History of the Orb of Souls The missionary PCs (plus the NPC Duglan) found the Orb of Souls in an ancient Jarin barrow along the Ramala Gap. The Orb was in the possession of the Elder Brood Ivashu H'flogh'ka, who apparently used it to store souls that it had harvested. Once the Orb was full, H'floght'ka would return it to Araka-Kalai, so that Ilvir could use the "soul-stuff" to create new Ivashu of "the Lesser Brood" (or at least that's how H'flogh'ka described them). After the missioanries' first meeting with H'flogh'ka, the soothsayer Maban received a dream, sent by Ilvir, telling her that their group was meant to retrieve the Orb of Souls and return it to Araka-Kalai. They returned to the barrow, slew H'flogh'ka, and took possession of the Orb. They brought it back to Coranan with them, intending to soon take it to Araka-Kalai. It was brought back in a secret manner, but in their procession around the city on 15 Halane 720, the missionaries openly displayed the Orb. Physical Description The Orb is a perfect sphere approximately 18" inches in diameter. It is composed of an unknown material, but it feels perfectly smooth, like highly polished metal or fine stone or ceramics. The Orb is quite light given its size. It weighs no more than 2-3 pounds, which suggests that it may be hollow or that it does not conform to the physical properties of any mundane materials. The Orb of Souls glows with an irridescent light of multiple colors. In darkness or dim light, this glowing is quite pronounced, especially up close, but in normal daylight, it appears just as a highly reflective object. Only a very close physical examination will reveal its irridescence. The Orb of Souls is faintly warm to the touch. It always seems to be slightly warmer than the surrounding air temperature, regardless of how hot or old it is. Direct physical contact of the Orb will produce a faint tingling sensation in the skin, as well as a feeling of wakefulness and alertness. Spiritual/Magical Description An adherent of Ilvir who remains in contact with the Orb of Souls for a significant period of time (more than an hour or so), will find that certain of her/his faculties are heightened by the Orb. Specifically, any such person will find that he or she is able to perceive the souls/auras around other living things and magical objects. In Burning Wheel terms, this is represented as follows: An adherent of Ilvir attuned to the Orb of Souls will temporarily be given the following: * The "Second Sight" trait. * The "Aura Reading" skill, open at half the character's Perception exponent. * The "Soul-Wise" skill, open at half the character's Perception exponent. The Aura Reading skill and Soul-Wise skills are improvable per normal Burning Wheel advancement rolls and can be marked on the character sheet. However, the character only possesses this skills (and the underlying "Second Sight" trait) while personally in contact with the Orb. A cessation of physical contact with the Orb causes those temporary traits/skills to vanish and be inaccessible. These abilities will, however, return, if contact with the Orb is re-established. (Note: The above description assumes that the character in contact with orb does not already possess the Second Sight trait or the "Aura Reading" skill. If the character does possess thistrait/skill combo, then his/her "Aura Reading" skill is temporarily increased by +2D.) Additionally, an adherent of Ilvir who has the Faith attribute can, with divine assitance, transfer the souls of recently slain beings into the Orb. To do so requires the performance of a "Minor Miracle" (target obstacle 5). Additional disadvantages may accrue if the souls are pledged to another god, if the bodies have been given a funeral ceremony, etc. There may yet be additional powers of the orb that have not yet been discovered.