The Votive Wax Circle

Deep within the candle-lit back alleys of Veldonia’s High District, far from the grand halls of the College of Arcane Lore, operates a secretive organization known as the Votive Wax Circle. Publicly, they are master chandlers, crafting exquisite, scented candles for the city’s nobility. Their true craft, however, is a sinister form of effigy magic, predicated on the belief that a person’s soul, or a sliver of it, can be rendered down with their body fat and infused into wax.

The organization’s process begins by acquiring a “patron” (typically a fresh corpse from a slum plague-pit or a victim purchased from a noble’s dungeon). The body is then subjected to a slow, ritualistic rendering process in great copper vats, where fat is separated and purified with alchemical reagents and whispered incantations, while being constantly infused with Aether, a process that traps the deceased’s most potent emotion at the time of death—be it terror, wrath, or despair—within the tallow. This “soul wax” is then used to sculpt unnervingly lifelike effigies of their intended targets.

Their services are sought by the elite of the Alderworth Kingdom (and even some foreign powers) for all manner of cruel and subtle purposes. A jealous courtier might purchase an effigy of a rival; burning the candle over a fortnight causes the target to sicken and waste away with a fever that mystifies all healers. A spymaster might commission a candle infused with terror to be placed, unlit, in a target’s room, inducing paranoia and horrifying nightmares. A desperate mother might acquire a candle infused with love and shaped after their dead child, to feel the comfort of their presence.

Although clearly specialized in ritual magic, an Effigist (which is how those who practice this unique art are known as) with enough time to prepare can be a truly terrible foe in combat. With the ability to link the spirit of the dead to their targets, create powerful curse wards, and use powerful binding magic, it isn’t rare that the Votive Wax Circle has established itself so firmly, with no hope for its enemies to be rooted out of the city.