Cult of the Soul

The Cult of the Soul, also called the Soul Devourers, is an esoteric faith built on the consumption of souls. It draws on a heretical retelling of Wielkopan's departure and the nature of soulgems.

Beliefs¶

The cult's central and most infamous practice is the consumption of souls. To consume a soulgem is, in their belief, to consume a soul itself. They teach that when a mortal dies, the soul becomes free, but part of it becomes trapped within stones, its essence leaking without a body to contain it.

To outsiders this is desecration. To Soul Devourers it is revelation: proof that souls can be gathered, consumed, and used as power.

Histories¶

Cult teachings, preached by figures such as Zenna the Reborn and Rzezimir, claim that in ancient times, before even the Zerywani, the people were led astray. Where others say Wielkopan simply abandoned them, the Soul Devourers insist he did something else entirely, a hidden truth that justifies their grim rites.

Origins at Starogod¶

The cult traces its origin to the Zerywani city of Starogod, seat of the Jelenia University of Magecraft. There the archmage Rzezimir, working among rejected elixir-brewing mages, discovered what he called the "truth of Soulgems": consuming a soulgem empowers the mage even as it drives him into madness.

From his following, the Cult of the Soul was born.

See also: Wielkopan, Zerywani, Magic, Religions, and Divine Wells.