Grave Lantern — Shardbound

The Story of Grave Lantern

Grave Lantern is carried by no one.

The iron funeral lamp walks on three thin legs through Nocturne’s cemetery roads, its blue flame containing the last coherent remnant of a watchman named Elian Marr.

Marr died protecting mourners during a revenant outbreak. His spirit refused resurrection but agreed to remain inside the lantern until the cemetery gates could be made safe again.

They were made safe forty years ago.

The Lantern did not leave.

When defeated, its flame dims and the victor often carries a residue of that cold light into the next duel. The sensation is not a curse so much as borrowed grief: a small loss of Spirit left by beating something whose entire existence is unfinished duty.

The Scout classification comes from the Lantern’s habit of walking ahead of funeral processions, illuminating paths where ghosts are likely to gather.

The Convergence changed the flame. It now flickers near places where someone died on another Shard, even when nobody present knows the event occurred.

Nocturne priests have begun following the Lantern instead of the other way around.