Puddleopedia | Entry / Altar

Though there are several Altars found throughout the Lok'Groton, the most intrinsic to the livelihood of all exiles is that contained within the Crystal Temple in Town Center.

Constructed of quarried moonstone and charged to a dull orange with accumulated life magic, the Altar is a delicate instrument. The red ceremonial cloth is an adornment signifying it as a religious object of the Healer Guild. The most basic function of the Altar is simple: Upon touching the Altar, one leaves a slight residue of their spirit and life energy; this allows the Altar to act as a beacon for spirits attempting to find their way back from Purgatory. A single spirit can only be linked to one Altar at any given time, and so spirits are drawn from Purgatory to the Altar they've touched most recently.

Furthermore, Altars are able to collect spirits and their bodies from any point in the lands in the event of a Chaos Storm.

In Spring of 535, the Altar was stolen by Bartok and broken into several pieces. These pieces were strewn around Orga territory, and had to be collected by teams of exiles before being reassembled and purified at great cost by Master Hekus, who spent much of his own life energy in the process. While the Altar was broken, healers lost their ability to self-heal or use caducei. Small fractures in its surface remain as a legacy of those troubled times.

In Winter 564, numerous teams of Orga Warlocks raided town and chanted foul mantras, corrupting the Altar to their own use. The Altar, as twisted by their magics, released occasional painful bursts of energy. Master Spirtus remarked at the time that he felt "Some foreign energy" roiling within the Altar. The culmination of this process was the resurrection of Bartok, who then led his minions back to the Orga Stronghold. Since then, the Altar has betrayed no signs of Orga tampering.

Besides the Altar in the Crystal Temple, the other known Altars are in Umbrion's Keep, on Thieves' Isle, and a small reflecting pool in the caverns beneath Dal'Noth that through some manner of sorcery functions as an Altar.

Carved stone monoliths found in the Orga Village and near the waterfall in Dredwood bear strong resemblance to Altars, but haven't been seen performing any active function.