THE SKJALL

Much like the corrupted mutants of Ikuda, these aggressive undead would attack all of the living they set their sights upon, creating more of their kind and thus spreading the infection. The invasion of the undead seemed to be an unstoppable force, laying waste to the kin of the affected regions. It wasn't until the interception of the kai, who were immune to the corruption of Malacath, to eradicate the undead and put a stop to the affliction. The remaining undead in Ikuda were rid of by the Akuunai who used their black magica to banish them to the underworld. Not all of the undead were wiped from existence, however. It would take the arrival of Malacath's own shadow, Noctis to reform the undead into what is now known as the skjall. With the remaining undead, Noctis would form an army large enough to invade the Akuunai, using their fallen warriors to add to his numbers. This new breed of undead was unlike the ones prior which were mindless and meaningless monsters. Rather they were sentient with some intelligence behind their dark, hollow eyes. With this intelligence came the ability to think for themselves. Soon, some of the undead would begin to revolt against their master, seemingly retaining the will of the Akuunai they once were. These deviant undead were seeking purpose within their meager existence, seeking answers for the errant sensation that something was missing within them. As time went on for these roaming skjalls, the fragments of their memories from their past life would begin to slowly come back to them. Though they had no soul, their connection to Noctis whom had claimed their soul since their rise would still be connected to them, bringing up many questions for the intelligent undead. They soon came to realize that the sensation of there being something missing inside of them would be their very soul calling out to them, something all the skjall could feel. With this realization came the need to regain their lost soul, something that was not possible for them, thus prompting these soul searching skjall to create their own form of black magica in order to regain what was taken from them. They would begin to seek the souls of other livings beings, kidnapping them for their experiments of extracting and harnessing the soul. In order to extract a soul, one would first have to bind it. The eyes of the skjall are able to see the souls of others granted to the very soul energy that gives them "life" by their former master, Noctis. This does not mean that they have soul, but rather borrowed energy. One can use this borrowed soul energy to create a circle of binding or a pentagram, something the Akuunai designed. This pentagram is created with the dark intentions of the one who has drawn it, infusing it with dark magica. A captured victim is then placed in the middle of the drawn circle and killed on the spot. It is known amongst the skjalls that once someone dies, their soul is "released" and returned to the source that being the Goddess Yara. The soul can be seen by the eyes of the skjalls making it possible for them to capture one. Having the slain victim sit within the circle prevents the soul to return to its source and forces it to stay stationary while withdrawn from the body. The process is not complete as the skjall still needs to contain it, somehow. It is not simple containing a soul as it is not tangible thus disallowing it to be manipulated by means of force; however, it still can be harnessed. The soul is still connected to the deceased body it was released from, with this in mind, the skjall believes that a vessel extracted from the body will be needed. A simple loose finger or strand of hair will not do. It would require that the vessel itself is large enough and substantial enough to hold the soul within. The skjells, beings of cunningness, would begin to burn the bodies of their victims and take the skulls to use as the vessels they needed for storing the souls they'd bind. This would prove to be effective as the souls would begin to resonate with the skulls of their body, prompting the soul to rejoin with it. The skjells learned that it is impossible for a soul to lose its connection with its original body. This meant that the skjell would be unable to break said bond between the loose soul and its body and form a new one with that soul. In order to remedy this obstruct in their progress, the skjell came up with a work around solution. Rather than having the soul somehow be absorbed into their own body, the skjells would actually adorn the various parts of the victims' bodies, even going as far as to wearing the entire body itself, in order to harness the desired soul. This method is not deemed as a complete connection with the soul although the soul can still form a mutual connection with the skjell. It has been proclaimed that the longer a skjell harbors a soul within them, the chances of that soul passively linking with that skjell can procure. The soul will begin to share its remnants of itself with its host; memories of its former body will fill the skjell's mind and can even alter that skjell's personality, reforming them into that very soul's conscious. This is not entirely a take over by the soul, however seeing as the skjell can still retain its own persona. With the success of this soul binding comes with the shared knowledge of its process. The schooling of black magica would go on to be known as necromancy with the discovery that one can also raise the dead in this method. One would simply have to reunite the soul with its deceased body once it's released. This form of black magica is difficult from all other schools of magica seeing as it deals with the dead and the understanding of the soul.