Kettle of Souls

The Kettle of Souls is an artifact used to collect death essence from disrupted specters and prevent their return.

History

Caelora campaign

The Duchess secures a Kettle of Souls with other runic equipment for the campaign in Caelora. Castile transports and uses it as the company fights specters that repeatedly reconstitute. The device lets the soldiers permanently remove those specters instead of fighting the same enemies again. Its use is physically taxing: Castile warns Eryk that activating it draws on his aether tolerance, and Eryk describes the sensation as the device pulling at his soul. (Chapters 120, 131–141)

The artifact’s purpose

Castile explains that the Kettle works like an essence collector: the user directs it at a disrupted body and channels aether into it to draw out death essence. Scholar Favian says a Kettle of Souls was first found in a dungeon centuries earlier, where the crystallized death essence was learned to have a use against specters. The account says the campaign kettle came from a count’s vault, while the first Kettle was found in a dungeon centuries earlier. (Chapter 133)

Abilities and properties

• Collects death essence from a disrupted specter when aimed at the body and activated with aether. (Chapter 136)
• The collected death essence prevents a specter from reconstituting. (Chapters 122, 131)
• Repeated use taxes the user’s aether tolerance. (Chapter 137)

Ownership and custody