Pox Scarred Squalor, A Mork Borg-Solitary Defilement Solo Actual Play - Chapter 3: The Proverb of Suffering
Welcome back my friends to the Squalor. Today's story is about pain and how to benefit from it. Let's see how our 'not-hero' Svum does.
Last we left Svum he was running from a cultist, in shame and defeat. He stumbled upon a lantern that made him feel good for the first time in his life. What secrets does it hold?
Let's play
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Though my flesh and my heart fail; the gods are the strength of my heart...
My friends, something quite profound has happened. A god has taken an interest in our Svum. For what? Only they could say.
Who is this god?
Kvera, The Song of Flies is watching our Svum. Who she is and why she watches him, we may never know.
Svum stops staring into the lantern after a few minutes. It looks somewhat comforting. When he finally stops, he clips the lantern on his belt. Svum has never felt better. His back feels straighter, his arms a bit stronger, and his teeth are a bit whiter. When he stands up his back doesn’t ache, and his knees don’t pop.
He looks up at the alley he is in. It's quiet, almost would be peaceful, if it weren’t for the unusual amount of flies starting to swarm the area. Well, flies aren’t unusual for the Squalor, but this swarm is forcing Svum to keep his mouth closed. Svum figures that means it's time to move, he thinks the tavern isn’t far.
City Crawl
DR12 vs 9,20, weak hit, Final street
Desolate alley, NPC Encounter, Guilty/Penitent Merchant
Being more cautious this time, Svum picks his way through the muck and the puddles of indeterminate fluids. The alley constricts and constricts until Svum needs to shuffle sideways until it opens into a larger area. There a lady is standing there with a flail. Svum swears to himself, another god damned insane cultist. Fantastic.
The lady spots Svum, who could hardly hide. “Have you heard of the light of the silver moon? No? They say pain can scourge our soul and the moon will welcome us when this world dies. But you have stumbled upon my ritual, please consider buying some of my wears.”
To see what this odd merchant has for sale, I’m going to roll on the D66 Martial Items for Mork Borg by Pietersender. I’ll roll three items and see how much they cost.
A Stilleto (D4, subtle) cost: 15 silver
Flanged Mace (D8) cost: 35 silver
Short bow (d6, ranged, with 10 arrows) cost: 30 silver
The merchant opens her robe and shows Svum her wears, a cruel long jagged dagger, a mace with what looks like dried blood and hair left on it, and a small bow, probably made for a child.
“My god demands that you bring pain to this world. The Silver Moon will love your soul more for every person you make suffer. But nothing is free. Perhaps if you don’t have the coin, we can come to an arrangement,” the merchant says as she hands the flail to Svm. “The Silver Moon will credit you for the pain you inflict upon yourself.”
For this, the merchant will give a discount to Svum for every point of damage he inflicts on himself. 2 silver per damage. He can swing softly (d4 damage) or hard (d6 damage).
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| Pain is a discount. What a notion. By anonymous. |
In disgust, Svum takes the flail from his merchant. He knows a bow would be useful but he doesn’t quite have enough silver for it. He grits his teeth and prepares to flagellate himself. He swings hard, but not as hard as he could. (D4 damage: 1. HP now at 6). He feels the metal barbs stick into his back and a trickle of blood as he pulls the flail back.
The Merchant grabs the flail from Svum and scoffs, “A disappointment. The Silver Moon is unlikely to be impressed by your pain. Still, some pain was delivered and for that, two silver will be credited for a purchase. What would you like to buy?”
Svum pulls out his silver pouch and counts out 29 silver pieces. With the pain discount, the bow and arrows will cost nearly everything he has. Still, his vision is less cloudy now and a bow could be useful. He hands over 28 silver to the merchant and she gives him the bow and arrows.
Svum has 1 silver now and receives a Short bow (d6, ranged, with 10 arrows)
The bow is solid and has good flex. A name is roughly carved into the wood ‘Hugo’, so this is a child’s bow. Svum tries not to think about how the Merchant ended up with it.
“Leave us now, wanderer. Go forth and inflict pain onto this world for which the Silver Moon will gladly reward you. Now leave me to my flagellation.” And the Merchant begins a mystical chant Svum cannot understand and starts striking herself with the flail. The wet sound of barbs smacking flesh sickens Svum. He walks out of the alley, the tavern is just ahead.
Svum peaks his head out of the exit of the alley and takes in the street. The morning mist has parted and a weak midday sun has taken over. He looks at it, it looks less bright than it did when he was a kid. Are his eyes failing or is the sun shrinking? He doesn’t care…
Yes, the Rusty Cutters Tavern is here and that black pearl or whatever must be inside. Svum is happy with himself, which is a rare feeling he is unfamiliar and uncomfortable with. He squints at the tavern from across the road. The Flailing Fish, a stupid name for a tavern. Either way, he will need to get in and find this thing if he wants his payday. As a reflex, he touches his silver pouch and feels the one coin inside of it. Barely enough to buy a heel of stale bread. If he doesn’t finish this score, the only thing he will be eating is worm-infested bread that tastes like shit.
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| The Flailing Fish is the place to be in the Squalor. Maybe their beer isn't too rancid? By Adriaen van Ostade |
Svum figures there is no point sitting around staring at the stupid fish tavern, so he goes for a little walk around the building to see if he can spot a back entrance or something.
Is there a back entrance Svum can take advantage of? Roll a D4 oracle, a 2, That’s Yes, But. So there is a back entrance but it's hard to get into because it's high off the ground.
Svum doesn’t spot a door or anything but he does see a low second-floor window that he figures he can reach if he jumps really high. His legs feel spry and his hands strong. Maybe he can do it.
Adventuring Move +2 with Agility
DR10 Vs (9+2)11, (19+2)21, Sucess
(Svum is using his Stealthy ability I forgot in previous chapters. It lowers DR tests by 2. A normal DR test is now 10)
Svum launches himself upward and his filthy hands grab onto the window ledge. It doesn’t give way under his weight and he strains to pull himself up. Svum whispers thanks to the gods when he finds the window unlocked. He pulls himself into the room and looks around.
What is this room? I’ll roll on some tables from Solitary Defilement, it smells moldy and looks neglected. Any contents? It looks empty. Is it really empty? Roll a D4 yes or no oracle. 3, a No BUT. There is a trap in this room but Svum will have a chance to spot it or avoid it. What trap? There are cages hanging along the ceiling with a nasty surprise inside… OK let’s play it out.
The first thing he notices is the deep rich smell of mold wafting through the room. He looks around and sees a dirty, room with a thick layer of dust coating the floor. A single door is opposite the window. Nothing unusual at first glance, so he pulls himself in and starts making his way across the room. Svum sees a few footprints in the dust, and he tries to puzzle out what they mean.
Adventuring Move -1 with Presence
DR12 Vs (3-1)2, (13-1)12, Weak hit
He knows to expect something but doesn’t figure out what the footprints mean. He will get a chance to avoid the trap again.
Our dear Svum is not a smart man. He’s not stupid but he hasn’t been to a day of school in his whole sad life. As they say in the Squalor ‘School is for rich pricks’. Still, he figures the footprints mean something and he tries to step between them, and it goes well enough until he hears a loud mechanical clank and he knows immediately he fucked up.
He leaps to the doorway, as he sees several things dropping from the ceiling.
Adventuring Move +2 with Agility
DR10 Vs (2+2)4, (8+2)10, Weak hit
He avoids the worst of it but has one creature to contend with.
Diving through to the door he quickly opens it up as he hears the distinctive hiss of an Alley Snake behind him. He opens and closes the door quicker than the one time the girl he was sleeping with pulled a knife on him.
He breathes a sigh of relief and relaxes against the door. Then our Svum feels something move past his foot. One of those slimy bastards followed him out of the door
Alley Snake
HP 4 - It’s small but big enough if you know what I mean
Moral - It’s a snake. Not smart enough to know when to run
Weapon - Poison Bite, D4. Got a bit of sting in its fangs.
Armour - None, it’s snake…Special - If bitten. Svum will have to roll D12 Toughness to not be poisoned. Poison does D2 damage for three rounds.
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| You'd think there wouldn't be many snakes in the Squalor. You'd be wrong. By Tadas Klimauskas |
Before he can react the snake has reared up. It's a large bastard, probably five feet long and thicker than an arm in the center. It's fangs flash in the weak light of the hallway and Svum sees some vile liquid dripping from them. Svum grabs his sword and pulls but in the tight hallway, he struggles to pull it free of his belt.
The snake senses the confusion and lunges at Svum, fangs bared. Svum tries to step back and he feels himself slipping on the greasy floor but then something odd happens. It's as if an invisible hand holds him up and keeps him from falling. He regains his composure and puts a leather-clad arm up against the beast's fangs.
The fangs of the snake are long and sharp. Svum feels them bite deep into the leather and then pierce his skin as the venom is pumped into his arm. With the snake latched on to him, Svum frees his sword and chops the damned snake in two. He immediately feels the venom coursing through his veins burning his arm as it goes.
Combat
Initiative D6: 2 Alley Snake goes first
Round 1:
Alley Snake attack. Svum Defends. DR12+2 with Agility, natural 1. Spend an Omen to remove crit. Damage roll = 2, Damage reduction = 1. 1 Damage. Poison Test DR12 Toughness -1. (6-1)5. Svum is poisoned.
Svum Attacks the Alley Snake. DR12-1 with Strength. (14-1)13. Hit. D6 Damage roll for sword. 5. The snake is dead.
Poison roll #1 - D2. 1 Damage. Svum health now 4.
While Svum has defeated the snake, he still has two poison rolls to go and this could easily see him broken. I’ll give him a chance between each roll to reduce the damage of the snake's venom or cure himself.
Svum knows what has happened. He knew a kid who was bitten by an Alley Snake and died in a few minutes. That was a kid, but Svum isn’t a big man. He remembers people at the pub telling stories of people sucking the poison out of their veins. Svum figures it's worth a shot, so he rips off his leather bands and starts sucking hard.
Adventure Move -1 with Toughness
DR12 Vs (17-1)16, (17-1)16, Strong hit The poison is removed.
Svum sucks until his arm aches and he starts tasting something bitter and sharp. He spits it out and hopes it was enough. His arm still burns but nothing else seems to be happening. Svum hopes he got it all out. No use worrying about it. Time to figure out where this pearl is.
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Well well, it looks like Svum has found the tavern and had a play date with some reptile friends. He should really be more careful, next time he might not be able to suck on it.
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Mork Borg
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