The bells of the Universität der Ewigen Flamme tolled once, twice, thrice.
Each reverberation carried across the flame-lit spires, across the Rune Gardens and the Dragonbone Bridges. It was the ancient summons, unspoken yet absolute:
The Cradle of Thrones had awakened.
Summoning of the Cradle
At the central plaza—the Platz der Ewigen Feuersäule—the world itself began to unravel.
The marble underfoot cracked as titanic glyphs, unseen for centuries, erupted into being: interlocking circles, primarch sigils, forgotten languages of oath and flame. In the center, a singular object emerged: a blackened lotus of stone, from which a column of blue-white fire leapt into the heavens.
One by one, Throne Keys materialized from thin air, floating over the plaza like scattered stars.
The candidates arrived.
Maximilian, clad in his obsidian mantle embroidered with stardust runes.
Alwin Stahlgrau, wrapped in layered silverplate, his storm-hammer slung casually over his back.
Lirael von Eismond, pale and regal, her frostbound staff whispering in tongues of winter.
And dozens more—scions of Houses, prodigies of the Free Guilds, favored of hidden Orders.
The stakes were simple:
Seize a Throne Key.Conquer the Trial Realms.Survive.
Political Intrigue: Silent Declarations
From the terraces above, the Lords and Regents watched.
Each participant represented more than themselves—they were avatars of political destiny.
Haus Pyrolith's delegation bore crimson banners stitched with burning phoenixes.Haus Eismond's retainers stood veiled in blue mist.Haus Stahlgrau's emissaries bristled with war-forged insignias.And in the deepest shadows, agents of the Vulcanos Guild murmured promises of ascendancy.
Unknown to many, secret Oaths had already been sworn.
Assassins prepared. Alliances shifted mid-breath. Betrayals were penned in invisible ink.
Lore Drop: The Cradlefire Epochs
When the Old Throne shattered during the Mana Sundering, the surviving Flameborn Houses crafted the Cradle of Thrones—a sacred rite to determine rightful rule without destroying the last bastions of civilization.
Epoch of Embers (First Cradle): Seven Thrones, seven Houses.
Epoch of Wyrms (Second Cradle): Five Thrones, five Dragonblood Lines.
Epoch of Chains (Third Cradle): Three Thrones—one seat claimed by a godbound exile.
Current Epoch: Unknown configuration—fluctuates based on blood sacrifice, mana tides, and fate alignments.
Every Cradle rewritten history.
This one would be no different.
The Trial Begins
The blue-white fire thickened, and the world blurred.
Each candidate was pulled into microcosmic realms—fractured echoes of ancient dominions. Here, strength alone would not suffice. Here, will and soul would be weighed.
Maximilian materialized in a twilight desert, where the sands glowed with ghostly stardust. Above him hung a shattered moon, its fragments bleeding trails of silver flame.
[System Message: You have entered the Trial Domain: "Sternenasche" (Stardust Ash). Primary Objective: Claim the Starfire Throne Key. Secondary Objective: Survive.]
He grinned.
So be it.
Item Profile: Throne Key of Sternenasche
Name: Starfire Crown Key
Type: Ascendant Artifact – One-Time Use
Function: Allows access to the Starfire Throne during the Cradle of Thrones. Once bonded, grants user temporary Dominion over microcosmic law.
Risks: Bonding improperly can cause fatal astral rejection.
Current Holder: None.
The Challenges of Sternenasche
Maximilian advanced, only to be confronted by...
The Ash Wyrm Unborn.
A creature wrought of voided stardust and soul embers, its existence anchored to ancient pacts broken millennia ago.
It exhaled a scream that ruptured the air.
Maximilian answered not with words—but with power.
[Skill: Chrono-Surge][Skill: Stellarbind – Lesser Constellation]
Time stuttered. His strikes became inevitabilities rather than actions.
Each slash of Zeitbrecher unraveled the wyrm's bindings, severing echoes from the creature's core until it imploded in a cyclone of voidfire.
Character Development: Maximilian's Internal Shift
As the wyrm collapsed into cinders, Maximilian stood still, breathing slowly.
He realized something profound.
Power alone would not crown him.
He needed understanding. Control. True dominion over himself and the forces he wielded.
The Star Soul Path was not merely about strength—it was about transcending the very limitations of existence.
A silent vow burned into his spirit:
"I will not be a piece upon the board. I will be the force that rewrites the game."
Outside the Realms: Stirring Conspiracies
Meanwhile, in the real world, agents of unknown allegiance began interfering.
An assassin from the Obsidian Concord was sent to sabotage Maximilian's return.
Rumors whispered that a Regent planned to awaken a sealed Archfiend beneath the University, unleashing chaos during the Cradle's apex.
And a hidden faction known only as Die Letzten Sterne—the Last Stars—moved to protect Maximilian... for reasons even he could not fathom yet.
Victory... and the Key
At the heart of the desert, embedded in the carcass of a dead star, Maximilian found the Starfire Crown Key.
It pulsed in resonance with his blood.
As he reached out, memories not his own flooded into him—wars fought between gods and mortals, the forging of world-chains, the sundering of flame-realms.
His hand closed around the Key.
The trial domain shattered.
Return to the Cradle
Maximilian reappeared in the central plaza.
In his hand, the Starfire Crown Key blazed.
He was not alone.
Others had returned too—Alwin, bearing the Stormseat Key, his armor cracked but his eyes alight with fury.Lirael, crowned with a circlet of frost, her skin bleeding spectral tears.
And so the Final Phase of the Cradle of Thrones began.
Only a handful would ascend.
And as the ground trembled beneath them, as ancient thrones rose from magma vents around the plaza, it became clear:
This was not merely a competition.
This was war.
End of Chapter 27: Wiegenfeuer der Throne – Cradlefire of Thrones