In the time when the cliffs of Solcarin were young, and the rivers carved the valleys of shadow, there dwelled the Veiled Custodians, keepers of secrets older than any throne. Cloaked in frost-woven robes, they moved unseen among the stones, tending the armor of the encased knight, whispering to the runes as one might lull a child to sleep.
It is written: “The Custodians bend neither to king nor to war; their will is bound to the old blood alone. They remember the fallen, and in remembrance, they prepare the path of awakening.”
These guardians, it is said, were themselves of the old blood, yet severed from the mortal lineages. Their eyes glimpsed the currents of fate, seeing both the rise of Frostholt and the shadows that would consume it. Among the inscriptions, one passage is heavily damaged: [fragment missing — likely a caution against unworthy hands].
The Custodians performed the Binding of Frostholt, a ritual of both preservation and restraint. Here, the chronicles state:
“The stones drank the oath, the armor the essence, and the blood of those yet to come flowed like rivers beneath the frost. None shall awaken until the hour decreed by the old blood itself.”
Translator note: alternate readings of “blood of those yet to come” exist as “lineage of the heirs,” which aligns with genealogical references in later texts.
The Binding created a nexus of power, linking the armor, the ruins, and the unseen currents of Solcarin’s magic. It was said that even whispers of Frostholt carried the resonance of the armor’s vigil. Travelers spoke of seeing shadows that moved against wind and hearing the faint pulse of steel in the night.
Among the most cryptic passages is the reference to a younger witness, whose presence would guide the fate of the encased knight. The text is ambiguous, yet some scholars have inferred that this figure, unnamed, would play a role both protective and perilous.
The Custodians foresaw the return of the knight as a harbinger of judgment:
- Frost shall gather upon lands long thought safe, a silent herald of reckoning.
- Bloodlines intertwined with the old blood shall awaken memories not their own.
- The unseen hand shall guide the armor to the edge of kingdoms, where heirs and usurpers alike shall tremble.
Translator note: the term “heirs” is bracketed in the manuscript, possibly [illegible rune] or [fragment missing], implying multiple descendants whose names were lost to time.
The Veiled Custodians vanished after the Binding, leaving only the ruins and the armor to carry the vigil. Scholars whispered that their fate was woven into the stones themselves, and that their knowledge survives only in echoes, felt by those who listen closely.
Finally, the texts conclude with a warning: “He who awakens shall not walk as before. The currents of the old blood alter flesh and will. And yet, the legacy of Frostholt shall endure through blood, shadow, and frost.”
[fragment missing — final line of tablet lost, possibly invoking protection over the ruins and knight]