Troubled by Revenants

[doomsday_disco]

A paean to ancient malevolence and the unseen forces that grasp and scratch at the living like gnarled roots clawing through blood-stained soil in midnight forests: patchouli, mandrake root, black pepper, and fossilized amber.

 

“How came the village to be deserted?” asked the General.

 

“It was troubled by revenants, sir; several were tracked to their graves, there detected by the usual tests, and extinguished in the usual way, by decapitation, by the stake, and by burning; but not until many of the villagers were killed.

 

“But after all these proceedings according to law,” he continued — “so many graves opened, and so many vampires deprived of their horrible animation — the village was not relieved. But a Moravian nobleman, who happened to be traveling this way, heard how matters were, and being skilled—as many people are in his country—in such affairs, he offered to deliver the village from its tormentor. He did so thus: There being a bright moon that night, he ascended, shortly after sunset, the towers of the chapel here, from whence he could distinctly see the churchyard beneath him; you can see it from that window. From this point he watched until he saw the vampire come out of his grave, and place near it the linen clothes in which he had been folded, and then glide away towards the village to plague its inhabitants.

[Tungerine]

I love this one. It's mainly dark, dry patchouli with a little earthy mandrake and warm pepper. There's no dirt note, no dampness, no blood, but it really does evoke the dark red-brown of blood-stained soil.

[Ennikar]

If you're a patchouli hater, this isn't going to change your mind; an dirt-like earthy patch is dominant the whole way through. At first, it's a bit herbal (mandrake?), and the pepper gives it a cool edge. At this stage it's outdoorsy and a little aggressive. The a few hours into the drydown it surprised me, though - it warms up a lot, the herbal tones fade, and the amber comes out more, so instead of a cool spooky patch it becomes a warm slightly pepper-spice-y patch. The pepper is still a little too pepper for it to feel cuddly, but it's much more approachable.

Medium throw, decent lasting power.