The King Who Forgot
The King Who Forgot
Read aloud
A pale man with a crown-shaped scar asks you to enter the abandoned Ashen Archive and retrieve a rune stone from his old study. He says he has only just returned from death and cannot remember why the stone matters. From the road, the archive's highest window has begun to glow.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Enter the Ashen Archive.
- 2Find Vael's former study room.
- 3Retrieve the rune stone.
- 4Uncover one clue about Vael's former reign.Optional
The clock
The archive's blue ward-light grows brighter with each hour. After roughly six hours, it becomes visible from the nearest settlement and begins attracting scavengers. This is narrative pressure, not a fixed combat timer; the GM can slow or advance it to suit the table.
Scenes
- 0:00A Stranger's Request
- 0:25The Lintel That Knows
- 1:00The Catalog of Ash
- 1:40The Study's Last Command
- 2:35What the Stone Remembers
Cast
- Vael TernQuestgiver
- Sister HalwenAlly
- The Gilt WardenAntagonist
- Mira VennWitness
The hook
Set the scene
At dusk, Vael waits beside a roadside shrine, looking at his reflection in a basin as if it might supply a name. Sister Halwen stands nearby with a sealed travel case. As the party arrives, the distant archive window flashes blue, and Vael flinches at a sound no one else hears: a command spoken in his own voice.
How Vael Tern asks
Vael approaches the party through Sister Halwen, who vouches for his sincerity but urges them to treat the archive as hazardous.
He offers a modest payment and promises to answer questions about the stone as best he can.
Rumours
Scenes
about 3 hours0:00
25 min
socialThe table is here
1. A Stranger's Request
A roadside shrine at dusk, with the abandoned archive visible on the ridge.
Vael gives the request, Sister Halwen explains the practical danger, and the blue light from the archive establishes urgency. A successful conversation can reveal what each believes about the stone without revealing the hidden truth.
NextVael supplies a rough map. The party follows it to the archive's overgrown outer wall.
0:25
35 min
exploration
2. The Lintel That Knows
The archive's collapsed forecourt and sealed entrance.
The party chooses how to enter and learns that the archive wards respond to Vael's voice and presence. A name riddle, a jammed side gate, or a hazardous breach can each provide a route inside.
NextA brief passage of carved family names leads into the archive's reading hall.
1:00
40 min
skill
3. The Catalog of Ash
A dust-choked catalog hall with fallen ladders, warped shelves, and a narrow stair behind a false wall.
Search the ruined reading hall for the path to the study. The party can inspect shelves, compare room labels with Mira's notes, and uncover the optional journal leaf. Use one complication from the d6 table if the investigation needs pressure.
NextThe concealed stair descends to the study corridor, where a golden figure waits beside a sealed door.
1:40
55 min
combat
4. The Study's Last Command
The old study, crowded with toppled bookcases and marked by glowing command seals.
The Gilt Warden challenges Vael and the party. The group can fight, disable the command seals, or persuade it that Vael's claim to the stone is not a claim to rule. If the party found the journal leaf, it can provide evidence about Vael's former conduct.
The Study's Last CommandNextWhen the Warden is overcome or satisfied, the central desk unlocks and reveals the rune stone.
2:35
30 min
social
5. What the Stone Remembers
The study doorway, with cold blue light fading across the archive.
The stone awakens a brief memory in Vael. The party decides who carries it, what to tell Vael, and whether to reveal the journal leaf to Mira or Sister Halwen.
NextThe party returns to the shrine, where their choice sets the immediate course of Vael's recovery and the next threat.
Behind it
What people believe
A newly resurrected stranger named Vael Tern has no clear memories of his life before death, but he remembers a rune stone in his abandoned study.
The stone may explain his return and could be dangerous if left in the Ashen Archive. He asks a group of adventurers to retrieve it before the archive's failing wards attract others.
Background
The Ashen Archive was once the private study of King Vael Tern, a ruler whose court feared his interest in deathless magic.
The keep was abandoned after a fire and a series of sealed-door incidents. Its surviving wards respond to Vael's bloodline and voice, but nobody in the nearby village knows why.
The stakes
If the party fails, the rune stone remains in the archive while its wards weaken, risking a breach that could release dangerous magic or draw treasure-seekers to the village.
If they recover it without considering its influence, Vael may regain memories of power before he has decided what kind of person to become.
Encounters
1The Study's Last Command
Combat or social
A cramped study with toppled bookcases, a central writing desk, narrow aisles, and three glowing command seals inlaid in the floor. Shelves provide cover but can be climbed or tipped with effort.
Foes
The Gilt Warden, an animated guardian (use a suitable low-threat construct or armored guardian stat block, adjusted for the party)
Two ashbound attendants (custom minor undead, optional)
ComplicationThe Warden's command seals activate in sequence. Each round or major exchange, one section of the floor becomes difficult to cross as a line of spectral script flares. A character can interrupt a seal by speaking a truthful statement about Vael or physically covering its carved inscription.
ScalingFor a party of level 1-2, use only the Warden, reduce its durability, and let it be persuaded or disabled after one successful clue-based action. For level 3-5, include the two attendants or give the Warden one additional defensive ability. Keep damage modest and telegraph dangerous actions.
Cast
4Vael Tern
QuestgiverQuestgiver, resurrected former lich king
WantsRetrieve the rune stone and discover the truth about his former identity without letting old instincts dictate who he becomes.
“The stone is the only thing I remember clearly. I need to know why.”
Sister Halwen
Ally, keeper of the roadside shrine
WantsKeep the Ashen Archive's dangerous relics contained and prevent the village from learning how close the threat lies.
“Bring back the stone, certainly. But do not mistake its value for proof that it is safe.”
The Gilt Warden
Antagonist, animated guardian of the study
WantsProtect the archive's remaining secrets and test whether Vael has changed since his return.
“That room remembers the king better than he remembers himself.”
Mira Venn
Witness, elderly village archivist
WantsEnsure Vael does not reclaim his old throne, while hoping he can still make amends for the past.
“He used to say a name was a chain. I never knew if he meant it as a warning.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
The rune stone, a story-critical relic with no automatic mechanical benefit. Its powers, if any, are custom and should be established by the GM.
A brass archive key that opens one locked cabinet in the keep.
On a win
The party retrieves the rune stone and returns with it intact.
They may give it to Vael, entrust it to Sister Halwen, or keep it under their own guard. Vael's response depends on what he has learned: he can accept responsibility for the past, reject the identity others offer him, or begin cautiously investigating the memories the stone contains.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party cannot open the study door or is driven away before reaching the rune stone.
- The archive remains sealed, but its wards begin to fail. Sister Halwen asks the party to return with a safer plan, and nearby villagers must evacuate.
- The party takes the stone without neutralizing the binding marks.
- The rune stone is recovered, but its ward-mark binds to Vael. He experiences fragments of his former will, and the party must decide whether to hide, study, or destroy the stone.
- The party defeats or evades the guardian but leaves its memory core intact.
- The Gilt Warden escapes with a copied impression of the rune stone's inscription, giving an unknown buyer a lead to the archive's other secrets.
Complications (d6)
- 1A slate panel drops across the nearest doorway, dividing the party until someone finds and works its concealed release.
- 2A ward stamps one character's shadow with a glowing sigil, making nearby guardians focus on that character until the mark is removed or the scene ends.
- 3A burst of ash obscures the room and reveals a second, false doorway that leads to a dead-end cabinet.
- 4A shelf collapses, blocking the most direct route and scattering brittle notes that can be recovered with careful work.
- 5The rune stone gives a single pulse, and every candle in the archive lights with cold blue flame, alerting the Gilt Warden.
- 6A memory-echo repeats one character's words in Vael's voice, causing the Warden to mistake that character for the king's accomplice.
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