Speaker 1: This is Carl White from the Lone Adventurer Solo RPG
podcast and you are listening to Tale of the Manticore.
Speaker 2: The following podcast is intended for a mature audience. Listener
discretion is advised. Welcome back to Tale of the Manticor
Season three. 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 paper and dice games with
the story craft of a dark fantasy novel. No character
is sacred and none will be spared if the dice
decide their fate is at hand. According to Laura, 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 Manticor, in the last chapter,
Achille's party is joined by Edo, an outlaw who's running
from his former companions. Those people think, rightly or wrongly,
that Edo tried to poison them with bad mushrooms and
aret for revenge. So things do not look good. When
the pieces walk into a wooded area and right into
their trap. Three archers hidden in the trees have arrows
fixed on them. Achillia considers fighting and surrender as her
worst options, so she runs immediately. Arrows are loosed, and
while she, Cord and Robin get away, Edo is slain.
On the bright side, the archers do not pursue, and
after a few hours Achillia and her companions are clear
of danger. They find a hidden spot to rest for
the night, and the next day the quest north resumes.
That day passes without incident, as mile after mile roll
by underfoot. On the fifth day of travel, now about
fifty miles from home, the dice gods decide that another
random encounter will take place. Achillie hears an evil laugh
and a cry of pain from somewhere nearby. She would
have snuck away, not wanting to get involved, except for
one thing. The voice she hears, crying out in pain
is speaking in Elvish. Chapter six, Part one, day six
dusk mythic event meaning cruelty competition party status. Achillee four
out of four hit points, Chord six out of six
hit points. Supplies. The companions have no food and two
portions of water, remaining spells available. Achillie has memorized shrink.
There it was again, and if there was any doubt
left in Achille's mind, it was gone. Now that was elvish.
She knew the first five words. They were I will
fight like a something. The sixth word was unfamiliar. Achillia
realized that Cord was looking at her intently. When she
turned to face him. The wooden head creaked as it twisted.
Don't do it, said those painted on eyes, but Achilia
did not feel like she had a choice.
Speaker 1: I understand it's dangerous, but I have to know.
Speaker 2: She got up and left the shelter of her tree,
with Robin still atop her head and Cord following close behind.
At first, she was unsure which direction to go, but then,
almost as if by providence, the whip crack returned, along
with more laughter voices speaking loudly in a rude language
she could not understand. So now she knew which way
to go. She tried to remain quiet as she went.
For the most part, this effort failed, but whoever she
was approaching did not seem to be on the alert
for any intrusion. Although Achillie did not yet know it,
they were very much distracted. As she drew closer she
smelt smoke and shortly after saw the orange glow of
a little camp fire some hundred yards distant. Although it
spoiled her intro vision, she figured the noise it made
as it snapped and popped was a boon overall for
someone trying to sneak up. Now she saw what was
making the noise in the previous episode. When I rolled
up this wandering encounter, I got a four on a
D eight. That result told me the encounter would be
with one or more evil humanoids. The next roll gave
me when the encounter would happen night, and a third
and fourth roll told me the humanoids would be surprised,
but that Achillie would not. I could have taken that
opportunity for Achilia and her party to give these monsters
the slip. From a meta perspective, that might have been
best for her. But then I remembered my mythic event
meaning prompt, and realized there was a way to advance
the plot here. While it would introduce some unnecessary risk
to the PCs, it had the potential to help them
as well. Risk and reward. You know, my event meaning
prompt is cruelty competition. I had this idea that some
humanoids would have a captive and would be playing a
sadistic game with them. Simply, any captive would not do.
I needed something that would almost force Achillia to interfere,
so I decided that she would hear the Elvin language.
No way would Achilia be able to ignore an opportunity
to meet the only other Elf she has ever come across.
And since she has the advantage of surprise, I think
it's fair to allow her to sneak up on this
group without risk of discovery. In short, she gets to
take an action before being seen. Speaking of surprise, I
think I'll wait to reveal what kind of humanoids they
are until we get to the narrative. But before that happens,
I need to know how many of them are here.
I'll say two to four, rolling a depot and ignoring
a one. Three monsters. Okay, let's catch up with a
Killia and find out what she sees at the enemy camp.
She was still some forty yards distance away, approaching behind
and peering over the trunk of a fallen ash a
head in a clearing well lit by a small camp fire,
were three brutish figures. Each wore bulky armor of studded leather,
and carried a weapon of their belt. They were as
tall as men were, taller and thick of both limb
and torso. But these were not men. They had faces
like pigs, faces with upturned snouts, small black eyes, and
pointed ears. Their skin was a scarred, pinkish gray. All
three of them were surrounding a much smaller figure, someone
even smaller than Achillia, who being stripped to the waist
and manacled to a tall steak set in the earth.
The captive had long, wild black hair. Their skin was
crisscrossed with angry red welts. A whip was being passed
between the three brutes. Achilia thought they were Orcs, though
she had only ever heard of their species from Old
Vay's lessons. Each Orc took a turn lashing their prisoner
and then passing the whip to the next orc. Soon
it became clear that they had made a game of it,
laughing and arguing between strokes over who had made the
victim cry out the loudest. The prisoner twisted, and Achilie
could now see it was a male, and also did
not look as she had expected. He had pointed ears,
like her own, but he was smaller and slighter than
she was. His wrists were so slender that the manacles
barely kept him restrained. His face made him look young
and old at the same time, with his jaws clenched
tight and his eyes pinched shut. Obviously understood the rules
of the game and was trying not to give his
captors any satisfaction. But the next slash of the whip
came down with a ferocious crack, drawing blood and an outcry.
Achilie felt Cord touched her shoulder. She knew what he
was going to suggest and shook her head no, without
even looking at him. She had to try to save
this person. Her mind first went to the potion in
her satchel. If she could somehow give it to him,
he would be able to escape. But no, she would
have to do more than give it to him. She'd
need to personally pour it into his mouth because the
top of the stick with the manacle chains attached was
too high up. The chains didn't have enough slack for
the prisoner to drink it by himself, so that wasn't
going to work. She cleared her mind. There must be
some other way. She once again noticed how small the
prisoner's wrists were, and how the manacles barely prevented him
from slipping free. Suddenly, she knew exactly what she had
to do. Chapter six, Part two, Day six night mythic
event meaning cruelty competition party status. The party status is unchanged.
Achillia instructed Cord and Robin to stay put while she
went ahead. The wooden construct didn't like it, but she
would not be deterred. This was not just a chance
to save someone's life, but an opportunity to learn more
about her own people. The creature had spoken Elvish. Achillia
crept up with her heartbeat quickening. She chose carefully or
to put her feet, avoiding fallen branches, and dried leaves
as best she could. The noise from the orchestra camp
made her efforts superfluous and only served to slow her down.
Noise made her freeze and turned her legs to jelly.
As the orcs grunted in laughter. Achilia found herself paralyzed
with fear. Her brain told her legs to move, but
they would not obey. The orc holding the whip. It
had small yellow tusks and a shock of iron colored
hair raised the weapon in the air and declared something
in its guttural tongue boom, what the saw ball see.
One of the other Orcs reached out for the whip.
Arguing back, Achillie realized that if she had moved faster,
she might have spared their capture. That last lash, the
accompanying rush of guilt was enough to make her feet
move again. She sensed an opportunity, and before she knew it,
she had picked up a rock from the forest floor
and cocked back her hand ahead. The first Orc was
shoving the second with a meaty hand and sprang out
his retort war. Achillie threw the rock. It sailed over
the orc's heads, missing them by a good measure, but
she had never intended to hit them. The timing was good,
and the rock struck the bushes on the far side
of the clearing just as the first Orc finished speaking.
The mood in the Orc camp changed immediately as one
they drew their weapons. They first looked at each other
and then started walking towards the sound. Orcs are not
highly intelligent or organized, so I think Achillea's distraction has
the chance to draw away all three enemies. Let's ask
the dice. On a D six, A one to two
means one orc investigates, while the others stay put. On
a three to four, two will go. On a five
to six, all three will the roll. Nuts Ever, roll
to two, only one orc will go. The biggest ork
wheeled on its fellows tile while before stalking off alone
with his weapon raised. This was not the result a
Chillie had hoped for, but it was better than nothing,
and with the alarm raised, there was no turning back now.
She raised her hands and drew an arcane symbol in
the air as she cast the spell Shrink on the captive.
The spell Shrink, when cast by a first level magicator
like Achillia, causes the target to become smaller by ten percent.
It requires the caster to be able to see the target,
but doesn't require touch. The spell description says an unwilling
creature gets a save. I hope I'm not being too
much of a rules lawyer to suggest that an unaware
creature is not the same as an unwilling one, and
so I'm ruling that the spell will work without needing
to roll for it. The captive is about four and
a half feet tall, so he'll shrink by almost six.
That's not much, but it is enough. The prisoner's hands
slipped free of their shackles. He looked at them in wonderment.
A heartbeat later, the two orcs ordered to stay behind,
turned around and saw what had happened. Achilia didn't hesitate Honela.
She called this way in Elvish. The captive's strange, young
old face snapped up at her words, and she had
time to think how large his eyes are? Then he
was sprinting right at her. When she judged that he
could see her, she called out again, a tory navenki,
and then herself turned and started to run back to
where she had left Cord and Robin waiting. The two
orcs immediately gave chase. Last season, I introduced a pursuit
mechanic that I think works pretty well. It goes like this,
pursuer and pursued both roll for initiative until once I
it has three successes, there's a twist. Each round must
introduce a new modifier. This encourages a faster resolution and
provokes narrative ideas. Since I have one of the three
orcs investigating a sound in the woods on the far
side of the clearing, I'll say that only their remaining
two can act right away. The third orc will trail
by what's fair, I'll say two rounds. Okay, enough rules talk,
let's get into the action and begin pursuit round one.
I'm awarding a plus one to the party to account
for Achillee's surprise advantage. The Orcs two. The party two
plus one is three. There's a moment where the captive
is so bewildered by his sudden freedom that he simply
stands there, staring at his hands. Then his brain registers
the sound of his own language and concludes he must
be getting rescued. He tears off in the direction of
the voice, leaving the remaining two Orcs flat footed and confused.
But they don't hesitate for long, and once it's clear
that they are not under attack, they give chase. Pursuit
round two, the party will get a plus two while
the Orcs hesitate. The Orcs a six. Oh no, the
party five plus two is seven. Despite their size and
the denseness of the woods, the Orcs are surprisingly fast.
They crashed through the undergrowth, barking obscenities in their language,
but the captive is even faster. It's not long before
he sees the little shape of his savior, who steals
a quick glance over her shoulder before racing on ahead pursuit.
Round three, the party will get a plus three as
the big Orcs struggle to maintain their initial burst of speed.
The Orcs A three, the party five plus three is eight.
The party's last roll wasn't even necessary strictly speaking, even
on a one they would have gotten away, but making
the roll shows me how completely they outstripped their pursuers.
While the Orcs manage a good chase for the first
minute or so, they cannot maintain it. Their size and
the bulky armor and weapons they carry bring them tire quickly. Conversely,
Achilliu's party is almost completely unencumbered, and compared to the Orcs,
even Cord is small and fleet of foot. That's why
by the time the party stops to rest, the Orcs
are far far behind them. Achillia and the former captive
are about to meet for the first time, and that
calls for a reaction roll. I'm going to add some modifiers, though,
to reflect the circumstances, but plus three for her liberating
him seems fair, if not conservative. Also, Achillia speaks his language. Normally,
that'd be worth another plus one, but since she doesn't
look the way he expects her to, that is like
an actual elf, I am not giving it to her. Still,
plus three is very good, so this should work out
all right. Then again, you never know. Let's ask the
dice on two D six plus three only a five,
but the plus three brings it to an eight, which
is slightly on the positive side. I'll interpret the role
like this. The freed captive won't run away, but he'll
be extremely stand offish, at least at first. A quick
note here, so long as I have the action paused,
the captive and Achillia will be conversing in Elvish, but
I'll translate the dialogue as we go. Podcasts don't do
subtitles very well. After all, Okay, it's time to get
back to the narrative and listen to this play out.
Achilia had run and run until her throat burned and
her legs felt like they would give out underneath her. Finally,
when she could run no further, she stopped to rest
and allow the others to catch up. She was still
breathing ragged breaths, standing with her arms akimbo in front
of a tall maple when the stranger emerged from the bracken.
By then, Cord and Robin had already caught up. It
was a strange moment when four of them came together.
Scaryako Throucynia, gasped the former captive in Elvish skety kaska.
He was doubled over, with his hands on his knees
and panting hard from the exertion. I think so, replied Achilia,
also in Elvish, only just now getting her wind.
Speaker 1: Oh, let me undo the enchentment with.
Speaker 2: A wave of her hand. The spell was broken, and
the stranger returned to his former size. The change was
barely perceptible. Skey kaska, he said again. When he looked
up and the two saw each other up close, both
he and Akilia stepped back in surprise. What manner of
being are you?
Speaker 1: How is it that you speak my tongue?
Speaker 2: He asked in Elvish. Achilia was momentarily stunned. She had
wanted to ask the same question. This person was very
odd to look upon. His face had the features of
a child, but was also somehow time worn.
Speaker 1: I I can speak Elviish because I am in elf.
Speaker 2: She replied, No, you are not, said the other slowly.
Speaker 1: Why do you say that, ask to Kilia, because I
am an elf and you do not look like me.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to Tale of the Mantacor. If you're
enjoying the show and would like to help to support it,
there are lots of ways to do so. You can
recommend the show online or to friends. You can like
and repost episode announcements on social media. You can pick
up One Shot in the Dark, the Pendulum world building Tool,
or Encyclopedia Manticorica on drive through RPG, and speaking of
my offerings on drive through RPG, stick around after the
credits for a special announcement where was I ah? Yes?
You can also purchase a Tale of the Manticore T
shirt at www dot bear Arts, dots door, and finally,
you can rate to review the show on your podcast
roo of choice. I am very grateful for any and
all of your support. As you know, Alec to read
a listener review at the end of each episode. This
one was left by Well on the Way via Apple Podcasts,
and this is another one of those long overdue read
alouds that slipped through the cracks in previous seasons. Well
on the way rights, well produced and very well played.
Good story that gives folks wanted to try rpging a
good place to start. Thanks very much for that review,
and my apologies for having missed it. Somehow better late
than never, though I suppose having missed two of these
older reviews, I find myself wondering if there are more
that I never discovered. If you're listening to this right
now and you once wrote a review that I never
featured on the show, please email me or DM me
and I'll correct the oversight. I am at Manto Cortel
on x Tale of the Medical podcast on Instagram or
Tale of Themantacre at gmail dot com. At this time,
let's talk about this episode's voice talent making a return
appearance on the show. From that little bit of a
teaser in episode five, is Ky Allen playing the rescued elf,
whose name we've not yet learned. I've also got a
quick cameo by Kevin Barringer, who gives voice to Orc
number one. I think Kevin'll be voicing a proper character
in the near future. By the way, thanks so much
to both Kayellen and Kevin for those who would like
to check out some of the shows miscellany. 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 themanticre dot blogsbot
dot com. The adventure will continue on the next episode
a Tale of the Manticor. It's the story where chaos rolls.
Thank you for sticking around to the end. As we're
coming to the end of twenty twenty four, I wanted
to share a few thoughts, and I promised to keep
it brief. Let's begin. It occurred to me at some
point that I started season three with a promise you
do not need to have listened to either of my
previous seasons in order to jump into Tale of the
Manticor and understand what's going on. I'd like to invite
new listeners to get in touch and let me know
if I haven't kept that promise. Have I glossed over
anything in the season or even in season two without
adequate explanation. I expect that by now I take a
lot for granted in terms of my home brew basic
D and D rules, as well as some of my
made up shorthand terms like semi actual play or minning out.
Please do reach out if I inflect you in the dark.
Tale of Theman whor at gmail dot com is best,
but my blogspod account would work too. Now there's three
things I mentioned in every episode that new listeners may
well hear and think huh, because I know I've never
talked about them in this season. Every episode ends with
me thanking listeners for their support, and before I get
to a listener review, I always mention One Shot in
the Dark, the Pendulum world building tool, and Encyclopedia Manticarica.
What the heck are these things? Anyway, they are three
products I put up for sale on the online store
drive through rpg dot com. Here's a brief overview and
some news. One Shot in the Dark. This is my
ultra light solo game that could be played start to
finish in ninety minutes or chunked up to play over
multiple short sessions. The strengths of the game are probably
its unique mapping system and its overall simplicity. Together, these
factors have made it a hit with folks who want
to introduce RPGs to their kids. That was never my
intention to be honest, but I'm thrilled that I found
a home in the RPG space. One Shot in the
Dark is my best seller and it is very close,
just fifty copies away from going platinum. If you'd like
to support the show and help me to reach this milestone,
the game can be bought for a dollar fifty. The
Pendulum world building Tool. This product is special to season
two because I developed it in preparation of that season.
It uses this or that engine too, step by step
help you create the five hundred year history of a
custom settlement. It's not a game, but a world building
tool for writers and gms. Pendulum is currently an Electron bestseller,
and it too is just fifty copies away from the
next level. I'd love to see it go gold, and
if this kind of thing piques your interest, please check
it out. Pendulum costs ninety nine cents. Encyclopedia Manticorca. This
is my living reference document that gets updated a few
months after each season wraps. Its purpose is to collect
all tells of Manticore lore in one place. It's pay
what you want, and I encourage anyone to grab it
for free, though many have used it as a way
to give me a tip. I'm very grateful to all
who have done so, but if you've got an interest
in this document, please do help yourself to a copy
for free, and please don't feel an obligation to pay
a penny. Encyclopedia Manticore is currently listed as a silver
best seller. That's one below electrom but that's only because
Drive Through RBG doesn't count free products as sales. Technically,
considering that it has done rather well, no complaints here.
What's happening in twenty twenty five? If one shot in
the Dark hose platinum, I'm going to make and release
an expansion module for it, call it a stretch goal
this year. I'm also experimenting with merch in cooperation with
Bare Arts Dots store. So far we just have the
single T shirt to and a few basic colors, but
we might start to offer a second design in twenty
twenty five and we'll see. By gratitude to those who
have supported the show by a perch, sing, a T
shirt or one of my Drive through RPG products, or both,
and of course I'd like to thank each and every
one of you just for listening. As we move into
the coming holiday season, I'm wishing you all the best
in health and happiness. I'll see you Achillea, coord and
Robin in the next episode.