The corpse in the octagonal room beneath the Sanctum of Sethariel — cross-legged, bearded, in aging clerical vestments, and the only surviving witness to whatever happened here a century ago.
What We Know (all S5)
- Found 100 feet down a rough, freezing tunnel older than the temple above it. The cold is far beyond natural; Haroun detected faint background magic and strong evil in the passage.
- Sits at the centre of a 50-foot octagonal chamber of smooth, dark-purple-almost-black stone, surrounded by shards of a translucent purple gem.
- Spoke as the party entered, in Old Imperial:
“The red star rose, they broke the door, they broke my brothers, they broke the chains, they broke the gem, and then I touched the divinity and it broke me.”
- Then attacked. A running fight up the stairs: a circle of magical darkness and constitution drain; Gnaeus evacuated the party by teleport one at a time.
- Did not pursue past the temple entrance — he is bound to the site, or unwilling to leave it.
- Cursed Titus on the way out. See The Curse on Titus.
Reading the Statement
Line by line, against the physical evidence and Estelle’s gloss (S5):
| He said | Best reading |
|---|---|
| ”The red star rose” | The Red Star marks when interactions with a sanctum are possible (Estelle) |
| “they broke the door” | The battered outer doors — siege damage, ~100 years ago |
| ”they broke my brothers” | The ~two dozen corpses, cremated much later by someone else |
| ”they broke the chains” | The bindings of Sethariel, Voice of the Dawn (Estelle) |
| “they broke the gem” | The purple shards — a gateway from the physical to the spiritual (Estelle) |
| “I touched the divinity and it broke me” | Contact with a fallen servant of the Maker leaves a mark on the soul (Estelle) |
So: he was here when the monastery died. He is describing the attack that killed it, and something he did afterward.
Speculation
“They” broke in — an outside force, with a siege weapon and something heavy enough to crush flagstones as it walked. The abbot did not fight it; he touched what was released. If the Dawn Court monks were the sanctum’s jailers, this is the jailer’s confession that the prisoner’s door was opened on his watch — and that he looked inside.
Speculation
He is the closest thing to a primary source the party will ever get on what a sanctum does to a person, and he is still sitting there. A stronger party, a priest, or a way to make him talk instead of attack is worth real planning. So is the question of whether the shards can be recovered.
Relationships
- Presumably the last abbot of the Monastery of the Dawn (~1639).
Appearances
- Session 5 — spoke, attacked, cursed Titus.