he 
orbidden opic
[
verybody knows it. Nobody talks about it. The smelting of souls forms the single largest native industry in the Underworld. Apart from Relics or Fetters, apart from the few physical substances that exist in the lands of the dead, everything tangible consists, at least in part, of soulplasm, the malleable residue made from the Corpus of Wraiths consigned to the soul-forges of Stygia.
Although the transformation of sentient beings into presumably nonsentient raw building materials is not considered a fit subject for polite or casual conversation, the questionable ethics behind the smelting of suls remains the major point of contention for critics both outside and within the Heirarchy. Many Renegades who might otherwise support the Heirarchy's primary goals simply cannot accept the wholesale rendering of Wraiths into plasm and oppose the Heirarchy for that reason alone.
Despite attempts by higher powers to silence discussion of the subject, the debate rages. Defenders of the smelting of souls argue that the creatures (no one refers to them as individuals) so destined represent only those elements of wraith society either too weak to withstand the inexoriable pull of Oblivion or too useless to become productive in any other fashion. Here, the creatures become productive members of society, even if it is just as a paving-stone or the hilt of a Legionnaire's sword. These defenders point to the wall of living souls that surrounds Stygia and forms her first line of defense against potential [Spectral] attackers. They point at the vast system of roads and rails, made from alloys of soul-strengthened metal and stone from the mines of the Venous Stair. They point to the manacles and chains that are used to anchor weak but productive Thralls to the Shadowlands, so that they will not be sucked into the Void. Sometimes they point to the lampposts made from Moliated thralls, set alight to illuminate the pervasive Stygian darkness or the Thrall-torches that mark the external borders of the Necropoli in the Shadowlands. Occasionally they point to the material conveniences made possible through the use of soul-plasm, but even other Heirarchs consider this to be the weakest of their arguments.
hose who oppose the transformation of souls into goods have their own counterarguments.
n the end, however, the morality behind the smelting of souls remains a moot point. Charon sanctioned the process during the building of Stygia; the Deathlords have decreed that the production of soulplasm is good for the economy of the Empire; and the average wraith who depends on a lantern to light his path, a sword for self-defense or a wall to keep out Oblivion and the Tempest refuses to think about the process whereby those items were formed.
It is said that the lands of death are anything but quiet, and perhaps the constant noise and chatter of the Restless Dead serves a valuable purpose in drowning out the tortured whimpers of items from the Stygian forges...
[from the Heirarchy: in the ranks of death pp. 74-75]
main 
history 
legions 
introduction 
contacts 
venue concept 
site index 
the golden rules 
The most recent updates to the site are available.
The Canadian Regional Web Site for the Camarilla.
Most of the stuff on this page is copyright by White Wolf Publishing Inc. Used without express permission, and without any intent to challenge their rights to the material. The purpose of this site is to provide support for a Live Action troupe who create improvisational stories through Wraith: the Oblivion. Our local Domain is Halifax: CND-006.
THE CAMARILLA, VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE, WEREWOLF: THE APOCALYPSE, WRAITH: THE OBLIVION, and CHANGELING: THE DREAMING are all registered Trademarks of White Wolf Game Studios. Any use of White Wolf Game Studios' copyrighted material or trademarks at this WWW site should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks.
No more than 1500 words of text may be taken from any single White Wolf book and no more than 10,000 total taken from any White Wolf Products. Any text used must cite the Book taken from and the page number.