Latest / Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama / Dice Chain: Links 1-3

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Dice Chain: Links 1-3 · Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama

0:32
Speaker 1: FIRST LINK Eristan and Ivar were riding on the queen's
0:39
Speaker 1: new road. Crisp autumn air, carrying the scent of dry leaves,
0:43
Speaker 1: mingled with the familiar smells of his horse, armor, and saddle.
0:47
Speaker 1: Trees dressed in shades of amber, gold, and russet lined
0:51
Speaker 1: the path, dropping their leaves in gentle spirals to the ground.
0:55
Speaker 1: Two days ago, Eristan had been called Sir Eristan, the
0:59
Speaker 1: Hedge Knight. Now he was a lord. Lord Aristan of
1:04
Speaker 1: Gant Manor. That would take some getting used to. He
1:07
Speaker 1: had never been to Gant County before, though he would
1:10
Speaker 1: see it soon. One more day on the new road
1:12
Speaker 1: was all it would take, barring unforeseen hindrances. Aristan glanced
1:18
Speaker 1: over at Ivar, riding at his side in silence. The boy,
1:22
Speaker 1: who had served him faithfully for the past three years,
1:24
Speaker 1: was probably as apprehensive as he was. If Aristan knew
1:28
Speaker 1: little about how to be a lord, Ivar knew less
1:30
Speaker 1: about being a proper valet In any event, Eristan supposed
1:34
Speaker 1: they would have to learn to adjust, and perhaps it
1:37
Speaker 1: would not be so unpleasant to spend the rest of
1:39
Speaker 1: his days eating hot food, and the rest of his
1:41
Speaker 1: nights sleeping in a bed. Of course, these comforts were
1:44
Speaker 1: not guaranteed. The queen's treasurer, the sour-faced man, with beetle
1:48
Speaker 1: eyes and a bent back, had seemed to enjoy signing
1:51
Speaker 1: the deed over to Eristan too much. As the ink
1:55
Speaker 1: was drying, he had made the snide remark that Gant
1:57
Speaker 1: Manor was little more than a hovel, and that Ariston
2:00
Speaker 1: should not consider himself much higher than a peasant for
2:02
Speaker 1: becoming its lord. Ariston had later spoken to the sheriff,
2:06
Speaker 1: a man he mostly trusted, and had learned that Gant
2:08
Speaker 1: County was infested with thieves. It didn't take much wit
2:12
Speaker 1: to deduce that his promotion came with the expectation that
2:15
Speaker 1: he would civilize the region. Ariston smiled wryly. He was
2:19
Speaker 1: optimistic that the word hovel was hyperbole. Officially, his lordship
2:23
Speaker 1: was a reward for the significant role he'd played in
2:26
Speaker 1: quashing a recent rebellion. The Queen had him, and men
2:29
Speaker 1: like him, to thank for securing her next several years
2:32
Speaker 1: of unchecked reign. Welcome to Dice Chain, a system-fluid, story-persistent, multi-author,
2:48
Speaker 1: hybrid actual play. The story that you'll hear is a
2:51
Speaker 1: solo RPG expressed as an audio drama. The idea is
2:54
Speaker 1: to create a chain story with subsequent links written and
2:57
Speaker 1: produced by a variety of authors, each of whom will
3:00
Speaker 1: add their own style. While I have the narrative paused,
3:03
Speaker 1: I'd like to quickly roll up the character of Lord Aristan.
3:06
Speaker 1: I'm using basic D & D as my system of preference,
3:08
Speaker 1: so let's get some dice and begin. Lord Aristan is
3:12
Speaker 1: a second level fighter. As such, he will get 2d8
3:15
Speaker 1: hit points. Rolling. 11 is the result. His stats will
3:20
Speaker 1: be rolled using 3d6, but I will arrange the results
3:23
Speaker 1: to preference. The rolls are... 13 9 11 17 11
3:33
Speaker 1: 15 My goodness, those are impressive rolls. I'm assigning them
3:37
Speaker 1: as follows. 15 for Strength 9 for Intelligence 11 for
3:41
Speaker 1: Wisdom 11 for Dexterity 13 Constitution 17 Charisma For his Strength...
3:47
Speaker 1: Lord Aristan will get a plus one bonus to hit
3:50
Speaker 1: and damage when using melee weapons. He'll also get plus
3:53
Speaker 1: one hit point per level for his high constitution, raising
3:55
Speaker 1: that total to 13. His 17 in charisma will mostly
3:59
Speaker 1: be used to affect reaction rolls, but could also affect
4:01
Speaker 1: other elements of gameplay like henchman morale, for example. A
4:05
Speaker 1: few more details. I envision this character as being in
4:08
Speaker 1: his 30s. He's never been rich, and he has always
4:11
Speaker 1: lived from job to job as a knight for hire.
4:14
Speaker 1: He is cautiously optimistic about what he'll find when he
4:17
Speaker 1: reaches Gant Manor. I think that's enough information for now.
4:21
Speaker 1: Let's get back to the story and find out what
4:23
Speaker 1: happens next. The pair rode in silence for most of
4:32
Speaker 1: that day. With the closest village 20 miles to their
4:35
Speaker 1: back and their destination yet 15 ahead, Common sense told
4:39
Speaker 1: Aristan that this stretch of road was the most likely
4:42
Speaker 1: place to encounter trouble. That's why, when he spotted the
4:45
Speaker 1: mounted figure up ahead, he felt more reluctant acceptance than
4:48
Speaker 1: surprise or alarm. Although the other rider was still some
4:51
Speaker 1: distance away, he could easily see the familiar glint of
4:54
Speaker 1: sun on steel. The steed, like his, was a warhorse,
4:58
Speaker 1: several hands higher than a typical riding horse like Ivar's.
5:02
Speaker 1: A grey pennant fluttered from a lance, though it was
5:04
Speaker 1: yet too far away to make out the crest if
5:06
Speaker 1: it had one. The rider lowered his weapon, and then
5:08
Speaker 1: lifted it high once again. This was a formal sign
5:11
Speaker 1: of challenge, and showed that his adversary was no highwayman.
5:14
Speaker 1: They might be a relative of someone Aristan had killed.
5:17
Speaker 1: There was no shortage of those. Or, it might be
5:19
Speaker 1: someone who felt that the ownership of Gant Manor rightly
5:21
Speaker 1: belonged to them. It didn't matter. Aristan had faced many
5:25
Speaker 1: foes in the past, and while he still sat upright
5:28
Speaker 1: in his saddle, they were all lying in the ground.
5:32
Speaker 1: He turned towards Ivar with a creak of leather.' Sword,'
5:36
Speaker 1: he said. Ivar, ever obedient, handed him the weapon. Aristan
5:40
Speaker 1: buckled it to his belt.
5:42
Speaker 2: Shield.
5:43
Speaker 1: The shield was handed up and strapped to his left forearm. Helm.
5:47
Speaker 1: Ivar passed along the bassinet helmet and the newly entitled
5:50
Speaker 1: lord clapped it on his head. Aristan carried his own lance.
5:55
Speaker 1: He pulled it free from his leather holster and held
5:57
Speaker 1: it aloft, returning the other's salute. His steed wickered, understanding
6:01
Speaker 1: what these preparations signified. Men. Aristan dug in his spurs
6:06
Speaker 1: and began his charge.
6:19
Speaker 3: Second Link For this second session, as this is a
6:25
Speaker 3: system-fluid adventure, I've converted Lord Aristan to my old-school gaming
6:31
Speaker 3: system of preference, Shadowdar. There is no Knight class in
6:36
Speaker 3: this game, so using the Desert Rider class from Shadow
6:40
Speaker 3: Dark's Cursed Scroll 2 as a template, I've created a
6:43
Speaker 3: homebrew Knight class, and I've matched the stats and hit
6:47
Speaker 3: points that John rolled. Aristan is prepped and ready for combat.
6:53
Speaker 3: For his foe, I'm using the Knight stat block in
6:56
Speaker 3: the Core Rules Bestiary, and in the absence of Lance Rules,
7:00
Speaker 3: I'm going to homebrew something. I'm a big fan of
7:04
Speaker 3: the Mythic Game Master emulator, and so I'm going to
7:07
Speaker 3: use that too, both for a scene check and to
7:10
Speaker 3: capture characters and threads. Let's see how this plays out.
7:22
Speaker 3: The warhorses thundered towards one another, sweat glistening on their
7:26
Speaker 3: flanks and eyes wild as both lances lowered in deadly promise.
7:32
Speaker 3: Time slowed for Ariston, his reality shrinking down to nothing
7:36
Speaker 3: at the tip of his lance and his rapidly approaching opponent.
7:40
Speaker 3: It was the pennant that undid him, the black saltire
7:45
Speaker 3: on a grey field. That coat of arms belonged to
7:49
Speaker 3: House Buckthine, which meant that the night he faced could
7:53
Speaker 3: only be Sir Wallace Buckthine. Years ago, They had fought
7:59
Speaker 3: side by side during the uprising of the Black Banner,
8:02
Speaker 3: defending Queen Rhiannon's throne against the rebellious Duke of Morlane.
8:07
Speaker 3: Buckvine was a fearsome warrior, huge and imposing, his mere
8:12
Speaker 3: presence on the battlefield a rallying point for men, even
8:15
Speaker 3: in the gravest of peril. Ariston had trusted him with
8:19
Speaker 3: his life, even calling him friend, right up to the
8:23
Speaker 3: Duke's final assault on Fort Dunmere. It was on that
8:27
Speaker 3: day at that critical hour that Sir Buckvine and his
8:31
Speaker 3: promised reinforcements had failed to appear. The assault on the
8:36
Speaker 3: Queen's fortress had so very nearly succeeded, and the cost
8:40
Speaker 3: had been terrible. Hundreds dead. Ariston himself had barely survived
8:45
Speaker 3: the day, and of course, Morlane had escaped. Buckvine had
8:51
Speaker 3: arrived late, replete with excuses, but rumours had swirled in
8:56
Speaker 3: the aftermath of the battle, that he had turned his coat,
8:59
Speaker 3: sworn fealty to the Duke, and sold his sword for
9:02
Speaker 3: the promise of land and gold. Ariston never saw proof
9:07
Speaker 3: that the trust was gone. Perhaps Buckvine had been a traitor.
9:13
Speaker 3: Perhaps he was merely a survivor. Either way, Ariston had
9:18
Speaker 3: never forgiven him. Which is why, when the twin lances
9:23
Speaker 3: slammed into opposing shields with the force of twin-horsepower battering rams,
9:28
Speaker 3: Aristin's aim was ever so slightly off. His lance splintered
9:34
Speaker 3: and shattered on Buckvine's shield, and it was all he
9:36
Speaker 3: could do to keep his own shield between Buckvine's lance
9:40
Speaker 3: tip and his helmet. Even so, the physical impact left
9:44
Speaker 3: him momentarily dazed. He was dimly aware that if he
9:48
Speaker 3: didn't recover fast, Buckvine would break and come for another pass.
9:53
Speaker 3: If that happened... he would be all but defenseless. Get
9:58
Speaker 3: into melee, he hissed at himself. his steed turning in
10:01
Speaker 3: place as he reached with numb fingers for the hilt
10:04
Speaker 3: of his sword. We started that scene with the mythic
10:15
Speaker 3: Chaos Factor at five. and a scene check revealed what
10:19
Speaker 3: the scene started as expected. I checked to see if
10:23
Speaker 3: the knight would press his attack, which seemed pretty likely,
10:26
Speaker 3: and sure enough, he did. Then I checked to see
10:30
Speaker 3: if he could make out and recognize the pennant, which
10:33
Speaker 3: again he did, and so I asked Mythic to describe
10:36
Speaker 3: the knight it belonged to. Mighty and expected were my keywords,
10:42
Speaker 3: and from those I came up with that tale about
10:44
Speaker 3: the mighty warrior not pitching up to the battle when
10:47
Speaker 3: he was expected to. Next, I rolled attack rolls for
10:52
Speaker 3: both sides. Both missed, and due to the misses, they
10:56
Speaker 3: each had a 50-50 chance for their lance to break. Naturally,
11:01
Speaker 3: it was Lord Ariston who got the worst of it.
11:05
Speaker 3: And so, we have a new character for the Mythic List,
11:08
Speaker 3: along with some backstory. And I think I'm going to
11:11
Speaker 3: add the thread the mystery of Sir Buckthine, to represent
11:15
Speaker 3: both his behaviour on the day of the siege of
11:17
Speaker 3: Fort Dunmere, and his motives for this current attack. Let's
11:22
Speaker 3: get back to our battle. Instincts honed of years of
11:34
Speaker 3: training and combat kicked in, and the razor-sharp longsword sang
11:38
Speaker 3: as it was drawn. You'll rue the day you sort
11:42
Speaker 3: me out, Buckvine, Ariston snarled, lashing out with deadly intent.
11:48
Speaker 3: But the big knight's only reply was a mocking laugh.
11:52
Speaker 3: They set to, hacking, thrusting, blocking and parrying as their
11:57
Speaker 3: horses tightly circled one another. Blows hammered against shields, those
12:03
Speaker 3: few that got through deflected by heavy armour. But almost
12:06
Speaker 3: from the outset, Ariston could sense that he was badly outmatched.
12:12
Speaker 3: His opponent was stronger than he was, with greater reach,
12:16
Speaker 3: and although Aristin might normally have had the slight advantage
12:19
Speaker 3: in speed, that jarring lance blow had rendered his shoulder
12:24
Speaker 3: and his arm numb. He swung too slow, and Buckvine
12:29
Speaker 3: seized the opportunity. Pinning Aristin's shield, he hammered his blade
12:34
Speaker 3: into the side of the smaller knight's helmet, leaving a
12:36
Speaker 3: deep dent and ringing it like a bell. It was
12:40
Speaker 3: all Aristan could do to keep his saddle. He flailed wildly,
12:44
Speaker 3: half deafened and half blind, but it was all up
12:48
Speaker 3: for him. With contemptuous ease, Sir Buckfine slammed the pommel
12:53
Speaker 3: of his sword into Aristan's helm, and as the new
12:57
Speaker 3: Lord of Gant Manor toppled from his horse, the world
13:01
Speaker 3: went black.
13:04
Speaker 1: My family has served the oath for generations. Guarded that
13:09
Speaker 1: which was left to us without ever knowing the truth
13:11
Speaker 1: of it. I am not one of them. I broke
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Speaker 1: my oath, broke into the crypt, and found a woman
13:22
Speaker 1: and a weapon. Together, they would lead me across streams
13:26
Speaker 1: of time into the paths of demons and gods.
13:32
Speaker 3: The Dark Razor Chronicles, a serialized dark fantasy podcast Available
13:38
Speaker 3: wherever you listen.
13:45
Speaker 2: Third Link Lord Ariston blinks his eyes as he struggles
13:50
Speaker 2: to regain his faculties. A dull, throbbing ache fills his head.
13:55
Speaker 2: As he tries to raise his hand to rub the
13:57
Speaker 2: disorientation from his eyes, his hand catches and he becomes
14:01
Speaker 2: aware of manacles binding him to something. Shaking his head,
14:06
Speaker 2: he pushes through the haze and the swirling images before
14:09
Speaker 2: his eyes resolve into a dimly lit sitting room in
14:13
Speaker 2: what looks to be a rustic cabin. More importantly, Wallace
14:18
Speaker 2: Buckvine sits on a stool across from him, sharpening a
14:21
Speaker 2: nasty-looking dagger. Buckvine looks up as the manacles clank and
14:26
Speaker 2: he frowns, anger burning in his eyes. Welcome to Gant Menor, traitor.
14:36
Speaker 2: As the links in these chains are as fluid as
14:38
Speaker 2: the rivers that flow through the county of Gant, we
14:42
Speaker 2: shift to a new system called Songs and Sagas by
14:45
Speaker 2: the phenomenal RP of Fari RPGs. Songs and Sagas is
14:49
Speaker 2: like classic OSR, reimagined, and as such, it is fairly
14:53
Speaker 2: rules light. I've adapted Lord Ariston, yes, he survived, as
14:57
Speaker 2: best I can. He has a strength of three, a
15:00
Speaker 2: dexterity of one, a willpower of one, and a heart
15:02
Speaker 2: of three. His initial resilience, his hit points, was 13,
15:07
Speaker 2: but to reflect the after effects of his duel with Buckvine,
15:10
Speaker 2: he's currently at 1 resilience. He has the Guardian background,
15:14
Speaker 2: which allows him to burn a card to gain extra
15:16
Speaker 2: defense against incoming damage. Maybe that's why he survived. I'll
15:21
Speaker 2: explain burning a card if and when we get to it.
15:25
Speaker 2: For now, we have to define this scene. I already
15:27
Speaker 2: rolled for this scene using the Mythic GME rules. My
15:30
Speaker 2: initial imagining of this scene was that Ariston awoke on
15:34
Speaker 2: the road, but I rolled above the chaos factor of 6,
15:37
Speaker 2: which results in an altered scene. I've chosen to interpret
15:40
Speaker 2: that as Ariston waking somewhere else, and that's when it
15:44
Speaker 2: struck me. What if there's already an inhabitant of Gant Manor?
15:48
Speaker 2: Because of this, I'm going to set the risk rating
15:51
Speaker 2: of this scene at 2. When we need to make
15:53
Speaker 2: a check, I'll be drawing two cards from my deck
15:56
Speaker 2: to represent the risk rating. Any black cards will increase
15:59
Speaker 2: the difficulty of the check by two. Alright, I think
16:02
Speaker 2: that's enough of the mechanics for now. Let's get back
16:04
Speaker 2: to Gant Manor and envision what comes next for poor
16:07
Speaker 2: Lord Ariston. Ariston tries to speak, but his throat is
16:12
Speaker 2: dry and his voice rasps as his lips move. He
16:16
Speaker 2: clears his throat and looks up at Buckvine, this time
16:19
Speaker 2: managing to squeeze out a few words. You are the traitor.
16:24
Speaker 2: Buckvine flushes and gestures the knife in his direction. How
16:27
Speaker 2: dare you, sir? It was you who turned your coat
16:30
Speaker 2: when our lord was at his greatest need. Ariston squints,
16:34
Speaker 2: struggling against the lingering pain in his skull. What are
16:37
Speaker 2: you talking about? It was you who arrived late to
16:40
Speaker 2: the battle, and because of that failure, the day was
16:43
Speaker 2: almost lost, and he died because of your treachery. Standing
16:47
Speaker 2: rapidly and kicking the stool away from him, Buckvine storms
16:51
Speaker 2: forward and presses the blade to Ariston's throat. No, it
16:54
Speaker 2: was you who went over to the witch. You betrayed
16:57
Speaker 2: our king, and because of it, a usurper sits on
17:00
Speaker 2: his throne. Confusion floods through him.
17:03
Speaker 1: Wallace, what are you saying?
17:05
Speaker 2: We have no king, only a queen. Rhiannon, long may
17:08
Speaker 2: she reign, defeated that traitor Morlane. Buck finds scowls. Even
17:13
Speaker 2: now you spew her foul lies. Rhiannon, the Dunmer witch,
17:18
Speaker 2: tried to poison King Morlane. We tracked her to her lair,
17:21
Speaker 2: and we each took a flank. But when I arrived,
17:24
Speaker 2: you were already in her grasp. Let's go ahead and
17:27
Speaker 2: make our first roll. I think this is a willpower
17:29
Speaker 2: test for Ariston to try and puzzle through what is happening.
17:33
Speaker 2: The base difficulty is 12, but I'm gonna draw two
17:35
Speaker 2: cards and see if that goes up at all. One black,
17:39
Speaker 2: one red. So the difficulty is going to go up
17:41
Speaker 2: to 14. Ariston has a willpower of one, so I'm
17:44
Speaker 2: going to roll a d20 and add plus one. If
17:49
Speaker 2: it beats a 14, it's a success. Five on the
17:53
Speaker 2: die is not going to do it. So that is
17:55
Speaker 2: a failure, which is a setback, which means I mark
17:58
Speaker 2: an XP, but now introduce a consequence. I think I've
18:02
Speaker 2: got it. Ariston doesn't quite know what's happening here. Maybe
18:06
Speaker 2: it's the hammering in his head, or perhaps he's just
18:08
Speaker 2: not that smart. But he says, Buckvine, you're either mad
18:12
Speaker 2: or a fool. Because Queen Rhiannon is the rightful ruler,
18:15
Speaker 2: and Duke Morlane is the vile traitor. And you with him.
18:21
Speaker 2: Buckvine snarls and backhands him with the force of a
18:23
Speaker 2: tree falling. Blood spatters across the wooden floor and across
18:29
Speaker 2: a clothed leg. For the first time, Ariston realizes he's
18:32
Speaker 2: not alone with Buckvine. His squire, Ivar, is bound and gagged,
18:37
Speaker 2: staring wide-eyed at the unfolding scene. I should strike you
18:41
Speaker 2: down this very moment, sir, for the lies spilling from
18:44
Speaker 2: your lips. Buckvine rages. Ariston spits a glob of blood
18:48
Speaker 2: on the wooden floor and says, Why haven't you then?
18:51
Speaker 2: I'm at your mercy. You could be done with it
18:54
Speaker 2: in a flick of that blade. Buckvine turns away. Your
18:58
Speaker 2: life is in King Molaine's hands. His judgment will determine
19:02
Speaker 2: your fate. The anger in his voice still simmers, but
19:07
Speaker 2: there's something else there as well.
19:09
Speaker 1: Sorrow.
19:10
Speaker 2: Wallace, Ariston says, his voice soft and tremulous. You were
19:15
Speaker 2: my dearest friend once. I do not understand these words
19:19
Speaker 2: you speak. They make no sense. But I beg of you,
19:23
Speaker 2: release me and come back with me. The kingdom needs you.
19:28
Speaker 2: Let's go ahead and make another trial roll, this time
19:30
Speaker 2: with heart. But I think this difficulty is a base 15.
19:34
Speaker 2: It's going to be a hard sell for Buckvine to
19:37
Speaker 2: even talk to Ariston civilly. Drawing two cards, a diamond
19:42
Speaker 2: and a spade. So that's plus two to the difficulty
19:44
Speaker 2: for a total of 17. Ariston has a plus three
19:48
Speaker 2: for heart, which means I have to roll a 15
19:51
Speaker 2: on the die. Here we go. Ugh, 12 total is
19:55
Speaker 2: not going to do it. Well, at least I get
19:58
Speaker 2: another XP. But I really need to succeed at a
20:00
Speaker 2: roll some point. Buckvine doesn't turn around. He says quietly now,
20:06
Speaker 2: Tomorrow I will take you to Morlane. and he will
20:09
Speaker 2: command your death. We will have no more words until then.
20:13
Speaker 2: And he strides out of the room, slamming the door
20:16
Speaker 2: behind him. Silence fills his absence for a moment, then
20:20
Speaker 2: Ariston looks to his squire, bound and gagged on the floor.
20:25
Speaker 2: The boy's eyes are wide with fear and confusion, but
20:28
Speaker 2: Ariston meets his gaze and says, Fear not, Ivar. Tomorrow
20:33
Speaker 2: is a long way off, and there is much yet
20:35
Speaker 2: to be done. I think that ends our scene. I
20:40
Speaker 2: don't think there are any updates for characters, but there's
20:43
Speaker 2: definitely a thread to update. First, is Ariston dead? Not yet,
20:47
Speaker 2: but quite possibly soon. Second, the mystery of Buckvine deepens.
20:51
Speaker 2: Why does he believe Morlain is king and Rhiannon is
20:54
Speaker 2: a witch usurper? What's the actual truth here? For our
20:58
Speaker 2: next scene, Ariston and Ivar attempt their escape. The chaos
21:01
Speaker 2: factor definitely goes up because Ariston had no control in
21:05
Speaker 2: that scene whatsoever, so it's going to rise to a seven.
21:08
Speaker 2: Rolling a D10 against the chaos factor to see if
21:11
Speaker 2: our scene has an alteration or not. Yeah, that's a one,
21:15
Speaker 2: so yes, it is definitely altered. Let's roll a D10
21:18
Speaker 2: on the mythic scene adjustment table to see what that
21:21
Speaker 2: alteration is. A seven, that's two adjustments. Okay, this is
21:26
Speaker 2: going from bad to worse. A five and a one,
21:31
Speaker 2: remove an object and remove a character. Oh, I know
21:36
Speaker 2: exactly what this means. Ariston is just beginning to formulate
21:41
Speaker 2: a plan when the door opens once more. This time,
21:43
Speaker 2: two men he doesn't recognize file into the room. One
21:47
Speaker 2: moves to Ivar's feet, but the other saunters over to
21:49
Speaker 2: where Ariston is bound and spits on him. Come on, Grell,
21:53
Speaker 2: the other man says, but Grell leans down and leers
21:56
Speaker 2: in Ariston's face. What a pain in the lord you make,
22:01
Speaker 2: he says, breath smelling heavily of ale. Ariston stares him down,
22:06
Speaker 2: forcing the man's gaze to drop. But icy realization hits
22:10
Speaker 2: when Grell's eyes widen. Rough hands pull at the chain
22:14
Speaker 2: around his neck where the signet ring hangs. The silver
22:18
Speaker 2: band with his symbol dangles in the air between them.
22:21
Speaker 2: Then Grell rips it from his neck and holds it up. Look, Dale,
22:25
Speaker 2: I'm lord of gotten matter now, eh? Dale shakes his
22:29
Speaker 2: head and says, Get out of here, you lout. But
22:32
Speaker 2: fine once it's finished. Grell shrugs, shoves the ring in
22:35
Speaker 2: his pocket, and strides over to Ivar's shoulders. Together, they
22:38
Speaker 2: lift the squire and start carrying him out of the room.
22:42
Speaker 2: He begins to struggle as Ariston says, Where are you
22:45
Speaker 2: taking my squire? Grell slugs Ivar in the stomach, almost
22:49
Speaker 2: dropping him in the process, and the squire ceases his resistance.
22:54
Speaker 2: Without answering Ariston's question, they carry Ivar out through the
22:57
Speaker 2: door and slam it behind them. Left alone, Ariston struggles
23:02
Speaker 2: against his bonds with a building rage. He had been
23:05
Speaker 2: determined to bear the insults, but Taking his squire, that
23:08
Speaker 2: was beyond the pale. Bracing himself against the pillar, he
23:11
Speaker 2: pulls the manacles taut and tries to draw his arms together,
23:15
Speaker 2: muscles straining against the thick metal chains. Time for another roll.
23:19
Speaker 2: Once again, I think the risk rating here is 2,
23:22
Speaker 2: so I'll draw 2 cards. I also think, unfortunately, that
23:25
Speaker 2: brute forcing these chains is going to be very difficult,
23:28
Speaker 2: so again, that's a base of 15. Two red cards,
23:31
Speaker 2: which means the difficulty doesn't increase, thank the gods. Ariston
23:35
Speaker 2: has a strength of three, so I need a 13
23:37
Speaker 2: or higher on the die to succeed. Well, 13 total
23:42
Speaker 2: is definitely not enough. Marking experience, which is great, except
23:47
Speaker 2: I really do need to succeed on a roll at
23:49
Speaker 2: some point. Ariston strains for several minutes, but the chain
23:53
Speaker 2: links are thick and well-made. The manacles aren't going to budge.
23:57
Speaker 2: Throwing them down, he growls in frustration and looks around
24:00
Speaker 2: the room. Is there anything within reach that could be
24:03
Speaker 2: remotely of use? Time for a fate check. I think
24:06
Speaker 2: it's unlikely, so that's a minus one, but a plus
24:09
Speaker 2: two for the chaos factor of seven. Rolling 2d10, plus
24:12
Speaker 2: a cumulative of one, 14 total, which is a yes.
24:16
Speaker 2: What could it be? Let's roll on the elements objects table. D100, 28,
24:20
Speaker 2: that's enormous, and an action. 89, suppress. Ariston looks around
24:27
Speaker 2: and sees Ivar's cloak lying close to where he'd been.
24:30
Speaker 2: They must have come loose when he was struggling. Using
24:33
Speaker 2: a foot, he drags it to him and turns it
24:35
Speaker 2: over in his hand until he finds a cool piece
24:37
Speaker 2: of metal caught in it. The brooch he gifted his
24:40
Speaker 2: squire before they set out for Gant Manor. He stabs
24:44
Speaker 2: it into the keyhole of the manacle and starts digging around,
24:47
Speaker 2: hoping against hope for the sound of freedom. Time for
24:51
Speaker 2: another trial roll, this time plus dexterity. I think it's
24:54
Speaker 2: a normal difficulty of 12, but I just drew two
24:57
Speaker 2: black cards, so it's actually going to be a 16.
25:01
Speaker 2: Plus one for dexterity? That's a seven total. Poor Ariston.
25:07
Speaker 2: The pin snaps inside the metal lock, and the jagged
25:11
Speaker 2: piece slashes across his arm. Snarling in pain, he throws
25:15
Speaker 2: the remainder of the brooch against the wall, cursing the
25:17
Speaker 2: gods with every breath before slumping into a pile of apathy.
25:22
Speaker 2: There's no escaping his bonds. No hope for escape at all.
25:28
Speaker 2: A door behind him opens, and a pair of soft
25:31
Speaker 2: footfalls pad along the wooden slats. Ariston raises his head
25:36
Speaker 2: and turns, straining to see, but he can only make
25:40
Speaker 2: out a figure in a cloak, hood drawn close over
25:44
Speaker 2: their face. The figure rounds the pillar Ariston is bound
25:48
Speaker 2: to and stands before him. Hands rise and cast the
25:52
Speaker 2: hood back. And Ariston's eyes widen. Link 1.
26:02
Speaker 1: Was created by me, John, from Tale of the Manticore.
26:04
Speaker 1: Link 2 was produced by Carl White of the Lone
26:06
Speaker 1: Adventurer podcast. And Link 3 by Steve Morrison of Errant Adventures.
26:24
Speaker 1: You can find all of these shows anywhere you find podcasts.
26:27
Speaker 1: Please check them out. Episode 2 will be out shortly
26:31
Speaker 1: with a brand new group of player creators. Until then,
26:35
Speaker 1: you can always find new and exciting solo RPG pods
26:38
Speaker 1: at solarworldplayersnetwork.com.