The Weep
Coordinates: X: -14 | Y: -7
Stack Tier: Substrata Depths
Beneath the Iron stack, where the factories hammer out steel across the Ages and black smoke colors the Stacks, lies The Weep — an ancient drainage gorge where the city's worst mistakes are flushed away. Technically classified as "Hazard Zone 13C," locals gave it its real name for how the rocks seem to "cry" molten runoff that turns every trickle into a blood-colored river. No one knows what flows through it anymore — industrial waste, chemical residue, something alive... maybe all three.
The cliffs surrounding The Weep are overgrown with Fallowmoss, a mutant plant that thrives on toxins and glows faintly when night falls, lighting the gorge in sickly greens and reds. Travelers typically avoid it. Smugglers use it. And some report voices coming from the tunnels when the bloodwater runs high.
Flavor Options
The Tunnel Echo
When players spend time near The Weep, they must draw a card: if it’s a black card, they hear a whisper urging them to leap in - Difficulty equal to the card’s value. If the player resists, they receive a bonus determined by the SB. If they fail to resist…
BloodWater
The bloodwater isn’t just runoff pollution — it’s "Awakened Residue" from a failed experiment decades ago.
If players fall into the bloodwater, they must immediately draw a card:
Hearts: Minor burn, recoverable.
Diamonds: Gain a random minor mutation (SB decides).
Clubs: Suffer corrosive damage over rounds.
Spades: Contract a Blood Plague (special disease that awakens latent powers... but maybe kills you).
Smugglers Route
A local gang uses hauler vehicles disguised as garbage movers to transport an assortment of goods including rare tech, enchanted relics, and illegal bioweapons through the tunnels. Maybe they can be reasoned with. Maybe.
Lab 13c - The Bloom
Hidden deep within the tunnels is an abandoned research station called the Bloom, named in part after the Fallowmoss used in its initial experiments. It is rumored to be secretly operational, believed to be the origin of the Red Promise—marketed as “The Root of All Heroes," this formula was designed to adapt to the user's ideal self and enhance it. Unfortunately, this was not the outcome. Subsequent trials introduced Bloodwater, which initially showed promising results, thus earning the name Red Promise.
SlickBorn
Deformed beings that were once living entities—fish, rodents, and various proteins—mutated beyond recognition by the Awakened Residue coursing through The Weep. Slickborn hunt in loosely coordinated packs. If more than 2 Slickborn are present, they gain a +1 to all attacks, echoing each other’s moves. Roll 1D6, even equals two or more are encountered, odd equals only one.
Grit: 55
Sting: +1
Movement: +1
Attacks
Oil Burn
Anything the SlickBorn comes into contact with starts to sear like acid, causing 1D20 damage. If their winning hand has any face cards, the Slick affected flesh and deals damage directly to Grit.
Toxic Revenger
Attackers using melee weapons risk splashing themselves with bloodwater residue. After a successful melee attack against the Slickborn, the player draws a card:
Red = Light toxic exposure reduces bonuses by -1 for the round.
Black = Light toxic exposure (temporary strength drain)
Mutation Surge (Rare Ability):
If a Slickborn flips two matching cards during battle (two 8s, two Jacks, etc), it undergoes a mutagenic burst, gaining extra limbs, armored scales, or vomiting corrosive sludge (SB discretion - or SB decides what horrifying new trick it gains!
