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Episode 19 (S3E19) · Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama

0:00
Speaker 1: Hi, this is Jason from the Nerds RPG Variety Cast
0:03
Speaker 1: and you are listening to Tale of the Manicor. The
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Speaker 1: following podcast is intended for a mature audience. Listener discretion
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Speaker 1: is advised. Welcome back to Tale of the Manticor Season three.
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Speaker 1: Like the creature from which it takes its name, Tale
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Speaker 1: of the Manticor is a mashup, a crossbreeding between two
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Speaker 1: different species of storytelling. Here you will find the unpredictability
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Speaker 1: of old school paper and dice games with the story
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Speaker 1: craft of a dark fantasy novel. No character is sacred
0:49
Speaker 1: and none will be spared if the dice decide their
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Speaker 1: fate is at hand. According to Laura, the Tale of
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Speaker 1: a Manticre is barbed with cruel iron spikes. There will
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Speaker 1: be much pain in the days ahead. Last time on
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Speaker 1: Tail of the Manticor, Chapter eighteen begins with Achillia interrogating
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Speaker 1: a confused fair Wind about odok Zygog, whose name she
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Speaker 1: had previously mispronounced. He doesn't have much to tell her,
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Speaker 1: except to say that the famous historian is a known recluse,
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Speaker 1: and that there's more of rumor about him to be
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Speaker 1: had than reliable information. Their conversation is interrupted when Chord
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Speaker 1: finds something hidden under brambles and crabgrasses. It's a tile
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Speaker 1: that can be easily lifted away to reveal an empty
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Speaker 1: space below the Chilia is almost certain that Court has
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Speaker 1: just found the came Or crypt and reasons that the
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Speaker 1: ghost of Leerhane must have been seeking it. Perhaps they
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Speaker 1: can return his skull to its final resting place and
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Speaker 1: lift Morok's curse. The five pieces descended to the crypt
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Speaker 1: below using Dorenni's rope, and fair Wind builds a small
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Speaker 1: though in order that he may see here. Achillia notices
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Speaker 1: something about Kord's wound. Judging by the little sprout she
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Speaker 1: finds on his torso, it appears that the wooden construct
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Speaker 1: did not only healing but growing. Cord levels up and
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Speaker 1: gains the spell slow Poison. When we returned to the group,
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Speaker 1: we find them preparing to exit the room through the
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Speaker 1: only available way out other than the whole in the ceiling.
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Speaker 1: They pass under an arch and come to a t junction.
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Speaker 1: Tentyer begins to feel his courage to leave him, but
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Speaker 1: to Rennie takes a moment to bolster his resolve and
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Speaker 1: remind him of exactly who he is In the previous episode,
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Speaker 1: I talked a bit from a story or meta perspective
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Speaker 1: about how I determined that there would be a way
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Speaker 1: into the crypt via a removable ceiling tile with a
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Speaker 1: broken corner. Two robbers had been here before at some point.
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Speaker 1: That's how the skull of Prince Lerahan found its way
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Speaker 1: into Momby's possession. The broken corner explains how the sprites
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Speaker 1: had been able to enter the tomb. I neglected to
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Speaker 1: mention that there was a third element to this my event,
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Speaker 1: meaning open success. I interpreted that to mean that the
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Speaker 1: Piecs could enter the Kymore Crypt without any real difficulty.
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Speaker 1: So now I need to roll for a new set
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Speaker 1: of prompts from mythic. Here's two D ten. Let's roll
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Speaker 1: em up. I've got fifty nine and twenty four. That's
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Speaker 1: agree tension, Agree about tension or possibly tense agreement, some
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Speaker 1: dispute between two or more party members, perhaps well as usual.
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Speaker 1: I'm not too sure, but I'm not worried. It'll work
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Speaker 1: its way into the story before long. While I have
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Speaker 1: the action on hold, I'm going to flip another card
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Speaker 1: for my one shot in the dark dungeon generator. I've
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Speaker 1: got huh it's the ten of Hearts that's actually my
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Speaker 1: target card, as it represents the family crypt in one
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Speaker 1: shot in the dark. There's a rule that if you
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Speaker 1: pull the target card too early, you have to replace
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Speaker 1: it in the deck and reshuffle, then draw again. For
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Speaker 1: this scenario, or if you prefer module, I decided that
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Speaker 1: I would need to pull a minimum of three cards
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Speaker 1: before the PCs can reach their target room. And I've
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Speaker 1: only pulled one, So back into the deck it goes,
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Speaker 1: and we draw a new one. Okay, the deck is
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Speaker 1: reshuffled and the new card is three of Hearts, which
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Speaker 1: means the next room will be let's see a thirty
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Speaker 1: by forty foot room of statues with two eggs. Pretty straightforward,
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Speaker 1: and there's just one more thing to work out. I
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Speaker 1: want a mechanic to introduce the possibility of danger into
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Speaker 1: each new area of this crypt. I think that'd be
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Speaker 1: more fun than populating it by dmfiat. Here's what I'll do.
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Speaker 1: I'll make a wandering monster check every time I flip
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Speaker 1: a new card to determine a new room. By the way,
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Speaker 1: in season three, wandering encounters have happened when I roll
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Speaker 1: high on a D six. That's how the expert rules
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Speaker 1: say to do it. But I'm going back to the
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Speaker 1: older basic D and D rule found on page B
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Speaker 1: fifty three that says a one on a D six
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Speaker 1: indicates an encounter. So it's roll low in basic and
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Speaker 1: roll high in expert, or more precisely, roll low in
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Speaker 1: a dungeon or roll high in the wilderness clear as mud. Right, anyway,
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Speaker 1: here's the role for this room of statues using in
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Speaker 1: D six, and I am looking for anything but a one.
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Speaker 1: I've got a two ooh two close for comfort, yuicks.
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Speaker 1: But okay, I think I have all I need. Time
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Speaker 1: to get back to the narrative. Chapter nineteen, Part one,
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Speaker 1: Day sixteen, mid afternoon, mythic event meaning agree tension, party
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Speaker 1: status Achillia seven out of seven hit points, Chord eight
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Speaker 1: out of fourteen, do any nine out of nine, ten
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Speaker 1: tier ten out of ten spells available. Achilia has memorized
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Speaker 1: message times two cord can cast, entangle, locate plants and animals,
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Speaker 1: and slow poison. Let's go left, said Tintyr, and so
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Speaker 1: they did. Dornni led the way, then came his younger brother,
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Speaker 1: who was followed by Cord, Achilia and fair Wind. Dornni's
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Speaker 1: words had bolstered Tendere's confidence somewhat. Thinking of his mother
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Speaker 1: had always had that effect on him. All the same,
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Speaker 1: he could not deny the feeling of foreboding that seemed
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Speaker 1: to suffuse his whole being. If only they were able
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Speaker 1: to use their dark vision, it would not be so bad.
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Speaker 1: But the human's torchlight threw wild shadows everywhere while barely
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Speaker 1: lighting their way. The cleric's light came from behind and
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Speaker 1: only extended a couple dozen feet ahead of them. Perhaps
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Speaker 1: the human should be the one to take the lead,
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Speaker 1: thought Tantyre. He was more familiar with places such as these,
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Speaker 1: strange underground places built by men in an effort to
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Speaker 1: deny death. The corridor ended in an archway that opened
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Speaker 1: into a second room. As the companions grew near, the
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Speaker 1: details beyond resolved into tall and frightening shapes. Again. If
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Speaker 1: it hadn't been for the weird and inconsistent lighting, Tenter
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Speaker 1: would have been spared the jolt of fear that shot
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Speaker 1: through him when they first laid eyes upon the statues
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Speaker 1: in the next room. He was simply not accustomed to
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Speaker 1: seeing in this way, nor with being in places like this,
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Speaker 1: underground with no easy exits. At hand, so when he
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Speaker 1: saw the first statue, it made him start. It was
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Speaker 1: a life sized figure of a bearded warrior, a little
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Speaker 1: taller than fair Wind, but with a beard that was
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Speaker 1: full and thick, with whirls and curls, unlike the clerics,
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Speaker 1: whose was thin and uneven. There was a similar statue
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Speaker 1: beside the first, another warrior, also bearded and with narrowed
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Speaker 1: eyes that glowered under a lowered brow. In total, there
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Speaker 1: were six statues, Three were of males and three of females.
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Speaker 1: The men were all warriors, judging by their stone, weapons
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Speaker 1: and armor, the women must be nobles. They wore their
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Speaker 1: hair and braids and were decorated with jeweled necklaces, bracelets,
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Speaker 1: and rings. Their faces were severe but beautiful. Every detail,
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Speaker 1: from the jewels in their rings to their perfectly shaped faces,
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Speaker 1: were all carved from stone. All statues had one thing
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Speaker 1: in common. Each cradled the candle in their left hand
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Speaker 1: close to their breast. The sculptor had carved these with
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Speaker 1: the same eye for realism as the rest of the figures,
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Speaker 1: and had included small details such as rattles of melting wax,
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Speaker 1: and topped them with little stone teardrop shaped flames six
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Speaker 1: candles marked the way through long lives, twists and turns
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Speaker 1: from tiny infant's first breath, said Achilia softly, remembering one
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Speaker 1: of the first poems that her Vapy had taught her.
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Speaker 1: Tin Tyr and Doranni could not understand since she recited
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Speaker 1: it in the common tongue, but they stopped and listened attentively,
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Speaker 1: perhaps thinking that she was speaking a prayer until the.
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Speaker 2: Grave age and all that was too learns. On the
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Speaker 2: way to dusky Death, I know that.
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Speaker 1: Poem, said Ferwind in a low voice.
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Speaker 3: It's one of Hamnett Rattlestaff's best, though I believe the
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Speaker 3: last line is on the way to dusty death. Wherever
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Speaker 3: did you learn it?
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Speaker 1: I preferred dusky, replied Akelia after a moment consideration.
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Speaker 2: It's more evocative. Regardless, I think this is his very best,
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Speaker 2: though I admit I almost thought the six candles were
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Speaker 2: a metaphor.
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Speaker 3: Rattlestaff knows the histories he would have to have read.
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Speaker 1: Fairwind had no desire to reopen the subject of odok zygog.
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Speaker 3: A widely in order to write as he does.
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Speaker 1: Apart from the statues and two more open archways, the
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Speaker 1: room was empty. Nothing moved but for their shadows, which
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Speaker 1: had diminished as the light from Fairwind's brand had begun
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Speaker 1: to wane. Which way little Mouse as de Rennie to Tintyre.
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Speaker 1: Once he determined that the conversation between Fairwind and Achillee
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Speaker 1: did not concern him. Left or right, he pointed with
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Speaker 1: the tip of his sword, first at one archway, then another.
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Speaker 1: Ten tier schewed his lip. The statues were lined up
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Speaker 1: with three males to the left and three females to
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Speaker 1: the right. To reach either exit would mean passing between
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Speaker 1: two warriors statues, or else two of the noble women.
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Speaker 1: Ten Deer could have no idea which way they should go,
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Speaker 1: appreciated that his brother was giving him the choice all
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Speaker 1: the same, Let's go left, he said, and Durani led
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Speaker 1: the way. And just like that, it's time to generate
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Speaker 1: the next part of this crypt. As I've only drawn
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Speaker 1: two cards. If I get the ten of Hearts my
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Speaker 1: target card that I need to redraw, here goes six
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Speaker 1: of Hearts. One shot in the dark tells me that's
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Speaker 1: a oh oh oh. It's a trapped hallway with no
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Speaker 1: thief in the party. The pieces are bound to set
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Speaker 1: it off. The table entry says it should do one
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Speaker 1: to eight points of damage, and I think that works.
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Speaker 1: But hang on, we know that two Marbbers have been
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Speaker 1: here in the past, so it's reasonable to say there's
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Speaker 1: a chance they would have already set off this trap.
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Speaker 1: I'll roll high low Hi means that's exactly what has happened.
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Speaker 1: But twelve, well, that's good news for two reasons. There's
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Speaker 1: the obvious, but it also means they are likely headed
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Speaker 1: in the right way. I just need to make a
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Speaker 1: quick wandering encounter check before I returned to the narrative,
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Speaker 1: rolling one before more good news. Only a one indicates
11:04
Speaker 1: a wandering encounter. When in a dungeon, Durreni passed between
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Speaker 1: the towering second and third Warriors before entering a curving
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Speaker 1: hallway that he believed bent to the west. Already, he
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Speaker 1: was losing his bearings down here. Why would humans opt
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Speaker 1: to burrow in the earth like orcs when it was
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Speaker 1: so much easier and so much more pleasant to build
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Speaker 1: under the sky. He would have to ask Achillia to
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Speaker 1: ask their new companion when they left this place, he
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Speaker 1: hoped that would be soon behind him. Achilia was struggling.
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Speaker 1: She found that the stone statues reminded her strongly of
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Speaker 1: her Bobby, but she pushed the thought away. It would
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Speaker 1: not do to be consumed by grief right now, so
11:46
Speaker 1: that's what she did. She pushed down her emotions and
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Speaker 1: simply followed Dorenni fifteen feet into the corridor. Just as
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Speaker 1: it started to curve to the right, something caught his
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Speaker 1: eye and he called a halt. He whispered back to
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Speaker 1: a a Killia to have fair wind pass his torch forward,
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Speaker 1: and the clerk reluctantly acquiesced. The flame was very small,
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Speaker 1: Dorannie noticed, and the torch looked like it wouldn't last
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Speaker 1: more than another few minutes. He returned his attention to
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Speaker 1: the shape that had made him stop. There was a
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Speaker 1: line bisecting the top half of the corridor from the bottom,
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Speaker 1: perhaps a pole or a spear, and it seemed to
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Speaker 1: have pinned something to the left wall. It was it
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Speaker 1: was a skeleton, a human skeleton. A few rags still
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Speaker 1: clung to the bones, but that was all that remained
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Speaker 1: of this poor soul. Dorrenni motioned the others to stay
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Speaker 1: back while he crept forward, and he could hear them
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Speaker 1: whispering among themselves as he did so. Yes, he'd been right.
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Speaker 1: It was a skeleton with some cut of shaft passing
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Speaker 1: straight through it. It skewered the torso through the rib cage.
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Speaker 1: Oh creature, breathed Derrennie to himself.
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Speaker 2: To die in a place like this To.
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Speaker 1: An elf it was a harrowing thought, akin to being
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Speaker 1: buried alive. Elves did not in her their dead. Derenni
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Speaker 1: had heard stories about places such as these, and so
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Speaker 1: he was familiar with the concept of traps. He understood
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Speaker 1: what had happened here, but still could not see what
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Speaker 1: had triggered the mechanism, though we scanned the wall on
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Speaker 1: floor looking for clues. Eventually he decided that since it
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Speaker 1: was already tripped, the trap was now harmless. He called
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Speaker 1: the others forward, and one by one they ducked under
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Speaker 1: the metal shaft of the spear trap, maintaining their marching
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Speaker 1: order as they proceeded a round the bend in the corridor.
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Speaker 1: Once again. I've got the DM hat back on, and
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Speaker 1: my dice and a deck of cards are at hand.
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Speaker 1: Since I've already drawn three cards in the exploration of
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Speaker 1: this dungeon, I've passed the minimum requirement before I could
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Speaker 1: reach the target room. That's the ten of Hearts, which
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Speaker 1: will indicate Moroc's family crypt. My deck only contains hard carts,
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Speaker 1: and I removed the nine, Queen and King even before
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Speaker 1: it came into play. With the two, three, and six
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Speaker 1: already drawn, there are now six cards left, still plenty
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Speaker 1: of chaos. The sooner I draw that ten of Hearts,
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Speaker 1: the better, because every card brings danger along with it
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Speaker 1: in the form of a wandering monster check or the
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Speaker 1: potential hazards, just like we saw with the trapped corridor.
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Speaker 1: Here's the draw Jack of Hearts, Old boy. That's well,
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Speaker 1: I'll just read the entry ghost. If a character has died,
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Speaker 1: their ghost floats through the wall. On a successful saving throw,
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Speaker 1: the spirit blesses the party. If unsuccessful, the spirit blames
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Speaker 1: the party for their death and curses them. There's a
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Speaker 1: bit more in here, but it's not applicable to this story,
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Speaker 1: and obviously there are no deceased PCs to bring back. Instead,
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Speaker 1: I'll try to keep the essence of the encounter by
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Speaker 1: saying that the party will encounter a ghost, but the
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Speaker 1: saving throw, represented here by a high low roll will
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Speaker 1: determine whose ghost it is. A high role means it's
14:51
Speaker 1: the ghost of Prince Leirhane, and he will likely provide
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Speaker 1: some kind of help to the pcees. A low roll
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Speaker 1: will indicate an encounter with the ghost of Queen and Ni,
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Speaker 1: which would be very bad, or else the count Wizard,
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Speaker 1: whom we know nothing about and could go any which way.
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Speaker 1: Since this is already a kind of wandering encounter, I
15:08
Speaker 1: will not roll the usual D six as an additional check.
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Speaker 1: I'm sure this will prove to be more than enough
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Speaker 1: to fill out the scene. Rolling the high low on
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Speaker 1: in D twenty Well, okay, then Chapter nineteen, Part two,
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Speaker 1: Day sixteen, late afternoon mythic of end meaning agree tension
15:35
Speaker 1: party status. The party status is unchanged during any pass
15:44
Speaker 1: the waning torch to Teniers. He easily docked under the
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Speaker 1: spear trap, and then Tentier handed it to Achillie as
15:51
Speaker 1: he followed suit. Achillia, being a bit taller, had to
15:54
Speaker 1: dip down half a foot before she passed and held
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Speaker 1: the flaming stick for Court, who was required to crawl
16:00
Speaker 1: awkwardly on his wooden hands and knees. Fairwind came last,
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Speaker 1: also crawling, and received his torch back from the half
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Speaker 1: elf when he stood up looking at its dying fire.
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Speaker 1: He had a notion and thrust it into the skeleton's
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Speaker 1: rags with a twisting motion. The flames sputtered and grew,
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Speaker 1: brightening the hall as it flared back to its original size,
16:19
Speaker 1: while filling the corridor with the smell of burnt dust.
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Speaker 1: Fairwind considered his work and tutted his tongue. His makeshift
16:26
Speaker 1: torch would last a few more minutes, but he really
16:28
Speaker 1: should have thought to bring more wood. The crypt was
16:31
Speaker 1: proving to be much larger than he'd expected. While the
16:34
Speaker 1: clerk worked on his light source, Achillie studied the skeleton
16:37
Speaker 1: impaled on the spear trap. Little winking embers speckled some
16:40
Speaker 1: of its bones and made it seem magical and otherworldly.
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Speaker 1: Like de Rennie, she considered how horrible it would be
16:46
Speaker 1: to die in a place such as this, and felt
16:48
Speaker 1: pity for them. Whatever kind of person they had.
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Speaker 2: Been, this must have been one of the men or
16:53
Speaker 2: women who came and robbed this place, she said.
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Speaker 1: To Cord, who creaked thoughtfully in agreement. The companions carried
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Speaker 1: on down the hall. Fairwind's nearly improvised torch flung their
17:03
Speaker 1: shadows against the walls ahead amid them stretch and loom
17:06
Speaker 1: like deformed phantoms as the passage began to descend by
17:09
Speaker 1: steps for another fifteen or twenty feet deeper into the earth.
17:14
Speaker 1: When the steps ended and the passage flattened out, the
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Speaker 1: party found themselves in a corridor that curved the right,
17:19
Speaker 1: once again pointing back to the north. In the lead,
17:22
Speaker 1: Dornni was having difficulty seeing clearly because of Fairwin's torch flight,
17:26
Speaker 1: but before long he could make out an intersection ahead
17:29
Speaker 1: right in the middle of the junction. Was actually Dornni
17:33
Speaker 1: did not know what he was seeing, and at first
17:35
Speaker 1: thought it was a trick of the light, just like
17:37
Speaker 1: their menacing shadows in the space where the four hallways met.
17:40
Speaker 1: It looked to him as if the air itself was
17:43
Speaker 1: being bent and distorted. Thinking it might be another trap,
17:47
Speaker 1: he called the halt, intending to go on alone to investigate.
17:50
Speaker 1: But before he even turned around, there came a sudden
17:53
Speaker 1: coughing sound from Fairwin's torch. He flared brightly, despite the
17:57
Speaker 1: complete absence of any wind or air current down the hid.
18:00
Speaker 1: Then it sputtered again and went out completely. Fairwin did
18:05
Speaker 1: not see what the others saw, and perhaps for the
18:08
Speaker 1: sake of his nity, that was for the best, as
18:11
Speaker 1: her der Ani ten Teer, Achillia and Cord. When their
18:14
Speaker 1: dark vision resolved, they saw a thing that pushed the
18:17
Speaker 1: limits of reality as they understood it. In the intersection
18:21
Speaker 1: was a person that seemed to be made of fluid,
18:23
Speaker 1: milky glass. It floated a foot above the floor. No
18:27
Speaker 1: feet emerged from below the bell like shape of the
18:29
Speaker 1: phantom's courtly robe, but it did have arms that extended
18:32
Speaker 1: from the sleeves of its glowing pel tunic. These ended
18:35
Speaker 1: in colorless hands. The cupped a face that was not there.
18:39
Speaker 1: The floating apparition was headless, and yet it seemed to
18:42
Speaker 1: hold itself as though weeping. The torso shook with silent sobs,
18:47
Speaker 1: while the figure's whole being hung in mid air, rotating slowly.
18:52
Speaker 1: Achilia's heart flicked in her chest like a beached fish.
18:55
Speaker 1: She knew right away that this was the boy from
18:57
Speaker 1: her dreams, but knowing did little to alleviate the terror
19:00
Speaker 1: she felt threatened to overtake her senses. At the same time,
19:04
Speaker 1: a river of pity broke through some damn inside her. Altogether,
19:08
Speaker 1: it was a concoction of emotions too strong and too
19:11
Speaker 1: strange to process. It was all she could do to
19:13
Speaker 1: remember to breathe.
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Speaker 3: The fire I cannot see.
19:17
Speaker 1: Said Fairwind, in a breathy whisper that suggested he could send.
19:20
Speaker 1: Something momentous was taking place. I'll do piece, clerk, Acilia admonished.
19:26
Speaker 1: Since de Rennie tantyran Court could not speak with it
19:29
Speaker 1: and Fairwind could not even see it, she knew it
19:31
Speaker 1: was up to her. Of course, it was up to her.
19:34
Speaker 1: This was the boy from her dreams, and she had
19:36
Speaker 1: spoken with him before. The thought gave her the courage
19:39
Speaker 1: she needed. Spirit she called, in which she hoped was
19:42
Speaker 1: a steady voice.
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Speaker 2: We are here to help you find your rest.
19:47
Speaker 1: But there was no reaction at all from the floating apparition.
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Speaker 1: Acilia had not expected that.
19:53
Speaker 2: She tried again, restless Spirit, I am Achilia, I I
19:58
Speaker 2: dreamed of you.
20:00
Speaker 1: The words felt inadequate, foolish, but she didn't know what
20:03
Speaker 1: else to say. Dorannian Tantire didn't understand any of it,
20:07
Speaker 1: as she was using the common tongue of men. All
20:09
Speaker 1: the same, Dorrenni whispered back, it appears not to hear you, Achilia,
20:15
Speaker 1: What do you want to do? Suddenly Achilia had an idea.
20:20
Speaker 1: She cast the spell message.
20:23
Speaker 2: Prince Leuhne, which way must we go in order to
20:26
Speaker 2: help you regain your rest?
20:28
Speaker 1: The spirit's reaction was immediate, and the companions as one
20:32
Speaker 1: shrank back in fear. The translucent hands came away from
20:36
Speaker 1: where its face would have been to reveal only a
20:38
Speaker 1: dark smudge. It was as if a painter in frustration
20:42
Speaker 1: had smeared his palm across his pigments while they were
20:44
Speaker 1: still wet. Although the aspect was terrifying, the voice that
20:48
Speaker 1: came to Achilia was pure and full of pain.
20:52
Speaker 2: Are you there?
20:55
Speaker 3: I just watch see show me the way?
21:00
Speaker 1: Reply to Quillia, this time out loud, since her spell
21:02
Speaker 1: had expired. At first, it seemed as though the ghost
21:06
Speaker 1: would not reply, but then slowly and deliberately, it pointed
21:10
Speaker 1: a white finger down the westward hallway. An instant later,
21:17
Speaker 1: Fairwind's torch rasped back to life, brighter than it had
21:20
Speaker 1: been when he first lit it, making everyone start Duringing
21:23
Speaker 1: blinked hard. The figure was gone. There was nothing in
21:27
Speaker 1: the space where it had been, no strange flexing of air,
21:31
Speaker 1: nothing at all.
21:34
Speaker 3: You saw something in the darkness.
21:38
Speaker 1: Yes, said Frewind in a quivering voice. I knew the
21:41
Speaker 1: way was Achilie's reply. I briefly considered making a reaction
21:51
Speaker 1: roll to see if the ghost of Learhane would be
21:53
Speaker 1: positively disposed towards the pieces or not, but in the
21:57
Speaker 1: end I went with DM Fiat, deciding that the Prince
21:59
Speaker 1: would reckon Nysakilia as his best chance for salvation. I'd
22:03
Speaker 1: already exposed the party to danger when determining which ghost
22:06
Speaker 1: would appear, so it seemed unfair to force them to
22:09
Speaker 1: endure two rolls. Mechanically, knowing the right way to turn
22:12
Speaker 1: at this intersection in the dungeon will have an in
22:15
Speaker 1: game advantage. I'm going to remove three cards from the
22:18
Speaker 1: six remaining in the deck. This gives the party a
22:21
Speaker 1: better chance to reach the target room faster, which is
22:23
Speaker 1: definitely in their best interest. Here we go removing three cards. Okay,
22:30
Speaker 1: none of the newly removed cards are the target ten
22:32
Speaker 1: of Hearts. That card is still in there as one
22:35
Speaker 1: of the remaining three. I'm not quite done with the cards, though,
22:38
Speaker 1: I need to draw a new one to see what
22:40
Speaker 1: the PCs will find next. With luck, they are about
22:43
Speaker 1: to reach the end of this dungeon and the draw well,
22:46
Speaker 1: look at that, it is the ten of hearts. But
22:49
Speaker 1: there's still one more check to make as I roll
22:51
Speaker 1: for a wandering encounter, and this time I think the
22:54
Speaker 1: stakes should be higher than a one in six. Let's
22:56
Speaker 1: say a one to three on a D six will
22:58
Speaker 1: trigger a dangerous encounter for this final room rolling, looks
23:03
Speaker 1: like I didn't even need to raise the stakes. The
23:05
Speaker 1: dice gods know how this stuff is supposed to work.
23:08
Speaker 1: I've got a one chapter nineteen, Part three, day sixteen,
23:20
Speaker 1: late afternoon mythic event meaning agree tension party status. The
23:27
Speaker 1: party status is unchanged, with the exception of Achillie, who
23:31
Speaker 1: has used one of her two message spells. I know
23:36
Speaker 1: the way, was Achillee's reply.
23:39
Speaker 2: Let's do what we can to do and get out
23:41
Speaker 2: of here.
23:42
Speaker 1: Wait, said Fairwind.
23:44
Speaker 3: I need, I need a moment. Just give me a moment.
23:50
Speaker 1: The cleric was staring into the tongues of fire that
23:52
Speaker 1: clung brightly to his makeshift torch. They cast moving shadows
23:56
Speaker 1: across his face and emphasized the conflicting emotions written across it.
24:00
Speaker 3: Are you Are you all right?
24:03
Speaker 1: Fairwind glowered at the flickering flames for a moment before replying.
24:06
Speaker 3: When I was young, my mentor would often tell me, Dalen,
24:11
Speaker 3: all the darkness of the world cannot extinguish the light
24:15
Speaker 3: in the smallest candle, he told me. He told me
24:21
Speaker 3: that I should think about that in time of doubt
24:25
Speaker 3: or despair.
24:26
Speaker 1: Ah, he sighed.
24:28
Speaker 3: But just now, just now, I see that it is
24:32
Speaker 3: my faith that has wavered.
24:35
Speaker 1: Something changed in his tone and countenance. His jaw muscles worked.
24:40
Speaker 1: Then Fairwind held up his brand as though it was
24:43
Speaker 1: his holy symbol.
24:44
Speaker 3: Sid All has sent me a sign. And next time
24:48
Speaker 3: I shall not falter. Lead the way, my friends, and
24:52
Speaker 3: let us put wrong to right.
24:54
Speaker 1: De Rennic could only guess at what the cleric was saying.
24:57
Speaker 1: He looked to Achilia, who nodded at him to proceed,
25:00
Speaker 1: so he did. He took them to the intersection where
25:03
Speaker 1: the ghost had hovered moments before, and although it sent
25:06
Speaker 1: a chill down their spines, they were not hindered in
25:09
Speaker 1: any way. As they took the left turn pointing west.
25:13
Speaker 1: A forty foot long cord or brought them to another
25:15
Speaker 1: open archway. They approached cautiously but deliberately, until they could
25:20
Speaker 1: make out the contents of the chamber beyond burial crypt,
25:24
Speaker 1: said de Rennie, tightening his grip on the hilt of
25:27
Speaker 1: his sword.
25:28
Speaker 3: Ready yourselves.
25:29
Speaker 2: I think this is it.
25:36
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Tale of the Manticor if you're
25:38
Speaker 1: enjoying the show and would like to help to support it,
25:40
Speaker 1: there are lots of ways to do so. You could
25:42
Speaker 1: recommend the show online or to friends. You can like
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Speaker 1: and repost episode announcements on social media. You can pick
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Speaker 1: up one of my offerings on drive through RPG or
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Speaker 1: a t shirt at www Dot Baar Arts dot store.
25:54
Speaker 1: And finally, you can rate or review the show on
25:56
Speaker 1: your podcatrier choice. I am super grateful for all of
25:59
Speaker 1: your support. At this point, I'd like to share a
26:02
Speaker 1: listener review. This one was left by t whiz two
26:05
Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts. T whiz two rights this is the
26:09
Speaker 1: only podcast I listen to religiously. I'm always excited when
26:12
Speaker 1: the next episode comes out. The narrator does an amazing
26:15
Speaker 1: job keeping neutral and not steering the PCs away from
26:18
Speaker 1: danger and keeping them from harm, and you can feel
26:20
Speaker 1: the genuine excitement in his voice as epic battles unfold.
26:24
Speaker 1: The episodes are the perfect length to listen to on
26:26
Speaker 1: a walk or on a commute to work. Ah Ta
26:29
Speaker 1: whiz two, thank you so very much. For that review.
26:32
Speaker 1: Words of encouragement like yours are a big part of
26:35
Speaker 1: what keeps me going. Very very much appreciated. This episode
26:39
Speaker 1: features the voices of three great voice actors. Derenni, Tantyr,
26:43
Speaker 1: and Fairwind are played by Kye Ellen, Kevin Barringer, and
26:47
Speaker 1: Dave Cooper, respectively. These guys are my core cast and
26:50
Speaker 1: I am deeply indebted to them. Thank you, guys. For
26:54
Speaker 1: those curious to learn a bit more about Tale of
26:56
Speaker 1: the Manticor, I keep a blog where I post all
26:58
Speaker 1: kinds of show on RPG related stuff like art, maps, tables, crafts,
27:02
Speaker 1: and show notes. You can find it at Tale Ofthemanticre
27:05
Speaker 1: dot blogspot dot com. To keep in touch with me,
27:08
Speaker 1: I'm at Manticore, tale on X, Tale of the Manticor
27:11
Speaker 1: on Instagram, tale of Themanticor at gmail dot com. I've
27:15
Speaker 1: also recently joined Blue Sky, so get in touch. I'd
27:18
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. The adventure will continue on
27:21
Speaker 1: the next episode of Tale of the Mantagor, the story
27:24
Speaker 1: with Chaos Robles