The Cure

## Event

*Malaclypse's condition worsens on your journey back to the Underneath. He must stop often for rest, and his usual chatty lute-playing is replaced by a sombre silence.*

*Finally, you arrive at the familiar stone entrance by the lake... but the doorway is wide open, and the bespectacled ogre is lying in a pool of his own blue blood.*

*The ogre wheezes, "Get away..."*

**The Dealer draws a 5 of Skulls.**

**The player enters Combat.**

*"Well done." A robed woman, draped in bone charm, rounds the corner - a necromancer! "You must be Malaclypse, and you, his mercenary companion. I was warned about you."*

**The Dealer draws a Necromancer of Skulls.**

*She bows mockingly. "Have you come to stop me from ending the lives of the little rats who scurry in this sinkhole?"*

1) Demand to know who she is.

*She laughs - a chilling, hollow sound. "By many accounts I am nobody. Merely a killer for hire."*
2) Ask who sent her.

*"Why, the Empire, of course!" The Necromancer steps closer, fiddling with her bone amulets. "You really think you could waltz into an Empire fort and steal those precious mage children away without them noticing?"*
*"There's an enticingly high price on your heads... and a high price on mage heads in general. Once I've taken yours, I'll descend into the Underneath and collect every last one."*
3) Ask why she wants to kill those hiding in the Underneath. (available after asking other questions)

*"Can you not feel the winds of time changing, Malaclypse of the Vale? The Seers whisper of it. I've no intention of being on the wrong side of history, do you?"*
*Malaclypse grimaces. "You are on the wrong side of history, sister."*
*The necromancer smiles. "History is penned by the victors, hedge-mage."*
*"Now," she readies her staff. "The Emperor did not gift me lizardman bone-dust to waste my time up here while I could be down there, spilling mage-blood."*
*The necromancer raises her arms and the undead crawl out of the earth to surround you.*
**The Dealer draws a 7 of Skulls.**
**The player enters Combat.**
*Suddenly, Malaclypse doubles over in pain, clutching his arm. "Ira... the cure...!"*
*You carry Malaclypse through the stone entrance into the Underneath. He coughs blood onto his collar.*
*A few steps into the tunnel you meet Ira. She takes one glance at Malaclypse's face and immediately understands.*
*Malaclypse is as pale as a sheet and his eyes are bloodshot. "Ira, please, the potion-"*
*She weeps. "Oh Mal... I have lied to you...."*
*Malaclypse stares in horror, blood leaking from his mouth. "What... what are you saying..."*
*She raises a hand and cups his face with the tenderness of a lover. "The only cure is removal. The whole limb is infected, Mal. It has to go."*
*Malaclypse begins to sweat through his surcoat. He tears at the bindings of his sleeve to reveal the affliction spreading up his arm. Glowing green pustules encrust his hand and wrist.*
*The extend of his affliction now gruesomely apparent, he gives a strangled sigh and promptly passes out.*
*Ira unsheathes a curved, silver dagger from her belt and hands it to you. "We don't have much time. I must fetch a blood binding potion or he will simply bleed to death."*
*"Do not falter! If the corruption spreads to his neck then he is lost." Then, Ira hurries down into the Underneath.*
*You must remove the infected limb for him. The corruption is creeping quickly past his elbow.*
**Precision Gambit** (1 Huge Success, 4 Huge Failure, all mid-sized and moving)
Huge Success
*The surgical dagger is impossibly sharp. It cuts cleanly through Malaclypse's arm - through tendon, muscle and bone.*
*Still, your friend does not move. You feel sick to your stomach as you desperately try to staunch the bleeding. At last, Ira arrives, potion in hand.*
*Some days later, Malaclyse comes to. He stares at the empty healing vials and jars of curative salves that surround his sick bed, and rasps for a flagon of wine.*
*When he is well enough - through sorceries and blood magics you don't quite understand - Malaclypse is gifted with a new arm.*
*It glows bright green and is smooth and transparent, like glass.*
*Malaclypse flexes his new limb with a sad look on his face. "Thank the gods the Empire isn't hunting mages right now or this would be quite the beacon, indeed."*
*After a few more days, fully supplied with wine and the disgusting cave-berry cakes ubiquitous in the Underneath, you both trudge up the tunnel to the surface.*
*Malaclypse is silent as you walk.*
A) Ask about his arm.
*Malaclypse flexes his new glowing limb. "It feels... stiff, and tingles painfully."*
B) Ask about the corruption.
*He grimaces. "I made a terrible mistake. It was a plan concocted by a few desperate ones to stop the Empire from culling all of us, but..."*
*"...it backfired horribly. Those who didn't die were infected and..."*
*He stops himself from telling you something, and pats you on the back instead. "When you're older I'll tell you the rest of the story."*
C) Ask about the Empire.
*"If it is true that the Emperor himself is consorting with mages to cull mages, then that is a rather flawed and terrifying plan."*
*"It may all be codswallop though. Necromancers are known to harbour big heads - unlike the smaller, more humble heads of regular mages like me."*
D) Ask what he is going to do now.
*"I could have died... it's a funny thing to think about."*
*Malaclypse runs his new hand across the surface of a powerful spellbook - a parting gift from Ira. "I suppose since it will be difficult to hide this beacon attached to my body, I'll have to abandon the bard disguise."*
**The player gains 12 Fame.**
*A thought suddenly crosses his mind. "-except in taverns. Have you ever seen a mage successfully woo a pretty bar maiden? I haven't!"*
**The player gains this card's token.**
Failure
(insert text here)
Huge Failure
*Malaclypse groans and slaps at you, his eyes open and deep-red, bloodshot.*
**The player draws a Life Pain Card.**

## Token Unlocks

*For saving Malaclypse from the corruption...*

The Underneath (normal encounter)

Malaclypse the Magician