Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama · Tale Of The Manticore

Episode 12 (S3E12)

·31 min·3 clips

In Tale of the Manticore, no character is sacred if the dice decide their fate is at hand.

This episode continues the dark fantasy audiodrama "Tale of the Manticore," narrated by creator John from Brazil. The story follows the player characters in a Dungeons & Dragons campaign where dice rolls determine permanent character fates. The narrative picks up immediately after the party's investigation of a battlefield filled with orc corpses. The characters Tentu and Achille discovered two distinct orc tribes, the Bloodfoot and the mysterious Black Cloud, among the dead. Achille recovered a small, heavy chest with brass fittings from the bodies, initially mistaking it for gold. Inside the chest, the party found a large sum of coins and a specific mushroom. The two elf characters recognize this mushroom as a token denoting a bribe or tribute payment. The central mystery involves determining who was intended to receive this bribe from the orcs. The party must deduce the purpose of the tribute and the relationship between the two orc tribes. The discovery raises questions about the tribes' allegiances and activities prior to the battle. The loot suggests the orcs were involved in a transaction or owed a debt to an unknown party. The nature of the battle that left both tribes dead remains unclear to the characters. The party's next actions will be driven by interpreting these physical clues. The insight that a simple mushroom can be a recognized symbol for a bribe adds a layer of cultural detail to the world. The fact that none of the characters recognize the Black Cloud tribe's tattoo symbol establishes them as a new, enigmatic faction. The chest being heavy but small implies the coins are dense, possibly a specific and valuable currency. The discovery that half the orcs were Bloodfoots immediately creates a numerical parity between the two fighting groups. The initial misidentification of the chest's fittings as gold highlights the characters' desires and the setting's gritty reality. The unresolved question of the tribute's recipient creates a compelling hook for the party's investigation. The tone is immersive and narrative-driven, focusing on descriptive storytelling and atmospheric tension. The style is a solo narration that blends novelistic prose with the procedural outcomes of a tabletop role-playing game. Listeners who enjoy methodical, clue-based fantasy mysteries and grim, low-magic settings would love this episode. Those who prefer fast-paced action or ensemble cast performances might find it too slow or descriptive.

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