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Episode 4 (S3E04) · Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hi, this is Nathan Helm, author of Kingdom Society, The
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Black Hood. You're listening to Tale of the manta Core.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: The following podcast is intended for a mature audience. Listener
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: discretion is advised. Welcome back to Tale of the Manticor
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Season three. Like the creature from which it takes its name,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Tale of the Manticor is a mashup, a cross breeding
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: between two different species of storytelling. Here you will find
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: the unpredictability of old school paper and dice games with
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: the story craft of a dark fantasy novel. No character
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: is sacred, and none will be spared if the dice
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: decide their fate is at hand. According to lore, the
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: Tale of a Mantica corp is barbed with cruel iron spikes.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: There will be much pain in the days ahead. Last
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: time on Tail of the Manticor, Chapter three begins with
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: the season's first player character, Achilia, trying to deal with
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: the sudden upending of her old life. Her master Aldby
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: has been turned to stone and to spellbook stolen. Her
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: first thought is to run back to the Iron Tower,
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: but when she arrives at the spot, accompanied by her
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: friend Court, the tower is gone. Achillier returns home and
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: begins a more thorough search of it, looking for clues.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: She finds three. First, there's drops of blood near the
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: spot where a glyff guarding her master's spellbook detonated. Second,
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: when she goes downstairs, she finds the components for a
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: poisoned slowing remedy on Old Day's work bench. Finally, beside
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: the statue that her master is become and scratched into
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: the dirt of the basement floor is a name Adoc.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Chord recognizes it and shows Achillia a sketchbook from Aldvay's
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: book collection. Audoc is the name of the artist. On
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: the final page is an inscription that seems to invite
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Oldva to come back north sometime. At this point, Achillie
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: makes a decision and a promise she will go north,
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: find this Audoc and get some answers. She packs her
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: own spell book and some traveling supplies into a bag.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: In the morning, along with Chord and Robin, she leaves
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: home and begins her quest. Chapter four, Part one, Day
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: two morning mythic event meaning create the intellectual party status
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: ACHILLEA four at A four hit points spells available. Achilia
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: has memorized shrink. All necessary preparations were complete. That Kilia
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: had hidden all of Aldvay's valuables and packed everything she
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: could think of that she might need to be gone
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: for a few days. She had given the Oakman specific
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: instructions to guard Aldvais and then thrown a blanket over
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: her master. It didn't really do much to hide him,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: but it was something. Finally, she had nailed the note
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: on to the front door. It read a wizard lives here.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: No trespassers. Since the door had a bar inside but
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: no actual lock, she could engage from the outside. This
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: was the best she could do.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: She doubted that.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: Anyone would come by the creatures that lived in the
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: woods around here, both evil and good, and enough sense
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: to stay away. The only human that ever came here
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: was Aaron, the boy from the nearest village who delivered supplies,
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: but airon only came once a season, and he had
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: just come and gone yesterday, so she doubted very highly
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: he'd returned before she did. With the door shut and
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: the note, it was time to go. Cord was with her,
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: carrying half of their supplies in a custom fitted backpack
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: he usually used told firewood. He had his axe as well.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: After they had taken a few steps away from their home,
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: Achillia whistled, and presently Robin flew down from his perch
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: atop the hummock to settle on top of her head.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: She felt like she should say or do something before
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: she left. She opened her mouth and was about to
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: say I'll see you soon, when she realized those were
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: the last words Voppi had spoken to her. She shut
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: her mouth, sniffed, and started walking north. Way. Back in
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: season one, I started using a set of homebrew mechanics
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: for overland travel, or hex crawling as the old schoolers
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: call it. The first is for determining weather, and it's
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: dead simple. Roll a D twenty. The higher the result,
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: the more favorable the weather. That might not always mean
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: that A twenty is a perfectly warm and sunny day
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: with a light breeze. Times rain would be the most
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: desirable today, however, I think a classic summer day would
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: be best for this traveling trio. Let's roll and see
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: what we get on a D twenty. A six. Okay,
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: that's not extreme weather by any means, but it's a
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: bit unpleasant too hot, is my interpretation. Another mechanic I
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: used in the past is something I called this stumble
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: upon roll. It's another D twenty roll, but this one
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: ignores any result from two to nineteen inclusive. If I
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: do roll a natural twenty. However, the pieces stumble upon
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: something beneficial that might take one of many forms on
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: a one you guess, Yet they run into some bad luck.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: This might be in the form of enemies, but more
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: often it's a thing, event, or circumstance that introduces or
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: augments a new or existing problem. It feels a bit
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: early to be making this role, but what the heck
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: I'm going to do it? Here goes the seven on
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: the die means nothing exceptional is discovered that reminds me
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: of one final core mechanic for overland travel, the wandering encounter.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: This role happens in addition to the stumble upon and
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: is much more likely to result in a meeting with
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: hostile beings. The expert rules suggest that encounter checks are
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: usually made once per day, but the DM may make
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: additional checks if appropriate. This rule set further says that
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: for a trek through a wooded area, an encounters should
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: occur on a roll of four to six on a
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: D six fair enough ACHILLIEA is moving through dangerous, untamed
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: wilderness far from any human settlement, so this is well
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: go with adding a high low roll to determine if
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: any given encounters take place during the day or night.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: Here comes the first wandering encounter roll for season three
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: of what I expect will be many. Rolling a D
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: six and hoping for a low result. Dang it, I
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: got a four. That means I need to follow up
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: with a high low. High means the encounter happens in
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: the daytime. Rolling a D twenty a one, it's going
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: to happen in the middle of the night. It also
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: means I need to go away and make a wandering
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: encounter table back in a jiffy. Okay, I've made a
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: simple D eight table. I'll post it to Tale of
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: themante car dot blogspot dot com in case anyone is
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: curious to see. It's got everything from a harmless animal
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: all the way up to deadly monster with a single
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: chance for an NPC encounter tucked in there for good measure.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: Rolling a D eight, I got a one. Well, okay,
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: then the going was both exhausting and exhilarating. Exhausting because
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: sometime before noon the clouds parted, and the indifferent disc
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: of the sun blazed hot and angry over their heads.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: The terrain trended uphill, and the exertion left a Chiliev
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: sweaty and breathless in short order. Normally, she liked to
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: conduct a kind of one way conversation with Cord when
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: they were together, but by mid afternoon she found she
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: didn't have the lungs for it, and spent the rest
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: of the day's journey in silence. Around evening, but well
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: before sunset, they passed outside their home territory. There was
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: a circle of influence that lasted about eight or nine
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: hours walk in a radius around Altvay's house. Years of
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: living near a way had taught predators to stay away.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: Now that they were outside this imaginary circle of protection,
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: Achilie felt exposed and on edge. Her surroundings were no
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: longer familiar. The trees, the land formations, even the fauna
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: felt alien, alien and dangerous. Despite this, nothing troubled the
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: trio as they continued north. Eventually, the sun began to
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: dip and the temperature dropped. The stars came out and
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: spangled the night sky with winking diamonds. It was beautiful
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: and serene and magical. They picked a spot to rest
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: for the night under a foxtail pine, and Achilie pushed
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: together a bed of soft needles before spreading out her
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: bed roll. The foot sore and depleted, sleep did not
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: come quickly. Achilia's clothing was damp with perspiration and it
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: clung to her skin. Her mind continued to whirr with
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: anxiety too. She had a terrible thought. What if Aldvai
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: those eyes and ears were turned to stone, remained conscious,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: He'd be blind and deaf, but still cursed with the
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: ability to think. In such a situation, she would go mad,
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: she thought. But no, that was impossible. His brain would
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: be stone too, so he must instead be in some
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: kind of stasis. As soon as that worry was put aside,
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: a new one took its place. What if someone or
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: some thing came into their house and found him vulnerable?
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: But of course Alvais was now invulnerable, impossible to harm,
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: even to move, so this fear, too, was unfounded. Cord
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: was nearby. Since Constructs didn't sleep, he simply sat with
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: his back to the trunk of the pine, keeping watch.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: Robin picked a branch overhead as the stars slowly wheeled
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: on their heavenly axis. Achillie drifted off into a light sleep.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: She was woken by Cord shaking her with a wooden hand.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: By intro vision, Achilia saw her companion's face as it
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: was permanently painted on. It was the same mildly smiling
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: face that was always there, but somehow, by the way
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: he held himself, she knew there was trouble. The wooden
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: hand moved, touched her chin, and then turned her head
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: gently to the left. In the darkness, Achilia saw a
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: pair of unblinking silver eyes. Chapter four, Part two, Day
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: two midnight mythic event meaning create the intellectual party status
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: achillea four out of four hit points. Spells available. Achilie
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: has memorized shrink. The shining eyes were close, but they
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: only startled Achillia for a second.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: Get back, your little thief, come to steal my travel rations.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: Shoot the intruder. A curious and courageous raccoon flinched at
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: her words before bolting off into the night.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: Thanks Cord, we won't get very far off where those
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: our rations.
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: Cord required neither food nor water, but he understood the
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: ways of mortals and creaked forward in agreement. The slim
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: wooden man then resumed his vigil, while Achillea settled back
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: to sleep after pulling her satchel close and putting it
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: under her head to use as a pillow. The rest
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: of the night passed with that incident, and Achillea slept well.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: The encounter with the raccoon had made her feel like
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: the threats beyond Aldvay's borders were not as frightening as
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: she'd imagined. In the morning, she ate a quick breakfast
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: of dried river fish and wild out biscuits. Then she
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: packed up her bedroll and the treo resumed their trek north.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: The expert rules for overland travel included a chance for
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: getting lost, but I'm going to set this aside for
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: now and say that as long as the sky is
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: clear enough to show the stars, Achillie could make her
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: way more or less northward without significant error. I will, however,
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: take this chance to make the rolls for day three.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: First is weather on a D twenty a thirteen. It's
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: a lovely summer day, cooler than the previous and good
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: for travel. The next role to make is for stumble upon.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: Only a one or a twenty will alter the narrative.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: The role A four nothing especially out of the ordinary.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: Yet another role will be for wandering encounters for day
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: three on a D six and hoping to get a
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: low result. The role A six looks like there will
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: be another encounter, and it's not likely to be another raccoon.
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: Will this encounter take place in the day or night
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: rolling high low, with high being a daytime encounter. I
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: got a thirteen on a D twenty, so it happens
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: during the day. And a final role this time on
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: my D eight Woodland encounter table. The full table is
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: posted on my blog Tale of Themanticore dot blogspot dot com.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: By the way, here we go a six. Oh dear,
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: that's not great. Turns out on need to make a
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: few more rolls to flesh out instead of the encounter,
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: but I'll do those off Mike so we can jump
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: back into the narrative. It had been a good day
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: for travel, with mile after mile of gorgeous countryside rolling
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: by under their steady tread. In the morning, they'd wind
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: around a hillock tufted with ash trees. In the afternoon,
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: they'd crossed a sparkling brook where Achille had taken the
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: opportunity to wash her face and hands, to drink her
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: fill and replenish their water sply. She had also pulled
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: out the sketch book to see if the countryside matched
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: any of the pictures. It didn't. In the evening, while
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: the sun hung low in the west, they waded through
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: a field of tall mountain grass shot with bright flowers.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: At the top of the next hill, Achillia spotted a
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: lone figure to the east. The moment they saw it,
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: it saw them. At first, the person turned as though
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: they meant to run off, Then they seemed to recon
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: hit her and began to move towards Achillea with a
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: waving hand thrown up in salutation, old man, little girl.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: This person must not have seen them properly to have
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: so wrongly identified them, perhaps because they were back lit
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: by the sun. Achillie also briefly considered running away, but
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: then had second thoughts of her own. This person might
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: know something about adoc or recognize the scenes in the
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: sketch books she carried. Ignoring Robin's warble of warning, she
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: pointed herself toward the figure and started walking to meet them.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: At closer range, she could see it was a young
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: man of about her own age. He had long tangled hair,
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: and wore clothes of shabby linen patched in places. He
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: seemed terribly thin and dirty. The man's paced slowed as
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: his squinting eyes began to make out details and recognize
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: his error. Kord was no old man, and Achilia was
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: not a child. Upon this realization, he stopped in his tracks,
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: and his waving arm dropped, what are you a dryad
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: on her tree? Spirit? There was a noticeable tremor in
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: his voice. Achillie was momentarily perplexed before she understood that
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: he meant her in Chord. She burst out laughing, causing
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: the man to tremble in fear and back away, showing
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: his palms and surrender. Achillea swallowed her mirth and offered
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: him a friendly smile at a bow.
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: No dryad, no trees beard, Well, not precisely. My name
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: is Achilie. This is my friend Cord. And this, she.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: Pointed to, the little stuffed bird on her head.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: Is Robin Well met traveler.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: Well, ma'am, stammered the other, his eyes flicking back and
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: forth between Achillee's pointed ears and Chord's axe. The bird
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: did not seem to concern him in quite the same way.
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: Well met, indeed, and your name goods.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: Achillia smiled pleasantly again.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: I forgive me.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: You aren't going to put an enchantment on me, are you?
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: Achille laughed again, which did nothing to calm the stranger.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: She shook her head.
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: I had turn't plan on it.
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: The other man swallowed hard and cast a quick look
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: behind him, perhaps judging he could not get away even
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: if he tried. He sighed and gave his name. I'm
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: called Idolian. My friends call me Edo.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: Nay, I call you Ado if you please, wood spirit, Achilia.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: Let the wood spirit.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: Think pass Edo then, and I suppose that must mean
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: we're friends now.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: When rolling for this encounter, I got a six human outlaws.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: The result prompted a quick series of other roles. How
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: many outlaws would there be? I figured one to three
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: was about right, and the disk decided it would be
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: a solitary outlaw. Would either side be surprised to find
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: out I used a D six on a one or two?
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: They would be surprised. I got a pair of fours,
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: meaning neither would be Finally, did a reaction role the
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: b X rules say that for an encounter like this
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: one where the disposition of the beings encountered is up
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: in the air, the DM can roll two D six
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: and compare the result to a chart. I did so
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: and got a nine, indicating no attack, monster leaves or
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: considers offers. Okay, then's a start by DM fiat. I
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: decided that this person, alone and so far away from civilization,
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: was likely an outcast among other outlaws. That in turn
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: implies a few things. He's probably under equipped, hungry, and
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: there's a decent chance he's being hunted. Using that monster
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: reaction result, I think he's going to try to bargain
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: with Achillia for some food. He doesn't have much to
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: offer in exchange, or does he? You know? I think
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: I have the opportunity here to use my current mythic event,
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: meaning create the intellectual.
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: And furthermore, I'm not a wood spirit.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: She touched the tip of her right ear as she
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: turned her head for him to see.
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: I'm an elf, an elf, I've never met one of
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: your race before, but your companion must be a wood spirit.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: Not exactly.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: She patted Cord on the shoulder, and the construct twisted
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: his body to her showing his eternal painted on smile.
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: He's a well, I suppose it's a bit complicated. This
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: is coord he's a friend too. Oh, and this is Robin.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: She pointed to the top of her head. Without needing
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: to look, Robin peeped in reply, where do you hail from,
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: mister s Acilia. A sudden pang of wariness made Achillia
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: hesitate for just a second before entering.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: To the south.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: And you.
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: Zasha.
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: It was an equally vague reply, but a more specific
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: answer would have been wasted on Achillia anyway, since we
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: befriends Achilia said Ito slowly.
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: Would you happen to have any food to spare? I
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: have a little.
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: Achillie was reluctant to give away the one thing she
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: expected to need on her journey, but she could tell
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: by looking at itdo that he was starving. Besides his thinness,
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: there was a certain air of desperation about him.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: It'll be dark, so let us find a place to rest.
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: Then we will.
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: Share a lightmare, she suggested. Edo readily agreed, and just
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: as the top edge of the sun disappeared below the
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: western horizon, the four of them settled down at a
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: small clearing hidden behind a row of fir trees. I
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: feel like Edo is going to be with a Killier
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: for at least a little while. It's too early to
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: say if they'll join forces, but I do think it's
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: in both of their best interests to stay together for now.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: For that reason, I think I should roll up his
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: stats and see who he is given the possibility that
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: he might join Achillia long term. I'll use my home
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: brew rules for PCs to roll him up. It's a
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: simple system designed to keep from making hopeless characters. I
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: just roll three D six down the line and reroll
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: any results of five or less. Shall we begin for
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: strength A ten, Intelligence, A nine wisdom Pretty good. I've
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: got a twelve dexterity eleven, constitution twelve again, and finally charisma.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: Ooh that's six. Well, okay, that's an interesting set of results.
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: Edo is average or slightly better than average in every
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: stat except for one. He's not exceptionally strong or smart
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: or nimble, but he does have a very low charisma score.
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: Although this score gives him a minus one to reaction roles,
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: I won't retcon the one I made earlier. I wonder
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: what it is about him that makes people dislike or
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: not trust him. I'm sure I'll figure it out as
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: we go. Now, I was hoping the stat roles would
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: give me some guidance as to Edo's class. He's a
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: fighter or a thief, probably the last, but let's let
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: the dice decide on a D six one to four
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: means he's a thief rolling a two thief it is
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: that means he gets four hit points. I'm going to say,
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: by d m fiad that the only possessions Edo has
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: are the clothes on his back, no food or water,
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: no weapons, no armor. He's alone because i had to
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: flee a bad situation. I'm not sure exactly what that
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: is yet, but I have an idea percolating in my
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: brain about it. Let's get back to the narrative. I'm
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: going to add a food supply tracker to the usual
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: status information. I think Chapter four, Part two, Day four
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: morning mythic event meaning create the intellectual party status. Achillea
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: four at A four hit points, Edo four at A
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: four hit points supplies the companions have four portions of
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: food and six portions of water. Remaining spells available. Achillee
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: has memorized shrink the conversation between Achillea and Edo the
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: previous evening had been a kind of careful dance. Neither
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: side wanted to give away too much information. Edo had
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: been evasive in his explanation of what he was doing
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: so far away from human settlements, but to be fair,
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: Achilie had not given up much either. She decided early
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: on that though she and this man could be friends,
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: she would not mention al day nor where she had
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: come from. Instead, she had told an edited version of
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: the truth that she lived with her father to the south,
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: and that she was searching for an acquaintance of his
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: on a mission of substantial importance. He had likewise been vague,
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: saying he had come to the woods with some companions,
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: but that they had gotten separated due to an unforeseen occurrence.
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: When Achillie had asked him if he intended to go
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: west into the lands where men lived in numbers, he
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: had simply replied that he preferred the wilderness. Something about
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: his lack of details came across as evasive, and Achilia
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: mostly kept up her guard. Even when the night passed
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: without incident. The stranger made no attempt to rob her,
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: and I counted for something She hadn't really been too
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: worried about him actually succeeding in taking her things or
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: harming her. Court, who never slept, would not have let
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: that happen. Still, it was to his credit that he
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: hadn't tried. In the morning, as Achillia collected her few
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: things together in preparation for a long day of travel,
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: she couldn't.
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: Help but ask have you heard of a man named audoc?
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: Odac echoed the.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: Other, wiping sleep from his eyes and yawning.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: Ow do you know him.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: Achilie asked again, hopefully.
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: I As a matter of fact, Yes I do.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: Achilie almost burst with joy. What a stroke of luck
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: to have found someone who knew the person she was
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: searching for. She immediately had the sketch book out of
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: her bag and was showing him the illustrations within. Edo
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: kept his chin and nodded sagely as she flipped the pages. Yes, yes,
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: I recognize the name and the work. He lives to
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: the north. Akilia experienced a mild pang of doubt. Had
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: she mentioned before that she was headed north? Perhaps he
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: had simply guessed from the direction she had been traveling
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: when they'd met. She pushed the worry aside, what do you.
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: Know about him? Tell me everything?
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Tale of the Mantigor. If you're
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: enjoying the show and would like to help to support it,
• 24:34
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• 24:43
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• 24:50
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• 24:53
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• 24:56
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• 24:59
  Speaker 1: for any and all support of the show. As you know,
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: I like to read a listener review at the end
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: of each episode. This one was left by the M
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: two M podcast on Apple Podcasts, and this read aloud
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: is long overdue because somehow I missed this review from
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: well a long time ago. AnyWho, the M two M
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: podcast writes, I've never listened to a podcast about D
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: and D or anything related, but listening to this is
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: like Game of Thrones but audio. The narration is excellent
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: and dark and super immersive. I admittedly have to look
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: up certain parts because I'm not an expert at this
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: at all, but it is fun and makes you want
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: to keep listening to more. Editing is on point two.
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: My apologies for having somehow missed this review the M
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: two M podcast. It's super cool that even listeners who
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: aren't much into D and D can still follow and
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: enjoy the show. Thank you so much for that review.
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: I have one voice actor on the show this go around.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the cast, chess or roll Bound, who plays Edo.
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: I love how your voice characterizes a Chillie's new companion.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: For anyone who'd like to get in touch with me,
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: I let Manticore Tale on X, Tale of the Manticor
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: podcast on Instagram, or Tale of Themanticre at gmail dot com.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: I always enjoy hearing from listeners. Finally, I keep a
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: blog where I post all kinds of show on RPG
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: related stuff like art, maps, tables, crafts, and show notes.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: You can find it at Tale Ofthemanticore dot blogspot dot com.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: The adventure will continue on the next episode of Tale
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: of the Manticor. It's the story for Chaos Rules