Changes

The Tower [[Moldy Tome ]] recounts a story of a Countess who was buried alive. The castle in which so many cruel deeds took place fell rapidly to ruin. Rising over the buried dungeons, a solitary tower is all that remains. The Countess's fortune was said to be divided among the clergy, although some say that more remains unfound, still buried in the tower.

The trigger, reading the [[Moldy Tome]], is not required for this quest. You can just find the ruins of the tower in the [[Black Marsh]], and descend into it. It's a very nasty area, one of the hardest in [[Act OneI]], with small rooms and numerous boss and champion monster packs. The levels are very small though, and on the fifth and lowest level there are two rooms with dozens of stacks of gold in each, and several chests. The end of the fifth level has a room with a glowing golden chest guarded by [[The Countess]], a melee-fighting [[Corrupt Rogue]].

You must kill her to finish the quest. When she dies she expires in a cloud of smoke, and then the golden chest opens and erupts showers of gold, potions, and items, literally dozens of them spouting out one at a time. It's fun to try and pick up the goodies as quickly as they fall. There are seldom any valuable items, just magical stuff and a [[Rune ]] of varying value, but it's nice [[gold ]] for a new character.

Beware the tower, the tiny rooms and small levels leave you no room to retreat, other than up the stairs, and there are tons of boss packs, mostly of [[Goatmen ]] and Specters[[Specter]]s. Often when you come down to the next level you'll find monsters very near the stairs, so be ready.

Since v1.09 the Countess has begun dropping a [[rune ]] almost every time she is killed. Her rune drops were improved further in v1.10, and as a result she's now one of the most popular "item run" monsters in the game, especially for players who are [[Rune Hunting]].

The Quest is likely inspired by the real-life [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Báthory Elizabeth Báthory], who was also known as "Blood Countess" and as "Bloody Lady of Čachtice". She was accused of torturing and killing hundreds of girls and young women, and supposedly bathed in the blood of virgins in order to retain her youth.

::''The dangers there are not solely architectural. Once inside that wretched place, many succumb to a vile [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miasma_theory_of_disease miasma].''

::''[[Warriv]]'s advice is like corpse gas; it befouls the air for a moment and then it disappears.''

::''Remember, wealth is as insubstantial as a cloud and passes as quickly. Ignore [[Gheed]]. All that twitters is not bold.''