Solo Tabletop RPG – Mork Borg: Solitary Defilement Part Three

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 playthrough also uses the Mork Borg Core Rules and the Feretory supplement.
Our next player character is Von the Fanged Deserter. Here is the description I was given when I generated them in Esoteric Hermit. 

Your earliest memories are of following an arm in eastern Wästland.

You have thirty or so friends who never let you down: YOUR TEETH. Disloyal, deranged, or simply uncontrollable, any group that didn’t boot you out, you left anyway. But your parliament of teeth — enormous, protruding, thick, and sharp — have always been your allies.

Nihilistic and suspicious. Starved: gaunt and pale. Permanent phlegm deposit in throat. Continuous cough, snort, spit, and swallow. Banished and disowned for unspecified deeds. Can never go home.

Fanged Deserter is never directly defined in the Mork Borg book. Like many worldbuilding pieces, they are painted in broad strokes to allow each player or group’s world to detail as they please. We can infer through the text that Fanged Deserters are orcs or similar species. My view of orcs in my world is that they were created by a mad sorcerer millennia ago, their name lost to the ages. Their creation also triggered the devastation of the southeastern corner of The Dying Lands, earning it the title of the Wästland. Over time bands of orcs split from the original cluster of millions, and now they are lost in an endless cycle of inter-tribal wars. Any non-orc individual or group that wanders into the Wästland will become a target if they don’t watch out. Every few years, some orcs seem to wake up from the mindless stupor enchanted into them at their birth, and they break away, trying to forge a new path. It’s a struggle. Von is one of these orcs.

Among his randomly generated belongings was this incredible one: 

3 monkeys that ignore but love you (4 HP, punch/bite d4)

These things make me love Mork Borg, the absurdity built into it. I decided that the Wästland used to have vibrant wildlife, and some of the heartiest have survived. One of these species is Baker’s Monkey, a rather stoic and crafty primate. After Von broke away from his army, he saved these three from a hunter attempting to catch them for food. They didn’t show much immediate appreciation towards Von, who tried to engage them in conversation. However, the following day, Von woke to find the same trio of monkeys grazing nearby. They continued to follow him day after day yet refused to look at him when he spoke to them or interact directly. Von came to love them and nicknamed them Lur, Mur, and Cur.

I rolled on some tables for an adventure hook and came up with this: While wandering in the Wästland, Von comes across a dying tortured orc who tells him that humans captured his warband. They were taken to Schleswig, where they were beaten and eventually executed. Very soon, their general Lagzaam Chestripper will soon be killed. Von remembered that she showed him kindness when they crossed paths shortly after he deserted and crossed paths with this warband. He wants to rescue her and makes the 21-day journey to Schleswig. 

Day One begins safely with lifeless gray weather on a well-used road through the Wästland. The road eventually forks, and Von cannot read, so the signposts make no sense to him; he thinks they are a strange kind of tree. He chooses one path and comes across seven slavers leading three slaves. Even Von thinks it is odd how many men accompany so few slaves. Von puffs up his chest and keeps his distance, and they do the same.

Von camps off the road that night but struggles to fall asleep. Halfway through the night, Von catches a feather fox eating his rations. Von & the monkeys fight the feather fox making quick work of the creature. Von can harvest three days worth of rations of the feather fox. Despite this victory, sleep is never found.

Day Two begins with a thunderous cloudburst. Nothing much happens. It is the Wästland, after all. That night during camping, Von doesn’t find much sleep. He’s wide awake when the camp is approached by three grumpy peddlers and their donkey. 

(Determine intention (GAM) DR12 vs. Pres (14,8) – Weak Hit. Something of value is lost or destroyed.)

Two of them keep the dim-witted Von distracted with rants about the state of things in The Dying Lands, while the third steals Von’s rations. He only discovers this the following day after they are long gone. 

Day Three starts with dead quiet, a state that unsettles Von. The road crumbles away and becomes tracks left by animal migrations. Without any food and a rumbling stomach, Von decides to go off-road and forage. He comes across a simple village of mud huts. There are wooden racks where large hunks of meat are being sun-dried. Looks great. Von quickly discovers the town is populated by some ravenous cannibals. Five rush Von, and before he can deal a single blow, the orc is down and being butchered for a fresh meal.

Von didn’t have much life, but I like this character. If I return to Solitary Defilement in the future, I might bring Von and his monkeys back. This is one thing to remember with a system like Mork Borg: you make the wrong decision, and you’re dead. Not a system I want to play all the time, but when the mood strikes me, it is a lot of fun. One more to go in this series of playthroughs.