Murdicog's Manse Session 2: Mingkar's Demise
Date: Dec. 16, 2025 (A.D.M. 25, Dec. 16-30)
Players: Mingkar the Miseable, Black Medium (Black Citadel Games)
Summary
After his first foray into Murdicog's Manse, Mingkar the Miserable, Black Medium, was determined to learn the sorcerous secrets of the entity called "Odradek" alluded to by Ambrose the Pnome.
Unfortunately, the town of Bar Udartophir (42-309) had no public library or archive. In fact, its sole feature of note was a gloomy mansion bristling with dozens of iron lightning rods. Thinking that the proprietor might possess a private libram, Mingkar brazenly knocked on the front door. Ignoring the mechanical butler's attempts at shooing him away, he managed to secure an audience with the Electron Sovereign, Red Thaumaturge & former fulgrinator. After some pestering, the retired electromancer instructed Mingkar to seek out the "Fulgurant Ordeal" & gave him a single scroll of Fulgurant Flash.
Mingkar then set out for the closest city, Ux Qorath (50-304), still intent on researching the Odradek. He followed the Üvian Way psouthouest through a dark & chilly forest. On his first "night"1 he was awoken by six Brigands demanding a 100gp toll in the name of "Zssath the Exsanguinator". They departed in possession of Mingkar's ladder, obsidian athame, & 40gp.
The rest of the journey was uneventful.
Upon arriving in Ux Qorath, Mingkar secured permission to conduct research in the archives of the Temple of LUNE.
- On the first day of research, he learned that Odradek is a minor god or spirit associated with dishevelment, detritus, or familial worry. According to history of the Aeon of The Cybernetic Czar, the unraveling of Tsar Murdicog's household & concomitant failure to produce an heir with any of his 16 mistresses has been attributed to the presence of Odradek somewhere within his manse.
- A second day of research was spent mistakenly searching out the exploits of one "Odra'deq the Mighty," a human warlord active during the Aeon in Which The Martians Invaded.
- On day 3, he unearthed a treatise (That Superfluous Laughter: A Theophany by Oe Znemnaw the Profound) arguing that Odradek is in fact among the most primordial spirits in the cosmos, & that disorder, dishevelment, uselessness, & ambient objectless anxiety are fundamental components of the universe. Tucked inside the front cover was a crumpled scrap of paper, reproduced below:
Manifesto of the Scrungly Hobs
We never bathe!
We never shave!
And we never cooks our meats!
We praise the spool!
And the bits of twine!
And the dust upon our feets!
While not poring over musty tomes, Mingkar slept on the temple steps next to beggars & mendicants. One 'night', he was approached by a cloaked YGSÐÐ cultist, apparently drawn by the scent of black magic. An invitation to join the cult was decisively rejected.
When he was satisfied with his research, Mingkar attempted to work petty magic to recover some of the gold he had lost on the road. Unfortunately, his efforts netted him only a single gold coin. He then offered his services to the temple priests, who offered a substantial reward for information concerning the local YGSÐÐ cult.
After several days of wandering the city Mingkar managed to attract the cult's attention. He was blindfolded & brought into a subterranean lair where the Haruspex of Forsaken Hues, Heresiarch, subjected him to questioning. An ultimatum was presented: burn the library in the Temple of LUNE or be hunted down & killed.
Rather than acquiesce, Mingkar chose to bolt for the door. He escaped successfully -- a lucky Magic Missile felled a cultist and tripped another -- but an invocation of Cause Light Wounds by the HoFH weakened him such that a parting thrust from a cultists's athame granted Mingkar the Miserable a death befitting his name.
Aftermath
Treasure Found: Scroll of Fulgurant Flash, 1gp
Foes Encountered: 6 Brigands (followers of Zssath the Exsanguinator), 1 Werebear, unknown number of YGSÐÐ Cultists, The Haruspex of Forsaken Hues.
Rumors:
- Those wishing to learn the art of Fulgrination can undergo the "Fulgurant Ordeal" somewhere in the Yptifraxi plain.
- Odradek is a petty god of dishevelment, detritus, & familial strife. It is rumored to reside in Murdicog's Manse & to have caused the unraveling of his household.
- The Sanctified Veil of LUNE has been stolen from the temple in Ux Qorath, leaving the city vulnerable to cultist infiltration.
Deaths: Mingkar the Miserable
XP Awarded: 0
Proximity to the winter equinox reduces "night" to a circadian formality.↩