A presence — not dead, not alive — embedded in the deep ice of the Frostreach Tundra. It predates the kingdom, and it has been stirring since the sun died. Those who hear it say it whispers in their own voice.
The Hollow Crown
Not a crown you can wear. A presence — a sentience — embedded in the deep ice of the Frostreach Tundra. The Ashbound Covenant calls it the Sleeper in the Ice. The Grimvern miners call it the Deep Hum. No one calls it by its true name because no one knows it.
What Is Known
- It existed before the Great Dimming — Ashbound grave-speakers have found barrow-carvings in the Palewood depicting a vast shape beneath the ice, predating the Kingdom of Vorgath itself.
- It stirred when the sun died. Whether the Dimming woke it or it caused the Dimming is the most dangerous question in Vorgath.
- The restless dead near the Tundra's edge behave with unnatural coordination — marching in formations, retreating from battles they could win, avoiding certain areas. Something is directing them.
- Those who walk too far onto the Tundra's interior hear whispers — not the wind, which is silent there. The whispers speak in Old Vorgathi, in languages older than the kingdom, and sometimes in the listener's own voice.
The Ashbound Connection
Mother Caelenn of the Grey Hand claims to have communed with the Hollow Crown through frozen dead it has "marked." She teaches that it is not malevolent — it is curious. This is widely considered the most dangerous belief in Vorgath.