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= The Blackmane Spire Fragments =
''Recovered from the Throne Chamber of Blackmane Spire''<blockquote>Transcribed from deteriorated parchment discovered among the collapsed stones of the Spire’s upper hall. The script appears to have been written in blood. Portions are missing or obscured. Orthography suggests the hand of someone literate but writing under strain.</blockquote>
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== Fragment I — Entry ==
She returned at dusk.

The outer wards stirred before she reached the gate. Whatever remained of their enchantment responded to her presence, though whether in recognition or resistance cannot be determined.

The dead within the lower halls grew restless. Several skeletons were found later collapsed near the stair as if compelled upward and then abandoned mid-motion.

The throne chamber doors were already open when she arrived.
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== Fragment II — The Confrontation ==
The lich rose from his seat before she crossed the threshold.

He addressed her by name, though the portion bearing the name has been scraped away or ruined beyond recovery. The remaining text suggests familiarity, not hostility.

He spoke of time wasted, of betrayal, of eternity promised and denied. His tone, if the script may be trusted, shifted from command to accusation and finally to something resembling supplication.

The woman did not respond in kind. The fragments contain no recorded speech from her.

The scribe notes only that she stood without visible fear.
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== Fragment III — The Breaking of the Throne ==
What followed is described imperfectly. The ink grows thicker here, the script less steady.

There are references to light within shadow and to heat that did not scorch the stone. The throne itself is described as splitting along its spine of iron and bone. A section of the ceiling collapsed during the exchange, though whether from magical force or structural weakness cannot be determined.

The lich attempted retreat toward the altar.

The author records that he “moved as a man who remembers pain,” a curious phrasing given his state.
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== Fragment IV — The Phylactery ==
The vessel was taken from its resting place.

The text suggests hesitation — though whether by the lich or the woman is unclear. A smear across the page obscures several words, but the final account is unambiguous: the phylactery was destroyed.

The description of its shattering is clinical rather than poetic. It notes the sound as “sharp, like glass against stone,” followed by an abrupt stillness in the chamber.

The lich fell.

The scribe records that moisture gathered along the hollow of his cheek before his body collapsed entirely. Whether this is literal or metaphorical is debated among archivists.
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== Fragment V — Aftermath ==
The throne room sustained significant damage. The altar remained intact.

Two rings were placed upon the stone surface. The fragments do not state who placed them there. Their positioning is described as deliberate.

The woman departed. No direction of travel is recorded.

The final line of the manuscript trails unevenly:

“Thus ended the Hollow King.”
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== Archival Notes ==
The identity of the “silver-haired woman” described in the fragments is widely assumed to be Virilian Steadmane, though the text never names her directly. The reference to the lich’s prior familiarity and the setting of Blackmane Spire make alternative interpretations unlikely.

The rings recovered from the chamber — one of black iron, one of silver — are preserved separately from the fragments. Their metallurgical composition has been verified as consistent with materials available during the late pre-TRA centuries.

No independent witness account of the confrontation has ever surfaced.

The Spire has remained structurally unstable since the recorded event.

== See Also ==
* [[Virilian Steadmane]]
* [[Blackmane Spire]]
* [[Ori the Hollow King]]

[[Category:Literature]]