Anything for the Muse

A dread possibility cut from Gazetteer IV to accompany the (also-cut) entry for Levkarest.

Elgin Dezuni (male human ermordenung, Rog3/Exp6) and Rozalina Dezuni (female human ermordenung, Rog2/Exp7) were among the lucky few: betrothed who were also deeply in love. Ivana Boritsi attended their wedding in 745 BC, and was so taken with the young couple’s charm and beauty that she transformed them into ermordenungs that very night. Their lover’s touch forever lost to them, the Dezunis seek other ways to sate their longings. They now operate the renowned Spaima Gallery and are talented artists in their own right; the walls of their townhouse are covered in portraits of each other. When Ivana sends the Dezunis to dispatch troublesome couples, Elgin and Rozalina try to arrange the killing so that they can stare into each other’s eyes as their victims die in their arms.

Several years ago, the Dezunis appropriated a ring of regeneration from one such victim. With it, they have discovered new sensations to share. They cannot touch each other, but their blades can. Their secret experiments have produced a new school of art, “Glamour Grotesque,” in which horrific and sadistic subject matter is depicted in an overtly sensual and aesthetic manner. In Elgin and Rozalina’s newest portraits, their expressions are serene, their bodies stylistically maimed. The Dezunis also occasionally hire attractive commoners as models. These folk are drugged with wine, bound, gagged, given the ring to wear, and skillfully butchered for several days. After the “sitting” is complete and the wounds have sealed, the ermordenung reclaim their ring and send their victim staggering into the streets, a few coppers her pocket. These folk spread tales of their torture at the Dezunis’ hands, but lack the scars to prove it. An attractive hero may be asked to model for the Dezunis, or the heroes may even discover a ravaged corpse floating in the Luna — one of the artists’ few “accidents.” Alternatively, a model could recover sooner than expected and flee into the night, still wearing the ring of regeneration. The Dezunis may hire reputable heroes to recover their “stolen heirloom.”