A Monster Encounter: Two Manticores

 “Two! I found Two.

Oh, they’re monsters—quadrupeds like a lion that move strong and fast; they have feathery wings like an eagle enabling them to fly; and their tail is replete with deadly piercing barbs. I saw them ferociously tear a camel apart. Let me tell you: you had better be prepared.

Worst of all … I heard from some natives that the human-like head gives the manticore enough thinking power to develop an unrelenting vindictiveness. They say that if you mess with one, you better finish the job, otherwise it will never stop hunting you.”

-Mortimer

Background: The Manticores

Two manticores live in the desert in a region covered by many stone pillars [hex 0405; follow link to see hexmap]. They chose this area for its proximity to a field of cacti [0404] which attracts lots of prey, including birds, large rodents, iguanas, camels, and desert canines. Their favorite meal, however, is the lizard-folk that live nearby [0403, 0407, and 0606]. A lizard-folk or any other humanoid is a perfect meal for a manticore.

By working together, the manticores have been known to hunt groups of lizard-folk. Hunting or scouting parties of 6 to 12 have been easily turned into meals. The only time the lizard-folk seemed to have a chance was on an ambush organized to try to get rid of the manticores: twenty-five lizard-folk against the two manticores. A trap was set with a large camel carcass to lure the beasts in. Spears, arrows, and swords pierced the manticores, one even lost half a wing, but neither fell. The failed ambush enraged the manticores; they pounced and slashed with their claws and stabbed with their tails wiping more than half the lizard-folk in seconds. The survivors ran in fear, but these manticores were set on vengeance. Injured and bleeding, they followed the lizards for half a day until finally catching them and tearing them to pieces. Injured, albeit well fed, the manticores returned to their nest to rest, developing an extreme hatred for the lizard-folk in the process.

Location: The Manticore’s Nest

The nest is in a grouping of stone pillars. The tallest, rising a good 80 meters (~260 feet), harbors the nest. While the injured manticore cannot fly directly to the nest, it can still use its good wing to take high, almost weightless jumps from pillar to pillar, making its way up to the nest in 4-5 ascending jumps.

For an adventuring party hunting the manticores, the pillars will pose a challenge. Consider that the most experienced climbers, with modern equipment, would take a good 1-3 hours to climb such a height (see e.g., one of my favorite climbing videos). Therefore, it may take a party with the best medieval climbing equipment anywhere from 3-6 hours, depending on the approach, magic, and equipment used. The time could be partially determined by strength or climbing checks that determine the climbing speed. Directly climbing the tallest column is the riskiest approach, for it would require multiple pitches and the falling height is greatest. Climbing from column to column could ameliorate the risk, improving anchoring points and shortening the height of potential falls.

The nesting area is littered with small and large bones from prey that the manticores hunt and eat. At times, they have captured lizard-folk or adventurers so small treasures can be found:

1. A pouch with 5d10 gold pieces.
2. Sandals of celerity (1.5x movement).
3. Four arrow tips of lizard-folk glass (extremely sharp, +4 damage).
4. A manticore egg.

Manticores

Behavior (reaction roll -4): The barbed manticore (can fly), leaves the nest once every ~5 hours to hunt for anywhere between 0.5 to 2 hours. It may return with small prey such as birds. The stinger manticore (injured wing), leaves at most twice a day, when the manticores hunt together for larger prey. In those cases, the pair leaves for 2-5 hours and may return with large game, such as a camel. It is possible to find the injured manticore alone during the day, but climbing up the pillars would certainly take a considerable amount of time for regular humanoids. Consider that the barbed manticore may return while a party is climbing (although it is possible to hide among the pillars) or mid-fight with the stinger manticore (making it a combat with phases). The manticores are capable of speech (chaotic and bestial). However, there must be a very good reason for them to not eat a delicious party of humanoids. If any lizard-folk are with the party, the manticores immediately attack. The manticores will never reveal their names. Combat behavior: Generally, the manticores will fight dirty keeping flight when possible and attempting to push characters off of the pillars. At ½ health, the manticores will attempt to topple pillars to turn the stakes in their favor. The flying manticore will ram onto pillars to topple them onto the characters (two rounds). The injured one will stomp on a pillar with characters attempting to crumble it (two rounds). The injured wing helps the manticore in the event of a crumbling pillar (saves 3-in-6).  At ¼ health, the manticores attempt an escape, but only far enough to survive. Immediately, after achieving safety, they will turn and stalk the characters to enact their revenge, ambushing in a hit-and-run manner at the most opportune moment (e.g., at night) by focusing their attack on one creature (e.g., weaker looking first) and quickly retreating into hiding in wait for the next opportunity. Want: To see their enemies (lizard-folk) suffer. May engage in conversation in exchange for an offering, e.g., a beast of burden (re-roll reaction at -1).

Barbed Manticore		Stinger Manticore
Has a barbed tail for ranged attacks. AC 12 ground/16 air HD 6+6 (34 HP) MV 60’ ground/120’ fly SV R+5 F+4 W+6 ML 9 AL Chaotic L Chaotic, Bestial Att 2d24 -Fly-by: +6 (2d6) -Claw: +4 (3d6) -Volley of Spikes: 60’ 6x(+6; (1d6)); recharge 2-in-6		Has a poisonous stinger on its tail for incapacitating prey. One of its wings as injured and can no longer fly. AC 12 HD 6+6 (34 HP) MV 60’ SV R+5 F+4 W+6 ML 9 AL Chaotic L Chaotic, Bestial Att 2d24 -Claw: +4 (3d6) -Stinger: Reach, +6; save vs. poison; recharge 2-in-6

 
In the hexcrawl game:

In my game, the party needs a manticore’s heart as a spell component. Thanks to a for-hire ranger named Mortimer (topic for another post), they’ve learned where to find the manticores, the fact that there are two, and that one has an injured wing. It appears that they want to take on the injured one alone. Once they scope the terrain (and hopefully the behavior of the manticores), they are poised to approach this challenge in one of several ways. Will they send the thief to set up a climbing route? Will magic co-operate and ease the task? Will they lure the manticores somehow? Or will the manticores stumble upon the party, turning the hunters into prey?