Latest / Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama / Episode 36 (S3E36)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Hi, this is Raphael Bacher SiO zero one from solon
- 0:04Speaker 1: Tellado and you are listening to the Tale of the Manticore.
- 0:10Speaker 2: The following podcast is intended for a mature audience. Listener
- 0:15Speaker 2: discretion is advised. Welcome back to Tale of the Manticor
- 0:32Speaker 2: Season three. Like the creature from which it takes its name,
- 0:36Speaker 2: Tale of the Manticor is a mashup, a cross breeding
- 0:39Speaker 2: between two different species of storytelling. Here you will find
- 0:43Speaker 2: the unpredictability of old school paper and dice games with
- 0:46Speaker 2: the story craft of a dark fantasy novel. No character
- 0:51Speaker 2: is sacred, and none will be spared if the dice
- 0:53Speaker 2: decide their fate is at hand. According to lore, the
- 0:58Speaker 2: Tale of a Manticore is barbed with cruel iron spikes.
- 1:03Speaker 2: There will be much pain in the days ahead. Last
- 1:14Speaker 2: time on Tail of the Mantigor, in chapter thirty five,
- 1:18Speaker 2: Flicker officially becomes a member of Achillea's party. Fairwynd has
- 1:23Speaker 2: his first real chance to study the first Scroll of
- 1:25Speaker 2: Galandel and understands a few basic things. First that there
- 1:29Speaker 2: was something called the Golden Path, second that the Dorothi
- 1:32Speaker 2: were seeking it, and third that another ancient scroll exists
- 1:36Speaker 2: that would have made doing so far easier. The companions
- 1:39Speaker 2: continue their trek until de Renni calls a sudden halt.
- 1:42Speaker 2: He has just spotted the Iron Tower once again. This time,
- 1:46Speaker 2: there is no mad dash, and predictably, the tower disappears
- 1:49Speaker 2: long before the pieces can approach it. Instead of causing Achillee,
- 1:53Speaker 2: grief and anger, this sighting only strengthens her resolve. It
- 1:57Speaker 2: also leads her companions to speculate about why the tower
- 2:00Speaker 2: seems to be following roughly the same path that they are. Finally,
- 2:05Speaker 2: after some X crawl rolls that indicate a random encounter
- 2:08Speaker 2: will occur, the party has a run in with a Dryad,
- 2:11Speaker 2: a forced spirit that, despite being peaceful by nature, possesses
- 2:14Speaker 2: a terrible weapon in the form of a permanent charm
- 2:17Speaker 2: person spell. Luckily for the party, the dryad is neither
- 2:21Speaker 2: offended nor threatened by their presence, and they are able
- 2:24Speaker 2: to walk away from the encounters shaken but unhindered. The
- 2:33Speaker 2: nature of the encounter with the Dryad rarely rested on
- 2:36Speaker 2: a single reaction roll on two D six. Had I
- 2:39Speaker 2: rolled a two or three dur Any would have been
- 2:42Speaker 2: forced to save or well not die, but he would
- 2:45Speaker 2: have been pulled into the Dryad's tree forever. Thank Ahea
- 2:49Speaker 2: that I rolled better than that. The result I got
- 2:52Speaker 2: was a seven plus one for various modifiers equalling eight.
- 2:56Speaker 2: The b X rules put that on the high end
- 2:58Speaker 2: of no reaction. Monster confused, and so I decided to
- 3:02Speaker 2: let the pieces get away unharmed. The mushrooms they got
- 3:05Speaker 2: were not part of that role. They had already been earned,
- 3:07Speaker 2: so to speak, when the pieces made a successful foraging
- 3:10Speaker 2: check earlier on. And as for the tiny pink flower
- 3:13Speaker 2: that the forest spirit gave to Renni, well, I have
- 3:16Speaker 2: an idea for that. Chapter thirty six, Part one, day
- 3:27Speaker 2: thirty one, four days from their destination, late afternoon. Mythic
- 3:34Speaker 2: event meaning transform expectations, party status achillea thirteen of thirteen
- 3:43Speaker 2: hit points, Court sixteen of eighteen, de Renni sixteen of sixteen,
- 3:51Speaker 2: ten Tier nineteen of nineteen, fair Wind twenty four of
- 3:58Speaker 2: twenty six, Flicker twelve of sixteen supplies. The companions have
- 4:06Speaker 2: nine portions of food remaining spells available. Achille can cast
- 4:12Speaker 2: enlarge message, glitter dust and detect evil. Court can cast
- 4:19Speaker 2: entangle and slow poison. Fair Wind can cast cureled wounds
- 4:25Speaker 2: and protection from evil. That was odd, said Tantyr. He
- 4:35Speaker 2: and the rest of the company were happy to have
- 4:36Speaker 2: put some distance between themselves and the dry head.
- 4:39Speaker 1: More than that, it was dangerous, very dangerous. With Durnni's reply,
- 4:45Speaker 1: I once heard a story about a trader who fell
- 4:49Speaker 1: in love with one of those things. He walked into
- 4:52Speaker 1: the woods and never came out again.
- 4:55Speaker 2: In fact, here the elder brother held up the tiny
- 4:58Speaker 2: pink flower given him by the forest spirit.
- 5:01Speaker 1: I don't think I want.
- 5:02Speaker 2: To keep this. He made as if to throw it away,
- 5:05Speaker 2: but Achilia stopped him.
- 5:07Speaker 3: Wait, she said, let me see that.
- 5:09Speaker 2: Doranni's face showed misgivings, but he handed her the flower anyway.
- 5:13Speaker 2: Achilleus studied it, sniffed it, and passed it to chrd.
- 5:17Speaker 3: This would look well on you, Cord, don't you think.
- 5:20Speaker 2: The construct bent down to take the flower, and Achillea
- 5:23Speaker 2: suddenly wondered if he had grown taller since the start
- 5:26Speaker 2: of their journey. He took the delicate little bloom in
- 5:29Speaker 2: his dowel fingers and placed it right in the center
- 5:31Speaker 2: of his chest, that about the level a pendant might
- 5:34Speaker 2: have hung. This was one of the spots where Cord
- 5:37Speaker 2: had developed barky skin, so the flower stayed in place.
- 5:40Speaker 2: It sits you, said, Achillia tried to appraise his height,
- 5:43Speaker 2: and smiling, Cord bowed a little by way of expressing
- 5:48Speaker 2: his thanks. Pheruind watched all this and asked Achillea what
- 5:51Speaker 2: the brothers had been talking about before giving her the flower.
- 5:54Speaker 2: When Achillea told him, he nodded solemnly and asked.
- 5:58Speaker 4: What does anyone really know what the deep forests and
- 6:01Speaker 4: wilderness hide.
- 6:03Speaker 2: I feel we.
- 6:04Speaker 4: Have crossed a threshold of sorts la Chilia and the
- 6:07Speaker 4: land we now traverse as one of old, old magic.
- 6:14Speaker 2: I think fair Wind is on to something. The pieces
- 6:17Speaker 2: have indeed crossed a kind of boundary and have entered
- 6:20Speaker 2: a new place where magic is older, stronger, and wilder.
- 6:24Speaker 2: That would explain the presence of the Giant Troll and
- 6:26Speaker 2: the dry Head, both of which are creatures that could
- 6:29Speaker 2: be considered highly rare and exotic. Also their proximity to
- 6:33Speaker 2: the Golden Path, and I have only a vague idea
- 6:35Speaker 2: at this point of what that might be likely has
- 6:38Speaker 2: something to do with it. Since all that is going
- 6:41Speaker 2: to happen on Day thirty one has already happened. I
- 6:43Speaker 2: think it's time to make hex crawl rolls for day
- 6:45Speaker 2: thirty two. Ready, first up is for weather A twelve.
- 6:50Speaker 2: The weather continues to be typical for the season and
- 6:53Speaker 2: carries over from the previous day. Stumble upon, Oh dear,
- 6:58Speaker 2: oh dear, that is a one. Something bad is going
- 7:02Speaker 2: to happen, and I'll be honest, I have nothing for
- 7:05Speaker 2: this in the idea bank. Let's keep rolling and maybe
- 7:08Speaker 2: something will emerge. For foraging with chords assistance A one, Well,
- 7:14Speaker 2: this time A one is welcome. It means foraging was successful.
- 7:17Speaker 2: The dice imply that this happened without chord's help. So
- 7:21Speaker 2: I wonder if they find some kind of berries. A
- 7:23Speaker 2: high low roll will determine that it means yes, A
- 7:27Speaker 2: fourteen twenty yes, poor old ten tier. Last stop is
- 7:31Speaker 2: for wandering encounters. A five or six on a d
- 7:34Speaker 2: six means there will be one A three no encounter,
- 7:38Speaker 2: but they are going to find something unpleasant. Still no ideas.
- 7:42Speaker 2: I need to take a break and think things over.
- 7:45Speaker 2: Maybe this is a good time for an ad boyo
- 7:54Speaker 2: that went by quickly. I still don't know how to
- 7:57Speaker 2: implement that stumble upon one. How about this? Since I
- 8:01Speaker 2: don't have a firm idea, I'll turn to the dice
- 8:03Speaker 2: and randomize the event using a d six, higher will
- 8:06Speaker 2: be better or less deadly, in other words, and so
- 8:09Speaker 2: on a five to six, the party will come up
- 8:11Speaker 2: against a geographic barrier that delays them. On a three
- 8:15Speaker 2: to four, they will enter the territory of something very dangerous.
- 8:19Speaker 2: And on a one to two, I'll apply my event
- 8:21Speaker 2: meaning in the nastiest way I can imagine. Use the roll. Yeah,
- 8:27Speaker 2: somehow I knew it. I got a one. Oh. In
- 8:30Speaker 2: case you forgot, the current event meaning is transform expectations.
- 8:42Speaker 5: Can we stop and eat something? I'm as hungry as
- 8:46Speaker 5: a hawk, said ten Tier. By now it was early
- 8:50Speaker 5: evening and the encounter with the dryad was hours behind them.
- 8:53Speaker 5: They had likewise left its forest of ancient oaks and furs. Currently,
- 8:58Speaker 5: they were making their way up the slope of a
- 9:00Speaker 5: grassy ridge dotted with bushes and solitary trees. Overhead, in
- 9:05Speaker 5: a sky of deep blue, fluffy white clouds piled high
- 9:08Speaker 5: upon themselves like clotted cream.
- 9:11Speaker 1: Let's go a bit further, ten Tier. We still have
- 9:14Speaker 1: a few hours of good light, and we should use
- 9:16Speaker 1: those the forage.
- 9:18Speaker 2: Derni's practicality was hard to argue with, so the companions
- 9:21Speaker 2: continued their journey, stopping to inspect trees and bushes for
- 9:25Speaker 2: fruits and berries. After a time, they found some. Oh,
- 9:29Speaker 2: look at this, called Achilia. She had just discovered a
- 9:32Speaker 2: patch of wild strawberries. Then, realizing the possible implication for
- 9:36Speaker 2: ten Tier, she checked her enthusiasm.
- 9:38Speaker 3: And told him maybe the fairy's curse has expired, or
- 9:42Speaker 3: maybe it only applies to raspberries.
- 9:44Speaker 2: The young elf replied with an expression caught somewhere between
- 9:47Speaker 2: hopeful and ill. After a few minutes, each of the
- 9:51Speaker 2: companions had gathered a handful of berries. Ten Tyre looked
- 9:54Speaker 2: at his with renewed hope. Hm, they smell normal, Try one,
- 10:00Speaker 2: said Achilie. Ten tear gingerly put a whole strawberry in
- 10:04Speaker 2: his mouth and then eyes shut. Bit down. In an instant,
- 10:10Speaker 2: he was doubled over with the berries he dropped on
- 10:12Speaker 2: the ground at his feet. He put his hands on
- 10:15Speaker 2: his knees and wretched. After the paroxysm of revulsion passed,
- 10:20Speaker 2: he looked up and wiped his mouth with the back
- 10:22Speaker 2: of his hand. Delicious, he said, with bitter sarcasm. Since
- 10:26Speaker 2: they were out of water, he added.
- 10:28Speaker 5: De Rennie, give me a piece of the massam bell
- 10:31Speaker 5: to help me get the taste out of my mouth.
- 10:34Speaker 1: The massa bell will keep longer than the mushrooms.
- 10:38Speaker 2: Durrenni replied, pulling one of the dryad's hedgehog mushrooms from
- 10:41Speaker 2: his bag and handing it to his brother.
- 10:43Speaker 1: Eat this instead.
- 10:45Speaker 2: Fairwind already knew about the cursed ten teer carried, but
- 10:48Speaker 2: as he watched all the sunfold, he turned to.
- 10:50Speaker 4: Achilia, Um, do these mushrooms not need to be cooked?
- 10:55Speaker 2: Achilia, not familiar with that particular fungus, had no idea.
- 10:59Speaker 3: She rugged, de Any knows what he's doing.
- 11:02Speaker 2: While the companions began their dinner of wild strawberries, ten
- 11:05Speaker 2: Tier took a huge bite out of his mushroom. He
- 11:08Speaker 2: had no way of knowing that the funnel shaped fungus
- 11:11Speaker 2: in his hand was not a hedgehog mushroom. In fact,
- 11:16Speaker 2: it was deadly fool's funnel, of which a small bite
- 11:19Speaker 2: could prove fatal. Having rolled a one unstumbled upon means
- 11:25Speaker 2: I need to pay a price. So I've applied my
- 11:27Speaker 2: current event meaning to the hedgehog mushrooms for what might
- 11:30Speaker 2: well be a tragedy. Before we move on, let's go
- 11:34Speaker 2: back a bit. When I made the foraging roll, I
- 11:36Speaker 2: got a one. Normally a one to two is a success,
- 11:40Speaker 2: and I've been adding the three to a count Court's
- 11:42Speaker 2: magical help. I interpreted that one as a forging attempt
- 11:46Speaker 2: that succeeded, but not by virtue of cord spell. Next,
- 11:50Speaker 2: on a whim, I decided to randomly determine if the
- 11:53Speaker 2: found food would be berries. It seemed a shame to
- 11:55Speaker 2: have inflicted that curse on ten tier way back when,
- 11:58Speaker 2: only to never see it again. I made that random too,
- 12:01Speaker 2: but the dice Gouds decided that yes, it would be
- 12:04Speaker 2: berries that they found. This is about the time that
- 12:07Speaker 2: I figured out what this stumble upon would be, or
- 12:10Speaker 2: maybe I should say I heard what the story was
- 12:12Speaker 2: trying to tell me. Tender cannot eat the foraged food,
- 12:16Speaker 2: so he late a mushroom instead, And when I applied
- 12:19Speaker 2: transform expectations to that situation, I got the fool's funnel mushroom,
- 12:24Speaker 2: a deadly fungus that resembles a hedgehog mushroom in every way,
- 12:27Speaker 2: but one fool's funnel can kill you. Tentyre took the
- 12:35Speaker 2: proffered mushroom and bit into the funnel cap as he chewed,
- 12:40Speaker 2: A thoughtful look came over his face, as though the
- 12:42Speaker 2: mushroom's taste did not match his expectation. Then, with sudden realization,
- 12:47Speaker 2: he spit it all out, drawing everyone's attention. The companions
- 12:52Speaker 2: watched in horror as Tantir's face quickly turned several shades darker,
- 12:57Speaker 2: and then the elves hands were at his throat, clutching,
- 13:00Speaker 2: His eyes bulged, and he fell to his knees, wheezing heart.
- 13:08Speaker 2: I feel like I've rolled a great deal more ones
- 13:11Speaker 2: and twenties with this season's stumble upons than is statistically likely.
- 13:15Speaker 2: I'd have to go back and count, but it really
- 13:17Speaker 2: does feel like a lot. Regardless, this is what the
- 13:21Speaker 2: Dice gods have decreed, and I think that wondering over
- 13:23Speaker 2: probabilities is just my way of delaying something I don't
- 13:26Speaker 2: want to do. Better, I just ripped a band aid off,
- 13:29Speaker 2: so to speak, and make the damn roll. Looking at
- 13:32Speaker 2: the BX rules, I see that there are different sets
- 13:35Speaker 2: of saving throws for elves and fighters. Of course there
- 13:38Speaker 2: are those are two distinct classes back when these books
- 13:41Speaker 2: were written. I also see that the save versus poison
- 13:43Speaker 2: is a ten for both classes at fourth level, so
- 13:47Speaker 2: I can't cherry pick the better set. I should select one, though,
- 13:50Speaker 2: and stick with the going forward. I think I'll go
- 13:53Speaker 2: with the elf stats. Now for the actual role on
- 13:57Speaker 2: a D twenty, A ten or better saves ten t life.
- 14:00Speaker 2: What's that? A fifty five percent chance? Right? Odds are
- 14:04Speaker 2: that he'll live? So why do I feel so bad
- 14:06Speaker 2: about this? Well, there's nothing for it. Here goes that
- 14:13Speaker 2: is a natural twenty. By now, Tintu's eyes were bugging
- 14:24Speaker 2: out and his face was plumb colored. His fingers scratched
- 14:28Speaker 2: at his throat, and his hair was lank with perspiration.
- 14:34Speaker 2: Suddenly his airways opened. He sucked in a huge breath
- 14:37Speaker 2: and fell over onto the ground. The others rushed forward.
- 14:42Speaker 1: Ten tier oh no.
- 14:45Speaker 2: Fair wind rolled the young elf onto his side. Everyone
- 14:48Speaker 2: could see right away the tentiir was breathing regularly again,
- 14:51Speaker 2: and his natural color was returning. As one, they let
- 14:55Speaker 2: out a collective sigh of relief. With sudden understanding Duran,
- 14:58Speaker 2: he reached into his bag, pulled out the poisonous mushrooms,
- 15:01Speaker 2: and hurled them away. Then he sank into a crouch
- 15:04Speaker 2: beside his brother.
- 15:05Speaker 1: Forgive me, tens here, I had no idea.
- 15:09Speaker 2: The other ELF's voice was ragged, but he managed to
- 15:11Speaker 2: croak out.
- 15:12Speaker 4: It's it's all right.
- 15:15Speaker 5: You couldn't have known.
- 15:17Speaker 1: What would I do if I lost you, little mouse.
- 15:21Speaker 2: Tensier smiled up at Durnni, coughed and closed his eyes.
- 15:28Speaker 5: I don't think I can walk anymore today, he.
- 15:31Speaker 2: Said, No, of course not.
- 15:35Speaker 1: We will make camp here. No more walking today. Oh
- 15:39Speaker 1: thanks for Cendia. You are all right.
- 15:46Speaker 2: Those dice gods they really like to mess with you,
- 15:49Speaker 2: don't they. I mean a natural twenty. Even before I rolled,
- 15:53Speaker 2: I was preparing myself to get cought involved with this
- 15:55Speaker 2: slow poison spell. I guess it goes to show that
- 15:58Speaker 2: trying to plan ahead in a proces usual game is
- 16:01Speaker 2: pointless at any rate. I'm relieve the ten tier is
- 16:03Speaker 2: going to be all right and nothing is lost other
- 16:06Speaker 2: than some supplies and a few hours of travel. I
- 16:09Speaker 2: suppose the thing to do now is move forward with
- 16:11Speaker 2: hex Crawl rolls for the next day, day thirty three.
- 16:15Speaker 2: The pieces are now two and a half days away
- 16:17Speaker 2: from their destination. Let's begin for weather. The thirteen means
- 16:22Speaker 2: the fair weather continues and a cool breeze makes travel
- 16:25Speaker 2: easier than usual. Stumble upon a five, no result, I'm
- 16:30Speaker 2: grateful for that. Forging with chords help. A two means
- 16:34Speaker 2: they're successful. The pieces discover a big nest during any
- 16:38Speaker 2: believes it belongs to a wild turkey. In it are
- 16:41Speaker 2: ten good sized eggs. The next roll is for wandering encounters.
- 16:45Speaker 2: As mentioned before, albe using a new chart. If the
- 16:48Speaker 2: dice indicate there is one rolling, Yeah, I get a five.
- 16:52Speaker 2: Looks like I'll need to step away from the game
- 16:54Speaker 2: for a moment into a little DM prep be right back. Okay,
- 17:02Speaker 2: you know that didn't take very long at all. I
- 17:04Speaker 2: just adjusted my collapsible table from before. Here's what it
- 17:07Speaker 2: looks like now, and for any result other than the first,
- 17:10Speaker 2: I'll be rolling on a subtable on a D six.
- 17:13Speaker 2: A one indicates a sketchbook event. More about this if
- 17:17Speaker 2: and when it happens. A two indicates giant animals or insects.
- 17:21Speaker 2: A three indicates fae. A four to five indicates one
- 17:24Speaker 2: or more exotic dangerous creature. A six means some kind
- 17:28Speaker 2: of minor boon, such as found equipment, supplies, or information.
- 17:32Speaker 2: I'll post this table on the block, of course. And
- 17:35Speaker 2: with all that said, here's the role. I got A one.
- 17:39Speaker 2: I guess my if and when have become yes and
- 17:42Speaker 2: now so we need to talk about sketchbook events between
- 17:51Speaker 2: the lines. Back in June of this year, I launched
- 17:54Speaker 2: a little project in the name of always trying to
- 17:56Speaker 2: innovate the podcasting medium over social media. I asked listeners
- 18:00Speaker 2: to submit sketches of natural landscapes with mountains in the background.
- 18:04Speaker 2: These sketches had to be free of any signs of
- 18:06Speaker 2: human settlement, and ideally it would contain some exceptional feature
- 18:10Speaker 2: that would be conducive to verbal description without being two
- 18:13Speaker 2: over the top. Over the course of a week, I
- 18:15Speaker 2: got about a dozen submissions from listeners. A huge thank
- 18:18Speaker 2: you to those who participated, by the way, and that
- 18:21Speaker 2: was more than enough for what I had in mind.
- 18:23Speaker 2: The idea was to make a digital folder name it
- 18:25Speaker 2: Odokes Sketch Book, and then put these image files in it.
- 18:29Speaker 2: Numbered They would become the pages of the book of
- 18:31Speaker 2: drawings that Achillie has carried since the early part of
- 18:34Speaker 2: her adventure. Now, since the companions are within two and
- 18:37Speaker 2: a half days of their destination, it makes sense to
- 18:39Speaker 2: introduce the idea all of the landscapes in o'dok's book
- 18:43Speaker 2: would be I think within a two or three days
- 18:45Speaker 2: walk radius of the famous historian's home. All that's left
- 18:49Speaker 2: is to roll a D twelve and see which scene
- 18:51Speaker 2: the pieces come across the role. I got a seven
- 19:01Speaker 2: chapter thirty six part two day thirty three, two and
- 19:07Speaker 2: a half days from their destination mourning mythic event meaning
- 19:14Speaker 2: develop intrigues, party status. Achillea thirteen of thirteen hit points,
- 19:22Speaker 2: Court eighteen of eighteen, de Renni sixteen of sixteen, ten
- 19:29Speaker 2: Tier nineteen of nineteen, fair Wind twenty six of twenty six,
- 19:36Speaker 2: Flicker fourteen of sixteen supplies. The companions have eight portions
- 19:43Speaker 2: of food remaining spells available. Achille can cast in large message,
- 19:50Speaker 2: glitter dust and detect evil. Court can cast entangle and
- 19:56Speaker 2: slow poison. Fair Wind can cast cure light, wounds and
- 20:02Speaker 2: protection from evil. The companions had woken shortly after dawn
- 20:09Speaker 2: feeling somewhat unrested. Each one of them, including Cord, Robin
- 20:13Speaker 2: and Flicker, had experienced unusually vivid dreams during the night.
- 20:18Speaker 2: As they packed their belongings, Achillie shared hers, it was
- 20:21Speaker 2: very strange.
- 20:22Speaker 3: I termed that we were back at the bridge in
- 20:24Speaker 3: the northern border of the cam Or Lands, remember the
- 20:27Speaker 3: face on the bridge. Well, in my dream it wasn't
- 20:30Speaker 3: a woman's face but a man's, and it spoke to me.
- 20:34Speaker 2: Oh what did it say? Fairwind wanted to know, I
- 20:38Speaker 2: can't really remember, was Achille's distracted reply. She did in
- 20:43Speaker 2: fact remember, but had no wish to share that part
- 20:45Speaker 2: of the dream. She also chose not to mention that
- 20:48Speaker 2: the man's face had been her Voppy's face, the familiar
- 20:52Speaker 2: but stonework countenance had looked at her and said, beck me,
- 20:56Speaker 2: do not forget me. Fair Wind and Tintire also said
- 20:59Speaker 2: that experienced strange dreams and shared what they could remember.
- 21:03Speaker 2: As for Derenni, he was tight lipped and merely.
- 21:05Speaker 1: Said I cannot remember.
- 21:08Speaker 2: One asked Tender was looking and feeling much better since
- 21:12Speaker 2: the previous day's terrible experience with the mushroom. He said
- 21:15Speaker 2: he was up to putting in a full day's march,
- 21:17Speaker 2: So the companions resumed their journey to the northeast. The
- 21:20Speaker 2: day's trekking took them out of the grassy sward where
- 21:22Speaker 2: they'd made camp the night before, and up into some
- 21:25Speaker 2: heavily forested foothills. The pleasant weather played the uphill walk
- 21:29Speaker 2: easier than it might have been, and with a few
- 21:31Speaker 2: skins of water filled from a spring cord called forth,
- 21:34Speaker 2: the companions were as comfortable as might be hoped for.
- 21:38Speaker 2: In the evening, as the party crested yet another hill,
- 21:41Speaker 2: they were treated to a spectacular view of the mountains.
- 21:44Speaker 2: These were by now close enough to dominate the vista
- 21:48Speaker 2: from where they stood. One in particular stood out among
- 21:51Speaker 2: the others. It looked something like a pyramid of smaller peaks,
- 21:54Speaker 2: set just behind the crease of a pine s drewn valley.
- 21:58Speaker 2: All of a sudden, Achille gasp and reached into her bag.
- 22:02Speaker 2: Everyone stopped to see what was the matter? Oh, said Ferwind,
- 22:07Speaker 2: with understanding dawning upon him.
- 22:09Speaker 4: That's one of the sketches in your book, isn't it.
- 22:12Speaker 2: M H I think so, Achillie replied. The tip of
- 22:15Speaker 2: her tongue protruded from the side of her mouth that
- 22:18Speaker 2: she bent in concentration over the book now in her hands.
- 22:22Speaker 2: Then she flipped the pages until here it is. She
- 22:26Speaker 2: looked up once to confirm, yes, this is it. Flicker
- 22:30Speaker 2: barked excitedly, as though able to sense that something momentous
- 22:33Speaker 2: was taking place. Her tail began to thrash back and forth.
- 22:38Speaker 2: Achillie showed the picture to the others and pointed out
- 22:41Speaker 2: how it matched the vista exactly.
- 22:43Speaker 3: See four crags along the bottom, six peaks on top
- 22:47Speaker 3: that tall tree over there.
- 22:49Speaker 2: She tapped the right side of the drawing, it's here,
- 22:52Speaker 2: and that means.
- 22:53Speaker 3: It means we are close, really close.
- 22:57Speaker 2: Interrupted the half healf.
- 22:59Speaker 3: Imagine odok Zagag might have stood on this very spot
- 23:03Speaker 3: to draw this picture.
- 23:04Speaker 2: Fairwind saw a physical change come over Achillia's deportment. Her
- 23:08Speaker 2: shoulders squared and her brow cleared. She held herself taller too.
- 23:13Speaker 4: You know, Achilia, I was reading from the Dorothi scroll
- 23:17Speaker 4: again this morning, and well more than ever, I think
- 23:21Speaker 4: these lands are something out of the ordinary. The scroll
- 23:25Speaker 4: seems to indicate that magic is stronger in these parts
- 23:29Speaker 4: because they are closer to the.
- 23:30Speaker 3: Goddess, closer to her hair.
- 23:33Speaker 2: Achilia asked, that's right. Fairwind looked slowly up at the
- 23:37Speaker 2: mountains in the distance.
- 23:39Speaker 4: I can't be certain that my interpretations of the scripture
- 23:42Speaker 4: are correct, but if I'm right, the suggestion is that
- 23:46Speaker 4: the deity resides on this plane in material form, and
- 23:51Speaker 4: that these lands belonged to her.
- 23:56Speaker 1: Is that trouble you?
- 23:57Speaker 4: No, No, The point I'm trying to make is that
- 24:00Speaker 4: if the Drothi were here, and if Odoak is here,
- 24:04Speaker 4: and possibly if the people in your Iron Tower are
- 24:08Speaker 4: here too, well, might not they all be looking for
- 24:12Speaker 4: the same thing.
- 24:14Speaker 1: The Golden Path precisely.
- 24:22Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to Tale of the manticor if you
- 24:25Speaker 2: would like to support the show, there are many ways
- 24:27Speaker 2: to help. You can recommend it online or to friends.
- 24:30Speaker 2: You can like and repost episode announcements on social media.
- 24:33Speaker 2: You can pick up a Tale of the Manticore t
- 24:35Speaker 2: shirt at bare Arts dot store or one of my
- 24:37Speaker 2: offerings on drive through RPG. A quick reminder that the
- 24:40Speaker 2: one Shot in the Dark Ultra Light solo game is
- 24:43Speaker 2: now available in Portuguese thanks to the hard work of
- 24:46Speaker 2: John with Daily hero Forge. Of course, you can always
- 24:49Speaker 2: rate to review the show on your podcast or choice.
- 24:52Speaker 2: By gratitude to everyone for the continued support. At this time,
- 24:56Speaker 2: I would love to read a listen to review. This
- 24:58Speaker 2: one is from Apple Podcasts left by Amanda g. Tale
- 25:01Speaker 2: ninety three. Amanda g. Teal ninety three writes fully did
- 25:05Speaker 2: not expect to binge over forty episodes in a week,
- 25:07Speaker 2: but here we are needless to say, I absolutely love
- 25:10Speaker 2: this podcast. The balance of immersive storytelling and gameplay especially
- 25:15Speaker 2: makes for good pacing and says a lot without excessive exposition.
- 25:18Speaker 2: The dark, grounded tone sets it apart as well. No
- 25:21Speaker 2: over the top comedy, just a gritty fantasy tale peppered
- 25:24Speaker 2: with quiet moments of humanity and the looming sense that
- 25:27Speaker 2: no character is safe. Love it and on that note,
- 25:30Speaker 2: back to binging the rest of the series. Thank you
- 25:34Speaker 2: so much, Amanda know over the top comedy here, no, sir,
- 25:38Speaker 2: There's plenty of that out there in the world. So
- 25:40Speaker 2: glad you are along with me for the grim dark ride.
- 25:43Speaker 2: I hope you find the season finale satisfying. Now where
- 25:47Speaker 2: would I be without my amazing cast of voice talent.
- 25:50Speaker 2: Today it's another poor cast episode, Kyellen, Kevin Barringer, and
- 25:54Speaker 2: David Cooper give us Derenny, Tender and fair Wind, respectively.
- 25:58Speaker 2: And as a special treat we hear from Andrew Flag,
- 26:00Speaker 2: who does the voice of Old Veay. My voice actors
- 26:04Speaker 2: are not the only stars in this episode. A visual
- 26:06Speaker 2: artist also made a big contribution. Solo Adventure submitted a
- 26:10Speaker 2: sketch which inspired the beautiful and natural vista in part
- 26:13Speaker 2: two of this episode. I'd like to thank everyone who
- 26:15Speaker 2: submitted sketches, David R. Kucka, H Lostranger, John D. Christine O,
- 26:21Speaker 2: Moses Simon W. And Steve B. I'll be referring to
- 26:25Speaker 2: some of your excellent work soon enough for those curious
- 26:28Speaker 2: to learn more about Tale of the Manticore. I keep
- 26:30Speaker 2: a blog where I post all kinds of show and
- 26:32Speaker 2: RPG related stuff like sketches, maps, tables, crafts, and show notes.
- 26:36Speaker 2: You can find it at tale of Themanticore dot com.
- 26:39Speaker 2: To get in touch with me, you can check out
- 26:41Speaker 2: Solo Roleplayers Network dot com, Tale of the Manticore dot blues,
- 26:44Speaker 2: guidiw Social, Tale of the Manticor podcast on Instagram, or
- 26:48Speaker 2: Tale of the Manticor at gmail dot com. The adventure
- 26:51Speaker 2: will continue on the next episode of Tale of the
- 26:53Speaker 2: Manticor It's the Story or Chaos Rolls