Light of Kalar¶
Contested
This page is named in the open question Bhaal's prison. The Proturan faction notes have the Light of Kalar imprisoning Bhaal; other documents put him in the Abyss or in the keeping of the Druids of Nyx. The page follows the newest source and keeps the other readings below.
The Light of Kalar is "an order dedicated to extreme secrecy and the imprisonment of demons" (S078). It keeps the archdemons and the greatest demonlords chained on the material plane in prisons whose places are known to few. The order appears in every layer of the sources: in the Fifth Age as a legend told among the Children of the Light in Proturas, in the Sancturi Age as the jailer of two archdemons, and in the archive of the earlier Ages as a well-regarded demon-hunting order "found across Numenia".
Also called: the Order of the Light of Kalar (S519, S513, S429); the Valnyr Rangers (S519, S513). The name is shared with the Light of Kalar that Kalar set in every soul as its moral compass, which is described on Souls and Spirits.
The Fifth Age¶
In Proturas the Light of Kalar is one of the legends of the Kalari faction, the Children of the Light: an order "imprisoning Bhaal and many Demon Princes and Greater Demonlords". "They maintain several very secure and very secret prisons for demons on the material plane" (S078). Nothing in the Proturan notes says whether the order sits in the city or answers to its Grandmaster.
The Sancturi Age¶
A list of the archdemons as they stood in the Sancturi Age puts two of them in the order's keeping (S124):
| Archdemon | Status |
|---|---|
| Asmodeus (Asmodean) | "partially free, imprisoned by the Light of Kalar on the material" |
| Mephistus | "imprisoned by the Light of Kalar on the material" |
| Bhaal | "in the Abyss" |
Earlier accounts¶
The 2014 archive gives the fullest description of the order. "An order dedicated to the eradication of demons, demonology and the practice of summoning. They also frown upon magic-users in general, even though they employ some in their demon-hunting activities. The Light of Kalar is also responsible for managing the imprisonment of the three arch-demons. They are found across Numenia and are generally well-regarded by people and governments" (S372, S384).
The three are the archdemons who escaped during the early Demon Wars, Mephistus, Asmodean and Belphegor: "Their souls are now reborn into mortal forms after each death. It is therefore necessary to keep these mortal forms imprisoned, and alive for as long as possible" (S372, S384). The Demi-Gods notes name only Mephistus and Asmodean as escaped (S434).
The order also hunted Gothmog, lord of fire and shadow, who "was too powerful to be confined" in the Abyss "and instead had to be imprisoned on the material plane. However, he escaped his earthly prison several hundred years ago and has not been seen since. The Light of Kalar believe he is hiding in the deep underdark" (S372, S434).
The archive's account of the Abscission adds a watching role. Because concentrated magic-use can tear a rift between the Abyss and the Material Plane, "some organizations exist to monitor Mithium concentrations and the strength of the Abscission fields to avoid these Rifts being created at all in the future. Two of these organization include the Knights of Lothos, and Order of the Light of Kalar" (S429). The two drafts on demonic possession repeat this and give the order a second name: "Order of the Light of Kalar (also known as Valnyr Rangers)" (S519, S513). The Valnyr Rangers are described with the Keepers of Valnyr.
An early plot outline for the Proturan campaign imagined a crisis in which "Araxian forces have seized the prison of Bhaal from the Light of Kalar", Bhaal buying his freedom by revealing the Well of Souls to Seth'Arax; the author judged it "a bit too BIG / Grandiose" and set it aside (S076).
Relations¶
The order shares its enemies and its secrecy with the White Fire, another Kalari-minded society named among the Children of the Light's legends (S078). The wardens of Bhaal in other accounts are the Druids of Nyx, whose page is with the druids.
Gap
No source names a leader, a seat, or the place of any prison of the Light of Kalar, or says how the order came to hold Bhaal in the Fifth Age after he was "in the Abyss" in the Sancturi Age.