might help, and Derni had made a promise to himself
8:49
Speaker 2: that he would die before he let any harm come
8:52
Speaker 2: to his brother. In a way, it was this pair
8:55
Speaker 2: of obligations that had kept him sane ever since they
8:58
Speaker 2: had entered the lands surrounding the Golden Path, and his
9:01
Speaker 2: dreams had turned into increasingly vivid nightmares with every passing night.
9:06
Speaker 2: Their time in this ecclusium had had the merciful effect
9:09
Speaker 2: of resetting his brain, But the very first night after
9:12
Speaker 2: they departed, and every night since, the visions had come
9:15
Speaker 2: creeping back, and they'd been worse every night. The one
9:19
Speaker 2: he had just woken up from had been the worst yet.
9:23
Speaker 2: In it, he had been interrogated by the wife and
9:25
Speaker 2: children of ray Lear, and in their judgment, had come
9:28
Speaker 2: up lacking. The looks on their faces had been even
9:31
Speaker 2: worse than having to meet the decomposing and lurching zombie
9:34
Speaker 2: of the Old Crow, as had happened in his dreams
9:36
Speaker 2: the night before. Dernnie didn't think his sanity could withstand
9:41
Speaker 2: any more. One way or another. He would have to
9:44
Speaker 2: find a way to make the nightmares stop. Perhaps he
9:47
Speaker 2: could make a deal with the goddess. Ask her if
9:50
Speaker 2: are you all right? Brother? Ten tears kind voice interrupted
9:53
Speaker 2: his thoughts. His brother did not look good. De Rennie
9:57
Speaker 2: took in the young gir Else's split lip. It was puffy,
10:00
Speaker 2: encrusted in blood. Ten Tyr must have been thinking something similar.
10:04
Speaker 2: You don't look well. Did you sleep at all? Dernnie
10:09
Speaker 2: did not want to talk about it. The sooner his
10:11
Speaker 2: recollection of the dream faded, the better.
10:14
Speaker 1: I need a little time alone, he said. Please let
10:18
Speaker 1: the others know I will not go far and I
10:20
Speaker 1: will not be long, but also that I wish to
10:23
Speaker 1: remain undisturbed.
10:26
Speaker 2: Ten Tyr put a hand on his brother's chest and
10:28
Speaker 2: nodded solemnly. I wish there was more I could do
10:31
Speaker 2: for you.
10:33
Speaker 1: I just need to be on my own, that's all.
10:36
Speaker 1: I will be fine.
10:38
Speaker 2: Ten Tyre looked into his eyes and his face showed concern,
10:42
Speaker 2: but he took his hand away and let her Annie go.
10:46
Speaker 2: Nobody questioned him as he left camp, though he did
10:48
Speaker 2: hear Court turned to watch him, and Robin tweeted out
10:51
Speaker 2: something that was undeniably a question. Derannie moved away from
10:57
Speaker 2: the group, not really sure where he was going. There
11:01
Speaker 2: were lush pine trees all round him, bird song in
11:03
Speaker 2: the air, and ferns strewn with wild flowers. Everywhere he looked.
11:08
Speaker 2: This mountain valley was a place of rich beauty and
11:11
Speaker 2: perfectly antithetical to his inner landscape, which was tortured, dark,
11:16
Speaker 2: and full of guilt. Before long, he found a fallen log,
11:21
Speaker 2: carpeted in moss. A quintet of half plate fungi, wrinkled
11:26
Speaker 2: and beige ascended one side like a fairy's staircase. He
11:30
Speaker 2: took a seat on top of the log, resting his
11:32
Speaker 2: sword against it, and then sat with his elbows on
11:35
Speaker 2: his knees, in his chin, in his cupped hand. He
11:38
Speaker 2: tried to think of nothing and to become one with
11:40
Speaker 2: the woods, one part of the millions of life forms
11:43
Speaker 2: of which it was constituted. Several minutes passed in which
11:47
Speaker 2: he noticed only the sounds of nature around him. But
11:50
Speaker 2: despite his attention, he did not notice the lethal danger
11:54
Speaker 2: that crept up behind him on six spindily black legs.
12:03
Speaker 2: Even though he's being attentive to her surroundings, do Renni
12:06
Speaker 2: is extremely vulnerable to an attack right now. Luckily, he's
12:09
Speaker 2: wearing his chain mail shirt and so his ac at
12:12
Speaker 2: this moment, even without his dexterity bonus, is still pretty good.
12:16
Speaker 2: At fourteen, I'm going to make a few roles at
12:18
Speaker 2: this point. The first is for surprise on a D six.
12:22
Speaker 2: Bellario can't be surprised, but Durnni can be. I'll rule
12:25
Speaker 2: that this will only happen if he rolls a one. However,
12:28
Speaker 2: if surprise is not indicated, we move on to initiative.
12:31
Speaker 2: But first things first, is Denni caught off guard crap
12:36
Speaker 2: I got a one even though he's intently listening to
12:39
Speaker 2: his surroundings. Bellario in wasp porum is simply too quiet
12:43
Speaker 2: and too quick for him to react in time. This
12:46
Speaker 2: brings us to the next role, which it turns out,
12:48
Speaker 2: will not be for initiative. Instead, it'll be for a
12:51
Speaker 2: regular attack. Blario, while in his natural gnome form, is
12:55
Speaker 2: not such a great fighter, but as a wasp he
12:58
Speaker 2: is a formidable opponent, will get a basic attack bonus
13:01
Speaker 2: to reflect his level, as if it were a monster's
13:03
Speaker 2: hit die. Bellario is level nine, so that means he
13:07
Speaker 2: gets at plus seven to attack. Did Durni's ACA fourteen?
13:11
Speaker 2: He only ages seven or better? It doesn't look good. Ready,
13:15
Speaker 2: here comes the roll on a D twenty. Oh, I
13:19
Speaker 2: got a six. Was not expecting that. That means we
13:23
Speaker 2: moved to initiative roles, and therefore we are and jury
13:28
Speaker 2: combat round one initiative to Rennie, but one, ah, come on, really,
13:39
Speaker 2: Balario the six Okay. It's the buzzing sound coming from
13:44
Speaker 2: behind him that alerts Durani to danger. When he hears it,
13:48
Speaker 2: instinct takes over and he throws himself from the log
13:51
Speaker 2: onto the ground. Lying on his back, he sees a
13:54
Speaker 2: blur of yellow and black zip by overhead. Then, glancing
13:58
Speaker 2: to his left, Durannie notices the hilt of his sword
14:01
Speaker 2: within reach. He grabs it and springs to his feet,
14:04
Speaker 2: pivoting towards whatever has attacked him, and coming face to
14:07
Speaker 2: face with a giant wasp. It regards him with its
14:11
Speaker 2: five shining obsidian eyes, two large and three small, arranged
14:15
Speaker 2: in an inverted triangle. Between them, the alien face looks
14:19
Speaker 2: almost mask like. The dow regard each other for the
14:22
Speaker 2: space of a few seconds, neither moving. Then de Rennie
14:25
Speaker 2: faints to his right and Juke's left, but the giant
14:28
Speaker 2: insect does not fall for this deception and leaps up
14:30
Speaker 2: at him once again. Derrenni has time to see its
14:33
Speaker 2: dagger like stinger before feeling the awful thing upon him,
14:36
Speaker 2: climbing up his body and making a terrible sound in
14:39
Speaker 2: his ear. Belario will get to make another attack. Luckily,
14:45
Speaker 2: Dorenni is now actively defending himself, so he will get
14:48
Speaker 2: to apply his Dexterity bondus and his AC improves by
14:51
Speaker 2: two points. Even so, Belario only needs to roll a
14:54
Speaker 2: nine or better to sting him. Things are looking grim
14:58
Speaker 2: for de Renni, but he beat the odds one. Maybe
15:00
Speaker 2: he can do it again. Let's find out. Here comes
15:03
Speaker 2: the attack. I've got a seventeen. No ambiguity there. It's
15:07
Speaker 2: a solid hit as usual, even though it has a
15:10
Speaker 2: listing in the Monster Manual one. I'm homebrewing the Giant
15:13
Speaker 2: Wasp as a unique poster. Surprise surprise, right. To keep
15:17
Speaker 2: things simple, I'll say its single attack is a sting
15:20
Speaker 2: that does one to four points of damage and delivers
15:22
Speaker 2: a deadly poison that is fatal within one hour. He
15:25
Speaker 2: us the D four roll for damage three points. And
15:29
Speaker 2: now for the role I do not want to make
15:31
Speaker 2: Durnnie say versus poison. As a seventh level fighter, he
15:34
Speaker 2: needs to roll at least a ten. Here goes nothing.
15:39
Speaker 2: I got an eleven. That's a success, though barely. Dernni
15:42
Speaker 2: manages to shove the awful creature off him before the
15:45
Speaker 2: venom can be injected. And now it's finally Durani's turned
15:50
Speaker 2: to act. He slashes out with his sword. A giant
15:53
Speaker 2: wasp has an AC of sixteen, but de Renni has
15:56
Speaker 2: a basic attack bonus of plus five, so the target
15:59
Speaker 2: number is eleven. His roll A thirteen connects. I don't
16:04
Speaker 2: think Belario is expecting things to go this way. Let's
16:06
Speaker 2: see how much damage de Renni will inflict on a
16:09
Speaker 2: D six four points half, Blario's hit points drop from
16:14
Speaker 2: twenty one to seventeen. I wonder would Belarios stick around
16:19
Speaker 2: to try again, or realizing that the elf is a
16:21
Speaker 2: much tougher opponent than he first thought, would he flee.
16:25
Speaker 2: He might. Let's roll high low to find out. On
16:28
Speaker 2: a D twenty a one to tend means he stays
16:30
Speaker 2: and fights the seventeen. Okay, he will flee at the
16:34
Speaker 2: first opportunity, but he can't do that until his next turn,
16:37
Speaker 2: which means we move on to round two. Initiative de
16:41
Speaker 2: Rennie a six Belario also six, simultaneous initiative that paints
16:48
Speaker 2: a picture. Belario tries to disengage and fly off, but
16:51
Speaker 2: do Renni is not going to let that happen. He
16:54
Speaker 2: will get to make one last attack as the Wasp
16:56
Speaker 2: flies off looking for a roll of eleven or better
17:00
Speaker 2: a thirteen. De Rennie's Elfin's sword carves a chunk off
17:03
Speaker 2: the Wasp's abdomen near the stinger. Bellario will take three
17:08
Speaker 2: more points of damage before he manages to get away. Yes,
17:13
Speaker 2: when it's over, do Rennie, breathing hard and with murder
17:16
Speaker 2: in his eyes, watches the thing that tried to kill
17:18
Speaker 2: him fly off very quickly. It is gone and there
17:22
Speaker 2: is nothing for him to do but return to camp.
17:33
Speaker 2: I'm sure it'll be completely expected that I followed that
17:36
Speaker 2: combat scene by saying it did not go as I
17:38
Speaker 2: had expected. I have an uncomfortable relationship with poison in
17:42
Speaker 2: my D and D games, and have had ever since
17:45
Speaker 2: season one. I did think Doretti was going to fail
17:47
Speaker 2: a saving throw. It's funny how I am pessimistic about
17:51
Speaker 2: outcomes when it comes to certain things. Quick aside, I
17:54
Speaker 2: remember taking a psychology class back in university and learning
17:57
Speaker 2: about why it is that sometimes people believe that they
18:00
Speaker 2: are actually unlucky. If you've ever had the feeling that
18:03
Speaker 2: you always just miss the bus where the light turns red,
18:06
Speaker 2: when you get to it. There's a psychological explanation for this,
18:09
Speaker 2: because obviously bad luck isn't personal. The reason it sometimes
18:13
Speaker 2: feels like that is because we tend to remember when
18:16
Speaker 2: bad things happen and forget when they don't. You don't
18:19
Speaker 2: feel emotions from catching the bus, but you do from
18:22
Speaker 2: missing it. You don't get upset when the light remains green,
18:25
Speaker 2: but you do when it turns red just as you
18:27
Speaker 2: pull up. It's the accumulation of these events and how
18:30
Speaker 2: we tend to remember just the negative ones that makes
18:33
Speaker 2: us sometimes feel like we are a quote unquote unlucky
18:36
Speaker 2: people and expect bad things to happen. Speaking of expectations,
18:40
Speaker 2: I'm pretty confident that I'm not the only one who
18:42
Speaker 2: expected to any to get poisoned. Of course, I'm talking
18:45
Speaker 2: about Belario, who would have been very unpleasantly surprised by
18:48
Speaker 2: the outcome of that encounter, because I think such things
18:51
Speaker 2: have always been fairly easy for him, and his prey
18:54
Speaker 2: doesn't normally fight back to any sword carved seven points
18:57
Speaker 2: of damage at Blario, which is signific the Gnome is
19:01
Speaker 2: going to be hurting for a while. Of Course, I
19:04
Speaker 2: didn't stop the story just to ruminate on the previous scene.
19:07
Speaker 2: I really stopped it to roll up a new event,
19:09
Speaker 2: meaning now that harmly innocent has been fulfilled. Okay, here
19:12
Speaker 2: we go on d percentile forty eight gives me block
19:18
Speaker 2: and rolling again. Huh zero one? Anyway, that's goals, block goals. Yeah,
19:24
Speaker 2: I can work with that. Chapter sixty one, Part two,
19:33
Speaker 2: Day forty five, early morning mythic event meaning block goals
19:42
Speaker 2: party status. The party status is unchanged, with the exception
19:46
Speaker 2: of de Renni, who has been reduced to eighteen out
19:48
Speaker 2: of twenty six hit points. Achille woke up from a
19:54
Speaker 2: dream in which you'd taken the left fork at the
19:57
Speaker 2: last obelisk instead of the right, and had therefore fail
20:00
Speaker 2: the test of fire instead of that of earth. As
20:03
Speaker 2: she moved through the liminal space between sleep and wakefulness,
20:07
Speaker 2: she recalled walking through the great wall of flame that
20:09
Speaker 2: had sprung up across that tunnel. She hadn't felt frightened,
20:13
Speaker 2: because the flames had not burned her. Instead, they felt
20:16
Speaker 2: warm and good on her skin, and she discovered, to
20:19
Speaker 2: her wonder and delight that she could make them rise
20:22
Speaker 2: and fall, and otherwise shape them by her will. The
20:26
Speaker 2: dream had filled her with a sense of power that
20:28
Speaker 2: did not leave her even as she became fully awake.
20:32
Speaker 2: Perhaps it was their proximity to the goddess, or perhaps
20:35
Speaker 2: it was her ever increasing ability to recall things from
20:38
Speaker 2: her previous lives. But even before Achilia pulled her spell
20:41
Speaker 2: book from her bag, she knew that she would be
20:44
Speaker 2: able to unlock more of its secrets. And she was
20:47
Speaker 2: more right than she knew, because not one but two
20:50
Speaker 2: new spells opened her as she flipped through its pages.
20:54
Speaker 2: She set about memorizing both of them right away, and
20:57
Speaker 2: was so thoroughly engrossed in the work that when Derni
20:59
Speaker 2: Stone umbled back into camp, clutching his side, she didn't
21:02
Speaker 2: even notice until ten Tyr called out in alarm.
21:05
Speaker 1: Do Rennie, what happened? Are you all right?
21:08
Speaker 2: Dornni's voice was pinched in pain, but he managed.
21:12
Speaker 1: This place is not as safe as we had thought.
21:15
Speaker 1: There is danger nearby.
21:18
Speaker 2: Something attacked you, exclaimed Tantyer, jumping to his feet. His
21:22
Speaker 2: face was paler than his brother's.
21:24
Speaker 1: Yes, a giant wasp. It stung me.
21:27
Speaker 2: By now, Dornni had reached Tantyr, who had rushed up
21:30
Speaker 2: to meet him. The others followed close behind. De Renni
21:33
Speaker 2: gingerly lifted up the edge of his chain mill shirt
21:36
Speaker 2: for his brother's inspection. One side of his torso was
21:39
Speaker 2: swollen and bloody. Come to the water, said Tantyer, frowning. Oh,
21:44
Speaker 2: I never should have let you go off on your
21:46
Speaker 2: own in a place like this. What was I thinking?
21:50
Speaker 2: Derni allowed himself to be led to the pool, where
21:52
Speaker 2: Tantyr carefully washed his wound with water, Cleaning away the
21:57
Speaker 2: blood exposed a puckered hole the size of a peace
22:00
Speaker 2: in the off side. Tender put a hand across Dorani's brow,
22:03
Speaker 2: but sighed with the relief when he felt that it
22:06
Speaker 2: was neither hot to the touch nor clammy. You'll be
22:09
Speaker 2: all right, won't you, he asked? I think so, Dernni replied, but.
22:14
Speaker 1: I would not mind a drink of that water.
22:17
Speaker 2: After taking a drink, he recounted to the others all
22:20
Speaker 2: that had happened to him, concluding with that is.
22:23
Speaker 1: Why I do not think we should linger here any
22:25
Speaker 1: longer than necessary.
22:27
Speaker 2: But are you sure you are all right to keep going?
22:30
Speaker 2: Achillie asked. We can rest here longer if you need to.
22:34
Speaker 1: Thank you, but it would be wise to move on, Achille.
22:38
Speaker 1: I feel better after having had a drink, and as
22:41
Speaker 1: for the wound, I have had worse.
22:44
Speaker 2: All right, then, Achillie replied, not fully convinced. Let's gather
22:48
Speaker 2: our things and get going. We must be near the
22:51
Speaker 2: end of the path, and odok Zagog can't be too far.
23:02
Speaker 2: Chapter sixty one, Part three, Day forty five morning mythic
23:09
Speaker 2: event meaning block goals. Balario weaved left and right between
23:20
Speaker 2: the trees as he sped through the wooded mountain valley
23:23
Speaker 2: away from the sight of his failed ambush. Pain vied
23:26
Speaker 2: with a variety of emotions for dominance inside him. He
23:29
Speaker 2: felt outrage, fear, surprise, and indignation, among others. What had
23:36
Speaker 2: just happened and how had it gone so badly? Never
23:39
Speaker 2: had a victim turned the tables like that before. If
23:42
Speaker 2: he hadn't fled, that elf would have killed him. It
23:46
Speaker 2: was unthinkable. After a moment or so, he slowed and
23:50
Speaker 2: chose a fir tree to hide him while he pulled
23:52
Speaker 2: himself together and caught his breath. He would forget about
23:56
Speaker 2: Achillia and her group. That's what he would do. He
23:58
Speaker 2: would get to the end of the Golden Path without them.
24:01
Speaker 2: Valario now believed, as they did that the trials and
24:04
Speaker 2: tests of this place were behind them. It would only
24:07
Speaker 2: be a matter of following the path to its conclusion.
24:10
Speaker 2: Feeling a little more calm, he took off once again
24:13
Speaker 2: and buzzed a path between the trees. This part of
24:16
Speaker 2: the valley was pinched between the two mountain sides. He
24:19
Speaker 2: was no more than one hundred feet across, and he
24:21
Speaker 2: could see sheer rock walls to his left and to
24:24
Speaker 2: his right. Not far ahead, it opened up again and
24:27
Speaker 2: the way became wider. From far above, the geography would
24:31
Speaker 2: have looked like an hourglass laid on its side. He
24:35
Speaker 2: flew on until he could see at the edge of
24:36
Speaker 2: the woods. The site made him feel better despite the
24:39
Speaker 2: pain in his abdomen. He was about to reap a
24:41
Speaker 2: tremendous reward. He could feel it. But when Belaria reached
24:46
Speaker 2: the tree line and saw what lay beyond, he immediately
24:49
Speaker 2: pulled back in fear and awe by mirrabb had he
24:54
Speaker 2: just seen what he thought he had? He pulled back
24:57
Speaker 2: into the cover of the woods and decided that a
25:00
Speaker 2: change in plans was in order. Instead of going ahead,
25:03
Speaker 2: he would let a kill you as party pass him
25:05
Speaker 2: by and once again deal with a trouble ahead. It
25:08
Speaker 2: was true that this narrow section between the two mountains
25:11
Speaker 2: was a less than ideal spot to hide in, but
25:13
Speaker 2: the risk of being discovered was worth taking given the alternative.
25:18
Speaker 2: He had no intention of facing a dragon alone. Thank
25:24
Speaker 2: you for listening to Tale of the Manticore. If you'd
25:27
Speaker 2: like to help about the show, here are four ways
25:29
Speaker 2: to do so. You can recommend or liken repost episode
25:33
Speaker 2: announcements on social media, purchase a Tale of the Manticore
25:35
Speaker 2: t shirt at bear Arsta store or one of my
25:38
Speaker 2: offerings on drive through RPG rating, to review the show
25:41
Speaker 2: in your favorite podcatcher, or give you a sub on YouTube.
25:44
Speaker 2: I've known for a while that Spotify doesn't allow reviews,
25:47
Speaker 2: but I've just learned recently that it does permove comments.
25:50
Speaker 2: Here's one from Tebaco six oh four, and it's specific
25:53
Speaker 2: to episode forty four. That's the part of the story
25:56
Speaker 2: when the PCs meet the false Zygog. Fireball six four writes,
26:01
Speaker 2: somebody please tell me they saw MGM's Wizard of Oz
26:04
Speaker 2: in these last two episodes. I hate to see a
26:06
Speaker 2: good illusion pass unnoticed. Very glad to see you're picking
26:10
Speaker 2: up those references. Tepco six o four and yes, this
26:14
Speaker 2: season is just bursting with Wizard of Oz references. I mean,
26:18
Speaker 2: I probably go overboard with them, but I just cannot
26:21
Speaker 2: help myself. Sometimes. The Fireball illusion is a little harder
26:25
Speaker 2: to spot, actually, since it refers to the written story
26:28
Speaker 2: instead of the movie. Other folks have noticed different things,
26:32
Speaker 2: like the Golden Path and odok Zagog's initials. But if
26:36
Speaker 2: you look, there are dozens of easter eggs oster eggs. Anyway,
26:41
Speaker 2: Thanks very much for the comment, Tepco six O four
26:43
Speaker 2: and happy hunting. By the way, a few others commented
26:47
Speaker 2: that the Fireball's voice is hard to understand because of
26:50
Speaker 2: the distortion on the vocal. I went ahead and put
26:52
Speaker 2: a transcript of the pertinent lines in the episode posted
26:55
Speaker 2: to YouTube in case anyone feels like they've missed something
26:58
Speaker 2: and want to check. And once again, sorry for the
27:01
Speaker 2: delayed response. I only just found out that Spotify comments
27:05
Speaker 2: even existed. A huge thank you goes out to my
27:08
Speaker 2: cast of voice actors. This episode features just you. Hyllen
27:12
Speaker 2: and Kevin Barringer played Gerenni and Tantier. Thanks guys, I'd
27:16
Speaker 2: be lost without you. For those who wish to find
27:20
Speaker 2: other like minded creators doing similar shows, please check out
27:23
Speaker 2: Solo Roleplayers Network dot com and if you're curious to
27:26
Speaker 2: learn more about this show, I keep a blog where
27:28
Speaker 2: I post all kinds of show and RPG related stuff
27:31
Speaker 2: like sketches, maps, tables, crafts, and show notes. You can
27:34
Speaker 2: find that at Tale Ofthemanticore dot com. To get in
27:37
Speaker 2: touch with me, I'm at tale of Themanticore dot boost
27:39
Speaker 2: Guide dot Social, Tale of the Manticore Podcast on Instagram,
27:42
Speaker 2: or tale of themantic gart gmail dot com. We'll see
27:45
Speaker 2: you next time on Tale of the Manta or the
27:48
Speaker 2: Story We're Chaos roles