Let’s Play Dark Covenant Invader! Part 3: Beyond the Abyss
Alright, let’s keep invading and see Leoric progress through the Abyss Wraiths.
D6 Starting Point: 1
Starting waypoint, UD8
This might take a while!
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D6 Light Covenant: 4
Chaos Lords, UD8 Summon
D6 Background: 3
Gallant Knight
Purpose: Injure
Essence: Ashen
Form: Spikes
Land: Eedo, land of shadow assassins and exotic weapons
Some cool rolls here, very different. A lot to think about for our narrative. Let’s begin!
Part 3
Area 1
Hunt UD8: 3, no change
Summon UD8: 2, down to UD6
D6 exits: 2, single exit
Environ: Swamp
Essence: Lost
Form: Elder
The Abyss turned like a whirlpool, pulling Leoric into nothingness. He fought back the sickness from the shifting reality as he stumbled into the target’s world.
A swamp stretched out before him, vast and suffocating. He could sniff his target in the air thick with haze and the stench of rotting reeds. A knight from Eedo, with a strong aura of malice and bloodlust. A member of the Chaos Lords who sought glory amidst mayhem, a duelist as graceful as he was cruel, using vicious weapons and a sadistic combat style.
In another life, he could be Leoric’s brother.
In this one, he was his prey.
Area 2
Hunt UD8: 2, down to UD6
Summon UD6: 3, no change
D6 exits: 5, double exits
Environ: Prison
Essence: Gelid
Form: Elder
2d6 Encounter: 11
I think Leoric will face them in this prison environ.
Dark Covenant: Abyss Wraiths
Background: Murky knight
Oh, this is perfect!
D2 stages: 1
Leoric started forward, his armor groaning as he pushed through the mire. An invading presence stabbed his senses with urgency, but he kept plodding ahead toward a wide open gaol in the swamp, crumbling and damaged by time. It was mostly a circle of dilapidated stone partially sunk into the black waters, with half iron bars twisted and rusted.
He stopped there, hands resting on the run-down hilt of his greatsword, and waited. An icy chill gripped Leoric through his armor, as if the spirit of the long-gone prisoner still haunted that gaol.
Frogs croaked around, and water lapped on his bare feet. Then constant sounds of vines creaking and heavy footsteps reached him as the invader approached.
Leoric didn’t need introductions to recognize another Abyss Wraith. Their very souls carried a mark of the Abyss, a smudge that could never be hidden or cleansed.
“Hello there, brother,” the murky knight greeted, sword in hand. “I see you’ve been carrying some eyes for our King.” He halted two arms away. Leoric didn’t move or twitch, just leered.
“Yes, brother.” The word now came out with contempt and scorn. “A few in my satchel, another in my head. Will you take them, brother?”
The knight carried himself with ease, experience and past successes giving him a false sense of confidence. It wasn’t his first or second time doing this, preying on newblood. But before Leoric’s challenge and impassiveness, added to the gelid aura in the gaol, the man shivered. A look of uncertainty crossed his face.
“Just leave them and go. It doesn’t have to come to that.”
Leoric laughed. “You invaded my world, brother. Got in the way of my hunt, thinking you’ve found easy prey. No, it doesn’t have to come to that. But it will.”
Combat
Stage 1/1
3d6: 6, 6, 1
6 is an optimal outcome! I deal damage and suffer none.
Combat over!
+1 Trophy
Leoric feinted a slow overhead attack, and the knight reacted with a quick stab, falling for the trap. He looked in disbelief at his severed arm on the ground.
Pain brought him up to speed, and he collapsed, clutching the bleeding stub. Leoric dropped the greatsword, clutched the man’s head, and thrust his fingers around the eye and inside the skull.
“If you manage to return from wherever the fuck you’re going to,” Leoric said softly as the man screamed, “pick your victims better. I’m always the hunter, brother.”
He plucked out the eye and put it away as the invading knight thrashed madly.
Leoric twisted his neck and welcomed the croaking symphony of the frogs.
INVADER BANISHED
Area 3
Hunt UD6: 4, no change
Summon UD6: 3, no change
D6 exits: 2, single exit
Environ: Swamp
Essence: Fetid
Form: Tenuous
2d6 Encounter: 10
Enemy + d2 stages + Lore.
D2 Stages: 1
Essence: Necrotic
Form: Spikes
Leoric trod the endless swamp after his target, but the knight proved elusive, and the place proved irritating. The putrid waters seeped into his armor and made him carry the foul stench with him, almost a living thing.
Bloated corpses bobbed in the marshes, tangled in knots of overgrown vines. Carrion birds circled above as the smell of rot intensified.
Branches and twigs snapped. The plants seemed to move around him. He realized it wasn’t just a feeling when a skeleton still dressed in ancient armor, strung together by thorny vines, lunged toward him with a spear at his face.
Combat
Stage 1/1
3d6: 6, 5, 1
6 again! Getting lucky here.
Combat over!
The skeletal knight stumbled forward, pulled by the thorny vines. Leoric dodged and attacked, shattering armor and bones. The vines coiled to assemble their puppet warrior again, but Leoric cut them down.
The corpse seemed to carry something else.
Curio
Purpose: Restore
D3 quantity: 3!
Essence: Lost
Form: Wood
Swamp Effigy
A tiny figurine carved crudely from elder wood. Carried by those who wander into the swamp, believing it would guide them back.Restores d6 Vigor when consumed.
Area 4
Hunt UD6: 1, down to UD4
Summon UD6: 1, down to UD4
D6 exits: 5, 2 exits
Environ: Cistern
Essence: Flora
Form: Circumvent
2d6 Encounter: 10
Enemy + d2 stages + Lore.
D2 Stages: 1
I’ll keep it moving by using the same enemy.
Combat
Stage 1/1
3d6: 4, 1, 1
Moderate outcome, 1 damage dealt and damage taken.
D6 damage: 2 - 3 (2 STR, 1 armor) = 1 (minimum)
Combat over!
Vigor 5/6
Curio
Purpose: Defend
D3 quantity: 1
Essence: Deteriorated
Form: Frail
Leoric entered a cistern with cracked stone walls, a place overtaken by reeds and vines. Hundreds of water lilies bobbed in the black water.
Thick roots and flowers clogged the walkways, forcing Leoric to circumvent them by taking narrow ledges above the pools. Another swamp knight surged from the water to attack him, cutting through his armor and drawing blood. Leoric grunted and smashed the skeleton, grabbing something it dropped at his feet.
Ancient Swamp Talisman
A fragile charm made of brittle reeds, woven by mystics long gone from the swamp. It shatters in place of its bearer when they should fall.The bogs spare no soul, but an ancient Order of mystics provided grace in its stead.
Mechanically, I’m doing it like this: if a damage would bring my Vigor to 0, keep the same Vigor as before the damage and shatter the Amulet instead.
Item is a little OP, but hey, let me have my fun!
Area 5
Hunt UD4: 1, target found!
Summon UD4: 2, ally summoned!
Summon
D2 Stages: 2
Leoric pressed deeper into the cistern. The path wound in circles, forcing him through narrow ledges and sagging beams until the chamber widened.
Beneath a shaft of light that pierced through the cracked ceiling, the knight of the Chaos Lords waited. His armor bristled with spikes. His curved blade rested easily in one hand, a spiked gauntlet flexing in the other.
A figure clad in leather armor stood by his side, half-shrouded in mist. Her eyes burned with ferocity, and the shortswords she wielded trembled slightly in anticipation. Another dog of the Chaos Lords.
“Seeking strength in numbers, are you?” Leoric taunted. “Should have brought a few more.”
“You come to bleed, Abyss-spawn.” The knight’s voice carried through the chamber. “Honorless scum like you deserve only pain.”
Leoric shook his head. “Pain and blood, huh? You are truly blind. But don’t fret. Deep in the darkness, you will learn to see.”
The summoned dreg rasped and lifting her weapons. The knight stepped forward, his posture never faltering.
Leoric swiveled his greatsword and set into an aggressive battle stance.
Roots shifted overhead. Blossoms shuddered.
Steel clanged as the fight began.
Combat
Stages: 2 + Covenant Rank (0) = 2 + 2 (summon)
Damage: D6 x number of enemies = 2d6 (keep highest roll)
Stage 1/2 + 1/2
3d6: 3, 4, 2
Moderate outcome, 1 damage dealt and damage taken.
2D6 damage: 1, 1 - 3 = 1
Vigor 4/6
Stage 1/2 + 2/2
3d6: 5, 1, 3
Moderate outcome, 1 damage dealt and damage taken.
2D6 damage: 4, 1 - 3 = 1
Summon killed!
Vigor 3/6
I’ll use a Swamp Effigy (x3) to heal
D6: 6!
Vigor 6/6
x2 Swamp Effigies left
Stage 1/2
3d6: 6, 5, 5
Optimal outcome! 1 damage dealt, no damage taken.
Stage 2/2
3d6: 1, 5, 1
Moderate outcome, 1 damage dealt and damage taken.
However, as this is the killing blow for the hunt, I’ve ruled that I don’t take damage. It makes it a little easier, but scales better with higher Covenant Ranks, I think. Let me have my fun!
Combat won!
+1 Trophy
They bled Leoric with quick cuts and jabs, circling him and backstepping out of reach, one at a time. Leoric focused on his target, ignoring the summon. He chased him around to no effect, getting jumped from behind or the sides.
The summoned dreg grew in confidence, getting closer and reckless, leaping away less and less. Leoric suppressed a grin, licking his teeth and tasting his own bitter blood.
He clutched the worn-out hilt of his greatsword and threw his shoulder forward. The weapon dragged sparks as it bit into the ground, then swept upward against the knight. He easily dodged the false blow. The momentum carried the greatsword in a powerful arc behind Leoric, cleaving the allied dreg from shoulder to waist.
Blood showered him as he roared and slashed again, surprising his target. Helm and head flew upwards and clanged against the ground, sputtering gore.
His still eyes were wide open for the taking.
TARGET HUNTED
Back to the Sanctuary of Spikes, the blurred figure of the Drowned King forced Leoric to his knees. Leoric offered the Bloodshot Eyes for his patron, laying them on the altar.
The Drowned King absorbed them. A heavy fog filled the chamber, pressing down on the parish until the stones groaned. Their tentacles whirled, and the King stirred. “Well done, dreg. You walk deeper into the shadows now, closer to your King.”
Leoric bowed his head, pushed by physical pressure more than deference, and a surge of power flooded through him. Suddenly, the aura forcing him to his knees wasn’t so strong. The weight keeping him compliant felt lighter.
The fog thinned, his mind raced, and the seed of an ambition took root.
Why kneel?
Why serve?
Why drown?
What if the Abyss gazed with his eyes instead? What if he were a more fit King of the Deep?
He would sit on the damp throne, and from there command the Abyss.
The Deep would no longer be the dark dreams of an ancient entity, but the living reality of a dreg made god.
Enough kneeling.
It was time to stand up and take.
And that’s a wrap for the amazingly fun Dark Covenant Invader! We only go up in the Covenant Rank with every 5 trophies, but I wanted to show Leoric’s plans for the future here.
Challenging our Patron is no easy task. We must be at least at Rank 5, and the fight has 3 stages + Covenant Rank, so a minimum of 8 stages!
I had a great time with the game. Kerova knows how to craft a quality Soulslike.
I’m not used to writing such obvious villains like that as protagonists, but I’ll be damned if Leoric wasn’t fun to follow. I’ll miss the bastard.
I hope you enjoyed the series and that it made you want to try the game.
Dark Covenant Invader is available at Itch.io.
Support the creator.