Eldritch Soulcruxes¶
"Their Soulcruxes (prisons) were extraordinarily well hidden and piecing together enough for an Eldritch to take form has proven difficult." — Fifth Age Magic (S014)
Contested
This page is named in the open question Which Eldritch the Kalari kept as relics. The 2018 notes forge every Eldritch soul into Kalari relics; the 2021 lore keeps only the most benevolent as relics; the 2019 Keeper Scrolls set the cruxes of three Eldritch the Kalari judged too dangerous to release in the Godfire Lantern, a Kalari relic. The page records all three.
The soulcruxes are the prisons of the Eldritch. Because the Eldritch held covenants with the Throne of Law that could not be broken, the Younger Gods could not destroy them; instead their souls were shattered and the pieces locked in small triangles of warm black metal, many of them hidden inside holy relics of the Kalari faith. An Eldritch who recovers enough of its pieces takes form again. In the Fifth Age the cruxes are hunted by the Eldritch themselves, by Asmodeus, by the priests of Namaka, and by the relic-keepers of the Brotherhood of the Sun.
Also called: soul anchors (S147, S152, S196); Kalari Relics, for those set in holy objects (S141).
Making¶
"The Eldritch were imprisoned by Kalar and the younger Gods ... The Eldritch have Covenants with the Throne of Law and Astral Shards. These cannot not be broken by any known means. Therefore, when defeated by the younger gods, they were imprisoned. Generally, their spirits were shattered and split into pieces which where then forged into holy Kalari Relics and sent to various locations. This was very effective and very very few Eldritch have escaped their prisons. Generally, only those that were imprisoned by non-Kalari in crude prisons have escaped" (S141). The wars in which they fell are the Eldritch Succession Wars.
The newer account says the Kalari kept only some: "It turns out that the Kalari only kept the soulcruxes of the most benevolent and potentially useful Eldritch as holy relics. The remainder were scattered and buried across the material and astral planes. Some exist as Eldritch ghosts, with but a shadow of their power (which by mortal standards is still considerable)" (S014).
Appearance¶
A crux found among the debris of the Reliquary of Vash'Makor at Kilmarn is "a flat warm black metallic triangle" (S163). The one hidden in the Divine Lantern of Saint Vharman "appears to be a black metallic shard shaped as a long triangle about 12 inches long and 4 inches wide. It is very warm, almost hot, to the touch" (S138). A crux that has been broken goes cold: beside the corpse of a Namakan priest lay a "broken, cold triangle (soulcrux)" (S164).
Freeing an Eldritch¶
Each great Eldritch was split into many anchors, twelve or eight by the Keeper Scrolls (S164). Releasing enough of them restores a body. Phaendar Nar'Vizerai "has released 3 of the 12 soul anchors and is able to take a weakened physical form. He is searching desperately for his other anchors. When he finds soul anchors of other Eldritch he communes with them to see if they could make reliable allies and if not, hides them away" (S147). Allannia Vaj'zaelin "has released 3 of her 8 soul anchors", wakes others only partly "so as to gauge their usefulness", and "has captured 2 of his soul anchors and has them hidden away where he wont find them" (S147). Luiranar Xal'Vanala and his companions are counted the same way, three or four of eight (S147). "The vast majority of Eldritch are insane after many millennia of confinement" (S147).
A crux can be broken by other means, with other results. The relic-hunter Athu Marised "was a mercenary that stumbled upon a soulcrux ... He eventually stole a rare witch talisman which was able to break the soulcrux, releasing its soul fragment ... which immediately latched onto him. It was slowly able to possess and control him" (S148).
The hunt¶
After the Sancturi age the free Eldritch rule the Eldritch Kingdoms under "Witch-Kings and Witch-Queens", and "still search in vain for their Soulcruxes" (S112).
- The Brotherhood of the Sun, "a once-secret society of relic hunters, Soulcruxes & Imprisoned Eldritch" (S078), keeps Kalari relics, but "has been heavily infiltrated by Sancturi, Asmodean and Eldritch agents ... Eldritch agents are looking for Eldritch soul anchors and Astral keys" (S152). Its Mistress of the Lantern, Amfrie Rahal, is Allannia's agent (S147, S152).
- Asmodeus wants "Eldritch Horrors -- corrupted and possessed Eldritch ... uber powerful minions with astral connections", and has infiltrated the brotherhood "to help him collect these relics" (S141).
- The priests of Namaka experimented with crux fragments in the Sancturi Campaign. A note found in a ruined Namakan temple beneath Kilmarn orders acolytes "infused with a small fragment of the soul from the soulcrux I entrusted to you. We need to find the right combination of souls, runes, power and flesh to avoid the madness and bloodlust we have seen with our previous attempts" (S164); the Eldritch Mawspawn Horrors were "born from an experiment to infuse fragments of Eldritch into controllable bodies (Namakan priests)" (S164). Letters of the High Priestess Hana Puscavit report a crux found and not yet identified, and a chest of her vestments held "Soulcrux. one of the 12" (S169).
- Nicoleta "has been gathering Eldritch Soulcruxes and is now looking for the Well of Souls (in the Rift)", in the plot to restore Seth'Arax (S076).
The Sancturi party handled several. They took a crux from the Reliquary at Kilmarn (S163); a party member carried "Black Triangle" (S165); they went to Amer "to 'borrow' a soulcrux" (S171); papers seized later list cruxes of "Amer, Phaedar, ???" (S182); and a corrupted dragon's nest held seven (S185). In an ancient Araxian temple, two dead Wakers of Nox'Somn are "on display in the temple. Impaled on soul anchors" (S196).
The Godfire Lantern of Helis Sunblighter¶
The greatest of the crux-relics. The Godfire Lantern of Helis Sunblighter holds "3 soulcruxes of the most powerful Eldritch" and was what the Namakan diggers sought in the Vault of the Ancients beneath the Kilmarn temple complex (S164). Every one of the three Keeper Scrolls in that vault lists it first among its objects (S164). Helis Sunblighter was one of the half-dozen Kalari ascendants who hunted down Phaendar (S164); see Minor Figures of the Rivenlands.
Gap
The sources do not describe the Lantern, say which three Eldritch it holds, or whether the party or the Namakans took it. An earlier draft leaves its name blank: "The lantern of ??" (S163).
The Divine Lantern of Saint Vharman¶
A Kalari relic that hid Allannia's crux. "Immeron is in possession of an Eldritch Soulcrux (Allania's): An ancient and revered Kalari relic (in this case the Divine Lantern of Saint Vharman) with the soulcrux hidden inside. They will find the lantern disassembled" (S138). Prince Immeron, in exile in the Florentine Woodlands of Floren, is the Eldritch Amer in disguise. Saint Vharman is not otherwise described.
The Eldritch Keeper Scrolls¶
Three sealed scrolls in the Vault of the Ancients at Kilmarn, each seal bearing the name of an imprisoned Eldritch, each giving its history, the Kalari's judgement of it ("Status") and a list of the objects that hold its pieces (S164).
| Seal | Objects listed | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Phaendar Nar'Vizerai | 12 | "While he generally has reasonable demeanor, his strength makes him too dangerous to consider releasing." |
| Allannia Vaj'Zaelin | 8 | "She is considered an die-hard enemy of the Kalari and of all living things." |
| Luiranar Xal'Vanala | 8 | "He is completely mad and is likely to kill anyone or anything that comes into his path that is not another Eldritch." |
Each list begins with the Godfire Lantern of Helis Sunblighter. The scrolls give the Kalari side of each history: Phaendar, offered ascendancy by Arcantus and Orandos, "ultimately sided with Izhtari" and destroyed Orthyss Brightcaller; Allannia "was the High Commander of the Eldritch forces that invaded and occupied the Radiant Throne" and fell holding it; Luiranar, "driven mad by the death of his lowborn family at the hands of the Ascendants of Khardas", fell in the same battle "but not before slaying 2 ascendants of Khardas" (S164). Their lives are on their own pages.
Gap
Only the first object on each list is named. The Vault also held a Golden Thurible and a Granite Brazier marked in the notes as possible crux-relics (S164).
Earlier accounts¶
The 2018 world-plot note has every shattered Eldritch spirit forged into a Kalari relic (S141); the 2021 lore keeps that only for "the most benevolent and potentially useful", the rest scattered and buried (S014). The Keeper Scrolls of 2019 sit uneasily with the 2021 reading: the three Eldritch whose cruxes are set in the Godfire Lantern, a Kalari relic, are judged "too dangerous to consider releasing", "a die-hard enemy of the Kalari" and "completely mad" (S164).