Solo Tabletop RPG Actual Play – Mork Borg: Solitary Defilement Part Two

Mork Borg: Solitary Defilement (10d+5)
Written & Designed by…? (no specific names on the document)

Read Part One, where I explain the rules/tone of Mork Borg and this solo supplement.
You can get this set of solo rules here.
This play through also uses the Mork Borg Core Rules and the Feretory supplement.

Our next player character is Prügl the Occult Herbmaster. Here is the description I was given when I generated them in Esoteric Hermit. 

From a little witches’ cottage in Galgenbeck. 

Born of the mushroom, raised in the glade, watched by the eye of the moon in a silverblack pool.

Nihilistic and wasteful. Cataracts slowly but surely spreading in both eyes. Best friend is a skull. Carry it with you, tell it everything, you trust no one more.

Using this, I decided that Prügl was literally born from a mushroom. Three witch sisters longed for a child and combined their magic to create something more than a homunculus, a living human creature. At first, Prügl seemed like any other child, but he quickly began to change, becoming uglier and nastier than the other children. By age 10, he was bald save for a few wisps of gray hair, a gleeful grimacing sneer adorning his face. Prügl found a lot of joy in tormenting children, especially the ones who saw themselves as the king of the mountain.

His best friend was a boy named Nifhel. Prügl became interested in much of what his mothers did, especially their work harvesting local plants for their concoctions and spells. Prügl and Nifhel would often venture into the forests outside their hamlet, with Prügl searching for elusive ingredients to help him develop his skills. During one of these excursions, Nifhel crawled into a large hole in search of the brinnande roots Prügl was insistent on finding. However, this was the den of a ratbit, and young Nifhel was disemboweled and killed quite efficiently. 

Prügl played tug of war with his friend’s corpse, wrestling it away from the ratbit, dousing the creature with a powder that would cause it to seek to drown itself. There was no point in letting Nifhel’s body go to waste, Prügl thought to himself and proceeded to butcher the corpse, harvesting any bits that had come up in his spellbooks as crucial but rare ingredients. Prügl also decided to save Nifhel’s skull, which he still carries today, confiding his most intimate secrets to the one who remains his best friend.

As an Occult Herbmaster, Prügl has a wagon he pulls along with him. A portable laboratory and enough ingredients to make basic spells are in this wagon. Per the game rules, each morning, I roll a d8 twice to determine which two spells on my list I make, then a d4 for each to see how many doses I will have for the day. At the end of the day, whatever I didn’t use will spoil. Prügl carries two weapons with him, a sling (which he prefers for the distance he can keep from his enemies) and a meat cleaver for whenever he is forced into close combat. Fun fact: this is the same cleaver used to dismember Nifhel. Ah, memories.

Prügl finds himself in the Valley of the Unfortunate Dead, the site of many elusive plants the herbmaster desperately desires. Our hero encounters a fancily dressed child wandering through the Valley on his third day foraging. Dressed in navy blue velvet and nicely polished buckle shoes, this child stands out against the desolate landscape. Instead of being afraid of Prügl, the boy approaches him with confidence. Prügl notes the distant gaze in the child’s eyes, never looking directly at who he is speaking to but distracted by thoughts of something far away.

“Good Prügl, I hope I find you in happy times,” the boy begins, never hesitating to let Prügl get a word in edgewise. “I come to you with dire news. You know of The Ebony Coven, the oldest and most powerful of witches in the land. They are being hunted. Witchfinders out of Galgenbeck are roving the land, intent on expunging all the dark magicks. The Ebony Coven have fled into Bergen Chrypt, hiding in a cavern, but the witchfinders aggressively pursue them. Only you can save them, good Prügl.”

Prügl has heard of these dark sisters; they authored many spellbooks his mothers kept in their library. Saving the Ebony Coven would make him a big name in the right circles. It’s too good of an opportunity to turn down. However, when he turns back to the boy to accept his call, no one is there, and Prügl feels a strange chill along his spine. Getting to Bergen Chrypt from where he is will only take four days, so the herbmaster sets off.

A piercing wind cuts through the Valley, and Prügl does his best to keep his wagon rolling along the trade route that has fallen into disrepair. In the morning, he brews Fernor’s Philtre, which enhances his sight after applying a couple of drops to his right eye. There are also two doses of Spider Owl Soup should he need to see in the dark or crawl up walls. 

Right away, Prügl comes across an abandoned chapel with a graveyard off to the side. He reasons that a good portion of corrupted holy water might be helpful when dealing with these witchfinders, so he ventures within. Here is the setup for The Chapel of the Fetid Damned. I used DNGNGEN to create the place and DNGNSTOCK to help populate it. Of course, I edited & tweaked it to match the flavor I wanted. Not everything in the write-up appeared but that’s sort of the thing with this set-up. You create a palette to work from and then random rolls determine which of these things you encounter. Perhaps if I camped here overnight I might have encountered more or if I searched for more hidden areas.

NPCs to Encounter

1 – Amter, Secretive Noble

2 – Adult, Shy Warden

3 – Vadux, miserable butcher

4 – Gorrabat, imposing undertaker

5 – Lated, awkward swindler

6 – Kutar, narcissistic executioner

The first room is a special room, an Uncanny Entrance. A chair composed of animal bones appears to have been made for a child; what sort of child remains to be seen. In the corner is a state of what seems to have been the Virgin with her head lopped off. Most dangerous are the cracks in the floor, a green gas crawling its way up from the surface and slithering across the floor. 

Prügl attempts to cross through the room without inhaling any of these gasses.

(General Adventuring Move DR12 vs. Agi (0) – Rolls 17,6 – Weak Hit. I used the Pay the Price move from Ironsworn to handle Weak Hits, which worked well. Pay the Price: Something of value is lost or destroyed.) 

One of Prügl’s rations slips out of his satchel and tumbles into a fissure in the ground. 

The second room is also a special room, a Bleak Passage. Prügl surmises this must be a storage space due to the upright harp collecting dust. There’s no exit at the end of the narrow hallway. He notes that toy balls and marbles are also spread across the floor. The same child who sat in the bone chair played with these? The walls are slick with a black inky substance that intrigues Prügl, but he keeps focus, planning to search the room for anything of value.

(General Adventuring Move to get to the other side of the hall without tripping on the balls and marbles DR12 vs. Agi (0) – Rolls 1,1 – Take full harm, which is 1HP.)

Prügl busts his ass on the floorboards, sputtering curses at the unseen child who left these things. He starts searching for anything that might aid him in his quest.

(Search for Object DR12 vs. Omens (1) – Rolls 11,10 – Corpse Plunder – Necklace of human teeth)

There’s a skeleton on the other side of the room and Prügl forages in its pockets. The only thing he finds is a necklace made of human teeth. Perhaps it has magical properties, but Prügl can’t detect them. When he finds the Ebony Coven, he will ask a favor from them to divine its uses.

Prügl sneaks back through the Uncanny Entrance and into the other room that branched off. Here he finds the third special room. Inside this Polished Sanctuary is quite a strange site. Above the altar is an upside-down crucifix of such intricate detail and design, Prügl estimates it must be worth quite a bit in gold coins. He might swipe it to sell if he was headed out of the Valley and back to Galgenbeck, but he’s going the opposite way. Even stranger is the haggard-looking mule munching on a pile of bloody hay. There appears to be a finger hanging from the mule’s lip, but it disappears, not giving Prügl a chance to see if he is right. Before the altar is a wooden barrel which must have served as a makeshift font. This water resembles the inky and thick liquid on the Bleak Passage’s walls. Corrupted already, saving Prügl some time. Prügl needs something to carry it in.

(Search for Object DR12 vs. Omens (1) – Rolls 9,11 – Fail. Pay the Price: The current situation worsens.)

While searching for a cup or bowl, Prügl spooks the mule, which pushes the barrel away from its spot, revealing another crack in the ground. Prügl surmises the gasses from beneath the church got into the holy water. Prügl attempts to avoid the gasses pouring into the Sanctuary.

(General Adventuring Move to avoid breathing the gas DR12 vs. Agi (0) – Rolls 5, 20 – Pay the Price: A surprising development complicates your quest.)

Prügl seems to have woken someone up with all this commotion. From behind one of the pews emerges the head of an exhausted-looking man. He looks too weak to put up much of a fight, and Prügl would love to have more meat to throw at the enemy when the time comes. Prügl offers the man a bit of food, and he accepts greedily. The man is Padux, a miserable butcher who got lost in the Valley after going on a hunt for gravelings but inhaled some of the gas and passed out for days. 

(Convince Vadux to join me – GAM DR12 vs. Pres (+2) – Rolls 17,19 – Vadux will come with me)

Vadux weakly nods when Prügl implores him to come along. Prügl lies that he will visit his uncle, who owns an estate in Bergen-Chrypt where Vadux will be fed until fat. Prügl also feels there must be another room hidden somewhere and searches.

(Search for a hidden room – GAM DR12 vs. Pres (+2) – Rolls 7, 20 – Pay the Price: A new danger or foe is revealed.)

Prügl pushes aside a tapestry hanging against the back wall of the Sanctuary and finds a locked wooden door. With help from Vadux, Prügl breaks the door open only to find a zombie trapped inside, lunging out at them. 

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The zombie fails to grapple Prügl, likely due to its advanced state of decomposition. Prügl, in fact, doesn’t harm it, missing with his meat cleaver, while Vadux makes quick work with his filet knife. The zombie is down briefly, enough for Prügl to rummage through the final room.

In the Ancient Rectory, roaches are crawling as Prügl pushes aside clothing and books strewn over the floor. A mirror on the wall depicts all who look hideous, but Prügl already struggles in the looks department and doesn’t notice much of a change at all. 

(Oracle question: Is there a vessel in here to carry the corrupted holy water – Odds: Likely – Answer: Yes)

Prügl finds a simple wooden cup, probably used during communion, that will carry the blackened holy water perfectly. He greedily searches for anything else of note.

(Search for Object DR12 vs. Omens (1) – Rolls 17, 15 – Strong hit – Useful item (roll on equipment table) – 1 day’s worth of dried food.)

Back in the Sanctuary, the zombie begins to pull itself upright. Prügl tells Vadux they should probably leave now, and they do. The night’s camp goes by without a worry.

(Here’s the map I made during my exploration)

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Day Two begins with an irritating drizzle keeping things damp and cold. The road is still tricky to navigate, but with Vadux’s help, they keep going. A crumbling castle looms in the distance, but Prügl says they have limited time to reach his uncle, who needs their aid. Another peaceful night of camping, rations run low, but Prügl believes they are close enough to not worry.

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Day Three is unnerving, with the dead quiet of Bergen Chrypt washing over the two travelers. No wind, no rain. Just stillness among the fanged mountains that jut up in jagged angles from the dusty earth. The road’s condition improves, which adds to the strangeness. Who is keeping a road so remote in such good shape? Prügl is unsettled and suggests they spend the day foraging just in case. Success. The two find 11 days’ worth of rations, mostly wild vegetables & mushrooms, but it fills the belly. Camping is unsettled by the eerie conditions, Prügl cannot sleep for more than half the night.

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Day Four brings confusion, Prügl struggles to make out the broken signs at a crossroads. The weather is a lifeless gray, foggy in the morning, which burns off into a bleak haze for the rest of the day. Nothing, in particular, stands out as they follow the well-maintained road. Prügl decides to search for signs of the Ebony Coven’s cavern hideout.

(Search for the Ebony Coven GAM DR12 vs. Omens (1) – Rolls, 10,10 – Failure. Pay the price: A new danger is revealed)

It looks like a cave some witches might live in, Prügl tells himself. The overwhelming stench says otherwise. The unnerving snarls that follow unsettle. Emerging from the mouth of the cave is a massive Uberwolf and two of her pups (the size of standard wolves). 

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Uberwolf

HP 18, Morale -, Thick fur -d2, Bite/Claws d8

Uberwolf pups (2)

HP 6, Morale 8, Bite d6

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Prügl encourages Vadux to lead the charge while the herbmaster hangs back with his sling. Prügl strikes the mother with a stone from his sling, a trickle of blood spilling down to her muzzle after. Vadux charges forward, waving his filet knife, and gouges a pup. Vadux starts out well, dodging the slavering fangs of the Uberwolf, looking back, and giving Prügl a thumbs up. This is followed by one pup getting ahold of Vadux’s leg and the other his head. Rip, snap, tear. There goes Vadux.

Prügl steps back and stumbles, launching another stone that fails to hit. Before he realizes it, the wolves are upon him, and that’s all there is to say about Prügl. Perhaps he may return in another mushroom one of these days.