A blackened crown recovered from the flames, kept only as proof that something survived. Burn 100 of these, with a Sialogogue as catalyst, in a Crown Rite at the Pyre to ascend a Pet, or 200 with 2 Sialogogues to push an Ascended Pet to its limit. You can also coalesce 1,000 of them into 1 Damned Intent.
Crown Rite: burns 100 Charred Crowns and a Sialogogue to push a maxed tier 20 pet beyond the cap, to the Ascended tier 21. And for the truly committed: an Ascended pet leveled back to 100 can attempt the rite again, at double the cost, to become Transcendent at tier 22, the final tier. A Transcendent pet works twice as fast at its specialty and digs up far richer gem bags.