The Erovast Codex

2026.09.08#

Summary#

The session opened directly into the Menagerie bout against the manticore, with Aldric and Odine Dunmere still carrying exhaustion level 1 (a flat −2 on all d20 tests and −5 ft speed under the 2024 rules). The manticore struck first from the air with a ranged tail-spike attack, wounding Cassian. Cassian opened by casting Sleep on it mid-flight (DC 14 Wisdom save, failed)—it dropped unconscious, crashed to the ground for 10 bludgeoning damage, and woke up prone from the fall. Azrith and Odine both landed early hits (a dagger strike and a cold Sorcerous Burst), while Aldric’s Firebolt went wide. Source: Transcript.

As the fight wore on, the manticore began speaking in Common—clearly a magically or arcanely bound creature, not a mindless beast—taunting the party (“Soft little heroes playing at glory. Which shall I devour first?”). Cassian saw an opening and pivoted to persuasion instead of violence: offering it food, freedom, and a place with the party rather than death. A 23 landed part of the pitch—the manticore visibly weighs the offer against a deep fear of “its masters,” and drops to two attacks a round instead of three. Azrith and Odine, not yet aware of the shift, kept fighting (Chill Touch hits, a quickened Mind Sliver plus Thunderwave from Odine); the manticore, feeling doubly betrayed by mixed signals, snarled “DECEIVERS! Never trust mortals!” and turned its full fury on Azrith, landing two of three rend attacks for 21 combined damage. Aldric, catching on to Cassian’s plan, physically shoved Azrith out of the fight with a natural-20 Athletics check to stop him from attacking further. Source: Transcript.

Cassian pressed the case a final time—refusing to trade blow for blow, offering to help the manticore escape instead—and rolled a 25 Persuasion. The manticore broke: it revealed that its true captors would kill it regardless of the fight’s outcome, and pointed out a trebuchet rigged with a steel net positioned to recapture anything that tried to flee the arena—its actual leash. Cassian mounted the manticore, flew it to the trebuchet crew, and cast Charm Person on the operator (DC 13, failed save) to stand him down; the manticore then tore the trebuchet apart. Freed, it asked Cassian’s name, thanked him for making it “a free manticore,” and set off to find a name of its own, promising to visit the party’s camp for meat and ale. Source: Transcript.

While this played out, Odine and Aldric worked the crowd rather than the fight: Odine cast Cause Fear on the loudest heckler to seed a mild crowd panic (failed save), openly condemning the spectacle as “cold-blooded murder, not a test”—drawing a “She’s a witch!” shout from the stands. Aldric used Thaumaturgy’s phantom sound and booming voice to whisper unsettling phrases into the judges’ box, sowing further confusion among officials. The arena’s crowd-approval checks, run each round, failed twice and were abandoned by round 5 as “too far gone”—the party was visibly losing the crowd even as they won the moral outcome. From the air, Cassian spotted a cliffside above the stadium crowded with peasants who couldn’t afford Menagerie seats; as he flew off with the freed manticore, they cheered the party as heroes, in stark contrast to the booing paying crowd below. Source: Transcript.

The session closed with Cassian delivering a booming speech to the arena—framing the outcome as proof “not every creature brought in here is willing to die or to stay owned,” and inviting anyone who “knows the weight of another man’s chains” to cheer instead of jeer—backed by Odine’s illusory bowing manticore (Silent Image) and Aldric handing Azrith a healing potion. A follow-up Persuasion check (22, even after Heroic Inspiration) won over only part of the crowd: officials were furious and openly unsure how to score the bout (one threw his clipboard), and Duke Tristan Blackwood—the party’s sponsor—was seen trying to slip out of the noble box without meeting anyone’s eyes. The GM confirmed the party has drawn more attention than a clean kill would have—for better or worse—and ended the session to consider the fallout. Source: Transcript.

Open Threads#

  • The freed manticore: unnamed as of departure, promised to visit the party’s camp. A potential ally, currently unnamed and unlocated.
  • Duke Tristan Blackwood’s reaction: he avoided eye contact and tried to leave quietly—the party’s sponsor may be embarrassed or endangered by their unconventional stunt. Not yet addressed on-page.
  • The judges/officials: furious and unable to agree on how to score the bout. Consequences for the party’s standing in the tournament are unresolved.
  • Crowd reputation split: the paying Menagerie crowd largely turned against the party (booing, “she’s a witch”), while the peasant onlookers on the cliffside now see them as heroes. Long-term reputation effects unclear.
  • Odine’s public display of Cause Fear and the “witch” accusation shouted from the crowd—unresolved social fallout.

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