Whilst Bogstop is reaching a point of true inevitability, I spend my free time between hunting monsters to survive out in the darkness by hunting monsters for the Guild. I have been enjoying my fights against the bubble blowing fox over the last couple of days and I couldn’t help but notice that KD:M is missing a leviathan-esque monster. Gimme that 3×6 custom base! Did I hear… 2×8?
But I don’t want to go off track too far today, as we have to deal with a Lvl3 nemesis fight today and those always just kinda take ages to get through (if you don’t die right off the bat, that is).

As the survivors returned home to the Bog that don’t stop, the lingering happiness after successfully hunting a second Dragon King Lvl3 slowly began to dwindle. Our home grew strangely unfamiliar over the last hunt. Memories, both bitter and cherished, were washing out, and were forgotten and gone. Pieces of ourselves were suddenly missing as if they had never been there in the first place.

The Settlement Event for the year was a good one at least: the Dark Dentist.
Even if we didn’t make use of it, it wasn’t disruptive either.

Before we got to cobbling, we had a Metamorphosis Festival to attend to!
Ruby, Calys and Sir Hermes were nominated for the deep cleanse on the max hunt xp side. On the shore both Möff and Fyrn who still had 0 hunt xp were waiting for the auspicious event. Thalas who had only 2 hunt xp was picked to round out the group. (Edit: There is an error in the picture as there was a second Selen in Bogstop’s villager list. Maybe one of the doppelgangers had made it all the way to the main settlement after all.)
What a bunch of rolls.
The elders ALL rolled between 4 and 5, each gaining +1STR and Extra Long Arms (f+t gains reach 2).
Meanwhile on the lower end.., Möff gained Pubescent Vestment (+1 armor to each hit location for each age milestone).
Fyrn (Blotted Out FA/+1STR) gained 8 hunt xp at the cost of his ability to use FA.
And Thalass gained +1MOV/+1SPD as his body developed rapidly into a speedy boy.

And with that disappointment done with, we continued with the obvious thing to do – we set up another one next year! That cost us our final 3 omens. But we still had one more chance to get some of our veterans involved in the finale.

Then we spent 1 more endeavor to make leather and finally build the final piece of the Marchioness set – the Marchioness Sollerets.
The Marchioness Armor set does not give any additional armor, but should the wearer reflect or block an attack with a sword whilst the gloves’ Riposte ability is active, they gain an extra movement during their next act. The gloves themselves give them an extra activation, effectively doubling up on any given turn. (An easy way to try out the Marchioness Set is the Squire Campaign – as this is the set Cain is wearing.)

The next endeavor was spent to make the Antelope Mask at the Mask Maker, to have the option for a legendary hunt in Lantern Year 29. After having basically only ever been given this mask or the Phoenix mask by the Mask Seller (basic HE53), I never thought I’d ever actually have to build this myself.

For the remaining 2 endeavors we had 2 options. We could try to smelt 2 more iron and build a Beacon Shield, or we try to do some light Nightmare Training (I) with Velocity and roll on Shrine (I) afterwards.
I felt more strongly about the first idea so I tried my hand at smelting more iron. It failed miserably on the first roll.
So, back to the drawing board.

To try and get the best of both worlds, I sent Velocity over to do some Nightmare Training. It did take up 5 survival, but she managed to do it after all – she became our third Club Master of the settlement, following in the footsteps of Celestine and the mighty Sir Hermes Bonk!

With that we used a few more of the many resources we still had lying around to build a Leather Shield for Weed, to prop him up with a little more armor.

With that we were done and probably as ready for what was headed our way as we ever could be.
Feeling a heavy sadness throughout the settlement, that restless melancholy of something forgotten that remained unremembered, the same 4 people who were hunting Dragon Kings prepared to venture out yet again, not sure what they were facing or even why they took a hold of their weapons.

The chosen few:
Weed (Wrath, Marchioness Armor)
Cairne (Oxidized Lantern Glaive, Dragon Armor)
Calystea (Killennium Cleaver, Frogdog Armor)
Velocity (Bullfrog Mace, Bullfrogdog Armor)

Set-up for the fight started with a serious injury as the frogdog armor figure I used for Calystea the last couple of lantern years had its axe hand fall off -nothing a little glue won’t fix – but such a lack of work-place-safety led to another inspection by the Feline Entity.

For its level 3 encounter the Slenderman gains both 2 +1ACC-tokens and a +1LCK-token in addition to the new trait Hounds.
Hounds will outright kill any survivor with 15+ insanity. A harsh trait that should fairly easily managed though – I would say, as Ensnare will reset insanity to 0.
Finally (besides Indomitable) all rolls for Ensnare also have a -4 modifier attached at this level.

As we reached the edge of the settlement we found the lanky creature next to a Resin Dung Ball.
So this is the ominous Dung Beetle Knight I’ve heard so much about?

As with any Slenderman fight, the survivors went first and we spent the first turn running and dashing towards the monster.
Weed used his activation to deflect, Cairne activated block and Calystea surged to pump her armor twice.
Finally we took a deep breath and remembered Sir Hermes’ immortal words: No Fear!

20 cards in the deck. The Slenderman drew Slender Palm. We picked Cairne to be the target. He was going to be hit twice on 4+ (2EVA counter the +2ACC), so he blocked one hit, this gave him Priority Target, and dodged the other to avoid the After Damage effects.

Weed started our turn by running into the monster’s blind spot with the +2MOV from his new boots.
Mighty Strike (FA) activated as he hit the monster twice, putting him to 19 STR before rolling. As sword specialist he rolled and would critical. He had the option to not crit the monster and avoid a Brain Trauma to merely hit the Memory Lapse. I’d rather not stack insanity on him, and getting the tokens removed from the monster felt more important for the group as a whole at the time so he chose the crit. The Brain Trauma at +2 had him running for the nearest board edge, canceling the 2nd hit. Yep, I successfully avoided stacking insanity alright, ..

Cairne activated next. He dashed and jumped over the monster. 2 hits landed on 2+, the first of which targeted the death blow, wounding (wasting a crit) with 37.
The second hit also wounded, the prior wound on the Solar Plexus preventing that Cairne was sent across the map.
No fear – Cairne surged for 2 more hits. The first wounded and increased his insanity to 7. Halfway on the way to death..
The second wound sent a freezing chill up the metal glaive, dealing 2 damage to his arms and preventing any survival expenditure until his next act. Worrying, I’d say.

Velocity then also dashed into position for a good-ol’ Bullfrog charge. She missed 1 of the 2 hits, so onslaught was not active, but she crits instead! And the crit on the Filigreed Carapace dealt a second wound! Everything was coming up bonk!
I shed a single tear in silence thinking about how this could have been 4 wounds in one singular hit had the stars aligned perfectly.

Not trusting the current situation, Calystea once again only moved up and pumped her armor again to more reasonable levels compared to the level of this fight.
As the first round of the fight came to an end we had dished out the hurt like no tomorrow – 50% of the monster’s HP gone already. This was looking easy!

Just.., what were we doing here again?

10 cards remaining, the monster drew Do You Believe?
It’s asking the hard hitting questions again. Cairne was the target because of him blocking last turn. He was up to 10 insanity now as well. 3 hits, 2 of them to his body. Unable to spend survival because of the wound reaction, he could only take the damage. At 5(6) damage each that was 1 severe injury, ouch! His leprosy might be a problem now. A 7 rolled was turned into a 5: Destroyed Back .. yup, that’s it for him. No more weapons with STR of 2 or higher. He was also ensnared, no need to roll, he would need a 15 to not be swallowed by the abyssal tide.

As Weed got to his feet, Cairne struggled in the dark place. And he was spit out immediately, drenched in Dark Water. Weed activated as he was just insane enough for his Frogdoggles to function. The hit location we saw wasn’t great, but he went for the attack anyhow – at least it wasn’t the trap. He hit the crit and got ensnared.

Velocity was up next, a dash and a charge and there it was – the trap. Velocity did get pummeled quite viciously before the Slenderman and everybody else had vanished.

9 cards remaining, Scent of the Wise was played. Oof. Legendary. Velocity was hit twice in the body, she dodged 1 hit, and also gained 3 armor from the Voluptuous Bodysuit + Mage’s Hood combo. She did get ensnared afterwards as well, though.

The survivors turn began with everyone struggling in the dark place. Bleeding, Weed was the only one to emerge. Velocity was lashed by underwater thorns (2 bleed) as both Cairne and Calystea were crushed by the deep waters. Cairne had to take another body severe. And his back got broken for a second time!
The legendary AI card desperately needed to go, as it would just keep repeating over and over, so Weed dashed over to the monster (which he could reach due to the extra movement from his new shoes) and attacked. He hit it and crit, taking another 3 brain damage.. he had a seizure, smashing his head into the floor as he turned Hyper Sensitivity (D). I’ve never seen that disorder before, interesting. But most importantly: the legendary AI was gone!
No fear!
Weed surged.. and as he dealt the second wound of the round, Wrath was swallowed by a puddle of dark water! We had to follow it, otherwise the weapon would be archived and lost for ever – and there was no way I was letting that happen!

7 cards remaining, no survivors on the board, the Slenderman attempted a Long Arm Grasp, but without targets it instead removed itself from the board as well, leaving only the lonely Resin Dung Ball behind.

The survivors struggled in the dark place. Weed was crushed by the depths as .. Cairne bled out and died, never to be seen again. Calystea turned Quixotic (D) as she reappeared. Velocity on the other hand was drenched in blood and Dark Water, and also back.
Calystea dashed so the two of them could meet up so she could use her First Aid Kit. Activating and surging, Calystea removed 2 bleed from Velocity.

7 cards remaining still, Tentacle Spasm came up next. With no survivors currently insane, the Slenderman remained off the board spreading a lingering feeling of dread.
Was there even a monster to fight?

Weed continued to struggle and he took 2 more bleed. Only 1 left until he would die as well. We have little choice but send Velocity into the dark place via Madness Inversion. Calystea surged to remove her remaining bleed token and Velocity tanked the brain damage. She rolled a 12 for Trauma. This effectively erased her remaining survival and she gained.. Fear of the Dark (D). Fitting and terrible alike.
Weed rushed up to the two women and Calystea used her First Aid Kit to at least remove 1 bleed from him.

7 cards remaining, Mind Control Spores was the next card played. Velocity, insane and a threat, was chosen as the target. Overcome by rabid fear, she lashed out at Weed, hitting him in the head no less. Both were knocked down in an all-out brawl.

Calystea activated first, using the First Aid Kit again on Weed, surging to double up. She then encouraged Weed, who in turn encouraged Velocity. Weed ran over to the monster again – we needed to make some headway here. In typical fashion he crits – avoiding a severe body injury in the process. He surged as well but missed his follow up.

6 cards remaining, the monster drew the final unknown card: Lost in Memory. Weed surged as soon as he was able, hoping to maybe knock it over to cancel the card. But, besides not getting the desired reactions, he failed to even just wound! Entangled he was knocked down before the ensnare trigger saw all 3 survivors swallowed by Dark Water once more.

Struggling in the dark place yet again we tried our best to escape. Weed rolled a 1 – suffering lunacy (Indecision D) and a bleed.
Calystea emerged lightly bleeding and drenched in a corner, whilst Velocity also suffers a brain trauma – lunacy (Quixotic D) again.
Calystea, the only one back and able to activate, activated Madness Inversion again to pull Weed back out of the dark place. She suffered frenzy for it.
What had started as a sprint, began to feel like a crawl.

6 cards remaining still, Tentacle Spasm was drawn. It targeted Calystea as the only insane survivor currently on the board. 7 speed, one hit at a time. She managed to avoid 3 hits, but was dragged into the dark place on the first hit she took anyhow.

We struggled again, and both Calystea and Velocity reappeared. Praise the Feline Entity! Velocity gained Indecision (D), and whilst still bad (when on rolling on a table during the hunt phase, roll twice and pick the lower result) at least it took out Fear of the Dark (D).
Weed attacked and failed to wound again on a 1. Defiantly he still surged and finally managed to inflict another wound on a Memory Lapse!
Velocity charged in after him – only a 7+, and missed both attacks in an unlikely hail-mary-attempt.
Finally Calystea bandaged herself as she made her way back towards the group.

5 cards remaining, Do You Believe?
Calystea had the least insanity at the time, so the monster jumped to her. On 8+ she was hit once, knocking her down, but at least she was not ensnared.

The frogdoggles revealed a card that REALLY needed to leave rotation, like yesterday, and Weed dashed over to deal with it – the legendary. We did have the horripilation dice this turn again so we effectively hit twice. The first wound targeted the Gaunt Fingers, luckily as the Marchioness set has the fur keyword he was saved from the wound reaction.
The second wound suddenly saw the monster standing several spaces behind Weed after the wound was dealt.

Velocity activates the Vermin Patch on her way to the others, hoping to find a Spider Crab she could eat for some survival, but she got a Nightmare Tick instead.

3 cards remaining, we did get lucky. (Or so I thought.) Slender Palm was the last remaining card in the AI deck. Had this been Lost in Memory, we would have likely looked at Slendy looping us into oblivion. The monster targeted Velocity. Hitting 4 times on 5+, the monster tore into her. Dealing 3 severe injuries, 2 to the body, 1 to her feet, things were suddenly looking dire.
Whilst she was only knocked down by the hit to her legs, she suffered severe bleeding damage from the Ruptured Spleen. In the end she bled out as her back was destroyed beyond repair.
Funny how the game kills off all my Club Masters besides the retired Sir Hermes.

Weed activated with a rage-filled cry as he picked up the Final Lantern from his companion’s corpse (I have re-read the “Vital” keyword since, and learned that during a showdown you don’t need to shuffle the Final Lantern around – something I have consistently done wrong before. It is something that only happens should the one bearing the item die before the start of the showdown.).
He ran into the monster’s blind spot and struck at its heels, critically hitting the waterlogged fabric. The survival he had just gained was used instantly for another strike, quickly dealing another wound.

At this point Calystea ran around the monster as well, frothing with her frenzy. She hit it 2 times (of 3 attacks on 2+), and thankfully avoided drawing the trap. She needed a mere 4+ to wound. The first hit targeted another Memory Lapse, dealing the wound with a 9.
She continued to hack at the monster’s Greater Tentacles like they were vines in an underwater jungle and she eventually did it! She felled the monster!
And she only stopped after there was nothing left but sloshing black water and shreds of strange clothing. Checking afterwards, had she hit all 3 times, she would have drawn the trap.

Considering how well we started this fight off, the monster had me convinced we’d lose this fight at the end. Of course, the real tragedy is the fact that nobody will remember our third Club Master or the brilliant.. Caine?
Soon Weed and Calystea stumbled back home, drenched in Dark Water and blood, carrying what little they could find and remember to take along.

As for rewards we gained weapon proficiency and 1 Dark Water and 1 iron in addition to the 5 Dark Water we had gained during the fight.
We also harvest the 2 unknown corpses for a Perfect Organ and a Monster Hide.
Finally Calystea painted what fleeting memories of the monster remained unto her face back at home, making her Forgettable – this gave her +2EVA but also meant she could not be encouraged ever again.
Having Weed at 5EVA sounded great on paper as well, but I’d rather have him be able to be encouraged.

As I packed up for the day, I notice that after all this.., Weed’s deflect was still active.

This was my second full circle of Slenderman in a campaign, and whilst technically we could still fight it twice more.., yeah, I’ll pass on that quite actively for this campaign.
I do enjoy him very much and think the way his theme is presented works brilliantly. Even just the first time drawing Memory Lapse was so very memorable, looking at that mostly black card, it left a lasting impression.
I can see how the monster can very easily get into looping groups until they are dead though at higher levels, especially after the survivors have suffered a casualty or two.
I apologize at little bit for not pushing harder into Slendy’s gear, but Bullfrogdog and Marchioness kept me busy all around. I want to build another Gloomhammer at some point, or the Katana, but I also want to fight the Kingsman again to be honest.
We are currently running a mostly Vanilla (asides from Spidicules and Lion God) campaign on the side and we are just getting to the halberd wielding menace.
And even besides my own intentions and wants, the Slenderman is going to face some stiff competition come later in the year as Red Witches will likely take up the Nemesis 2 spot for a lot of people for a decent while, for one reason or another. Or maybe several. (And thus he spent 20 minutes looking at older updates in sear for a certain Seer-pic.)

Anyway.., just 2 more years max for Bogstop!

As always, thank you very much for your time, and always give pomegranates a good whack just to make sure,
Amathul