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Episode 59 (S3E59) · Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama

0:00
Speaker 1: We are realm of Roles and you are listening to
0:04
Speaker 1: the amazing Tale of the Manticore.
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Speaker 2: The following podcast is intended for a mature audience. Listener
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Speaker 2: discretion is advised. Welcome back to Tale of the Manticor
0:33
Speaker 2: Season three. Like the creature from which it takes its name,
0:37
Speaker 2: Tale of the Manticor is a mashup, a cross breeding
0:40
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
0:47
Speaker 2: the story craft of a dark fantasy novel. No character
0:51
Speaker 2: is sacred, and none will be spared if the dice
0:54
Speaker 2: decide their fate is at hand. According to Lare, the
0:59
Speaker 2: Tale of a Manticore is barbed with cruel iron spikes.
1:03
Speaker 2: There will be much pain in the days ahead. Last
1:16
Speaker 2: time on Tail of the Mandigor, Chapter fifty eight begins
1:20
Speaker 2: with Durni alone and sliding on his back through a
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Speaker 2: two blank tunnel. Before long, the elf is whipping down
1:26
Speaker 2: the water slide toward an unknown destination. Finally, he is
1:30
Speaker 2: ejected into empty air and lands hard on the stone floor.
1:34
Speaker 2: Tend To emerges from a different tube shortly thereafter, and
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Speaker 2: he lands even harder than Durni. One by one. Bachilia,
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Speaker 2: Cord and Flicker come next, all take falling damage. They
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Speaker 2: are now in a cavern a few mongous proportions. After
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Speaker 2: resting for a few hours, the battered companions get up
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Speaker 2: and begin to explore the place is really a gigantic tunnel,
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Speaker 2: and there's only one way to go. After a long time,
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Speaker 2: they reach a spot where it forks, marking it is
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Speaker 2: a towering obelisk obsidian on one side and volcanic rock
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Speaker 2: on the other. The PCs correctly identify it as the
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Speaker 2: Earth fire Gate and begin to debate which way to go.
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Speaker 2: They've only just chosen to try the test of fire
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Speaker 2: when a huge barrier of flame rises up in the distance,
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Speaker 2: barring the way and persuading them to reconsider and take
2:21
Speaker 2: the Test of Earth instead. As the episode comes to
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Speaker 2: a close, we discovered that Bellario, hiding in a fissure,
2:28
Speaker 2: created that barrier of flame with a spectral force spell
2:32
Speaker 2: in order to make the companions go the way he preferred.
2:43
Speaker 2: The last scene of the last episode was inspired by
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Speaker 2: my mythic event meaning pair controlled dispute. The idea was
2:51
Speaker 2: that the pieces were split on which test to take
2:54
Speaker 2: and which way to go, but Bellario found a way
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Speaker 2: to influence their decision. It makes good sense for him
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Speaker 2: to that too. The Test to Fire would have been
3:02
Speaker 2: far more dangerous for him to navigate in wasp form
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Speaker 2: than the Test of Earth, even while hanging back and
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Speaker 2: letting the PCs do all the work. Looks like I
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Speaker 2: need to get a new event meaning use mighty percentile.
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Speaker 2: Let's make a couple of rolls ninety five punish and
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Speaker 2: twenty five friendship. Oh, that is really interesting. I don't
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Speaker 2: have any ideas at the moment for that, but it
3:27
Speaker 2: is interesting. Punish friendship okay. Chapter fifty nine, Part one,
3:39
Speaker 2: Day forty four, late afternoon. Mythic event meaning punish friendship.
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Speaker 2: Party status achillea ten out of seventeen hit points, Court
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Speaker 2: twenty nine out of thirty two, de Anni seventeen of
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Speaker 2: twenty three, ten Tier twenty five of thirty five, Flicker
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Speaker 2: eight of sixteen spells available. Achillia can cast and large
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Speaker 2: detect evil, glitter, dust, dispel magic and flame, arrow cord
4:16
Speaker 2: can cast, entangle animal, friendship, slow poison, bark, skin, hold animal,
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Speaker 2: tree shape, speak with plants and pass plant. The companion's
4:32
Speaker 2: feet crunched in the broken rock and gravel, which this
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Speaker 2: far down the right hand path now completely covered the
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Speaker 2: floor and rose up in heaps and mounds. In this,
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Speaker 2: combined with the extra prudence that companions were exercising, made
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Speaker 2: for very slow going. The way was approximately fifty yards
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Speaker 2: across and went on as far as the eye could see,
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Speaker 2: clearly curving to the right. Up ahead, a candle said, Achillia,
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Speaker 2: what do you think is going to happen? As Ten
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Speaker 2: gingerly prodding his split lip with a finger as he spoke.
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Speaker 1: I'm not really sure, she replied.
5:06
Speaker 2: In truth, she had expected the tunnel to contract until
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Speaker 2: it eventually became a tight crawl space that they would
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Speaker 2: have to wriggle through, suffering through a much worse gauntlet
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Speaker 2: of claustrophobic terror than the one she had endured back
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Speaker 2: at the Centipede mount. But the way ahead seemed open
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Speaker 2: and empty. In truth, it still did not even feel
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Speaker 2: as though they were underground, for the luminescent purple mushrooms
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Speaker 2: that had guided their way thus far continued to do so,
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Speaker 2: and even showed a pixelated outline of the way ahead.
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Speaker 1: I can't imagine that whenever we face this way would
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Speaker 1: be worse than the testified, though if Cord had.
5:39
Speaker 2: Been able to understand Elvish, the wooden construct would have
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Speaker 2: thoroughly agreed with her. When they crested the next gravel dune,
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Speaker 2: Achillia noticed that the bits under their feet were smaller.
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Speaker 2: She pointed it out, and Durannie mentioned that he had
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Speaker 2: just realized the same thing.
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Speaker 3: I wonder what it means.
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Speaker 2: He murmured to himself. Apart from the crunching of their boots,
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Speaker 2: everything was quiet and peaceful for the space of several
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Speaker 2: minutes as the group made their way to the curve.
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Speaker 2: By now the obelisk was some two hundred yards behind them.
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Speaker 2: Just then, ten Tier, who in an unusual breach of
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Speaker 2: typical elfin practice, was walking beside his brother, said, look there,
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Speaker 2: it's another beacon. And so it was. Far away in
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Speaker 2: the distance was a small, familiar pink star. It was
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Speaker 2: just like the one they had followed during the test
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Speaker 2: of air, only here in the dark it shone even
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Speaker 2: more brilliantly. I don't suppose that all we have to
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Speaker 2: do is walk to it, Tintyre said, doubtfully, Wait, shop,
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Speaker 2: little mouse, do any cautioned Nothing has been easy here.
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Speaker 2: Despite this warning, nothing happened For the next few minutes,
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Speaker 2: the companions covered another hundred yards as the gravel under
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Speaker 2: their feet turned into grit. The dunes, they all noticed,
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Speaker 2: were getting taller than the valleys between them steeper. Still,
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Speaker 2: the going was not so difficult, and had it not
7:01
Speaker 2: been for their anticipation that something terrible was about to happen,
7:05
Speaker 2: the place might have made them feel a deep serenity,
7:08
Speaker 2: for its vastness, stillness, and darkness combined into something truly sublime.
7:14
Speaker 2: Derannie stopped walking, and the others instinctively halted as well.
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Speaker 2: The ELF's brow furrowed, his eyes closed, and his chin dropped,
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Speaker 2: almost as though he were straining to remember something.
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Speaker 3: Do you feel that?
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Speaker 2: He asked. Ten Tire nodded, while at the same time
7:34
Speaker 2: Achillea shook her head a vibration in the ground. Achillea
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Speaker 2: turned to Cord, Do you feel anything. Cord twisted his
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Speaker 2: body back and forth to indicate he did not. Flicker
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Speaker 2: barked once, not understanding the conversation but perhaps wanting to
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Speaker 2: be a part of it. Dorannie took his bow from
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Speaker 2: his shoulder and drew an arrow from his quiver. Come on,
8:01
Speaker 2: was all, he said. Tintyre also drew his weapon and
8:05
Speaker 2: fell in behind his brother, indicating by pointing that Achilia
8:09
Speaker 2: and Cord should follow in single file as well. They
8:12
Speaker 2: did so, with Flicker loping alongside Achillia and Cord bringing
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Speaker 2: up the rear. A few minutes later, dur Any signaled
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Speaker 2: another halt. This time Achilia thought she had felt something,
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Speaker 2: a feeling as though she were momentarily drunk, but the
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Speaker 2: feeling passed and then they were on the move once again.
8:35
Speaker 2: Another minute went by and things were turned to the
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Speaker 2: empty stillness of before, where the only sounds came from
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Speaker 2: their boots and the steady breathing of Flicker by Achillia's side.
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Speaker 2: She felt apprehension twist inside her and remembered, not for
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Speaker 2: the first time, Altrea's lessons about how to master her emotions.
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Speaker 3: Take long, even breaths, But do not try to control
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Speaker 3: your breathing.
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Speaker 2: He had taught her.
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Speaker 3: Aware of your thoughts, accept tranquility, There is no mind,
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Speaker 3: there is no body. Let go of body and mind and.
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Speaker 2: Just be Somehow simple breath work was not working. Achilia
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Speaker 2: kept thinking about how they had lost fair Wind in
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Speaker 2: the last tests. Surely something terrible was about to happen.
9:23
Speaker 2: Baldvey had shared another trick with her for times when
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Speaker 2: she could not calm her mind. This method involved busying
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Speaker 2: it with something totally unrelated to the events at hand.
9:32
Speaker 2: Sometimes I could help. Achillie decided to try it. She'd
9:37
Speaker 2: been trying to compose her Song of the Woods for
9:39
Speaker 2: a long time now, but she still needed one or
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Speaker 2: two more verses. While a garganto and underground tunnel did
9:46
Speaker 2: not seem like the best place from which to dry inspiration,
9:49
Speaker 2: she decided to try anyway. Her last verse had ended like.
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Speaker 1: This, as twilight rhymes, the leaves inflame, dying light both
10:01
Speaker 1: fears and wan marks the hour when day is gone
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Speaker 1: and night resumes its ageless clan.
10:08
Speaker 2: This place fell like night, and the mushrooms overhead looked
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Speaker 2: a little like strange stars. Perhaps there was a verse
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Speaker 2: to be.
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Speaker 1: Discovered here, from star stitched vault with pinprick flame to
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Speaker 1: tangly roots which twist him coil as they slumber in
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Speaker 1: the soil, in dreams of darkness and of rain, and
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Speaker 1: deeper still, where blind things squirm and beetles Bureau. Not
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Speaker 1: a one among them ever saw the sun here lives
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Speaker 1: and turns.
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Speaker 2: The ancient What was that he was Drenny again, his
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Speaker 2: tone clipped, and with his bow raised in readiness, nothing happened.
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Speaker 2: Der Anny frowned spread out. He said. It was as
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Speaker 2: they were all moving apart and forming a rough circle.
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Speaker 2: When Achillea began to feel the ground beneath her feet
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Speaker 2: began to move. At first, it was just a low rumble,
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Speaker 2: and then the earth itself started to shake pebbles and
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Speaker 2: scream began to jump and roll. Then an explosion from
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Speaker 2: beneath threw the companions into the air. That something huge
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Speaker 2: burst from the dune, like a whale, reaching the surface
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Speaker 2: of the sea. The thing was so large that only
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Speaker 2: a portion of its enormous body was visible. Achillia glimpsed
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Speaker 2: a giant swath of leathery purple hide before she was
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Speaker 2: launched into the air to land on her backside, with
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Speaker 2: her hands grinding painfully into the gravel. Since I started
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Speaker 2: making this podcast, I've wanted to include all the classic
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Speaker 2: monsters of D and D, and I've gotten many of
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Speaker 2: my favorites into the story so far. Green slime, shriekers,
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Speaker 2: a stone gallum, They're all in there. I have a troll,
12:02
Speaker 2: a hill giant, a dragon, even a lych kind of.
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Speaker 2: In this season, I found a way to add yet
12:08
Speaker 2: more a Dryad, a Centaur, and even Griffins. It was
12:12
Speaker 2: when I came up with the idea for these pairs
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Speaker 2: of tests air and Water and fire and Earth that
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Speaker 2: I knew I just had to have a purple worm.
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Speaker 2: There was no other choice, no random rolling for this
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Speaker 2: purple freakin' worm. I've never encountered one in a game,
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Speaker 2: and this is true for most high powered monsters, since
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Speaker 2: the campaigns I've played have rarely lasted long enough for
12:33
Speaker 2: characters to achieve high enough level to face them. I
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Speaker 2: mention this only to say that I've never read the
12:39
Speaker 2: entry for the purple worm in any of the bestiaries.
12:42
Speaker 2: Would you believe that this fifteen hit Dye Terror actually
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Speaker 2: first appears in the Expert Rules? Is true, and it
12:48
Speaker 2: describes purple worms as huge, slime covered creatures over one
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Speaker 2: hundred feet long and eight to ten feet in diameter.
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Speaker 2: It continues to say that they tunnel through the earth,
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Speaker 2: burrowing up from the ground to feed on surface dwelling creatures.
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Speaker 2: The first Edition Monster Manual has an entry to it
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Speaker 2: says they are fifty feet long and eight feet in diameter.
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Speaker 2: Both best diaries say that purple worms can swallow their
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Speaker 2: prey whole as a special attack, and also say they
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Speaker 2: have a poisoned stinger in their tail. Neither version fits
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Speaker 2: what I have in my imagination. To me, these creatures
13:19
Speaker 2: should be around two hundred feet long. That's a bit
13:21
Speaker 2: longer than the distance from first to second base and back,
13:25
Speaker 2: or the size of two blue whales and to end.
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Speaker 2: If that helps you visualize it. For diameter, I'd say
13:30
Speaker 2: twenty feet seems about right, and due to their size,
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Speaker 2: they're not only big enough to swallow a person whole,
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Speaker 2: but several. At the same time, My purple worms aren't
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Speaker 2: quite doomed sandworms in scope, but considering their fifteen had dice,
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Speaker 2: they are big, big with a capital b oh, and
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Speaker 2: they have no poisoned stinger. That seems unnecessary. Long story short,
13:51
Speaker 2: I need to customize yet another monster, but and it's
13:54
Speaker 2: an appropriately big butt. I don't think I need to
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Speaker 2: stat up this monster. They're so huge as to be
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Speaker 2: virtually unkillable. At fifteen hit dice, they might as well
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Speaker 2: have fifty Achilles. Party is not going to be able
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Speaker 2: to fight and kill one. Their only hope will be
14:08
Speaker 2: to run treating the Purple Worm, not as a monster,
14:11
Speaker 2: but more as a force of nature. I think is
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Speaker 2: the way to go. For that, I need to come
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Speaker 2: up with a few custom rulings for how the encounter
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Speaker 2: will proceed. The pieces need to cover a distance of
14:22
Speaker 2: let's say one thousand yards a bit more than half
14:24
Speaker 2: a mile as they sprint to the end. They'll be
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Speaker 2: attacked three times by the purple worm. More than that
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Speaker 2: would be unrealistic, as the monster, being so big, needs
14:33
Speaker 2: room to turn around before each run. The first two
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Speaker 2: attacks will be rushing attacks in which the worm does
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Speaker 2: not fully break the surface of the earth. Each time,
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Speaker 2: the pieces will need to pass a dexterity check or
14:44
Speaker 2: else take one D six points of damage. That amount
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Speaker 2: seems fair, as it's the equivalent to falling ten feet.
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Speaker 2: Attempts by the pieces to fight back will be in vain.
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Speaker 2: Even a critical hit with a magical weapon like ten
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Speaker 2: tiers would be no more than an irritation to the
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Speaker 2: purple worm. On the the third and final attack, the
15:01
Speaker 2: worm will break the surface and attempt to swallow some
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Speaker 2: or all of the party. Since the PCs don't expect
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Speaker 2: that it would be metagamy to have them spread out
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Speaker 2: as they run. No, I think it's far more likely
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Speaker 2: that they would try to stick together and run in
15:14
Speaker 2: a pack. Very much like the Test of Air. This
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Speaker 2: scenario has the potential to cause one or more PC
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Speaker 2: deaths unlike the Test of Air, and worse, even if
15:24
Speaker 2: the PCs do survive, it's unlikely that they'll avoid injury.
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Speaker 2: Let's grab some dice and figure out how the Purple
15:31
Speaker 2: Worm's first attack will play out. De Renni has a
15:34
Speaker 2: dexterity of fifteen, so I need to roll that or
15:36
Speaker 2: under for him to avoid damage. The roll A nine
15:41
Speaker 2: means he manages to get out of the way in time.
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Speaker 2: Tenter's turn. He also has a dex score of fifteen
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Speaker 2: A two, The worm doesn't even come close to him.
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Speaker 2: That was lucky. Ten tier Achilles turn, her score is
15:54
Speaker 2: also very high, the fourteen. Here's the role A sixteen
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Speaker 2: on the die. She takes just two points of damage
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Speaker 2: as she's thrown back and grinds her palms into the
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Speaker 2: gravel where she lands. Court has no stats, so I'll
16:08
Speaker 2: assign him a temporary score of nine. His role A
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Speaker 2: three he avoids taking damage. Lastly, Flicker, she likewise has
16:16
Speaker 2: no stats, but I think a target of twelve or
16:18
Speaker 2: under is fair just by virtue of her lower center
16:21
Speaker 2: of gravity. The role A sixteen fails and the blink
16:25
Speaker 2: Dog takes oof five points of crushing damage is one
16:29
Speaker 2: of her legs gets caught under the Purple Worm's bulk
16:32
Speaker 2: for a moment before she can get it free. All right,
16:35
Speaker 2: let's return to the narrative and see all this in action.
16:43
Speaker 2: Chapter fifty nine, Part two, Day forty four, late evening
16:50
Speaker 2: mythic event meaning punish friendship party status. The party status
16:57
Speaker 2: is unchanged, with the exception of Achillie, who was down
17:00
Speaker 2: to eight out of seventeen hit points, and Flicker, who
17:03
Speaker 2: was reduced to a dangerously low three out of sixteen.
17:11
Speaker 2: When it marries, one man cried, Achilia, whatever it was,
17:15
Speaker 2: it had already sunk beneath the surface of their gravel doom.
17:18
Speaker 1: No matter what it was.
17:20
Speaker 2: Deranni called back, his eyes wide in panic. Run nobody
17:25
Speaker 2: needed to be told twice. The group scrambled for purchase
17:28
Speaker 2: in the displaced gravel and dashed towards the beacon's pink
17:31
Speaker 2: light with everything they had. Achillia's legs scissored and her
17:35
Speaker 2: arms pumped, Her mouth went dry, and she felt of
17:38
Speaker 2: burnings and sation in her lungs. She was dimly aware
17:42
Speaker 2: that her palm stone too, but none of them mattered.
17:45
Speaker 2: She was running for her life. Something was hunting them,
17:49
Speaker 2: something that moved through the earth like a fish swam
17:51
Speaker 2: through water, and it was huge.
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Speaker 1: Flager am i, she yelled.
17:57
Speaker 2: The blink dog was limping and falling behind, as if
18:03
Speaker 2: in understanding. Flicker did just that, blinking forward and making
18:07
Speaker 2: up for her wounded leg by teleporting a head in
18:09
Speaker 2: short bursts. Achilia felt a wave move through the ground
18:17
Speaker 2: beneath her, going in the opposite direction. Not long after that,
18:21
Speaker 2: the rumbling sound from before returned, she thought to herself. Then,
18:27
Speaker 2: in a spray of gravel, a section of the massive
18:29
Speaker 2: creature burst out of the ground, right in the midst
18:32
Speaker 2: of the fleeing companions. This is the Purple Worm's second
18:46
Speaker 2: rushing attack. Just as before each piec, he will need
18:49
Speaker 2: to pass a dexterity check in order to avoid being
18:52
Speaker 2: hit and taking a D six of damage. Let's do
18:54
Speaker 2: the rolls do atty intend here each have to get
18:57
Speaker 2: a fifteen or under. He's Dretni's roll on eighteen. This
19:02
Speaker 2: time he is not so fortunate. The elf takes three
19:05
Speaker 2: points of damage as he's knocked off his feet and
19:08
Speaker 2: tumbles down a gravel slope. Ten DearS next, huh another eighteen,
19:13
Speaker 2: he too will take some damage two points a glancing blow.
19:18
Speaker 2: Now it's Achilles turn, and with only eight left, she
19:21
Speaker 2: doesn't have many hit points to spare. She needs a
19:23
Speaker 2: fourteen or less her roll. A four means she's able
19:27
Speaker 2: to get out of the way. Cord is up with
19:29
Speaker 2: his temporary score of nine. A nine on the die
19:33
Speaker 2: hoof just made it. Cord manages to juke out of
19:36
Speaker 2: the way in time. Finally, it is flickers during to roll,
19:39
Speaker 2: and with just three hit points, the blink Dog is
19:42
Speaker 2: in serious jeopardy. She needs a twelve or under to
19:45
Speaker 2: avoid being hit. He goes nothing A nine, Yes, who's
19:50
Speaker 2: a good girl? Ten Tire had always been fast, quick
19:57
Speaker 2: to make decisions, and quick on his feet. Now running
20:00
Speaker 2: for his life, he soon outpaced the others, even to Anny,
20:03
Speaker 2: who was also fleet to foot, and found himself leading
20:06
Speaker 2: the pack ahead perhaps three or four hundred yards. In
20:09
Speaker 2: the distance was the beckoning pink light of the beacon,
20:12
Speaker 2: now much bigger and brighter than before. The sight gave
20:15
Speaker 2: him hope that he could not help slowing down for
20:17
Speaker 2: a moment to look over his shoulder. When he did,
20:21
Speaker 2: he saw his companions barreling toward him, and at the
20:23
Speaker 2: same time felt the ripple of the gigantic creature move
20:26
Speaker 2: through the earth under his feet, as if it were
20:28
Speaker 2: racing them to the end of the great tunnel. Come on,
20:31
Speaker 2: he shouted, but necessarily before turning and resuming full speed.
20:36
Speaker 2: His boots pounded against the gravel as he cut a
20:38
Speaker 2: serpentine path between the dunes. He could hear Derenny right
20:42
Speaker 2: behind him. Two hundred yards to go. They were going
20:45
Speaker 2: to make it. He pushed himself harder than he ever
20:48
Speaker 2: had before, sprinting like the wind, and that is why
20:51
Speaker 2: he almost couldn't stop in time when the great worm
20:54
Speaker 2: burst out of the gravel right in front of him,
20:57
Speaker 2: spraying shards of rock in every direction and making pebbles
21:00
Speaker 2: rained down. It was only now that ten Tier got
21:05
Speaker 2: his first real look at the thing that hunted them.
21:08
Speaker 2: The creature was huge, a colossal cylinder of segmented flesh,
21:13
Speaker 2: bruised purple in color, dulled and scarred. Segment after segment
21:18
Speaker 2: came out of the earth, each one as thick around
21:21
Speaker 2: as a guard tower and covered in plates of kiten
21:23
Speaker 2: that flexed as it moved, revealing glimpses of raw rubbery tissue.
21:28
Speaker 2: It had no eyes, no face at all, only a mouth,
21:32
Speaker 2: a widening ring of curved teeth in endless, spiraling rows,
21:35
Speaker 2: set into a throat that pulsed with muscular contractions, and
21:39
Speaker 2: ten Tier, gasping for breath, was standing bright in front
21:43
Speaker 2: of it. The Chilia was two dozen paces behind, amazed
21:57
Speaker 2: by ten Tier's ability to easily outrun the rest of them.
22:00
Speaker 2: When the massive word burst up from the ground, sundering
22:03
Speaker 2: the heaving piles of gravel and throwing stones in front
22:06
Speaker 2: of it like spray from a breaking wave. At first
22:11
Speaker 2: her mind went numb, but then her Vappi's voice was
22:14
Speaker 2: in her thoughts, as always, providing guidance when she needed
22:18
Speaker 2: it most.
22:24
Speaker 3: Accept tranquility, let go of body and mind, and just be.
22:32
Speaker 2: It was exactly what she needed to be able to
22:34
Speaker 2: see past the terror and think rationally, and all of
22:37
Speaker 2: a sudden she knew what to do. Tendere gazed into
22:43
Speaker 2: his own death, endless, concentric rings of teeth, receding into
22:47
Speaker 2: a gaping tunnel of flesh. In a few seconds, it
22:50
Speaker 2: would consume him. But he would not accept this fate
22:54
Speaker 2: without a fight. The young elf grit his teeth, planted
22:58
Speaker 2: his feet, and brandished the of lear Hain above his
23:01
Speaker 2: head in defiance. He was just about to speak the
23:04
Speaker 2: word to send arcane fire up its length when he
23:06
Speaker 2: was roughly knocked to the side by Achilia, who dashed
23:09
Speaker 2: in front of him in what Tentu thought could only
23:12
Speaker 2: be a deranged suicide attempt. Achilia had her right hand
23:17
Speaker 2: thrust deep inside her satchel. When she withdrew it, there
23:21
Speaker 2: was something small clutched in it that flashed in the light.
23:23
Speaker 2: Despite that, the Titanic worm now cast a huge and
23:26
Speaker 2: still growing shadow over them. Tin Tear watched as she
23:30
Speaker 2: hurled the thing into the worm's maw with all her strength,
23:33
Speaker 2: and then fell to her knees, exhausted. Inevitably, the monster
23:39
Speaker 2: descended upon them both. He was so big that it
23:44
Speaker 2: filled the middle third, but tenters field of vision. Its
23:49
Speaker 2: mouth opened even wider, flaring out an enormous flaps of
23:53
Speaker 2: purple flesh. The ground shook pebbles, yet fell upon them
23:58
Speaker 2: like hailstones. Death was here. This was the end. As
24:06
Speaker 2: the darkness fell and the deep earth smell of the
24:08
Speaker 2: creature's insides filled his nostrils ten tears, shut his eyes
24:12
Speaker 2: and waited to be killed. But then a miracle occurred,
24:16
Speaker 2: because death did not come. Even before Tantier opened his eyes,
24:20
Speaker 2: he realized that the deafening sound of grinding stone had stopped,
24:24
Speaker 2: and abruptly. When he did look, he saw Achillea getting
24:31
Speaker 2: to her feet in front of an empty crater in
24:33
Speaker 2: the earth. Over it hovered a massive cloud of purple mist.
24:44
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to Tale of the Manticor If you'd
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Speaker 2: like to help out the show, here are some ways
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Speaker 2: to do so. You can recommend her, like and repost
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Speaker 2: episode announcements on social media, purchased a Tale of the
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Speaker 2: manticor T shirt at bare Arts dot store or one
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Speaker 2: of my offerings on drive through, arbyg rated, review the
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Speaker 2: show on your favorite podcatcher, or give me a sub
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Speaker 2: on YouTube. All these things really do make a difference,
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Speaker 2: and I truly appreciate your support. Here's a review looked
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Speaker 2: on audible by an anonymous user. Anonymous gives five stars
25:11
Speaker 2: and writes brilliant. I've been enjoying this story thus far,
25:14
Speaker 2: and I'm interested in what will happen to the characters.
25:17
Speaker 2: Thanks very much to whoever wrote that review. I too
25:20
Speaker 2: am interested to see what will happen, so we're in
25:22
Speaker 2: the same boat. Big thanks to my cast of voice actors.
25:25
Speaker 2: This episode features Kyellen and Kevin Barringer playing Durnian Tentire respectively.
25:30
Speaker 2: Andrew Flang playing Oldway can be heard in a few
25:32
Speaker 2: brief flashbacks in which Achillie hears the voice of her Mentor.
25:36
Speaker 2: Thanks Kyellen, Kevin, and Andrew. For those who wish to
25:39
Speaker 2: find other like minded creators doing similar shows, please check
25:42
Speaker 2: out Solo Roleplayers Network dot com. And if you're curious
25:46
Speaker 2: to learn more about this show, I keep a blog
25:48
Speaker 2: where I post all kinds of show and RPG related
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Speaker 2: stuff like sketches, maps, tables, scrafts, and show notes. You
25:53
Speaker 2: can find it at tale of Themanticort dot com. To
25:56
Speaker 2: get in touch with me, I'm at tale of Themanticort
25:58
Speaker 2: dot bluesky dot Social, Tale of the Mentor podcast on Instagram,
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Speaker 2: or Tale of the Meticor at gmail dot com. We'll
26:04
Speaker 2: see you next time on Tale of the Manticor It's
26:07
Speaker 2: this story or Chaos Rolls