Prologue: The Legend of the Hollow Prince
Excerpt fromThe Mourning of Aetharys: A Catalogue of Lost Realms and Cursed Bloodlines
Volume II, translated from the original High Script by Archivist Solenne of the Dawnspire Library
The Legend of the Hollow Prince
They say that long ago, a dragon guarded the kingdom of Aetharys, which was once the beating heart of Velaria.
It was not the kind of beast found in stories told to frighten children, but a sacred thing—ancient and noble, with scales the color of the bloody sky and eyes like blazing coins. It did not scorch villages or eat bad children. Instead, it guarded the bloodline of kings, the house of Aetharys, which was born of its blood and granted gifts by the Sun God.
The guardian dragon was bound by oath and magic to the royal house for as long as the old gods watched over the realm.
But kingdoms are not built on honor alone. And oaths, once twisted, become chains.
There came a time when the land grew sick. The moon turned her face, the dragon grew tired of the greed of humans, and famine crept in like rot beneath the skin. Desperate whispers stirred in the high halls—whispers of sacrifice, binding, and old power repurposed for survival—a ritual to ensnare a god.
No one speaks of the prince who stood at the center of it, only that he was beloved. Only that he vanished.
The guardian dragon slept, seemingly unconcerned with the fall of the Sun’s bloodline.
The castle fell into ruin. The throne sat empty. And the mountain pass where Aetharys once rose became a place of dread, the land tainted by forbidden magic.
Now, once every cycle of years, when the moon burns low and the night grows long, a sacrifice is sent into the mist. A descendant of the moon goddess herself. They say it is to keep the god within the vessel asleep, though none remember its name.
But those who still dream of the lost kingdom whisper one name beneath their breath.
The Hollow Knight. The lone sentinel guarding the ruins of Aetharys.
And the sorrowful truth that he was not always hollow.
