Latest / Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama / Episode 29 (S3E29)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Hello, This is Nate from Family Tabletop and you are
- 0:03Speaker 1: listening to Tale of the Manticor.
- 0:09Speaker 2: The following podcast is intended for a mature audience. Listener
- 0:13Speaker 2: discretion is advised. Welcome back to Tale of the Manticor
- 0:31Speaker 2: Season three. Like the creature from which it takes its name,
- 0:35Speaker 2: Tale of the Manticor is a mashup, a cross breeding
- 0:38Speaker 2: between two different species of storytelling. Here you will find
- 0:42Speaker 2: the unpredictability of old school paper and dice games with
- 0:45Speaker 2: the story craft of a dark fantasy novel. No character
- 0:49Speaker 2: is sacred, and none will be spared if the dice
- 0:52Speaker 2: decide their fate is at hand. According to Lare, the
- 0:56Speaker 2: Tale of a Manticore is barbed with cruel iron spike.
- 1:01Speaker 2: There will be much pain in the days ahead. Last
- 1:13Speaker 2: time on Tale of the Manticor, the previous chapter picks
- 1:17Speaker 2: up in the middle of the conversation with the elves
- 1:20Speaker 2: Colin and Zotope, who give the party directions to derowth
- 1:23Speaker 2: Achillea now believes this to be the most likely place
- 1:26Speaker 2: to find Odok Zagog. It is a little closer and
- 1:30Speaker 2: a little further west than Elder Valken had told them
- 1:32Speaker 2: to expect, but that could easily be chalked up to
- 1:35Speaker 2: an imperfect memory. She reasons. Colin and Zotope also provide
- 1:39Speaker 2: directions to a nearby lake and some provisions before taking
- 1:42Speaker 2: their leave. The lake turns out to be a place
- 1:45Speaker 2: of picturesque natural beauty. Here Kord undergoes another set of
- 1:50Speaker 2: changes as he slowly evolves into his potential. The companions
- 1:55Speaker 2: leave the next morning and for two days journey to
- 1:58Speaker 2: the northwest. At one point, the party crests arise and
- 2:01Speaker 2: stops to admire a mountain range in the distance. From here,
- 2:05Speaker 2: it is only another dozen miles to their destination, and
- 2:08Speaker 2: on the morning of the next day to discover something.
- 2:11Speaker 2: Achillea tenyr, Cord, and Fairwind have yet to see what
- 2:14Speaker 2: it is, but de Renni in the lead can be
- 2:17Speaker 2: heard cursing and drawing his sword. Chapter twenty nine, Part one,
- 2:29Speaker 2: Day twenty nine, late morning mythic event meaning transform wounds.
- 2:37Speaker 2: Party status Achillea nine out of nine hit points, Cord
- 2:44Speaker 2: eighteen of eighteen, de Renni twelve of twelve, ten Tier
- 2:51Speaker 2: fifteen of fifteen, fair Wind eighteen of eighteen. Supplies. The
- 2:58Speaker 2: companions have eight portions of food remaining. Spells available achillia
- 3:04Speaker 2: can cast shrink times jew and glitter dust cord can
- 3:10Speaker 2: cast entangle and slow poison. When the others cleared the
- 3:17Speaker 2: top of the embankment, they saw what had alarmed de Rennie.
- 3:20Speaker 2: The skeleton, human by the looks of it, impaled on
- 3:23Speaker 2: a stake. The steak itself was a roughly denuded sapling.
- 3:28Speaker 2: It ran up through the rib cage, with its sharpened
- 3:30Speaker 2: tip protruding from a mouth pushed wide open by its girth.
- 3:34Speaker 2: As for Dorenni, he was wheeling about, looking in all
- 3:37Speaker 2: directions for potential threats, his sword raised and ready. Not
- 3:42Speaker 2: fifty paces from the first staked skeleton was another. This
- 3:46Speaker 2: one still had long, filthy hair clinging to the top
- 3:48Speaker 2: of its skull. A third impelled corpse could be seen
- 3:51Speaker 2: at roughly the same distance in the other direction.
- 3:54Speaker 1: What kind of people are these?
- 3:56Speaker 2: Drothi as ten Tire in horror. He was staring up
- 4:00Speaker 2: at the tip of one of the steaks. It was
- 4:02Speaker 2: stained a dark color. What kind?
- 4:04Speaker 3: Indeed?
- 4:05Speaker 2: Said Ferwind He noticed with a revulsion that many of
- 4:08Speaker 2: the bones had rough scoring on them, implying they'd be
- 4:11Speaker 2: not upon these marks. They don't look like they were
- 4:15Speaker 2: made by weapons.
- 4:16Speaker 3: Though I am no expert in the matter.
- 4:18Speaker 2: By now, dur Any was satisfied that there was no
- 4:21Speaker 2: immediate threats nearby, and he came over to scrutinize the marks.
- 4:25Speaker 4: Not by weapons, no, but these do not look like
- 4:30Speaker 4: they were made by wolves either, at least not after
- 4:34Speaker 4: these steaks were planted. Look, the marks go all the
- 4:38Speaker 4: way to the top of the skull.
- 4:40Speaker 2: It was true, Something large and sharp must have scraped
- 4:43Speaker 2: across them to leave marks.
- 4:44Speaker 4: So deep, Achillie, are you sure you want to go on?
- 4:48Speaker 2: The half elf pressed her lips into a thin line
- 4:51Speaker 2: and nodded sharply. These gruesome scarecrows were not what she
- 4:54Speaker 2: had hoped to find here, but she was not about
- 4:57Speaker 2: to be frightened off so easily.
- 4:59Speaker 1: They're a warning to intruders, that's for certain, said Tintyre soberly.
- 5:03Speaker 1: Didn't Colin say that Dorothy were an unfriendly.
- 5:06Speaker 4: People, He said they were unpredictable. De Rennie corrected, and
- 5:11Speaker 4: that he had not personally met any of them. We
- 5:15Speaker 4: shall move ahead, but everyone keep a sharp eye out
- 5:18Speaker 4: for trouble.
- 5:19Speaker 2: With that, he sheathed his sword and readied his bow.
- 5:23Speaker 2: Come on, The quintet moved beyond the border suggested by
- 5:27Speaker 2: the grim sentries and continued in their original direction. They
- 5:31Speaker 2: did not keep their usual single file order, however, but
- 5:34Speaker 2: found out into two ranks, so that De Renni, Tintyr,
- 5:37Speaker 2: and Court were in the lead, and Achilia and fair
- 5:39Speaker 2: Wind walked behind them. The land declined after a few
- 5:43Speaker 2: minutes while the companions passed a number of ancient sentinel
- 5:46Speaker 2: oaks and a few slouching sycamores. Then it rose up
- 5:49Speaker 2: over a knuckled hump. When they reached the top, they
- 5:53Speaker 2: were looking down upon De Roth. The small settlement was
- 5:56Speaker 2: built into a basin that fell away from the forest
- 5:59Speaker 2: on one and rose up into a rock wall on
- 6:02Speaker 2: the other. Four or five cave openings were visible on
- 6:05Speaker 2: the side of that rock wall, all of which had
- 6:08Speaker 2: signs of architectural modification. In the basin with the shattered
- 6:12Speaker 2: remains of six structures. They had once been log houses,
- 6:16Speaker 2: sturdily built too by appearances, but the scene in general
- 6:19Speaker 2: looked as though a cyclone had touched down here, for
- 6:22Speaker 2: every building lay in shambles, with timbers shattered and roofs
- 6:26Speaker 2: torn off. Broken trees lay helter skelter on the ground.
- 6:30Speaker 2: In the center was the only thing that did not
- 6:32Speaker 2: appear damaged a stone. Well more of the staked skeletons
- 6:37Speaker 2: were present here, too, many more. They ringed the place,
- 6:41Speaker 2: leaning at angles and pointing every which way. Taken all
- 6:45Speaker 2: at once, it was an awesome scene to behold, one
- 6:48Speaker 2: of immense wreckage and desolation. Chapter twenty nine. Seven years ago.
- 7:04Speaker 2: Rector Bayum banged his staff on the ground to get
- 7:07Speaker 2: his curate's attention. When the younger man turned around, he.
- 7:10Speaker 5: Said, see to it that the children are gathered for
- 7:13Speaker 5: noontime prayers, and have yu laan pen.
- 7:14Speaker 2: The animals director surveyed the community below from where he
- 7:18Speaker 2: stood in the cave mouth. They had done well here.
- 7:21Speaker 2: It was a hard life to have chosen, but a
- 7:23Speaker 2: good one. Yes, there was more work to be done,
- 7:27Speaker 2: that was certain, But in a Hayes name they had
- 7:29Speaker 2: done well. While they had no more than a handful
- 7:32Speaker 2: of buildings and their members numbered, But sixty de Roth
- 7:35Speaker 2: was a village.
- 7:37Speaker 5: Where there is faith, there is purpose.
- 7:39Speaker 2: He muttered to himself. The latest expedition would return to
- 7:43Speaker 2: day a hay willing, and when they did, another section
- 7:46Speaker 2: of their ever growing map would be filled in. And
- 7:49Speaker 2: there was always the chance. But no, it was better
- 7:52Speaker 2: not to hope for too much. Success would come in time.
- 7:55Speaker 2: Scripture and exploration would be their compass and their vessel.
- 8:00Speaker 2: One day they would find it. They needed only be
- 8:03Speaker 2: patient and diligent with their efforts. They needed only to
- 8:06Speaker 2: have faith, and he did. In Abundance, Chapter twenty nine,
- 8:17Speaker 2: Part three, Day twenty eight, late morning, mythic event meaning
- 8:25Speaker 2: transform wounds party status. The party's status is unchanged. What
- 8:34Speaker 2: in the name of Sadal happened here? Breathed Farewyin. The
- 8:38Speaker 2: companions were arranged in a line along the rim of
- 8:40Speaker 2: the natural bowl that contained what was once presumably the
- 8:44Speaker 2: village of Duroth. Their eyes moved from the shattered log buildings,
- 8:47Speaker 2: to the caves with their broken timber platforms and empty
- 8:51Speaker 2: door frames, and then to the numerous staked skeletons sticking
- 8:54Speaker 2: it from the ground like so many morbid trees. Listen, Achillee,
- 9:00Speaker 2: I've been thinking. It is well known.
- 9:03Speaker 3: That odok Zygog is reckless.
- 9:06Speaker 2: Could it be that we have.
- 9:08Speaker 3: Come to the wrong place?
- 9:10Speaker 2: A Chillia didn't want that to be true.
- 9:13Speaker 6: I don't know, but with humans being so uncommon, I mean,
- 9:19Speaker 6: this place being so close to our destination, it can't
- 9:22Speaker 6: be a coincidence?
- 9:24Speaker 7: Can it?
- 9:25Speaker 3: Have you seen any of the places in your sketchbook
- 9:28Speaker 3: over the last few days?
- 9:30Speaker 2: Achillia shook her head. No, of course she hadn't, Otherwise
- 9:34Speaker 2: she would have said something, I think it's worth a
- 9:37Speaker 2: closer look.
- 9:38Speaker 6: I mean, it doesn't appear that anyone still lives here.
- 9:41Speaker 3: If it were for all those skeletons, I would agree,
- 9:44Speaker 3: said Fairwind, what do you think?
- 9:46Speaker 2: Cord the wooden construct rocked from side to side in
- 9:50Speaker 2: his way of saying, I don't know.
- 9:54Speaker 3: Perhaps you should ask de Renni and Tantya what they think.
- 9:58Speaker 2: The half elf did, and both brothers replied that a
- 10:00Speaker 2: cautious investigation was warranted. Tender was clearly curious to see more.
- 10:06Speaker 2: He had always been fascinated by the race of men,
- 10:08Speaker 2: and still was despite the bad experience as they had
- 10:11Speaker 2: shared in the Kymore Ruins and the presence of the
- 10:13Speaker 2: skeletons here. Derenni was more practical.
- 10:17Speaker 4: Fair Wind is in dire need of equipment, and there
- 10:20Speaker 4: might be something he could make use of here. It
- 10:23Speaker 4: may be worth a look.
- 10:25Speaker 2: With that, the companions left the ridge and began their
- 10:28Speaker 2: descent into the broken reveins of Duroth. Chapter twenty nine,
- 10:42Speaker 2: Part four. Rector Biam held the first scroll of Galindoo
- 10:49Speaker 2: in his hand and gazed down upon the great map
- 10:52Speaker 2: lost in concentration. This map incomplete, though it was represented
- 10:57Speaker 2: all that his people had accomplished over the life just
- 11:00Speaker 2: six years. The scroll had led them to this part
- 11:03Speaker 2: of Marith after they'd deciphered as riddles, but without the
- 11:06Speaker 2: second scroll, the information was incomplete, and the location of
- 11:10Speaker 2: the Golden Path was still unknown. The rector wondered if
- 11:14Speaker 2: the second scroll really had been destroyed, as most followers
- 11:18Speaker 2: of Ahea believed, or if it had just been lost.
- 11:21Speaker 2: Should someone happen to find it, then there would be
- 11:24Speaker 2: reason to hurry. The search would become a race. But
- 11:28Speaker 2: if that had happened, he was confident he would know
- 11:31Speaker 2: they would have come into contact with other searchers. By now,
- 11:34Speaker 2: they had encountered hardships, sure, wild animals, illness, even marauding monsters,
- 11:40Speaker 2: but they had always been able to protect themselves. His
- 11:43Speaker 2: people had made stout buildings and sturdy doors. Their caves
- 11:47Speaker 2: were virtually impregnable, and of course, when this was not enough,
- 11:51Speaker 2: they could fight. A noise from the next room brought
- 11:58Speaker 2: him from.
- 11:58Speaker 7: His musing doctor baiorected by him. It was the voice
- 12:02Speaker 7: of his number two, the Curate ams In. The younger
- 12:06Speaker 7: man burst into the cave room barefoot and half dressed.
- 12:10Speaker 7: His hair was disheveled, and there was blood on his fingers.
- 12:13Speaker 7: When his wide eyes found the rector, relief washed over him.
- 12:16Speaker 5: Oh thank you, Hey, you're here.
- 12:18Speaker 2: The Curate was clearly out of breath.
- 12:20Speaker 5: What has happened to Amson? Speak man?
- 12:23Speaker 2: It took a moment for the Curate to gather the
- 12:25Speaker 2: necessary wind to.
- 12:26Speaker 7: Reply, it's Jesson.
- 12:29Speaker 5: He's returned to him. The expedition is back.
- 12:31Speaker 2: So soon queried by him, noticing the blood on Amson's hands,
- 12:35Speaker 2: he was already making ready to leave.
- 12:37Speaker 1: It's only Jesson, and and he's hurt, badly hurt something.
- 12:42Speaker 1: I don't know what, but something attacked him.
- 12:45Speaker 2: By him, snatched his holy symbol from the tabletop.
- 12:48Speaker 5: Take me to him right away, Curate.
- 12:51Speaker 2: Amsen led by him through a series of caverns on
- 12:53Speaker 2: the way to a larger space that was closer to
- 12:56Speaker 2: the entrance. Here slouched on a chair with the woman
- 13:00Speaker 2: to either side trying to hold him upright was Jesson
- 13:03Speaker 2: or what was left to him for the man's left
- 13:06Speaker 2: hand should have been. There was now a gory stump.
- 13:09Speaker 2: A great piece of his right shoulder was missing as well.
- 13:12Speaker 2: His chained shirt had been stripped off and blood stained
- 13:15Speaker 2: his undershirt down to the waist. When they had left
- 13:18Speaker 2: on the expedition, Jesson had been wearing a steel helm
- 13:21Speaker 2: and carrying a shield. Those were nowhere to be seen.
- 13:25Speaker 2: One of the two women by his side looked up
- 13:27Speaker 2: and said, he came in by the goat pen looking
- 13:30Speaker 2: like this, incoherent moderin about beIN sorry and trying not
- 13:34Speaker 2: to come home.
- 13:35Speaker 4: We brought him straight here.
- 13:37Speaker 2: You were right to do so, Orlean, said the rector,
- 13:39Speaker 2: gripping his simple tightly.
- 13:41Speaker 5: Lift him upright, so I'm attend to him.
- 13:43Speaker 2: With an effort, the two women hauled the injured man
- 13:46Speaker 2: into a fully upright position. It was no eiasy feet.
- 13:49Speaker 2: Jesson was a warrior, and his thickly muscled physique made
- 13:52Speaker 2: him heavy. It didn't help that Jesson's body had gone
- 13:55Speaker 2: completely slack by now. A pool of blood was spreading
- 14:00Speaker 2: under his chair. When Baum looked into the warrior's eyes,
- 14:04Speaker 2: he knew it's too late, no, breathed the woman named Orlean.
- 14:09Speaker 5: No he can't be I am sorry, and I know
- 14:12Speaker 5: what he meant to you. You shall give him a
- 14:14Speaker 5: proper burial, I promise to.
- 14:16Speaker 2: Let's a sound, interrupted, Amason. There was a commotion outside. Screams,
- 14:22Speaker 2: then a noise like a tree being split in two.
- 14:25Speaker 2: More screams, followed by a crash, than an impossibly loud roar.
- 14:30Speaker 5: Absen quick with me.
- 14:32Speaker 2: Director and the Curate ran to the cave entrance, where
- 14:35Speaker 2: a door made of thick logs stood open. Biom often
- 14:38Speaker 2: stood at this vantage, surveying his DEROTHI, his seekers, and
- 14:42Speaker 2: feeling something like a proud parent. They'd always been so
- 14:45Speaker 2: hard working, organized, pious and peaceful. But that is not
- 14:50Speaker 2: what he saw on this day. He saw Mayhem. Cabins
- 14:56Speaker 2: that had taken weeks to build, lay toppled. Farm animals
- 15:00Speaker 2: and Dorothy alike ran in all directions, crying in panic.
- 15:04Speaker 2: There were bodies, some of them torn in half, lying
- 15:08Speaker 2: limp and bloody on the ground. Standing in the middle
- 15:12Speaker 2: of all this chaos was a creature out of a nightmare,
- 15:16Speaker 2: a giant abomination, standing more than twice the height of
- 15:20Speaker 2: a man. It had reddish brown skin, roped with bulging muscle,
- 15:25Speaker 2: legs like tree trunks, long arms, with claw tipped fingers
- 15:29Speaker 2: roped in both directions for something to kill. Its face
- 15:33Speaker 2: was the face of a leering demon with a long chin,
- 15:37Speaker 2: fang filled maw, and a nose like a huge wilted
- 15:40Speaker 2: carrot between coal black eyes. Presently, it grabbed one of
- 15:45Speaker 2: his people and flung them against a tree. The victim
- 15:48Speaker 2: hit it hard, leaving a red mark behind as they
- 15:50Speaker 2: fell lifelessly to the ground. The next to die was
- 15:54Speaker 2: a goat, its head torn off in a single bite. Later,
- 16:00Speaker 2: Rector Bim would wonder how long he had stood there,
- 16:03Speaker 2: stunned by the massacre taking place below, before he found
- 16:06Speaker 2: the wherewithal to say something.
- 16:08Speaker 5: To the caves. He called, everyone, get to the caves.
- 16:17Speaker 2: Chapter twenty nine, Part five, Day twenty eight, late morning,
- 16:25Speaker 2: mythic event meaning transform wounds party status. The party status
- 16:33Speaker 2: is unchanged.
- 16:36Speaker 6: Let's go to the caves first, said Achilia. Callin said
- 16:39Speaker 6: that de Rothi lived in the caves.
- 16:42Speaker 1: It looks like they lived both in and out of
- 16:45Speaker 1: the caves. Perhaps we should look around outside first, said Tentier.
- 16:50Speaker 4: No Achilia is right, was Durani's opinion. If there is
- 16:54Speaker 4: anything of value here, it would most likely be in
- 16:58Speaker 4: a place easy to protect.
- 17:00Speaker 2: Fairwind looked concerned. He was unable to follow the conversation
- 17:04Speaker 2: taking place in Elvish, but he could see the brothers
- 17:06Speaker 2: gesturing up at the caves.
- 17:08Speaker 6: Whatever happened here, I think it happened a.
- 17:10Speaker 2: Long time ago, said Achilia. The steak skeletons looked old.
- 17:14Speaker 2: She thought sun had bleached the bones, and none of
- 17:17Speaker 2: them seemed to have any flesh remaining. All in all,
- 17:20Speaker 2: it seemed to suggest that nature and the elements had
- 17:22Speaker 2: been working on them for some time. The companions picked
- 17:26Speaker 2: their way through the remains of the village. Before long
- 17:30Speaker 2: they could smell a strong ammonia like odour, with musky
- 17:33Speaker 2: notes present too. Its source was impossible to determine. The
- 17:37Speaker 2: smell seemed to be everywhere at once. Achillia wrinkled her
- 17:40Speaker 2: nose in distaste and wondered if some animals might have
- 17:43Speaker 2: made a lair here. A head and to her left
- 17:46Speaker 2: was the rock wall, perforated with cave openings, a half
- 17:50Speaker 2: broken scaffold of wooden stairs and platforms yet clung to it.
- 17:54Speaker 2: To her right, with the shattered log cabins looking darkly forlorn,
- 17:59Speaker 2: she followed her companions as they walked around a large
- 18:01Speaker 2: rectangle of wood nailed together with a heavy cross beam.
- 18:04Speaker 2: Perhaps it had once been a wall, she thought. Now
- 18:07Speaker 2: that they were inside the village commons, she could see
- 18:10Speaker 2: evidence that some things had been moved around furrows in
- 18:13Speaker 2: the earth where heavy timbers had been dragged, for example.
- 18:16Speaker 2: Achilia thought they might represent some post disaster attempt to rebuild,
- 18:20Speaker 2: though if that was true, the effort must have been
- 18:22Speaker 2: abandoned fairly quickly. Derrenny By now had arrived at and
- 18:26Speaker 2: was testing his weight on the wooden scaffolding. He looked
- 18:29Speaker 2: back at the others and nodded, signaling his confidence that
- 18:32Speaker 2: the structure would hold their weight. Luckily, much of the
- 18:35Speaker 2: original construction was still intact, and so climbing to the
- 18:38Speaker 2: lowest of the cave mouths, some twenty feet above the
- 18:40Speaker 2: basin floor, was done without too much difficulty. Once they
- 18:45Speaker 2: reached it, they found a wooden frame nailed securely around
- 18:48Speaker 2: the aperture. Empty rusted hinges showed where a door might
- 18:52Speaker 2: have once been, and Achilia looked down with new understanding
- 18:54Speaker 2: that the wooden rectangle they'd stepped around earlier, somehow it
- 18:58Speaker 2: had come free. With stress marks on the frame. It
- 19:01Speaker 2: appeared to have been ripped off. Inside the cavern was large.
- 19:09Speaker 2: It was oval shaped, some forty feet deep and twenty across.
- 19:13Speaker 2: There was a broken bench and an empty wooden rack
- 19:16Speaker 2: was bolted into the rock wall. A pair of sconces,
- 19:19Speaker 2: both holding unlit torches, had likewise been permanently fixed to
- 19:22Speaker 2: the walls, opposite each other. At the far end of
- 19:25Speaker 2: the cavern, just at the point where the light from
- 19:27Speaker 2: the outside began to dim, the single pinched corridor of
- 19:30Speaker 2: smooth natural rock led away into the darkness. The party
- 19:37Speaker 2: has found the ruined remains of Duroth, a religious settlement
- 19:40Speaker 2: of men and women who shared a single purpose. The
- 19:43Speaker 2: name Darroth comes from Old Zation and means the search.
- 19:47Speaker 2: Drothi accordingly means searchers or seekers. The D'arrothi used to
- 19:52Speaker 2: number sixty and included members who specialized in building, providing food,
- 19:57Speaker 2: protecting the community, and most importantly, exploring the surrounding area.
- 20:02Speaker 2: The belief was that this region hit a sacred secret,
- 20:05Speaker 2: a place called the Golden Path, and the Derothe were
- 20:08Speaker 2: led here by a sacred text with the aim of
- 20:10Speaker 2: finding it. To that end, they prioritized map making and
- 20:14Speaker 2: study of scripture more than any other task. Of course,
- 20:17Speaker 2: the dorothe never found what they were looking for, but
- 20:20Speaker 2: something found them. One day, an expedition ran across a
- 20:23Speaker 2: giant troll, and a member of the group named Jesson
- 20:26Speaker 2: made the unwise decision to flee homeward. He led the
- 20:30Speaker 2: monster straight to Duroth, and once there it wreaked destruction.
- 20:34Speaker 2: This brings us to the present. Droth is now the
- 20:37Speaker 2: giant troll's layer, but it can't spend all of its
- 20:40Speaker 2: time in the ruined village. The supply of human meat
- 20:42Speaker 2: has long since been extinguished. It needs to go out
- 20:45Speaker 2: and hunt. This brings me to some dice rolls. This episode,
- 20:49Speaker 2: because of its many flashbacks, almost got away from me
- 20:52Speaker 2: without making any But now it's time to inject some
- 20:54Speaker 2: chaos to begin. The decision to use a giant troll
- 20:58Speaker 2: for this set piece encounter was born of my event
- 21:01Speaker 2: meaning transform wounds to me. That just screams troll ahead,
- 21:06Speaker 2: So I'll need a new one. Rolling D one hundred
- 21:08Speaker 2: twice gives me forty five celebrate and thirty possessions. No
- 21:15Speaker 2: idea how to use that right now, but something I'll
- 21:17Speaker 2: come up.
- 21:17Speaker 5: I have faith.
- 21:18Speaker 2: The next roll will be for a custom mechanic I'm
- 21:21Speaker 2: thinking of the giant troll is off hunting right now,
- 21:24Speaker 2: but it is critical to know how long it'll be
- 21:26Speaker 2: away if it comes back while the companions are still
- 21:28Speaker 2: in the cave. Well, at eight hit dice, it is
- 21:31Speaker 2: one tough customer. Here's my idea. I'll roll two D
- 21:35Speaker 2: ten and multiply that number by ten. That's how many
- 21:38Speaker 2: minutes will elapse before the giant troll returns. It's a
- 21:42Speaker 2: classic countdown clock. Okay, rolling two D ten gives me eleven.
- 21:48Speaker 2: Could be better, could be worse. It means that the
- 21:51Speaker 2: PCs will have one hour and fifty minutes to search,
- 21:54Speaker 2: to growth and get out of there. Whether or not
- 21:56Speaker 2: that will be enough time, well, the answer to that
- 22:00Speaker 2: will have to wait. Thank you for listening to Tale
- 22:06Speaker 2: of the manticor if you'd like to help to support
- 22:08Speaker 2: the show, there are lots of ways to do so.
- 22:10Speaker 2: You can recommend it online or to friends. You could
- 22:13Speaker 2: like and repost episode announcements on social media. You can
- 22:16Speaker 2: pick up one of my offerings on drive through RPG
- 22:18Speaker 2: or Tale of the Manticore t shirt at bare arts
- 22:20Speaker 2: dot store. There are now two designs available, by the way. Finally,
- 22:24Speaker 2: you can rate or review the show on your podcatter
- 22:26Speaker 2: of choice. These ratings and reviews really work to go
- 22:29Speaker 2: a long way to help the show become more discoverable.
- 22:32Speaker 2: And just because I say it at the end of
- 22:33Speaker 2: every episode, and I've been saying it for years, it
- 22:36Speaker 2: is just as true as ever. I am very grateful
- 22:39Speaker 2: for your support. Let's hear a listener of you right now.
- 22:42Speaker 2: This one was left by Ben on Podchaser. Ben writes,
- 22:46Speaker 2: part actual play, part audio drama, Tale of the Manticore
- 22:50Speaker 2: is an absolute muscle listen for anyone that loves dark
- 22:52Speaker 2: D and D adventure. The sound design is amazing and
- 22:55Speaker 2: the host's incredible storyteller makes an enthralling journey out of
- 22:58Speaker 2: random dice rolls. The characters are all perfectly written and performed,
- 23:02Speaker 2: and the reactions to the fate of the dice are
- 23:04Speaker 2: natural and believable, with a few amazing surprises thrown in
- 23:07Speaker 2: for good measure. This podcast single handedly convinced me to
- 23:10Speaker 2: pick up old school Essentials so that I could play
- 23:13Speaker 2: through my own old school D and D stories. Five stars.
- 23:16Speaker 2: Thanks for putting on an incredible show. Thanks a million, Ben,
- 23:20Speaker 2: very gratifying to hear that the story feels natural and believable.
- 23:24Speaker 2: It's something I strive for because I do find a
- 23:26Speaker 2: lot of actual plays tend to yank me out of
- 23:28Speaker 2: my suspension of disbelief fairly regularly. Also, glad if I
- 23:32Speaker 2: turned on to old school essentials, that system is still
- 23:35Speaker 2: currently my favorite at the mic and at the table haint.
- 23:38Speaker 2: Can someone out there please tell Gavin Norman to sponsor
- 23:40Speaker 2: this show already? Isn't that a match made in heaven? Well,
- 23:43Speaker 2: a boy can dream anyway. Thanks for the great review, Ben,
- 23:46Speaker 2: much obliged. Where would I be without my amazing cast
- 23:50Speaker 2: of actors. This episode features six voices, both familiar and new.
- 23:54Speaker 2: We have the core cast of Duretti, Tantier, and fair Wind,
- 23:57Speaker 2: played by Kayellen, Kevin Barringer, and David Cooper, respectively. Returning
- 24:02Speaker 2: to the show from season two is John Meardick, who
- 24:04Speaker 2: hosts the Blue fifty eight podcast about the Green Bay
- 24:07Speaker 2: Packers and who co runs the Arcane Discovery's Instagram page
- 24:11Speaker 2: with his wife Liz to showcase all kinds of TTRPG
- 24:14Speaker 2: creators and makers. Another returney is Dot of the Bite
- 24:17Speaker 2: Sized Tales and restingglicks Face podcasts Dot Blaze Orlean. Finally,
- 24:22Speaker 2: I'm Happy to introduce Rob de Ville, paladin of podcast
- 24:26Speaker 2: on Side Quests and mastermind of Epic Table Games. In
- 24:29Speaker 2: this episode, Rob plays curate amzin By. Thanks to Kayellen, Kevin,
- 24:34Speaker 2: David John dot and Rob for the great work. For
- 24:37Speaker 2: those curious to learn a bit more about Tale of
- 24:39Speaker 2: the Manticor, I keep a blog where I post all
- 24:41Speaker 2: kinds of show on RPG related stuff like art, maps, tables, crafts,
- 24:45Speaker 2: and show notes. You can find it at tale of
- 24:47Speaker 2: themanticore dot blogspot dot com or tale of themanticore dot com.
- 24:51Speaker 2: To get in touch with me, I'm at tale of
- 24:52Speaker 2: themantcor dot Blue sky dot Social, Tale of the Manticor
- 24:55Speaker 2: podcast on Instagram, or tale of themantacre gmail dot com.
- 25:00Speaker 2: Did you catch that there's something new?
- 25:01Speaker 4: Just then?
- 25:01Speaker 2: Tale of the Manticor now has its own URL currently
- 25:05Speaker 2: and for the foreseeable future. This just points to the blog,
- 25:08Speaker 2: but it's something I've been meaning to do for ages
- 25:10Speaker 2: and I've just gotten around to special thanks to Christopher
- 25:13Speaker 2: Green for his patient guidance in helping me to set
- 25:15Speaker 2: it up. Also, since I'm mentioning the blog and things
- 25:19Speaker 2: long overdue, I'm going to post updated character sheets for
- 25:22Speaker 2: all PC's shortly after this episode, sorry that I haven't
- 25:25Speaker 2: done so sooner. The eventual will continue on the next
- 25:28Speaker 2: episode of Tale of the manticor the Story were Chaos Rolls. Hi,
- 25:38Speaker 2: I'm John from Tale of the Manticor.
- 25:40Speaker 5: Maddie cyl from a Game of One Zone.
- 25:42Speaker 8: PJ from a Wasteland story, and the Solo role Players.
- 25:44Speaker 2: Podcast Simon from Legend of the Bones.
- 25:47Speaker 8: Brian ride Out from Swords Against Madness, Calm from The
- 25:50Speaker 8: Lone Adventurer.
- 25:51Speaker 2: And I'm Shaik from Role by.
- 25:53Speaker 1: Myself and with our solo roleplaying audio narrative, actual play
- 25:57Speaker 1: drama powers combined, we are the Solo role Players Podcast Network.
- 26:02Speaker 8: Usually accustomed to delving the.
- 26:04Speaker 4: Depths, scaring the desert, surviving the wasteland.
- 26:07Speaker 2: Or facing the dragon alone, this time we have teamed
- 26:10Speaker 2: up to bring you a curated collection of the best,
- 26:13Speaker 2: highest quality, most rumatic, and diceiest solo roleplay podcasts in
- 26:18Speaker 2: the world. There are dozens of es, so if you're
- 26:22Speaker 2: looking for your next solo role playing adventure, rollover.
- 26:25Speaker 8: To Solo Roleplayers Network dot com, sample and subscribe to
- 26:29Speaker 8: something that takes your fancy and.
- 26:31Speaker 6: Discover your new favorite solo role playing podcast.
- 26:35Speaker 5: See you there,