Through the transparent arch, Varkesh turns from the open sarcophagus. The burned sigil leaves the witness-seat’s protection visibly diminished, its blue radiance flickering around Grim’s robes.
Varkesh
The buried one is the Crownless King, an ancient sovereign entombed beneath the throne before this palace had a name.
Varkesh
His prison weakens because no living heir has renewed the oath. The crown’s blood remains, but its bearer has forgotten the promise.
Inside the chamber, the orc mercenary lowers their head, listening beside the royal champion. Neither can cross the boundary, and neither speaks over the keeper.
the royal champion
Then the throne has not merely failed its guardian. It has abandoned the law that kept an ancient king beneath it.
the orc mercenary
Varkesh, name the price of renewal. If sovereign blood still lives, we must know whose oath can reach him.
The arch dims another shade. Beyond it, darkness gathers beneath the sarcophagus, while the Crownless King’s prison gives one slow, answering knock.
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep the Crownless King imprisoned
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn whose sovereign blood can renew the prison’s oath
“Does the royal champion bear the sovereign blood?”
NO (Likely, rolled 73)
The funerary script above the arch twists into a single verdict. The royal champion bears no sovereign blood, and the prison’s blue light withdraws from her.
Varkesh
No. The champion carries the crown’s duty, not its blood. Her courage cannot renew the oath.
The royal champion stiffens behind the boundary. The answer leaves her authority intact, but strips it of the ancient right the prison demands.
the royal champion
Then my sword may defend the throne, but my blood cannot command what lies beneath it.
the orc mercenary
The sovereign line still lives somewhere. Varkesh, tell us whether its heir knows what waits below.
Varkesh
The blood is present in the palace, but not in this chamber. The rightful bearer sits above us, unaware that inheritance has become a summons.
The Crownless King answers with another measured knock. The weakened arch flickers around Grim, recording the truth without assigning them the kingdom’s debt.
“Am I capable of putting the Crownless King to rest?”
NO (Likely, rolled 76)
The funerary script above Grim’s seat pales, then forms a stark refusal. The witness may record the Crownless King’s fate, but cannot grant it.
Varkesh
No. You are capable of bearing truth across the boundary, not of laying the Crownless King to rest.
The verdict settles into the arch. It does not name Grim as debtor, heir, executioner, or savior. The prison preserves that distinction.
the orc mercenary
Then even death cannot receive him through the witness. The living heir must answer, or the old oath remains broken.
the royal champion
And Grim’s station is not diminished by that limit. They have witnessed the law, while the kingdom must furnish its remedy.
Below the sarcophagus, the Crownless King gives one slow knock. The sound carries no summons to Grim, only the weight of an unfinished sovereign oath.
Varkesh
You may remain apart from the kingdom’s debt, reaper. What follows belongs to the blood above, and to the choice it has forgotten.
“I ask Varkesh to identify the rightful heir”
SUCCESS (Legendary Perception, rolled -1)
Grim
Varkesh, identify the rightful heir whose blood may renew the Crownless King’s oath.
The request crosses the arch without claiming the kingdom’s debt. The burned sigil flares once, and the prison’s blue light fixes upon Varkesh.
Varkesh
The heir is Princess Elianor, last child of the hidden line. She sits above us in the western solar, believing herself merely a ward of the crown.
A pale image forms above the witness-seat: a young adult woman with a slender build, auburn hair bound in a simple braid, and a blue wool mantle clasped at her throat.
Varkesh
Her mother concealed the blood beneath an adopted name after the royal house fell. The seal will recognize Elianor, though the palace does not.
the royal champion
Then the heir is within reach. I will bring her to the throne, if the court has not already made her prisoner.
The image fades, leaving the western solar marked in silver script. Below, the Crownless King gives a quieter knock, and the arch holds steady around Grim.
Quest Complete
Learn whose sovereign blood can renew the prison’s oath
“"Royal Champion, bring this princess here at any cost. Your kingdom may not continue to stand without her."”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled +2)
Grim
Royal Champion, bring this princess here at any cost. Your kingdom may not continue to stand without her.
the royal champion
Then I will bring her, Grim. Let the throne answer for what it concealed.
The royal champion turns from the boundary and strides toward the palace stairs, silver-blue plate catching the arch’s fading light. The prison permits her departure.
Time folds through the witness-arch in fragments of echo: hurried footsteps above, startled court voices, and the champion’s firm command. At last, two figures descend together.
Princess Elianor, a young adult woman with a slender build, auburn hair in a simple braid, and a blue wool mantle, enters beside the champion. Her guarded gaze fixes on Varkesh.
Princess Elianor
I was told the dead named me heir. If that is true, show me the oath I was hidden from.
Elianor reaches the boundary. The blue ward opens before her without resistance, and sovereign light kindles beneath her feet as the Crownless King answers with a thunderous knock.
“"Elianor, as is my duty of ferryman of souls and witness of history. I shall rest here, but shall not intervene, to witness your oath."”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled -2)
Grim
Elianor, as is my duty as ferryman of souls and witness of history, I shall rest here, but shall not intervene, to witness your oath.
Grim settles fully upon the black stone seat, scythe within reach and robes still beneath the arch. They withdraw their presence from the boundary, leaving the oath to Elianor.
The cost is immediate: a second funerary sigil burns away beneath Grim, its pale mark collapsing into ash. The arch dims, but remains open and records the witness.
Princess Elianor
Then hear me, Varkesh. I am Elianor of the hidden line, and I claim the blood my mothers concealed. I will renew what the crown abandoned.
Sovereign light climbs from Elianor’s feet to her raised hand. The blue ward accepts her freely, while the Crownless King answers with three thunderous knocks beneath the palace.
Varkesh
Blood recognized. Witness present. Speak the promise, heir, and bind your living name to the prison beneath the throne.
Princess Elianor
By the blood I inherit and the kingdom I will defend, I renew the oath. Crownless King, remain beneath your stone until your rightful end.
Quest Complete
Keep the Crownless King imprisoned
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Great→Superb