labhra-setablaze:

The Crypt of Caspar Pentaghast

A page taken from the journal of Cassandra Pentaghast, written when she was a young child:

Uncle insisted I accompany him to the Grand Necropolis today. I heard him saying, “I want my niece dressed in something befitting her station for once,” to the maids. They descended like wolves, lacing this and buttoning that. He was surprised when I asked what was happening, as if he mentions anything to me. He neglected to tell me today we would see Caspar Pentaghast.

Uncle would not stop talking all the way to the Necropolis about the “noble legacy” of King Caspar the Magnificent. The stories in the family books say he was a most ferocious knight who threw the former king out of Nevarra. I asked if that made him a traitor, and Uncle grew cross and told me King Caspar was a great hero, saying, “If the king that Caspar deposed had had his way, we would be Orlesian.” I do not care, but did not say so. I asked instead if King Caspar hunted dragons.

Uncle says King Caspar killed many dragons, because in the Glory Age there were so many in Nevarra, they ate whole villages and the roads were not safe. King Caspar organised great hunts with hundreds of knights from other noble families to drive the dragons back. Uncle says the armor in the grand foyer in our house is made from the bones and scales of a high dragon Caspar killed by himself, alone. It was so large I did not think anyone could actually fit inside it. I asked what Caspar used to kill the dragon. Uncle actually smiled, and said that I would see.

We arrived in the Grand Necropolis and went into a part of the family crypts I had never been in before. Uncle walked past all the staring dead until we came to a set of doors as tall as the ceiling. They swung open, and a dozen Mortalitasi were waiting inside the largest place I have ever seen. At the top of a set of stairs was a throne, and on the throne was a body wearing a gold crown.

The Mortalitasi went through their chants. It did not stir. I bowed and did not look where its eyes should be. Everything on the throne was gold or marble and very fine, except the sword on King Caspar’s lap, dull silver, but very sharp. I thought what a waste that a good weapon should lie buried, and stepped forward to look at it, and then I heard a soft noise and saw the corpse looking at me.

On the way home, Uncle said that it was a singular honor and praised me for remaining calm when older children sometimes flee the dead. I was not afraid of what I saw. I do not understand why it matters if a spirit finds me interesting or not. I only think for a moment, when it was looking at me, King Caspar’s face looked very sad.

– World of Thedas Volume 2, page 42

*the above image is the creation of anndr on Deviant Art. For more of their awesome work click here x*