Orbius Malleus

The Orbius Malleus

The Orbius Malleus, more commonly referred to as the soul orb, is a magical artifact containing the souls of those killed in the devastation of Port Valor.

Name

For much of the campaign, the Champions Valoris were unaware of the orb's proper name, leading them to call it "the orb," "the purple orb," or "the soul orb." However, after the Burning Knight's defeat, Kilwin told Grinlief Dartson of the orb. Grinlief identified it as the Orbius Malleus, a topic he had read about recently. Due to a low roll on an Arcana check, Kilwin was unable to discern if Grinlief was correct about the artifact's name.

Description

The Orbius Malleus is a purple orb, sized to fit in a single hand. It serves as a vessel for the souls taken from their bodies due to an anti-life spell. The bodies of the souls within the orb appear to be dead, although they still cling to life and resist decomposition for a time. The souls within the orb can be consumed to cast spells, permanently killing the body. This spellcasting can be used even by those who cannot usually cast spells. It is unknown if there are limitations on what spells the orb can cast, although Slumberjack used it to cast Counterspell, create a field of heavy, black-hole-esque gravity, fire a beam attack, and summon a magical blade of shadows. They also possibly used the orb to teleport or shift planes when fleeing the battle at Raven Rock. The orb glows when casting a spell. Touching the Orbius Malleus exposes one to the agony of the souls swirling within, causing increasing amounts of psychic damage with prolonged contact.

Involvement

The Orbius Malleus was a result of Hados's research into strengthening people's connection to life. This research was stolen by agents of the modern-day Heritors of Flame and wound up in the hands of Thorak Fireaxe and the Fireaxe Clan. It was physically created from the souls of those taken in the devastation of Port Valor. The orb was magically bound to Slumberjack's hand when they submitted to the Burning Knight and left the Champions Valoris. The orb frequently caused them pain, in addition to the domination spells that were used to keep them compliant. They were unable to put the orb down. The rest of the Champions Valoris first saw the Orbius Malleus when they encountered Slumberjack and Tyrian during the attack on Raven Rock. Slumberjack used the orb to cast several spells during the fight, causing several of the bodies preserved in Port Valor to lapse into true death. Kima, who was monitoring the bodies, conveyed this to Kilwin, allowing him and his companions to figure out the orb's true nature. After Tyrian's second death, Slumberjack fled the battle, straining against the compulsion to harm their friends further. They vanished, and the orb vanished with them.

When the Champions Valoris visited Atemcester, Hados confirmed that the orb was a possible byproduct of the anti-life field, and that it could be used to cast powerful spells. However, he also confirmed that it was possible to restore the souls within the orb to their bodies, returning them to life.

The Champions' next encounter with Slumberjack, at the Temple of the Abyssal Guardians, also brought them into contact with the Orbius Malleus again. Slumberjack continued to use the orb in battle, especially after Kilwin used Remove Curse to make them drop their sword. They made an effort to keep the orb away from Kilwin during their confrontation as he asked them to hand it over. With the curses on them removed and Tyrian slain once more, Slumberjack was free to talk to their former comrades and explain what they knew about the orb. They implied that souls other than those taken from Port Valor were also housed within the orb. They offered to let the Champions take it, but it was firmly attached to their hand. Ashara briefly touched it, but was immediately repelled by the agony of the souls within. Kilwin managed to grab it slightly longer, but only received some psychic damage for his efforts. Reides's Mage Hand was also unsuccessful at dislodging the orb. Slumberjack admitted that they could hear the screams at all times, and that they knew that if the orb was broken, the souls would be released but could never be restored. With no immediate path forward, Slumberjack volunteered to safeguard the orb and the souls within while the rest of the party searched for a way to detach it from their hand.

Initially, little progress was made in the search for information on the orb. Kilwin learned via communing with Alethus that the orb would need to be unbound from Slumberjack before the souls within could be returned to their bodies. Nothing relating to the orb or the anti-life field was found among Gorvidus Vyle's papers and tomes. Kain did some research on his own and came up with two suggestions: dispelling the magic of the orb or using a powerful life-giving spell to counteract the orb's anti-life magic. Before the Champions Valoris returned to the Temple of the Abyssal Guardians, they visited Hados to consult with him, as his research led to the orb's creation. Hados explained that unbinding the orb would be the easy part, and that a resurrection spell would release the binding and possibly restore a few of the souls if it was excessively strong. However, he expected that restoring all of the souls would be a more complex project, although he needed the orb to begin working on that.

As the Champions Valoris approached the Temple of the Abyssal Guardians, the Burning Knight and his forces came through the rift housed in the temple. The demons killed Slumberjack for their betrayal, and the soul orb remained bound to their hand. The orb was used to confirm Slumberjack's location when the Champions Valoris arrived. When the Champions Valoris reached them after the Burning Knight's defeat, they were unable to remove the orb. The blast of magical energy that closed the rift also did not remove the binding. The Orbius Malleus was teleported back to Falas, along with Slumberjack's corpse. Back in Falas, Kilwin used Raise Dead to attempt to unbind the orb. It was an arduous process, with the orb periodically inflicting bursts of psychic damage on him during the spell's hour-long casting time. Miré and Jorah stood by to sustain him with healing magic throughout the ritual. At a certain point in the process, Kilwin started to recognize specific souls within the orb, hearing the voices of Valorians he knew. Ultimately, the spell succeeded, and Slumberjack's grip on the orb loosened. After confirming through the Commune spell that Hados could be trusted not to misuse the orb, the Champions brought it to Atemcester, taking care not to touch it directly, where they gave it to Hados. Hados admitted a sense of responsibility for what happened in Port Valor and swore to return every last soul within the orb to its proper body. He promised to keep the Champions Valoris apprised of any developments via Sending and left to immediately commence his work.