"Damnation eternal awaits those who would disturb his rest! Here be the souls of those that are lost..."
- —Inscribed on the Casket of Souls within the tomb of King Setep.[2a]
A Liche Priest, flanked by his Casket Guard, conducting the Casket of Souls ritual.
Caskets of Souls are mighty magical sarcophagi used by the Tomb Kings to capture and then summon forth the spirits of those that have tried to defile the lands of Nehekhara only to die a horrid and agonizing death.
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At the heart of each tomb of the mightiest kings there lies a casket, sealed with pitch and inscribed with hieroglyphs of malediction and warning. Within this sacred sarcophagus reside the tormented souls of those who have committed the sacrilege of inciting a Tomb King's wrath. Whether consumed by ravenous Tomb Swarms or cut down by the Tomb Guard, the spirits of those thus condemned have been ensnared by the dire power of the casket and trapped within it for eternity. Powerful binding inscriptions ensure that these souls cannot leave their prison until the moment when the casket is opened.[1a][2a]
A Casket of Souls is not physically carried into battle, but is summoned through the incantations of a Keeper of the Casket - a priest of the Mortuary Cult whose sole responsibility is the custodianship of this revered object. As a Keeper of the Casket intones the proper chants, a fountain of skulls bursts from the ground below. These gush forth, forming into a mound that spills over revealing the Casket of Souls atop a dais of bone, with a nimbus of sorcerous energy swirling around its infernal form, and two Undead Casket Guard by its side. The power surrounding the Casket of Souls is such that nearby Liche Priests can infuse their incarnations with a portion of its energy.[1a]
When the seals are broken and the lid of a Casket of Souls is opened, blinding light spills across the battlefield as countless souls scream into the air, seeking freedom from the madness and torment of their confinement. Such an escape will never come while the casket is intact, for the pull of the damned sarcophagus is so great that it draws the souls back within no matter how hard they try to fight it. Crazed and desperate, these insubstantial spirits plunge through the hearts and minds of the Tomb Kings' enemies, hopelessly seeking an escape. As the screaming forms of these souls pass through the physical bodies of living creatures, the life force of that creature is sucked dry. They feel an intense pain deep within them, and their bodies age centuries with every passing second. In mere heartbeats, they are little more than a dried shell and they fall to the ground.[1a]
To die thus is far worse than a physical death, for the very souls of those who perish in this manner become ensnared by the power of the casket, becoming just another of the countless lost souls held within its unholy confines for an eternity of torment. A Casket of Souls is a devastating weapon, for all who look upon it risk eternal damnation and imprisonment. The spirits affect even creatures that do not truly age or have a soul, as the magical energies that bind them together or keep them on this plane of existence are absorbed.[2a]
Only the attendant Keeper knows the incantations that will open the casket, and if he is interrupted the souls of the damned are instantly sucked back inside. If a Casket of Souls is ever destroyed, the tortured souls will escape their confines in a raging maelstrom of destruction, feeding on anything caught in the magical backlash as they wreak their vengeance.[1a]
