Phylacteries

Modern Phylacteries
The modern version of a phylactery has been heavily altered from its predecessor of ancient times. Now fetching a high price on the markets of the royals, this phylactery serves as a safe point, usable during any point of a person's life, to secure regeneration in case of a fatal incident. This phylactery can not prevent a person's death if used after a wound or deadly illness has already affected the body. If taken during the course of such a case, using the phylactery would only set them back to the beginning of the struggle, which would inevitably result in the same outcome.

These phylacteries can be created through more than one methods, including the harvest of souls through the use of Blood Magic. In physical appearance, the vials of these phylacteries share an uncanny resemblance with the early stage of their predecessors. However, due to their flawed design, several souls are needed to finish them.

Ancient Phylacteries
The art of crafting these phylacteries has been long lost with time, as knowledge about their creation and use have been eradicated alongside the lives of their creators. Originally a vital part to an ancient civilization's culture, these phylacteries are now a song of myth. They were said to not only be capable of shielding a body from incoming death, but could also cure diseases developed during early life.

The creation of these phylacteries needed only one soul to succeed, specifically the soul of a cursed mage, as they were deemed undeserving of a cure in the ancient culture. Once finished, a body could absorb the phylactery and undergo a complete restoration, even defying full destruction of the previous body.

Sacrosancts
Sacrosancts were scholars of the ancient civilization, who served the role of overseeing the successful completion of a phylactery. Assisted by runic automatons, they could close a phylactery after receiving a soul. Without their interference, they could not be closed, rendering them useless. Sacrosancts began their training at an early age and dedicated their entire life to their service.

History
Records of the events of the past surrounding phylacteries are rare, due to targeted destruction of the culture known for their creation. At an unknown point of history, ancient phylacteries were created in so called "farms", where the souls of cursed mages were harvested. The sacrifice of a mage's soul was deemed noble, as an "incurable" life was given up to save another's. The creation of a phylactery was no speedy progress and took several years to finish. Due to this fact, the person receiving the new body was determined only days before finishing the first step of creation. The mages would live within farm grounds and the harvest was acted out by the Harbinger, a near-celestial creature capable of draining and relocating a soul. A devastating event eventually destroyed a main farm located in the hedge maze of Palinoia, causing the deaths of thousands.

Several years later, a yet unrevealed motivation drove the royals of all nations to enter a state of war with the ancient civilization, reigning victorious over a seemingly endless struggle. After eradicating a majority of the ancient civilization, the survivors fled their home to live in hiding. As a result, unfinished phylacteries could not be studied by the thieves seeking to know their secrets, leaving them with only unfinished vials. These vials would later become the base for the phylacteries that became a vital part in royal trading and sales.