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Episode 42 (S3E42) · Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hi, This is Trevor from Your Story Will be Different
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: and you are listening to Tale of the Manticore. The
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: following podcast is intended for a mature audience. Listener discretion
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: is advised. Welcome back to Tale of the Manticor Season three.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Like the creature from which it takes its name, Tale
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: of the Manticor is a mashup, a crossbreeding between two
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: different species of storytelling. Here you will find the unpredictability
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: of old school paper and dice games with the story
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: craft of a dark fantasy novel. No character is sacred
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: and none will be spared if the dice decide their
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: fate is at hand. According to Lare, the Tale of
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: a Manticore is barbed with cruel and spikes. There will
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: be much pain in the days ahead. Last time on
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: Tail of the Manticor, Chapter forty one begins with the
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: party stepping through the weird door in the floor of
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: Odok's apparently abandoned cottage. They enter a place that somehow exists,
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: oriented sideways to the normal world. This is Odoke's Seclusium,
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: and strangers are not welcome here, as the companions soon
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: learn shortly after entering the magic mouth tells them to
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: go back or be repelled, but the pieces ignore the
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: warning who proceed. They discover a vestibule, a dining area,
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: and a small pantry, and although they remain unmolested, they
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: do not find anything more significant than a few minor
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: clues about the people who live there. However, the next
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: room they enter is trapped. In it, the magic Mouth
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: reappears with the new warning. Instead of telling them to
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: turn back, this time, they are directed to drop their
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: weapons and surrender. A quartette of display suits of armor,
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: one in each of the room's corners, comes to life
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: in order to enforce the command, but the companions have
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: no intention of obeying. It appears that they will need
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: to fight their way to the reclusive Diygogue if they
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: wish to speak with him on equal terms. I thought
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: I'd be starting this chapter with combat right out of
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: the gates, but I can't do that because I realize
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: I forgot to do something in the last episode and
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: it can't wait. Episode forty one was supposed to be
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: a level up episode for Achillie. How did I forget that?
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: It's like my favorite thing? But I did forget, and
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: at least I caught the oversight before it mattered. Doing
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: it now instead of then actually makes no difference, which
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: is very lucky. Anyway, that's enough excuses, let's get into it.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: For achieving level five, Achillie will get a D four
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: of new hit points. Rolling for that a one, which
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: gets Menda to two, making her new total fifteen. Disappointing,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: but not the end of the world. Let's try for
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: stat increases for strength. I've got a three, intelligence a
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: five wisdom that two was not going to do it.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: Dexterity a three. Uh oh, there's only two chances left.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: A six for a constitution would be a big deal, though,
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: rolling for constitution a five, Charisma a two not a zip.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: I can only hope that the Dice gods are holding
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: back their good luck for the truly important role which
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: is coming up next. Many folks will know that level
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: five is when magic users get their first third level spell.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: I'm going to use the spell list from the Expert Rules,
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: but with some modifications since I've used them in older seasons.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: I'm removing the following from the list lightning bolt, water breathing,
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: protection from normal missiles, infra vision, and haste. That leaves
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: only the following seven spells Clairvoids, dispel magic, Fireball, fly,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: old Person, invisibility ten foot radius, Protection from evil ten
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: foot radius. Let's go ahead and add three more from
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: the second edition rulebook Blink, Flame, Arrow, and spectral Force.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: That makes ten spells with a good mix of utility
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: and offense, and most of them make good sense with
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: the story, which is a bonus. Let's see what Achille
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: will get. I roll. The two are dispel magic. Okay,
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: it doesn't have the glamour of fireball, but I am
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: quite pleased with this result. Here's what the spell can do.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: It removes spell effects within a twenty by twenty by
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: twenty foot space. It doesn't affect magic items, but will
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: remove any spell effect of equal or lower level than
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: the original caster. It also has a decent chance to
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: succeed even if the original caster is of higher level
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: than the one trying to dispel the magic.
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: I can see a million ways that could be very useful,
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: but it's worth mentioning that Achillie will need to rest
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: and study before she can use her new spell. Hey,
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: you know it's even cooler than a level up episode.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: That double level up episode. Since I forgot about Achilles
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: last time. I've actually got two of them to do Today,
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: Durani will join his ally at level five. He gets
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: a D six for new hit points. Rolling for that
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: A two mid chapter three, so his new total is nineteen.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a bit
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: let down by that. You know what, I'm switching dice.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: This D six must be busted or something. Yeah, hang on, okay,
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: I have a nice purple one that rarely lets me
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: down that I hope it doesn't this time. Because Durni
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: has only ever gotten a single stat increase, he's due
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: for some good luck. Let's get rolling for strength A
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: four intelligence a six. Okay, there it is. Intelligence is
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: not his main stat, but I'll take it. Ten goes
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: to eleven for wisdom, a five dexterity just a two
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: constitution another two charisma, that's a three. Well, I asked
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: for something, and I did guess something. I guess I
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: can't complain. To finish up this level up, Derennie's basic
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: attack bonus improves you a plus three, and that is
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: bound to make a difference. All Right, The bookkeeping is
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: done and it is finally time to join the adventure.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: Chapter forty two Part one, Day thirty six, late afternoon.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: Ten minutes remain in Achillea's detect evil spell mythic event
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: meaning activate suffering party status. Achillea fifteen of fifteen hit points,
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: Court twenty four of twenty four, de Renni nineteen of nineteen,
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: ten Tier nineteen of nineteen, Fairwind twenty seven of thirty three,
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: Flicker sixteen of sixteen supplies. The companions have no food,
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: remaining spells available. Achillia can cast enlarge message and glitter.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: Dust Cord can cast and tangle, slow poison and hold animal.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: Fair Wind can cast curelate wounds and protection from eval.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: Drop your weapons and surrender.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: Repeated the wooden mouth on the door a third time.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: The companions standing back to back, prepared for battle as
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: the four animated suits of armor that surrounded them advance.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: Entering combat, these suits of animated armour are a very
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: straightforward kind of opponent. Each has six hit points an
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: AC of sixteen, can do one to ten points of
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: damage with their halbert, and are immune to mind affecting
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: spells and fear. However, while the enemy is unaccept optional
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: in their stats, this combat will be significantly different from
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: many of the companions have fought before. Since they're surrounded,
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: the pieces cannot choose which of their number will be
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: front line fighters and which will stand in the rear.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: Practically speaking, this means that Achillea is at much higher
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: risk than usual. She will also need to declare her
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: spell casting before each initiative roll because of the chance
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: that her attempts will be disrupted. Surprise will not be
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: checked for either side in this combat, and so we
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: move straight into round one declarations. Achilliable attempt to cast
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: enlarge on a flicker initiative. The party a four, the
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: animated armor a two. A lucky start, and it makes
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: sense as I've mentioned that the animated armor is slow moving.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: Dur Any will strike first. He needs a thirteen to hit.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: A sixteen is good. He does just two points of
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: damage to the armor nearest him. Fairwind will try to
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: hit that same suit. He needs a fourteen or better.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: A two means the attack is parried. The armor may
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: be slow, but its movements are precise. Cord faces one
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: of the animated suits of armor alone. His target to
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: hit number is also fourteen. Rolling fifteen geez Cord is
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: so good in a fight. Damage from his battle axe
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: is wow a whopping seven voints. The axe slams into
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: the breastplate, burying its blade in the metal, coordinates to
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: wrench it out, making the armor move like a puppet
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: in the process. Achillia and Flicker pair up against the
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: third suit for her turn. The half elf casts enlarge
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: on Flicker, using her wand to focus the spell's energy,
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: and the blink Dog grows to the size of a
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: dire wolf. Flicker now pounces on their opponent. Oh no,
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: that's a one. Although Flicker accepts the spell without resisting,
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: she is unused to her new size and weight and
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: fumbles terribly. Her next attack will be lost. Step is
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: ten deer, who gets a plus three to his roll
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: all bonus is considered A twelve is just short of
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: what he needs to hit, and the enemy bats away
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: the sword of Learhane with its halberd. Now it's the
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: animated armour's turn. I'll randomize targets where applicable, but I'll
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: keep those rolls off Mike, so should not over complicate things.
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: The first suit of armor thrust his halberd at fair
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Wind and hits with a fourteen. Damage with a polearm
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: can be quite severe, rolling a D ten out A
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: nine the points, stabs him in the abdomen and goes deep.
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: Just like that, the cleric is down to eighteen hit points.
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: Animated Armor number two tries to strike Chord back A
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: twelve just hits. Oh my, this combat is not going
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: so well. Damage from the halbard is funk ten points
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: a brutal hit to the torso. I can imagine a
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: situation where a Chord's axe is buried in the armor
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: and the armour's halberd is buried in Chordugh, this fight
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: is not going well. Luckily I've rolled up. The third
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: suit of armor targets Flicker, and the krit fumble does
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: not prevent the animal from blinking away before the polearm
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: sweeps down upon it. Over to ten tier. The last
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: animated suit of armor rolls A five. Ten tier returns
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: the perry, and both combatants square off, ready for round two.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: Declarations none initiative the party A two the animated armor
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: A five. Things go from bad to worse when the
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: animated armor presses forward as though they shared a single mind.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: The one that wounded Fairwind now turns its attention to
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: Durni and jabs it's alberted him nineteen holy smokes. This
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: battle is going so badly. Damages cripes nine points. Durani
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: is down to just over half his HP. With a
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: single blow, Cord's opponent goes next nine mercifully misses the
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: wooden construct. Having cast her spell. Achillie now draws her dagger,
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: and she can't help but notice that the move directs
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: the animated armour's attention away from Flicker and over to her. Suddenly,
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: the blade of a halberd is swinging her way. A
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: seventeen is more than enough to hit, and she takes
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: oh just one point of damage, a nick in the bicep.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: Still still, the experience is terrifying, and she becomes suddenly
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: aware just how vulnerable she is. The fourth suit of
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: armor faints and thrusts a tent here, but at eleven
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: means he is able to parry the attack. Now it's
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: the PC's turn. At this point, they must be trying
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: to come up with a way to survive this encounter
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: that does not involve fighting. But I think for now
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: they just redouble their efforts and try to take control
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: of the situation. Tend to rye posts A two means
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: his blade skates harmlessly off the enemy's breastplate. Flicker cannot
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: attack us round due to her fumble. In round one,
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: Clia with her dagger, will need a small miracle to
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: connect boom natural twenty A small miracle asked for and delivered,
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: damages six points as she jams her blade into her
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: opponent's elbow joint and twists with all she's got. Wow,
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: of all the things I didn't expect to happen anyway.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: Cord is next. Will he be as reliable as we
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: need him to be? Before means he cannot land a blow. Fairwind,
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: holding his wounded stomach with one hand while swinging his
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: cudgel with the other, goes next. The six means his
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: weapon clangs off the enemy's puldron with no discernible effect.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: Duranni goes last, and he really needs to hit about fifteen.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: Will do it? The oven blade slashes at the armour's knee,
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: doing four points. Round two ends with the Magic Mouth
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: commanding the companions once again to.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: Drop your weapons and surrender.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: It's an unnecessary reminder that things are going poorly. Three declarations,
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: none initiative. The party A six. Oh, this could be
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: the break The PC's need the animated armor a six
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: strike that all actions will be simultaneous. If anyone goes down,
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: they will still get the chance to retaliate. I'll start
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: with the PCs going back around the circle. Durrennie tries
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: to follow his successful stroke with a powerful backhand an eighteen.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: Well done to Rennie. That's a hit, Come on, big
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: money three points. This suit of armor has seven hit
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: points remaining. Can fair one follow suit a fifteen. Finally,
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: the cleric lands a blow. His cugel will only do
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: a defour of damage. However, rolling three points is not bad.
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: The animated suit of armor is now dented badly in
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: several places. Court is up next. His battle axe comes
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: down in a mighty two handed overhead chop. Oh A
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: thirteen just misses by a single point. The armor pivots
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: to avoid the crushing blow. Achille attacks with her dagger
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: again seventeen. Okay, her dagger does another two points of damage.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: This enemy now has just ten remaining. Flicker, enlarged to
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: more than one and a half times her normal size,
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: is recovered from her fumble and springs teeth snapping the
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: three means she is knocked back by the shaft of
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: the defender's Albert ten two goes last, needing a twelve
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: to hit. A fourteen is good. His opponent, yet untouched,
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: will take three points of damage from the ELF's magical blade.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: The animated armor will now take their turn. I'll go
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: back around the circle, starting with the one attacking ten tier.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: He needs a thirteen to hit him a one. Huh.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: Taking that first blow from ten tier knocks it off
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: balance and sends the armor down to the floor with
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: a crash, where it struggles to get back up. It
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: will lose its next turn. In doing so, The dice
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: tell me that Flicker will be the next target. Can
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: the animal blink away When the initiative is simultaneous, I'll
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: roll high low I will mean a can rolling a ten.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: Flicker cannot get away in time. Of course, the armor
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: still needs to land a hit at twelve plus two
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: means oh it misses by a single point. Yikes, that
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: was close. Cord's enemy goes next, a fourteen hits. Oh boy,
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: here comes that d ten again. I have a bad
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: feeling about this. Oh my gosh, nine points. These hits
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: are absolutely savage. Cord digs a terrible wound and goes
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: down to just five hit points. One more successful hit
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: could well kill him. I think Achilleus, standing just to
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: his right, is aware of just how dire the situation
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: is for her friend. The last animated suit of armor
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: remains focused under any but a seven means the elf
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: can parey the polearm safely to the side. Half. Once again,
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: the strident voice of the magic mouth brings out.
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: Submit, drop your weapons to the ground, and submit.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: As we enter round four, I can tell you that
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: it is tempting to have the pieces do just that.
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: As it stands, the armor is more or less down
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: to half of their original strength, but the pieces are
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: considerably worse off, especially court. Going even one more round
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: is a tremendous risk, but I think I will take it.
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: Let's begin round four declarations fair wind will cast cure
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: led wounds on court initiative the party five the animated
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: armor two. Well, that was very lucky. But as I
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: start this round, I suddenly realize that if even one
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: of these animated suits of armor scores a critical hit,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: they will do an insane amount of damage, as much
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: as twenty points. So unless the PCs really grab the
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: upper hand this ground, I'm not sure I have the
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: stomach to keep the fight going much longer, but I've
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: committed them to this round at least, so let's see
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: what happens. Durani goes first. He swings his blade and
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: with a fifth scores a hit and four points is
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: the exact amount he needs to take out the suit
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: of armor. He rings it like a bell, and the
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: sheer power of his strike breaks the spell that holds
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: it together. It falls to pieces at his feet. Fairwood
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: can now move to help Cord. He casts Cure Light
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: Wounds on the construct and heals him four just three points.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: That's underwhelming, but still helpful. I suppose Cord, for his part,
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: will bash away at their foe a six missus. Unfortunately.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: Next in line are Achillea and Flicker. Achillea's dagger flashes
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: out and with a thirteen it fails to penetrate the
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: steel plates of the animated armor. Flicker at her side
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: lungees a nineteen. Excellent damage will be one d six
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: times one point six for the enlarged spell. Rolling a
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: four on the die makes six point four rounded down
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: to six points. It's almost enough to finish off their enemy,
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: but not quite. Two hit points yet remain ten. Two
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: goes last, and he needs a thirteen to hit. A
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: four will not do it. As his enemy rises to
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: his feet, the sort of their han whistles through the
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: spot where his head would have been if it had one.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: Now the animated armor can act, or rather two of
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: them can. The one that Qriit failed last round lost
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: his turn, picking itself off the floor. Another has been destroyed.
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: The animated armor that attacked Flicker last round unfortunately turns
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: its attention back to Achillie. As Flicker blinks away, it
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: only needs a nine to hit her. That twelve connects
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: damage could be bad. Four points another cut, this time
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: on her left shoulder. Achillie has ten left. This last
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: roll is the one I've been dreading. Cortz Ac is
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: fourteen and so the animated armor needs to roll a
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: twelve or better to hit on a D twenty A
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: four that was lucky. Round four ends with the PCs
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: having managed to take control of the fight. There's still
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: plenty of danger, but I think it makes sense to
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: keep going, so we move to round five. Declarations none
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: initiative the party a six. This could be the extra
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: momentum the pieces need to win, hoping for anything other
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: than a six. With this an ext roll for the
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: animated armor. A two nice taking down his enemy clears
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: away the creeping doubt over whether these things could be
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: killed at all, and the companions find an extra store
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: of courage. They're going to give it everything they've got.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: Cord raises his battle axe and A nine. It's parried
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: away with seeming ease. However, fair Wind is there to
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: help with his cudgel. An eight is not going to
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: get the job done. Durani joins his brother and tries
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: to flank the enemy. A nineteen hits three points of damage,
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: is a solid blow and brings this foe down to
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: ten hit points. Ten two will try to strike the
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: opposite side. A sixteen on the die is plenty, but
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: it's a glancing blow, doing only two points of damage.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: Last up are Achille and Flicker. Achillees he's a weak
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: spot in the armor and stabs down with her dagger.
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: Fourteen is a good role, but it's not enough to
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: score a hit. Her blade is deflected by the steel embrace.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: Flicker is last up and needs it fourteen to hit.
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: A two means she cannot find an opening in the
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: enemy's defenses either. But once again it is the animated
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: armor's turn, and the bad feeling I have inside me
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: is back. Achillie is once again targeted, and at seventeen
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: is a hit. Now she is in the danger zone
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: and a bad enough role could kill her. Here goes
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: nothing three points. I think next round she's going to
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: have to try to withdraw. This is getting way too dangerous.
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: Speaking of danger, the dice tell me that Cord remains
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: the target. Oh no, A seventeen will hit once again.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: We are in a bad spot. With eight points left,
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: Cord could lose his life right here six points. The
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: blow sends him to the floor. Achillia sees this and
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: cries out, God, there's the weapons clash. The voice from
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: the door repeats, more insistent than ever.
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: Drop your weapons to the ground and submit.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: There's one enemy left, and that day say it turns
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: on to Reny. Within nine the Elf is able to
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: knock the incoming halberd aside. Round five is at an end,
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: and I have decided there will be no round six.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: We are a few bad rolls away from disaster, and
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: I am not prepared to lose two of my pieces
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: to this encounter, not after everything they've been through. Earlier,
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: Achillie had noticed that her spell of detect Evil did
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: not sense anything in these animated suits of armor. She'd
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: also noticed how the armor engaged with Flicker had turned
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: on her the moment she'd drawn her dagger. She looked
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: at the blade in her hand and made a snap decision,
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: throwing it to the ground. The half elf ordered Flicker
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: to lie down. Amazingly, the blink dog obeyed without missing it.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: Achillia continued court fail and drop your weapons. We surrender,
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: We surrender, without waiting to see what they would do.
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: She followed up in Elvish de renny tenter ludnaren kin
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: how it am. Perhaps the others had been thinking the
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: same thing, for they did as they were asked, and
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: one by one, cudgel, axe and sword dropped to the floor.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: Tinder was the last to release his, not wanting to
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: part with the sort of leir haane with which he
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: felt a special bond, But a few moments after the others,
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: he led his fall too. The reaction of the animated
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: armor was immediate. Once the weapons were dropped, they stopped
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: pressing the attack. There were only three suits still standing,
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: and two of them had been badly battered and scored.
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: The last was in such poor condition that the moment
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: it stopped fighting, its left arm fell off and clattered
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: against the flagstones. Its weapon remained raised. However, in fact,
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: all three had the spiked of their halberds pointed at
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: the companions. As fair Wind, Cord, Achilie, and the brothers
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: raised their empty hands in the air. One of the
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: headless suits pulled back. He gestured with its weapon at
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: the door on the far end of the room. The
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: magic mouth that had been addressing the companions throughout the
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: fight was gone. Suddenly, Cord stumbled, Achilie put his hand
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: on her shoulder to steady him, and their captors allowed it,
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: not seeming to care so long as their enemy's weapons
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: were out of reach. Once again, the armor repeated its
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: jabbing motion, and Achilie led Cord and the others across
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: the room to the door. It was only now that
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: she really began to notice how much her cuts stung
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: and how much she was bleeding, while the magnitude of
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: their failure and the degree of her responsibility for it
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: started to take shape in her mind. Still, she was
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: comforted in knowing that Cord would survive, and nothing mattered
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: more than that right now. When she reached the door,
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: Achillie pushed it open. Before her stretched a long corridor.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: It bent to the east after sixty or seventy feet
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: and had a single small door on the left. It
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: was to this door that they were being taken. When
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: they arrived, a light jabbed from the halberd into her back,
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: made her cry out and hastened to open it. The
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: party was force marched past the threshold and found themselves
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: in a small cell, no more than ten by twenty
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: feet in size. Its only feature was a shelf heaped
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: with what at first looked like chains. It quickly became
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: obvious that they were not merely chains, but manacles. The battered,
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: animated suits of armor stood outside the door and pointed
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: with the tips of their weapons. Once again, their meaning
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: was clear. The companions were to manacle themselves, Having no
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: hope of resisting. The members of the party did as directed,
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: and one by one they clasped the bracelets on their
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: own wrists. As they did, the things magically locked, becoming
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: seamless rings of steel. Once everyone was in chains, the
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: head list suits of armors stepped back and swung the
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: door shut with a bang. The last thing Achille heard
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: before her captors claims away was the distinct sound of
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: a lock snapping into place on the cell door. Thank
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: you for listening to Tale of the Mandicor if you'd
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: like to join the great folks who support the show,
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: there are several different ways to do so. You could
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: recommend it online or to friends. You can like and
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  Speaker 1: repost episode announcements on social media. You can purchase a
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: Tale of the Manticore t shirt at bar ARBs dawstore
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: or one of my offerings on drive through RPG. And finally,
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: you can rate and review the show on your favorite podcatcher.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: All of these things really do help to spread the word,
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: and I truly appreciate the support. Instead of our review
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: read this time, I would like to do a little miakalpa,
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: actually two of them, and address a couple of errors
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: I made recently. The first is that back in episode
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: thirty nine, I forgot to credit the artists who drew
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: the sketch I featured. Apologies are due to Dave Rawlins,
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: who submitted that drawing. Thanks Dave, I'm sorry I forgot
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: to credit you. At the proper time. Dave Rawlins is,
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: by the way, the creator of the excellent Hardy Boys RBG.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: I played this game at Klearcon in October of twenty
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: twenty five, and it was the highlight of the con
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: for me. Find David on Blue Sky at Dave Hyphenstuff
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: dot Blue Skuide our social if you're interested in knowing
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: more about the Hardy Boys RBG. I also really need
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: to apologize, sort of generally, because it came to my
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: attention recently that the Speaker Support Club was not what
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: I had thought. My understanding was that it was ad
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: free content for a nominal subscription fee. I'm not sure
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: if I ever advertised it or promoted it as such,
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: but I might have, and it isn't that at all,
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: or at least it wasn't. I've been in touch with
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: Speaker lately to talk about this, and hopefully by the
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: time this episode gets aired that feature will be available.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: Please just check before you hit okay. Next up, let's
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: talk about this episode's voice talent. Aside from the grunts
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: of pain and effort from the core cast during the
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: combat sequence, there's just one actress to thank in this episode.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: Amanda T. Perfectly performs the voice of the Magic Mouth.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: Find Amanda and her amazing artwork at Wicked Underscore. Loving
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: Underscore lies on Instagram for those interested to hear some
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: Tale of the Manticore trivia. This episode is the first
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: ever in which the PCs have ended a combat by surrendering.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: If you like learning things about the show of that
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: kind of nature, I do have a blog where I
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: post show notes, but I also post other things about
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: the show, like how it's put together and what I'm
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: doing in terms of things adjacent. If you can find
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: it at Tale Ofthemanticore dot com. To get in touch
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: with me, I met Solo Roleplayers Network dot com, Tale
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: of Themanticre dot blues Guide dot Social, Tale of the
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: Manticor podcast on Instagram, or Tale of Themanticor at gmail
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: dot com. The adventure will continue on the next episode
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: of Tale of the Mantacre. It's this story. We're chaos
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: rolls