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Episode 76 · Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama

0:03
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, open it up, my boiler.
0:06
Speaker 2: Let's see if we've found what we've come all this
0:08
Speaker 2: way for and shed no small.
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Speaker 1: Amount of blood or open it up. Ah, careful, now careful.
0:18
Speaker 1: What what is it? Master?
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Speaker 2: It looks like some kind of barb or a claw,
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Speaker 2: a stinger perhaps, But I've never seen a scorpion of
0:30
Speaker 2: this size. M Oh my boy, this barb is no
0:38
Speaker 2: scorpion's tool. Yes, is the tail of nothing short of
0:44
Speaker 2: a mantacre and an old one.
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Speaker 1: By the size of it. Careful, now, careful, the spell
0:52
Speaker 1: will be complete at the last.
0:54
Speaker 2: Ha ha ha ha ha ha.
0:56
Speaker 1: Ha ha ha. Hey everybody, this is Brandish Gilhelm and
1:02
Speaker 1: you are listening to Tale of the Manticore. The following
1:09
Speaker 1: podcast is intended for a mature audience. Listener discretion is advised.
1:28
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Tale of the Manticore Season two. Like
1:32
Speaker 1: the creature from which it takes its name, Tale of
1:35
Speaker 1: the Manticore is a mashup, a crossbreeding between two different
1:38
Speaker 1: species of storytelling. Here you will find the unpredictability of
1:42
Speaker 1: old school RPG, paper and dice games with the story
1:46
Speaker 1: craft of a dark fantasy novel. No character is sacred
1:50
Speaker 1: and no character will be spared if the dice decide
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Speaker 1: their fate is at hand. According to lore, the tale
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Speaker 1: of a Manticore is barbed with cruel iron spikes. There
2:01
Speaker 1: will be much pain in the days ahead, last time
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Speaker 1: until of the Manticor. Chapter seventy five begins with Basu
2:17
Speaker 1: treating the remains of the two banished demons with holy
2:19
Speaker 1: water in order to fortify the barrier between the Abyss
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Speaker 1: and the prime material Plain. The clerk had retrieved the
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Speaker 1: water from Erness's private chapel at the Church of the
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Speaker 1: Sacred Flame. It turns out while there he also collected
2:32
Speaker 1: the high Priestess's holy symbol and the bejeweled relic symbol
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Speaker 1: that had originally been used to bind the succupice below
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Speaker 1: the church. When the party leaves the Hezro's cavern, they find,
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Speaker 1: of all things, a gallery in the next room. Being
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Speaker 1: so far underground is not the strangest thing about the gallery.
2:49
Speaker 1: The species are surprised to see that all of the
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Speaker 1: portraits hanging in it are of the same person, King Colfrey.
2:55
Speaker 1: Things get weirder still for Cat'spaine when the portraits start
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Speaker 1: talking to him. When he realizes no one else can
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Speaker 1: hear them. Katspain decides to ignore the talkative king and
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Speaker 1: the office of power he makes, and convinces his companions
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Speaker 1: to leave the gallery by pointing out that they are
3:10
Speaker 1: running low on lantern oil. In the next spase, the
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Speaker 1: pieces discover a dining room. In it is a table
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Speaker 1: heaped with fragrant food tapestries wring the feast, with each
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Speaker 1: showing one of the companions in some disturbing and different way.
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Speaker 1: Despy Yellowfli's instructions to touch nothing, Shawne tears hers from
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Speaker 1: the wall and instantly dispels the illusion that fills the room.
3:31
Speaker 1: Now the companions see that they are actually in a
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Speaker 1: crypt where there had been a table. There is now
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Speaker 1: an empty sarcophagus where Cat'spin's tapestry had been. There is
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Speaker 1: now an exit. Chapter seventy six, Part one, day, one
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Speaker 1: hundred and eighty four, time unknown, one hour of lantern
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Speaker 1: fuel remains. Party status Yellowfly twenty six of fifty hit points,
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Speaker 1: Shawne eighteen of thirty five, Jase twenty seven of thirty eight,
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Speaker 1: Kat's Pain nineteen of twenty three, Basu twelve of twenty
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Speaker 1: three spells available. Kat's Pain has memorized detect magic, mirror,
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Speaker 1: image and dimension door. Basu has prayed for light, bless
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Speaker 1: and locate object. Basu had nodded when Kat's Pain told
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Speaker 1: his companions he suspected there might be a greater demon
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Speaker 1: the other two had served. In truth, he knew a
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Speaker 1: little of demonology, but still felt the terrible sensation of
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Speaker 1: a weight on his heart that had started after they
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Speaker 1: had passed through the door with a face that seemed
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Speaker 1: like ages ago. In reality, it had happened only a
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Speaker 1: few hours before. He and his companions had passed through.
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Speaker 1: The exit revealed where Katspin's tapestry had been before Shawnee
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Speaker 1: had dispelled the illusion and were now in a small
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Speaker 1: passage with a low ceiling that made him feel claustrophobic.
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Speaker 1: In front of him was Katspin gripping his lantern. The
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Speaker 1: light from it seemed dimmer than it had been before.
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Speaker 1: Bazzi didn't know that the wizard was having a hard
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Speaker 1: time concentrating. Armies of thought and emotion battled within him.
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Speaker 1: One of those emotions was anger. Had an yellowfly threatened
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Speaker 1: him when he had said, listen carefully. If you suspect
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Speaker 1: anything else, I'd urge you to share it now, Katspin
5:42
Speaker 1: considered the enameled dagger in his right hand, how easy
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Speaker 1: it would be to plunge it between the fighter's shoulder blades.
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Speaker 1: Another emotion vying for dominance in his heart was desire.
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Speaker 1: A Zuruzul speaking to him through Carrock's voice had promised power.
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Speaker 1: Power he had to admit he created desired. Hearing the
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Speaker 1: demon through Colfrey's voice had been unpleasant, but infinitely preferable
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Speaker 1: to the horrible falsetto the demon normally used cats being
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Speaker 1: assumed it had chosen it out of a misguided attempt
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Speaker 1: to sound kind and gentle. But oh, where was his mind?
6:16
Speaker 1: Out in the water swimming, he shook his head one
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Speaker 1: way or another. It would be over soon. Somehow he
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Speaker 1: could sense that his sometimes patron was close. It was
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Speaker 1: more than the oppressive weight of the stone and earth
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Speaker 1: above their heads or the surrounding darkness. He could shiel
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Speaker 1: it in his blood. What was that noise? There? It
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Speaker 1: was again? Had he just imagined it? Was he losing
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Speaker 1: his mind? He looked behind him, and, seeing Bossi's grim expression,
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Speaker 1: knew that the clearer could heard it too, and was
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Speaker 1: also trying to ignore it. But that was not going
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Speaker 1: to be possible. His unholy place would not allow them
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Speaker 1: a moment's respite. Soon new sounds became audible. Cat's bin
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Speaker 1: clenched his jaw and willed his legs to carry him forward,
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Speaker 1: but all they wanted to do was turn and run.
7:08
Speaker 1: The beleaguered party continued down the hall for several minutes longer.
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Speaker 1: Eventually it widened and resumed some of its former grandeur,
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Speaker 1: though it remained bare and dismal. There were no statues
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Speaker 1: or tapestries, no fountains or decorated arches, only gray stone.
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Speaker 1: And then up ahead, a pair of double doors opened
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Speaker 1: to reveal a large chamber. Beyond courage and be ready,
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Speaker 1: said yellow fly. No one replied, though the terrible sounds
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Speaker 1: around them grew worse. They approached the heavy doors, which
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Speaker 1: shone a dull yellow in the companion's lantern light. Drawing near,
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Speaker 1: they could see that they were made of bronze, and
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Speaker 1: that some runic patterns had been very lightly etched into
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Speaker 1: their surface. They were also wide open, so that the
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Speaker 1: doors were flushed against each wall. As they crossed the threshold,
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Speaker 1: the party members looked around the room, while the strange
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Speaker 1: noises all around them continued to grow in volume and number.
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Speaker 1: They were in a tablet shaped room about forty feet
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Speaker 1: across and eighty long. The far wall was rounded off
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Speaker 1: at the corners. Each side wall was scalloped with three
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Speaker 1: shadow filled alcoves, evenly spaced apart. The ceiling, which was vaulted,
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Speaker 1: was some thirty feet above the floor. The room was
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Speaker 1: empty but for six small holes in the floor of
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Speaker 1: unknown purpose. They lined up with the alcoves, but were
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Speaker 1: not in them. How deep the holes in alcoves went
8:32
Speaker 1: was impossible to say in the dim light, just at
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Speaker 1: the edge of their vision, very difficult to see until
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Speaker 1: the companions entered further was a slim throne carved from
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Speaker 1: a single slab of stone. There was a figure in
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Speaker 1: the chair, a feeble looking body like that of a
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Speaker 1: very old man. The neck that protruded from the collar
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Speaker 1: of its rotting robe was broken and jagged, like a
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Speaker 1: snapped branch. Resting on the figure's knees was its head.
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Speaker 1: It stared right at the companions from sight lists and
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Speaker 1: sunken eye sockets, and was framed by a cloud of
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Speaker 1: gossamer hair. Once the party had entered the room, they
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Speaker 1: had spread out without going too far in. Jase hung
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Speaker 1: back by the door, as was his custom. Yellowfly and
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Speaker 1: Kat'spain were the furthest inn, at about a forty foot
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Speaker 1: distance from the headless figure on the throne. Shana and
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Speaker 1: Basu were in the middle. Gotspain said Yellowfly. When he
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Speaker 1: looked at the wizard, his eyes kindled with a touch
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Speaker 1: of madness. Can you not do anything to make these
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Speaker 1: voices stop? Before Katspain could even answer, the room fell
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Speaker 1: into complete silence, and before anyone could react to that,
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Speaker 1: the light went out. This is the final room in
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Speaker 1: the Ruin, and it is where Azorazul resides. Sometimes, when
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Speaker 1: playing a game of D and D, a combat with
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Speaker 1: a dangerous enemy can be ruined by the sheer number
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Speaker 1: of player characters, which invariably leads to more attacks, more actions,
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Speaker 1: and more chances to affect the outcome. Often, a group
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Speaker 1: of mid level characters can ease still defeat a single
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Speaker 1: high level monster through teamwork and by simply overpowering it.
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Speaker 1: Azorazuol is not that much higher in terms of hittyes
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Speaker 1: than the companions, and he is alone. But don't be fooled.
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Speaker 1: The demon is a terrifyingly dangerous foe like others of
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Speaker 1: its kind. It cannot be destroyed on this plane. It
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Speaker 1: can only be banished. Of course, Azorazuol has no intention
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Speaker 1: of letting that happen. It enjoys its time here and
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Speaker 1: intends to stay. It is eons old and highly intelligent.
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Speaker 1: Most of all, it has had time to prepare for
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Speaker 1: the PCs, and to some degree it knows their thoughts
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Speaker 1: and feelings. More on that in a few minutes. For now,
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Speaker 1: we only need to consider that it has superpowered versions
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Speaker 1: of all the demonic powers that Succubis and Heso demons had,
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Speaker 1: namely infra vision, create darkness, charm, person esp claire, audience suggestion,
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Speaker 1: and telegnesis. It does not share the Sccubas's shape changeability
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Speaker 1: or the Hesro's special stench defense. But these innate powers
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Speaker 1: are just the tip of the iceberg, as we will
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Speaker 1: soon find out. There was a tremendous bang from behind them,
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Speaker 1: followed by Jase's voice in the dark well locked in.
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Speaker 1: Then there was a new sound, a distant rattle of
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Speaker 1: chains coming from beneath the floor. Kat's ban was shaking,
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Speaker 1: even though it was beheaded and withered. He had recognized
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Speaker 1: the slight figure on the throne as his old master,
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Speaker 1: Carrick Malmar. He also knew with equal certainty that it
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Speaker 1: wasn't the archmagis not any more. He fumbled with his lantern,
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Speaker 1: feeling inside, but he yanked his hand back when his
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Speaker 1: fingers touched flame. He suddenly realized that the darkness was supernatural.
11:43
Speaker 1: Panic seized his brain. What were they going to do? Courage,
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Speaker 1: repeated Yellowfly. He hadn't needed to burn his fingers to
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Speaker 1: understand what was happening. Katspin could hear the fighter near by,
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Speaker 1: adjusting and shifting his feet. He didn't know it, but
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Speaker 1: Yellowfly was trying to locate the floor horse, intending to
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Speaker 1: cover it with his boot. From close by came Shawnee's voice,
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Speaker 1: small and tremulous, Passu, where are you? I'm frightened? And
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Speaker 1: then the clerk's reply.
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Speaker 2: And right, yes, Shanee.
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Speaker 1: Where The sound of rattling chains beneath them grew louder
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Speaker 1: and more urgent.
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Speaker 2: Passu, do not push away your fair shine, said the cleric.
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Speaker 2: A fear reminds us that we have something worth fighting for.
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Speaker 1: The sounds became louder still, and Bazu felt Shawnee's groping
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Speaker 1: hand touch his shoulder above the rim of his shield.
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Speaker 2: Use your fear that it filled you with determination to
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Speaker 2: keep what is yours, and may the light of saddahal
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Speaker 2: give us all strength.
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Speaker 1: Shawnee and the others blinked against the sudden light that
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Speaker 1: showed the chamber, so that it was even brighter than
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Speaker 1: it had been in the glow of Katspian's lantern. Bazzi's
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Speaker 1: holy symbol was gripped in his right hand. His quarter
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Speaker 1: staff was on the ground. Shawnee flicked her eyes up
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Speaker 1: to the figure on the throne, half expecting the headless
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Speaker 1: corpse to be on its feet. It remained in the
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Speaker 1: same position they had found it, but now its eyes
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Speaker 1: blazed with hellish light. Yellowfly saw it too, Shawnee, your bow,
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Speaker 1: he yelled. She obeyed, pulled her bow from her shoulder,
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Speaker 1: and knocked an arrow in one fluid motion. Pulling back
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Speaker 1: the string, she let an arrow fly just as six
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Speaker 1: chains burst from the holes in the floor and snakelike
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Speaker 1: lunged at the companions and jurycombat azorzul Is using his
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Speaker 1: innate demonic power of telekinesis to control these long lengths
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Speaker 1: of chain and use them as weapons. But by d. M.
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Speaker 1: Fiat I'm going to let Shawnee get her shot off
13:45
Speaker 1: before we go to initiative. With her skill and dexterity considered,
13:49
Speaker 1: and since the target is at short range and is
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Speaker 1: not trying to avoid her attack, I'll say she'll only
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Speaker 1: miss on a roll of three or less on a
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Speaker 1: D twenty. The roll the seventeen that's basically a bull's eye.
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Speaker 1: She puts an arrow right into the headless body's heart,
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Speaker 1: but it appears to have no effect at all, and
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Speaker 1: the chains proceed to lash out that the companions. Let's
14:10
Speaker 1: begin round one initiative. The party A four Azorazul a
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Speaker 1: five Azorzul acts first. None of its chains will target cat'spain.
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Speaker 1: So of the six, I'm going to say that two
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Speaker 1: target Yellowfly. One targets Basu and one Shawne. The other
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Speaker 1: two cannot reach the companions this round and will essentially
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Speaker 1: serve only to block the way between the PCs and
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Speaker 1: their enemy. Another ruling I'm making on the fly is
14:37
Speaker 1: that the chains will each get a plus three to
14:39
Speaker 1: hit and do one to six points of damage. Yellow
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Speaker 1: flyes AC is a sixteen, so the chains need a
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Speaker 1: thirteen to hit. The rolls A nine and a five
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Speaker 1: means the fighter can parry them with the silverthorn. Bazu
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Speaker 1: has the same ac so I'm hoping to roll under
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Speaker 1: thirteen again A four. Lucky Bazu get his shield up
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Speaker 1: and blocks the whipping chain. Shawnee has an armor class
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Speaker 1: of just fourteen. A Zorzuo will need an eleven to
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Speaker 1: hit her, rolling another four. Very lucky. Indeed, now it's
15:13
Speaker 1: the companion's turn to act. Shawnee has taken her shot
15:16
Speaker 1: and Basu has used up his action with his casting
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Speaker 1: of light. That leaves the Yellowfly Cat's pain and Jase.
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Speaker 1: Yellowfly will try to reach the headless figure on the throne.
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Speaker 1: A successful dexterity check will be required before he can
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Speaker 1: do that, however, as a pair of swinging chains block
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Speaker 1: the way, he'll need to roll a twelve or under
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Speaker 1: underty twenty. Here's the roll. Oh no, A twenty. That's
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Speaker 1: a critical fail. Has the luck run out already? I'm
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Speaker 1: going to rule that not only is Yellowfly unable to
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Speaker 1: reach his target, but that one of the chains wraps
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Speaker 1: around his legs and yanks him off his feet. The
15:50
Speaker 1: fighter hits the floor hard and gets the wind knocked
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Speaker 1: out of him. He'll lis his action next round. For
15:55
Speaker 1: this failure, Cat's Pain is the next to go. He
15:57
Speaker 1: casts the spell mirror Image. Suddenly there are four Cat's
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Speaker 1: Bains in the room, each one identical to the other
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Speaker 1: in looks and in action. Jase is the last to go.
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Speaker 1: The most logical thing for him to do is to
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Speaker 1: push against the bronze double doors and try to create
16:14
Speaker 1: some way to retreat in case that should be necessary.
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Speaker 1: Although he tries with all his might, he has no
16:19
Speaker 1: chance to succeed. This is because after pulling the doors
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Speaker 1: shut with telekinesis, as or Zul then cast the spell
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Speaker 1: wizard Lock upon them. No one is getting out of
16:29
Speaker 1: here until one of the two sides has been defeated.
16:32
Speaker 1: And on that note, we are on two round two initiative.
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Speaker 1: The party the five thesore Azuel the five Interesting combat
16:43
Speaker 1: will be simultaneous. I'll do Azorazul's turn. First. Yellowfly is
16:48
Speaker 1: now on the ground, and the chain that is wrapped
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Speaker 1: around his legs will try to fully bind him. At
16:53
Speaker 1: the same time the other one will whip him. Both
16:56
Speaker 1: need to make us successful to hit. To succeed, the
16:58
Speaker 1: first chain rolls an eleven is less than the thirteen
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Speaker 1: and needs meaning Yellowfly is able to squirm free get
17:05
Speaker 1: off me. While the fighter is getting to his feet,
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Speaker 1: the other chain lashes him and at nineteen means it
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Speaker 1: connects ruthlessly, slashing his back while he's rising. Damage will
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Speaker 1: be just one point. Yellowfly has twenty five left and
17:20
Speaker 1: first blood has been drawn. Four chains remain, and at
17:23
Speaker 1: this time the Zorazul directs three of them to attack
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Speaker 1: Kat'span's mirror images. The other will choose a random target,
17:30
Speaker 1: but will do the three first. Cat'span's AC is only eleven,
17:35
Speaker 1: so an eight on a D twenty indicates a hit.
17:37
Speaker 1: Here come the rolls four, two, and sixteen. Amazingly, only
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Speaker 1: one chain hits and a single mirror image is dispelled.
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Speaker 1: The last chain will attack Jase. I guess that means
17:52
Speaker 1: the fighter has left his position by the door and
17:54
Speaker 1: entered the fray. Jase's armor class is sixteen, so the
17:57
Speaker 1: chain will hit on a roll of thirteen or better
18:00
Speaker 1: a six. He faints left, goes right, and the chain
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Speaker 1: lashes empty air.
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Speaker 2: Woo.
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Speaker 1: Now the pieces may take their actions. Cat'spain is surrounded
18:09
Speaker 1: by apparently living chains that Lumen's way like cobras under
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Speaker 1: a faker's tune. He doesn't have any spells that might
18:16
Speaker 1: be useful right now, so he swipes his dagger of
18:18
Speaker 1: negation at one of the chains. I'll say the chains
18:21
Speaker 1: have an armour class of hmm, what makes sense, same
18:24
Speaker 1: as chain mail? Why not ac fourteen. Cat's Pain then
18:28
Speaker 1: needs a thirteen to hit. After factoring in his level
18:31
Speaker 1: bonus and his strength penalty, his roll twenty. Well, here's
18:36
Speaker 1: a question. The chains themselves do not really have hit points,
18:40
Speaker 1: but might the dagger have a negation effect on them
18:42
Speaker 1: at least temporarily? With that twenty, I'll rule that the
18:46
Speaker 1: chance for negation is doubled. This means there's a sixty
18:49
Speaker 1: percent chance for the strand of magic that animates this
18:51
Speaker 1: chain to be severed in ninety four. Too bad, Katspain's
18:56
Speaker 1: effort is wasted, and his dagger glances across the metal
18:59
Speaker 1: lynx harmlessly. Like Cat's Pain, Basu doesn't have any spells
19:03
Speaker 1: that might help in this situation, but he can attempt
19:06
Speaker 1: to turn their.
19:07
Speaker 2: Opponent begone enemy of the Light, he.
19:10
Speaker 1: Declares, brandishing his symbol at the headless figure on the throne.
19:14
Speaker 1: A Zorazul has so many hit dice as to be
19:16
Speaker 1: literally off the charts where turning is concerned. If I
19:19
Speaker 1: follow the pattern on that chart, I see that Basu
19:22
Speaker 1: will need to roll an eleven or twelve on two
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Speaker 1: six to succeed in his attempt. His role I'm ten
19:30
Speaker 1: so close but almost succeeded, is failed. Oddly, the turn
19:35
Speaker 1: attempt does not produce any reaction at all. Jace, not
19:39
Speaker 1: knowing what else to do, will try to slash at
19:41
Speaker 1: one of the chains. Only on a natural twenty will
19:44
Speaker 1: this have any effect at all? The roll a twelve
19:47
Speaker 1: means it's a fruitless effort. Over to Yellowfly. He loses
19:52
Speaker 1: his turn due to his crit fumble last round, but
19:54
Speaker 1: I'll allow him to call over to Shawney as a freaction.
19:57
Speaker 1: He saw how ineffective her arrow was and figures their
20:00
Speaker 1: enemy must be resistant, like the yeth Hound and the
20:03
Speaker 1: Secubists were. Shaannay might have figured it out herself. Regardless,
20:07
Speaker 1: Yellowfly calls out, use your sword, Shawnee. The young rogue
20:11
Speaker 1: throws her bow to the ground and draws the sentinel,
20:15
Speaker 1: and then something very strange happens. Shawnee had intended to
20:20
Speaker 1: cut her way forward, reach the figure on the throne
20:23
Speaker 1: and strike it down, but the moment she draws the sentinel,
20:26
Speaker 1: the sword pulses with a bright white light, and she
20:29
Speaker 1: feels her arm roughly pulled to the right so that
20:32
Speaker 1: the sword's tip points at the middle recessed alcove. At
20:36
Speaker 1: first she sees only shadow there, but then the sentinel
20:40
Speaker 1: pulses again and a small shadowy figure appears there in
20:46
Speaker 1: the alcove. Is another headless old man, like the one
20:50
Speaker 1: on the throne. No, it is the same person, no
20:54
Speaker 1: less a mirror image than the copy's Catspane has summoned.
20:57
Speaker 1: The figure grips its head in the left hand by
20:59
Speaker 1: the hair, and it dangles like a full sack from
21:02
Speaker 1: the slender fingers. In one notable way, this figure is
21:06
Speaker 1: different from the one on the throne. Above its broken
21:09
Speaker 1: neckbone is a purple black cloud of vapor, roughly shaped
21:12
Speaker 1: like a human head. The longer and with alien features.
21:16
Speaker 1: Circling its brow is a thin ring of swirling, wily
21:20
Speaker 1: gray smoke. Something completely unexpected has happened here, and I
21:29
Speaker 1: don't mean that just in a narrative way. This is
21:31
Speaker 1: not some gotcha moment I've been keeping in my pocket,
21:34
Speaker 1: but a completely organic twist stemming from a previous random
21:37
Speaker 1: dye roll. Remember when Shawnee found culfree sword and I
21:41
Speaker 1: rolled up its special ability. I ended up naming it
21:44
Speaker 1: the Sentinel because those rolls determined that it had the
21:46
Speaker 1: ability to detect invisible objects. At the time, I figured
21:50
Speaker 1: such a power would never come into play, so I
21:52
Speaker 1: changed the ability to include invisible beings so long as
21:55
Speaker 1: the sword was in Shawnee's hand, and now, amazingly medically
22:00
Speaker 1: even the sword has fulfilled the purpose for which it
22:03
Speaker 1: was created. In order to fully explain, I'm going to
22:06
Speaker 1: need to go back and reveal Azorzul's strategy. Before we
22:10
Speaker 1: can do that, we first need to know what Asozul
22:13
Speaker 1: is and what he can do. I'm using the lych
22:16
Speaker 1: stat block from the A, D and D Monster Manual one,
22:19
Speaker 1: but with some tweaks and changes. I'm calling Azorazul a
22:23
Speaker 1: demonic Lich, something of a Homebrew monster. In short, a
22:26
Speaker 1: demonic Lich has some of the innate powers that most
22:29
Speaker 1: demons share, resistance to normal weapons, the ability to create darkness,
22:33
Speaker 1: and telekinesis. Notably, they do not have the teleportability, nor
22:38
Speaker 1: do they have the power to summon other demons. They
22:40
Speaker 1: do have some scrying powers, however, so Azorazuel has always
22:44
Speaker 1: known what the pieces are in the dungeon, and to
22:46
Speaker 1: some extent, what they've been thinking and feeling with eleven
22:50
Speaker 1: hit dice and an ac of nineteen. A demonic Lich
22:53
Speaker 1: is a tough monster, but what really makes it dangerous
22:56
Speaker 1: is its ability to possess a mortal victim. Azor Zul
23:00
Speaker 1: prefers powerful fighters like the Warrior Vinces or high level
23:03
Speaker 1: wizards like Carrick Malmar to possess. This is because it
23:07
Speaker 1: takes on the abilities of the host mortal, and so
23:10
Speaker 1: currently it has access to all of Karrik's spells in
23:13
Speaker 1: addition to its innate powers. So Azorazuel is like a Lich,
23:17
Speaker 1: But isn't it by the book Lytch. I've posted a
23:19
Speaker 1: full description on the blog if you'd like to see it,
23:22
Speaker 1: including the full spell list, but to keep things brief
23:25
Speaker 1: for now, I'll just mention the spells I think it
23:27
Speaker 1: might use here. They are Magic, Missile, phantasmal Force, dispell, Magic, polymorph, other,
23:34
Speaker 1: and feeble Mind. Previous to this encounter, Azorzul pre cast
23:39
Speaker 1: improved Invisibility and projected Image, a sixth level spell that
23:43
Speaker 1: creates an illusory double from which it may cast spells
23:47
Speaker 1: that's the figure on the throne. As I'm sure you've
23:49
Speaker 1: guessed early in the encounter, it used its innate powers
23:52
Speaker 1: of darkness, then Telekinesis to close the doors, then the
23:56
Speaker 1: spell wizard lock to drop the pieces inside, and the
23:58
Speaker 1: Telekinesis again animate the chains once it had them boxed in.
24:02
Speaker 1: Its plan was to stand in the alcove, invisible while
24:05
Speaker 1: slashing at the PCs with chains until only cat'spain remained.
24:10
Speaker 1: Of course, he did not prepare for the presence of
24:12
Speaker 1: a magic sword that could detect the invisible, and like
24:16
Speaker 1: I said before, neither did I. To be honest, I'd
24:18
Speaker 1: forgotten about the sword's power until after I'd played through
24:21
Speaker 1: the first round of combat. Now that Assorzul's plan to
24:25
Speaker 1: kill the companions at its leisure is ruined, I have
24:28
Speaker 1: no idea what's going to happen next, but there's only
24:31
Speaker 1: one way to find out. Let's return to the combat
24:33
Speaker 1: and see how this second phase of the encounter will proceed.
24:43
Speaker 1: After the defeat of Lord Goddard, Katspain had had a
24:46
Speaker 1: nightmare in which he was visited by the phantom of
24:48
Speaker 1: his former master. Now he stares in a horror at
24:52
Speaker 1: that nightmare. Come to life. The thing that materializes in
24:56
Speaker 1: the alcove is almost identical to the specter from his dream,
25:00
Speaker 1: wears rotted robes which show Karak's emaciated body underneath, and
25:04
Speaker 1: it covers a few inches above the ground with the
25:06
Speaker 1: toes of its bare feet pointing down. Presently, it floats
25:09
Speaker 1: out of the alcove directly at them, lifting up its
25:12
Speaker 1: free hand. Dark magical energies crackle in the air around
25:16
Speaker 1: it as it does so. At the same time, near
25:19
Speaker 1: to where Yellowfly is standing, the duplicate Carrick Malmar slumps
25:22
Speaker 1: forward in its seat like a puppet that has suddenly
25:25
Speaker 1: had its strings cut. A jagged neck bone points a
25:28
Speaker 1: Yellowfly as though in accusation, and the shoulder blades stick
25:31
Speaker 1: out like broken bird wings. Yellowfly pulls his gaze away
25:34
Speaker 1: from it and looks wide eyed at what he now
25:37
Speaker 1: understands to be the real threat. The demon Litch hovers
25:40
Speaker 1: in the air, projecting hate and menace. I think we
25:44
Speaker 1: are into the true battle now. Both sides would be
25:47
Speaker 1: taking big swings starting this round, and so I'm going
25:50
Speaker 1: to add spell casting declarations to the initiative section. I'm
25:53
Speaker 1: not sure if I'm ready for this, but all the same.
25:56
Speaker 1: Let's begin round three initiative declarations. Cat Spain will cast
26:02
Speaker 1: Dimension Door, the Zorzul will cast feeble Mind. The party
26:09
Speaker 1: a six. Yes, it goes without saying that it is
26:12
Speaker 1: critical that they win the initiative because feeble Mind is
26:15
Speaker 1: effectively a one shot kill. Still, they aren't in the
26:18
Speaker 1: clear yet. Here comes Asorzul's role five. This could be
26:23
Speaker 1: a real breakthrough moment if the pieces can manage to
26:26
Speaker 1: get past the Demon Lynch's armor class and disrupt that spell.
26:30
Speaker 1: Let's see if they do. First up will be Jase,
26:32
Speaker 1: whose weapon cannot harm the Demon Lynch. He doesn't know
26:35
Speaker 1: that for certain, so he will take a swing. He
26:38
Speaker 1: needs a sixteen to hit a one. You know, I
26:42
Speaker 1: think when Jayce brings his sword down over the apparition,
26:45
Speaker 1: the blade shatters against it as though he had struck
26:47
Speaker 1: a stone pillar. Yeah, Jase is now weaponless and his
26:51
Speaker 1: arm is numbed. He will lose his next turn. That
26:54
Speaker 1: was not an auspicious start to this round. I hope
26:57
Speaker 1: he'll a fly can do better. He needs at least
26:59
Speaker 1: a nine to hit it with the Silverthorn. The roll eleven.
27:03
Speaker 1: It's not a great roll, but it is enough, the
27:06
Speaker 1: Silverthorne cuts a line of white light into the Demonlitch.
27:09
Speaker 1: Doing seven plus five is twelve points. Good job, you'll
27:14
Speaker 1: a fly. The Zorzul goes down to forty hit points,
27:17
Speaker 1: and more importantly, its spell is disrupted. Kat'spain will now
27:22
Speaker 1: cast his spell Demension Door. He's going to attempt a
27:25
Speaker 1: kind of combo by casting the spell, so Shawnee can
27:28
Speaker 1: step through it and appear right behind their enemy. This
27:31
Speaker 1: will give her a backstab attempt. The wizard draws a
27:33
Speaker 1: line in the air with his finger and splits it
27:35
Speaker 1: into a shimmering portal of gold. Shawnee steps through and
27:40
Speaker 1: thrusts the sentinel of the demon Litch with all her might.
27:43
Speaker 1: She'll need a nine on the die all things considered
27:46
Speaker 1: her role. Oh no, only a four. The Zorazul has
27:51
Speaker 1: other worldly intelligence. It saw what the Pear had in
27:53
Speaker 1: mind and shoved Shawnee out of the way with the
27:56
Speaker 1: telekinetic pulse before she gets shrink. Basu may now take
28:00
Speaker 1: his turn. Literally, I'm going to let him attempt another
28:03
Speaker 1: turn undead, since his last one was directed at a decoy.
28:06
Speaker 2: In Saidan's name, my banish the demon.
28:09
Speaker 1: He cries only on a roll of eleven or twelve?
28:12
Speaker 1: Will he succeed the role A five? Bazu watches in
28:17
Speaker 1: horror as his holy symbol rusts in his hand and
28:19
Speaker 1: then disintegrates into powder.
28:23
Speaker 2: It cannot be.
28:24
Speaker 1: Because as Arazul's casting has been disrupted. This round is
28:27
Speaker 1: now over and we move into round four initiative declarations.
28:33
Speaker 1: As Azul will cast magic missile once again. It is
28:36
Speaker 1: critical that the PCs win initiative. If they do not,
28:40
Speaker 1: it is likely that one of them will die. Here
28:43
Speaker 1: goes nothing the party A five, yes, a great role. Now,
28:48
Speaker 1: unless this Arazuel gets a six, they should be all right.
28:52
Speaker 1: The demon Lynch's role Are you joking? A six? You
28:56
Speaker 1: know this is going to be bad. Even though Yellowfly
28:59
Speaker 1: prop presents the biggest threat to a z Orzul given
29:02
Speaker 1: that he holds a silverthorn, there is also a clericat
29:05
Speaker 1: all in the room. I think there's an even chance
29:07
Speaker 1: for a Zorazul to target either man rolling high low
29:11
Speaker 1: to determine the target low will be yellowfly on a
29:14
Speaker 1: D six A four. It's Basu. I was afraid of that.
29:19
Speaker 1: Here's what happens. The spectral figure hovers further off the ground,
29:23
Speaker 1: so that it towers several inches taller even than yellowfly.
29:26
Speaker 1: In his left hand, it lifts the severed head of
29:29
Speaker 1: Kroc Melmar. The head's eyes snap open, glowing orange from
29:35
Speaker 1: them and from the mouth, which hangs open. Three black rays,
29:38
Speaker 1: thin as cobwebs, lands out to strike Bazu in the chest.
29:45
Speaker 1: They shear through his chain mail and pierce his heart.
29:48
Speaker 1: The cleric cries out in agony. This is going to
29:51
Speaker 1: be bad because as an eleven hit dye monster, this
29:54
Speaker 1: bell will do five D six plus five points of damage.
29:58
Speaker 1: Basu's life is in the hands of his now, but
30:00
Speaker 1: there's not much hope. Basu only has twelve had points.
30:04
Speaker 1: It's going to take a miracle rolling fivety six plus
30:07
Speaker 1: five twenty seven point of damage. The rays burned a
30:14
Speaker 1: black hole the size of a fist in the cleric's chest.
30:18
Speaker 1: His eyes roll up into the back of his head,
30:20
Speaker 1: and he drops lifeless to the floor, with vapor rising
30:23
Speaker 1: from the crater where his heart had been it. There's
30:32
Speaker 1: no time to mourn nor to think about the implications
30:34
Speaker 1: of Basu's death. This combat is still very much ongoing.
30:39
Speaker 1: The remaining party members may take their turn. Now. Jase
30:42
Speaker 1: has lost his turn due to his crit fumble last round,
30:45
Speaker 1: though to be honest, I have no idea what he
30:47
Speaker 1: might have even tried to do. Shawnee no longer has
30:50
Speaker 1: her backstab bonus and now needs a thirteen to hit
30:53
Speaker 1: the role nineteen. Heck yeah, Shawne, she'll do points of damage.
31:02
Speaker 1: Yellowfly is up next. He wants to rule a nine
31:05
Speaker 1: or better a ten that just makes it. The Silver
31:09
Speaker 1: Thorn strikes a second time, four just six points. Kat
31:14
Speaker 1: Spain is the last to go this round. He does
31:16
Speaker 1: have a magical weapon, and he's pretty much out of
31:18
Speaker 1: spells unless now I should have thought of it before
31:22
Speaker 1: the declaration. He could have potentially read a spell from
31:25
Speaker 1: his book straight off the page, but I can't allow
31:27
Speaker 1: with this round. It's too bad I didn't think of
31:29
Speaker 1: it earlier. He'll try with the Dyker. He needs a
31:32
Speaker 1: seventeen or better, but you know he has done this
31:34
Speaker 1: kind of thing before. Will he do it now? That
31:38
Speaker 1: ten means he does not, And since Azul has no
31:41
Speaker 1: buffs currently in effect has nothing to try to negate either.
31:44
Speaker 1: And so this round is over and we are onto
31:47
Speaker 1: round five. Initiative declarations. Kat Spain will read magic missile
31:53
Speaker 1: directly from his spell book, erasing it forever. The zorazul
31:57
Speaker 1: will cast polymorph other I think you go without saying
32:00
Speaker 1: that winning the initiative is more important than ever. Here
32:04
Speaker 1: we go the party before the zorazuel a five. Oh no,
32:12
Speaker 1: that's really bad. Once again, a Zorzul lifts the severed
32:16
Speaker 1: head of carric Melmar into the air. This time, while
32:20
Speaker 1: the eyes glow orange, a translucent purple tendril pokes out
32:23
Speaker 1: of its mouth and then shoots towards the Yellow Fly.
32:27
Speaker 1: As a ninth level fighter fly has a reasonable chance
32:29
Speaker 1: to save versus spells A twelve or better will do it.
32:33
Speaker 1: His roll oh a fourteen on the die, Yellowfly slices
32:38
Speaker 1: the purple tendril in two before it reaches him, narrowly
32:41
Speaker 1: avoiding being turned into a I'm actually not sure something
32:45
Speaker 1: bad anyway. Now is the companion's turn, and considering the
32:49
Speaker 1: death of their friend, they have got a thirst for vengeance.
32:53
Speaker 1: Catspane drops his dagger, pulls his spell book from his bag,
32:56
Speaker 1: and opens it to the correct page. Without needing to
32:58
Speaker 1: think about it. He reads the spell magic Missile right
33:02
Speaker 1: off the page. The eye in his forehead snaps open
33:05
Speaker 1: and rips out a trio of searing white bolts, which
33:08
Speaker 1: slam into his or Zula four, rolling three D six
33:11
Speaker 1: plus three fourteen points of damage for the first time,
33:17
Speaker 1: the demon looks truly hurt. In fact, it has just
33:21
Speaker 1: fifteen hit points left, but the companions are not done.
33:24
Speaker 1: Shawnee swings the Sentinel A nineteen hits and she does
33:30
Speaker 1: three points of damage. Yellowfli is right beside her, timing
33:35
Speaker 1: his blow so that it follows Shawne's His attack roll
33:39
Speaker 1: another nineteen while the Silverthorn sings as it cuts a
33:43
Speaker 1: deep gash into Zorzuola four eight points pah, and we
33:49
Speaker 1: are still not done because Jace has picked up kat'
33:52
Speaker 1: Spain's dagger and is trying to flank their enemy. He'll
33:55
Speaker 1: need a fifteen or better to connect. His roll A
33:59
Speaker 1: two means he is shoved back by a telekinetic wave
34:02
Speaker 1: before he can get close. That's it for this round.
34:06
Speaker 1: I have a feeling that the next one will be
34:08
Speaker 1: the final round. Azorazul is out of killer spells, but
34:12
Speaker 1: it can still make one more big move. It has
34:14
Speaker 1: the inateability to possess a victim, and this is not
34:17
Speaker 1: a spell that could be disrupted. It's probably going to
34:20
Speaker 1: come down to who wins initiative. Ready to find out
34:23
Speaker 1: what happens? It is round six initiative declarations. Cat Spain
34:30
Speaker 1: will read Burning Hands directly from a spellbook, erasing it forever,
34:35
Speaker 1: and here come the rules the party A three Azorazul
34:43
Speaker 1: A five. Oh, brother, that is not what I wanted
34:46
Speaker 1: to see. A Zorzul is going to attempt to possess
34:49
Speaker 1: one of the remaining PCs. But who will he target?
34:53
Speaker 1: Kat Spain was always his intended host, but he's also
34:56
Speaker 1: the obvious choice. If he did target Cat Spain, saving
35:00
Speaker 1: throw would be at twelve, same for Yellowfly. Jace's safe
35:04
Speaker 1: is fourteen, while Shawne's is only ten. Hmm, okay, I've
35:09
Speaker 1: made my choice and I know who was our Zuel
35:11
Speaker 1: will try to possess. Here's my role. I got a seven.
35:17
Speaker 1: The demon lych pulls back and then surges forward, right
35:21
Speaker 1: into the Silverthorn, the Sentinel and Jase's dagger, which flash
35:25
Speaker 1: out as one and cut it down, dropping it to
35:28
Speaker 1: the floor. The ghostly alien head above the broken spine
35:32
Speaker 1: has disappeared, and the glowing eyes of the severed head
35:35
Speaker 1: are now dark. The full companions stand over the headless
35:39
Speaker 1: body breathing hard? Is it? Asked Shawnee deed wit kiddy.
35:47
Speaker 1: Jace looks unsure. I think so, replied the Yellowfly. His
35:54
Speaker 1: voice is labored and rasby. He looked over to the
35:57
Speaker 1: far end of the room. The throne was now in caspine.
36:02
Speaker 1: What do you think? It's not dead? But I think
36:06
Speaker 1: we've banished it, so it's over. It's over, Sony, the
36:14
Speaker 1: young thief walked over to Basi's body. Now that he
36:17
Speaker 1: was dead, the divine light that he had conjured to
36:20
Speaker 1: defeat the demon's darkness was beginning to fade, and the
36:23
Speaker 1: glow of their lantern light was taking over the illumination
36:26
Speaker 1: of the chamber. Poor Bassi, she whispered. He's with his
36:31
Speaker 1: God now, I suppose, said the Yellowfly sourly. He regarded
36:36
Speaker 1: the feeble, flickering light of their lantern. We should go.
36:41
Speaker 1: Jase walked over to the double door. Do you think
36:44
Speaker 1: it whatever magic they lock these doors is gone too.
36:48
Speaker 1: Try them, yellow Fly suggested. Jase did and found that
36:52
Speaker 1: they swung open easily. I'll get Bazzi's body, said yellow
37:00
Speaker 1: after sheathing the silverthorn.
37:02
Speaker 2: We still have to seal the demon's remains.
37:05
Speaker 1: It was Kat's Pain who had taken one of the
37:07
Speaker 1: vials of holy water from Basu's bag. He poured it
37:10
Speaker 1: over his former master's head, which laid on the floor
37:13
Speaker 1: looking like a rotten pumpkin. Once the vial was empty,
37:17
Speaker 1: he picked the head up by the hair and said.
37:20
Speaker 2: Oh, we'll put this and the other demonic remains in
37:23
Speaker 2: the sarcophagus.
37:29
Speaker 1: Kat'spain, Jase, and Shawney left the room, walked up the
37:32
Speaker 1: hallway and back into the crypt where the illusory dining
37:35
Speaker 1: hall had been. They put Kerk's head, the black and
37:38
Speaker 1: torn skull, and the glassy eye into the sarcophagus, and
37:42
Speaker 1: then together they heaved the lid back into place. Since
37:46
Speaker 1: Basi was gone and no one else knew the words,
37:49
Speaker 1: there was no prayer to seal the demons inside, but
37:52
Speaker 1: Katspain took the ancient symbol from Basu's bag and Aranessa's cymbals,
37:55
Speaker 1: who he laid them on top of the sculptured stone lid.
38:00
Speaker 1: I suppose that we'll have to do, he said. There
38:04
Speaker 1: were three daemons, said Jesse, we're two holy symbols. Be enough.
38:11
Speaker 1: Silence was the only response, and when a grim faced
38:15
Speaker 1: yellow fly appeared with Basu's body in his arms. The
38:18
Speaker 1: companions simply looked at each other and knew that it
38:21
Speaker 1: was time to go. Wait, said Shahnay. They had already
38:25
Speaker 1: started to leave when she spoke, but she went back
38:28
Speaker 1: to the sarcophagus lid and reached behind her head. With
38:30
Speaker 1: both hands. She undid the cord that held Damn's orphaned
38:35
Speaker 1: key and laid it beside the other two holy symbols. There,
38:40
Speaker 1: she said, behind her, the light from Kat Spain's lantern
38:44
Speaker 1: flickered to all of my wonderful listeners. Thank you. This
39:42
Speaker 1: Second Tale has been running for over two years, and
39:45
Speaker 1: I am so grateful for your company by gratitude, also
39:49
Speaker 1: for all of your reviews, emails and comments. Your support
39:52
Speaker 1: is both uplifting and validating. I appreciate it more than
39:55
Speaker 1: I can say. Special thanks is due to the many
39:59
Speaker 1: many voice actors, artists, and other creatives who have volunteered
40:02
Speaker 1: their talents to the show. Appropriately. This final episode features
40:06
Speaker 1: the entire Tumbledye team of Kay Allen, Kevin Barringer, and
40:10
Speaker 1: Andrew Flack in their longtime roles of Kat's Baine Jason Bazu.
40:14
Speaker 1: I've had many actors step up to offer recurrent roles
40:17
Speaker 1: and multiple appearances, and I am grateful to all of them,
40:19
Speaker 1: believe me, but Team Tumbledeye must receive a special thanks
40:23
Speaker 1: for having appeared in some combination in almost every episode.
40:27
Speaker 1: Thank you, my friends, How can I ever repay you.
40:31
Speaker 1: The next installment of Tale of the Manticor will be
40:33
Speaker 1: a retrospective and perspective of the same type I made
40:36
Speaker 1: after season one. In it, I'll share some thoughts on
40:39
Speaker 1: the past couple of years and also discuss the future
40:42
Speaker 1: of the show. But as for season two, that's a rap.
40:46
Speaker 1: Thanks again for joining me on this game, story, and
40:49
Speaker 1: adventure where chaos rules.