THE GRUG IN THE DARK
A Cave Painting for Moss Covered Arrowhead
Inspired by Gene Wolfe’s “Claw of the Conciliator”
I asked, “Wasn’t she dead?”
“I’ll say this - a woman sealed in the dark long enough can become something very strange, just like the strange things you find in rotten wood, back among the big trees. We’re miners, mostly, here in Saltus, and used to things found underground, but we took to our heels and came back with torches.”
“It didn’t like the light, or the fire either.”
The Alcalde of Saltus to Severian the Torturer
SCENARIO TEXT
INTRODUCTION
Chief Forest assembles Moss Grugs for Night at the Bunga.
Moss Covered Arrowhead get smoke signal about bad magic in VILLAGE OF MANY CAVES. Cave Grugs punish criminals by trapping them in DEATH CAVE to starve. Rockbrained shaman was recently sealed away, blamed for Gruglings going missing. But when Cave Grugs go to open cave after five moons of waiting, they hear noise inside. The shaman laughing.
Moss Grugs must go to Cave Grug village, learn secrets and club bad magic.
TRAVELLING TO VILLAGE
Cave Grugs live many days walk up mountain. Weather horrifically bad, endless rain and purple sky-bunga. Survival roll, else Grugs arrive at cave village Exhausted. Fumble means Grugs slip off mountain path and lose D6 HP.
Moss Grugs with Navigate 50% know weather strange. Clouds no look right. Storms not meant to come for many more moons. Rainwater smells bad (like fart), makes Grug sick. It never stops. Gets worse closer Grug gets to village.
VILLAGE OF MANY CAVES
Moss Grugs arrive right before sunset, but might need sleep if Exhausted.
Wenja, chief rockbanger of Cave Grugs, say Shaman led Gruglings into FOREST to gather healing herbs. She come back, say Rock Tiger eat Gruglings. Cave Grugs no believe story, seal her inside DEATH CAVE. Wenja brags about defeating powerful witch, but Moss Grugs with GRUGINT 40% learn Shaman actually went willingly, laughing and laughing and laughing as she was sealed away.
Cave Grugs have no fire, storm too wet. Moss Grugs who roll Craft (Fire) -20% can make fire bunga from kindling they brought with them, but only get one chance each. Cave Grugs do stockpile dry tinder, but say rockbrains snuck into storage cave and soaked all wood. Moss Grugs with Survival 40% find weird tracks that go to FOREST.
Karoosh, chief berrypicker of Cave Grugs, pulls Moss Grugs aside. She says endless sky-bunga means Cave Grug have no fire bunga and tribe get very sick. She sent rockbangers into FOREST to find healing herbs. But they no come back and Karoosh worried.
If Moss Grug can get healing herb from FOREST, they can roll First Aid to heal Cave Grugs’ wet lungs. This roll at +40% if Grugs successfully made fire bunga.
DEATH CAVE
Friend Wolves scared by smell from cave, like mix of rotten corpse and warclub bunga goo. Moss Grug with Alertness 50% can gurgling laughter inside (0/D4 SAN to Unnatural). Knocking on cave entrance just make laughter louder and louder and louder.
Brave (or rockbrained) Moss Grugs can let Shaman-Thing out by moving pile of rocks that block cave entrance, but need fire bunga or lots of clubbing to kill it. Even if Moss Grugs no let Shaman-Thing out, it escape by itself the night after they arrive.
After getting out of DEATH CAVE, Shaman-Thing flees to FIRE HOLE. It wants to use bad magic to extinguish flame, to let Big Tongue crawl all way up from underworld. Shaman-Thing’s trail easily followed by Moss Grug with Survival or by Friend Wolf.
SHAMAN’S CAVE
No Grug has been inside since they dragged Shaman away to be sealed into DEATH CAVE.
Cave has horrible idol made from petrified mammoth doo doo. Looks like fat Grug with long tongue and even longer dick (0/1 SAN to Unnatural). Grug with Oral Tradition 60% know this is Big Tongue, monster god that give out bad magic to rockbrained Grugs. Big Tongue is scared of Sun God’s light and fire - he hides underground like grub.
Cave has lots of nasty poisonous herbs. Moss Grugs with Occult 40% think it for suicide bunga. Cave Grugs confirm that Shaman’s breath smelt of herbs before they sealed her away. Moss Grugs with Nature 40% know that poison herbs grow in FOREST.
Moss Grug with Search 60% find encrypted cave painting behind animal pelt. A SMOKINT roll can decipher but each try costs D4 WP – looking at painting hurts Grug’s head. If Moss Grugs decode hidden painting, discover Shaman’s unnatural dealings:
- Sacrifice Gruglings to summon Little Tongues.
- Little Tongues give Shaman knowledge on bad magic.
- Shaman use bad magic to brew and drink suicide bunga.
- Shaman transform into Avatar of Big Tongue after many moons in DEATH CAVE.
- Little Tongues do rain-bunga to stop sunlight and fire.
- Shaman escape and do powerful rain-bunga, extinguish FIRE HOLE.
- Big Tongue crawl up from underworld, eat Cave Grugs.
Cave painting says that Avatar of Big Tongue weak to light and fire. Grugs with Navigate 40% can also follow painting’s directions to find FIRE HOLE in mountains.
Moss Grugs who decipher cave painting get +4% Unnatural and lose D4 SAN.
THE FOREST
Moss Grugs with Alertness 60% hear voices in the trees. Six Little Tongues captured two Cave Grug rockbangers, but argue over what do next. Moss Grugs with Language 40% can tell half want to bring them to FIRE HOLE, other half want to just eat them. Clever Grugs can shoot arrow or throw rock, make one side think other attacked first. This make rockbrained Little Tongues try and club each other.
If rockbangers are saved, tell Moss Grugs they saw FIRE HOLE in mountains. Else Grugs can hurt-bunga Little Tongues (with Persuade) or follow their tracks (with Survival).
FIRE HOLE
A pit high in mountains belching flame bunga. This cave painting’s “epic climax”. Little Tongues camping around hole, Moss Grugs with Counting 30% count around… well thirty rockbrains.
Half Little Tongues do a bad magic rain bunga around Fire Hole, the other half keep watch, stir big pot of stew or have sweaty bunga bunga in tent. If rockbrains stop rain bunga for whatever reason, storm halts and sunlight begins to remerge. Sun God terrifies Little Tongues and Shaman-Thing, giving them -20% on all rolls. No more rain also let Moss Grug make fire bunga way easier.
Hole spits out burning rocks, dealing D6 DMG unless Grug use wet bark to pick up. Moss Grugs with Stealth can steal burning rock, but Little Tongues chase and club any Grugs they spot. However, Little Tongues afraid of flames so Moss Grugs can temporarily scare them away by waving fire bunga around.
Moss Grugs with Persuade 50% (30% if rockbangers rescued) can lead Cave Grugs into battle and club 2D10 Little Tongues, or 3D10 if Cave Grug sickness was healed. Moss Grugs who succeed Nature roll can trigger rock bunga further up mountain, killing 2D10 Little Tongues with boulders. Little Tongues also have clay pot of stew, can be poisoned with herbs from SHAMAN CAVE, killing 2D10.
(But when poisoner Grug see bits of Gruglings floating in pot, lose 1/D6 SAN to Violence)
If Shaman-Thing arrives, it does stronger rain bunga as Little Tongues protect it. Ritual take five rounds. If successful, fire go out and Big Tongue emerges from hole. It tries to eat Moss Grugs, then crawls to VILLAGE OF MANY CAVES to eat Cave Grugs.
Strong Grugs can kill Shaman-Thing by pushing it into fire hole. Clever Grugs can crush it with boulders or weaponise the burning rocks.
RESOLUTION
Clubbing Shaman-Thing is +D4 SAN. Clubbing Little Tongues is +D4 SAN. Big Tongue eating Cave Grugs is -D8 SAN. Grugs can mount rear-club-action to evacuate Cave Grugs before Big Tongue arrives.
If Moss Grugs only club Shaman-Thing, VILLAGE OF MANY CAVES is attacked at night by entire Little Tongues tribe. The attack is foreshadowed by storm suddenly stopping (Little Tongues have dedicated entire force to raid, none available for rain bunga). They try capture Grugs, to forcefeed suicide bunga and make new Avatar of Big Tongue.
STATBLOCKS
CAVE GRUG ROCKBANGER
Sickly Caveman Warrior
STR 12, CON 12, DEX 10, INT 8, POW 10, CHA 10
HP 10, WP 10, SAN 50
SKILLS: Alertness 40%, Athletics 40%, Art (Painting) 20%, Bow 40%, Craft (Cave) 50%, Navigate 40%, Search 40%, Stealth 40%, Survival 40%.
ATTACKS: Club (40%, D10) or Spear (40%, D8, 3 AP).
Bow (40%, D6, 3 AP).SICKNESS: Cave Grug suffer -20% to all roll due to wet lungs. First Aid can heal.
SHAMAN-THING
Avatar of Big Tongue
STR 18, CON 30, DEX 12, INT 13, POW 15
HP 24, WP 15, SAN 00
ARMOUR: 5 Points of Bubbling Filth (see INHUMAN).
SKILLS: Alertness 40%, Athletics 75%, Smash Grug 90%.
ATTACKS: Club With Many Long Tongues (90%, Lethality 15%, see TONGUE CLUBS).
INHUMAN: Shaman-Thing looks like a bloated corpse dripping with black oil and feces. It has massive lesion-covered tongues coming out of face and replacing its arms. Called Shots have no effect and it heals D6 HP every turn.
PHOTOPHOBE: Shaman-Thing hates sunlight, which gives it -20% to all rolls. Fire ignores its armour and disables its healing ability.
TONGUE CLUBS: Shaman-Thing can reach out with its tongues and bludgeon prey to death. It can choose to spread this attack between up to three targets: with two attacks (70%, 2D6 DMG); with three attacks, (50%, D10 DMG).
SAN LOSS: 1/D10.
LITTLE TONGUE
Degenerate Serpent Folk
STR 6 CON 5, DEX 13, INT 7, POW 7, CHA 3
HP 5, WP 7, SAN 00
SKILLS: Alertness 30%, Athletics 30%, GRUGINT 20%, Stealth 50%, Unnatural 20%.
ATTACKS: Femur Club (30%, D6 - 1 DMG).
Spit Venom (45%, CONx5 or -20% on all rolls for D6 Turns, Stuns on Critical Hit).
Claws (25%, D4 - 1 DMG).
CLEAVE: Due to their physical frailty, Grugs who reduce a Little Tongue to 0 HP can apply any remaining DMG to another Little Tongue adjacent to their original target.
PHOTOPHOBE: Little Tongue hates sunlight, which gives it -20% to all rolls.
SWARM: If several Little Tongues mob one Grug, don’t roll for each attack. For every Little Tongue beyond the first, the attack gets +10% to hit and +1 DMG.
SAN LOSS: 0/D6.
BIG TONGUE
Formless and Ever-Hungry Godling
AURA OF POWER: Seeing Big Tongue make any Grug present automatically at −20% on all rolls (except SAN). Any Grug who fails the SAN roll for encountering Big Tongue cannot act for D6 turns, instead going rockbrain and shitting loincloth.
CRAWL LIKE GRUB: Big Tongue looks like giant diseased toad or maggot, with massive toothy mouth filled with countless tongues. It drags itself through ground, leaving a massive furrow two Grugs deep, uprooting trees and excavating hills as it moves. Grugs can try to run, treat Big Tongue as having Athletics 50% for purpose of chase.
IMMORTAL GLUTTON: Any Grug unfortunate enough to end up nearby Big Tongue is permitted one Dodge roll at -20%, else they get snatched by a tongue and dragged into the godling’s prodigious maw, never to be seen again.
SAN LOSS: 1D6/1D20.
Credits
The Grug In The Dark was written by Dragoleaf for the 2025 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YBtrSD2-XzMgMdGLxRgZamoDAkKLHCYKpPNKEYsA0Cs/edit