The Charter had been dead for years. Few knew of the magic that flowed within the stones that were scattered about the Old Kingdom. The Abhorsen's descendents were long gone and no one knew who the latest one was. Of course a lot of people had moved to Ancelstierre, where the art of magic was not allowed. The few people who did know about the Charter and still lived in the old kingdom didn't want to talk about it as I brought back hideous memories of what happened to the Abhorsen all those years ago. This was mainly the reason people didn't practise the charter, and why only feared necromancers walked in death nowadays. Apart form one. There was one who was constantly in death, always walking the long river, saving people from their final fate and stopping them from crossing the ninth gate.
This one is know simply as Dog. No one knew who this thing was, but it was said that it was once the companion of the last Abhosen, Lirael. The last time anyone reported of seeing the dog was at least 50 years ago when a man was brought back to life with serious injuries. This was also the day when the horrid Orranis was bound anew by Lirael herself. The Dog helped in the biding and then simply disappeared. Lirael spent the best portion of two years searching death for the Dog but never actually found her. Many people said that Lireal had a child with a Nicholas Sayre who was reported dead at the time the Charter was forgotten. The Dog was forever trapped in death and could never escape the fate she sealed long ago.
The seven bells that the Abhorsen used were gone with the disappearance of Lireal and never found again. They are most likely in the house of the Abhorsen in the Old Kingdom. The nine bells that control the dead; Ranna the sleepbringer, Mosrael the waker, Kibeth the walker, Dyrim the speaker, Belgaer the thinker, Saranth the binder and Astarael the sorrowful. Named after seven of the nine great shiners who were the most powerful being that ever existed, the seven made the charter, one chose not to be part of the charter and one chose to oppose it.
10 years have passed since the last Abhorsen was seen and 50 years since the feared monster Orrannis was sealed away by Lirael. The charter was lost ever since Lirael had died and the world is in ruins.