Note from Akarist

Overview

From the Story Arc "The Library of Souls" given by Allison King, or Peter Stemitz.
This Souvenir is restricted to the level range of 30-35.

Souvenir's Text

Note from Akarist

You've kept this crumpled note from the Circle of Thorns traitor, Akarist. It's a reminder of the time you liberated:

The Library of Souls

It began with a rescue mission. You were too late to save Edgar Torvald, a researcher who had been investigating Oranbega, the home of the Circle of Thorns. But you did find his last message, a map scratched into his jacket lining.

You raided the Magic Library marked on the map, but instead of books, you found several crystals containing a powerful energy. The Circle then kidnapped one of the researchers MAGI would need to decipher the crystals' power. When you rescued her, she told you that she had been spared from certain death by a mysterious Circle mystic named Akarist. This same Akarist had told her how to access the crystals you had earlier uncovered.

You descended into the depths of Oranbega once more in an attempt to contact Akarist. He fought you and perished in the battle, but left behind a cryptic message full of dire warnings about the knowledge you sought.

Due to Akarist's hints, the truth about the crystals was revealed: they were receptacles for souls that had been imprisoned by the Circle of Thorns. One of the trapped souls explained that the Circle's spirit thorns could be used to usurp control of a body. Acting on this information, you confiscated a number of spirit thorns before they were sold in the city's underworld.

One of the imprisoned souls claimed to know where a much larger Library of Souls was. Unfortunately, he was having trouble getting his bearings. You took the crystal containing the soul of Ashton Fletcher to the place where he died, so that he could orient himself.

One of these trapped souls proved to be none other than a henchman of Baron Zoria, the reputed founder of the Circle of Thorns. According to this soul, the Baron was not the Circle's leader. Instead, he was a prisoner in another soul crystal. What's more, Akarist, the Circle mystic who had helped you, was to be imprisoned within a soul crystal as a traitor. Descending once more beneath the city, you rescued both Zoria and Akarist, and learned the truth about the Circle of Thorns.

For nearly a century, the Circle of Thorns was believed to be a cult working out of the ancient underground ruins of Oranbega. The truth is far more sinister. Oranbega is no ruin, but a city of spectral wizards, wraith-like mages who have lived in it since before recorded history.