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Episode 13 (S3E13) · Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hi, this is Moses from Wilna's Cave and you are
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: listening to Tale of the Manticor. The following podcast is
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: intended for a mature audience. Listener discretion is advised. Welcome
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: back to Tale of the Manticor Season three. Like the
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: creature from which it takes its name, Tale of the
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Manticor is a mashup, a cross breeding between two different
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: species of storytelling. Here you will find the unpredictability of
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: old school paper and dice games with the story craft
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: of a dark fantasy novel. No character is sacred, and
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: none will be spared if the dice decide their fate
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: is at hand. According to lore, the Tale of a
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: Manticor is barbed with cruel iron spikes. There will be
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: much pain in the days ahead. Last time on Tail
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: of the Manticor, in chapter twelve, the exhausted companions are
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: forced to abandon their pursuit of the three fleeing Orcs
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: and refocus their efforts on finding a place to rest
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: for the night. However, this proves to be more difficult
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: than they expected, partly because they are in hostile Black
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: Cloud territory, but mostly because of the flocks of noisy crows,
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: who harass them and threaten to draw unwonted attention. In
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: an effort to avoid the birds, the companions move into
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: a mist filled ravine where they discover a cave which
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: is occupied by something large. Judging by the sound of
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: snoring coming from within, dor Renni wants to sneak past it,
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: but Tentier wants to turn back, so Achillea breaks the
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: tie and sides with do Renni. While the party does
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: manage to pass by the cave mouth without waking whatever
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: is inside, they unfortunately encounter yet another group of crows
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: on the far side. With the bird's caw in alarm,
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: the monster in the cave wakes up. Now the party
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: must deal with momby the ogre. A brutal fight ensues
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: in which Chord's life is almost lost, but in the
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: end the party is victorious. The Song of the Woods verse.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: One with a whispers, soft and swaying, leaves the emerald
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: vault high above, where shadows dance and creature's love gives
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: everything the heart believes. Sunlight filters through the trees, a
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: golden touch on mossy ground, as secrets hide in silence found,
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: and every path a story weaves.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: I think I forgot to mention in the last episode
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: that the set piece encounter with Momby was actually the
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: result of the current mythic event meaning move stalemate. Over
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: the years, Momby was sometimes hired by the Black Cloud
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: tribe to fight on their side, and concerning their recent
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: dispute with the Blood Foot tribe, the intention was to
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: pay him to break or move the stalemate anyway. With
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: that event meaning spent, I need to roll a new one.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: Let's quickly do that before we begin Part one Undy percentile,
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: the seventy extravagance and sixty one death extravagant death extravagance
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: of death. Humm, no idea what to do with this yet,
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: but that's a later issue, not a now issue. I'm
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: ready to move on with the story. Let's jump in
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: Chapter thirteen, Part one, Day twelve late night mythic event
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: meaning extravagance, death, party status. Achillia seven of seven hit points,
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: Chord one of eleven hit points, de Renni six out
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: of six, ten Tier five out of six supplies. The
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: Companions have eleven portions of food and six of water.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: Spells available. Achilia has memorized message. Cord can cast locate
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: plants and animals. Achillia looked down at their fallen foe.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: A pool of dark blood was spreading out underneath it.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: Everything had all happened so quickly that from the moment
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: the crows raised the alarm to the moment the huge,
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: hairy brute had burst out of the cave, swinging its
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: immense club. She had barely had time to think. All
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: she had been aware of was an onslaught of savagery
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: and strength, and by aheya, it had been strong, so
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: powerful that when it had cord, it had almost Achillie
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: looked at her friend, who limply held his bloody battle
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: axe after wrenching it free of the monster's skull. Cord
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: was swaying like a sapling in the wind, or rather
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: like a pair of saplings. The Ogre's strike had split
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: his torso in two, and now his body was cleft
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: in a.
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: V oh cord.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: She rushed over to help, pushing his two halves together
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: and frantically looking around for something with which to bind them.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: Ten tears saw what she was doing and moved to
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: aid her. The dead ogre was naked save for a
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: leather thong it wore around its neck that was strung
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: with rat skulls. The young elf crouched over the dead
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: monster and undid it with shaking fingers. Once it was released,
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: he held it up by one end to allow the
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: skulls to fall off, and then passed it to Achillia.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: She accepted the strip and used it to bind her
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: friend together. When she was done, she stepped back and
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: inspected her work. The leather would hold, but the wound,
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: if that's what it should be called, looked bad. Are
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: you all right, she asked, knowing he was not. Court
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: teetered drunkenly before managing a bow.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: You just need to rest a while, said.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: Achilia, trying to muster a smile.
• 6:18
  Speaker 4: You'll be fine.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: She heard herself saying the words, and knew she sounded ridiculous.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: What would she do if she lost Court? The thought
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: was unbearable. If she hadn't been so tired, she might
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: have cried. Dorani and Tentier were right beside her, but
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: they were looking at their fallen enemy.
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: I think this is an ogre, said de Rennie. I've
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: never seen one before, but well that's what I think
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: it is.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: Let's roll it into the ravine, suggested tantyr. It took
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: all three of them to do it. The brute must
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: have weighed over three hundred pounds, but luckily gravity helped
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: them with the job, and before long a Killie and
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: the two brothers had managed to roll the corpse all
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: the way out of the cave and down to the
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: bottom of the gulch. We need rest, said Deray, panting.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: He looked ahead to where the crow filled tree had been.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: It was empty of occupants. Now all was silent and
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: still save for the companion's labored breathing.
• 7:21
  Speaker 4: Robin, where are you.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: Called, Achilie, The little taxidermied bird responded immediately to her voice,
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: flitting over from a nearby tree. My little Robin, Achillie said,
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: holding the little construct on her index finger.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: Tonight, I need you to be brave and alert. Can
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: you look over us while we sleep? And while cord rests.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: Robin tweeted out something that sounded affirmative, and whether or
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: not the little bird truly understood Achilia's instructions. The rest
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: of the companions laid down on the cave floor and
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: let sleep engulf them. Before I can continue the story,
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: I need to make a few rolls for the next
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: day's hex crawl. Here's a D twenty to roll for
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: the weather. I got a fourteen. That's a good day
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: for travel, nothing out of the ordinary, just a nice
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: summer day. I'll roll the same die again for stumble upon.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: A one or a twenty will mean something terrible or
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: wonderful will be discovered. Here's the roll before no result there.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: Next is for wandering encounters. I think the companions will
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: break free from these woods as soon as they're able,
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: if for no other reason than to escape the flock
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: of crows that has brought them so much trouble. That
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: means on my D six, only on a five or
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: six will they encounter anything. Here comes the roll before.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: All right, they can pass through a good bit of
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: Black Cloud territory unhindered, and I think just one more
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: day we'll see them clear of the York Lands. While
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: I have my dice andy, I also want to roll
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: to see if the party finds any special treasure in
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: the Ogre's layer. I'll use this D twenty one more time.
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: The highigher the number, the greater the reward. Let's say
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: that on a nineteen or twenty there's something really significant
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: to be found in Momby's cave the role oh at nineteen.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: I was really not expecting that. Okay, this is going
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: to require a bit of thought, and I wonder if
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: I could use my new event meaning to figure out
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: what it should be. I'm also wondering if the treasure
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: could be magical. Had I rolled a twenty, I'd say
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: yes for sure. But with a nineteen, I'll say it's
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: fifty to fifty and roll a high load check. Hi
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: means yes on a D twenty an eight. So it's
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: not magical, but it is still valuable and possibly significant
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: in other ways. No good ideas are coming to me
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: right now, though, I think I need to go away
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: and think about this for a few hours. I'll be
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: back in a bed. Okay, I ended up sleeping on it,
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: and I've got this idea that in addition to several
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: boxes of coins, Momby has gathered together a small colle
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: of skulls. To him, they are more precious and more
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: interesting than gold and silver. One of the skulls in
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: his collection happens to be a relic from the not
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: too distant former land of the cay Moors, who were
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: the cay Morse. They were a race of men who
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: eventually discovered and founded the kingdom now known as Camertine.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: I went into some detail about that civilization in season two,
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: but there's no need for any lore now, at least
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: not yet. All we need to know is that one
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: of Mamby's skulls is the jet and turquoise encrusted skull
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: of a long dead prince. After his death ages ago,
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: he was honored by having a skull transformed into a
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: work of art, extravagant death, if you please. Over the centuries,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: this treasure got lost or stolen, perhaps changed hands many
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: times over, and somehow it eventually ended up in Mambi's collection.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: Whether or not this relic will have a part to
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: play in Achillia's story going forward, well that's anybody's guests.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: Before I returned to the story, there's one last thing
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: I need to do. Having used at my current event
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: meaning and anty replacement, here we go using my deepercentile.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: I've got a twenty two befriend and twenty four tension. Okay,
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: I can work with that. But you know what, I've
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: just had a notion. Instead of going back to the PCs,
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: I'm going to do something a little different Chapter thirteen,
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: Part two, Day twelve late night mythic event meaning befriend tension. Otote,
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: the dream shaper was ancient by the standards of his race,
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: having seen over eighty winters. The orc Shaman's body was
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: shrunken and frail. His spine was bent like a question mark,
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: and his wrinkled gray skin sagged limply from the bone.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: He was blind, in fact, he had put out both
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: of his his own eyes long ago in sacrifice to
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: the all powerful deity Gruche. But otot was not without
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: vision of a kind. His rats and his crows, especially
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: his crows, watched for him and spoke to him. They
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: were bound to his soul and did his bidding. He
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: was also a gifted dream shaper and saw much in
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: his waking visions, but it was the crows who provided
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: him with information. Tonight they whispered to him, and Otos
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: whispered back rus der doso do bo. There were new
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: intruders in his lands, not the troublesome bloodfoot Orcs, but
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: a different kind of trespasser, the folk. The crows had said,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: four of them. They had slain some of his warriors,
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: and they would pay for that. It had been easy
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: enough for his crows to drive them down into Mambi's ravine.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: There they would find death. There could be no other outcome.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: Perhaps I now they already had Otote. The dream Shaper
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: smiled a toothless smile. Chapter thirteen, Part three, Day thirteen
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: Mourning mythic event meaning befriend tension party status. The party
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: status is unchanged, with the exception of Cord and ten Tyr,
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: who have gained one hit point through natural healing and
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: now have two out of eleven and six out of six, respectively.
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: Achille's eyes flicked open and she awoke. De Rennie was
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: gently shaking her by one shoulder.
• 13:41
  Speaker 4: Get up, Achillee, he said.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: She sat up and looked around.
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: Is everything We are safe?
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: Can the else reply?
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: But we need to be going soon.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: Achillea knuckled sleep from her eyes and looked around the cave.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: Ten Tyr was already up, looking at something deeper inside.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: The layer smell out strongly of urine, and there was
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: another bad odor too, sour decay. She knew where it
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: was coming from. They'd rolled the Ogre's heavy corpse down
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: to the bottom of the ravine, but that wasn't very
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: far away. The flies would find it soon, or else
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: the crows would the crows thinking of them, she felt disquieted.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: Those birds were not normal, and dere Any was right.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: They did need to get moving soon. She got up
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: and stretched her stiff muscles. She'd been too exhausted the
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: night before to bother unrolling her bed roll, so there
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: was nothing to put away. She'd simply used her pack
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: as a pillow and slept on the cool stone floor
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: of the cave. Suddenly she remembered what had happened to
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: Cord the night before. She turned to him, how are
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: you healing? The construct did not look good. He was
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: making an awkward attempt to tighten a leather binding that
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: held the two halves of his sundered torso together.
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: Let me help, she offered.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: Cord allowed her to retie the knots and make the
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: very snug, but he still looked bad. How he could
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: ever recover from this wound she could not imagine. When
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: she was done, she looked at to Rennie.
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: I'm ready, she told him.
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: Thinking the brothers were probably waiting on her.
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: We leave in a moment. Ten Tier is just checking
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: the back of the cave in case there's anything all
• 15:17
  Speaker 4: over here.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: Give the younger ELF's voice right on Cue ten. Tare
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: discovered some things deeper inside the cave. There were numerous
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: scattered animal bones, big and small. He also found several
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: dung heaps. Some were fresh and pungent, while others were
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: old and had dried into hard patties. There were no
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: exits or tunnels inside the cave, but there was a
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: small cavity into which the Ogre had piled his valuables.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: This treasure included four boxes that looked almost identical to
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: the coin box carried by the companions. Three of these
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: boxes were empty, but the fourth still contained some coins.
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: Tent Tyre counted out twenty five gold pieces and forty
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: five silver. He put the money in his belt pouch
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: and left the boxes behind. The final item in the
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: cash was a filthy leather sack that made a hollow,
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: rattling sound, as though it were full of wooden bowls.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: When Tenter picked it up, he opened it, looked inside
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: and made a face.
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: Oh it's full of skulls.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: He said through a frown, and it stinks.
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: Put it away, ten tier, let's go.
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: Said de Rennie. The older elf was removing the coins
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: from the box. He had been carrying, so he could
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: be rid of the extra weight. Hold on, there's something
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: else in here, replied ten Tyr. He put his hand
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: into the sack and fished at a round black object.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: He held it up and regarded it, cocking his head
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: in a bemused manner. What in Cheuchin's name is this?
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: He put down the sack and walked over, holding forth
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: a strange object for the others to see. The thin
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: strip of morning sun had penetrated the canopy and fell
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: across the mouth of the cave in a beam. Ten
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: Tyr entered it and held the thing up in order
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: to see it better. It was a skull, but strangely
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: decorated with shiny black and green stones.
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: That's a human skull, I think.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: Said Achillia. She had never seen one before, but she
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: had known three humans, and this seemed to be about
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: the right size, if a little small, perhaps a child's.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: It's strange. I don't much like it, said ten Tyr.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: He was still frowning. I'll keep it in, said Achillia simply,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: and held out her hand. Ten Tears seemed glad to
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: be rid of the macob treasure. He gave it to Achillia,
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: and she tucked it into her bag. Then, with nothing
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: left to do, the companions left the cave, stepped over
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: the dead Ogre's corpse, and exited the ravine. On the
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: far side, they crested the rise after a few minutes
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: of hard effort. Each of them had the same thought
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: as they climbed. It had been wise to stay and
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: fight the night before, as the incline was both steep
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: and treacherous. At the top, more arrows of sunlight pierced
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: the tree tops and slanted down against the forest floor.
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: Birds chirped merrily, and a light wind made the leaves
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: above hiss pleasant As it was Dorannie commented that it
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: would be best if they left the woods as soon
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: as they were able. Everyone agreed, and they made their
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: way single file, and the direction of the Elfin brother's
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: guest was north. After a couple of hours, they were
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: free of the forests. Now in front of them was
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: an expanse of hilly scrub and the large jutting shards
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: of bald rock. Far in the distance, Tenu noticed a
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: dark cloud wheeling through the sky as though were alive. Look,
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: he said quietly. Everyone knew what it was.
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: Should we go back into the woods, asked to Killia.
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: We can't stay here forever. Let's wait and see if
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: they go away, and then move ahead.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: Came Dorannie's reply. After a few minutes, the crows did
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: fly away. I was lucky, remarked ten Tear.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: I wonder if that's where the Orc tribe takes his name.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: The Chilian mused.
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: The crow's gone is the way a head safe.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: Far from it, conceded dour Renni.
• 19:05
  Speaker 4: But like the Orcs say, pikno and sadarama drob.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: I didn't know you spoke lowkish, said Akilia. He doesn't,
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: laughed tent t here, but every help those are that saying? Well,
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: I don't, said Achilia, reddening slightly. Tinto's a goofy smile,
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: welted it means, began Dourrenni in a flat voice.
• 19:27
  Speaker 4: The fastest way out is through.
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: He walked away from the tree life, followed by tent Tire,
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: and then Achilia, with cord behind her and Robin perched
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: atop her head. Dramatis Personae de Renni twenty years ago.
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: The fastest way out is through. Joe, tell me, the
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: only way you'll ever fix your shot is to practice
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: until the problem goes away.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: This advice came from Dornny's archery mentor, the patient demanding
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: an amiable elf of just over eighty years of age.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: Elmir loved a good proverb and never passed up a
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: chance to use one.
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: So now we take our advice from the orcs.
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: Yes to Rennie Rightley, He sighed and knocked another arrow
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: to his bowstring. Humphm. Elmir is one of those people
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: who left with your mouth closed.
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: Don't lose heart. Try again. Remember your legs are just
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: as important to your aim as your arms. Shoulder with
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: a part knee slightly bent.
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: As we practiced, de Rennie did as he was told,
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: but inside he was beginning to wonder if he would
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: ever develop this skill any further.
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: Very good armed straight.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: Elmire tapped him unto the elbow with his fingertips, and
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: Drannia locked his arm.
• 20:50
  Speaker 5: Don't squeeze the bow so hard. Better now, draw, but
• 20:54
  Speaker 5: not that far. That's where you're going wrong, de Rennie.
• 20:58
  Speaker 5: That's why your aim is off. Your draw should match
• 21:01
  Speaker 5: your intended distance. You don't always want to pull the
• 21:04
  Speaker 5: arrow back all the way.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: Der Rennie steadied, his breathing insided down the shaft. Before
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: releasing the string from his fingertips. His arrow streaked towards
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: its target, a practice dubby set up at a distance
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: of sixty feet with a red flower placed over the
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: heart as a bullseye. The missile struck the target, but
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: four inches to the left of the flower. De Rennie slumped,
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: but Elmer was not disheartened.
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: Practice, de Rennie, you only need more practice. There's no
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: way around it. No elf ever mastered the bow when
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: they first picked it up.
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: I didn't just pick it up.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: Sneered Dernni bitterly.
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: It takes years to master, replied Elmir, unfaced. The Orcs
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: have the right of it in this case, my friend.
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: The fastest way out is through.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: Orcs are nocturnal, and so while the party travels, most
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: of the Black Cloud tribe is asleep. Otote, the dream
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: shape paper is too, but the shaman is never really unconscious.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: He just drifts between two different modes of conscious awareness.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: When Otot sleeps, he dreams, and his dreams bring the
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: power of clairvoyance. In some cases they even give him
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: the power of divination. During the day, Otot sees through
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: the eyes of his crows. But Killie was right to
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: guess that this is where the tribe takes its name.
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: By midday, the birds would have discovered Mombi's corpse and
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: reported back to their master. Otote would also learn from
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: his spies that none of the four trespassers had fallen
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: to the Ogre, and he would deduce that they must
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: be a formidable enemy. Presently, Otote is using his crows
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: to look for the companions, but the birds, and therefore
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: he can't see everything at once. I wonder what the
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: chance would be that he'd find them now. I've already
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: rolled for wandering encounters for this day, and I determined
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: that there would be none. But this is different. In essence,
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: Otote is casting a kind of spell. With that in mind,
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: I think a saving throw for the entire party to
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: see if they can avoid being spotted is in order.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: I bawling all my character sheets. I see that the
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: average saving throw against bells among the pieces is sixteen.
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: So that's what I'm going to use. If they fail,
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: Otote will see them. He might even learn something more
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: than just their location. If the pieces succeed, they'll manage
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: to avoid the shaman's winged spies. Here's the role I
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: got an eight. If they'd critically failed the role, I
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: might have given Otote a little extra divination power, but
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: that did not happen. So the shaman will learn where
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: the party is. But that's about it, and that leads
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: me to wonder what can he do with his information.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: By now, the pieces are seventy five percent of the
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: way through Black Cloud territory, having been in it for
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: one and a half days. By nightfall, they'll be clear.
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: If Otote's layer is located in the middle of his
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: tribe's land, then the party would have passed it by now.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: It's going to come down to this, at what time
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: do the crows spot the party. If it's early enough
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: in the day, Otote will be able to take some action.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: If not, it'll be too late to intercept them. I'm
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: just going to roll a D ten. Whatever number shows
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: on the die. That's what o'clock it is in the
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: game when the pieces are spotted. Here's the role. Whoa
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: A ten. That's pretty conclusive. The dice gods have decided
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: that by the time Otote's spies find the party, the
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: sun has already set and the trespassers have more or
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: less already left Black cloud territory. Otote will not pursue
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: there'd be nothing to gain by that, but he will
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: assign one of his crows to watch his northern border
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: for the next few weeks. If the four intruders should
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: try to return this way, he'll be ready for them.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: Chapter thirteen, Part four, Day thirteen evening mythic event meaning
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: befriend tension party status. The party's status is unchanged. Since
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: they traveled in single file in the Elven manner, there
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: was little conversation between the campaign onions as they made
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: their way north. The sun still shone and the wind
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: provided a cooling breeze, so the going had not been
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: so difficult despite the rough and hilly terrain. Achilia's white
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: gold hair was bound up at a ponytail, and it
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: bounced against her bag in time with their steady steps.
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: As they hiked, the companions maintained a brisk pace, stopping
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: only for short breaks to rest, drink water, and scan
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: the skies for the dark cloud of crows they wished
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: to avoid. Eventually, the sun began to set and the
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: sky above the horizon became banded with washed out hues
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: of indigo, salmon, and orange. Before the light of day
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: had completely disappeared. Tentyre pointed out a copse of stunted
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: pines in the distance. They would make for a decent
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: shelter for the night, they agreed, much better than sleeping
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: out in the open. Before they reached the cover of
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: the pines, they saw the dark miasma of the crows
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: darken a patch of distant sky. One last time. Tantier
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: was confident that they had not been spotted, but de
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: Rennie wasn't so short.
• 26:00
  Speaker 4: We should keep a careful watch tonight, just in case.
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: He suggested. Achillia communicated the elf suggestion to Chord, for
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: it was upon his shoulders that the responsibility really fell.
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: Cord nodded, creaking as he bent to let Achillia know
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: that he would remain vigilant through the night, and the
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: others unpacked their bed rolls and slept under the pine branches.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: Unlike the previous night, this time, Achillea dreamt in vivid clarity.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: She was in a dark woods, but no place. She recognized.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: The trees weren't the right kind of trees, stunted pines
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: and mossy oaks. Arranged rank after rank and receding into
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: the distance. As far as the eye could see in
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: every direction, and they were other things that were not
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: quite right. Her voice, even though it was just the
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: sound of her breathing, wasn't familiar, and she felt strange
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: in her own skin. Most of all, As it was night,
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: she should be seeing the forest in the gray scale
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: of infra vision, but this was not the case. Instead,
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: everything was bathed in a silvery sheen from the moonlight
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: where it penetrated the leafy canopy above. Presently, Achilie was running,
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: and she felt afraid, with something chasing her. No, there
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: was nothing behind her. She was running because she was lost,
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: lost in a forest labyrinth. Her feet pounded the ground
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: as she ran, while the wind made the leaves whisper
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: conspiratorially all around. There was no path to follow, just
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: endless columns of trees. Still she ran, even though she
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: had no idea where she was going and had no
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: sense of direction at all. More silver lined oaks, more
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: stunted pines, washed in moon glow so that they appeared
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: almost blue. This kind of vision was so alien and strange.
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: She couldn't see anything like the clarity she was used to.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: Pockets of shadow and gloom filled her with dread. Eventually,
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: when her lungs burned and her heart was beating hard
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: in her chest, Achillie was forced to stop. She had
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: come to the edge of a wide pond and had
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: almost run straight into it. She faltered but did not
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: fall as she stopped just at the waterline, Breathing hard
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: in that voice that was not her own. She looked
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: down at the pond's surface. It was mere, smooth, and
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: reflected the surrounding tree tops in a perfect but inverted copy.
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: When she leaned forward, she gasped. Her reflection was not
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: of her, not her own face, but a stranger's. Achillie
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: raised a hand, and her reflection did the same. She
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: touched her face while gaping in amazement. The reflected image
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: gaped back at her. It was a child's face, the
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: face of a human boy. Thank you for listening to
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: Tale of the manticor if you're enjoying the show and
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: care to help to support it, there are lots of
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: ways to do so. You could recommend the show online
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: or to friends. You can like and repost episode announcements
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: on social media. You can pick up one of my offerings,
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: I'll drive through RPG. You can purchase a Tale of
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: the Manta core t shirt at www. Dot bar Arts
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: dot store. And finally, you can rate or review the
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: show on your podcatchery of Choice. I'm thankful for all
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: of your support. Here's another kind listener review. This one
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: was left by a thirty four k bro on YouTube.
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: Thirty four k bro writes, great work, John, I painfully
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: waited for season two to be over before I listened.
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: I know well that first D and D sealing I
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: headed back in Ontario in the late nineteen eighties. Your
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: show brings me close. I don't think I can wait
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: for season three to end. I'll start now. Well done,
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: old boy. Thanks thirty four k bro. Another Ontarian, I see.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: I hope you're keeping warm this winter. If I have
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: helped rekindle that nineteen eighties flame in your heart, well
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: that's the best thing I can hear from my listeners.
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: Thank you for that. I hope you enjoy season three.
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: This episode features the voices of regulars Ky Allen and
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: Kevin Barringer, playing Drenni and Tantier, respectively. It also introduces
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: a new voice in the role of Elmere, the archery instructor.
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the show, Dan Greek of Legends from the Fireside,
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: another semi actual play that you should absolutely be listening to.
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much to the three of you for your
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: excellent work for listeners who are curious to learn more
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: about Tale of the Manticore. I keep a blog where
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: I post all kinds of show and RPG related stuff
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: like art, maps, tables, crafts, and show notes. You can
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: find it a Tale of the Manticore at our blogspot
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: dot com. To get in touch with me, I'm at
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: Manticore Tale on X, Tale of the Manticore podcast on Instagram,
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: or Tale of Themanticore at gmail dot com. I would
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: love to hear from you. The adventure will continue on
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: the next episode a Tale of the manticor the story
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: We're Chaos Rolls