Corrupter of Souls
The Corrupter was said to have been forged by a mad dreamsmith in the dark days of the Dreamer's wars. Long ago when House Calenture and Dreamers of Light were the only open houses, Kelrith pulled the corrupter back into the dream from the chaos from unknown reasons. Kelrith vowed to eliminate the corrupter from the dream, claiming that it had the power to transform dreamers into nightmares. By introducing the Corrupter to the Dream again, Kelrith released one of the first, and indeed the most dastardly of the Darkmares into the dream, Tehthu. Tehthu ravaged the dream and took Ariana captive. Then finally, after the first defeat of Tehthu, and the rescue of Ariana, the ancient DreamWright Aprilic and Tehthu by the Dreaming Stone, and banished with the Orb of Calenture. However, Kelrith did not banish the genuine essence of Tehthu, his work with the corrupter was said to lead to insanity. Because of this, the Corrupter remains in the dream, Tehthu free from it, and Aprilic imprisoned within. Tehthu grows stronger the longer he remains unfettered. The question of whether Kelrith has ever recovered from his corruption remains unanswered....or will Kelrith ever return to the dream with the knowledge of the Corrupter of Souls.
The Capture of Ariana, The Corrupter of Souls and The Orb of Calenture by Tux
"The first documented appearance of Tehthu within the Dream was when he attacked a Freespirit by the name of Ariana in the Basin of Stars. He collapsed her, captured her soul and took it back to his lair. Tehthu attacked other dreamers as well . Some were damaged physically others mentally. However none of them were captured as Ariana had been. In time it was discovered that all of those attacked had come in contact with the Corrupter of Souls."
Tux reminds them... an evil Artifact created by a mad Dreamsmith in the closing days of The Dreamer Wars. After finding clues within the Dream it was determined that 3 Guardians of House Calenture and 3 Guardians of the Dreamers of Light would be needed to combine their powers with that of the ancient Dreamwright Aprilic." 3 plus 3 plus 1 Tux takes a breath and rattles on.
"Upon joining their powers they could summon Tehthu and combat him in order to destroy him and release Ariana's soul. The Day of Summoning arrived; the 7 joined their powers and called forth the Demon Tehthu to the waiting crowd of Freespirits and Initiates of House Calenture and the Dreamers of Light. Many were collapsed to Soulspheres during the battle only to restore their Avatars and return to the combat. "Finally with a skillful blow of her gatesmasher, Ghea of House Calenture defeated Tehthu. In the confusion after the battle an unknown dreamer picked up Tehthu's essence. The crowd went to Edgeward Burrows to celebrate the victory, the return of Ariana and to banish the Tehthu's essence and the Corrupter of Souls.
The dreamers gathered at the Rings of Ascension. (At this time Dragon of House Calenture is Knighted). When Ghea arrived from House Calenture she carried bad news. The Corrupter was missing!!! It was discovered that Draigon of House Calenture had taken the Corrupter. With much argument he finally gave it to Kelrith, who then began the ceremony.
"He took Tehthu's essence from Smoke of House Calenture (who had picked up the essence after the battle) and put it in the Corrupter. Then, with Aprilic's urging, Kelrith used the Dreamer's Stone to bind the essences of both Aprilic and Tehthu to the Corrupter of Souls and used the Orb of Calenture to banish it. Aprilic sacrificed himself to ensure that Tehthu would not break free from his imprisonment.
"Unfortunately, it was later discovered that Smoke had been corrupted by Tehthu's essence. He had given a false Tehthu essence to Kelrith." Tux sighs as he remembers what happened next.
"Kelrith said nothing, since by this time he was enthralled by the evil of the Corrupter of Souls. Since it wasn't the real Tehthu essence the Corrupter still lay in Kelrith's hands. Kelrith was driven temporarily insane by the Corrupter."
