Castle Staubenfest
Dust / The Tumbling Rocks
The Castle Staubenfest can be found in a remote part of the Tumbling Rocks. It is the domain of a peculiar creature, presumably a dust mephit with an attitude, calling himself Count von Stauben. His castle is made of dust and sand, constantly collapsing as chunks are taken out by tumbling rocks that score direct hits, constantly rebuilt by an army of indentured sandlings and dust devils—but it is a hopeless struggle against the nature of the plane.
The Count suffers from great emotional fluctuations, between euphoria and gloomy depression. Depending on his current mental state, he might be friendly (though arrogant) towards visitors, or harass them with nonsense, or just ignore them. Asked who he is, he might answer like this:
“Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of tragedy, experience. I am the essence, I am the sand. To you I am the harbinger of grief, I mean a suffering eternal. My name is not important, but you may call me by my name, the Count Udolf von Stauben. The light of day is alien to me, my time is always only shades. Nourish me and quench my thirst, for I do long for this bubbling blood that runs through your veins. Oh, wait, the rhymes didn’t fit, I have to start over all again. Please, excuse me now.”
Sometimes, he invites travellers to his Castle, to have a rest in its dusty halls, have a dry and frankly gritty dinner, or just cheer him up with chatter. He doesn’t seem very dangerous, just a bit barmy and out-of-touch with reality. People who have met other dust mephits may think that he’s just pretending, a fool, no more harmful to them than any other of his pathetic kind.
The Dark: In fact, von Stauben is a creature of the negative, part mephit, part something-else, and a real vampire, including all the powers of one. As a dust mephit, however, he can drink elemental essence as easy as blood, so he doesn’t have to drink the blood of guests. As long as they behave friendly and talkative, he is polite, too.
Source: Jens
