[ He gives her the rundown - skims past the more painful parts, the parts he doesn't like to remember, but she gets to hear all about Novron, how Novron was an elf, how the Patriarch - Mawyndulë - was an elf, and all the events leading up to the final battle. ]

Hadrian was called to fight as Gaunt's champion. [ Royce says, as the tale winds down. ] And he would've won, but he wasn't declared champion by the actual Heir of Novron, so he couldn't kill Mawyndulë's champion - the final blow bounced off of the champion's chest, protected by the ritual in place. I tried to kill Mawyndulë before the champion could kill Hadrian, but I couldn't hurt him, and Mawyndulë tried to set me on fire. But he couldn't.

[ He pushes his hair back out of his face. Dryly: ] You'll never believe who the Heir actually was.