Key of Severance
Function: Reveals the moment a connection becomes pretense.
Use: Appears when old bonds no longer shape the new order—when influence gives way to exclusion.
Not every crown burns in fire. Some simply fade when no one bows.
There once was a fire-king who ruled the embers of an old alliance.
He wore a crown of ash and barked warnings to distant lands,
Proclaiming loyalty long after the bonfires had burned cold.
Beyond his borders, a banquet was being set in secret—
One of old enemies breaking bread,
Of lions and serpents exchanging gifts beneath silver skies.
The fire-king saw the feast from afar and roared,
“None shall dine without me!”
But his voice echoed only among ruins.
For those at the table had not forgotten him—
They had simply stopped fearing his flame.
They spoke now in trade, in jets and gestures,
Forging peace not from loyalty, but leverage.
Still he clung to his crown,
Not knowing it had already turned to cinders.
Function: Reveals the moment a connection becomes pretense.
Use: Appears when old bonds no longer shape the new order—when influence gives way to exclusion.
Not every crown burns in fire. Some simply fade when no one bows.