The Smiling Mountain Annals

Oddities, Antiquities, and Eccentrics from a Dying World

By Monte D. Monteleagre

The Smiling Mountain Annals is an independent production by Monte D. Monteleagre and is not
affiliated with Ockult Örtmästare Games or Stockholm Kartell. It is published under the MÖRK
BORG Third Party License.

MÖRK BORG is copyright Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell.

This project was made as part of Mörktober 2022 with prompts written by Exeunt Press. More
about Mörktober can be found here: https://www.exeunt.press/morktober

This is the plain-text version of The Smiling Mountain Annals. This version also includes the
author’s thoughts about each entry into this supplement.
WEAPONS AND ARMOR
The Luck Knife 1d4 damage 200 Silver… if you’re lucky.

Instead of Dealing damage, the knife severs luck from its target. First, the knife removes Omens.
Ones the Omens are all gone, every successful strike subtracts the damage amount from all the
target’s rolls (tests, attacks, damage, healing, etc.) until after their next full night’s sleep.

The Luck Knife is a good, memorable weapon to give to an NPC facing the players. Let this
enemy use hit and run tactics to make all the following fights even harder. At the end, the knife is
a good prize.

Once in the hands of the PCs, it can do a lot to make dangerous fights easier over time. It’s a
good signature weapon for someone who isn’t a big damage dealer.

The Oil-Rot Bow 1d6 damage 200 Silver

When an arrow is loosed from this bow, all light sources within 30 feet extinguish themselves for
1 round and then flicker back to life.

This is another hit and run weapon, but this one pays off good planning. Whatever side has this
bow had better have a plan for after the lights go out, otherwise, everyone is in the dark
together.

Give it to an assassin, maybe one that fights with a sense other than sight and put them at odds
with the party.

The Chained Moon 1d10 damage Who could put a price on such a thing?

Above the grey smog, something is missing. Plucked from the night sky by greedy hands and
chained to the femur of an excommunicated saint, this flail glows sadly in the night.

Wolves and their kin howl and obey you, water draws itself toward you, and hidden things can
be caught in its glow. +2 to Presence tests involving wolves, water, and hidden things.

Should the night sky ever see you wield this weapon, you will be marked as its enemy, Should
the flail break, the moon ascends to its rightful place and sends another misery upon the world
that would steal it from the sky.

This is a powerful melee weapon that also grants the wielder some of the moon’s own powers.
Carrying something like this should be a risk. Greedy eyes and hands linger near it. Using it also
risks the world at large. Every time the weapon is swung there is a chance the chain breaks and
the moon is freed.

Whoever created The Chained Moon wanted everyone to know that they had the moon at their
disposal. Maybe as the signature weapon of a warlord, as a conversation piece of a royal, or as
the treasure they chose to be buried with.
The Gauntlet of a Nameless Ghost 300 Silver if you can part with it.

Shards of black metal floating together in the shape of a gauntlet. The pieces are haunted by the
one who died wearing them. Test Presence DR 12 and spend a power to command the gauntlet to
(choose one):
- Float across the room and lift and object weighing no more than five pounds.
- Latch itself to a target’s weapon and hold it in place for 1d4 rounds.
- Carry a weapon and right for 1d4 rounds.
- Explode from the user’s hand, sending shards around the room. 1d4 damage to 1d4
random creatures. The same creature can be hit multiple times. The Gauntlet reforms on
the user’s hand in 1d4 rounds.
Fail and the ghost commands your hand for 1d4 rounds.

This weapon can do a lot. It also wants things. What kinds of things could it want, and how
would it be at odds with its wearer?

Does it have a reason for choosing this wearer in particular?

One possibility is the Gauntlet is bound to an adversary. Once that adversary is beat, the
Gauntlet binds to the victor until it is symbiotic to the strongest fighter. Or perhaps the Gauntlet
is found floating through a room on its own.

Whatever the motivation, this becomes a signature tool of whoever carries the Gauntlet.

Verhu’s Fang 2d6+1 Damage

Only a fool would sell this blade… but would die rich at the end of the world.

When someone picks up this blade for the first time, they test Presence DR 12. If successful, they
understand that this is a cursed and powerful blade. They know one of the following true things
(1d4):
1- When the blade takes a life, a new misery comes to pass.
2- If this blade is broken, the world will end sooner (reduce the die size used to check for
miseries each dawn).
3- If this blade is lost, someone else will use it (check for a new misery at dawn and at
dusk).
4- The blade brings fear and suspicion on the wielder (-2 on reaction rolls).

If they fail the test, they permanently lose one Presence and gain one Strength. Once per week,
the Basilisks demand something (MB pg. 37). Bury this thing in an unmarked grave by the
week’s end or lose another Presence and gain another Strength. If they drop below -3 Presence,
they become a thrall of the blade.

This is a campaign level item. Whether or not the player succeeds at their Presence test when
first holding the sword, Verhu’s Fang is now a full-time responsibility.

Verhu’s Fang is meant to be the center of a long-running campaign where lots of the characters
die, but the sword is still present in each iteration of the party. Whether the party is responsible
with the sword is up to them.

Maybe they start the campaign with it, maybe they find it at the bottom of some forgotten hole, or
maybe the campaign starts with the party coming across someone carrying it. Naturally, they’re
suspicious of this person.

The Gaze of Nechrubel Worth a kingdom each.

A fine set of four rings with a burning red stone set in each. When all four are worn on one hand
and the user makes a closed fist, a red beam arcs from the rings. Test Presence to hit the target.
50% chance a hit kills the target immediately, 50% chance it reduces them to 1 HP. Whether it
hits or not, the rings destroy the hand they’re worn on and the user is broken.

This is another campaign level item. Four rings are spread across the Dying World, and they
may be the only chance the party has to stop some evil force. Or some force for good. Or
anything, if they manage to hit.

A team consisting of the party and many more has been assembled to find them. Drop each ring
at the bottom of a large dungeon, then push rumors on the party that the four rings could be
hidden in any number of holes across the dying world. If you do this, half the battle should be
investigating the rumors to narrow down the dungeons they actually need to delve in.

Maw of the Howling Hound -1 200 Silver to the right buyer.

When worn, all words get twisted into otherworldly howls in this helm’s horrid mouth. Morale
tests get rolled with +2. Cannot communicate while wearing the helm.

Functions like a shield worn on the head and can be broken to avoid damage like a shield.

Let the PCs mistake whatever berserker is wearing this mask for a monster. Then let one of them
become the monster.

The Armor of Prophecy -1d6 400 Silver

Heavy armor made of stone tablets strapped to the body with strips of thick, worn leather. The
tablets are carved with an ever growing and shifting list of names. 1 in 12 chance the name of
any new person the wearer meets is carved into the armor.

Kill them.

Until the names are all gone.

Whoever wears this armor, which can be found as the prize at the end of some dungeon or as a
gift from whoever wore it last, gets a motivation and a complication to every social encounter
they are a part of. Do you want to do a murder in this tavern? More importantly, do you want to
get away with it?

WET GOODS, DRY GOODS, and HOUSING

The True Plague Mask 10 Silver

+2 on all Toughness tests when infection is involved. -2 on Reactions and Presence tests with
plague deniers and fools. Soils and becomes useless on a failed test.

Masks work. Good for players that want to prepare for an infection-heavy dungeon. Harder to
find than the counterfeit ones.

The Counterfeit Plague Mask 80 Silver on sale.

Would work, most assuredly, would it be made by competent and caring hands. This crosshatch
of wire and forged enchantments was instead created to separate as much silver from its would-
be buyer as possible.

It does nothing for poisons, disease, or infection, but adds +2 to Reaction rolls and Presence tests
when looking rich is advantageous. -2 when it is not.

Well, masks that are designed to work do, anyway. These ones should be much easy to come
across and sold with gusto. Make a social encounter of it.

Grafting Thread 30 Silver 1d6 uses

A needle and strong, thick thread used by necromancers, cheap doctors, and the desperate to sew
limbs back together. The grafted limb will begin rotting in 1d4 days. After this, it develops its
own hunger.

Life is cheap, but it can be just a little bit longer if you’re willing to make a deal for it.

At least some of you will still be alive after this one. It can be found in shops, but you may have
to ask for it.

Other People’s Blood 10 Silver*

For those that can’t resist hiding behind their shields but are worried that the gleaming shine
gives away their cowardice, we present a jar full of other people’s blood. Dump it on a new
shield and leave it over night to stain. There. Now it looks like a proper battle implement.

The blood can be used to soil more than shields, but if you’re not using a shield everything else
will get covered in blood anyways.

-2 on Reaction rolls. 1 in 4 chance the wielder gains an infection when the shield breaks.
*20 Silver if they look particularly gullible.

This is a gag gift more than anything else. Really try to sell someone on it. Especially if they’re
new to the scum lifestyle.

Burder’s Last Words The first one’s always free.

A glass vial with silver liquid inside. If imbued, Strength becomes +6 for 1d4 minutes. Then the
user’s Strength becomes -3 for just as long. Afterwards, test Toughness DR 8 or lose 1
Toughness permanently.

Burder’s Last Words is addicting. A non-addicted creature tests Toughness DR 12 to avoid

becoming addicted every time the elixir is imbued. An addicted character is considered infected
if they haven’t had any Burder’s Last Words today.

Life is cheap, but it can be just a little bit longer if you’re willing to make a deal for it.

Sometimes, the best defense is a good offense. However, over time it will be harder to avoid
addiction. When addicted, it will be harder to heal.

The first vial can come as a gift from an NPC the party helps out. Then that NPC can become a
dealer. The price can go up every time, and it does not have to be money.

The Ritual Torch 50 Silver, it was definitely stolen.

A torch built from holy rags and an ancient fang; it burns with a white light. It burns for an hour
and can be used once a day.

If the Torch’s white flame is used to destroy an Unclean Scroll, the ashes can be mixed with a
liquid to make a strange poison. Test Toughness DR 8 or spend 1d6 minutes repenting.

A useful tool, as a torch it can be used every day. Anyone who knows what it is will know it’s
stolen. And if they steal from the church, why wouldn’t they steal from you?

The poison it makes is useful to keep someone busy for a little bit and who knows what they’ll
confess to.

Sunn’s Portable Shack Worth less and less and less and less…

The remnants of a once passable shack. When burnt down, a single seed will be found in the pile
of ash. Plant this seed and by the next dawn, whatever is left of the structure will grow in that
spot.

A portable and temporary source of both shelter and warmth. The seed can be sold or traded to
the players or found in a pile of ash. It’s mostly a gag, but creative minds can figure out
something to do with all the easily transportable wood.
The Mausoleum Wagon

A stone structure on wheels with room for 1d8 deceased and their prized possessions.

Drawn by half a dozen starving undead horses and filled with loyalists long since passed, the
wealthy tour the land one last time after death with their treasures in tow.

These are rolling dungeons filled with treasures that could be anywhere in the world. Have
something you want the players to get their hands on but don’t want it to be easy? Put it in one
of these. If the PCs know about the Wagon, so do other grave robbers.

CREATURES AND THEIR PETS

Therg Worry-Bones
HP Special Morale Special No Armor Weak, Bony fist 0d2

Therg, a talking skeleton cowardly despite his inability to die, will attach himself to the party
upon meeting them with the promise of silver in exchange for protection. He has no silver.

If the party ever attacks, threatens, intimidates, or mildly frightens Therg, he flees. He returns
with 2d4 Blood-Drenched Skeletons (MB pg. 62) at the worst possible moment. 50% chance
they help the party beat up Therg before attacking.

This gives the players a job they will almost always fail at, and if they succeed, the reward does
not come as promised. It’s a trap. And they can prepare for it the next time they meet Therg.

The combat with the skeletons can be brutal, but if they’re occupied with beating up Therg the
PCs have a chance to get away.

The Debt Collectors

HP 5 Morale - Partially Corporeal -1d4 Throwing Needles 1d2+Special

Twisted facsimiles of people in fine garb collect the debts of those who have escaped the crypt
through unnatural means. A pair is assigned to each case.

They always return. When they both fall, there is a 1 in 4 chance they are waiting around the
corner to ambush their target right now at full HP.

Throwing needles temporarily reduce Agility by 1 for every hit. Once Agility hits -3, the target is
paralyzed for 1d2 hours. Agility returns to normal after a full night’s sleep.

Life is cheap, but it can be just a little bit longer if you’re willing to make a deal for it.

Some of those deals bring these guys out. You can hold them off for a little while, but they’ll be
back again. Got a PC who picked up a little bit of immortality? That’ll cost them. I leave the
price up to you.
1d4 Normal Spiders Where You Least Want Them
HP 1 Morale 4 No Armor Venomous Bite 1d2+Special

Test Presence DR 6 or let out a small yelp.

When bit, test Toughness DR 6 or become infected.

It would be a shame if there were any guards nearby who heard that yelp.

The Vampire Blood Squid A fresh one is worth its weight in Silver.
A used on is worth a single meal.

Attaches to someone’s neck and permanently drains 1d4 from their maximum hit points to a
minimum of 1.

If this person would die, instead the Squid begins to pump the blood back into them. Whenever
they take damage or do any strenuous activity test Toughness at a DR of 1. If they pass, they
continue living. If they fail, they and the Vampire Blood Squid die.

The DR of the test rises by 1 every time it is rolled.

Life is cheap, but it can be just a little bit longer if you’re willing to make a deal for it.

Will you live for much longer? No. But you won’t die alone. Maybe the PCs come across a cult
who uses these squids to extend their own lives and offer them up as payment for a job. Maybe
one jumps out of a chest at the PCs. Whatever works.

The Hunger Tomes

HP 4 Morale 5 No Armor Paper Cut 1d2
Captured: 40 Silver Trained: 60 Silver Well fed with strange scrolls: 200 Silver

Living Tomes that contain the knowledge of 1d4 libraries each. Need to consume 1 book a day
or it dies and the knowledge it has consumed is lost forever. Very territorial, mad librarians have
their tomes face off in gambling rings.

This is a pet. Make sure to feed it.

The Watching Birds Worth the Silver they are bound to and many more

The ghosts of long-passed ravens, each haunts a single shining piece of silver. The bird perches
itself within view of the coin and whoever carries it. The Raven can only be seen when it wants
to be seen, granting an Omen to the coin’s carrier if they can spot the bird (DR 12 Presence test).

If struck, The Watching Birds disappear as if they were never there and take an Omen (or
something of equal value) with them. They always return until the coin is lost.
This is another pet. A helpful one, if respected. Maybe there’s an NPC who collects them.

TRAPS
The Covetable Crown

Anyone that lays eyes on The Crown wants it. Test Presence DR 18 or try to take The Crown,
now, through trade, the trickery, then violence.

When worn, The Crown attaches itself to the head of the wearer and cannot be covered up. It can
be removed from a living person with a DR 16 Strength test. Attempting to remove The Crown
causes 1d4 damage. Successful removal causes 1d8 damage. It can be taken off a corpse with
ease.

Can be carried harmlessly if it’s not on someone’s head, but that is not what a crown is for.

This will start PVP when you introduce it. Put it in the same room as the big prize or right before
it. If someone manages to pass the initial test, The Crown can be traded for just about anything
in the world. Just keep it hidden until then.

Death’s Visage in a Locket Worth 20 Silver as jewelry. Worth much more to those
wronged by Death and their lovers.

A Dull Chain and locket containing the visage of Death. When opened, replace one random
creature in this room with Death’s Suitor, come to reclaim their lost trinket.

Death’s Suitor
HP: 10 Morale: -
A Piece of Death’s Cloak: -1d4
A Piece of Death’s Scythe: 1d6

The creature that was replaced is trapped within the locket, and their visage can be seen
alongside Death’s. they cannot be pulled from this locket. Closing and reopening the locket call’s
Death’s Suitor back at full HP, replacing another creature.

This trap removes someone immediately, but not necessarily a member of the party. If they’re
lucky, an enemy is replaced instead.

The encounter could lead to a fight if the party isn’t willing to give up the locket, but a fight
doesn’t have to happen here. Maybe Death’s Suitor knows how to get their friend back.

Put the locket in a pile of other things or the pocket of someone the PCs just killed.
The Wishing Stone

A cold gem the size of a fist. It is said to grant the dying wish of a kind soul who holds it as they
pass. It is stained with blood.

It doesn’t work, of course… but those that believe will never know. Sell it to them.

A false rumor or a rich fool may send the party looking for this stone. Only truly a trap to the
naïve.

Check which PCs believe the rumor, and then figure out which of them thinks they’re a kind soul.

SCROLLS
Unclouded the Eyes, Heart, and Mind An Unclean Scroll

The events of the last hour have all been a prophecy which does not have to pass. All returns to
as it was an hour ago. Whoever used this power can choose any number of creatures to retain
knowledge from this hour.

The user of this power will die a horrible, painful, pathetic death within this new hour.

Life is cheap, but it can be just a little bit longer if you’re willing to make a deal for it.

Come back from a TPK and prepare better this time. The caster won’t make it, but maybe
someone else will. A genuine and rare act of selflessness.

Maybe the scroll can be found in the ancient and strange library of a wizard, or maybe it was
given as an emergency switch by the quest giver who is too much of a coward to use it
themselves.

Suffer the Twilight Born An Unclean Scroll

Switch places with your shadow for 1d4 rounds. The shadow has the same HP as your maximum
and takes all the blows that would have been directed at you.

If the shadow dies, the user is forever shadowless. If it lives, it will remember this.

Life is cheap, but it can be just a little bit longer if you’re willing to make a deal for it.

For a caster that is stuck in combat, they’ll get to live and make an enemy along the way. Not an
uncommon power to find wherever scrolls are found.
Mark An Unclean Scroll

A festering handprint bubble on the back of those Marked by this curse. Anyone Marked tests
Presence DR 16 when a challenge, gamble, or deal is offered to them. If they fail, they have to
accept it without adjustment. If they succeed, the Mark goes away.

An old carnival trick, remember how hard it is to see your own back. Anyone in the know can
take advantage of this.

It should be used by someone against the PCs before they have a chance to ever use the scroll on
someone else. Maybe in a carnival. Maybe in a different, more business-like setting.

Quench the Tears and Seas A Sacred Scroll

Draw out all the water from a corpse or willing sacrifice creating Presence + 1d6 gallons of clean
water and a perfectly preserved body.

Could be found as part of a mummification process. Or perhaps someone wishes to be the

sacrifice and gives the scroll away in this pursuit. The corpses can be sold, too.

Burning Protect These Hands A Sacred Scroll

Take the fire from a lantern or torch and wrap it around a creature’s body as a burning armor for
1d4 rounds before the flames burn out. -1d4 damage, 1d2 damage to anyone standing too close.
Does no damage to whoever is wears the flames, but a 50% chance they burn away all body hair.

A good scroll in the hands of someone selfless, the armor can be put on anyone. It can also be
used for crowd control. Remember that it burns out a lantern or torch in the process. Found
wherever scrolls are found.

Bury the Root and Stand A Sacred Scroll

A creature of the user’s choice grows bark and becomes as immovable as a mighty tree for 1d6
hours. -1d6 armor, cannot attack or use powers, but can speak.

This can be used on friend or foe, but you will likely have to leave them behind either way. Good
for preserving the injured or standing guard. Found tangled in the branches of a tree.

A SMALL COMFORT
A candle, mostly burnt away, found on the inside of a carved pumpkin.

Light it again and gain an omen. All present find a small piece of candy among their things when
next they sit to rest.

They can’t all be bad deals.