SWT: Mörk Borg - Chapter Eight

Bright Eyes

Welcome back to Solum’s Weird Tales - Mörk Borg. Last chapter our increasingly depressed ‘hero’ manages to avoid being burned alive numerous times and managed to rescue the last of the remaining priests from immediate death. Now, the four of them have to figure out how to deal with the lingering form of death that is inhabiting their nervous system. We’ve added an extra milestone to the quest, to brave the nearby forest and obtain a cure. This also means it’s time to Get Better. I rolled the skills, earning an increase in everything apart from Toughness, which goes down by 1 again. Clearly the zombie plague is getting to poor Börda. HP has also increased by 3 to 16 and no loot was found.

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Börda - Classless Mercenary           HP = 16/16      Omens = 0/2
Agility +3
Presence +3
Strength +2
Toughness -2

Traits: Loud Mouthed, Nihilist

Sack (10 Inventory Spaces) With
- One dose of Red Poison(DR 12 TOU test or d10 DMG)
- 48 Silver
- 7 Rations
- Waterskin [+] [+] [+] [] (1 day of water left)
- Tent
- Flint and Tinder
- Golden Ball with seam
- Sack of Pearls
- Bundle of Silk

Equipped
- Chainmail (Agility Test have +2 DR. Armour Rating = d4) [Damaged]
- Longsword - D6 Damage
- Scroll - Heal 2 Creatures d10

Quest - Find out what happened to the 13 missing priests from Schleswig
3 Milestones [+] [+] []

Journey is 5 days - Complete
[+] [+] [+] [+] [+]
Dungeon Crawl - The Charnel Catacombs - Complete
[+] [+] [+] [+]
New! - Cure Curse 
[] [] [] []

The Charnel Catacombs

I rolled to see if the 2 0 HP priests are dead, but they have survived, somehow! With my 7 Rations, I'll rule for simplicity that I have enough for 2 days, which incidentally is how long I have before we all turn into Zombies.

Börda scoured the room for loot while the female priest, Thera, tended to her two wounded compatriots. The torture victim was named Kutz, and he wasn’t long for this world if Börda was any judge. Not with all the open wounds and missing fingers. The old timer with the scroll and new headache was named Kratar, and seemed to be the more senior member of their order, both in age and rank. Börda didn’t really care. The three of them of them were just as cursed as he, if not more so. Sundown tomorrow, they’d be shambling, mindless monsters. This had all been for nothing. Underneath the table in the main room, spattered with black brown blood, was a replacement shield, at least. He reached under and pulled it up, binding it to his wrist. It was heavier than it should be, as though it was completely made of steel, rather than a the usual wood with iron trimmings he was used to.

“Be careful with that friend.” Thera said from behind him. He turned and cocked an eyebrow and she smiled sadly. “That’s a relic from our order. My brothers and I are used to it’s affects, but you may find others have a strong reaction to seeing the boss. Keep it covered, were I you.” Börda shrugged and bound a filthy sheet over it, deciding to avoid looking directly at it, if he could. He had no desire to wield a relic of any kind, but the weight of a shield was a comfort that his armor could no longer offer him.

Search Room
Strong Hit - Gain a Tenebrous Relic
The War Starter
Any who look upon the shield must pass a PRE 14 or fly into a rage at the wielder of the shield.
I’m going to rule that as a relic, it can absorb full damage twice before being damaged and needing expensive repair.

“What is your plan, friend?” Thera asked him, once her brothers had risen shakily to their feet.

“Plan?” Börda asked, amused. “What plan is it that we could have? We are all of us doomed, unless I miss my guess.”

“You do miss your guess.” Thera said plainly. “Somewhere within these woods is the source of the corruption that plagued these Rot Druids. I do not know what it is, but it is the source of our shared burden. If we seek it out, mayhap we can find a cure.” Börda looked at her skeptically, but he reached into his pack and withdrew a map.

“This is of the forest.” He said. “I found it on a corpse, one who had fallen to our curse already. I can’t make heads or tails of it, but perhaps you-” Thera didn’t let him finish and snatched it from him, taking it to her brothers and talking in a hushed whisper. Börda looked at the three of them, already irritated by their presence, but he waited patiently until Thera returned, at which point he snatched the map back.

“We can work with this.” She said excitedly. “It is a few hours from here, a few landmarks we can follow. Travel with us, friend. We can survive this together.” Börda shared none of her optimism, but he realized he had little choice, not truly. Unless he wanted to drink the red poison in his pack and bow out a day or two early, he had nothing better to do.

“Fine. Let us make camp. The day is late and your friends can barely stand.”

Camping near the Catacombs - Attribution: Ernst Fries Channel of Lake Albano, 1824 - ‘Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main

Make Camp
Miss with a 1
The Two Wickermen from the entrance return and attack

“I’ve no desire to sleep in this catacomb, given it’s numerous snakes and corpses.” Börda said grumpily, guiding the three priests out and back into the forest. They sparked a flame, and Börda put up his tent and prepared to divide up his rations when there was a rustle of leaves. His head snapped around just in time to see the knife descending on him.

2 Wickerman HP = 10/10 10/10 d4 DMG with chance of Infection. 
Initiative 1 - They go first 
Dodge - 8 - Miss 1 DMG - No Infection
Thera Dodge - 17 - Pass
Attack - 9 - Miss
Thera Attack - 15 - Hit - 3 DMG WM2 = 7/10
Krater PRE = 21 - Critical Hit- Thera and Börda at full health

The knife grazed Börda’s arm a he reached for the hilt of his longsword. He drew it and slashed forward, but the lantern headed bastard skittered backwards with jerky, angular movement as a second one descended on Thera. She batted away the knife easily and sunk the tip of her Warhammer into the creature’s stomach, knocking it off balance. Börda felt a chill go down his spine as Krater began to chant, and his body suffused with light as the cut on his arm knitted together.

Börda dodge - 17 - Pass
Thera Dodge - 7 - Miss - 1 DMG - No Infection (8/9)
Börda Attack - 19 Hit - 3 DMG W1 7/10
Thera Attack - 8 - Miss

The Wickermen moved forward together, engaging Börda and Thera separately, but Börda had refixed his shield onto his arm and batted the knife away, advancing under it with sweeping strikes that drew ink black blood. He heard a pained grunt from beside him as Thera took a nick to her arm and missed a follow up strike, and so he shifted towards her and covered them both with his shield.

Börda Dodge - 17 - Pass
Thera Dodge - 8 - Miss - 4 DMG and Infection

Their foes stalked forward and attack, drawing Börda away and making him focus completely on trying to keep the knife away from himself. Thera screamed as a knife went passed her guard and sank into her unprotected stomach.

“Shit, Thera!” Börda said. She was the only one of the priests who was anywhere near useful, and he would be damned if he was going to let her die and be stuck with her geriatric friends. He ducked out of the way of another blow and smashed his sword forward, carving a deep furrow in his opened and causing it to drop it’s knife and fall to a knee. It’s lantern head flickered several times and the one standing over Thera hesitated.

Börda Attack - 17 - 6 DMG W1 1/10
Thera Attack - 4 - Miss
Wickerman 1 Morale - Failure
Wickerman 2 Morale - Failure
Both Run
Börda PRE check to see they are about to run. Critical Success - Free Attack. W1 dead.

Börda’s eyes narrowed as the Wickermen both turned on their heels and made for the forest. He wasn’t a fool. They would be back. As the one in front of him turned to flee, clutching it’s stomach, he stepped smoothly forward and ran it through the back, severing the spine and killing it with a savage thrust. The other one left with a high pitched, keening wail, it’s light disappearing into the woods.

“Thera!” The pair of old timers yelled, rushing to the young woman’s side. Börda hovered at the back as Krater chanted again, suffusing her with light, but she still looked pale, and the wound in her gut was already seeming to fester with black and mold.

“First we get the cure.” She said, a pained smile on her face as her brothers helped her to her feet. “Then we can figure out the rest.”

Make Camp - Strong Hit
Everyone is at full HP. Regain 1 Omen.
Thera does not regain HP. She loses d6 from infection = 5. 2/9 HP remaining.

They made camp and feasted on dead snake and the last of Börda’s water.

“Fuck, it burns.” Thera muttered, clutching her stomach.

“It is infected, child.” The Krater murmured. “We need someone wise in the ways of herbs or medicine to look at it.”

“I don’t think that is likely out here brother.” Thera said sadly. Börda listened with half an ear as he hacked the lantern from the Wickerman’s head. If they were walking into a dense part of the forest, they would need a light source. The third priest, Kutz, lay on his back and groaned occasionally. He had been no help during the earlier scrap, and his moaning was beginning to grate. Still, as he climbed into his bedroll and closed his eyes, he was thankful that the worms in the ground beneath him were, for once, silent on the matter.

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Time until undeath - 1.5 Days
Waterskin [x][x][x][x] - No water
Rations - 1 Day for whole party.
Enter, The Tenebrous Thicket
Special Rooms
[] [] [] [] + The 'Cure' Room
Quest - Find the Rot Druid Cure, before it is too late
Side Quest - Save the Priests - If possible

Börda woke first, but he felt exhausted. The weight of the past week weighed heavily upon him, as did his impending death and rebirth as a hideous, meat hungry monster. He must, in a small way, believe in this cure, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to find the strength to get out of his bedroll, but he couldn’t look at it closely, lest the hope become overwhelming. The others woke and they broke camp, Krater and Kutza pouring over the scrap of map and guiding them through landmarks to find the dark, shadowy entrance to their destination. It only took an hour, and the daylight was still weak enough that it barely penetrated the dense canopy of half dead trees above them.

“The Tenebrous Thicket.” Kutz muttered darkly.

“Is that it’s name, are you you just generally melancholy?” Börda grumbled, pulling the lantern from his belt and sparking it to life. But for the bloody stump at the bottom, it looked and functioned like a normal lantern. He held it high as they stepped between the trees and followed the trail deeper into the woods.

Dungeon Move
Strong Hit - Special Room 1
Bonfire In Center. Basket with severed heads. Smokey. 2 Exits

The fog that swirled around their ankles eventually gave way to a heavy, heady smoke that rose to chest height. Thera coughed, and they all had to cover their faces with cloth until they reached a clearing where the smoke had settled higher. A large, pointed bonfire burned bright in the center, surrounded by small, woven baskets. Each basket had been stained red with blood, and half a dozen glassy, dead eyes stared at them from the neatly severed heads within them.

“What in Their Name?” Kutz muttered. Börda stepped forward, his hands tight around the hilt of his sword. In front of the bonfire were 4 baskets, clean and fresh and empty. The fire crackled as the temperature suddenly dropped and it guttered out, and outpouring of smoke and steam filling the clearing. A shape moved, hypnotically swaying back and forth from behind the dead bonfire. A ghostly humming filled the clearing as Börda drew his sword.

“Stay back.” He told the priests, watching the Wraith as it swirled towards them, it’s skin translucent, but for it’s razor sharp claws and teeth.

Rare Encounter - Wraith
HP 15/15 AR - 0 d4 Damage + Drain. Always wins Initiative
Defend - 12 - Success
Attack - 11 - Miss
Defend - 21 - Success
Attack 18 - Success - 2 Damage (13/15)

Börda moved smoothly out of the way of the floating wraiths claws as it’s thoughts whispered at the edge of his mind. Something about killing and possibly eating, if he had to guess, but he was accustomed to tuning out the thoughts of others thanks to the damned worms, and so we move ducked and parried the claws that sought his throat and thrust his blade through the hand when it reached too close. The wraith let out a psychic scream and whirled backwards, clutching it’s hand. He was unsure how corporeal the things was, but it’s hands and claws seemed real enough, as did those jagged fangs in it’s bloody, ghostly maw. He tapped his blade on his shield and advanced.

Defend - 4 - Miss Omen Reroll (0/2) - 16 - Success
Attack - 11 - Miss
Defend - 14 - success
Attack - 21 - 3 Damage (10/15)

The wraith moved forward to intercept him, it’s jaws unhinging like a snake as it swirled forward and tried to sink it’s fangs into his face, but he ducked under it and ran sideways, swinging his blade in wide, looping arcs. The sword passed through it’s body, and he winced as he felt a sharp, cold sensation run up his sword arm. He took the next attack on his shield and winced again at the power behind the blow. He thrust forward, into the chest, and felt no resistance, but as he maneuvered left, he yanked the blade up, sinking the edge into the hand that readied to swipe at his unprotected face. The wraith screeched again and swirled back, light blue blood staining the ground like pools of ice.

Defend - 18 - Success
Attack - 21 - Success - 5 DMG (5/15)
Defend - 14 - Success
Attack - 8 - Miss

The attacks came quicker, but more predictable. The wraith had little apart from it’s wounded hands and claws, and it seemed hesitant to use it’s fangs now that Börda seemed to know where to strike. He swing an overhand blow that would have smashed it’s teeth out had it not moved it’s hands to intercept it, drawing yet more cold, unnatural blood as it flailed at him in a rage. They exchanged blows like that for a while, neither able to find the purchase they needed to draw anymore blood. The sweat at Börda’s neck had begun to freeze from the rapidly dropping temperature in the clearing. He needed to finfish this, soon.

3 rounds of no damage that I’m not going to write out followed by
Defend - 21 - Success
Attack 22 - Critical Success - 12 Damage 0/15 HP - Death

Börda waited behind his shield, easily ducking the blows that the enraged wraith laid upon him until just the right moment. His eyes narrowed as both claws descended upon him, and he deflected both away with the shield, following up with an underarm swing that severed the creatures head from it’s body. Black blood spurted as the ghostly form dissipated, leaving a few razor sharp talons and a skull with large, blackened fangs. Börda moved forward and picked up the skull, placing it in his bag. It was mostly out of habit, as he doubted he would live long enough to sell it on to a collector, but there were people in Galgenback that would pay good silver for the teeth, if not the whole skull.

“Masterfully done.” Thera said, walking up. She still looked terrible, but she had a small smile playing about her face. “It seems we have been blessed with able hands.” Börda grunted a laugh.

“Blessed is the last word I would use to describe us, but I appreciate the attempted compliment.”

Is there water nearby?
General Adventure Move +Omens = Strong Hit. A clean river runs nearby

Börda topped up his waterskin in a clear river that ran to the west of the clearing. He went as far upstream form the severed heads as possible and caught sight of his reflection. His usual grizzled features looked back at him, pale, tired and devoid of the usual, slightly smug, humor that he relied on to guide him through his shit show of a life. He sighed, and looked at the bite on his wrist. What was he doing here?

“Everything alright?” Thera asked from the clearing.

“Peachy.” Börda said, returning his water skin to his belt. “Let’s get moving.”

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And so the next leg of Börda’s journey begins. Will he survive The Tenebrous Thicket long enough to get a cure for his curse, or will he die trying? Honestly, I’m just amazed he has made it this far. Thanks for reading! See you next time.