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Episode 3 (S3E03) · Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama

0:00
Speaker 1: Hi, this is Chaotic Studios and you're listening to the
0:02
Speaker 1: Tale of the Manticor.
0:06
Speaker 2: The following podcast is intended for a mature audience. Listener
0:11
Speaker 2: discretion is advised. Welcome back to Tale of the Manticor
0:28
Speaker 2: Season three. Like the creature from which it takes its name,
0:33
Speaker 2: Tale of the Manticor is a mashup, a cross breeding
0:36
Speaker 2: between two different species of storytelling. Here you will find
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Speaker 2: the unpredictability of old school paper and dice games with
0:43
Speaker 2: the story craft of a dark fantasy novel. No character
0:47
Speaker 2: is sacred, and none will be spared if the dice
0:50
Speaker 2: decide their fate is at hand. According to lore, the
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Speaker 2: Tale of a Manticre is barbed with cruel iron spikes.
0:59
Speaker 2: There will be my pain in the days ahead. Last
1:11
Speaker 2: time on Tale of the Manticor, Chapter two begins with
1:15
Speaker 2: Achillia just having entered the Iron Tower. Once inside, she
1:19
Speaker 2: quickly learns that the ugly gnome she met at the
1:21
Speaker 2: door is not the person she's looking for, but merely
1:24
Speaker 2: that person's servant. The real master turns out to be
1:27
Speaker 2: a wizard named Fim grim Atresch. Fim for short. Fim
1:31
Speaker 2: is big in every way. He's four times Achillee's weight
1:35
Speaker 2: and full of vigor, energy and good humor. The two
1:38
Speaker 2: of them sit and talk over tea and cheese for
1:40
Speaker 2: a time. Fim claims not to have been aware of
1:43
Speaker 2: Altvea's presence in the veil, though he does not explain
1:46
Speaker 2: his business there. Before Achilie takes her leave, they exchange gifts.
1:51
Speaker 2: On the way home. Achillee frets over a notion that
1:53
Speaker 2: she had said too much and learned too little, but
1:56
Speaker 2: her worry is overridden by panic when she gets home
1:59
Speaker 2: to find that someone has broken into it. She races
2:02
Speaker 2: around the small dwelling, calling out for Aldvae and getting
2:05
Speaker 2: no response. In the bedroom, she finds an exploded glyph,
2:09
Speaker 2: and Achilia understands that it means her master's spell book
2:12
Speaker 2: has been stolen. She next runs downstairs, finds some of
2:16
Speaker 2: her master's alchemical supplies have been disturbed, and finally finds
2:19
Speaker 2: Aldvea sitting on the floor, but he isn't moving when
2:23
Speaker 2: Achillie reaches out to him her fingers.
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Speaker 1: Touch Stone Chapter three, Part one.
2:36
Speaker 2: Day one early evening mythic event meaning will press Allies
2:42
Speaker 2: party status. Achillia four out of four hit points. No,
2:49
Speaker 2: she breathed blinking in disbelief.
2:52
Speaker 3: VOPI, what has happened to you?
2:55
Speaker 2: Achillia felt her eyes well up with tears. When she
2:58
Speaker 2: had touched his cheek, it had been cold, and she
3:01
Speaker 2: had yanked away. Now she reached out again, sniffling. Every
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Speaker 2: detail of his face and hair and clothing was exactly
3:09
Speaker 2: the way they had been when he had been No,
3:12
Speaker 2: she couldn't say alive. That would imply that now he
3:15
Speaker 2: was dead. Something suddenly occurred to her as she wiped
3:19
Speaker 2: the tears off her cheeks with the back of her hand. Oakman,
3:23
Speaker 2: she said, looking up at the carved wooden face of
3:26
Speaker 2: the Construct. At her voice, it came to life, creaking
3:29
Speaker 2: and glowering down on her. The oak Man did not
3:32
Speaker 2: have the power to speak, but by simple virtue of
3:35
Speaker 2: its animation. Achilia felt relief fled her heart. If Aldvey
3:39
Speaker 2: were dead, the Construct would have ceased to live as well.
3:41
Speaker 2: Their spirits were interconnected and, in the oak Man's case, dependent.
3:46
Speaker 2: She felt a pang of shame, realizing she should have
3:48
Speaker 2: known this earlier. If Aldvey had been killed, Robin would
3:52
Speaker 2: have died as well. Chord too. Where was Chord, she
3:56
Speaker 2: suddenly wondered, More than Robin, and certainly more than the
3:59
Speaker 2: oak Man. Cord might be able to shed some light
4:01
Speaker 2: on all this. Robin only had the intelligence of an animal,
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Speaker 2: and the oak ban well. Her earlier remark about him
4:08
Speaker 2: being more like a piece of furniture than a person
4:11
Speaker 2: was not entirely unwarranted. It was only semi intelligent. Alday's
4:15
Speaker 2: enchantment could not make a construct that was both strong
4:18
Speaker 2: and smart. There was a trade off. The oak Man
4:21
Speaker 2: was all brawn, no brains. A Kilia was about to
4:25
Speaker 2: go back up the stairs to look for Cord when
4:27
Speaker 2: something caught her eye. On the floor beside her master
4:31
Speaker 2: was a rolled up piece of vellum. She picked it
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Speaker 2: up and unfurled it. It was blank. She wrinkled her
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Speaker 2: nose in confusion, before rolling it back up and slipping
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Speaker 2: it into her satchel.
4:45
Speaker 3: I'll be right back, she.
4:46
Speaker 2: Told the statue. That was Oldveay, unaware of how close
4:49
Speaker 2: it was to the last thing she had said to him, Oakman,
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Speaker 2: she began. The thing's wooden eyes regarded her, awaiting instruction.
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Speaker 3: Stay here gard vapi.
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Speaker 2: The reply was a creaky nod. Not knowing what else
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Speaker 2: to do, feeling a lump in her throat and her
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Speaker 2: heart thudding in her breast, she turned and went back
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Speaker 2: up the stairs. She passed through the living room, which
5:11
Speaker 2: still smelled of smoke, and then at the front door.
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Speaker 2: For she almost collided with Cord, Ugh said. Achilia startled, and.
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Speaker 3: Then thank Aheia, you're all right.
5:21
Speaker 2: She threw her arms around the hard, spare wooden frame,
5:23
Speaker 2: and Cord returned the embrace, crossing his peg like arms
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Speaker 2: and gripping her little shoulders with his wooden hands. The
5:30
Speaker 2: two stood like that for a few moments, until Achilia
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Speaker 2: had mastered her emotions.
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Speaker 3: Ah, Cord, did you see what they did to him?
5:38
Speaker 2: Cord did not have the power of speech. His mouth
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Speaker 2: was just painted on, but he tilted his torso forward
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Speaker 2: in a bow that Achilia knew to be his way
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Speaker 2: of nodding.
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Speaker 3: They tuned him into stone. Did you see who did it?
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Speaker 2: Cord twisted his body back and forth. No, he hadn't.
5:55
Speaker 3: Where were you?
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Speaker 2: By way of answer, Cord pointed behind him on the
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Speaker 2: path was a bundle of care. He must have been
6:01
Speaker 2: out collecting firewood when the intruder had come. Achilius scratched
6:05
Speaker 2: her chin as she tried to recall the details of
6:07
Speaker 2: her experience. In the iron tower. How long had she
6:09
Speaker 2: sat with the fat wizard? What exactly had she told
6:13
Speaker 2: him the tea he had given her? Hadn't it tasted
6:16
Speaker 2: a bit odd? That creepy gnome? It had greeted her
6:20
Speaker 2: at the door, served tea, and then she hadn't seen
6:23
Speaker 2: it again until she made to leave. Had she been
6:26
Speaker 2: there so long that it could have come here and
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Speaker 2: attacked Vobby before returning? She shook her head. That wasn't
6:32
Speaker 2: even close to possible, even if the gnome had sprinted
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Speaker 2: both ways, and even if it had known exactly she stiffened.
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Speaker 2: Had she told them where they lived? No, she was
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Speaker 2: quite sure she had not. She put a hand to
6:44
Speaker 2: her face and stifled the sob. There was too much
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Speaker 2: going on. She couldn't think straight. What should she do?
6:52
Speaker 2: She gave voice to the first idea that came into
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Speaker 2: her mind.
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Speaker 3: We have to go back to the tower.
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Speaker 2: Cord could not have known what she was talking about,
7:00
Speaker 2: but he made no protest, and the two of them
7:02
Speaker 2: started back along the footpath, hurrying down the incline of
7:05
Speaker 2: the veil in the direction of the river and beyond
7:07
Speaker 2: that the Iron Tower. A fluttering sound came from behind
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Speaker 2: them as Robin flew from the earthen roof of their
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Speaker 2: home and landed on Achillee's head. In their haste, they
7:17
Speaker 2: made the journey in a little over an hour, but
7:20
Speaker 2: when they reached the place where the tower had been,
7:22
Speaker 2: it was gone. Only a perfect circle of flattened shrubs
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Speaker 2: and grass thirty feet across remained. What now asked Achilia.
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Speaker 2: Whether she was asking Cord Robin or herself was unclear.
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Speaker 2: Perhaps even she didn't know. Achillia's skin shone with perspiration.
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Speaker 2: She was still exhausted from the journey there. All the same,
7:44
Speaker 2: she turned back and hurried all the way home, fending
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Speaker 2: off panic the whole way. When she arrived, it was
7:52
Speaker 2: three hours before sunset. The place was exactly as she
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Speaker 2: had left it, and still eerily quiet. A terrible mix
8:00
Speaker 2: of emotions vied for dominance in her mind. Worry for Aldva,
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Speaker 2: fear for herself, a responsibility to do something, in a
8:09
Speaker 2: helplessness for not knowing what that was. In the end,
8:12
Speaker 2: she did the only thing she could think of, and
8:14
Speaker 2: began a careful search of their home from top to bottom.
8:22
Speaker 2: I do have an idea about what has happened here,
8:25
Speaker 2: enough to drop a few clues for Achillie to discover,
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Speaker 2: but it's only a half baked idea. Aldve has been
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Speaker 2: attacked and his spell book stolen. Something I haven't decided
8:34
Speaker 2: is if anyone would be watching Achillie, I mean, with
8:37
Speaker 2: the intruder care about her existence than leaving her as
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Speaker 2: a loose end. My God says that would have happened
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Speaker 2: by now, and that she's beneath their notice. Still, I'm
8:46
Speaker 2: going to make a roll to find out for sure.
8:48
Speaker 2: A wandering encounter check feels appropriate here, So I'm rolling
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Speaker 2: a D six and on a one there will be
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Speaker 2: some kind of threat nearby the role A six. She's alone,
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Speaker 2: that makes sense to me. Doubt she'll remain so for
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Speaker 2: very long. This part of the world is full of
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Speaker 2: dangerous creatures, and it was only always presence that kept
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Speaker 2: them at bay. Still I've rolled, and Achillea is safe
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Speaker 2: for now. I'm going to make another roll. Achillie will
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Speaker 2: find one to four clues as she conducts a proper
9:16
Speaker 2: search of her home. Rolling a three on the die,
9:20
Speaker 2: I know what the first drug will be. In their
9:22
Speaker 2: shared bedroom, Achillea finds a few drops of blood on
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Speaker 2: the books near the exploited glyph. This tells her that
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Speaker 2: the intruder was some kind of well mortal as opposed
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Speaker 2: to a magical or supernatural creature. It's not much of
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Speaker 2: a clue, but it's something She finds a bigger clue
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Speaker 2: when she brings herself to return to the basement, something
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Speaker 2: that part of her resisted doing. Chapter three, Part two,
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Speaker 2: Day one evening mythic event meaning oppress allies party status.
10:00
Speaker 2: Achilia four out of four hit points for those hours
10:07
Speaker 2: between finding her master turned to stone and returning to
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Speaker 2: the basement, now with a glowing lamp in her hand,
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Speaker 2: Achilia had been able to live in a fantasy of
10:15
Speaker 2: denial which she could imagine that her Vopi had not
10:17
Speaker 2: been turned into a statue, but had instead simply been
10:20
Speaker 2: working away downstairs in solitude. But as she descended the
10:24
Speaker 2: creaking stairs and the light fell upon his frozen gray features,
10:28
Speaker 2: she felt the wild grief and fear return once again
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Speaker 2: in full. She took a deep breath and found her resolve.
10:36
Speaker 2: Hadn't Vapi given her everything she had ever needed. Now
10:40
Speaker 2: he needed her to be strong. She set about a
10:44
Speaker 2: thorough investigation, starting with the alchemist's work bench, and discovered
10:48
Speaker 2: something right away. The two overturned yards contained ingredients commonly
10:53
Speaker 2: used to treat poison, snake foot and night bloom. When
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Speaker 2: mixed together in the correct quantities, wouldn't reverse the ifeing
11:00
Speaker 2: of poison, but they could slow it. Had Vapi been
11:03
Speaker 2: poisoned before being turned to stone, That was a strange thought.
11:08
Speaker 2: Perhaps there was a struggle and these two ingredients were
11:10
Speaker 2: knocked off the shelf at random. No, that didn't make
11:14
Speaker 2: any sense. There were no other indications of a struggle
11:17
Speaker 2: at all. Down here. She replaced the jars on the
11:20
Speaker 2: shelf and slowly made her way towards the stone figure
11:23
Speaker 2: of her master. She felt terrible impotent to help him,
11:28
Speaker 2: but there was hope for life remained in Robin and
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Speaker 2: Cord and the oak Man. Therefore, her Voppy was not dead.
11:37
Speaker 2: She sniffed and crouched down so she was face to
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Speaker 2: face with her master.
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Speaker 4: I promise, VOPI I promised to do everything I can
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Speaker 4: to help you.
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Speaker 3: Oh, I wish I knew where to start.
11:51
Speaker 2: Just then something caught her eye. The floor of the
11:54
Speaker 2: cellar was made of packed dirt, and it appeared that
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Speaker 2: Oldve had written something in it with his fingernail before
12:00
Speaker 2: he'd been petrified, she brought her leg close so she
12:03
Speaker 2: could see better. There was just one word. She craned
12:07
Speaker 2: her neck forward and read it. Aw doc, It said,
12:11
Speaker 2: aw doc. She breathed. That wasn't a word she knew
12:14
Speaker 2: in either the common tongue or an Elvish, and yet
12:17
Speaker 2: it rang a bell. Was it a name? She thought
12:21
Speaker 2: it might be, but couldn't quite recall. Cord might know,
12:25
Speaker 2: she thought, rising and hurrying back up the stairs. The
12:30
Speaker 2: wooden construct was there in the kitchen, with a fire
12:33
Speaker 2: going and cooking the fish she had caught. You're making dinner,
12:36
Speaker 2: she asked, incredulously. Cord's shoulders didn't move up and down,
12:40
Speaker 2: so he couldn't shrug. Instead, he tilted his body from
12:43
Speaker 2: side to side in a substitute gesture. Achillia knew well
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Speaker 2: I She stopped the reprimand she had been about to give.
12:51
Speaker 2: If making dinner made coord feel useful, then who was she.
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Speaker 1: To stop him?
12:55
Speaker 2: Instead?
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Speaker 3: She asked, do you know the word or name? Ah doc?
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Speaker 2: Cord paused to consider, then leaned forward in a nod,
13:03
Speaker 2: holding up two double fingers to indicate that he did,
13:06
Speaker 2: and that it was the latter a name. He glanced
13:09
Speaker 2: at the cooking fish with his painted on eyes, and,
13:12
Speaker 2: deciding they would not burn if left unintended for a
13:15
Speaker 2: few minutes, went into the shared bedroom, beckoning for achille
13:18
Speaker 2: to follow. When she entered the room, Cord was bent
13:22
Speaker 2: over the pile of books, rummaging through them. Achillia waited
13:26
Speaker 2: until he found what he was looking for, a slim
13:29
Speaker 2: volume bound in red leather with a clasp of gold.
13:32
Speaker 2: He handed her the book and she took it, opening
13:35
Speaker 2: the clasp with her slender fingers. Achillea sat on her
13:45
Speaker 2: mattress and laid the covers of the book across her thighs,
13:48
Speaker 2: flipping the pages slowly. It was a sketch book, with
13:52
Speaker 2: illustration after illustration of trees, hills, rivers, and lakes, all
13:57
Speaker 2: done in charcoal. The pictures seemed to have been done
14:01
Speaker 2: by the same skilled hand, and many of the natural
14:03
Speaker 2: places featured within the book's pages were striking or unique,
14:07
Speaker 2: either by their beauty or their shape. On the final
14:11
Speaker 2: page was an inscription. It read, I hope these poor
14:15
Speaker 2: sketches will remind you that you will always have a
14:18
Speaker 2: home in the north. He was signed autoc Cord.
14:22
Speaker 3: You're right, but do you know this person?
14:26
Speaker 2: Chord indicated that he did not. Holding the book in
14:29
Speaker 2: her lap must have reminded her of something, because Achillia
14:32
Speaker 2: suddenly made an urgent sound and stood up. She rushed
14:36
Speaker 2: back into the living room. Across from the kitchen area
14:40
Speaker 2: was a corner with two chairs, where she and Aldvey
14:42
Speaker 2: would spend hours sitting and reading. She squatted low, moving
14:47
Speaker 2: her fingers along the wall of mortard stones. She found
14:50
Speaker 2: the loose flat stone without having to search, and wiggled
14:53
Speaker 2: it free. There was a flat, rectangular cavity beyond, in
14:57
Speaker 2: which she kept her spell book hidden. Aldve always impressed
15:00
Speaker 2: upon her that a wizard's spell book was their most
15:03
Speaker 2: important possession and the thing most coveted by other wizards.
15:07
Speaker 2: It represented their life's work. Her hiding spot appeared not
15:11
Speaker 2: to have been disturbed, but there was only one way
15:13
Speaker 2: to know. She thrust her hand inside and sighed with
15:17
Speaker 2: relief when her fingers touched the familiar leather cover. She
15:21
Speaker 2: drew forth a small volume and hugged it tightly to
15:23
Speaker 2: her chest. Whatever had happened here, some things were beginning
15:27
Speaker 2: to become clear. Some wizard or other had come to
15:30
Speaker 2: steal Aldvay's spell book. They had survived his glyph of
15:34
Speaker 2: protection and gotten away, but not before poisoning her master
15:38
Speaker 2: and inexplicably turning him to stone. It didn't fully make sense,
15:43
Speaker 2: but wizards were capricious and unpredictable, and she knew she
15:46
Speaker 2: didn't have all the clues necessary to solve the mystery.
15:50
Speaker 2: Until now, she had suspected that the wizard Fim had
15:53
Speaker 2: been the interloper, But now she wondered, could it have
15:56
Speaker 2: been this Audoc person instead? Clearly Papi had wanted her
16:00
Speaker 2: to know about him. Was it at all possible that
16:04
Speaker 2: Fim and Ottoc were the same person. She felt tired,
16:08
Speaker 2: both physically and emotionally. Despite this, she doubted she would
16:12
Speaker 2: be able to get to sleep, and she certainly wasn't
16:14
Speaker 2: going to try to sleep in her bed beside the
16:16
Speaker 2: destroyed remains of Vapi's mattress. Feeling lonely despite the nearby
16:20
Speaker 2: presence of court, Achilia fetched her blanket from the bedroom
16:23
Speaker 2: and went downstairs. If she couldn't sleep, at least she
16:27
Speaker 2: could sit against the wall and hold vigil beside her master.
16:31
Speaker 2: Her lamp was still there and cast its light upon
16:33
Speaker 2: the grim face of the oak man, who stared expressionlessly
16:36
Speaker 2: at her as she approached. Old way was as before,
16:41
Speaker 2: the stone statue still and gray.
16:44
Speaker 3: Why couldn't you stop this from happening?
16:47
Speaker 2: She said to the oak Man in accusation. There was
16:50
Speaker 2: no reply. The oak Man had heard her, she knew,
16:53
Speaker 2: but he couldn't understand a question that complex, and he
16:56
Speaker 2: wouldn't have been able to respond even if he could.
17:00
Speaker 2: Achilie sat down beside Aljay, with her back to the
17:03
Speaker 2: wall and her knees pulled up in imitation of his posture.
17:06
Speaker 2: She didn't think sleep would come, but shortly after she
17:09
Speaker 2: snuffed out the flame of her lamp, she nodded off
17:20
Speaker 2: the carrier woke up disoriented. This was not her bed,
17:24
Speaker 2: and this was not her room. She had been having
17:27
Speaker 2: a terrible dream. She rubbed her eyes and looked her
17:30
Speaker 2: left right into the frozen profile of her master. In
17:33
Speaker 2: a horrible rush, it all came back, the creepy gnome,
17:37
Speaker 2: the fat wizard coming home to find Aldvay like this.
17:42
Speaker 3: No, no, no.
17:44
Speaker 2: She stood up and backed away, as if physically distancing
17:47
Speaker 2: herself from the statue might make the truth less real.
17:50
Speaker 2: But it was real, and now, despite fighting the urge
17:53
Speaker 2: all through the previous evening, she fell under her knees
17:57
Speaker 2: and wept freely. When there were no more tears left
18:03
Speaker 2: to cry, she wiped her cheeks and gathered her things.
18:07
Speaker 2: She would find out what had happened here, she vowed,
18:10
Speaker 2: and put wrong to right.
18:12
Speaker 3: I swear it.
18:13
Speaker 2: She told Old Vay's stoneface.
18:15
Speaker 3: I hea as my witness.
18:18
Speaker 2: She went up the stairs and began to pack some
18:20
Speaker 2: things into her satchel. When Court inclined his body in question,
18:25
Speaker 2: she told him.
18:26
Speaker 3: We are going north.
18:28
Speaker 4: We're going to visit this autoc and have a word
18:30
Speaker 4: with him. If he knows something, I'm going to make
18:33
Speaker 4: him talk.
18:35
Speaker 2: After her things were packed, there was one last thing
18:37
Speaker 2: to do before she left. She sat down in her chair,
18:40
Speaker 2: opened her spell book and began to meditate upon the contents.
18:47
Speaker 2: I think I can count the current mythic event meaning
18:50
Speaker 2: a press allies that's fulfilled, which means I need a
18:53
Speaker 2: new one, rolling deeper centile twice. I've got fifty seven,
19:00
Speaker 2: an eighteen that gives me create and the intellectual hmm okay.
19:06
Speaker 2: I could see how that might get used quite soon actually,
19:09
Speaker 2: but not just yet. There's another role I've been waiting
19:12
Speaker 2: to make as a first level magic user. Achillea gets
19:15
Speaker 2: one first level spell as an aside in Tail of
19:19
Speaker 2: the Manticor. One of my house rules is that all
19:21
Speaker 2: magic users have and can use the spell read magic
19:25
Speaker 2: as though it was a cantrip, So this spell is
19:27
Speaker 2: in addition to that free ability. Also, since we're on
19:31
Speaker 2: to season three, and since the list of level one
19:33
Speaker 2: spells in the BX rules is quite short, I've already
19:36
Speaker 2: used almost all of them at some point or another,
19:39
Speaker 2: and so in order to keep things interesting and fresh
19:41
Speaker 2: for myself and for long time listeners, I've decided that
19:45
Speaker 2: here in Zatia, wizardly practices are a bit different, and
19:48
Speaker 2: I'll be making a new list of spells to reflect that.
19:52
Speaker 2: I'll post this new list on Tale ofthemantcre dot blogspot
19:55
Speaker 2: dot com, and I'll return to it anytime I need
19:58
Speaker 2: a new spell. I'm going to pop populate this list
20:00
Speaker 2: with a few choice picks from the original BX list
20:03
Speaker 2: and a few new ones from a D and D
20:05
Speaker 2: first edition. Hang on, Okay, I've got my list made,
20:11
Speaker 2: and I've got a D twelve ready to roll. Let's
20:13
Speaker 2: see what she gets rolling a seven. That's enlarge. Interesting.
20:20
Speaker 2: Let's take a minute to see what this spell can do.
20:23
Speaker 2: It causes the target creature or thing to grow by
20:25
Speaker 2: ten percent per castor level. Size and weight are both affected.
20:30
Speaker 2: Unwilling victims get a saving throw ten percent. Hey, it
20:34
Speaker 2: seems at low levels the spell is not particularly potent.
20:38
Speaker 2: The spell can be reversed, however, and this spell shrink
20:42
Speaker 2: is the version I think Achillea would memorize as a
20:45
Speaker 2: utility spell. It would allow her to carry greater quantities
20:48
Speaker 2: of things such as water or firewood during her daily duties.
20:52
Speaker 2: Now that makes sense to me. Now that I've determined
20:54
Speaker 2: her starting spell, we can move on to the task
20:57
Speaker 2: of working out Achillea's starting equipment. While she probably grossly
21:01
Speaker 2: underestimates how long she'll be gone, Achilia knows she's going
21:04
Speaker 2: to be away for at least a little while. As
21:06
Speaker 2: she seeks out this Audoc. She'll pack travel supplies and
21:10
Speaker 2: hide whatever valuables she can't take with her. We can
21:13
Speaker 2: assume that she'll take a change of clothes, and there's
21:15
Speaker 2: enough preserved food in the pantry to call a week's
21:18
Speaker 2: worth of rations. A full water skin would be available.
21:21
Speaker 2: She'll take a pair of daggers and a walking stick
21:23
Speaker 2: to her spell book, and Oddoc's sketchbook will go into hersatchel.
21:28
Speaker 2: Along with the various supplies ordinary to wizards, she'll also
21:32
Speaker 2: take a tinder box and a spare blanket to use
21:34
Speaker 2: as a bed roll. Since Oldvay was a fairly high
21:37
Speaker 2: level magic user, I think it's safe to say he
21:39
Speaker 2: would have something else that would aid her, and perhaps
21:42
Speaker 2: a bit of money. Let's make it simple and say
21:44
Speaker 2: that Achillia takes twenty gold and twenty silver pieces, hiding
21:48
Speaker 2: any other valuables in her spell book nook behind the
21:51
Speaker 2: falsely mortared stone in the living room wall. She doesn't
21:54
Speaker 2: expect to need much in the way of money, and
21:56
Speaker 2: I think she would have very little idea of what
21:58
Speaker 2: things cost. Anyway. The young man who drops off the
22:01
Speaker 2: supplies now and then would be Achillie's only experience with trade.
22:05
Speaker 2: But as for that other useful thing, I think a
22:08
Speaker 2: quick random table on the fly will serve. I'll roll
22:11
Speaker 2: a D four against the following. On a one, it
22:14
Speaker 2: will be a scroll with a first level spell on it.
22:17
Speaker 2: If she gets this, it will be assumed she has
22:19
Speaker 2: already tried and failed to copy it into her spell book.
22:22
Speaker 2: On a two, it'll be a scroll with a second
22:25
Speaker 2: level spell on it. On a three, it'll be a
22:27
Speaker 2: potion to be determined at random. On A four, the
22:31
Speaker 2: miscellaneous magic item of modest power like a wand with
22:34
Speaker 2: only a few charges left the roll a three. That's
22:39
Speaker 2: a potion. Pretty cool. Well, we know it isn't going
22:42
Speaker 2: to be a poison antidote, but it might be anything else.
22:45
Speaker 2: There's a D eight table in the BX rules I
22:47
Speaker 2: can use, and speaking of poison, I see that number
22:50
Speaker 2: eight is exactly that. Well, I'll leave it there, but
22:53
Speaker 2: also say, if I do roll an eight, Achillie will
22:56
Speaker 2: know what it is. Actually, I think she'll know in
22:59
Speaker 2: any case, that only makes sense to me. The role
23:03
Speaker 2: A three gaseous form. There's a really cool illustration in
23:08
Speaker 2: the BX rules to go along with the entry on
23:10
Speaker 2: this item. It shows an empty suit of armor on
23:12
Speaker 2: the ground with the potion bottle toppled over beside it.
23:16
Speaker 2: A cloud of mist hovers over the armor. The thing
23:19
Speaker 2: to remember will be that if Achilia drinks this potion,
23:22
Speaker 2: her possessions will not be affected by the magic. Okay,
23:26
Speaker 2: we've got our starting spell, our travel supplies, a handful
23:29
Speaker 2: of coins and a randomly generated magic item. I think
23:32
Speaker 2: Achilia is ready to begin her quest. Thank you for
23:40
Speaker 2: listening to Tale of the mantigor If you're enjoying the
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Speaker 2: show and would like to help to support it, there
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Speaker 2: rate or review the show on your podcatcher of choice.
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Speaker 2: As always, my thanks to every one for the support
24:12
Speaker 2: of the show. As you know, I like to read
24:15
Speaker 2: a listener review at the end of each episode. This
24:17
Speaker 2: one was left by Cosmo two o five when Apple Podcasts.
24:22
Speaker 2: Cosmo two o five writes, I'm pacing myself into Tale
24:26
Speaker 2: of the Manticor second season and loving every episode. The
24:29
Speaker 2: host does a great job of balancing the different aspects
24:32
Speaker 2: of this truly unique game and strives to make every
24:34
Speaker 2: episode enjoyable. The character and world building is real. I
24:38
Speaker 2: can smell the gutters of sil Moral and feel the
24:40
Speaker 2: yellow Flyi's hatred of the weeping eye. Keep up the
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Speaker 2: great work. I really appreciate the review Cosmo two o
24:47
Speaker 2: five I left that you can really sense the grit
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Speaker 2: and despair on the streets of sil Moral too. It
24:52
Speaker 2: fills my heart with dark joy. Thanks very much for
24:55
Speaker 2: the review. Thanks also to Goblin's Henchmen and hodag RPG
25:00
Speaker 2: for providing conceptual and promotional art for the show. Your
25:03
Speaker 2: vision helps it to reach its full potential. There are
25:06
Speaker 2: no guest actors on today's episode, so instead of my
25:09
Speaker 2: usual thank you, let me make an invitation. I am
25:12
Speaker 2: currently in need of female voice actors, so if you're
25:15
Speaker 2: up to the task for a roll big or small,
25:18
Speaker 2: please get in touch. You can reach me at Manticore
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Speaker 2: Tale on x, Tale of the Manticor podcast on Instagram,
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Speaker 2: or Tale of Themanticre at gmail dot com. I would
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Speaker 2: love to hear from you. I also give a blog
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Speaker 2: where I post all kinds of show and RPG related
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Speaker 2: stuff like art, maps, tables, crafts, and show notes. You
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Speaker 2: can find it a Tale of Themanticre dot blogspot dot com.
25:40
Speaker 2: The adventure will continue on the next episode a Tale
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Speaker 2: of the Manticor. It's the story. We're chaos rolls