Soul-eater

The Soul-eater is a crystal that resides within a forest in the Chaos Wastes. By its power, the forest lies in a perpetual spring time. Mighty oaks with branches as green and vibrant as the heart of spring. Flowers and wild grass push up from beneath the snow, displaying an impossible vitality. One can find tysbast shrubs, luxuriant and ripe, with frost dangling from their stems. Gigantic marisko orchids, their lush leaves heavy with snow, their roots stabbing deep into the icy ground. So far north from the shores of Norsca, even in the depths of summer it should not be warm enough for such flowers to bloom, yet here they thrived with ice dripping from their petals.

Other supernatural phenomena exist here, as well. Mutant animals such as fish that use their fins to claw through the snow and up trees. Stones that scuttle from the path of travelers, flowers that devoured the tiny bats coming to drink their nectar. Feathered frogs that sing your name from frozen ponds. But always present is the crawling evil that hovers over the place, souring the very air one breathes. And so it strengthens as one comes across a clearing.

Twice the size of a man, floating a few feet off the ground, a wondrous prism of crystal can be found. The countless facets of the stone swirl with every colour in creation, bathing the clearing with magnificence. All who gaze upon it feel themselves overcome, staring with lust and wonder at the incredible manifestation. For a moment comes the desire to throw oneself to the ground, to make obeisance to the apparition. All else is forgotten as the swirling colours wash over the mind, till all that existed was the prism. Those who can break from the enchantment are soon drawn to the horror that carpets the clearing. Bones and armour litter the ground, from the horned helms of Kurgans to the scale vests of Norsemen, the rude savage weapons of Orcs and the fanged skulls of Goblins, the twisted remains of Beastmen and the carcasses of at least a few Hung. Dozens, perhaps hundreds of bodies scattered across the clearing, all curled down against the ground as if in worship.

According to Ernst von Kammler, only those strong in the favour of Tzeentch can oppose the Soul-eater's will. Only the mightiest of his champions can bring about its ruin. Even if one were to shatter the prism, it would return, its shards slowly crawling back to the center of the clearing. To linger is to be bound to its will, to be commanded to slay the only ones who might set you free.

Source

 * : Palace of the Plague Lord (novel) by C.L. Werner
 * : Chapter 12

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