Level 10: Palace of the Blood Queen, Week 4

Bastien Lecouffe Deharme

 

22: Ziggurat Stair

(past)

• (!) Two Iron Maidens at the top of the stair. Passphrase: onyx.
• (?) Golden lion doors to level 11.

23: Chamberlain’s Roost

(past)

• Lair of the chamberlain. Opulent rooms and vast black hardwood desk.
• (!) The Chamberlain, stuffed layers of silk and fur, gold chains, rings over white gloves, brass keyring on his belt, luxuriant ringlets and beard framing a mask of comedy. Hovers above the ground.
  • Mien: the cat that got the cream. Followed by a gaggle of interjecting sycophants.
  • Wants: amusement
  • Needs: to gather the keys. Do you have a stray key?
  • Fears: the Empress, and no other.
  • Knows: everything, including the passphrases.
  • treasure: jewellery worth 200 coins, keys to the palace rooms & vault.

(present)

• Still the chamberlain’s lair, but ruined. The chamberlain is alone, undead.

24: Throneroom

(past)

• The Empress holds court, surrounded by masked courtiers and trestles laden with food and wine. The emperor’s throne lies empty. The Eldest Princess, Mira, is chained to one wall, dead, her blood pooled in a trough at her feet.
• (!) The Empress Aurelienne, blood queen of the ziggurat.
  • Mien: a cat playing with its food
  • Wants: flattery, and to humiliate
  • Needs: blood
  • Fears: treason, her daughters
  • Knows: surprisingly little. Passphrase to her rooms. Doesn’t know (yet) that Mira wasn’t the one who stole her giant black diamond, the Storm Adamant.

(present)

• Stone and ashes. The dais is empty.

25: Her Rooms: Foyer

(past/present)

• (!) An Iron Maiden, encased in steel plates pinned to her body with rivets. Blocks all unauthorised guests. Passphrase ‘chrysanthemum’.

26: Her Rooms: Closet

(past/present)

• (!) Locked, with needle poison trap.
• A truly vast collection of expensive clothes.
• (??) d100 coins worth item each time you dig through.

28: Her Rooms: Bedroom

(past/present)

• Pristine four-poster with furs and silks. Heavy desk with writing paraphernalia.
• (?) Portrait of a family: Emperor Titus, Empress Aurelienne, Princesses Mira and Erhua, and sickly little Prince Ambrose.

27: Her Rooms: Bath

(past)

• 6 young women hang from meathooks, bleeding into Her gilt marble bath.

(present)

• (!) Lair of the blood queen, undead and insane. She sleeps in the bath and wears the Storm Adamant (unless someone stole it in the past?).

28: His Rooms: Foyer

(past/present)

• (!) An Iron Maiden. Passphrase: amethyst.
• On display: two exquisite suits of armour, gilt and shining, one formal and one for the field, plus His gun and sword.

29: His Rooms: Solar

(past/present)

• Vast hardwood bureau. Shelves lined with books of every kind. Luxurious carpet.
• (?) Inside the desk: papers, seals, His lion signet ring.
• (??) A thin, door-shaped seam on the one section of wall without book-cases.
• (??) Secret switch under the desk opens the door to the secret room.
• (??) If you want a particular book, there’s a good chance it’s here.

30: His Rooms: Bedroom

(past/present)

• Opulent and immaculate.
• (??) Under the mattress: The Storm Adamant, a thumb-sized black diamond set in a gold pendant. The wearer can turn into smoke at will.

31: His Rooms: Secret Room

• Bare stone room with a spiral stair ascending to Level 12: Archive.
• (?) Brass switch on the wall to open/close the secret door.