Well now there is a name I havent heard in an age or three. You know I don't know what rightly happened to that. Probably destroyedd at the end of the Necromancer Wars.— Jasper Cameron, Leader of the Bronze Ravens.
The Throne of Broken Kings was perhaps one of the most terrifying monuments of the Necromancer Wars. Used as both an intimidation factor and a magical channel, as well as a siege breaking weapon.
Its looks were really quite gruesome. Made of the animated and magically preserved bodies of conquered rulers. It grew in size as the necromancer who raised the army conquered more and more land. It would recite, in order, and from the mouth of the ruler, who they were and how and when they died, amplified to be herd across the battlefield or in the city it was setting siege to, hence the "monument" in the name. It also possessed supernatural strength, tearing through walls stone by stone, which it would often throw into the city causing further destruction.
Literally a walking throne made up of dead bodies, by the time the army that bore the monuments name was defeated, the Throne was made up of almost 300 mayors, barons, Dukes, Kings, and at least 3 Archbishops. How it worked and the magic that kept it animated were lost with the necromancer who created it, but none were able to break the enchantments on it after the war ended. As such, without commands it was left where it stood after the last battle.
However, after less than a year, it disappeared. No one knows how or why, but every so often rumors pop up... rumors of a monstrosity made of the bodies of rulers long past. There are those who believe the throne hunts rulers still, and more than one disappearance has been credited to the Throne. However, there have been no confirmed sightings of the Throne. Its always "a hunter I know saw it shambling in the distance into the woods," or "Its shadow disappeared over the wall on the night that the baron vanished."
Of course, there was a rather large hole in the wall when King Killua was killed or abducted from his bedchamber... and and entire hunting party disappeared during the Harvest festival celebration of 4141 in Salmon Ridge, including both the Crown Prince and his father, King Gregory the Third, and Queen Arriane. But these things happen, the world is a strange and dangerous place.
"a walking throne made up of dead bodies" — what more could you want? This concept is so damn good. I shudder to think of where it ended up.
Thank you for the read, I'm glad that you liked the concept. This is one of the things that has made me realize how much my love of Munchkin has influenced my DMing and world building, as I very often create and utilize Wandering Monsters. Also (advantage of leaving way more tabs open than I usually do because sleep called rather emphatically yesterday) HUGE thank you for including me in your reading challenge article. It is wonderful to see things resonating with people outside the relatively small sample population of my players.
You're so very welcome. And hooray for Munchkin inspiration. My brother bought me a copy of my own for Christmas recently, years after I first played it somewhere, and my family's been having so much fun with it.