Dread Trove
A spoiler-free guide to A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR).
Only showing what’s been revealed up to your current progress. Future events, identities, and relationships are hidden.
Overview
The Dread Trove is a set of ancient, extraordinarily powerful objects Made by the Cauldron. The three objects securely preserved in legend are the Mask, the Harp, and the Crown.
By this stage, the Mask is secured by the Night Court, the Harp remains unaccounted for, and Briallyn is believed to possess the Crown, leaving the known Trove divided.
Nesta's awareness of a shadowed fourth object raises the possibility that the Trove once included another artifact erased or obscured from memory, though confirmed histories and Amren's recollection recognize only the three known objects.
Ownership or Custody
The Night Court secures the Mask, while the Harp remains unaccounted for and Briallyn is believed to possess the Crown.
The Night Court possesses all three known objects, a concentration of power that alarms Eris and leaves their secure long-term custody unresolved.
Function, Rules, and Limitations
The three objects share a Made essence powerful enough, when gathered, to track the Cauldron. The Trove may hide itself through glamour or induced forgetfulness, and ancient Made objects may possess awareness, desires, and some choice over when they are found.
Amren states that Nesta and Elain may be able to track the Trove because they are Made, and that the Trove cannot influence or overpower them even if they might use it.
Surviving records contain only sparse references to the Trove and do not establish when its objects vanished, where they were lost, or who last held them, sharply limiting an archival search.
The known objects cannot readily be destroyed or hidden safely. Eris warns that gathering the complete Trove creates continuing pressure to wield it rather than solving the danger it presents.
Nesta can summon all three known objects to herself even when Helion's spells are set to keep them elsewhere. Their reunion turns the Trove into a containment problem, not merely a recovery victory.