| owners = [[User:Evoro, Paints-in-Blood|Evoro, Paints-in-Blood]]

}}'''The Aged Bones''' ('''She-Who-Remembers''', '''the Throne-Eternal''', formerly '''Empress Irene''') is the Second Hour of the Fansus, spawned from the bones of Empress Irene when she made her final journey to the House Without Walls. Her aspects are Winter, Secret Histories, and Forge.

The Throne-Eternal is a large throne carved from smooth yet plain stone, with the former Empress seated regally upon it. The Aged Bones only slouch a little, despite being entirely skeletal in nature, as if her occult knowledge alone keeps her upright. Her eye sockets have since clouded over with smouldering blue flames, and a deep grey mist lazily drifts from her skeletal mouth when she speaks. Her bones are an ancient yellowing colour, and have sprouted extra finger bones and toes since her “death”.

The Aged Bones remembers the legacies of those who have made their mark in history, no matter how small, just as she remembers all the lore she has gathered over her many long years sat in her throne. With decades of history in her memory, she moulds empires into such shapes as to avoid past failures and achieve past successes in an effort to craft a timeless legacy of civilisation and order. If there is one thing one should remember when trading secrets with the Aged Bones, it is that she never forgets.

The Aged Bones originates from [[the First History]], where the Holy Roman Empire conquered the majority of Western Europe under the rule of the Empress. After many years of studying the occult, she found her way into the House of the Serpent through a now-forgotten Door, and held long, philosophical debates with [[The Architeuthian]], whom she met along the way. With her duties in her own realm to handle, however, she could never spend too long in the House before making her journey back with secrets or forgotten knowledge.

When her time slowly came to a close, she travelled once more to the Serpent’s Palace with the knowledge that her line would not continue if she stayed in her own world, and took up a throne of carved stone in a large hall beside the Aquarium. Though she succumbed to her mortal condition soon after, her bones were filled to bursting with her old occult knowledge, and ascended to the ranks of the Long in spirit - if not exactly in body.

Despite being immobile as she slumped against the cold stone, the Aged Bones could recount tale upon tale of the Old Monarchs and their place in history, merely asking another tale in return, until she grew to become an Hour after the Splitting of the Great Serpent with the help of [[The Architeuthian]].

The Aged Bones rests upon her throne in the Weaver's Librarium, a vast archive of knowledge set beside the Aquarium.

== Relationships ==

* [[The Architeuthian]]: The Aged Bones spends long days conversing with the Architeuthian, as well as having had intellectual discussions before her ascension. She considers the Squid a friend of sorts.

* [[The Great Serpent]]: The Segmenting allowed the Aged Bones to ascend to Hourhood.

* [[The Mendicant Without]]: The Mendicant Without has been witnessed wandering by the Aged Bones' stained glass windows, where they occasionally hold a brief conversation. Sometimes the Aged Bones passes on secrets that she allows the Mendicant to spread among its followers.