Winds carry flower petals and embers. Screams sound from a field of poppies where thick black smoke billows overhead.

2 dying men (completely identical, deadlocked in combat, wrestling over a trident)
Each claims to be Guillian and accuses the other of being an imposter.
3 burning tents (large, stained with blood, black smoke spreads)
The tents are reduced to ash in d4 + 1 rounds, burning all within.
The corpse of Luther smolders within the red tent.
The wheel used to kill Carmie was tossed into the green tent. One of its spokes is splintered.
The brown tent contains a dead star mongrel (messy kill, no provisions) and a collapsed tunnel.
Hand cart (rickety, wheel missing)
d4 plunder and 1 star mongrel corpse (clean kill, 4 provisions) can be found within.
Luther, corpse (grizzled, knightly armor soaked with blood, shocked expression)
Pierced through the belly with a row of 3 stab wounds.
Carmie, corpse (squire, crushed skull planted into campfire, unrecognizable)
Dragged into the camp’s fire by a rope at his neck. Head smashed by a cart wheel.
Yarm, corpse (neck and chest slashed, pale, hunting cloak stained with dried blood)
Leans against the hand cart. Mauled by an animal some time ago.
Ahead: castle ramparts (climbs amongst the forest canopy)
To the path remembered.
Left: bubbling floodplain (eyes reflect from tallgrass, megaliths stand amongst muck)
To the path stained.
Right: aberrant hills (flowers bloom and die, rolling mounds seem to breath)
To the path dreamt.

Inspecting corpses

Test presence DR10 to accurately identify the cause of death. Increase to DR16 if burnt or destroyed.

The Guillians

Red haired. Bruised and bloodied. Teeth missing. Eyes swollen. Each has met their match.
HP 6     morale 8     leather -d2     trusty trident d4 + 1
Scout: Once per expedition, choose 1 travel test to automatically succeed. If following the party, never loses their trail.

Guillian 1 (rope burns on palms, hands full of splinters)
Contact with fire causes squirming runes of the scripture worm to appear on skin.
If discovered to be the imposter, Guillian 1 attempts to flee into the Sink.
If he successfully fools the party, he attempts to join the party. Follows close behind if denied.

Guillian 2 (covered in Carmie’s brains and Yarm’s blood)
Contact with fire causes screams of pain and burns.
If killed, he haunts whoever is responsible. Appears while resting, torturing their dreams and reducing recovered HP by -d2.
If rescued, he seeks to join the party and avenge his lost companions.

Context on star mongrels and scripture worms.

Star Mongrels

Monstrous quadrupeds with faces of finger-like organs that flower from a dripping central pit. Functionally blind, the face organs are highly sensitive to smell and touch, allowing it to navigate in complete darkness and track its quarry across great distances. Its massive burrowing claws and thick fur allow it to dig through the earth as quickly as a man can run across the surface. Spelunkers warn of starry caves, where if the darkness twinkles as the night sky against your torchlight, it’s likely a mongrel pack hunts from just beyond the shadows.

Scripture Worm

No natural thing, the scripture worm crawled its way into this world through the cracks of oft forgotten dreams. It nests within the throat of its host. Spines weaving into flesh. Sustaining itself and maturing until more worm than man remains.
It burns with dreamsmoke, manipulating its victims through visions and whispers, marking its scripture upon their flesh— runic rashes that portend the promises of the prophet.
The worm has been bestowed upon all of Sorcha’s acolytes, granting them the unique ability to mold their squirming flesh into a myriad of appearances. They often assume the identity of others whose position may be of service to their prophet.
To create a compelling imitation, the worm may remove the acolyte’s memory of their true nature, believing themselves to actually be the person whom they have replaced.

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This post is a WIP excerpt from the upcoming volume of DRINK.
If you want to help support the DRINK series, pick up a community copy over at my itch page. Leave a comment or rating if you want to see more.
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