A second voice rises through the throne hall’s foundations, bypassing the sealed stair. The throne lights shudder, and the translucent elderly king’s translucent form gathers among them, his elderly face slipping again and again toward the likeness beneath the throne’s likeness, a seemingly adult human man of tall, narrow build, his faceless black silhouette draped in ragged royal robes and crowned by a pale crack of light.
The Likeness Beneath the Throne
The dead remember the crown. They remember the hand that wore it. Open the way, and let the rightful name be spoken.
Arveth
No. That voice is wearing my grief as a mask. The throne has not chosen a king.
Below, blue fire flares along the revenant’s rusted sword. Beyond the black lintel, the buried dead turn toward the sound together, their bones stirring beneath sealed earth.
The Summoned Revenant
Priestess, they hear him. The buried dead are turning toward this chamber, as though they recognize a claimant.
The protective bond pulls steadily at LeShandra’s branded palm as the summoned revenant holds the threshold below. Above, the wandering ranger remains beside the open seam, watching the throne lights gather into a second shadow.
The Wandering Ranger
Do not answer the stone until you know which king is asking.
✓ Quest Accepted
Control the dead
“Use necromancy to control the dead”
SUCCESS (Fair Magic, rolled +2)
LeShandra threads necromantic intent through the throne’s foundations, seizing the stirring dead before their recognition can become allegiance. Green fire from her markings sinks into the buried earth.
The Buried Dead
We hear the living hand. We remember the stolen crown. We do not serve the face beneath it.
The bones below halt in unison. Their awakening turns away from the likeness beneath the throne’s voice and bends toward LeShandra’s command, settling into a silent formation around the black lintel.
The Summoned Revenant
They obey you, priestess. The claimant’s call has been severed from their dead ears.
Arveth
Then command them to remember the murder, not merely the crown. Memory is the blade Veyr cannot wear.
Below, the buried dead raise their skulls toward the carved wall. Their shared will now answers LeShandra, holding the threshold and awaiting the command that will uncover Veyr’s crime.
The Wandering Ranger
You have taken the chamber’s dead from the claimant. Now learn whether they remember a murderer, or only the shape of one.
Quest Complete
Control the dead
Skill Upgrade: Magic Fair→Good