human
Narrator:  The Volakian emperor, Dreizen Volakia, was dead. That fact, and the beginning of the Rite of Imperial Selection, filtered into the empire surprisingly quietly. It was hard to argue that in his twilight years, Dreizen had been a very fitting ruler for the Volakian Empire, but at least, his final moments—consumed by a howling flame in front of all his children—had been suitably proud. The emperor’s death meant that there would be a span of time during which the throne sat empty, but the citizenry were used to these lacunae in leadership while the succession was determined, and neither the sovereign’s demise nor the vacancy of the throne particularly upset them. After offering up a silent prayer in mourning for the deceased ruler, the interest of the empire’s people turned toward who would be victorious in the Rite, the dispute for the succession. They went through the names of the emperor’s various children, chatting and laughing as they discussed who would be the next sovereign. Those participating in the Rite were the very ones who had witnessed the emperor’s immolation and who had then passed the first hurdle to becoming the next emperor: grasping the Bright Sword to see if they were worthy. Speaking of which—
gpt
Narrator:  “So eleven people survived drawing the Bright Sword.