Coronation Pit

You better pray to Qhiarin that you're carrying twins. There's a coronation possibly soon, the Queen is rumoured to have the Soul's Wasting. No one will know when, but if it happens, you'd better hope that this is a set of twins.

— A midwife checking in on a pregnant noblewoman who is carrying twins.

Whenever there is to be a new ruler crowned, the palace guards comb the census records for the record of a noble family with twins since the last coronation. They are then sent to the household of the Noble that has the twins. They take whichever twin they see first. The Royal family is cursed to never have twins, so they must choose a noble family to become royalty. The chosen twin is then crowned the Queen or King. At the site of the coronation, the twin is clothed in the finest silk and jewelry the kingdom has to offer. Before they know it, they're ferried through the crowd, and presented at the monument facing towards the seemingly endless hole in the ground. When they turn, fear in their face, realizing that this was not what was promised to them, they're struck with an arrow and fall into the pit. The last thing they see is their face, or rather, their twin's face holding the crossbow. No one except the fallen twin sees that the crown on their twin's head is cutting into their skin, their eyes are bloodshot and dark, and they look about as half dead as the one falling. The Fallen Sibling does not scream while falling after seeing this. They know in their heart that their death is quick but their twin's death is much more painful and drawn out. Once the Fallen Sibling reaches the bottom, the crowd watching disperses, having satisfied Ath'tas, the God of these lands. The surviving twin usually lives long enough to have children, to make sure there is only one.

It was announced to the kingdom earlier today that the Queen gave birth to a pair of healthy twins. There was celebration in the streets. The priests of Ath'tas noticed something odd at the monument. A monolith has appeared and appears to be made out of a crystal called Maroon Zeoxandrite. No one is sure what this means, but I think it means we're in trouble. Could the King not have been of noble birth? What if this is the start of some terrible event?

Y'know, there was a story from my homeland where there were twins, and one of the brothers killed his sibling out of jealousy. The sibling that was killed then turned into a demon from the amount of hatred he held in his soul. He possessed his brother until the end of his days. Then, hungry for royal blood, the demon then would wage destruction on the kingdom unless he was fed royal blood. When the population found out you could make royal blood by coronating a new King or Queen, the townsfolk would coronate one twin, and trick the other into being a sacrifice. They tell both of the twins separately, that they're going to be the new ruler. Then they end up killing one of them usually the one that refuses to kill their sibling for the crown. But you see, it's the crown. The crown is made from Maroon Zeoxandrite and it's apparently possessed by the spirit of the dead brother. The surviving sibling is then possessed for the rest of their life while having their soul slowly stolen them for making a deal with a demon.. and you know, it sounds an awful lot like this place. Odd.