Latest / Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama / Episode 2 (S3E02)

Transcript

Episode 2 (S3E02) · Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama

0:00
Speaker 1: Hello, this is Bill Allen from Bill Allen World, and
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Speaker 1: you are listening to Tale of the Manticore. The following
0:09
Speaker 1: podcast is intended for a mature audience. Listener discretion is advised.
0:28
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Tale of the Manticor Season three. Like
0:32
Speaker 1: the creature from which it takes its name, Tale of
0:35
Speaker 1: the Manticor is a mashup, a crossbreeding between two different
0:38
Speaker 1: species of storytelling. Here you will find the unpredictability of
0:42
Speaker 1: old school paper and dice games with the story craft
0:45
Speaker 1: of a dark fantasy novel. No character is sacred and
0:49
Speaker 1: none will be spared if the dice decide their fate
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Speaker 1: is at hand. According to Laura, the Tale of a
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Speaker 1: Manticore is barbed with cruel iron spikes. There will be
1:01
Speaker 1: much pain in the days ahead. Last time on Tale
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Speaker 1: of the Manticor, in chapter one, we meet the reclusive
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Speaker 1: human wizard Aldbay and his daughter Achillea. Right from the start,
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Speaker 1: there are a couple of mysteries surrounding this young woman
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Speaker 1: who will be our first player character. First, she believes
1:28
Speaker 1: she's an elf because that's what she's been told all
1:31
Speaker 1: her life, but in reality, she is a half elf. Second,
1:35
Speaker 1: although she is Aldvay's daughter, the elder Wizard, has hidden
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Speaker 1: that fact from her. As far as Achillia knows, she
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Speaker 1: was adopted by him and raised as his ward since infancy.
1:45
Speaker 1: Despite these secrets, the two live together along with several
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Speaker 1: magical constructs in the uninhabited wilderness east of the Kingdom
1:52
Speaker 1: of Xatia. Their happy and peaceful life is interrupted one
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Speaker 1: day by the presence of a second magic user who's
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Speaker 1: come into their territory for reasons unknown. In order to
2:02
Speaker 1: avoid a conflict, Aldves ends Achillia to meet with this
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Speaker 1: stranger and if she can find out something about their
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Speaker 1: motives or character. A few hours later, the nervous young
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Speaker 1: apprentice finds herself in front of a weird tower of
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Speaker 1: iron that seems to have materialized from out of nowhere.
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Speaker 1: When the door opens, she's met by an equally odd
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Speaker 1: gnome who welcomes her inside. Chapter two, Part two, Day one,
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Speaker 1: late afternoon mythic event meaning will press allies party status
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Speaker 1: achillea four out of four hit points. It was cool inside,
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Speaker 1: but not dark. The place was lit by a softly
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Speaker 1: glowing orb of white crystal that hung by a chain
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Speaker 1: from the ceiling. The sound in here even her own
3:02
Speaker 1: breathing reverberated with a hollow, metallic quality. The room was
3:07
Speaker 1: semi circular, with a single exit on the wall, which
3:10
Speaker 1: bisected the tower interior. If there was some means of
3:14
Speaker 1: ascending to the second floor, it must have been in
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Speaker 1: the other room. This one had basic but well made furnishings.
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Speaker 1: A woven rug of braided wool covered most of the
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Speaker 1: metal floor. There were two wooden chairs. One was thick
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Speaker 1: and stout, the other small, presumably sized for the Gnome.
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Speaker 1: Between the chairs was a small table with a table
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Speaker 1: cloth of white linen. To her left, bowed to fit
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Speaker 1: flush against the tower's roundness, a narrow shelf supported a
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Speaker 1: trio of silver vases, each containing a single trillium. The
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Speaker 1: flat wall opposite her was decorated with an oval shaped
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Speaker 1: mirror framed in gilded wood. The sound of movement came
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Speaker 1: from the next room, prompting the still smiling Gnome to
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Speaker 1: gesture at her and then the small chair. Achillie realized
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Speaker 1: then that the now Jome was a servant, not the
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Speaker 1: master of the house as she had first thought. She
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Speaker 1: didn't want to be seated when the person she had
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Speaker 1: come to meet entered, so she delayed, pretending to admire
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Speaker 1: the trilliums instead. A few moments later, the interior door
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Speaker 1: opened and an enormous man entered the room. Apart from
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Speaker 1: how this person looks and that there also some kind
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Speaker 1: of magic user, I really have no idea who this
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Speaker 1: person is or what they want. I wonder if I'll
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Speaker 1: have the opportunity to apply my current mythic event meaning
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Speaker 1: oppress allies. Who knows? The big question is does their
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Speaker 1: presence here have anything to do with alday? A high
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Speaker 1: low roll will sort this out. HI means this wizard
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Speaker 1: is here for that reason on a D twenty a one.
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Speaker 1: Oh well, I'm going to go ahead and call that
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Speaker 1: an extreme No. This wizard has never even heard of
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Speaker 1: aldby Muwak, and I think that gives me enough to
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Speaker 1: go on for now. Let's put the dice away and
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Speaker 1: return to the narrative. He could barely fit through the door.
5:07
Speaker 1: The man was half as wide as he was tall.
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Speaker 1: Everything about him was plump, his belly strained against the
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Speaker 1: front of his tunic, and his belt was more like
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Speaker 1: a girdle. His shoulders were as great sacks of grain,
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Speaker 1: his beard voluminous, his mustaches swooping even his eyebrows were bushy.
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Speaker 1: He wore a lot of jewelry, something Achillie was not
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Speaker 1: used to seeing. A chunky gold ring adorned every punchy finger.
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Speaker 1: Each wrist wore multiple bracelets, also gold. The only humans
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Speaker 1: achille had ever known were Oldvay and the delivery boy,
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Speaker 1: so she was unskilled at guessing age. But this man
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Speaker 1: seemed to be somewhere between those two years. A guest,
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Speaker 1: he boomed. He turned out that his voice was big, too, wonderful, wonderful.
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Speaker 1: He had to turn sideways to fit through the door.
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Speaker 1: As he entered, Are you some refreshments for our guest?
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Speaker 1: The ugly gnome genuflected, then scurried off through the door
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Speaker 1: his master had used. Achillia felt overwhelmed, but still had
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Speaker 1: the good sense to remember protocol. She folded her hands,
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Speaker 1: fingers laced across her abdomen, in the formal greeting practiced
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Speaker 1: by unfamiliar wizards.
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Speaker 2: It is an honor to make your acquaintance.
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Speaker 1: She said. The man raised his eyebrows at the gesture,
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Speaker 1: and then smiled. When he did, his eyes sparkled as
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Speaker 1: brightly as his jewelry. He laced his own pudgy fingers
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Speaker 1: in front of his great belly, mirroring the willowy Achillee.
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Speaker 1: The custom was an old one in Zaytia. It was
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Speaker 1: equivalent to showing an open palm, a symbolic assurance of
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Speaker 1: peaceful intentions. For interlaced fingers could not cast spells. Vin
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Speaker 1: grin Atresh at your service, he said, with a nod.
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Speaker 2: Well met, Master Atresh, she replied.
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Speaker 3: My name is Achilia Muog, apprenticed to ald Via Muagh.
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Speaker 2: You have heard of him, I expect.
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Speaker 1: The big magic user unlaced his finger and motioned for
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Speaker 1: Achillia to take a seat. She did, and while she
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Speaker 1: found the nome's chair uncomfortably small, fim grin Atrash could
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Speaker 1: barely fit into his, but he did not see him
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Speaker 1: bothered by this. Oh please call me Phib, he said, smiling.
7:15
Speaker 1: He studied her face. I have not seen many who
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Speaker 1: look as you do. What manner of creature are you?
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Speaker 1: Achilie was not sure she took his meaning, but answered
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Speaker 1: in the most forthright way she.
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Speaker 2: Could, I am an elf, if you please, Master fim.
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Speaker 1: FIM's mouth twitched into a frown for a fraction of
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Speaker 1: a second, and then his smile was back of course,
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Speaker 1: Well to what do I owe the pleasure of your company,
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Speaker 1: Mistress muild Elf Achilie, she corrected him, returning his smile. Inside,
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Speaker 1: she fretted he had not even reacted to the mention
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Speaker 1: of her Vappi's name.
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Speaker 3: I bring a gift from Master Miloc, she.
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Speaker 1: Said, brightly, producing a package from her satchel.
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Speaker 2: I'm sure I am unworthy of any gift.
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Speaker 1: Fim politely, as Achillia placed the parcel on the table
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Speaker 1: and began to untie the cord that held the wrapping together.
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Speaker 1: Inside was a little glass jar.
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Speaker 3: It is a small quantity of a room fin gunned
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Speaker 3: powder prepared by Master Mowok.
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Speaker 1: Personally, Achillia studied Sim's face as she opened the cloth,
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Speaker 1: hoping to read something in his reaction. But the other
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Speaker 1: man betrayed nothing. A very fine gift, he said, his
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Speaker 1: voice neutral. Please extend my gratitude to your master. Achilie
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Speaker 1: tried to select her next words carefully.
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Speaker 2: You are very kind.
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Speaker 3: He wishes me to add that he would be well
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Speaker 3: disposed to aid you with whatever business brings you inside
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Speaker 3: our borders.
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Speaker 1: Fim looked at her without blinking. Did some hint of
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Speaker 1: danger lurk behind his bright eyes. The man's smile remained
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Speaker 1: but did not quite reach them. Perhaps she was just
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Speaker 1: imagining it. A clatter sounded from the other room and
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Speaker 1: preceded the gnome, who presently appeared at the drawer with
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Speaker 1: a cup laden tray. Ah said Fim without looking away,
9:01
Speaker 1: here is Artie. I'm tempted to figure out here and
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Speaker 1: now what it is that Fim is doing in aldveays Veil.
9:13
Speaker 1: We've already determined that he wasn't aware he was inside
9:16
Speaker 1: another magic users of Borders. Of course he does now,
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Speaker 1: and that's going to change things. Maybe it'd be more
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Speaker 1: interesting not to know what Fim is doing there, not
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Speaker 1: yet anyway, and just make a role to see how
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Speaker 1: he reacts to Achillia. Part of playing RPGs, whether the
9:32
Speaker 1: DM or a player, is making choices, right, So that's
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Speaker 1: my decision. I'll grab twoty six, make a reaction roll,
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Speaker 1: and leave FIM's intentions a mystery. Before I roll these dice,
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Speaker 1: I should consider, are there any mitigating circumstances that would
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Speaker 1: justify a modifier to the role. Being the kind of
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Speaker 1: wizard who can make an iron tower appear in an instant,
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Speaker 1: Fim must be a fairly high level. He probably has
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Speaker 1: some experience with elves and would realize that Achillia is
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Speaker 1: not a exactly what she says. Would that make him
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Speaker 1: suspicious or curious? I'm not sure what else. Achilie has
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Speaker 1: an average charisma score of nine, which gives no bonus
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Speaker 1: or penalty. She's unarmed and unattended, and this I think matters.
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Speaker 1: That again, she gave herself away as a magic user
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Speaker 1: by lacing her fingers. The factors cancel each other out,
10:21
Speaker 1: you know, I think it's going to be a straight
10:23
Speaker 1: roll two D six hire is better. Oh my, I've
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Speaker 1: got an eleven on the dice. That almost could not
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Speaker 1: have gone better. Let's take a quick ad break. When
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Speaker 1: we return, we'll see how their interaction plays out. Chapter two,
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Speaker 1: Part two, Day one, late afternoon, one hour later. Mythic
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Speaker 1: event meaning oppress Allies party status. Achillea four out of
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Speaker 1: four hit points. The sweet tea Achilia thought it had
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Speaker 1: a strange aftertaste was gone, so were all the slices
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Speaker 1: of pungent cheese. Of these, Achillie had only eaten two pieces,
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Speaker 1: the first to see if she liked it, the second,
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Speaker 1: having learned she did not to be polite, Fim had
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Speaker 1: eaten the rest, compulsively reaching for it and nibbling away.
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Speaker 1: As they spoke. He asked her a lot of questions,
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Speaker 1: mostly about Aldvay and what he was like, how long
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Speaker 1: they had been here, and why they did not live
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Speaker 1: in any of the great Satian cities. This last question
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Speaker 1: made Achillia suspect that Fim had never been to Zatia himself,
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Speaker 1: or wanted her to think as much. She had never
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Speaker 1: been there either, but what she knew about the complex
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Speaker 1: social hierarchy among wizards, the dangerous clash of ambitions, and
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Speaker 1: the perfidious dealings that were the hall marks of Zatian culture,
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Speaker 1: the question did seem a bit ignorant. When asked his
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Speaker 1: reasons for being in the veil and his intentions, Fim
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Speaker 1: gave a way little. Still, his vagueness did not come
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Speaker 1: across as evasive precisely, and his general demeanor remained warm
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Speaker 1: and amiable throughout their conversation. After a time, Achillia decided
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Speaker 1: that she had learned all that she was going to
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Speaker 1: and had given away more than she should have. She
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Speaker 1: said she should be going. Of course, of course, I
12:20
Speaker 1: understand your master will be anxious for your return and
12:25
Speaker 1: for news of the interloper. He spoke the last word
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Speaker 1: with a smiling sarcasm, while pointing a stubby, gold ringed
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Speaker 1: finger right at his own nose. He chuckled at his joke,
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Speaker 1: and Achilia could not help a grin back at the
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Speaker 1: other wizard's sanguine expression. When she rose to leave, Fim
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Speaker 1: held up a hand and motioned for her to wait.
12:46
Speaker 1: He called to his henchmen through the door, and the
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Speaker 1: Gnomery appeared so quickly that Achilleus surmise he must have
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Speaker 1: been standing by it on the other side the whole time.
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Speaker 1: Fim gave him some directions in a language Achilia couldn't understand,
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Speaker 1: presumably Gnomish, and the servant hurried off. He returned a
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Speaker 1: few moments later, holding a package, which he presented to her.
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Speaker 1: The Gnome smiled again, showing its brown teeth with the
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Speaker 1: little black gaps between them, while off putting. Achilia accepted
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Speaker 1: the little package, who was something very small and hard
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Speaker 1: wrapped in a silk cloth, and managed to return the
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Speaker 1: smile and proffered bow before making her farewells to Fim
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Speaker 1: and taking her leave. The Gnome closed the tower door
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Speaker 1: behind her and she began to walk away with the
13:30
Speaker 1: ever growing suspicion that Fim had read her like a book.
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Speaker 1: Dramatis Personae Achillia Achilia is a half elthin first level
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Speaker 1: magic user. She stands four foot ten inches tall, as
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Speaker 1: platinum colored hair and amber yellow eyes. She's twenty one
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Speaker 1: years old. Her small size and her youth make her quick, agile,
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Speaker 1: and full of energy. As a half elf, she has
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Speaker 1: infan vision, but ages at the same rate as a human.
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Speaker 1: She does not have Elvin resistance to paralyzing attacks, but
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Speaker 1: she does enjoy a bonus to finding secret doors raised
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Speaker 1: by the wizard aldve muog. In relative solitude, Achilia has
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Speaker 1: almost no experience with social interactions, and so when she
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Speaker 1: does find herself in the rare conversation with an unfamiliar person,
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Speaker 1: she is awkward and shy. As a corollary to that,
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Speaker 1: Achilia is independent and self reliant. She has an optimistic
14:31
Speaker 1: predisposition towards life and is naturally curious. Most of all,
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Speaker 1: she is exceptionally bright, loves to learn, and does so
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Speaker 1: quickly because of her training. She feels emotions, but is
14:43
Speaker 1: not ruled by them. Achilia does not know that Aldvea
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Speaker 1: is her father and has never known a mother. She
14:50
Speaker 1: believes that she was left on Aldveay's doorstep as an infant,
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Speaker 1: and that he raised her as if she were his daughter.
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Speaker 1: All the same and somewhat ironically, Achilie loves Aldveays uncann additionally,
15:00
Speaker 1: and the two have a father daughter relationship in addition
15:03
Speaker 1: to one of master and pupil. Aldvey's constructs are also
15:07
Speaker 1: considered as family, with the exception of the oak Man,
15:11
Speaker 1: whom Achillia regards as a mindless automaton, whereas Robin is
15:15
Speaker 1: something like a pet. Cord and Achillea have a special relationship.
15:19
Speaker 1: They are best friends and as close as siblings. Robin
15:27
Speaker 1: was waiting for her outside and peeped angrily before fluttering
15:30
Speaker 1: down from its branch to land in her head, where
15:33
Speaker 1: it remained for almost the full journey, first back down
15:36
Speaker 1: to the river, along the bank to the ford, and
15:38
Speaker 1: then back along the opposite bank to the footpath. It
15:42
Speaker 1: was at this point that Robin must have grown impatient,
15:45
Speaker 1: for it took off and flew on ahead. Achillia was
15:48
Speaker 1: then left alone with her thoughts and the little parcel.
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Speaker 1: She assumed it was a return gift meant for Aldvais,
15:54
Speaker 1: though the corpulent wizard Fim had not actually said as much.
15:58
Speaker 1: Although she was curious to know what it might be,
16:00
Speaker 1: if it was not intended for her, it would be
16:02
Speaker 1: wrong to open it, so she tucked it into her
16:04
Speaker 1: satchel and continued on her way. Once again, she started
16:08
Speaker 1: thinking back on her conversation with anxiety. It seemed to
16:12
Speaker 1: have gone well. Had it gone well? She seemed to
16:16
Speaker 1: have learned a few things about the stranger in their veil,
16:19
Speaker 1: But what did she really know about him. She hadn't
16:22
Speaker 1: found out where he came from or what he was
16:24
Speaker 1: doing here. She thought she had a measure of his character,
16:28
Speaker 1: but apart from a general impression of his personality and
16:32
Speaker 1: that he appeared to mean them no harm, she had
16:34
Speaker 1: to admit that she had taken away very little in
16:37
Speaker 1: terms of useful information. That thought pivoted in her brain
16:41
Speaker 1: as she fret it, making her wonder if she had
16:44
Speaker 1: given too much information. Her mind raced back over the
16:47
Speaker 1: script of their conversation, trying to recall exactly what he
16:51
Speaker 1: had asked her and what she had told him. Had
16:53
Speaker 1: she revealed anything that might be exploited as a weakness,
16:57
Speaker 1: She didn't think so she hoped not. Her worry had
17:01
Speaker 1: grown from a nagging unease to something bordering on mild
17:04
Speaker 1: nausea when Robin came flying back, piping madly and circling
17:08
Speaker 1: about her head.
17:11
Speaker 2: What is it, Robin, what's wrong?
17:13
Speaker 1: Robin was able to communicate with Olvay using limited telepathy
17:17
Speaker 1: since it contained a wisp of his soul. This was
17:19
Speaker 1: not the case with Achilie, who had to guess. All
17:23
Speaker 1: she could tell was that Robin was agitated, and then
17:26
Speaker 1: watching the stuffed bird flitting back and forth, trilling madly
17:30
Speaker 1: that it wished her to come quickly. Achillie started to
17:33
Speaker 1: jog and then run, while Robin flew on ahead in
17:37
Speaker 1: the direction of home. She could sense that something was wrong,
17:42
Speaker 1: even though when she came into view of their dwelling
17:45
Speaker 1: the only thing amiss was that the front door was ajar.
17:48
Speaker 1: But it wasn't the door that keened her senses or
17:51
Speaker 1: warned her of danger. It was the forest. Normally it
17:55
Speaker 1: would be a buzz with noise and life, but now
17:58
Speaker 1: everything was still and silh ellan. A feeling of dread
18:02
Speaker 1: rose up inside Achillea, and she sprinted the last hundred
18:05
Speaker 1: meters home, bursting through the door.
18:07
Speaker 2: She called out, Papi, Pappi, are you home? Where are you?
18:13
Speaker 1: Aldve did not leave their home very often these days.
18:16
Speaker 1: He was old and his joints hurt. He almost always
18:18
Speaker 1: sent her or Cord to collect water, food, and lately
18:22
Speaker 1: even the herbs, roots and fungi used in his alchemy.
18:26
Speaker 1: She scanned the main floor. It appeared that Oldvai had
18:29
Speaker 1: begun to prepare a fire in their little wood stove,
18:32
Speaker 1: but had not yet lit it. The fish she had
18:34
Speaker 1: brought had been cleaned and cut, but remained on the
18:37
Speaker 1: cutting board along with a sharp knife. The rest of
18:40
Speaker 1: the place looked somewhat cluttered and chaotic, but that was normal.
18:44
Speaker 1: Aldveay was never one for straight lines, neat edges, or
18:47
Speaker 1: tidy workspases. A strange, burnt smell was coming from the
18:51
Speaker 1: next room, and Achillia raced through the living area and
18:54
Speaker 1: into their shared bedroom, where they kept their mattresses side
18:57
Speaker 1: by side. Her half of the room looked normal, untouched,
19:02
Speaker 1: but Aldveay's side was destroyed. The normally full bookshelf was empty,
19:07
Speaker 1: and dozens of tomes of all shapes and sizes were
19:09
Speaker 1: scattered on the floor. Under them. Where the bed had
19:12
Speaker 1: been was now a blackened and burnt crater. Alvays a
19:16
Speaker 1: secret compartment under his bed where he kept his precious
19:19
Speaker 1: spell book, but the compartment had been trapped with an
19:22
Speaker 1: explosive glyph at Kellie's heart leaped into her throat. She
19:26
Speaker 1: called out again, desperately, Poppy, where are you? She wheeled
19:30
Speaker 1: around and dashed back into the other room, tearing down
19:33
Speaker 1: the wooden steps that led to her master's lap.
19:36
Speaker 3: Please let him be here, she said to herself, Please
19:38
Speaker 3: let him be all right.
19:40
Speaker 1: At the bottom of the stairs, she saw Aldvey's little
19:42
Speaker 1: alchemical lap with its retort alembic and copper bowl on
19:47
Speaker 1: the wall. Beside it, with the exhaust pipes that led
19:49
Speaker 1: up through the earth to where they joined with the
19:51
Speaker 1: stove's chimney. A shelving unit with a vast assortment of
19:55
Speaker 1: powders and liquids. Showed two empty spots on the desk
19:59
Speaker 1: where a pair of overtre jars their contents spilled.
20:03
Speaker 2: Oh, please let him be all.
20:04
Speaker 1: Right, she repeated. It took a moment for her infro
20:07
Speaker 1: vision to take over. In the dark beyond the stairs,
20:10
Speaker 1: she first noticed the oak man standing straight back and
20:13
Speaker 1: upright against the far wall, normally he was kept in
20:16
Speaker 1: the living room. Because of her panic, she hadn't even
20:19
Speaker 1: noticed his absence before then her eyes dropped lower. Sitting
20:23
Speaker 1: on the floor at the oak man's side, back to
20:26
Speaker 1: the wall and knees pulled in was aldvay.
20:29
Speaker 2: Ah thanks to the hair.
20:30
Speaker 1: She breathed, relief washing over her.
20:33
Speaker 2: There you are what happened, Uppy Oldvey.
20:36
Speaker 1: Did not move, not an inch. Lappy, Her heart was
20:41
Speaker 1: back in her throat. Luppy, something was terribly wrong. She
20:46
Speaker 1: rushed to him, accidentally brushing her arm against one of
20:49
Speaker 1: the jars on the table. It rolled off and clunked
20:52
Speaker 1: against the floor of hard packed earth, but Achilia didn't
20:55
Speaker 1: even notice. Now she was kneeling in front of her master.
20:58
Speaker 2: Luppy, speak to me.
21:01
Speaker 1: Baldavey did not move at all. He stared straight across
21:04
Speaker 1: the room as though she were invisible. Achille's infro vision
21:07
Speaker 1: allowed her to see in the dark, but she could
21:09
Speaker 1: not make out color this way, and so it took
21:12
Speaker 1: a few seconds longer for her to realize the truth
21:15
Speaker 1: than it would have had she been in the light.
21:18
Speaker 1: She reached out a tentative finger and touched his cheek.
21:22
Speaker 1: It was as cold as stone. She breathed, blinking in disbelief.
21:28
Speaker 2: Oh no, oh, vapi, what has happened to you?
21:35
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Tale of the mantigor Now, before
21:38
Speaker 1: I get to my usual outro, I wanted to invite
21:40
Speaker 1: you to stick around after the credits for a little
21:43
Speaker 1: news update for the show. All right, where was I? Ah? Yes?
21:47
Speaker 1: I was about to say that if you are enjoying
21:49
Speaker 1: the show and would like to support it, there are
21:51
Speaker 1: a lot of ways to help. You could recommend the
21:53
Speaker 1: show online or to friends. You could like and repost
21:56
Speaker 1: episode announcements on social media. You could pick up one
21:58
Speaker 1: Shot in the Dark with the pendul And world building
22:00
Speaker 1: tool or Encyclopedia Mantegorica on drive through RPG. And finally,
22:05
Speaker 1: you can rate or review the show on your podcatter
22:07
Speaker 1: of choice. As always, by thanks to everyone for the
22:11
Speaker 1: support of the show. Speaking of support at this time,
22:14
Speaker 1: please allow me to share one of your kind reviews.
22:16
Speaker 1: This one was left by Golden one one nine via
22:19
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts. Golden one one nine writes, I've listened to
22:23
Speaker 1: a lot of actual play podcasts and for me, Solo
22:26
Speaker 1: Beats Group and Tale of the Manticore is the best
22:28
Speaker 1: of the solo Thank you for making this engaging, quality
22:31
Speaker 1: and free content. John Well, you are very welcome Golden
22:35
Speaker 1: one one nine, and also thank you very much. It
22:39
Speaker 1: might sound right, but my goal is to make the
22:41
Speaker 1: absolute best audio fantasy fiction experience that my abilities will allow.
22:45
Speaker 1: It's so nice when I hear that other folks are
22:48
Speaker 1: enjoying the show. Much appreciated. Thanks both the Goblins Henchman
22:52
Speaker 1: and hodag RPG for providing conceptual and promotional art for
22:55
Speaker 1: the show. You guys are both extremely talented and your
22:58
Speaker 1: ideas help bring the show to Finally, i'd like to
23:02
Speaker 1: thank this episode's a great voice talent, Ian from the
23:05
Speaker 1: Undercommon Taste podcast plays Fimgrim Attress to perfection. Thanks Ian
23:09
Speaker 1: for joining the cast. For listeners who'd like to get
23:12
Speaker 1: in touch with me, I met Mantcore Tale on x
23:15
Speaker 1: or Tale of the Manticore podcast on Instagram, and there's
23:17
Speaker 1: always email Tale of Themantcre at gmail dot com. I
23:21
Speaker 1: also keep a blog where I post all kinds of
23:22
Speaker 1: show and RPG related stuff like art, maps, tables, crafts,
23:26
Speaker 1: and show notes. You can find it at Tale Ofthemantacre
23:29
Speaker 1: dot blogspot dot com. The adventure will continue on the
23:32
Speaker 1: next episode of Tale of the manticor the story where
23:36
Speaker 1: chaos rolls. Happy Halloween, everybody. I know this episode is
23:45
Speaker 1: not exactly terrifying, but don't worry. That darkness is there
23:49
Speaker 1: lurking around the edges of Achille's story, but you know
23:52
Speaker 1: it can be scary ads. Okay, that was a pretty
23:56
Speaker 1: lame segue, but I wanted to take a moment to
23:58
Speaker 1: point out that I have recently undergone a change and
24:00
Speaker 1: it has altered the way I do advertising. If you're
24:03
Speaker 1: new to the show, welcome, by the way, you might
24:05
Speaker 1: not have noticed anything or ads are concerned, but those
24:08
Speaker 1: who are longtime listeners will likely have noticed some changes
24:11
Speaker 1: and inconsistencies. I used to do mostly unpaid ad swaps
24:15
Speaker 1: with other folks in the RPG community, with an occasional
24:18
Speaker 1: paid ad every once in a blue moon. I've switched
24:21
Speaker 1: over to iHeartRadio now and I am going to discontinue
24:24
Speaker 1: ad swaps in favor of exclusively paid ads. Why the change.
24:28
Speaker 1: There's a couple of main reasons. One is workflow. The
24:31
Speaker 1: more people I need to wait on to send me
24:33
Speaker 1: audio files, the harder it is to produce the show
24:35
Speaker 1: on time. Ending ad swaps will help a lot in
24:38
Speaker 1: reducing the frequent bottlenecks that I experience in production. The
24:41
Speaker 1: other is simply that iHeart approached me with a very
24:44
Speaker 1: good offer and I took it. I had a good
24:46
Speaker 1: run with Podbean and would still recommend them. By the
24:49
Speaker 1: way that said, I'm hoping my new partnership with iHeart
24:51
Speaker 1: will lead to bigger and better things for the show. Now,
24:54
Speaker 1: if the new format is having a negative effect on
24:57
Speaker 1: your listening experience, or if you find it a change
24:59
Speaker 1: for the worse, there is a way to get the
25:01
Speaker 1: show at free. If you have a speaker account, you
25:04
Speaker 1: can enroll in the Tale of the Mantacore Supporters Club.
25:07
Speaker 1: It's a kind of proprietary Patreon type thing. Anyway, two
25:11
Speaker 1: bucks a month gets to the show at free. I
25:13
Speaker 1: should mention that for the season one and season two
25:15
Speaker 1: back catalogs, the ad partner swaps are hard embedded in
25:19
Speaker 1: the program, and they are permanent for season three. However,
25:22
Speaker 1: you'd be getting one hundred percent at free programming. As
25:26
Speaker 1: long as I'm sharing some news, I'll also take this
25:28
Speaker 1: opportunity to mention that I'm dipping my toe into the
25:30
Speaker 1: world of merch in cooperation with the Bare Arts Gallery.
25:34
Speaker 1: This online store is run by a good friend and
25:36
Speaker 1: Tell of the Manticore cast member Kevin Barringer. Kevin played
25:40
Speaker 1: Jason season two. If the name rings a bell, Bare
25:43
Speaker 1: Arts dot Store That's b a r e a r
25:46
Speaker 1: t s dot Store is an online gallery for artists
25:50
Speaker 1: to share their one hundred percent human made designs on
25:53
Speaker 1: various useful products such as comfy t shirts. They work
25:56
Speaker 1: to ensure that their products are eco friendly, sustainable, and
25:59
Speaker 1: ethically sourd. At the moment, we're offering a basic, vegan friendly,
26:03
Speaker 1: one hundred percent organic cotton T shirt with the Tail
26:05
Speaker 1: of the mantecre logo in black, red and white. Hopefully
26:09
Speaker 1: in the future we'll expand more and different kinds of
26:11
Speaker 1: clothes and accessories. Very exciting. Well, I think that's it
26:15
Speaker 1: for news. Thanks for sticking around, and I'll see you
26:18
Speaker 1: next time on Tail of the Manticor