Speaker 1: Hi, this is Martin from Daddy rold to one and
you are listening to Tale of the Manticor.
Speaker 2: The following podcast is intended for a mature audience. Listener
discretion is advised. Welcome back to Tale of the Manticore
Season two. Like the creature from which it takes its name,
Tale of the Manticor is a mashup, a cross breeding
between two different species of storytelling. Here you will find
the unpredictability of old school RPG paper and dice games
with the story craft of a dark fantasy novel. No
character is sacred, and no character will be spared if
the dice decide their fate is at hand. According to lore,
the Tale of a Manticore is barbed with cruel iron spikes.
There will be much pain in the days ahead. Last
time on Tail of the Mantigor, Chapter seventy one begins
with Jace's ascension to level seven. When we rejoin the story,
the fighter has lifted the woman on the altar into
his arms and is carrying her back the way they came.
While the others discuss whether or not they should proceed
now that they have an unconscious woman in their charge.
Jace is rapidly falling in love. He has no idea
that the woman is actually a succubus and that he
has succumbed to her charm enchantment. That's why when her
eyes flutter open and she invites him to kiss her,
he does so readily. Of course, a kiss from a
Soccubis is really bad news. The moment their lips touch,
things go from blissful to agonizing. Jace is drained of
the level he just turned, and then as Vaughan transforms
into her true demonic form and the companions fall back
in yock and fear, he loses another. Savon clearly intends
to drink his soul to the dregs, but Shawnee manages
to hurt her with Culfrey's sword, The Sentinel. This changes
things for the Demonesse, who thought herself immune to harm
for mortals. A quick battle follows in which she is
further hurt by Shawnees and yellowflies enchanted blades, but before
they can destroy her, she vanishes in a cloud of brimstone.
Chapter seventy two, Part one, Day one hundred and eighty four.
Time unknown party status yellowfly thirty two of forty four
hit points Shawney twenty eight of thirty three, Jase thirty
three of thirty eight, Kat Spain seventeen of twenty one,
Basu nineteen of twenty one spells available. Cat's Pain has
memorized detect magic, magic, missile, web, mirror, image, haste, slow,
and dimension door. Basu has prayed for cure like wounds,
light bless, locate object and cure serious wounds Shartoon's breath.
What was that some kind of devil?
Speaker 3: I believe, in fact that it was a demon, one
called sakibis.
Speaker 2: Kat'spain had read about soccubi and other types of demons
in Zygogue's pantology Demonium, though he wouldn't have recognized it
had it not taken on its true epistle form demon.
Did you kill it? Kat'spain, No, replied the young mage.
Speaker 3: In fact, I don't think I even hit her. She
merely disappeared.
Speaker 2: Yellow Flies spun around, raising his sword as though he
expected the demon to reappear right behind him. Creature was gone, Jace.
It was Shawnee. She had thrown herself on the floor
beside the pale and withered fighter shore Is. He began,
Yellowfly coming over with a worried look on his face.
I I don't know, he's just look at him. Jace
appeared dead. He was lying on his back, with his
legs blade out and his face looking hollow and old.
Jase's eyes, once bright blue, were now the color of
Robin's eggs, and they stared straight up, unblinking and nothing. Basu,
come here, Yellowfly barked. The clerk had walked away to
retrieve his holy symbol, but now he hurried back to
tend to his fallen companion. As soon as Bazu touched him,
Jay sat bolt upright and sucked in a huge breath
of air.
Speaker 4: Where is it?
Speaker 2: He said, in a panic, looking around with terror in
his eyes. Where did he go? And then, without another word,
he collapsed into racking, uncontrollable sobs. Bazu and Shawnee held
him and stroked his hair, now streaked with white, while
Yellowfly and Cat'spain looked on, feeling a mixture of relief
and pity. Jase looked like a man who had lost
part of his soul. By now, most of the incense
haze and brimstone smoke was gone, and Yellowfly could see
just beyond the dais an opening in the wall that
led further on into the dungeon. Can you walk, Jesse,
give him a minute, said Shawnay. Cat, you see he
isn't ready to move yet. I'm sorry, replied Yellowfly. Jace,
take all the time you need. Just as he finished speaking,
something caught his eye. From back the way they had come,
beyond the fountains and water features in the statue's courtyard,
the legion of candles was beginning to dim, going out
one by one. From where the companions were, it seemed
like a cloud of darkness was slowly creeping their way. Cat,
spain your lantern, said Yellowfly.
Speaker 3: Right, yes, good idea.
Speaker 2: Replied the mage, producing its hinder box and kneeling down
to strike flint. He had the lantern lit by the
time the last of the candles went out, and now
the companions once again found themselves in the amber circle
of its glow, unable to see very much beyond. They
stayed where they were for another quarter of an hour
until Jace said he was ready to continue. He still
looked old and withered. On the inside. He remained heartbroken.
The feeling of love it had seemed completely real. Impossibly
it still did. If he had magically been granted a wish.
Just then he would have used it to go back
to when he held the woman in his arms. As
long as he had lived, there had never been a
moment when he'd felt happier. Loss, shame, the sudden wrenching
twist from sublime joy to abject misery. It was devastating.
He wondered how he would ever feel good again. At
least he still had his friends, that was something. He
was on his feet now, and Shawnee still had her
small arm under him. He'll be all right, Jase, she
said soothingly. Wee here for you. Bazu also put a
hand on Jase's shoulder and support Well, I'll be all rot,
said Jace, trying to believe it. He reached up and
felt his cheeks and under his chin there were puncture
marks and dried blood. Let's go, everyone, be on your guard.
Yellowfly was in the lead. That thing disappeared, it might reappear.
Be ready for that. The hallway behind the dais was
too narrow to permit the companions to walk to her breast,
so they had gone single file. Cat's pain, then Basu, Jace,
and finally shot Ay in the rear The passage took
them straight for thirty feet, then down a short flight
of stairs and into another passage heading in the same direction.
It terminated in a round arch, beyond which they could
see a room. Well before they reached it, they could
smell it. An odor of unwashed bodies and death, similar to,
but stronger than, the smell from the prison level above,
was present in the air beyond. Your guard, repeated Yellowfly.
The warning was unnecessary. Everyone could sense that they were
walking towards something dreadful. Hold up the lantern. Yellowfly instructed
Cat's pain. As they passed under the rounded arch, the
mage did as he was told, illuminating the space in
front of them. They were in a strange chamber. It
was shaped like a capsule, longer than it was wide,
and rounded at either end. The fire wall was curved,
as was their own, and a second identical arch mirrored
the one they now came through. The side walls were
festooned with chains and manacles. Most were empty, but not all.
Three rag clad bodies drooped against the left wall. The
middle of the chamber was not empty either. It featured
a low square of iron the size and shape of
a bed, though from a distance, its purpose was not
readily apparent. There was something on the floor behind it too.
As Yellowfly and Cat'spain moved further into the room, they
saw that it was not a thing but a pit
behind the square of iron. Cat'spain's lantern light also revealed
some more detail of the square as they drew close.
It appeared to be a bed of nails, an iron
frame with dozens of sharp spikes sticking straight up from it.
Waten Vassel in his name, muttered Yellowfly. Was this another
torture device like the ones they had seen in Calfrey's dungeon.
Reading his thoughts, Catspain looked from the hanging corpses on
the wall to the bed of nails.
Speaker 3: I can think of only one use for something like this, Yellowfly.
Speaker 2: Shawnee, and Jase were still by the arch, talking in
hushed tones. Meanwhile, Bazu had walked directly toward the left
wall where the corpses hung. The cleric's heart was still
racing from the encounter with the succubus. He had intended
to threaten her with a righteous and holy command, but
she had not been cowed, not in the least. In fact,
she had laughed at the attempt and returned to the
thread of her own. He could remember every syllable.
Speaker 3: As your sons, fobbits.
Speaker 2: Is that what she had been doing with these poor individuals,
he wondered. Looking up at the corpses devouring their soles,
he suddenly realized that he recognized the face of the
middle one. In life, brother Lego had been somewhat plump,
but this corpse was no more than a slender strip
of bones held together by skin. Bazu sighed heavily, squeezing
his eyes shut against the sight, and then turned his
back on his former brothers, moving into the middle of
the room to rejoin his companions. Shawnay and Jace were
there too.
Speaker 4: Now it's a bed of nails and a bit, explained
Jace as the cleric approached.
Speaker 2: When he asked what was in the pit, Jace replied,
you don't want to know, Bazu, but the cleric looked anyway.
Speaker 1: It's been seven years since the mast Court fell and
the Empire began dying its final death. Once a member
of the elite Imperial Special Service, now turned bounty hunter,
Sejean Luschale fights for survival in a universe full of
turmoil and confusion. She's use her wits, her lais pistol
in the power of the void to face the growing
tension in the Casstin system. This is Steve Morrison of
the Errant Adventures podcast, and on this new season, I'm
using the tabletop RPG Traveler to bring to life my
own space opera setting full of bounty hunters, religious zelots,
and people struggling to survive and find joy in the
dying lights of an intergalactic empire. Join me for this
new adventure, and welcome to Book one, Meridian. I'll see
you out in the Deep.
Speaker 2: Chapter seventy two, on day one hundred and eighty four,
time unknown party status. The party status is unchanged. I'm
not sure how much more of this I can take,
said Jeanne, her voice thick. She was looking into the
pit behind the bed of nails, ten feet down. At
the bottom were a number of corpses. Shawney thought they
were seven or eight of them, but it was hard
to say precisely because they'd been thrown one atop the
other in a heap. They were so shriveled and desicated
that they were little more than husks. My head is
starting to hurt, said Yellowfly, also looking down at the
grim scene. Actually, Yellowfly's head had been throbbing ever since
they had inhaled the demonic incense back at the Dais,
and it wasn't just a headache. His conscious mind was
being invaded by sporadic flashes of intense visions. One was
of the demon's leering face, another an endless mass of
writhing insects. The most recent ones were fantasies of violence.
The thoughts were not his own, and he wanted them
out of his head. He looked away from the pit,
wiping his face with his forearm, and regarded the others.
Were they going through the same thing. We should give
this place a thorough search, he said. Having something to
do would make them all feel better. Journey could inject
the other arch, the rest of us could examine the walls.
The companions agreed and split up. Shawney circumnavigated the pit
and approached the arch of the far wall. Bazu walked
to the wall without the hanging corpses to conduct a search,
and Jace went with him. Yellowfly and Kat'spain took the
other side. The maide knew rother Lego, but he did
not recognize him or the other two priests. Deprivation and
suffering had caused too much change on their faces, and besides,
Katspain avoided looking at them too closely. Like Yellowfly, he
concentrated on the wall itself as they searched. A thought
recurred to him that he'd first had while they were
waiting for Jace to recover back at the dais what
is it? Cutspine? The fighters seemed very intent on the
stones of the wall, pushing and tapping each one in turn.
Speaker 3: I was wondering about a couple of things. Did you
notice how the demon reacted to us?
Speaker 2: Reacted? I'm not sure what you're getting at.
Speaker 3: I mean she recoiled when she saw your sword.
Speaker 2: I cut off her damned wing with it, so that's
not surprise.
Speaker 3: No, no, I mean before that, I think she recognized it.
Speaker 2: That had not occurred to the Yellowfly. He stopped tapping
stones and looked at the young wizard. That would make
a certain amount of sense. What else were you going
to say?
Speaker 3: I'm sorry?
Speaker 2: Didn't you say you were wondering about a couple of things?
Speaker 3: Oh no, I just the point about your sword.
Speaker 2: That's that's all, well, said the Yellowfly. Scratching his light
growth of beard. His head still hurt, and he was
beginning to doubt his ability to concentrate. Well, if it
fears the sword, perhaps it'llly the alone.
Speaker 3: I yes, yes, I do. Hope you're right.
Speaker 2: Katspin did have another thought, but had decided at the
last minute not to share it. He was certain that
the demon had deliberately avoided him, specifically, at one point,
it made as if to lunch his way and then
turned and attacked Shawney instead. He would have sworn that
it happened, even if it had all occurred in the
space of a single second. Yell a Fly had turned
back to his stones, trying to find the one he'd
inspected last, and resuming his search from there. I think
there's a chance that the PCs will discover something during
their search. And since my dmside hasn't made a decision
about whether or not there might be any traps or
secret doors in here, let's ask the dice for the arch.
I'll roll a D twenty and on a one there
will be a trap. There's no need to roll Shawnee's
find removed trap skill until that's being determined. Here's the
roll A ten no traps, and so no further role
is required. How about the other pieces? They're looking for
secret doors in either wall. With two pieces at each side,
Normally there'd be a one and six chance to find
a secret door if there was one to be found.
But in this case, hmm, I'll use a similar mechanic
as with the arch. I'll roll a D twenty, and
this time on A twenty, there will be something hidden
from sight. As with Shawnee, the role to discover it
can wait. Rolling for Jase and Bazu's side A two.
Now for Yellowfly and Cat's pain A nine. Looks like
everything to be found in this room is disturbingly in
plain view. Since I have the action paused and some
dice near at hand, let's make a couple more rolls. Earlier,
Yellowfly worried that the demon as might suddenly reappear and
attack them by surprise. I briefly considered having her do
just that, but the thing is. Savon fled for her
life and even lost a wing to the silverthorn, which
she does, of course course recognize. She's in no hurry
to tangle with the man who wilds it again. On
the other hand, she serves Azorazul, and these mortals, she
now realizes present an existential threat to her master. Furthermore,
she's been instructed not to harm the wizard in the group,
as Azorazul intends to inhabit his body and would prefer
it to be fully intact when he does. I think
a reaction check makes more sense than a morale check
in this situation. The lower the number on two six,
the more likely she is to stock the party and
attempt to harm them in some probably indirect way. On
a very high roll, all rule that we will not
see her again at all rolling but three on the
dice means she is not going to give up. Her
fear of Azora Azul is greater than her fear of
the Silverthorn. I suppose there's one last thing I wanted
to discuss while I'm away from the narrative. Let's talk
about dungeon design. I've said before that I don't have
a map for the Ruin, and I still think that's
the right way to go, even though I can see
certain benefits to having it be predetermined. At one point
I even considered using, or rather abusing my ultra light
game one shot in the Dark degenerate a map on
the fly and at random. That seemed like a cool
idea at first, but as brief as that game is,
where every room could be navigated in a minute or two.
Used for this purpose, he could potentially drag the pacing
down if I ended up with too large a dungeon.
Maybe that's something I can say for season three. Right now,
I think the tempo needs to ramp up, and that
means from here on in it's all killer and no filler.
Speaker 3: Yell a fly, Perhaps we'd best be moving.
Speaker 2: The fighter had once again lost his place. Had he
already tested this stone or not? His concentration kept on
being broken by horrendous thoughts.
Speaker 3: Perhaps we should be moving on. There's not much oil
remaining in the land stern.
Speaker 2: It it only just occurred to him to check. But
when Katspin had seen that there were only a couple
of hours hours worth of fuel remaining, it had given
him a chill. The thought of being in the ruin
without so much as the light of their lantern was unthinkable.
Oh I see, replied Yellowfly, immediately adopting the other man's concern.
Let's get the others and go. He glanced over at Shawnay,
who was by the fire arch. In response to his
tilted chin, she silently kissed the air in the direction
of it, a common cant sign that indicated that the
way ahead was clear. Yellowfly then collected Basu and Jace.
The latter did not look good. Are you able to
go on? Jase only nodded dumbly, and Yellowfly was not convinced. Basu,
Is there not you can do for him? Some healing prayer,
you can say? It was a fair question. Bazu had
healed them all in the past at one time or another,
but the cleric's only response was to look at his feet.
Jase answered for him.
Speaker 4: He already told me that his magic could only cure physicals.
What happened to me was something deeper than that. There's
nothing he can do.
Speaker 2: Bazu sniffed, and Jase patted him on the back.
Speaker 4: That's all right, Ballzu, I know you'd help me if
you could.
Speaker 2: Yellowfly didn't know what else to say about it, so
he just nodded stiffly and walked over to Shawnee's arch.
After a moment, everyone else followed, and soon the party
was moving through a new hallway and went straight for
forty feet, then turned right and continued for a similar distance.
They could see that the passageway terminated not in a
door nor an arch, but a cave like opening. Long
before they reached it, they were struck by a new smell,
this one even more unpleasant than that of the occupae's layer. Oh,
rotten fish, said Yellowfly, stating the obvious. The stench grew
stronger and stronger as they progressed, until it was almost
enough to make them wretch. At some point, Shawnee covered
her nose and mouth with the hammer for cloak. Yellowfly,
Basu and Jase would have done likewise if they'd had
a free hand, And the stink was so powerful that
after a while Kat's Baden sheathed his magical dagger so
that he could hold his nose as well. He was
currently third in their marching order, which had Yellowfly in
the lead, Shone a second, and Jase and Bozzi bringing
up the rear. As they made their way, Yellowfly instructed
the clerk to check behind them every so often. He
was still worried that the Demonesse might reappear, but she
did not, and they made it all the way to
the cave like opening, unmolested save for the ever worsening
odor of dead fish. Ahead, they could make out a
dim light, so Yellowfly told Katspain to shutter their lantern
for the time being. Once that was done, he led
them to the end of the hall and through the
opening they found themselves on the upper lip of a
large bowl shaped cave some fifty feet across and beeper
again by half. It had a ceiling crowded with stalactites,
and a ridge that spiraled down and followed the edge
like a corkscrew. The light was coming from below. Yellowfly
crouched down and had his companions do likewise. He put
a finger to his lips, and then they all crept
to the edge and peered into the pit. At the bottom,
a trio of braziers described a triangle around a large
pool of water some thirty feet in diameter. Its depth
was unknowable, although yellow Flies surmised it must not connect
with the same body of water they passed after the
room with the hell hound statues. If it had, the
water level would have been much higher all the way
to the roof of His understanding of how these things
worked was correct. Then again, in a place like this,
perhaps the laws of nature did not always apply. The
braziers were lit, and the reflections of their flames bounced
off the water and all over the cavern, even all
the way up to the stalactites that overhung it. Their
shadows played weakly in and among the underside of the
dripping stone forms. All around the pool, ringing it were
dozens upon dozens of fish carcasses, and perhaps the thousands
of bones, of all shapes and sizes, so many that
they covered the entire floor. Some were small, but others
were as long as a man was tall. Among the
heaped fish bodies were tentacled things and shell fish, all dead.
On the far side was what Yellowfly took to be
an enormous, stunted stalagmite, at least until it moved. When
that happened, he jerked back from the edge, stifling a gasp,
as did his companions. They all looked at each other
with wide eyes, before creeping back to the lip and
peering down once again. What in Marith were they looking at,
Yellowfly wondered. Perhaps they really weren't in Mareth. After all,
the thing at the bottom of the pit was alien, monstrous.
It was no stalagmite, but a hulking toad like creature.
Even seated against its hind legs, it must have been
ten feet tall. It had mottled gray green and knob
behind malformed limbs in a broad wedge shaped head. Slime
dripped from its chin and glimmered in the firelight of
the braziers, which lit the creature dramatically. From underneath, yellowflies
saw that one of its eyes was missing. The other
was bulbous and round, with a horizontal pupil set in
a yellow green irin Mercifully, and perhaps because it was
half blind, it did not seem to have noticed them.
The smell coming up from below was eye wateringly strong,
and yellowfly could feel his stomach beginning to churn. He
swallowed down the rising taste of bile and tried to
breathe through his mouth, but it didn't help. Just then,
the monstrous toad thing below shifted its weight and lumbered
over to the half eaten carcass of some giant fish.
It reached out an arm, and although its hand was clawed,
Yellowfly saw that it looked more like the arm of
a man's than a toad's. It scooped up a chunk
of soft gray white flesh and came away with a
handful of meat. He could tell by the way it
sliced open that it was putrefied. The mouth that opened
to accept it was wide enough that it could have
eaten a man whole. When the creature turned again, as
one the companions pulled back, the yellowfly looked at the others,
and then pointed back the way they had come. But
Kat's Bain shook his head. Didn't you see, whispered the
magic user. Yellaw Fly squinted, not understanding. He knew Katspan
wasn't referring to the monster, as no one could have
missed that. Katspin pulled close and whispered his explanation right
in his ear.
Speaker 3: There's an exits at the bottom. If we are to
go forward, we must get past this damon.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to Tale of the Manticor if you've
enjoyed the show and would like to help the support it,
there are lots of ways to do so. You could
recommend it online or to friends. You can like and
repost episode announcements on social media. You can pick up
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or Encyclopedia Manticorica on Drive through RPG. And finally, you
can rate or review the show on your podcatterer of
choice by thanks to everyone for their support of the show.
I'd love to read one of your kind reviews at
this point. This one was left by Hammadith on the
podcast addict app. Hammadith writes, this podcast was one of
the first of its kind. It's not unique at this
point in time, but it's still the best. Guest, I
always go back to s. One e thirteen. Girios's awakening
is an amazing scene. The narration, the choice of music,
the emotion. You're a master of your craft, John, That
is too kind, Amudith. I'm pretty sure I am not
a master of the craft, but I am a dungeon
master of the craft. I should take this opportunity to
thank able Enzo and the Iron Realm podcast. This was
and is the original semi actual play and it is
hugely inspirational. Anyway, thank you for your review, my friend.
Speaking of friends, where would I be without my voice talent?
This episode features two of my tumble Dye amigos Ky
Ellen and Kevin Playcat's Babe and Jace. For listeners who'd
like to get in touch with me. I'm at Manticore
Tale on x or Tale of the Mantcor podcast on Instagram.
If you prefer email, I'm at Tale of Themantcre at
gmail dot com. Finally, I keep a blog where I
post all kinds of show and RPG related stuff like art, maps, tables, crafts,
and show notes. You can find it at tale of
Themantcre dot blogspot dot com. The adventure will continue on
the next episode of Tale of the Manticor. It's the
story We're Chaos Roles.
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