The Tomb of Many Colors

Our Krevborna campaign continued!

Characters

Dario Diego Durant, swashbuckling swordsman

Ulu, the party's urska mom

Varro, a young snow elf bearing a magical sword

Johanna, lycan bard and fallen noble 

Father Severin, a defrocked priest with a gobkin sidekick

Events

The characters arrived in Chancel, where they hoped to find and question Ratibor Bron--a man somehow connected to the machinations of Yavor Mikalek, who had betrayed their mercenary band. To that end, Cassie Mabcrowe let them use a flat she kept above an herbalist's shop. At the flat, they met Father Severin and his gobkin factotum Slink, who were to help them in their search.

One place that seemed a likely place to start was the Vagabond's Shield, a tavern frequented by mercenaries and sellswords. As they arrived, the barkeep was tossing a musician out the door with his accordion. He explained that the only thing that could help him when he had one of his headaches was music, but the ejected bard couldn't even hold a tune. Luckily, Johanna stepped up and performed a song that got them on the barkeep's good side. The barkeep knew of Ratibor as "the librarian" and was able to offer up the location where he seemed to be employed. They also learned that Ratibor had been hanging about the Vagabond's Shield, trying to recruit mercenaries for an "expedition."

At the library of the Divine Mercy, they found a nervous-looking monk who admitted to letting Ratibor conduct his researches among the stacks, even though Ratibor had been ex-communicated from the Church. Ratibor claimed to have been writing a manuscript on "unholy abominations." The monk allowed them to look at the two books Ratibor had spent the most time with: a collection of horror stories called The Opener of the Gate & Other Tales and A Treatise on Profane Magics. Both proved to be missing pages; the anthology was missing a story called "The Krusikan Gambit" and the treatise was missing a chapter on the mountain cults of Krusikal.

Then, over at the Chanticleer, a molly house, they learned quite a bit about Ratibor's sexual proclivities. The madame of the house also offered to buy Dario from the party. They declined.

The Chapel of St. Aiban the Pious was a more productive visit. The blind priest in attendance within the small, forgotten church admitted that Ratibor and his hired swords had ventured into the extensive crypts below--and had yet to return to the surface. He offered to admit them as well, which they took him up on.

However, these were no normal crypts--below the Chapel of St. Aiban was a vlaak Grail Tomb made of a strange, glass-like, but altogether alien material. Dario wisely left an offering of coins at the feet of the vlaakish statue they discovered in an alcove, which ensured it did not stalk them throughout the complex.

They had much more trouble with the colored doors within the Grail Tomb, as they missed the artwork that would have clued them in to how vlaakish color theory works. They did, nevertheless, find four color-coded keys around the necks of vlaakish mummies--though the order to apply them initially eluded the group, causing more than a few magical wounds through their trial and error attempts to figure it out, until Father Severin used his prayers to get a glimpse of the ancient vlaak using the keys as intended. 

Also confounding were the jagged holes in the complex that either had air forcefully rushing into them or being pushed out of them like a vacuum. They threw a few levers they found in a control room, but what that accomplished was not immediately clear. 

In one chamber, they found an eerie mural depicting vlaak forging metal gauntlets, then a vlaak figure wearing the gauntlets and commanding two orbs to unleash cataclysmic energies on an army. Behind the figure lurked an ominous presence. Within the same chamber they found a wooden box; the interior of the box looked to have been made to fit two glove-like objects. 

The next room they entered featured another of the structural holes with air streaming into it. The chamber also featured a number of vlaak automatons made of the same glass-like substance as the complex; the statues attacked and gave the party a run for their money. Ulu threw one out of the hole, but because of the air current it was thrown back into the room where it shattered against the far wall--and the explosion of shrapnel set up a bad situation that almost cost Dario his life. Ultimately, though, the Charnel Hounds vanquished their foes and carried on exploring the Grail Tomb. 

We'll see what else they find next time.

A Fine Pack of Krevborna Characters

The following entries are descriptions I wrote up for a party of characters I used in a Krevborna one-shot adventure in which all members were part of Sir Aubrek Salazar's retinue of "problem solvers." I like how they turned out, so I thought I might as well post them here for posterity.

Angelique Oleander

Backstory: Angelique Oleander is a Polnezna woman who grew up in a wandering clan caravan. Since birth, she has been “blessed” with a supernatural connection to the spectral world. She was apprehended and nearly executed after performing a fraudulent seance in Chancel; only Sir Aubrek’s intervention spared her from hanging. She has been part of Aubrek’s retinue ever since. Being on her own feels like a fatal liability. 

Appearance: A young woman of middling height with unruly black hair and dark eyes. She dresses in the fashion of her people, as she is proud of her heritage.

Fanlin O’Dale

Backstory: Fanlin was orphaned at a young age when his family was set upon by anti-fey vigilantes. His vengeance does not take the form of direct violence against the world that robbed him of his parents; rather, he gets his recompense one theft at a time–and he won’t stop until the scales are balanced. He joined up with Sir Aubrek’s retinue because Aubrek promised him that his tasks would put him in the path of great riches.

Appearance: Fanlin is a forest elf–tall and thin, with skin the color of tree bark. Strangely, people have a hard time accurately recalling the details of his appearance. Are his eyes brown or blue? Is his fair long and flowing or clipped short and militaristic? Who can say?

“Father” Severin Koslavik

Backstory: All his life, Severin Koslavik was told he was destined to serve in the Church of Holy Blood. Indeed, all signs pointed in that direction–he was apprenticed to a Church inquisitor, at least until an unnamed indiscretion caused him to be formally stripped of all standing within the clergy. Strangely, his miraculous powers have not disappeared since his defrocking. His miraculous talents have found him employment in Sir Aubrek’s retinue.

Appearance: A young man who still takes pains to appear to be a pious servant of the Church, Severin still wears the cassock of a cleric. It just makes life easier–people don’t ask too many questions of a priest.

Lady Jeanette de Winter

Backstory: Lady Jeanette de Winter hails from a family of hereditary knights who long-ago pledged their service to the Salazars. When Sir Aubrek Salazar appeared at her ancestral manor, Lady Jeanette found that she was willing to fulfill the terms of her familial oath. Which is strange, since Sir Aubrek Salazar supposedly died generations ago. She knows her time in the Mortal World draws to a close–better to go out in glory, she figures.

Appearance: Steel-haired, steel-eyed, and steel-backed–Jeanette is an aging woman who is still physically powerful, even if she experiences new aches and pains every day.

Damir Milosovek

Backstory: Whether or not he is a natural-born nobleman is irrelevant; Damir Milosovek plays the part of a dashing, fashionable highwayman with aristocratic bearing. Sure, he steals from the rich and gives to the poor–but he simply must make sure that he holds back enough coin to keep his garb stylishly outrageous. Luckily, the terms of his alliance with Sir Aubrek are generous; shame about all the danger it entails, though.

Appearance: A handsome man with long blonde hair and a meticulously trimmed mustache. He takes pride in three things: the sharpness of his blade, his debonair presence, and his colorful feathered hat.

Braelin Map

I realized I hadn't posted this yet. This is the map I made of Braelin, the starting town of the current Krevborna campaign.

Rate and Review: A Favor

I hate to ask people for favors, or for anything really, but if you're read and enjoyed Ornamental Women, it would help me out tremendously if you rated or reviewed my novel! You can do so on Amazon, Goodreads, and Storygraph. Or make a post on social media about it, write something up for a blog if you have one, or (most importantly) recommend it to someone you think would like it. I'm an independent author with no writing community or industry ties, so word of mouth is all I've got.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has already rated, reviewed, reposted, read, and promoted my work. It truly means a lot to me. Response has been positive, but I'd still love to reach more readers--and for that, I need your help.

The first few reviews of Ornamental Women are in, and it's been pretty great thus far. Eight five-star ratings on Amazon at the moment:

 And people have been saying some really kind things about the book:

 

 

  

 

Additionally, it looks like people who had fun with Ornamental Women have really good taste in fiction; what an august company to be a part of!

 

 

Of course, if you haven't bought a copy yet...you can get Ornamental Women here.

 

Third Novice Advance

We did another "level-up" session for the ongoing Krevborna game. Here's what the players grabbed for their characters:

Anastasia took the New Power edge, gaining Relief and Dispel (and Smite from studying the Book of Carrion Winds)

Dario took the Formation Fighter edge

Johanna increased her Agility to a d8.

Ulu took the New Power edge, gaining Environmental Protection and Arcane Protection (and Smite from studying the Book of Carrion Winds)

Varro took the Sweep edge

Morwenna took the Arcane Background edge, focusing on Magic, gaining the powers Mind Reading, Bolt, and Corpse Sense

 

Morwenna was taught the rudiments of magic by Cassie Mabcrowe as the group traveled from Hemlock Hollow to Chancel, where they hoped to track down a man named Ratibor Bron--who had some kind of connection to Yavor Mikalek. Cassie also gifted Morwenna a deck of bird-themed tarot cards and taught her how to use them to scry.

Speaking of scrying, Ulu asked Cassie to try to gain more information about Krusikal's sundered heart. The group had been operating under the belief that Varro's sword may have been half of Krusikal's heart, but Cassie didn't think that was true. Varro's sword was connected to something dark and unfathomable, but it wasn't Krusikal. 

Left to think on what they might have brought back with them from Ustalecht, they hit upon an interesting idea--what if Commander Kaul's body itself hid the weapon?

They also asked Cassie to scry the location of Raenessa's missing adult children. Alduin was currently somewhere in Veil. Alyndara however...was deceased. The group did not relish having to break that news to their alchemist.

Yes, you can do emotional terrorism even in a level-up session. It's legal. 

Total Skull: July, 2026

Things that brought me delight in July, 2026:

 

Neurosis, An Undying Love for a Burning World

I honestly wasn't sure we'd ever get another album from Neurosis, but An Undying Love for a Burning World is a worthy addition to their lengthy catalog. The band's signature sludgy, doomy, post-metal heft remains intact, but the record also displays an incredibly varied textural palette; everything from earthy, warm tones to moments of electronic ambience have their place in the overall soundscape. Also, despite being an album that is firmly "of the current moment," there is a hopefulness to An Undying Love for a Burning World that feel so crucial, so absolutely necessary to our survival.

 

Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Certain Dark Things

Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Certain Dark Things is the best Vampire: The Masquerade book not officially part of Vampire: The Masquerade's spotty fiction line. (And let's be honest: this novel is too good to be tie-in fiction, but it should appeal to fans of that particular game.)

We've got rival vampire clans (each with different powers and cultures) in Mexico City, fighting over control of the narcotics trade. The protagonist belongs to the native vampire clan and is on the run from a European colonial vampire clan that brought a horrible vampire disease to Central America. Certain Dark Things combines urban fantasy with a big dose of noir and action thriller--an extremely fun mix.

 

Tarja, Frisson Noir

Touted as Tarja Turunen's (formerly of Nightwish) return to symphonic metal, Frisson Noir is a surprisingly heavy and extremely theatrical record. If the goal was show that she still has the chops to deliver a strong Gothic metal album, well--mission accomplished. And yet, Frisson Noir doesn't really play it safe or rely on retreading past glories; Frisson Noir feels pretty vital and unique.

 

Heather Parry, Carrion Crow 

Heather Parry's Carrion Crow gives a fresh, and sometimes devastating, view on the Gothic "madwoman in the attic." Consigned to an attic in her family's crumbling house by her controlling mother, the protagonist is being "prepared" for life as a wife in Victorian England. Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management stands in as a kind of Necronomicon, full of eldritch truths, eroding the main character's sanity page by page. And there is a lot of erosion here--of the mind, the body, the sense of self...of personal history and identity. Carrion Crow is definitely a clever book; it reminded me a bit of J.-K. Huysmans's A Rebours, but where a male aesthete makes the choice to seclude himself in a world of his own design, a woman of the same era finds confinement to be an entirely different experience.

 

The Long, Hot Summer 

With a plot stitched together from multiple William Faulkner fictions (and a good dose of Tennessee Williams, as well), The Long, Hot Summer finds a handsome vagabond with a reputation as a barn burner ingratiating himself with Will Varner, the big boss of a Mississippi town. Ben Quick, the vagabond who is full of masculine swagger and a predator's ethical laxity, seems to represent the solution to many of Will Varner's problems: he looks to be a good replacement for his somewhat spineless son in the family business, he could be a virile match for his spinster-at-twenty-three daughter, and he looks to be his best bet for revitalizing the Varner family line with lots of grandsons. But Quick's reputation dogs him, and the familial psychodrama is tangled. I wasn't expecting the surprisingly light-hearted ending, but this was definitely a fun Southern Gothic film.

 

Moonspell, Far From God

I wasn't really expecting Moonspell's newest album to be a full-on goth rock record, but here we are. And I'm not exactly mad at it, as the results feel strangely fresh and vital even if it is taking on a sound that now irrevocably feels "retro." Things do get heavier on the second half of Far From God, but even the chugs and grittier vocals don't really feel too far afield from the heavier moments of, say, The Mission or Fields of the Nephilim.  

 

The Vampire Lestat 

Even though my memories of Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat novel have been dimmed by the passage of time, it was clear to me that the AMC adaptation was not strictly true to the source material. And that's fine by me. What I can't figure out, however, is if this show is a brilliantly weird re-imagining of Rice's second foray into the world of vampires or if it's a deeply stupid, meandering take on her Vampire Chronicles. That, in itself, is impressive. I watched the whole thing, and I still don't know exactly what I think about it or how I feel about it. That's probably a triumph of some sort.

 

Queen of the Damned

To keep the Anne Rice adaptation train rolling, I watched Queen of the Damned--which I had never seen before and, frankly, had avoided for years because it doesn't exactly have a great reputation. I thought it was fun, though I'd struggle to call it "good." It's such a strange beast--for a big-budget feature, Queen of the Damned often looks impressively cheap; what's with the horrid special effects? Who found these absolutely wooden actors? Whose decision was it to make the film all beginning and end, with no middle to speak of? Also, I will never get over Jonathan Davis's voice coming out of Lestat's mouth every time he sings. Amazing.

 

Luke Dumas, A History of Fear 

I enjoyed Luke Dumas's The Paleontologist a few years ago, so when a friend recommended I also check out his A History of Fear I put it on my list. It's time has come. Either I didn't know it or forgot in the intervening months, A History of Fear is a riff on James Hogg's classic Gothic novel Confessions of a Justified Sinner, specifically incorporating Eve Sedgewick's argument that the main character's flaw is an ability to navigate homosocial bonds and homosexual desires. (Curiously, I haven't seen Hogg's novel mentioned in any of the copy written about the novel. Why hide that? Feels like stolen valor, in a way.) In any case, Dumas's book is very much a strong modern Gothic, with the haze of vagueness surrounding whether the murderous grad student at the heart of the tale was motivated to kill by the Devil or suffered a mental breakdown due to sexual repression. 

 

Double Door

Pre-code films are almost always a treat, and Double Door was originally a theatrical production that was dubbed "the play that made Broadway gasp." (In fact, two actors from the play version reprise their roles in the movie adaptation.) Double Door is a fun little Gothic family drama about a new bride who has to contend with her husband's insane spinster half-sister and the sinister hidden vault within their NYC mansion. I love how tight and concise Double Door is; it gets in, delivers on plot and theme, and gives you a satisfying comeuppance in the bargain.

 

Elizabeth Harvest 

I went into Elizabeth Harvest with admittedly low expectations, but the cinematography and cast are amazing. Seriously, it's impossible to take your eyes off Abbey Lee as the protagonist, and Ciaran Hinds and Carla Gugino always enliven a film. Elizabeth Harvest is a Gothic sci-fi riff on Bluebeard, but that added to the appeal for me. I can imagine a viewer for whom Elizabeth Harvest has at least one too many plot twists, but it delivered what I often hope an A24 movie will be (and just as often fails at): a visually striking movie with an actual story, and themes that aren't rooted in pop psyche theories of trauma.

 

Blackwater Holylight, Not Here Not Gone

Blackwater Holylight is a new band to me, but their mix of shoegaze and sadgirl doom really hit the spot in late July. Not Here Not Gone feels like an album the band has been building up to for quite some time, especially in terms of heaviness, but the songs on this record never really lose their essentially ethereal, mist-like quality. 

 

The Witch's Mirror 

The Witch's Mirror is here to teach you an important lesson: even if you hate your wife, it's a bad idea to murder her if her godmother, who is also your housekeeper, is a witch with a magic mirror that acts as a direct hotline to Hell. The first half of the movie is a "using black magic to torment the doctor and his new wife" Gothic romp, but the second half unexpectedly weaves in elements of body snatching and medical horror--a bit like a Mexican Eyes Without a Face. Maybe a little less ethereal and a good click more earthily gory.