A Clue on The Slope of Mount Koressos

Miriam’s first trip to Ephesus, in “The Black Pearl”, a story in The Deadliest Returns, was to return a singular black pearl to the city. Donated by Emperor Augustus himself, the priceless gem was found among the debris on the floor of a local apothecary in Alexandria. And so, as Miriam arrives in Ephesus to return the black pearl, she tells us of her first view of the city:

The sun had begun its slide toward the horizon, but the craggy peak of Mount Koressos pierced a sky still brassy with the day’s heat. As we passed through the Northern Gate and approached the City Center, I could see its steep slope pocked with crests of jagged rocks and tangles of dust-laden shrubs.

Three years later, she finds herself once again in Ephesus in “The Betrothal”, the story of her search for a young woman who disappeared on the day before her betrothal to her father’s old friend. This time, Mount Koressos provides a significant clue: “Once I drained the last of my drink, I glanced down a lane. Really, it was just a thread of buildings clinging to the slope of Mount Koressos, but I noticed a gate lined with earthenware bowls.”

Those bowls might not have meant anything to you, but for Miriam, they were the clue she needed. Don’t miss “The Betrothal” in the February 2025 issue of Black Sheep: Unique Tales of Terror and Wonder. Just click here.