I signed up for the Secret Santicorn blog post exchange project over on RPG Cauldron, and was assigned a prompt from… Gus L. of All Dead Generations, whose blog I’ve actually read! (It’s an excellent blog, full of well-researched posts speaking from much practical experience, vs. me who wanted an excuse to play with typography.)

The Prompt

“Give me a nice little location using this map…” (attached file: Copy of Perfume A.jpeg)

I’ve added some handy location numbers to the map to make it easier to reference.

Let’s riff on “winter solstice” + “perfume”…

The Location

Several generations ago, a wealthy lord built this distillery high up in the mountains, near a wildflower patch that bloomed freely every spring. This location held great sentimental value to him, and the desire to spread the scent of the flowers far and wide rewarded him with good trade and some small amount of fame.

When the lord died wealthy and old, he arranged to be buried here, and for this to serve as a grand monument to the fields. But shortly after he was buried, the flowers no longer bloomed and the weather in the mountains became cold and foul. Without easy access to flowers, few were willing to make the treacherous journey, and a growing series of accidents involving bears lead to it becoming abandoned.

Recently, a group of desperate apprentices and dabblers decided to try their hand at rekindling the still. The brought a supply of preserved flowers and found everything to be in mostly working order. These flowers were preserved with unusual means, and a few happened to be particularly rare. Due to inexperience, bad luck, or the particular combination of ingredients, the still exploded, scattering strange clouds of strongly smelling smoke that lingered in spite of the winds. The scent attracted a pack of nearby bears, and one inhaled an entire cloud of it, becoming possessed with an unusual strength and hunger.

It’s another terrible day in the mountains. Lingering outside means facing below freezing temperatures and chilling winds, while dark clouds threaten snow or possibly a blizzard.

1. Distillery

Sturdy double doors on the west wall lead outside. Another pair on the eastern wall, hanging open, lead inside to 7.

The distillery has a dirt floor and was built open open-air to allow any dangerous fumes to dissipate. Clouds of strange orange smoke linger around the room, swirling but never leaving. A bear sniffs around the remains of the still (1a.) Snow has piled up in the edges of the room, blown in from a recent storm.

The still (1a.) has blown out its bottom entirely, and a few frozen chunks of half-eaten corpses are scattered about here, along with scorch marks. At the moment, a bear is sniffing where the fire used to be, possibly inhaling a passing cloud of perfume and becoming enraged.

2. Entry Hall

An ornate pair of doors on the southern side of this room lead into a now mostly empty chamber, with a high ceiling. A simple door leads north into 7, while a decorated door leads into 3.

This room once received visitors, where they could sample the numerous fragrances and be impressed with the natural beayty of the surrounding landscape.

The room is strangely empty - there’s remains of tables and chairs, but nothing left. Scratch marks on the floor lead to the east.

3. Tomb antechamber

Ornate double doors lead into the tomb itself (4), while a comparatively plain door leads back to the entry hall.

Built to hold visitors to the tomb while preparations were made. At the moment, a hasty barricade has been erected to deter any bears from approaching. Wooden furniture pulled from the entry hall is precariously piled here, and could easily ignite.

4. Tomb of lord

An ornate pair of doors to the west lead back to the antechamber. A tall spiral staircase by the eastern wall leads upwards to 5.

Constructed late in the lord’s life, friezes and tapestries depict his great achievements and the splendor of the fields in full bloom, praising the gods for allowing such a miracle. In the center is a sarcophagus, recently disturbed and curiously empty. (Recent visitors checked it for loot and only found a dead body. The body has since gotten up…) A brazier sits by the eastern wall and spiral staircase; the faint scent of burnt offerings linger despite the disuse. On a clear day natural light could seep in and illuminate the room, but today is dark.

A few survivors are holed up in here, trying to wait out the bears. (The bears are not leaving.)

5. Upper tomb

The spiral staircase leads back down to the main part of the tomb. A chute in the eastern ceiling leads up to 6, with a rope dangling down.

Open-air pillars grant a view of the outside, but offer no protection from the wind. Clearly not meant for visitors,

6. Chimney

The new folks were using this as a lookout tower, but following the still’s detonation, it’s currently empty. The view is excellent, one can see past the crests to the north and east, and would have easy views of anyone approaching.

7. Mixing hall

A door to the south connects to the entry hall, with reinforced double doors to the west leading to the distillery and another pair to the storerooms to the north. A plain door leads to the east.

Large tables and vessels are scattered about the room, to allow the essence of flowers to be mixed into final forms for transport and sale. The recent occupants have used the room for this purpose, and a few filled vials are scattered about, along with barrels of water and alcohol.

Some clouds of orange smoke are lingering under tables and would slip out if disturbed.

8. Kitchen

Doors lead east and west.

This room has been made into a kitchen for the current residents. A bear is sniffing around, looking for scraps. This one isn’t enraged by the perfume, it’s just hungry.

9. Tower antechamber

Doors lead east and west.

(drawing a blank on this one - I’ll come back later)

10. Living quarters

Door to the east. Stairs lead upward.

Well protected from the elements, the occupants have chosen to make this their sleeping quarters. Bedrolls and packs are scattered about, along with a petty amount of coins.

11. Lavish living quarters

Stairs lead downward, a ladder leads up.

A few proper beds are in here, along with empty wineskins. Someone searched this room recently, looking for something, but were scared off when a bear chased after them. The bear chased them back downstairs.

12. Top of tower

A ladder leads back down to 11.

The leader of the expedition stashed the payments they’ve been getting for their work up here, away from the others.

13. Front storeroom

Double doors lead back south to 7. Doors lead north to 14, or east to 16.

Crates of flowers are scattered about here, including a reinforced one with the particular strange flowers that caused the still explosion. Bears have cracked open the typical crates and munched on the flowers. There’s a few claw marks on the remaining one - it’s locked, but damaged, and the bears definitely want whatever’s in there.

14. North storeroom

Doors lead to the south and west.

The recent occupants were using this room to store their food, in various crates and sacks. There’s a really angry bear here, enraged by the perfume and possessed with a supernatural strength and hunger. The crates have been smashed open in its search for food or good scents, and anything living might catch its attention…

15. West storeroom

A door leads back to the north storeroom.

A few scattered empty crates, and high windows on the north and south ends of the room.

16. East storeroom

A door leads back to the front storeroom.

Lots and lots of reinforced ornate vases. They’re not particularly valuable, but they are well-suited to holding liquids (or gasses).

Discuss this post

Find this useful in any way, or have questions that could improve it? Share your thoughts and find new ones at the Secret Santicorn 2025 thread on The Cauldron. (I’m attempting to drive traffic here per Yochai Gal’s request.)

Updates to come.

TODO

• give stuff some Proper Nouns
• Hyperlinks!
• I can’t remember if this Hugo theme has TOC settings aaaaa
  • may use this post as a way to figure out location formatting for the next time I make one of these