Latest / Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama / Episode 30 (S3E30)

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Episode 30 (S3E30) · Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama

0:00
Speaker 1: Hi, this is Shane Hinsley, a Pinnacle Entertainment Group, makers
0:03
Speaker 1: of Savage Worlds and dead Lands, and you are listening
0:05
Speaker 1: to Tale of the Manticore.
0:09
Speaker 2: The following podcast is intended for a mature audience. Listener
0:14
Speaker 2: discretion is advised. Welcome back to Tale of the Manticor
0:31
Speaker 2: Season three. Like the creature from which it takes its name,
0:35
Speaker 2: Tale of the Manticor is a mashup, a cross breeding
0:39
Speaker 2: between two different species of storytelling. Here you will find
0:42
Speaker 2: the unpredictability of old school paper and dice games with
0:46
Speaker 2: the story craft of a dark fantasy novel. No character
0:50
Speaker 2: is sacred, and none will be spared if the dice
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Speaker 2: decide their fate is at hand. According to Lare, the
0:57
Speaker 2: Tale of a Manticore is barbed with cruel iron spikes.
1:02
Speaker 2: There will be much pain in the days ahead. Last
1:14
Speaker 2: time on Tail of the Manticor, in chapter twenty nine,
1:18
Speaker 2: the companions find the village of Duroth, built into the
1:21
Speaker 2: side of a hill, with a number of outbuildings constructed
1:23
Speaker 2: in a basin at his foot. Droth is unlike any
1:26
Speaker 2: village any of them have ever seen. The place discourages
1:30
Speaker 2: outsiders with the perimeter of staked skeletons. When the party
1:33
Speaker 2: passes this border and lays eyes on the village itself,
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Speaker 2: they can instantly tell that some kind of disaster occurred here.
1:40
Speaker 2: Every building is broken and there is no sign of life.
1:43
Speaker 2: The companions walk through a scene of desolation as they
1:45
Speaker 2: investigate the village. Eventually they climb the broken stairs to
1:49
Speaker 2: the lowest cave opening. Next, in a flashback, we learn
1:52
Speaker 2: what happened to deroth seven years before the events of
1:56
Speaker 2: Achilles Quest. The community leader and rector, a man named Baium,
2:00
Speaker 2: was called to respond to an emergency. One of the
2:02
Speaker 2: Dorothies scouts had returned to their caves from a map
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Speaker 2: making expedition. The scout's wounds were too deep even for
2:09
Speaker 2: Biom to heal, and he died as he did. A
2:12
Speaker 2: calamity outside their cave was heard. Their village was under attack,
2:16
Speaker 2: and when Rector Bium saw the monster they faced, he
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Speaker 2: called for everyone to retreat into the safety of the hillside.
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Speaker 2: Chapter thirty, Part one. Seven years ago no Rector Bium
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Speaker 2: took hold of himself. His people needed.
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Speaker 3: Him to the caves. He called everyone get to the caves.
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Speaker 2: The hulking, gigantic beast was in a kind of frenzy,
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Speaker 2: smashing through their log built structures as though they posed
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Speaker 2: no impediment to an adoll. One after another, derothy villagers
3:01
Speaker 2: and animals were snatched up, sometimes one in each of
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Speaker 2: the monster's hands, and brutally devoured.
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Speaker 3: Everyone. Get to the cave now.
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Speaker 2: Biom repeated. He had to fight down a hysterical thrill
3:14
Speaker 2: that threatened to numb his brain. The minute or so
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Speaker 2: it took to get the survivors up the stairs and
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Speaker 2: into the cave seemed to take forever, But finally, every
3:22
Speaker 2: member of their community that was ever going to escape
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Speaker 2: the monster outside had done so. With a pury to
3:28
Speaker 2: aheya that he was doing the right thing, Biam decided
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Speaker 2: that the men and women still crawling around outside, broken
3:34
Speaker 2: and bloodied, could not be saved, and it was with
3:36
Speaker 2: immense misgiving that he ordered the huge wooden cave door
3:39
Speaker 2: to be shut and barred. He could hear those he
3:44
Speaker 2: had left to die calling out in despair and protest
3:47
Speaker 2: as he did so. It broke his heart, but there
3:49
Speaker 2: was no choice.
3:53
Speaker 3: Like the torches he ordered, someone had.
3:55
Speaker 2: Already had the idea, and as the heavy bar fell
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Speaker 2: into place, the first torch life a moment later the
4:02
Speaker 2: second did as well, and now the cave was fully lit.
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Speaker 2: Director Bium took stock of his people. Ordinarily, the Derothi
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Speaker 2: numbered three score men, women and children in total. At
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Speaker 2: any given time, ten of them would be away on
4:15
Speaker 2: a map making expedition, serving their greater effort of discovering
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Speaker 2: the location of the Golden Path. Jesson was one of them,
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Speaker 2: and while he was dead, the fate of the other
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Speaker 2: nine was a mystery that left forty nine souls. They
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Speaker 2: should have been with him in the cave now, but
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Speaker 2: at a glance Bium could see that there was less
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Speaker 2: than half that number assembled here. Perhaps there were as
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Speaker 2: many as a dozen more further into the caves, but
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Speaker 2: even then they must have lost fifteen, perhaps even twenty
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Speaker 2: lives to the monster. He was in the middle of
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Speaker 2: a quick head count when a tremendous bang shutdered the
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Speaker 2: massive wooden doors of the cave. He and the others
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Speaker 2: flinched away from the sound as a cloud of dust
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Speaker 2: filled the air. Fresh panic seized the rector. The front
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Speaker 2: door of the cave was a double row of strong wood.
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Speaker 2: It must have been two feet thick and weighed several
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Speaker 2: hundred pounds. Moreover, it was barred not with a plank,
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Speaker 2: but a log that took two strong men to fit
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Speaker 2: into place. Even the gigantic beast outside couldn't possibly. Another
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Speaker 2: shower of dust and dried mud was knocked free, and
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Speaker 2: Biam could not deny that he had heard the distinct
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Speaker 2: sound of splintering wood. What are they going to do?
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Speaker 2: Cried out a terrified voice from the crowd.
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Speaker 4: Ricter Biam, what should we do?
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Speaker 3: Go further in? Take the torches and go further.
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Speaker 1: In, But there's no way out.
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Speaker 3: We'll be trapped.
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Speaker 2: By a heya, they were all going to die if
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Speaker 2: they did not get away from here.
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Speaker 3: We are already trapped. Go go.
5:48
Speaker 2: Biam heard the awful sound of the door being ripped
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Speaker 2: from its moorings, and then daylight fell upon him, filling
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Speaker 2: him with horror. He ushered the last villager through the
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Speaker 2: narrow passage into the inner caves ahead of him, and
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Speaker 2: he would later wish he had not. He took a
6:02
Speaker 2: look back before he followed. The face peering over the
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Speaker 2: edge of the cave mouth was as big as a
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Speaker 2: prize pumpkin and grotesquely malformed. Worst of all were the
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Speaker 2: black pits where the eyes should have been. They were
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Speaker 2: so deep in their sockets as to be invisible. The
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Speaker 2: face resembled a huge lump of dough that someone had
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Speaker 2: pushed their fingers into. In it, there was a kind
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Speaker 2: of empty stupidity that was even more terrifying, and that
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Speaker 2: it communicated the single minded purpose of an automaton.
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Speaker 3: This thing will not stop until we are all dead.
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Speaker 2: By Him thought as he turned and fled, with a
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Speaker 2: terrible giant roaring in frustration at his back. The Companions
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Speaker 2: are currently standing in the same room, or more specifically, cave,
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Speaker 2: where Rector by Him had been when he conducted the
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Speaker 2: members of his village to safety and then escaped himself.
6:56
Speaker 2: As the Companions are about to begin exploring further, I'm
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Speaker 2: going to need to figure out exactly what is inside
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Speaker 2: the caves of Drowth. Now. I haven't figured out yet
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Speaker 2: what happened in the caves post attack, but I am
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Speaker 2: reasonably sure that nothing is alive in there. Now. It's
7:10
Speaker 2: been established that the caves do not have another exit,
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Speaker 2: so the survivors would either have made a run for it,
7:15
Speaker 2: or else they would have perished. Now that I think
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Speaker 2: of it, this question is central to everything the Companions
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Speaker 2: might discover inside, so it's essentral that I answer it now.
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Speaker 2: I'm going to roll a D twelve D twelves don't
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Speaker 2: get enough love. On a one to four, the dorothe
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Speaker 2: will have attempted a mass exodus. A five to eight
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Speaker 2: will indicate that they all died inside the cavern, and
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Speaker 2: a nine to twelve will indicate a mixed result. Some
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Speaker 2: stayed while others tried to leave. I'll make the roll now,
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Speaker 2: but I'm going to keep the result a secret. Here
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Speaker 2: we go. Okay, that tells me everything I need to know.
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Speaker 2: Chapter thirty, Part two, D twenty eight early even mythic
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Speaker 2: event meaning celebrate possessions party status. Achillea nine out of
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Speaker 2: nine hit points, Cord eighteen of eighteen, de Renni twelve
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Speaker 2: out of twelve, ten Tier fifteen out of fifteen, fair
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Speaker 2: Wind eighteen out of eighteen. Supplies. The companions have eight
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Speaker 2: portions of food spells available. Achillee can cast shrink times
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Speaker 2: two and glitter dust. Cord can cast entangle and slow poison.
8:43
Speaker 2: At the far end of the cavern, just at the
8:45
Speaker 2: point with a light from outside began to dim, a
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Speaker 2: single pinched corridor of smooth natural rock led away into darkness,
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Speaker 2: fair Wind plucked one of the torches from its wolskons
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Speaker 2: and pulled out its cinderbox. Once he had the torch
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Speaker 2: a blaze, he nodded at the others.
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Speaker 5: Wait for us outside, Robin, said, Achilia.
9:05
Speaker 2: The little stuffed bird alighted from Kord's shoulder and flew
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Speaker 2: out the cave mouth. While the others prepared to go
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Speaker 2: further in. Achilia suddenly remembered what had happened in the crypt,
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Speaker 2: took the second torch from its sconce and carried it
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Speaker 2: unlit in her free.
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Speaker 5: Hand in case the other one goes out, she explained.
9:22
Speaker 2: In order that everyone could see well enough. Fairwin took
9:24
Speaker 2: a middle position As they formed up their marching order.
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Speaker 2: Dornni was first, then tent here. Fair Wind and Achilia
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Speaker 2: were next, and Cord brought up the rear. They slipped
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Speaker 2: into the smooth and narrow corridor without talking, and Achilia
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Speaker 2: assessed that the cave's natural bottleneck would make for a
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Speaker 2: very effective defense. She wondered how far the cave system
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Speaker 2: actually went from the outside. This cave seemed the largest,
9:48
Speaker 2: and the staircase leading to it would seem to support
9:51
Speaker 2: that assumption. Still, places like this could be deceptive from
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Speaker 2: the outside. The narrow passage took them some fifteen feet in,
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Speaker 2: remaining relatively level and curving to the right before it
10:02
Speaker 2: bent almost in a hairpin, doubling back into a second cave.
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Speaker 2: This one was about half the size of the first,
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Speaker 2: heart shaped and measuring some fifteen by twenty feet. It
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Speaker 2: had a single exit, where the narrow passage continued on
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Speaker 2: the opposite side. De Rennie pointed at some old furniture
10:19
Speaker 2: draped in cobwebs.
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Speaker 4: A chair, a bench, and nothing else. This may have
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Speaker 4: been a guard room.
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Speaker 2: When they had all entered the space and had a
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Speaker 2: chance to look around, Tantier asked for silence so that
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Speaker 2: he might listen down the next passage. The others obliged,
10:35
Speaker 2: and he tried, but eventually gave up. I can't hear
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Speaker 2: a thing other than dripping water, he declared. I suppose
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Speaker 2: that's a good thing. Come, said Rennie.
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Speaker 4: There's nothing to see here. Let us keep going.
10:56
Speaker 2: It's funny. Once I made that roll to find out
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Speaker 2: what happened to the DROWTHI I figured I'd just go
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Speaker 2: ahead and make up the map of the caverns as
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Speaker 2: I went. But I now realize I can't do that,
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Speaker 2: and for a very important reason. In the last episode,
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Speaker 2: I started a countdown clock. The giant troll that has
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Speaker 2: made a layer of Darroth is off hunting right now,
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Speaker 2: but he'll be back. I determined at random that this
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Speaker 2: would happen in one hour and fifty minutes. I'm going
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Speaker 2: to knock that down to one hour and a half.
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Speaker 2: By now, the companions must have spent about twenty minutes
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Speaker 2: in the caves. This all means that the size of
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Speaker 2: the cave complex is going to matter a lot, so
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Speaker 2: I do need to determine it at random after all,
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Speaker 2: And since it served me well before, I'm going to
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Speaker 2: once again use the map generator portion of one Shot
11:40
Speaker 2: in the Dark. It's the same system I used in
11:42
Speaker 2: the cam Or Crypt. Use a quick refresher on the rules.
11:46
Speaker 2: I use a deck of cards and using only the hearts,
11:49
Speaker 2: draw until I get the ace. The ace will represent
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Speaker 2: the final ore target room. The two through king will
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Speaker 2: indicate various other kinds of room or sometimes events. I'll
12:00
Speaker 2: try and stick as close as possible to the description
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Speaker 2: in the game rules. Additionally, I'm going to say that
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Speaker 2: each card pulled will eat up a minimum of ten minutes,
12:09
Speaker 2: depending on what's in there, it might be more. This
12:12
Speaker 2: is to account for the piecs going slowly and taking care.
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Speaker 2: After all, they're not aware of any pressing need to
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Speaker 2: move quickly. Okay, let me grab the rule book real quick,
12:22
Speaker 2: all right, and a pack of cards. Yep, I've got
12:25
Speaker 2: one of those, removing the hearts and shuffling ready. The
12:31
Speaker 2: first card will be a four of Hearts. What's that?
12:35
Speaker 2: The entry reads, slender twisting Tunnel one exit. Well, I
12:39
Speaker 2: think we've already done that. I swear. Sometimes these games
12:43
Speaker 2: just seem to know, you know, I'm going to pick again.
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Speaker 2: This time, I've got King of Hearts. What is that?
12:50
Speaker 2: Prison one exit? Ah? Okay, I think I know how
12:55
Speaker 2: to make that work. Chapter thirty, Part three, Day twenty eight,
13:08
Speaker 2: early afternoon, one hour and thirty minutes before the giant
13:13
Speaker 2: troll returns mythic event meaning celebrate Possessions party status. The
13:21
Speaker 2: party status is unchanged. Achille followed Tenier and de Renni
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Speaker 2: into the next passage. This one dipped a little, then
13:32
Speaker 2: bent to the left, widening out so that it could
13:34
Speaker 2: have accommodated two of the companions walking abreast at the
13:37
Speaker 2: chosen to reorder themselves. They did not in fair wind,
13:41
Speaker 2: holding his torch, and then Cord followed closely behind. After
13:45
Speaker 2: twenty feet they came to a hollow that opened up
13:48
Speaker 2: on the right wall of the passage, which continued on
13:50
Speaker 2: ahead into the darkness. The hollow was no more than
13:53
Speaker 2: a ten by ten foot pocket that hung off the
13:55
Speaker 2: passage where it formed an elbow. In it was another
13:59
Speaker 2: cobweb covered chair, as well as various tools and implements
14:02
Speaker 2: arranged in an orderly manner atop a natural shelf in
14:05
Speaker 2: the rock wall. The chair was occupied by a slouching skeleton.
14:10
Speaker 2: Its clothes had disintegrated into mere rags, but the rope
14:13
Speaker 2: that bounded by the wrists and ankles was still intact.
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Speaker 2: What's this, asked Tantyr, distrustfully.
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Speaker 4: A prisoner by the looks of it, De Rennie answered,
14:23
Speaker 4: see the bindings here and here these are attached to
14:27
Speaker 4: the legs of the chair too.
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Speaker 2: Ten Tire frowned and prodded the skeleton with the tip
14:31
Speaker 2: of his new sword. Nothing out of the ordinary happened,
14:36
Speaker 2: mostly convincing the young elf that it would not spring
14:39
Speaker 2: to life. Do Renni was already looking past it to
14:42
Speaker 2: the tools on the rock shelf. He itemized them in
14:45
Speaker 2: the order they were arranged.
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Speaker 4: A chisel, a flint and steel, a hammer, a box
14:50
Speaker 4: of nails. I think this space was once used for storage.
14:55
Speaker 2: He looked up and saw that a faded woven banner
14:58
Speaker 2: had been hung above and parallel to the shelf. It
15:02
Speaker 2: showed some letters and an image. As der Anny could
15:05
Speaker 2: not read the common tongue of men, he asked a Killia.
15:08
Speaker 4: What does it say?
15:09
Speaker 5: Let me see? She replied, fair wind, hold up your
15:12
Speaker 5: torch a bit. It's badly faded, but I can still
15:15
Speaker 5: make it out. It says yesterday's wisdom to day's discovery.
15:20
Speaker 5: And there's a picture of What do you make of that.
15:22
Speaker 2: De Anny?
15:23
Speaker 4: Some kind of stylized owl. Do you think a.
15:26
Speaker 5: Symbol of a HAA yes, that would be my guess.
15:29
Speaker 4: Vise D'ROPHI were a pious people, then.
15:33
Speaker 5: It might be a coincidence, hm.
15:36
Speaker 4: Perhaps.
15:37
Speaker 2: As there was nothing further of interest in the storage hollow,
15:40
Speaker 2: the decision was made to move on. Still frowning, ten
15:44
Speaker 2: Tear eyed the skeleton as they left. Its skull grinned
15:47
Speaker 2: back at him. That does not look like a good
15:51
Speaker 2: way to die, he muttered under his breath. Chapter thirty,
16:02
Speaker 2: Part four, seven years ago.
16:07
Speaker 1: We can't leave him there forever.
16:09
Speaker 2: Emson protested. His cheeks flushed when he was angry. Presently
16:14
Speaker 2: they were the color of cherries.
16:15
Speaker 3: Vat's entirely up to him by him shot back. If
16:19
Speaker 3: Torvik can be made to see reason, will let him go.
16:23
Speaker 3: Until then he stays in the chair.
16:26
Speaker 2: The director knew that his people were not safe. The
16:29
Speaker 2: troll couldn't possibly reach them inside the caves. It was
16:32
Speaker 2: too big physically to fit into the narrow passage, even
16:35
Speaker 2: if it did manage to climb up and into the
16:37
Speaker 2: cave mouth. But now they had a different problem. Several
16:40
Speaker 2: of them actually, Since the cave network had only the
16:43
Speaker 2: one exit, they were trapped. There were thirty one survivors,
16:48
Speaker 2: including himself, and although they had some stores of supplies
16:51
Speaker 2: at this time of the year, they were not plentiful.
16:54
Speaker 2: Had the attack come in winter, they would have been
16:56
Speaker 2: better equipped, but as it was, they had never expected
16:59
Speaker 2: to be put under siege, and that is effectively what
17:02
Speaker 2: had happened. The attack had begun sixteen hours ago, and
17:05
Speaker 2: Biam had sent someone to the cave moath to see
17:07
Speaker 2: if the monster was still there. Every hour, each scout
17:11
Speaker 2: had come back ashen faced and nodding gravely. It was
17:15
Speaker 2: waiting for them. Curate Emson had been indispensable at first,
17:20
Speaker 2: helping him tend to the wounded and restore order in
17:23
Speaker 2: some sense of calm, But after basic discipline had been established,
17:27
Speaker 2: he had become a problem.
17:29
Speaker 3: Rector.
17:30
Speaker 1: We must get away from here, take the scroll and flee.
17:33
Speaker 1: If we scatter, most of us will survive. It can't
17:36
Speaker 1: catch everyone.
17:36
Speaker 3: Baiam had not agreed that thinking is premature and unwise.
17:40
Speaker 3: He had remonstrated, let us first see if it goes
17:43
Speaker 3: away on its own.
17:45
Speaker 2: But with every passing hour, as their reports came back,
17:48
Speaker 2: each one the same, it became clear that the problem
17:51
Speaker 2: was not going to solve itself. His people were tired
17:54
Speaker 2: and scared. No one dared to sleep, though by now
17:57
Speaker 2: it was the middle of the night. They did several
17:59
Speaker 2: argus imments just recently, and Biam felt that the Dorothy
18:02
Speaker 2: were divided in a way they had never been before.
18:05
Speaker 2: Until now, he had felt that his command of the
18:07
Speaker 2: village was totally stable, but now it threatened to slip.
18:12
Speaker 2: If he were being honest, it had slipped. If it
18:15
Speaker 2: had not, how would Torvick have managed to secret the
18:17
Speaker 2: scroll honest person and arranged to make a run for it.
18:21
Speaker 2: He must have had the help of others. Very likely
18:23
Speaker 2: Amson was one of those involved, but he named no names,
18:27
Speaker 2: and no one had stepped forward to challenge him directly.
18:29
Speaker 2: When they caught Torvik and bound him to a chair
18:32
Speaker 2: by a heeya, Torvik had almost succeeded Bayam drew a
18:36
Speaker 2: hand down his face. He was so exhausted he could
18:39
Speaker 2: barely stand.
18:40
Speaker 3: He stays in the chair until I say otherwise. That's
18:43
Speaker 3: my final word on it now, Amson, I wish to
18:46
Speaker 3: have some private council with you in the map room.
18:49
Speaker 2: The other members of the DUROTHI were told to go
18:51
Speaker 2: to the common room and try to get some sleep.
18:54
Speaker 2: Byam held back a selected six of his most loyal
18:57
Speaker 2: men and women. These were the ones who had caught
18:59
Speaker 2: Torvik before or the man had the chance to get
19:01
Speaker 2: out to them. He entrusted the future of the community
19:04
Speaker 2: with the following instructions.
19:06
Speaker 3: Nobody leaves. I will keep the scroll on my person
19:08
Speaker 3: in case someone else gets the idea to go rogue,
19:11
Speaker 3: be vigilant, sleep in shifts, guard the way out.
19:21
Speaker 2: I need to draw a new card before I let
19:23
Speaker 2: the story move forward. So far, I've drawn two for
19:26
Speaker 2: one shot in the dark rules, I need a minimum
19:29
Speaker 2: of six before I can reach the final room, which
19:31
Speaker 2: I'm starting to think will be the map room. Okay,
19:34
Speaker 2: the next card is well, it's the King's better half,
19:38
Speaker 2: and looking up the Queen gives me shrieker mushroom cave
19:41
Speaker 2: one exit. Then there's some text about saving to avoid
19:44
Speaker 2: attracting a monster. Well, I'm not going to use shriekers here,
19:48
Speaker 2: mostly because I use them in season one. But I
19:50
Speaker 2: can take the spirit of this encounter and make something
19:53
Speaker 2: similar in theme and loaded with a potential risk. Hang
19:56
Speaker 2: on while I look something up. Okay, I found something suitable.
20:08
Speaker 2: Chapter thirty, Part five, Day twenty eight afternoon, one hour
20:17
Speaker 2: and twenty minutes before the giant troll returns mythic e
20:21
Speaker 2: en meaning celebrate possessions party status. The party status is unchanged.
20:31
Speaker 2: The tunnel beyond the elbow curve continued straight for another
20:34
Speaker 2: thirty minutes before dipping sharply where it did someone, presumably
20:39
Speaker 2: the Drothi, had cut steps into the natural rock floor
20:42
Speaker 2: to make passage easier. Even before the companions reached these
20:46
Speaker 2: rough cut steps, they could hear the sound of dripping
20:49
Speaker 2: water coming much more loudly from my head. They could
20:52
Speaker 2: also smell something musty. At first, the odor resembled mildew,
20:57
Speaker 2: but as it grew more pungent, it also became tinged,
21:00
Speaker 2: with some other notes that were hard to identify. It
21:03
Speaker 2: wasn't exactly unpleasant, but it did make the companions wrinkle
21:07
Speaker 2: their noses and wonder about its source. After they descended
21:11
Speaker 2: the steps and passed through another tunnel that bent to
21:13
Speaker 2: the right, they came to a fairly large space, and
21:16
Speaker 2: the cause of the smell became apparent. The floor inside
21:21
Speaker 2: was strewn with furry, yellow orange humps, each one measuring
21:24
Speaker 2: from three to six feet long. They might have passed
21:27
Speaker 2: for sleeping animals or giant fuzzy caterpillars, except that he
21:31
Speaker 2: did not move at all, and apart from the sound
21:33
Speaker 2: of water dripping off the tips of the stalactise overhead,
21:36
Speaker 2: the cavern was completely silent. The single darkened passage provided
21:41
Speaker 2: an exit on the far side, but to reach it,
21:43
Speaker 2: Achillie could see that they would have to pick their
21:45
Speaker 2: way carefully through the weird mounds, and the cavern was
21:48
Speaker 2: not small. It was a good fifty or sixty feet across.
21:53
Speaker 2: When Fairwood entered, he made a sound of curiosity and
21:56
Speaker 2: moved forward to get a closer look. Durretti grabbed him
21:59
Speaker 2: roughly by the wrist and then hissed at Achilia.
22:02
Speaker 4: Tell him to keep his torch well away from the mounds.
22:05
Speaker 4: No one must touch them.
22:07
Speaker 2: Achillia communicated as much to the startled clerk, and fair
22:10
Speaker 2: Wind withdrew, rubbing his wrists off causciously.
22:13
Speaker 5: Do any you know what these are?
22:16
Speaker 2: Hahladi Kouff, came his reply in Elvish. I'm not familiar
22:20
Speaker 2: with that, Achilie replied.
22:22
Speaker 4: It is a kind of mold. Its spores are highly poisonous,
22:26
Speaker 4: very highly, but we are safe unless we disturb it.
22:31
Speaker 2: Achilia once again looked across the room and apprehended how
22:34
Speaker 2: difficult it would be and slowly they would have to
22:37
Speaker 2: move in order to accomplish A crossing. Tender might have
22:40
Speaker 2: been wandering the same thing. Judging by the look on
22:42
Speaker 2: his face, his zest for adventure had leaked out. I'm
22:45
Speaker 2: beginning to wonder if we are really going to find
22:48
Speaker 2: your odoke zygog here. Akilia was thinking the same thing,
22:52
Speaker 2: and if it weren't for the woven banner they had
22:54
Speaker 2: found earlier. She might have decided to turn back, but
22:57
Speaker 2: it had mentioned history, and that seemed too big of
22:59
Speaker 2: a coincidence.
23:01
Speaker 5: I have to know for sure.
23:02
Speaker 2: Tender pointed at the closest yellow orange mound to fur.
23:06
Speaker 2: There was the shape of a human footbone, just visible
23:08
Speaker 2: at one end. He pointed to the other side and saw,
23:11
Speaker 2: through a gap in the fungus the top of a
23:13
Speaker 2: spine leading into the base of his skull, mostly buried
23:16
Speaker 2: under the thick fuzz. The mold was growing on corpses,
23:20
Speaker 2: and there had to be at least two dozen of
23:22
Speaker 2: them in here. If he is here, he might be dead.
23:25
Speaker 2: Achilles swallowed heart.
23:27
Speaker 5: I need to know that too. Come on, we can
23:30
Speaker 5: make it. Let's just be very, very careful not to
23:33
Speaker 5: touch anything.
23:38
Speaker 2: Here's what I found as a shrieker substitute in the
23:41
Speaker 2: first edition Monster Manual, yellow mold. Any creature which touches
23:46
Speaker 2: this mold is attacked by its enzymes. It also affects wood,
23:49
Speaker 2: albeit more slowly. It does no harm to metals or stone.
23:53
Speaker 2: If the substance is contacted roughly, there is a fifty
23:56
Speaker 2: percent chance per contact that the colony will release spores
24:00
Speaker 2: these deadly spores shoot out in an asphyxiating cloud originating
24:03
Speaker 2: from the center of the impact. Any creature which is
24:06
Speaker 2: within this cloud will die, its lungs filled with the
24:08
Speaker 2: yellow mold growth unless it makes a saving throw versus poison.
24:12
Speaker 2: Given the presence of cord, it's interesting that it specifically
24:15
Speaker 2: says it affects wood right anyways to mimic thee not
24:19
Speaker 2: guaranteed but potential hazard described in one trot in the
24:22
Speaker 2: dark off Mike. I rolled high low to see if
24:24
Speaker 2: this mold would block the path, making disturbing it necessary
24:28
Speaker 2: to continue. If it was, the second fifty fifty roll
24:31
Speaker 2: would be required to see if it released its spores.
24:34
Speaker 2: But I got it too, indicating that there would be
24:37
Speaker 2: a possible path through if the pieces were careful. Still,
24:41
Speaker 2: you know, I think these moldy mounds will have to
24:43
Speaker 2: at least delay the pieces. Here's a second high low
24:47
Speaker 2: to see if it will slow them by an additional
24:49
Speaker 2: ten or twenty minutes. High will mean twenty. I got
24:53
Speaker 2: a nine lucky. Yet again it will delay them by
24:56
Speaker 2: only an additional ten minutes. Chapter thirty, Part six, Seven
25:08
Speaker 2: years ago. The map room was one of very few
25:13
Speaker 2: rooms in the caves of Duroth that had a door.
25:16
Speaker 2: While always kept closed, it had no lock because it
25:19
Speaker 2: was not built for security. The map room was where
25:22
Speaker 2: all important councils were held, where all plans were made.
25:26
Speaker 2: Noise traveled through the caverns easily, and so this door
25:29
Speaker 2: was there to damp and sound. It was more for
25:31
Speaker 2: the comfort of the Dorothe villagers than for the privacy
25:33
Speaker 2: of their leaders. It was a smallish room of about
25:36
Speaker 2: some twenty feet by twenty feet more or less square.
25:40
Speaker 2: It featured a large tabletop, a top which rested the
25:43
Speaker 2: Dorothe's map in progress, an accumulation of seven years effort
25:47
Speaker 2: in the wilderness. Three corners of the large vellum sheet
25:51
Speaker 2: were held down by fist sized stones, the fourth a
25:54
Speaker 2: tin lantern. There were no chairs in the map room.
25:58
Speaker 2: This was not a place for rest nor comfort, but
26:00
Speaker 2: for serious work and serious conversations. Currently, Director Bayum and
26:06
Speaker 2: Curate Emson were in the middle of the latter activity.
26:09
Speaker 2: I'll be Frank Milliam.
26:11
Speaker 1: I don't think you have what it takes to lead
26:13
Speaker 1: us through this situation, and if you are in charge,
26:15
Speaker 1: we will all die.
26:16
Speaker 2: Emson was looking Director straight in the eye.
26:19
Speaker 3: It was unnerving and I suppose that you would name
26:21
Speaker 3: yourself as leader in my stead.
26:24
Speaker 2: Came Biam's reply, through gritted teeth.
26:26
Speaker 3: You lack resolve, No, Emson, you lack faith. A hail
26:31
Speaker 3: will test us, but never would she forsake us.
26:33
Speaker 1: Don't throw that garbage at me.
26:35
Speaker 2: Emson's neared back.
26:36
Speaker 1: My faith is as strong as anyone else is. But
26:39
Speaker 1: I'm not a fool.
26:40
Speaker 2: Bayum had never seen this aggressive side of the curate.
26:43
Speaker 2: Self doubt threatened, but this was no time to falter.
26:46
Speaker 3: I am the elected leader of the DROTHI not you,
26:50
Speaker 3: and I say we wait the creature out.
26:53
Speaker 2: Emson shook his head.
26:55
Speaker 1: That thing outside can't catch all of us. We must
26:58
Speaker 1: take the scroll and fleet. If we don't, the scroll
27:00
Speaker 1: might never be found again by anyone.
27:03
Speaker 2: Biam couldn't understand how the Curate failed to acknowledge the
27:06
Speaker 2: obvious flaw in his reasoning.
27:07
Speaker 3: But what if it does catch the one of us
27:09
Speaker 3: carrying the scroll?
27:10
Speaker 2: Ams in?
27:11
Speaker 3: What then?
27:12
Speaker 2: He was holding the scroll and presently held it up
27:14
Speaker 2: to shake it in the Curate's face.
27:16
Speaker 3: This is the first scroll of galandout. Will you risk
27:20
Speaker 3: it to mere chance? Think, ma'am?
27:22
Speaker 2: The curate shot back, such a look of venom that
27:24
Speaker 2: Byam wondered if he might attack him, But of course
27:27
Speaker 2: they were men of the cloth. In the end, reasonable, pious,
27:31
Speaker 2: and good. They would settle this argument with words and will,
27:35
Speaker 2: as they had solved every problem they had ever faced.
27:37
Speaker 2: Rector Biam had only just finished the thought when Emson
27:41
Speaker 2: lunged at him. Yeah, thank you for listening to Tale
27:46
Speaker 2: of the Manticora. If you'd like to help to support
27:48
Speaker 2: the show, there are lots of ways to do that.
27:50
Speaker 2: You can recommend it online or to friends. You can
27:52
Speaker 2: like and repost episode announcements on social media. You can
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Speaker 2: pick up one of my products on drive through RPG,
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Speaker 2: and finally, you can rather review the show on your
28:00
Speaker 2: podcastry of choice. I am ever grateful for your support.
28:04
Speaker 2: At this point, i'd like to share a listener review.
28:07
Speaker 2: This one was left by Bearded Green Wonder on Apple Podcasts.
28:10
Speaker 2: Bearded Green Wonder writes, really enjoying this podcast. This is
28:15
Speaker 2: basic D and D as I remember it, characters struggling
28:18
Speaker 2: at level one, only twelve episodes in, and thoroughly enjoying
28:21
Speaker 2: the evolving adventure. Get those goblins. Ah, it's been a while,
28:26
Speaker 2: but if I remember Captain Torre and Umora even vaguely,
28:30
Speaker 2: those goblins won't stand a chance. Thanks so much for
28:33
Speaker 2: your kind review. Now I'd be nowhere without my glorious
28:36
Speaker 2: cast of actors, and this episode features a whole bunch
28:39
Speaker 2: of them. In order of appearance. They are playing Record
28:43
Speaker 2: Byome once again is John Meherdick, host of the Blue
28:45
Speaker 2: fifty eight podcast about the Green Bay Packers. John is
28:49
Speaker 2: also one half of the Arcane Discovery's Instagram page. Frightened
28:53
Speaker 2: Dorothy Villager number one is voiced by Simon Williams of
28:57
Speaker 2: the Legend of the Bones podcast. Frightened Villager number two
29:01
Speaker 2: is played by Jared creator of the Queen of Shadows podcast.
29:04
Speaker 2: From role Ponder and play Dot from Bite Sized Tales
29:09
Speaker 2: and Resting Glitface is here too in the role of
29:11
Speaker 2: Rolean ky Ellen as always plays d Renny, and Kevin
29:15
Speaker 2: Barringer gives life to Tenier, finally taking on the role
29:19
Speaker 2: of Curate Amazon It's Rob de Ville Paladin, a podcast
29:23
Speaker 2: on side quests and mastermind of epic table games. In
29:26
Speaker 2: addition to voice actress, this episode features the incredible sound
29:30
Speaker 2: design work of Robert Newman. Robert created the Giant Troll,
29:34
Speaker 2: and boy did he get it just right. Check at
29:36
Speaker 2: his other work at Robert newmansouand dot com. The eventual
29:40
Speaker 2: will continue on the next episode of Tale of the Mantagor.
29:43
Speaker 2: It's the story, We're chaos, Roles