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Episode 49 (S3E49) · Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hi, this is author Brent Columbiski and you're listening to
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Tale of the Manticore.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: The following podcast is intended for a mature audience. Listener
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: discretion is advised. Welcome back to Tale of the Manticor
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Season three. Like the creature from which it takes its name,
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: Tale of the Manticor is a mashup, a cross breeding
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: between two different species of storytelling. Here you will find
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: the unpredictability of old school paper and dice games with
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: the story craft of a dark fantasy novel. No character
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: is sacred and none will be spared if the dice
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: decide their fate is at hand. According to lore, the
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Tale of a Manticre is barbed with cruel iron spikes.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: There will be much pain in the days ahead. Last
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: time on Tale of the Manticor. In the previous chapter,
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: the party members continue to walk through the crystal Wood,
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: hoping to leave it before the bloom changes its mind.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: By now, dawn has arrived, bringing with it the incredible
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: phenomenon of millions of diamonds that cling to the leaves
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: of every tree. Against to ret his advice, Fairwind has
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: filled his pouch with jewels. He plans to use the
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: wealth to one day restore the church in the Gymore Ruins.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: In a flashback, we learn about Daleen Fairwin's childhood and
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: how he was adopted by the churches adal After miraculously
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: surviving an illness that took the lives of his foster
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: parents and all of his foster brothers and sisters, he
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: is moved to Merepool, where he has assigned to unenthusiastic tutors.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: One day, young Dalen finds a gold coin while doing chores.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: He hides it under his mattress, but later when he
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: checks on it, the coin is gone. Frustratingly, Dalen cannot
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: report the theft. As a novice, he was never allowed
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: to possess any money in the first place. Eventually, Fawin
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: comes to see the experience as a lesson in greed
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: than honesty. Returning to the present, the party finally leaves
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: the Crystal Wood and finds themselves within sight of Greyside Mountain,
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: the second landmark. On their way to Mirror Lake on
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: the eastern side, they spot a towering waterfall and guessed
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: that the third landmark, an unnamed river, must not be
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: too far away. It is at around this time that
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: Fairwin discovers that his precious collection of diamonds has turned
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: back into dew and is gone. Eventually, the companions reach
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: the river, but right away they can see what a
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: problem it is going to present. The river is not
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: so wide, but it is a thrashing, white water rapid,
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: impossible to swim across, and it appears to continue like
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: that as far as the eye can see. Unless they
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: are willing to lose precious time, Achillie and the others
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: will need to come up with some kind of a plan.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: I always enjoy an episode with a level up, and
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: this is one of those episodes. Today fair Wind reaches
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: level five. So before we tackle the problem of the rapids,
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: let's do a little work on the cleric's character sheet.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: We begin with a D six plus three of new
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: hit points. Holy smokes, I got a six. That means
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: I'll be adding nine to his already enormous maximum. That
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: constitution bonus is just bananas. Thirty three goes to forty
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: two for a fifth level cleric. That many hit points
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: almost feels like cheating. Next up of roles for potential
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: stat increases. Here we go for strength. A six huh
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: eleven goes to twelve. No bonuses come with this, but
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: it does bring Fairwood within striking distance of one intelligence
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: the three wisdom. I've got a one dexterity a two constitution.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: This score is already at max, so we skip ahead
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: two charisma six. Oh wow, fifteen goes to sixteen. Two
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: stat increases and max hit points. This is one great
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: level up, and of course there's even more good news,
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: even more than you might think. Fairwe's ability to turn
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: undead improves and his saving throws get better. More importantly,
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: he finally gets a basic attack bonus, and this one
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: begins at plus two. Finally, Fairwein gets access to another
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: second level miracle. Speak with animals might be the actual
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: best option from a gamist's perspective, but a spelling that
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: requires a strong narrative shift, and it's what I've used
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: in past seasons, So I think I'll go with bless
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: as Fairwe's default, which fills more inkeeping with the cleric's personality. Anyway, Okay,
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: the level up is complete and it's time to join
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: the PCs. Let's see what they're up to. Chapter forty nine,
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: Part one, Day forty one, two days from their destination
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: late evening mythic event meaning release opposition party status. Achillea
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: fifteen out of fifteen hit points, Chord twenty four of
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: twenty nine, de Renni eighteen of nineteen ten, Tier twenty
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: two of twenty eight, fair Wind thirty five of forty two,
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: Flicker thirteen of sixteen supplies. The companions have ten portions
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: of food spells available. Achilla can cast shrink and large,
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: detect evil, glitter, dust and dispel magic. Cord can cast entangle, slow, poison,
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: old animal, tree shape and pass plant. Fair Wind can
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: cast old person and bless so that they might have discourse.
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: All members of the party withdrew to a distance where
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: the noise of the rapids did not compete with them
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: so much. All except her any. He stated the river's edge,
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: looking for something among the rocks and the roots of
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: a lone weeping willow.
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: I imagine we'll had to follow the bank until we
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: find a crossing.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: Achilia said it twice, first in the common tongue and
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: then again in Elvish, for ten years.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: Benefit If we must, we'd be wise to follow it downriver.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: We'll have a better chance to find a crossing. Away
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: from these foothills, said ten Tier, But even if the
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: river calms, it won't be easy for Fairwood with all
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: that armor on.
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: He could take it off, and we can all help
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: to carry it across, assuming we can find a place.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: A Killia looked worried. The rapids went as far as
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: the eye could see, and these were dangerous lands. She
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: did not want to lose a day or more to
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: find a crossing, and then another backtracking on the river's
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: far side. And of course there was no guarantee they
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: would find a crossing.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: Not you didn't say anything about the river being hard
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: to cross, did she.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: Ask ten Tier.
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: I don't think so. Let me ask Fairwin if hear remembers,
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: or if the squirrel mentioned the chillier.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: Put the questions of the cleric, whose brow wrinkled in thought.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: But before he could reply, Durranni returned, proffering a heaping
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: double handful of big snails.
• 7:10
  Speaker 4: Not as nice as fish. But I have managed to
• 7:14
  Speaker 4: catch us some dinner.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: The companions decided that it would be best to make
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: camp and eat Dorannie's catch. They could sleep on the
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: problem at hand. Perhaps the morning would bring with it
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: some ideas or insight. Duranni distributed the food, saying he
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: had found it stuck to the riverside rocks.
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: They are called turvin shell snails.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: He and tent Here showed the others how to eat them.
• 7:35
  Speaker 4: You strike the shell against a rock.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: The elder brother said, demonstrating, and then he quickly turned
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: over the shell so the rest could see. As the
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: molluskin side poked at his head quick as lightning, the
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: elf pinched it between the fingers of his free hand
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: and pulled out the whole animal. Then he popped the
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: slimy three inch mass into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully, swallowed,
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: and declared, just like that worn tint here, that they
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: are quite bitter than he too. Whacked the shell against
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: a stone, grabbed the startled snail when it appeared, pulled
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: it free, and ate it. Several minutes of comedy ensued,
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: in which Achillia and Fairwind tried to duplicate the trick,
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: but they were never fast enough with their fingers, and
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: the slippery snails always pulled back into their shells.
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: You had better let me do it.
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: Laughter ready in his expert hands. A meal was procured
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: for each Achillee, fair Wind, and Flicker. The blink dog
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: gulp turs down hungrily and barked for more, But despite
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: her enjoyment of it, both Achilliea and fair Wind agreed
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: turbin shell snails eaten raw were horrible. When the pieces
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: have finished their quick and nasty meal, they will lay
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: o their bed rolls and make an early cold camp.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: The sun by now will have sat far enough that
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: Fairwind will not be able to study this cold Gowndal
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: for clues about the river. However, already made the hex
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: scrawl rolls for day forty one, and as a quick reminder,
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: I determined that the pieces will pass the night unmolested.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: They'll wake in the morning fresh and ready to tackle
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: the problem of the rapids, which is taking the place
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: of a random encounter for day forty two. Before I
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: get into their possible solutions, I'm going to allow Fairwind
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: to roll to see if he can learn anything about
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: this place from the scroll of Galandal. Since he'd already
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: studied it and found nothing, I think the chance will
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: be fairly low. I'll say, how about a twenty five
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: percent chance to learn something useful? On eighty percentile, I've
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: got a seventy, So he can't find anything at all,
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: not even a name for the river. Another reminder from
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: the previous episode. I designed this challenge with the philosophy
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: that not all problems have neat solutions. I came up
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: with an obstacle off the top of my head, a
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: white water rabbit only forty feet wide, but impossible to
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: swim or wait across without assistance. Since Fairwind was unable
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: to learn anything from the scroll, it looks like the
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: PCs will have to do this as best they can,
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: using their way skills and the resources available. Chapter forty nine,
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Part two, Day forty two, one day from the destination
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: early morning mythic event meaning release opposition party status. Achillea
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: fifteen out of fifteen hit points, Court twenty five of
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: twenty nine, having gained one point from natural healing, der
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: Anny nineteen of nineteen, having gained one point from natural healing,
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: ten Tier twenty three of twenty eight, having gained one
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: point from natural healing, Fairwind thirty six of forty two,
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: having gained one point from natural healing, Flicker fourteen of sixteen,
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: having gained one point from natural healing. Supplies. The companions
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: have ten portions of food spells available. Achillia can cast
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: shrink enlarge, detect evil, glitter, dust and dispel magic. Cord
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: can cast entangle slow poison, hold animal, tree, shape and
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: pass plant. Fair Wind can cast curely wounds, hold person,
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: and bless. Fairwind finally rolled up the scroll and slid
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: it back into his silver case. I've looked, and I
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: can't find anything, nothing at all, asked a Chilia, looking
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: over at the rapids and back of the cleric.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: Ugh, I'm afraid not do.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: Any tender in court had already packed their belongings and
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: were over at the river's edge. They were talking loudly
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: and gesticulating, but it was impossible to hear them over
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: the constant din of the rushing water. A Chilia and
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: Fairwin had stided behind to pray and to study. After
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: they were finished and rolling up their own sleeping blankets,
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: the others returned, scratching their heads and looking puzzled.
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: We definitely cannot swim or wade across without help, Durenny began.
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: We would be carried off by the current and dashed
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: to pieces.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: I still think my idea could work.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: Said Tantyer. A little red faced Achilia guessed correctly that
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: the brothers had.
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: Been arguing what's your idea, Tentyr.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: She asked. The younger elf looked from his brother to.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: Achiliadrenni has some rope. We could tie one end to
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: an arrow and shoot it across, then use the rope
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: to steady us.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: Dur Any rolled his eyes. He read this plan and
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: wasn't much impressed.
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: How do you intend to tie a rope to the
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: arrow without weighing it down to the point where it
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: would be impossible to shoot? Rope is too heavy, Tantyr.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: The other hesitated, only for a moment.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: You found some thread in Duroth, right, we could tie
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: the rope to the thread, and the thread to the arrow.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: Durennny assumed the posture and expression of one who's talking
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: to a child or a simpleton.
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: And how does the arrow stay? On the other side?
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: It is all rocks over there, same as our side.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: It's not all rocks. There's a tree. I could shoot
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: the arrow into that.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: There was a tree, another willow, but it was not
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: right at the water's edge.
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: So we shoot the arrow at the tree, and let
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: us say that, by some miracle, it actually goes deep
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: enough into the trunk that it could take our weight.
• 13:25
  Speaker 4: While we crossed those rapids.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: That's the idea, said Tintyr, thinking his brother was coming
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: around to his way of thinking. Durrani was not.
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: You think this thread will not break?
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: Durnni pulled free the spool of thread as he spoke
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: to make his point. He unwound a dozen inches and
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: snapped it easily. Tender was crestfallen. Well, there's no need
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: to be wasteful, he socked.
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: I suppose you have a better idea.
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: Not throwing away our lives is a better idea.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: So yes, I do, Durenny said in a clipped tone.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: But then seeing that Tinto's feelings had been wounded, he
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: saw his tone.
• 14:01
  Speaker 4: It was a good thought, but just a little impractical.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: Cord had been watching their exchange intently. All of a sudden,
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: he plucked the spool from Doranny's hand and gestured for
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: the Alf to hand him an arrow. Cord then turned
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: to Tentyre and pointed with a double finger at the
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: young Alf's quiver of arrows.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: No, Chord, de Rennie's right, it won't work.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: Cord pushed the spool at him, then pointed again. Tender
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: shrugged and muttered, but it won't work the second time,
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: But he did as instructed, and tied the thread to
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: the arrow. Now, Cord made them all follow him to
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: the river's edge. The volume of the water made it
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: impossible to speak, but Cord was used to communicating without words.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: He pointed from the thread to the ground, alternately wagging
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: his finger, and made a circular motion with it to
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: show the young elf that he should unwind a lot
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: of thread. Tintyre got the idea right away and unwound
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: the whole spool, laying its contents on the ground in
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: his zigzag so that it wouldn't tangle when he fired
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: the arrow. When that was done, he tied the free
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: end of the read to Dournni's rope. De Rennie Aloof
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: watched all this with his arms folded across his chest.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: He might have stopped ten Tier if it had only
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: been his brother's idea, but he was not prepared to
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: gainsay a Cord. Finally, Cord mined firing the bow, and
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: ten Tier fitted the thread bearing arrow to his bowstring,
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: drew it back, and loosed. Couple things to work out
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: before we continue. I need to know how much thread
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: is on the spool. Is there forty feet of it?
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: I have no idea. The quick Google search shows me
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: that a modern spool holds about a thousand yards of thread. Wow,
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: that's a lot of thread. But this isn't a modern spool,
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: and this stuff is much thicker. Still, I think there's
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: a decent chance there will be enough. I'll say that
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: there's a seventy five percent chance that the spool has
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: fifty feet of thread wound around it, rolling two percent,
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: while I got a forty two. So yes, there's enough.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: With some despair. Next, I could roll to determine whether
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: or not ten tier hits the tree. But you know,
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: I think I can let him do that without throwing dice.
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: After all, there's no hurry. It's a short range shot
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: against a stationary target, and even if he did miss,
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: he could always try again by reeling narrow back. So yeah,
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: Tan dear, you could have that one for free. De
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: Rennie still had his arms crossed and was shaking his head.
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: The thread will never take our weight, and there was
• 16:20
  Speaker 4: no point in tying the rope to the thread, because
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: there is no way too. Oh.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: Derrenni had not finished his sentence when Kord stepped dryad
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: like into the trunk of a nearby weeping willow. A
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: moment later he appeared on the far side of the rapids,
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: emerging for the second willow. The construct came around the tree,
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: wiggled free the stuck arrow, and began to pull the thread.
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: Shortly thereafter, at de Renny's feet, the coil of rope
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: began to move. Achillie laughed and clapped, good jock, could
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: she called over the noise. Cord didn't hear her, of course,
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: so he kept on pulling the thread. Suddenly de Rennie
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: heeled stop. It wasn't that he failed to understand Kord's plan.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: It was that he had spotted flaw in it that
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: the man of wood could not have foreseen waits. He
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: waved a hand over his head. Cords fought and stopped pulling.
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: De Rennie turned to Achillia.
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: The rope is not long enough, he said, oh hallo
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: asked the half alf only thirty feet This river must
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: be forty feet wide.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: Dennie had to put his face near achilleus so she
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: could hear him.
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: That means we would still need to rely on the
• 17:25
  Speaker 4: strength of the thread to take our weight, and it
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: simply will not. We will need to come up with
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: a different plan.
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: Achillia stared at the rope coiled on the rocky ground,
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: chewing her lip.
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: No, we won't stand back.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: De Rennie was confused, but he obeyed, giving Achille a room.
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: She drew forth her wand and cast a spell on
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: the rope. Before their eyes, it began to expand. The
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: spell in large will cause the rope to grow in thickness,
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: which will make it impressively strung and in length. Achillia
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: is level five and the wand gives her a one
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: level bonus to her casting skill. So the thirty foot
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: rope will expand to thirty times one point six is
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: forty eight feet. The spell will last for thirty minutes,
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: which I think will be enough if just enough time,
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: And so I think we have a workable plan here.
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: There is one more small matter to work out, though.
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: After casting the spell, Achillia waved to Court, who resumed
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: hauling the rope across. Eventually he tied his end to
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: the trunk of the willow on his side. On her
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: side of the river, Achillie did the same, pulling in
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: the slack to make a tight guideline that spanned the
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: dangerous rapids. Fairwint had already taken off most of his armor.
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: By now, it, along with their weapons and packs, was
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: divided among the four party members who could carry them.
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: Achillia also unpacked her satchel and distributed the contents among
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: the others. What are you doing, asked Tantyre, watching her
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: do it guarded the elf.
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: You don't expect freak of to swim, do you.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: She asked, nonplussed. I know, but how will she get across?
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: I'm going to carry.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: Her, was Achillia's reply. With that, she turned her wand
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: on the blink Dog and cast a second spell. This
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: one caused the creature to shrink down to less than
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: half size, until she was only a little bigger than
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: a puppy. Get it, said Achilie, offering her open bag.
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: I will admit that I am quite proud of the
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: solution I came up with and working through this problem,
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: I had the same thrill of success that I might
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: have gotten as a kid overcoming a particularly tough puzzle
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: in Zork. Anyone out there remember that game with that feeling.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: Combining those spells and those items to achieve a goal
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: gives me joy. Still, I am going to make a
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: check as the party crosses the rapids, because it will
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: still be dangerous and difficult even with the guideline. How's this,
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: I'll have each character roll under hum strength seems like
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: the right attribute. If they fail, they will get smashed
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: against the rocks, taking a D six of damage and
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: having to make another save. If that fails, they'll take
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: more damage and have to roll yet again. Each piec
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: will need to continue this process until they either get
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: a success or run out of hit points and succumb
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: to the rapids. Since Achillia and Flicker travel together, they
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: will share one fete and use achille A's stats for
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: the checks. In the end, I expect that they will
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: all get across, but perhaps somewhat battered and bruised, which
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: feels correct. Dere Any is certain to insist on going first,
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: so let's begin with the rolls for him. He has
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: a strength score of ten, so I'm looking for that
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: number or less. Rolling the fifteen means he gets buffeted
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: against a rock and takes just one point of damage.
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: Rolling a second check a three means he gets across
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: safely barely scratched. It occurs to me that it might
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: be somewhat tedious to make you listen to the rest
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: of these rolls, so if you'll hang tight, I'll go
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: away and do them off. Mic be right back. Okay,
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: I am bad, and all the rules are done. Ten
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: Tire and Fairwind, who rolled a three and a one respectively,
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: crossed with these after seeing where Durni stumbled and taking
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: extra care at those points. Achillie, on the other hand,
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: felled her check twice before she passed, so both she
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: and Flicker take eight points of damage. The force of
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: the water was greater than she guessed, and the pair
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: got pretty banged up before making it across. She and
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: Flicker will be hauled up the far bank, exhausted, bloody
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: and coughing up water. Now, just before I returned to
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: the narrative, there's a couple final items to mention. The
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: spell pass plant has a nice long range of two
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: hundred and forty yards for this type of tree. Yes,
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: the range depends on the tree type. That's what's in
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: the book, so a range is not a problem. Listeners
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: might well wonder why Cord couldn't just move back and
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: forth between the two willow trees to carry gear and
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: make things easier. The rules make no mention of being
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: able to do this, and the duration of the spell
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: is given as instantaneous. This suggests a single use, so
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: I must conclude that Cord cannot do it. The second
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: thing to talk about also concerns a spell description. When
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: the enlarged spell expires, the rope will be tied around
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: at least one willow. If the pieces have untied the
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: rope on their end, then when the spell ends, it
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: will revert to its former thirty foot length, then be
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: lost in the rapids if they happened untied it. Well,
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: what would happen to an enlarged rope tied around a
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: tree that suddenly shrank back to its original size. The
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: rules say the spell will overcome weaker materials, but the
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: trunk of a tree is not weak material, and neither
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: is a tide rope. What makes the most sense to
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: me is this, when the rope perverts, the knot will
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: become loose and unravel. The pieces would have to be
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: ready for this when the spell ended, of course would
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: they be. I'll give Achillia a wisdom check to have
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: the presence of mind to hang on to her end.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: Her wisdom score is twelve, rolling a five. She does
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: anticipate the mistake, and as the spell ends, she has
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: her hand firmly on the rope. When the item begins
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: to revert to its original size, she tides her grip
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: and prevents it from being swept away. They sat on
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: the rocks, breathing hard from the exertion of the crossing.
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: The water roared and crashed and thrashed away in its
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: primal fury, as though angry that a group of mortals
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: had passed by. Exhausted, the party members just laid down
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: on the rocks and rested. The sun was bright and
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: it did not take long for the companion's belongings to
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: dry out. Some of the more delicate items had been
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: put aside, separate from the wet boots and some backpacks.
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: After an hour, it was determined whether things were more
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: or less ready to be repacked, and they might resume
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: their trek to the northeast. Before they set out, Ferwind
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: offered to say a prayer of Verchilia and Flicker to
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: help with the minor injuries they sustained during the crossing.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: The half elf and the blink dog were more than grateful,
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: and the cleric said the words to his spell and
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: warm soothing divine power passed through his rough hands and
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: into their hurts. When he was done, der Annie, who
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: had been collecting more of the turbine shell snails he
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: found on this side of the river, took one last
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: look back with the rushing waters and shook his head
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: and disbelief. He was amazed that they had gotten across.
• 24:03
  Speaker 4: If you are already, it is time to continue on
• 24:07
  Speaker 4: our journey, he suggested. And if not, you was right.
• 24:10
  Speaker 4: We should reach Mirror Lake before the day is through.
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: Hey, folks, it's good to be back. Thanks for sticking
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: with me while I took the time to rebuild and repair.
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: I'm fairly confident that I'll be able to resume the
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: old three per month release schedule going forward. As always,
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: if you're interested in helping the show, you can recommend,
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: or like and repost episode announcements on social media, purchase
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: a Tale of the Manticore t shirt at Baararts Dot
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: store or one of my offerings on drive through RPG,
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: or rate interview the show on your favorite podcatcher. And actually,
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: there's one more thing you could do to help. Tale
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: of the manticre currently releases audio only episodes to YouTube.
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: While there's only a handful of people who listen on
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: that platform right now. It is something I'd like to
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: see grow. Whether or not you listen to the show
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: on YouTube or podcatcher. If you could give me a
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: sub describe there and help me get over that important
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: one thousand subscriber mark, I count it as a big favor.
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: As always by thanks to everyone for the support of
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: the show. And speaking of YouTube, I'd like to read
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: out a few comments left by my YouTube listeners at
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: Daniel Kearney three two nine five rights love this series
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: at Swish series zero seven eight wrights another great chapter
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: and can't wait for the next At the Tomar thirty
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: three writes, I love to have the host built up
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: the anticipation before the big reveal. Thanks very much of
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: the kind words, Daniel, Swish and the Tomar. Gratitude is
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: also due to my excellent voice actors. This episode features
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: my core cast of regulars, Kyellen, Kevin Barringer, and David
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: Cooper played de Rennie, Tantier and Fairwind, respectively. Thanks very much, guys.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: For those curious to learn more about Tale of the Mantacre,
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: I keep a blog where I posted all kinds of
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: show and RPG related stuff like sketches, maps, tables, crafts,
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: and show notes. You can find it a Tale of
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: themanticore dot com. To get in touch with me, I'm
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: at Solo Roleplayers Network dot com, Tale of the Menicor
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: dot Blue Skuide Social, Tale of the Manticor podcast on Instagram,
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: or Tale of the Matacre at gmail dot com. The
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: adventure will continue on the next episode of Tale of
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: the Manticora. It's the story for chaos roles.