In my last session, I managed to develop the mysterious purple orc that randomly came up. My thinking behind this character is that I dislike the Tolkien orcs as actual characters. They work as mindless hordes to throw at the heroes, but orcs, as characters in fantasy stories, have a lot of potential. I’ve always liked Warcraft’s handling of them much better, giving them a richer & more complex culture, showing they are not mindless savages but have a whole society of their own. I also liked the idea of Ukrom being an ancient mage (I rolled prehistoric on an Age table) and a reminder of what orcs used to be. While they will pop up near the end of this session, I do have ideas for the species when I continue this Dungeon World solo campaign in the future.
Outside the Sunken Tower, the Mermaid’s Tear drops its anchor. Captain Molly Rhys shouts at her crew to prepare the rowboat to go ashore. She looks slightly different now. After picking her up from the wreckage where Marlow & Utiba left her, the crew provided their captain with the point of a harpoon and helped sew it into the stump where her hand used to be. Bloodied bandages are still wrapped around it, but Molly admires her new appendage. She can’t wait to try it on the man who took her hand, Marlow.
Ukrom tells Marlow & Utiba he can take them to where Somberlas’s Bone Club is likely stored, but that will be the vault near the top of the Tower. Cannon fire from The Mermaid’s Tear rocks the structure as the trio make their way up. A hole has been blasted, revealing they are still beneath sea level, ocean water rushing in. The staircase is broken, and Marlow attempts to jump the gap. He makes it but struggles to help Utiba climb up, while Ukrom uses his magic to seal the wall temporarily.
Climbing the stairs, they come upon a room with two large hellfire beetles wandering about. Marlow surveys the room and notices part of the floor has begun to crumble away. He reasons they can lure the beetles in that direction and let the floor do the rest. Splashing them with his last bottle of goldenroot, Marlow thinks he can temporarily “tame” the beetles and walk them over. It works on one, but not enough hits the other, who becomes enraged. Flames begin crackling around its mandibles. Ukrom & Marlow work together and end up smashing the creature while avoiding its shooting flames. Utiba leads the other towards the hole, letting it plummet into the below waters.
The next room is pouring forth with a mystical fog. Ukrom explains while the room is material when you are inside of it, the space can be infinite due to this mist. It is a security feature to keep robbers from reaching the most valuable treasures. Without Ukrom, the pair likely would have never made their way through. He shouts some incantations, glowing runes appear around his hands, and a path forms through the fog, allowing them to pass into the main vault.
The door to the vault is already slightly open, which concerns Ukrom. While Marlow & Utiba rush in to see the Bone Club, Ukrom kneels down and finds a strange green viscous blood thick on the door. His eyes widen, and he rushes to warn his new friends. Too late. The snake demon that had attacked them before drops from the ceiling, its arms shapeshifting into scythes and swinging for Marlow & Utiba.
Marlow wields his cutlass while Ukrom floats through the air, swinging back his war ax and bringing it down on the creature. Utiba’s staff explodes with arcane energy, burning the scales off the snake demon’s left side. Histup screams something cold & dark from the pits of Hades and slashes his arms wildly at the three. The scythe slices across Marlow’s chest, leaving a burning green ooze and doing tremendous damage. Ukrom boosts Marlow with a levitation platform, and the rogue cleaves his cutlass across the throat of the snake demon, blood black & acrid bursting forth. Their foe lies dead.
With a flick of his wrist, Somberlas’ Bone Club floats off a nearby shelf into Marlow’s hands. The artifact has been found. Then another quaking of the ground as a volley of cannonballs strike. Ukrom waves his hands at a wall, and a hidden control panel appears, which he activates. A rumble is heard through the tower. He explains all the dangers & horrors contained in the Tower have been unleashed to deal with the pirates swarming inside. Now, to escape.
A secret passage leads them down flights of stairs and into a hallway. They find a manticore withdrawing its scorpion tail from the back of a pirate. Further down the hallway, imps terrorize a quartet of buccaneers who are running for safety. The three heroes fight their way towards the exit, where Utiba & Marlow’s boat is tied up. An encounter with a trio of pirates goes well until the end when one plunges his blade into Utiba’s stomach. Blood spills out, and Marlow rushes to her side, finding life fading.
Captain Molly emerges from the chaos, cackling as Marlow holds his dying companion. In a rage, Marlow charges her only to be surprised by her harpoon hand, the point plunging into his right shoulder. Marlow staggers back in pain. Molly steps toward her target, unaware of Ukrom behind her. He raises his war ax and slices the pirate captain entirely.
The Tower shakes violently, the battles inside and the siege from outside breaking apart its integrity. Large chunks of stone begin crashing down. Marlow finds Utiba is still conscious but knows the recall coin back to Dungeon Town is only good for two souls. He cannot take Ukrom with them. The ancient orc mage knows this and pats Marlow gently on the back. “Take her home, get her healed. I will deal with this mess.” Marlow doesn’t know what to say and simply responds, “Thank you.” He puts Utiba’s hand on the coin with his and closes his eyes. Blink. Gone.
The levels above begin crashing down, and Ukrom casts a protection bubble around himself, knowing his concentration will wan. Pirates and monsters tumble down, still amid battle. Ukrom closes his eyes and smiles, and a burst of white-hot arcane fire consumes the tower and everything inside. From the Mondeo shore, the inhabitants of Daveza watch in awe, shocked to see the Sunken Tower finally crumble and disappear into the sea.
Far to the north, one of the last known orc tribes, The Loghrol, join together in a chant from their home on the Estesial Plains. This ritual will be marked down in the journal of a passing human merchant on camelback. The human merchant refers to it as “orc song” but will never know it was their rite of passing. Ukrom’s death, an event felt suddenly in their souls, though they could not have explained it in that way.
Marlow opens his eyes and finds he’s kneeling beside Utiba on the floor of Reima’s study. The old master rises out of his chair in shock at their condition. “The Bone Club,” Marlow says and tosses the item to his mentor. Then, rising, Marlow carries Utiba off to the healers, hoping they can save her.
The end, for now.
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