The Wallmaker's Funeral

The Wallmaker's Funeral

*Based off the Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix*

I'll sing you a song of long ago-
Seven shine the shiners, oh!
What did the Seven do way back when?
Why, the wove the Charter then!
Five for the warp, from beginning to end.
Two for the woof, to make and mend.
That's the Seven, but what of the Nine-
What of the two who chose not to shine?
The Eighth did hide, hide all away,
But the Seven caught him and made him pay.
The Ninth was strong and fought with might,
But lone Orannis was put out of light,
Broken in two and buried under hill,
Forever to lie there, wishing us ill.

Five Great Charters knit the land
together linked, hand in hand.
One in the people who wear the crown.
Two in the folk who keep the dead down.
Three and Five became stone and mortar.
Four sees all in frozen water.

All is new. The Charter in the Old Kingdom, the wall between that country and Ancelstierre, and the bloodlines of the Clayr, Abhorsen, and Royal family.

However, even now free magic still lives, and necromancers are at their height for the Abhorsen has only now gained his power. Many are banding together.

Many Charter Stones have been made, but that doesn't make it alright. With the stones have come Charter Mages, and it has been discovered by necromancers that, not only does spilling the blood of a mage make the stone ineffective, but it also makes it easier to walk into Death.

Not wanting to be sent back into Death, the Dead are banding together with necromancers who want to stay in practice to kill the new Mages and open the gates to Death. Also, a dangerous idea has come to them. If Charter Mages destroy the Charter Stones, does that mean that Clayr, Abhorsen, or Royal blood can destroy the Greater Charters? Unfortunately, this idea is correct. Thus, they are locked in a dangerous dance. They have to overtake the Dead and necromancers, but they can't get caught and brought to the stones.

Does the walker choose the path, or the path choose the walker?