Say that the men of the old black tower,
Though they but feed as the goatherd feeds,
Their money spent, their wine gone sour,
Lack nothing that a soldier needs,
That all are oath-bound men:
Those banners come not in.
There in the tomb stand the dead upright,
But winds come up from the shore:
They shake when the winds roar,
Old bones upon the mountain shake.
Those banners come to bribe or threaten,
Or whisper that a man’s a fool
Who, when his own right king’s forgotten,
Cares what king sets up his rule.
If he died long ago
Why do you dread us so?
There in the tomb drops the faint moonlight,
But wind comes up from the shore:
They shake when the winds roar,
Old bones upon the mountain shake.
The tower’s old cook that must climb and clamber
Catching small birds in the dew of the morn
When we hale men lie stretched in slumber
Swears that he hears the king’s great horn.
But he’s a lying hound:
Stand we on guard oath-bound!
There in the tomb the dark grows blacker,
But wind comes up from the shore:
They shake when the winds roar,
Old bones upon the mountain shake.
A sepulchral, desolate scent. Long-dead soldiers, oath-bound; the perfume of their armor, the chill wind that surges through their tower, white bone and blackened steel: white sandalwood, ambergris, wet ozone, galbanum and leather with ebony, teak, burnt grasses, English ivy and a hint of red wine.
Cesium –
Got this as an imp- will definitely be buying a full size.
I love this so much more than I thought I would.
In the bottle it smells a little crisp. Like you shone a tiny flashlight beam into the night sky.
On my skin, though, its heaviness comes through. It smells like I’ve just been wrapped in a blanket of void to take a nice little nap. Less disconcerting to me and more of a lull.
Throughout the day, the orchid comes out. At the end of my 8 hour shift it was a dark, but not overbearing floral scent.
It’s almost like a grandmotherly perfume, but amazing and also if your grandma was a black hole.
alexmitchell2391 –
A swamp witch awakens from a long slumber. She pushes away the growth of moss and notices her cauldron is still bubbling after all of these years, a deep resinous concoction. Her hanging dried flowers are just as perfect as always with their dusty florality. She realizes her self-necromancy ritual was successful.
Laurel Buliavac –
I got this as a frimp, and I’m glad I did — I wouldn’t have picked it, since I’m not a perfume head, and I have no context for what ‘opoponax’ smells like in a vacuum. It smells incense-y, as you might expect from something with three different tree resins, but there’s a ‘high’ note (top note? is that what smell people call it?) that takes it from general incense to specifically ‘that New Age store in the mall that I loved when I was young but my mom hated because it set off her asthma’. That store is long gone, but this perfume remains.
yashendwirh –
Very warm, deep, creamy floral. The orchid is doing a lot of the work but layers really cozily into this scent. Gets a little more powdery on my skin. Winter/fall scent, unisex to femme.
Katie –
I got this as a frimp, and was surprised to see it described as disconcerting and heavy. Just a very pleasant, musky, warm, sweet scent to me. Didn’t stand out enough to make me want a full bottle.
[email protected] –
Once it settles a very ,warm, spicy and mature scent. Very similar to the yves saint laurent opium but not as cloying. A little goes a long way.
cmgauthi –
I didn’t get anything disconcerting from it at all. It smells warm and incense-y, with a flash of something metallic. Like an old tarnished silver perfume bottle pendant bought in New Orleans when I was young. Mysterious and smooth. Good. Very Good.
ranepage11 –
This scent really does pull you in. Reminds me of a mysterious perfume I was gifted in a very abstract black bottle by a former acquaintance. Smells intimate, captivating, sophisticated, not too complex either. Honestly smells more feminine than I prefer, but nonetheless I admire it & hope my wife takes to wearing it.
artimisia –
This one is really hard to describe. I recognized a lot of notes that bpal has used in the background of other perfumes, but I couldn’t put my finger on any single element. (It reminds me most of the underlying scent in Morocco, only with out the too heavy perfumey overscent) So that made it feel familiar, while definitely being its own thing. Dark and mysterious, with a powerful mystique, this one is definitely a keeper.
xancanfly –
woahh. I can’t describe the smell but it is powerful, mysterious, and unique. It almost smells like the ozone in the air before a storm? It is a weird scent, definitely just-this-side of perfumey. Like it smells pleasant enough that I can wear it as a perfume, but definitely unlike any perfume I’ve encountered before. This is for days when you want to intimidate people in a way that they can’t quite put their finger on. I wouldn’t wear it for a date, but I’d wear it for a meeting where I need to show everyone whose boss.
littlejackal –
Imagine a demonic priestess has just unleashed a spell of black fire upon a church- that’s Event Horizon. I absolutely adore this smell, it makes me feel pure evil. It smells hot, dark, and thick, with just enough sweetness to still be appealing.
driveallnite –
This is my new favorite scent…I absolutely love wearing it and feel totally badass in it!
nborges –
Definitely a heavy scent that may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I love that. I wear it on days I want to smell intimidating and untouchable.
Gloame –
Disconcerting is a good descriptor for this blend, but I don’t think it’s disconcerting in a bad way. It’s just unusual. It calls for a double-take when smelled.
The overall impression I get of it is dry wood, warmed up and ready to burn. The orchid gives it enough warm floral to balance out the heaviness of the other notes. I think it’s quite lovely.
Unisex, woody, soft, warm.