Soul-Slivered

"Did you see his eyes? Like lightning."
"Aye, I saw 'em. Soul-Slivered. Nothin' else it could be."

The Soul-Slivered are not quickly identifiable by name to most people. Few are aware of the concept of being "Soul-Slivered" and many instead opt merely to duck their heads and desperate try not to stare at the individuals often described as having "lightning in their eyes".

The Slivered

Condition

Being Soul-Slivered is the common term for having a cracked or "slivered" soul, usually as a result of divine retribution, though the condition has appeared naturally in rare instances. Before The Cataclysm, the only divine entity that would carry out this punishment was the Infernal Eye. However, after the One in White rises to power post-Cataclysm, he begins using it as well as a method of threatening and coercing the other Gods into doing his bidding.

Having a cracked soul inherently weakens it, making it easier to shatter or remove, and leaves an indivual vulnerable to magic that directly targets the Soul, such as Dominate Person or Magic Jar.

Cause

Being "Slivered" is a condition that strictly manifests within those deep within the Infernal Eye Network. Those who serve strictly as Voices for the Network have never been targeted or later discovered to be Slivered.

Typically, an Infernal Initiate will be the one to "acquire" the Soul-Sliver. It is almost always a warning, directly from the Infernal Eye, that the Initiate has stepped out of line, and is intended to imply that the Eye can do much worse if the disobedience continues.

Manifestation

The Soul-Slivered, while not quickly identifiable by the layperson, can still be spotted easily if one knows what to look for.

"Lightning Eyes"

The most notable characteristic of a Soul-Slivered is that their eyes are commonly described as "trapping lightning" or variations of them, though the specifics of how that manifests varies between races.

Those with solid eyes (tieflings, changelings) have notable "cracks" or "lightning trees" crossing their eyes, breaking up the solid colors. The cracks are typically black, and thus can be obscured in darker eye colors, but purely black eyes have seen these cracks appear white. The lines are hair-thin, making them not immediately visible at a distance, and appear to simply shift the eye color slightly.

For the vast majority of people, with detailed eyes (humans, Genasi, elves, dwarves, etc.) the "lightning eyes" manifest differently. A shift in eye color is typically the first trait noticed. Shifted towards a bright violet, brown eyes see the most notable change, going from an earthy brown to a dark shade of magenta.

In addition to the color shift in detailed eyes, most Soul-Slivered find themselves with a form of central heterochromia, where their iris has an electric violet or silver ring around the iris, crawling into the rest of the iris similar to lightning.

Vericraft

Every Soul-Slivered mortal has had, with varying degrees of success, control over Vericraft. Inherently unstable, the Slivered find themselves with a sudden lack of control over it. Most Initiates, even those who are not Soul-Slivered, choose one type of Vericraft to specialize in (fire, cold, necromatic, psychic, etc.), but no matter what form they choose, raw, untamed Vericraft always manifests as arcs of violet lightning.

These arcs are quick to skip from an Infernal Initiate that lacks sufficient control over it, and their fear of hurting anyone merely feeds the feral magic and makes it more dangerous. As a result, most Soul-Slivered Initiate find themselves undergoing the Final Rite and becoming a Voidwalker to protect those around them, even if they were not planning to before becoming Slivered.

Lightning Scars

The unstable Vericraft combined with a weakened soul means that the Soul-Slivered have "cracks" across their body, typically appearing as scarred over, though they can rarely appear like fresh wounds. These scars are not immediately obvious, especially during brief interactions, but careful scrutiny or prolonged contact with a Soul-Slivered will reveal thin, jagged scarring all over their body, as if struck by lightning.

In rare cases where a Slivered has completely lost or surrendered control of their Vericraft, these scars may glow a bright electric-violet, though such an occurance usually preceeds mass destruction and death, so it's best to flee the scene if spotted.

Type

Magical

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Extremely Rare

Void-Marked?
An ongoing theory about the Soul-Slivered is that the Eye is choosing promising but disobedient Initiates who may leave the Network, cracking their soul as a way to sabotague them and force them to undergo the Final Rite in a desperate effort to maintain control over their Vericraft.

Eye Color Changes
Blue -> Medium Blue
Green -> Dark Slate Grey
Brown -> Dark Magenta
Silver -> Lavender
Red -> Berry
Yellow -> Mustard

Slivered Scarring
Because most souls are cracked when the body is dead, the cracks heal as a result of resurrection magic mending fatal injuries, though a few unfortunate souls are Slivered while still alive, and without healing magic, their cracks will appear as open wounds.