The Widow of the Last Flame
"She wept, and a kingdom turned to smoke."
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🏚️ [Scene: The City of Charstone – Where Fire Sleeps]
Charstone.
A city swallowed by ash three decades ago.
Its towers melted.
Its libraries reduced to soot.
Its rivers turned to stone.
But Riven had always heard the legends.
That one woman still lived inside.
And that her grief was so powerful… even time dared not enter.
He walked alone.
Lyara remained in Cinderveil, deciphering the Vaultsong echoes.
Mirael warned him not to go.
> "That city doesn't just burn, Riven.
It remembers how it was burned."
But still, he entered.
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🕸 The Ash-Wrapped Street
Each step felt like walking through memory.
Whispers swirled in the smoke.
> "She was just a woman…"
"A queen without a crown…"
"She didn't scream.
She wept.
And the flames obeyed."
At the heart of the city stood a single tower, untouched by ruin.
Wrapped in ivy made of ember.
Guarded by silence.
And at its highest balcony sat a figure in black.
Still.
Breathing.
Watching.
Waiting.
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🕯 Introduction – Elenya Drayne, The Widow of the Last Flame
Her face was veiled in soot-grey silk.
Hair the color of moonfire.
And in her lap… a tiny, unburned music box.
Riven stepped forward.
> "I am Riven Valtoris," he said, bowing.
> "I know," she whispered.
"I saw you in my dreams… when the flames first spoke of a reborn prince."
She rose.
And with her rise, the city shifted.
Buildings uncrumbled.
Streets reformed.
But only briefly — as if the world were remembering itself… then forgetting again.
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🩸 Her Story Revealed
Elenya's husband had been a flamebearer — Theren Drayne, wielder of the last pure flame.
He died protecting a secret — a spell called The Ember Requiem, capable of turning grief into destruction.
When he was betrayed and slain by the same council he served…
Elenya sang the Requiem.
And Charstone burned.
Not from hatred.
Not from rage.
But from the depth of sorrow that had nowhere else to go.
> "They called me a monster," Elenya said.
"But they never heard the song."
She opened the music box.
And the world paused.
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🎵 The Ember Requiem – Memory Manifested
The melody was faint.
Delicate.
But as it played, the sky turned crimson, and the air grew hot.
Riven saw visions:
A boy watching his father burn on a pyre
A girl holding her sister's ashes
A thousand hands reaching for comfort, never found
Each note pulled grief from the world and turned it into a glowing flame that danced around them.
> "This music doesn't destroy," Elenya said.
"It translates.
It gives pain… form."
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🔥 The Choice
Elenya placed the music box in Riven's hands.
> "Only one other may carry the Requiem."
"Someone who's lost more than they admit."
"Someone who chooses memory… over vengeance."
Riven felt the weight of it — heavier than any blade.
> "You burned the world for love," he whispered.
"I nearly did it for revenge."
> "Then you understand," she replied.
"Only the broken can play the flame without being consumed."
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💠 Power Gained: Ember Requiem
> 🎼 A melody of flame born from grief
🔥 When activated, the Requiem pulls emotional sorrow from allies and enemies alike and manifests it as fire
🩸 The stronger the pain, the more intense the flames
⚠ Can only be used when Riven truly feels the sorrow himself
🎁 Grants one-time resurrection to an ally whose death broke Riven's heart
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🌅 Farewell
Elenya began to fade with the sunrise.
> "My song is sung," she whispered.
"You must finish it."
> "How?" Riven asked, clenching the box.
> "Write the last verse when the world no longer fears to weep."
And then she was gone.
Not dead.
Just… remembered.
The city of Charstone finally crumbled.
But this time — it didn't scream.
It sighed.
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