November 21, 2025 • 27 mins
Every Hidden Thing Revealed: Tale of the Manticore is a hybrid solo-actualplay D&D game and full production audiodrama. I use Dungeons & Dragons B/X (OSR). This is a dark fantasy tale made for a mature audience.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, this is sc Albin, author of the Strega series,
and you're listening to Tale of the Manticor. The following
podcast is intended for a mature audience. Listener discretion is advised.
(00:28):
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
(00:50):
and none will be spared if the dice decide their
fate is at hand. According to Lare, the Tale of
a Manticre is barbed with cruel iron spikes. There will
be much pain in the days ahead. Last time on
(01:14):
Tail of the Mantigor, the last episode concerns the exploration
of the newly discovered cottage. To Achilles's disappointment and frustration,
it appears to have been abandoned long ago. The only
thing in the place that attracts any attention is a
boot mat, which for some reason agitates Flicker. Fairwind inspects
it and at first finds nothing out of the ordinary,
(01:35):
But then he remembers a lesson talked to him long
ago by one of the priestesses at the Church of
the Sacred Flame until moral. The lesson was about seeing
beyond the apparent to the true nature of things, and
the sister used an optical illusion to demonstrate her point.
Thinking of this, Fairwind now notices there's something wrong with
the mat and soon recognizes it for the illusion that
it is. Once he sees it, the spell is broken
(01:58):
and everyone can see it is not a man at all,
but a door. When Achille opens it, the party is
astounded to find themselves looking down into what seems like
an underground complex that is being turned on its side.
(02:19):
Chapter forty one, Part one, day thirty six, late afternoon.
Twenty minutes remain in Achilies detect evil spell, mythic event
meaning harm, rumor party status Achillee thirteen out of thirteen
(02:39):
eight points, Court twenty four of twenty four, de Renni
sixteen of sixteen, ten Tier nineteen of nineteen, Fairwind twenty
seven of thirty three, Flicker sixteen of sixteen. Supplies the
(03:02):
companions have no food, remaining spells available. Achillie can cast
enlarge message and glitter, dust, cord can cast entangle slow
poison and old animal. Fair Wind can cast cure light,
wounds and protection from evil. Every hidden thing revealed uttered
(03:27):
fair wind in a whisper at what they saw. But
even this paled beside the bizarre event that transpired when
Achilie put out her foot and stepped into the pit.
The half elf was willing to risk everything to blind trust,
well not quite blind. She had asked that tenttire to
take hold of her by her backpack, and so if
things did not transpire the way she expected, she was
(03:48):
not likely to fall to her death. She put out
her foot and shifted her way forward, and she did
not fall. Instead, all of reality seemed to rotate on
its action. The walls rolled up to either side of her,
and when her foot came down, it came down on
the carpet. She breathed out an excited gasp. Her instinct
(04:10):
had been right ahead. The hallway stretched out before her
completely solid. Gravity was working properly, and her feet felt
firm on the ground. She took a tentative look back
over her shoulder and immediately regretted it. Tenttyr was standing
as though stuck by the bottoms of his feet to
a wall, except that this wall was actually the floor
(04:31):
of the cottage. The young elf still had his hand out,
fingers bladed, as though he had just let go of
her pack. His mouth was an open oh of astonishment.
Achillie's brain lurched, and she felt her equilibrium tilt for
a moment, but the feeling passed, and then she was
herself again. She flashed tantyr a hesitant smile.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
It's safe, she.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Said, mostly believing it. I hope my modest skillet writing
is enough to have described what has taken place here.
Have you ever seen the movie Labyrinth? In it, the
Goblin King, played by David Bowie navigates a kind of
mc escher jumble of staircases, and no matter which way
(05:12):
he walks, he is always right side up. That's the
idea I was going for to roll back the tape
a little. It was fair Wind that noticed the initials
carved into the front door and suspected right away that
the cottage was decoy. When he dispelled the illusion of
the boot mat, his suspicion was proved correct. But there's
much more going on here this place. I'm going to
call it Odoke's Seclusium is built into the ground sideways
(05:36):
and by some powerful magic gravity works, so that down
is ninety degrees from where it normally would be. Whether
this whole complex is actually dug into the earth, or
if the door is a portal to a pocket dimension, well,
I haven't actually worked that out yet, and it might
not make any difference. Suffice it to say that the
Seclusium is very weird and much, if not everything about
(05:58):
it is powered by magic. Before I return to the narrative,
there are a quick pair of roles I need to
make because the current event meaning harm rumor has been used. Actually,
the whole idea of a decoy cottage meant to throw
off people looking for the owner came from that mythic pair.
Thanks Mythic. I'm not sure I would have come up
with that without you. Anyway, we need a new event
(06:19):
meaning using deep percentile. I've got ten in ninety six
that gives me communicate and the public communicate with the public. Oh,
of course, the way to apply this one is obvious.
(06:40):
Chapter forty one, Part two, Day thirty six, late afternoon,
fifteen minutes remain in Achilles Detect Evil Spell. Mythic event,
meaning communicate the public party status. The party's status is unchanged.
(07:03):
Flicker had bounded in right after Achillia. To the others,
it was as though a magnet had taken hold of
the animal and pulled it to the wall as soon
as it moved past the threshold. De Rennie came next,
but he had insisted on making everyone wait while he
got the rope out of his pack and tied one
end to his belt, then with ten tier holding onto
the other, he came through with his eyes shut. When
(07:27):
he opened them, he was standing beside a Chillia and
the blank dog, and the remainder of the party seemed
to fasten to the wall beyond the door by the
soles of their boots. He wiped a bead of sweat
from his temple and swallowed hard looking pale Achilia. He
said in a quivering voice that was brave. She had
expected a different word, reckless, stupid, even I.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
It was the only thing that made any sense, was
her reply, because well, look over there.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
She pointed down the core or at the pair of
torches attached to the wall, opposite to each other and
burning brightly.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
The flames were going up in the right direction, when
we were outside.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
So I just thought she trailed off as ten Tire
passed the threshold. Next, still holding the other end of
the rope. After came Chord with Robin on his head. Finally,
a terrified looking Fairwood stepped through, and the others watched
as his whole body pivoted smoothly so that without faltering,
he was properly aligned with the rest of them in
(08:32):
their new surroundings. Ah, let's never do that again, the
clerk equipped, refusing to look behind him before proceeding. The
companions assumed the following march. Mortard Renni sword drawn, went first.
Tent Heir also drew his blade and walked behind his brother.
Then came Achillia, who yet maintained her spell of detection
(08:52):
with Flicker at her side. Fairwind was next, and Cord
brought up the rear. The party walked the length of
the the corridor, slowly, trying to be alert for any
more tricks, illusory or otherwise. At the midpoint, they passed
the pair of torches and now could see the end
of the hall and the wooden door at its terminus.
The place was very well maintained. The carpet was as
(09:15):
though new, and the stone work was precise and smooth.
In fact, everything was so perfect looking that Achilia wondered
to herself, yet the whole place had not been built
by magic. When they reached the door at the end
of the hall, Dranni held up his free hand and
pointed first to his ear and then the door, indicating
that he intended to listen at it. He did so,
(09:36):
placing his head against the wooden surface beside the handle
and closing his eyes in concentration. Suddenly he jerked away
from it with a gasp. It took a second to
see past him to what had been so alarming, but
when they did, all the companions fell back in surprise.
The wood of the door had bulged and puckered in
the middle. It continued to morph until it had formed
(09:58):
a pair of full wooden lips. Then the door addressed
them in the common tongue, you.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Were trespassing in the home of the great and powerful
wizard Odoak Sygog. Remove yourselves at once, or be repelled.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Though kaw completely off guard, Achilie had dissents to direct
her spell of detection at the door. She was relieved
to perceive no evil emanating from it. To any intent
here who did not understand the language of men looked
at her questioningly, but she ignored them for now and
instead cleared her throat and replied, we.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Seek an audience with Odoak Zygog. Tell him that Achillea
and Muwok word of an apprentice to all day Muog
has come to speak with him on a subject of importance.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
By the time she had gotten half way through her reply,
the wooden lips that sunk back into the surface of
the door and were gone. It was once again just
a plain door. Despite this, the entire party waited to
see if there would be a reply. There was none.
Achilia explained what the door had said to them and
how she had responded, adding, I can't go back.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
I won't if anyone wants to wait here while I
go on ahead, I understand I will not leave your side.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Said Dorenni, And you open the door. I need to
pump the brakes a bit here, because as a DM,
I have no idea what is behind that door. When
creating a place for exploration, I'll often use one of
several approaches. There's the pure randomness of rolling on open
(11:28):
ended tables. But I don't often go this route because
I feel a dungeon crawl can get stale if it
goes on too long, and so a potentially limitless expanse
is not ideal. This kind of thing might work well
in a live solo game, but for the audio format,
I just feel modules are better when they're fairly brief.
A second option would be to use a limited random
table like One Shot in the Dark. These have plenty
(11:51):
of chaos, but it's controlled chaos that gets funneled down
to a definite ending and it doesn't take too long
to get there. That system seems to work really well
in the audio media, but One Shot in the Dark
is not a great choice for Odoke's Seclusium. It's better
suited for caves and crips and dungeons, not for a
wizard's home, which will need some specific contents and features.
(12:11):
I think for this place, I need to go dmfat
and just generate it as I go. Still, I want
to have some kind of random element, so I'm going
to try to use a new event meaning for each
room as to when the pieces will find the heart
of the Seclusium or reach some kind of goal or end.
I'm going to leave that up to feel I'm hoping
I'll just know it when the time is right. But
(12:32):
getting back to the mythic event meaning, I've already used
to communicate the public by putting that magic mouth on
the door, so I need a new one here. Come
to the rolls fifteen and forty six, give me gratify food. Okay,
I guess I know what kind of room the piecs
are going to find. Next chapter forty one, Part two,
(13:02):
Day thirty six, late afternoon, fifteen minutes remain in Achillea's
detect evil spell. Mythic event meaning gratify food party status.
The party status is unchanged. The door opened into a
(13:22):
vestibule some thirty feet wide and twenty across. Each wall
of this room had a door and a pair of
torches burned ensconces to either side. The carpet from the
hallway had ended at the door, but a finely made
circular mat of brown and green covered most of the floor. Here.
A pair of framed paintings flanked the door. Opposite to them,
(13:43):
the left painting showed a natural vista very much like
those represented in the sketch book Achilie carried, But while
those were mere drawings, roughly done in charcoal pencil. This
was made with vibrant oil paints. The artist, presumably Odok,
had a flare for communicating the magist of nature through
an economy of bold strokes. This particular scene showed a
(14:05):
shimmering lake cradled at the base of a tree covered mountain.
It is very beautiful. The painting on the right was
not a natural scene but a portrait, presumably a self
portrait if that were true, It gave the companions their
first look at the famous historian. In contrast to the
other the colors in this painting were muted, as though
(14:25):
the artist did not find the subject of his own
face as exciting or important as a scene from the
natural world. The face itself was a dignified one and
quite old, maybe twenty or thirty years older than fair Wind.
It showed a man with a nearly bald head. There
were tufts of white over each ear, and a beard
that was unique in that the must ashes were longer
than the hair of the chin. Zygog's nose was large,
(14:48):
and his eyes, surrounded by deep wrinkles, seemed to smile
even though the mouth did not, While the portrait only
showed him from the shoulders up. Zygog's rich garment, a
robe of red with accents of gold, was visible too.
Achilia found herself troubled by Zygog's face. In her mind,
thus far, she had imagined him to have an imperious
(15:09):
and menacing countenance, one she would have to stand up
to with courage. But this face was mild. It was
at odds with the outrage she carried. She didn't have
a plan to deal with a face like this. It
left her feeling confused, even a little cheated. Conflicted in
her heart. She directed her spell of evil detection at
the painting and sensed nothing. Her face was screwed up
(15:31):
in consternation when she turned a court.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Apart from the shorter beard and a lack of hair
on top of his head, don't you think he looks
a little bit like Voppy?
Speaker 1 (15:40):
The construct twisted back and forth to say he did not,
and Achilia shrugged, no, I guess not.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Still, that does not look like a cruel face.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Every hidden thing revealed, said Ferwood for the second time
in the past five minutes. We cannot always trust our eyes, Achilie.
And before you ask, I have never seen odok zaigou
likeness before and cannot say whether this is he or no.
Achillie did not reply to that, but instead turned to Durani.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Intent here, which door should we try?
Speaker 1 (16:09):
She asked in Elvish. Now was Dourani's turn to shrug.
He indicated the door right in front of them, between
the two paintings. Akilie had noticed that it had a keyhole,
whereas the doors to either side did not, but she
agreed nonetheless. Unfortunately, when they tried the handle, the door
indeed proved to be locked.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Let's try that way.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Then suggested the off, pointing to the door on their
left with the tip of his sword. This door opened
easily when they off tried the handle, and the companions
passed into a short connecting hallway before entering a small
dining room. This place was slightly larger in dimension than
the vestibule, though not by much. Its appointments were modest.
(16:53):
There was a table of dark wood set for five
torches burned on the walls. Here too, there was one
on the side wall and one on the north. If
cardinal directions were meaningful in a place set into the
world sideways, the companion spread out and began to examine
the room Tantyer went to listen at a small door
set in the west wall. Cord stood guard at a second,
(17:15):
larger door set in the one adjacent. Achilia, Dornni, and
Ferwind inspected the table. It was set with several types
of cutlery at each place. Notably, one of the chairs
was different from the others. The seat was higher. Is
that to accommodate for a child or a person of
short stature.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
We can learn much about who lives here by this,
commented Dornni, assuming that it is not all part of
some elaborate trick. I'll wait sure that the door by
Tentier leads to a panty, replied Achilia, which might also
provide some clues.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Flicker wagged her tail as though she understood the word pantry.
When Tanier said he had heard nothing through the door,
it was decided that Cord would maintain his post while
the rest of them investigated. It opened into a pantry,
just as Achillie had expected for all the magical wonder
of the place they were in. The contents of this
(18:07):
small room were mundane salted fish, smoked meat, and an
assortment of fresh herbs and vegetables, organized neatly on shelves.
On the floor was a trio of barrels containing a
quantity of dried mushrooms, roots, and flour, respectively. Despite the
fact that they had run out of food, the companions
took nothing. After all, they had not come here as thieves.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
It doesn't appear that very many people live here.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Achilius remised, as they returned to the dining room.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
God, let's see where your door leads.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Well, this has been a fairly innocuous star to the
exploration of the Seclusium, considering the warning of the magic mouth,
which threatened them if they didn't leave now. While I
do have some ideas about the Seclusium in general, I
do not have any granular ones, including for defenses and terrens.
So I'm going to rely on mythic more heavily than
usual here. I know, I said i'd try to use
(19:00):
an event meaning for each room, and I've already stretched
the last run over three. But going forward I will
try to stick to my word a little better. And
speaking of words, I need a new pair of them.
Rolling twice on the mythic table gives me eighty two
and fifty five activity. Suffering a quick scan of the
entire chart shows that there's no separate entry for activate,
(19:23):
So I'm going to go with activate suffering. That's pretty straightforward.
Sounds like the pieces are about to spring some kind
of trap just for fun. How A, but another pair
of rolls to determine the nature of this trap, I've
got thirty six imitate and seventy five military. Oh right,
(19:43):
that makes total sense. Chapter forty one, Part three, Day
thirty six, late afternoon. Ten minutes remain in Achilles Detect
evil spell mythic of end meaning activate suffering party status.
(20:07):
The party status is unchanged. Although Achillie could feel that
her spell of detection was beginning to wane, she did
not object when Durrenny proposed that he listened at the
door before opening it. Frankly, she was surprised to his
willing after what had happened last time. A few moments later,
the elf was shaking his dark locks and saying nothing.
(20:29):
Then he pushed on the door, which swung open with
a faint creek. Beyond was a rather large room, some
fifty feet square. The first impression it gave was one
of symmetry. A single door was set in the wall
directly opposite to them a pair of torches burned in
their sconces, one to either side, in the exact middle
of the west and east walls. In each corner stood
(20:51):
a suit of plate and mail armor, posed upright and
rigid as though at attention. These displays had no helms,
and so they reminded ten tier of the pair he
had found became more crypt But unlike those suits, these
were finally polished steel. They had read ennimal designs worked
into their breastplates and gleaming halberds gripped in their gauntleted fists.
(21:11):
Nothing stirred, and the chamber was silent but for the
companion's footfalls on the bare stone floor. This armor might
fit fair winds. Dorannie told a Chilia over his shoulder
as he moved towards one of the displays. Wait a minute,
cautioned a Killia. She closed her eyes and brought up
her hands, concentrating on her spell. Finding nothing, she doubted
(21:32):
that it was safe for the oft to continue, and
Urannie proceeded while she magically scanned the other three suits
to be certain that none of them was more than
it appeared. When she was satisfied, she turned her attention
to the pair of torches and began walking towards the
one mounted on the east wall. It occurred to her
that where there were torches lit, there must be someone
(21:52):
to light them. Of course, in a place like this,
there was also the possibility that the torches were magical
in nature. He had intended to take a closer look,
but the moment she reached the midpoint of the room,
something happened that drew everyone's attention to the door on
the far side. For the second time, they watched a
(22:13):
door transform so that his wooden surface bulged out and
assumed a new shape. At first, it was an eyeball
the size of a dinner plate. The wooden pupil rolled around,
taking in each member of the party. Then its weirdly
grained eyelids blinked once twice in a third time. When
they opened this final time, they no longer revealed a
(22:35):
rolling eyeball, but a set of teeth, and the eyelids
were no longer eyelids, but the lips of a mouth.
After a few more seconds of transformation, the wood had
warped into a shape identical to the one that had
addressed them before. He did so again now, and his
message this time was subtly different from the first.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
You were trespassing in the home of the great and
powerful wizard odok.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Zygog, it said, motionless voice.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
Drop your weapons and surrender.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Achillie replied, in a voice she hoped sounded strong.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
My name is Achillie Muag. I have come to speak
to me.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
She didn't even get to finish the sentence. With a clank,
each of the four headless suits of armor animated and
stepped off their stands, converging on the party members and
corralling them into the center of the room with their
leaving halberts. They clanked forward, pulling back their weapons, ready
to strike. The purpose of this room is to catch
(23:37):
any intruder foolish enough to proceed past the Seclusium's first warning.
Let's catch, not necessarily kill. If the pieces threw down
their weapons and surrendered, the animated suits of armour would
escort them to some kind of holding cell deeper into complex. However,
if they resist, the armor will fight until destroyed. It's
surprising to me that the BX rules do not have
(23:59):
any listing for animated armor in their respective bestiaries. AD
and D two E gives us the helmed horror. But
I'm just going to make up my own monster stats.
I mean, these are pretty straightforward enemies. Let's see, I'm
thinking four hit dice. I'll just roll up their hit
points now sixteen each, as that means the men out
(24:20):
it stands. Armor class will be for plate mail, no shield,
probably somewhat slow. I'll say AC sixteen. Damage for the
Halberg attack will be one to ten. They are immune
to any spells that affect the mind, and they never
flee or surrender. And that's probably all the detail we
really need. If something else comes up, I'll do a
(24:40):
ruling on the spot. The suits of Animated Hour closed
in around them.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Drop your weapons and surrender.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Repeated the wooden mouth on the door. There was no
time to make a play. Achille shot a look at
Durni back stern faced, arranging themselves that they stood back
to back. The companions formed a ring. Within the ring,
raised their weapons and prepare to do battle. Thanks for
listening to Tale of the manticor if you'd like to
(25:15):
join with other great folks who support the show, there
are several different ways to do so. You can recommend
the show online and to friends. You can like and
repost episode announcements on social media. You can purchase a
Tale of the Manticore t shirt at Bareard's dat store
or one of my offerings on drive through RPG. Then, finally,
you can rate and review the show on your favorite podcatcher.
All of these things helped us spread the word, yet
(25:36):
I truly appreciate the support. At this point, I'd love
to share a listener review. This one was left on
Audible by the lovely guys who make the Pink faux
Hawk podcast. Pink Foe Hawk writes, Tale of the Manticore
is an absolute must listen for anyone that loves dark
D and D adventure. The sound design is amazing and
the host's incredible storytelling makes it an enthralling journey out
(25:58):
of random dice rolls. The characters are all perfectly written
and performed, and the reactions to the fate of the
dice are natural and believable, with a few amazing surprises
thrown in for good measure. This podcast single handedly convinced
me to pick up old school essentials so that I
could play through my own old school D and D stories.
Thanks very very much, Pink fo Hawk, you are my
(26:19):
kind of people. And your podcast is rad I'm excited
to hear about your adventures using old school essentials and
how it stacks up to Shadow Run. Next, let's talk
about this episode's great cast of voice actors. Of the
usual trio of regulars, this episode features just two Dornni
and Faerwind are played by Kylin and Dave Cooper. Providing
the voice of the magic Mouth is the very talented
(26:41):
artist Amanda t. Check out her excellent work on Instagram
at Wicked Underscore, Loving Underscore Lies. That's at Wicked Loving
Lies Connected by Underscores. Thanks very much, Kylin, David, and Amanda.
For those curious to learn more about Tale of the Manticore,
I keep a blog where I post all kinds of
show on RPG related stuff like sketches, maps, tables, crafts,
(27:05):
and show notes. You can find it at Taleofthemanticore dot com.
To get in touch with me, you can find me
at Solo Roleplayers Network dot com. I'm at Tale of
the Manticor dot Blue Sky dot Social, Tale of the
Manticore podcast on Instagram, or if you prefer email, taleof
Theemticor at gmail dot com. The adventure will continue on
the next episode of tale of the manticor it's the
(27:26):
story were KOs roll Us
Hi, this is sc Albin, author of the Strega series,
and you're listening to Tale of the Manticor. The following
podcast is intended for a mature audience. Listener discretion is advised.
(00:28):
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
(00:50):
and none will be spared if the dice decide their
fate is at hand. According to Lare, the Tale of
a Manticre is barbed with cruel iron spikes. There will
be much pain in the days ahead. Last time on
(01:14):
Tail of the Mantigor, the last episode concerns the exploration
of the newly discovered cottage. To Achilles's disappointment and frustration,
it appears to have been abandoned long ago. The only
thing in the place that attracts any attention is a
boot mat, which for some reason agitates Flicker. Fairwind inspects
it and at first finds nothing out of the ordinary,
(01:35):
But then he remembers a lesson talked to him long
ago by one of the priestesses at the Church of
the Sacred Flame until moral. The lesson was about seeing
beyond the apparent to the true nature of things, and
the sister used an optical illusion to demonstrate her point.
Thinking of this, Fairwind now notices there's something wrong with
the mat and soon recognizes it for the illusion that
it is. Once he sees it, the spell is broken
(01:58):
and everyone can see it is not a man at all,
but a door. When Achille opens it, the party is
astounded to find themselves looking down into what seems like
an underground complex that is being turned on its side.
(02:19):
Chapter forty one, Part one, day thirty six, late afternoon.
Twenty minutes remain in Achilies detect evil spell, mythic event
meaning harm, rumor party status Achillee thirteen out of thirteen
(02:39):
eight points, Court twenty four of twenty four, de Renni
sixteen of sixteen, ten Tier nineteen of nineteen, Fairwind twenty
seven of thirty three, Flicker sixteen of sixteen. Supplies the
(03:02):
companions have no food, remaining spells available. Achillie can cast
enlarge message and glitter, dust, cord can cast entangle slow
poison and old animal. Fair Wind can cast cure light,
wounds and protection from evil. Every hidden thing revealed uttered
(03:27):
fair wind in a whisper at what they saw. But
even this paled beside the bizarre event that transpired when
Achilie put out her foot and stepped into the pit.
The half elf was willing to risk everything to blind trust,
well not quite blind. She had asked that tenttire to
take hold of her by her backpack, and so if
things did not transpire the way she expected, she was
(03:48):
not likely to fall to her death. She put out
her foot and shifted her way forward, and she did
not fall. Instead, all of reality seemed to rotate on
its action. The walls rolled up to either side of her,
and when her foot came down, it came down on
the carpet. She breathed out an excited gasp. Her instinct
(04:10):
had been right ahead. The hallway stretched out before her
completely solid. Gravity was working properly, and her feet felt
firm on the ground. She took a tentative look back
over her shoulder and immediately regretted it. Tenttyr was standing
as though stuck by the bottoms of his feet to
a wall, except that this wall was actually the floor
(04:31):
of the cottage. The young elf still had his hand out,
fingers bladed, as though he had just let go of
her pack. His mouth was an open oh of astonishment.
Achillie's brain lurched, and she felt her equilibrium tilt for
a moment, but the feeling passed, and then she was
herself again. She flashed tantyr a hesitant smile.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
It's safe, she.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Said, mostly believing it. I hope my modest skillet writing
is enough to have described what has taken place here.
Have you ever seen the movie Labyrinth? In it, the
Goblin King, played by David Bowie navigates a kind of
mc escher jumble of staircases, and no matter which way
(05:12):
he walks, he is always right side up. That's the
idea I was going for to roll back the tape
a little. It was fair Wind that noticed the initials
carved into the front door and suspected right away that
the cottage was decoy. When he dispelled the illusion of
the boot mat, his suspicion was proved correct. But there's
much more going on here this place. I'm going to
call it Odoke's Seclusium is built into the ground sideways
(05:36):
and by some powerful magic gravity works, so that down
is ninety degrees from where it normally would be. Whether
this whole complex is actually dug into the earth, or
if the door is a portal to a pocket dimension, well,
I haven't actually worked that out yet, and it might
not make any difference. Suffice it to say that the
Seclusium is very weird and much, if not everything about
(05:58):
it is powered by magic. Before I return to the narrative,
there are a quick pair of roles I need to
make because the current event meaning harm rumor has been used. Actually,
the whole idea of a decoy cottage meant to throw
off people looking for the owner came from that mythic pair.
Thanks Mythic. I'm not sure I would have come up
with that without you. Anyway, we need a new event
(06:19):
meaning using deep percentile. I've got ten in ninety six
that gives me communicate and the public communicate with the public. Oh,
of course, the way to apply this one is obvious.
(06:40):
Chapter forty one, Part two, Day thirty six, late afternoon,
fifteen minutes remain in Achilles Detect Evil Spell. Mythic event,
meaning communicate the public party status. The party's status is unchanged.
(07:03):
Flicker had bounded in right after Achillia. To the others,
it was as though a magnet had taken hold of
the animal and pulled it to the wall as soon
as it moved past the threshold. De Rennie came next,
but he had insisted on making everyone wait while he
got the rope out of his pack and tied one
end to his belt, then with ten tier holding onto
the other, he came through with his eyes shut. When
(07:27):
he opened them, he was standing beside a Chillia and
the blank dog, and the remainder of the party seemed
to fasten to the wall beyond the door by the
soles of their boots. He wiped a bead of sweat
from his temple and swallowed hard looking pale Achilia. He
said in a quivering voice that was brave. She had
expected a different word, reckless, stupid, even I.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
It was the only thing that made any sense, was
her reply, because well, look over there.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
She pointed down the core or at the pair of
torches attached to the wall, opposite to each other and
burning brightly.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
The flames were going up in the right direction, when
we were outside.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
So I just thought she trailed off as ten Tire
passed the threshold. Next, still holding the other end of
the rope. After came Chord with Robin on his head. Finally,
a terrified looking Fairwood stepped through, and the others watched
as his whole body pivoted smoothly so that without faltering,
he was properly aligned with the rest of them in
(08:32):
their new surroundings. Ah, let's never do that again, the
clerk equipped, refusing to look behind him before proceeding. The
companions assumed the following march. Mortard Renni sword drawn, went first.
Tent Heir also drew his blade and walked behind his brother.
Then came Achillia, who yet maintained her spell of detection
(08:52):
with Flicker at her side. Fairwind was next, and Cord
brought up the rear. The party walked the length of
the the corridor, slowly, trying to be alert for any
more tricks, illusory or otherwise. At the midpoint, they passed
the pair of torches and now could see the end
of the hall and the wooden door at its terminus.
The place was very well maintained. The carpet was as
(09:15):
though new, and the stone work was precise and smooth.
In fact, everything was so perfect looking that Achilia wondered
to herself, yet the whole place had not been built
by magic. When they reached the door at the end
of the hall, Dranni held up his free hand and
pointed first to his ear and then the door, indicating
that he intended to listen at it. He did so,
(09:36):
placing his head against the wooden surface beside the handle
and closing his eyes in concentration. Suddenly he jerked away
from it with a gasp. It took a second to
see past him to what had been so alarming, but
when they did, all the companions fell back in surprise.
The wood of the door had bulged and puckered in
the middle. It continued to morph until it had formed
(09:58):
a pair of full wooden lips. Then the door addressed
them in the common tongue, you.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Were trespassing in the home of the great and powerful
wizard Odoak Sygog. Remove yourselves at once, or be repelled.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Though kaw completely off guard, Achilie had dissents to direct
her spell of detection at the door. She was relieved
to perceive no evil emanating from it. To any intent
here who did not understand the language of men looked
at her questioningly, but she ignored them for now and
instead cleared her throat and replied, we.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Seek an audience with Odoak Zygog. Tell him that Achillea
and Muwok word of an apprentice to all day Muog
has come to speak with him on a subject of importance.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
By the time she had gotten half way through her reply,
the wooden lips that sunk back into the surface of
the door and were gone. It was once again just
a plain door. Despite this, the entire party waited to
see if there would be a reply. There was none.
Achilia explained what the door had said to them and
how she had responded, adding, I can't go back.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
I won't if anyone wants to wait here while I
go on ahead, I understand I will not leave your side.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Said Dorenni, And you open the door. I need to
pump the brakes a bit here, because as a DM,
I have no idea what is behind that door. When
creating a place for exploration, I'll often use one of
several approaches. There's the pure randomness of rolling on open
(11:28):
ended tables. But I don't often go this route because
I feel a dungeon crawl can get stale if it
goes on too long, and so a potentially limitless expanse
is not ideal. This kind of thing might work well
in a live solo game, but for the audio format,
I just feel modules are better when they're fairly brief.
A second option would be to use a limited random
table like One Shot in the Dark. These have plenty
(11:51):
of chaos, but it's controlled chaos that gets funneled down
to a definite ending and it doesn't take too long
to get there. That system seems to work really well
in the audio media, but One Shot in the Dark
is not a great choice for Odoke's Seclusium. It's better
suited for caves and crips and dungeons, not for a
wizard's home, which will need some specific contents and features.
(12:11):
I think for this place, I need to go dmfat
and just generate it as I go. Still, I want
to have some kind of random element, so I'm going
to try to use a new event meaning for each
room as to when the pieces will find the heart
of the Seclusium or reach some kind of goal or end.
I'm going to leave that up to feel I'm hoping
I'll just know it when the time is right. But
(12:32):
getting back to the mythic event meaning, I've already used
to communicate the public by putting that magic mouth on
the door, so I need a new one here. Come
to the rolls fifteen and forty six, give me gratify food. Okay,
I guess I know what kind of room the piecs
are going to find. Next chapter forty one, Part two,
(13:02):
Day thirty six, late afternoon, fifteen minutes remain in Achillea's
detect evil spell. Mythic event meaning gratify food party status.
The party status is unchanged. The door opened into a
(13:22):
vestibule some thirty feet wide and twenty across. Each wall
of this room had a door and a pair of
torches burned ensconces to either side. The carpet from the
hallway had ended at the door, but a finely made
circular mat of brown and green covered most of the floor. Here.
A pair of framed paintings flanked the door. Opposite to them,
(13:43):
the left painting showed a natural vista very much like
those represented in the sketch book Achilie carried, But while
those were mere drawings, roughly done in charcoal pencil. This
was made with vibrant oil paints. The artist, presumably Odok,
had a flare for communicating the magist of nature through
an economy of bold strokes. This particular scene showed a
(14:05):
shimmering lake cradled at the base of a tree covered mountain.
It is very beautiful. The painting on the right was
not a natural scene but a portrait, presumably a self
portrait if that were true, It gave the companions their
first look at the famous historian. In contrast to the
other the colors in this painting were muted, as though
(14:25):
the artist did not find the subject of his own
face as exciting or important as a scene from the
natural world. The face itself was a dignified one and
quite old, maybe twenty or thirty years older than fair Wind.
It showed a man with a nearly bald head. There
were tufts of white over each ear, and a beard
that was unique in that the must ashes were longer
than the hair of the chin. Zygog's nose was large,
(14:48):
and his eyes, surrounded by deep wrinkles, seemed to smile
even though the mouth did not, While the portrait only
showed him from the shoulders up. Zygog's rich garment, a
robe of red with accents of gold, was visible too.
Achilia found herself troubled by Zygog's face. In her mind,
thus far, she had imagined him to have an imperious
(15:09):
and menacing countenance, one she would have to stand up
to with courage. But this face was mild. It was
at odds with the outrage she carried. She didn't have
a plan to deal with a face like this. It
left her feeling confused, even a little cheated. Conflicted in
her heart. She directed her spell of evil detection at
the painting and sensed nothing. Her face was screwed up
(15:31):
in consternation when she turned a court.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Apart from the shorter beard and a lack of hair
on top of his head, don't you think he looks
a little bit like Voppy?
Speaker 1 (15:40):
The construct twisted back and forth to say he did not,
and Achilia shrugged, no, I guess not.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Still, that does not look like a cruel face.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Every hidden thing revealed, said Ferwood for the second time
in the past five minutes. We cannot always trust our eyes, Achilie.
And before you ask, I have never seen odok zaigou
likeness before and cannot say whether this is he or no.
Achillie did not reply to that, but instead turned to Durani.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Intent here, which door should we try?
Speaker 1 (16:09):
She asked in Elvish. Now was Dourani's turn to shrug.
He indicated the door right in front of them, between
the two paintings. Akilie had noticed that it had a keyhole,
whereas the doors to either side did not, but she
agreed nonetheless. Unfortunately, when they tried the handle, the door
indeed proved to be locked.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Let's try that way.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Then suggested the off, pointing to the door on their
left with the tip of his sword. This door opened
easily when they off tried the handle, and the companions
passed into a short connecting hallway before entering a small
dining room. This place was slightly larger in dimension than
the vestibule, though not by much. Its appointments were modest.
(16:53):
There was a table of dark wood set for five
torches burned on the walls. Here too, there was one
on the side wall and one on the north. If
cardinal directions were meaningful in a place set into the
world sideways, the companion spread out and began to examine
the room Tantyer went to listen at a small door
set in the west wall. Cord stood guard at a second,
(17:15):
larger door set in the one adjacent. Achilia, Dornni, and
Ferwind inspected the table. It was set with several types
of cutlery at each place. Notably, one of the chairs
was different from the others. The seat was higher. Is
that to accommodate for a child or a person of
short stature.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
We can learn much about who lives here by this,
commented Dornni, assuming that it is not all part of
some elaborate trick. I'll wait sure that the door by
Tentier leads to a panty, replied Achilia, which might also
provide some clues.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Flicker wagged her tail as though she understood the word pantry.
When Tanier said he had heard nothing through the door,
it was decided that Cord would maintain his post while
the rest of them investigated. It opened into a pantry,
just as Achillie had expected for all the magical wonder
of the place they were in. The contents of this
(18:07):
small room were mundane salted fish, smoked meat, and an
assortment of fresh herbs and vegetables, organized neatly on shelves.
On the floor was a trio of barrels containing a
quantity of dried mushrooms, roots, and flour, respectively. Despite the
fact that they had run out of food, the companions
took nothing. After all, they had not come here as thieves.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
It doesn't appear that very many people live here.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Achilius remised, as they returned to the dining room.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
God, let's see where your door leads.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Well, this has been a fairly innocuous star to the
exploration of the Seclusium, considering the warning of the magic mouth,
which threatened them if they didn't leave now. While I
do have some ideas about the Seclusium in general, I
do not have any granular ones, including for defenses and terrens.
So I'm going to rely on mythic more heavily than
usual here. I know, I said i'd try to use
(19:00):
an event meaning for each room, and I've already stretched
the last run over three. But going forward I will
try to stick to my word a little better. And
speaking of words, I need a new pair of them.
Rolling twice on the mythic table gives me eighty two
and fifty five activity. Suffering a quick scan of the
entire chart shows that there's no separate entry for activate,
(19:23):
So I'm going to go with activate suffering. That's pretty straightforward.
Sounds like the pieces are about to spring some kind
of trap just for fun. How A, but another pair
of rolls to determine the nature of this trap, I've
got thirty six imitate and seventy five military. Oh right,
(19:43):
that makes total sense. Chapter forty one, Part three, Day
thirty six, late afternoon. Ten minutes remain in Achilles Detect
evil spell mythic of end meaning activate suffering party status.
(20:07):
The party status is unchanged. Although Achillie could feel that
her spell of detection was beginning to wane, she did
not object when Durrenny proposed that he listened at the
door before opening it. Frankly, she was surprised to his
willing after what had happened last time. A few moments later,
the elf was shaking his dark locks and saying nothing.
(20:29):
Then he pushed on the door, which swung open with
a faint creek. Beyond was a rather large room, some
fifty feet square. The first impression it gave was one
of symmetry. A single door was set in the wall
directly opposite to them a pair of torches burned in
their sconces, one to either side, in the exact middle
of the west and east walls. In each corner stood
(20:51):
a suit of plate and mail armor, posed upright and
rigid as though at attention. These displays had no helms,
and so they reminded ten tier of the pair he
had found became more crypt But unlike those suits, these
were finally polished steel. They had read ennimal designs worked
into their breastplates and gleaming halberds gripped in their gauntleted fists.
(21:11):
Nothing stirred, and the chamber was silent but for the
companion's footfalls on the bare stone floor. This armor might
fit fair winds. Dorannie told a Chilia over his shoulder
as he moved towards one of the displays. Wait a minute,
cautioned a Killia. She closed her eyes and brought up
her hands, concentrating on her spell. Finding nothing, she doubted
(21:32):
that it was safe for the oft to continue, and
Urannie proceeded while she magically scanned the other three suits
to be certain that none of them was more than
it appeared. When she was satisfied, she turned her attention
to the pair of torches and began walking towards the
one mounted on the east wall. It occurred to her
that where there were torches lit, there must be someone
(21:52):
to light them. Of course, in a place like this,
there was also the possibility that the torches were magical
in nature. He had intended to take a closer look,
but the moment she reached the midpoint of the room,
something happened that drew everyone's attention to the door on
the far side. For the second time, they watched a
(22:13):
door transform so that his wooden surface bulged out and
assumed a new shape. At first, it was an eyeball
the size of a dinner plate. The wooden pupil rolled around,
taking in each member of the party. Then its weirdly
grained eyelids blinked once twice in a third time. When
they opened this final time, they no longer revealed a
(22:35):
rolling eyeball, but a set of teeth, and the eyelids
were no longer eyelids, but the lips of a mouth.
After a few more seconds of transformation, the wood had
warped into a shape identical to the one that had
addressed them before. He did so again now, and his
message this time was subtly different from the first.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
You were trespassing in the home of the great and
powerful wizard odok.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Zygog, it said, motionless voice.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
Drop your weapons and surrender.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Achillie replied, in a voice she hoped sounded strong.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
My name is Achillie Muag. I have come to speak
to me.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
She didn't even get to finish the sentence. With a clank,
each of the four headless suits of armor animated and
stepped off their stands, converging on the party members and
corralling them into the center of the room with their
leaving halberts. They clanked forward, pulling back their weapons, ready
to strike. The purpose of this room is to catch
(23:37):
any intruder foolish enough to proceed past the Seclusium's first warning.
Let's catch, not necessarily kill. If the pieces threw down
their weapons and surrendered, the animated suits of armour would
escort them to some kind of holding cell deeper into complex. However,
if they resist, the armor will fight until destroyed. It's
surprising to me that the BX rules do not have
(23:59):
any listing for animated armor in their respective bestiaries. AD
and D two E gives us the helmed horror. But
I'm just going to make up my own monster stats.
I mean, these are pretty straightforward enemies. Let's see, I'm
thinking four hit dice. I'll just roll up their hit
points now sixteen each, as that means the men out
(24:20):
it stands. Armor class will be for plate mail, no shield,
probably somewhat slow. I'll say AC sixteen. Damage for the
Halberg attack will be one to ten. They are immune
to any spells that affect the mind, and they never
flee or surrender. And that's probably all the detail we
really need. If something else comes up, I'll do a
(24:40):
ruling on the spot. The suits of Animated Hour closed
in around them.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Drop your weapons and surrender.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Repeated the wooden mouth on the door. There was no
time to make a play. Achille shot a look at
Durni back stern faced, arranging themselves that they stood back
to back. The companions formed a ring. Within the ring,
raised their weapons and prepare to do battle. Thanks for
listening to Tale of the manticor if you'd like to
(25:15):
join with other great folks who support the show, there
are several different ways to do so. You can recommend
the show online and to friends. You can like and
repost episode announcements on social media. You can purchase a
Tale of the Manticore t shirt at Bareard's dat store
or one of my offerings on drive through RPG. Then, finally,
you can rate and review the show on your favorite podcatcher.
All of these things helped us spread the word, yet
(25:36):
I truly appreciate the support. At this point, I'd love
to share a listener review. This one was left on
Audible by the lovely guys who make the Pink faux
Hawk podcast. Pink Foe Hawk writes, Tale of the Manticore
is an absolute must listen for anyone that loves dark
D and D adventure. The sound design is amazing and
the host's incredible storytelling makes it an enthralling journey out
(25:58):
of random dice rolls. The characters are all perfectly written
and performed, and the reactions to the fate of the
dice are natural and believable, with a few amazing surprises
thrown in for good measure. This podcast single handedly convinced
me to pick up old school essentials so that I
could play through my own old school D and D stories.
Thanks very very much, Pink fo Hawk, you are my
(26:19):
kind of people. And your podcast is rad I'm excited
to hear about your adventures using old school essentials and
how it stacks up to Shadow Run. Next, let's talk
about this episode's great cast of voice actors. Of the
usual trio of regulars, this episode features just two Dornni
and Faerwind are played by Kylin and Dave Cooper. Providing
the voice of the magic Mouth is the very talented
(26:41):
artist Amanda t. Check out her excellent work on Instagram
at Wicked Underscore, Loving Underscore Lies. That's at Wicked Loving
Lies Connected by Underscores. Thanks very much, Kylin, David, and Amanda.
For those curious to learn more about Tale of the Manticore,
I keep a blog where I post all kinds of
show on RPG related stuff like sketches, maps, tables, crafts,
(27:05):
and show notes. You can find it at Taleofthemanticore dot com.
To get in touch with me, you can find me
at Solo Roleplayers Network dot com. I'm at Tale of
the Manticor dot Blue Sky dot Social, Tale of the
Manticore podcast on Instagram, or if you prefer email, taleof
Theemticor at gmail dot com. The adventure will continue on
the next episode of tale of the manticor it's the
(27:26):
story were KOs roll Us
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