Tal-Enki

Tal-Enki, or Hearth Spirits, are a phenomenon ubiquitous across Northfeir. They are the spirit of a home, both intangible and invisible, and are said to infuse a place with a measure of safety and peace. Cities are believed to contain nested layers of Tal-Enki from single rooms to the city as a whole.

It is debated what exactly a Tal-Enki is. While they seem to have some level of understanding, no one has ever observed or encountered one in a tangible way, and they have only been detected by magical means. What is understood, however, is they are created by the warmth of a home and the presence of people. The more care and love the inhabitants provide the home, the more potent the Tal-Enki becomes. Likewise, a neglected home's Tal-Enki slowly withers away, but never dies. Instead of dying, a Tal-Enki becomes a Kual-Ko'tan. This transformation can be avoided by conducting a Hearth Pyre, a solemn ceremony meant set the dying home to rest. A proper Hearth Pyre is the only means to kill a Tal-Enki.

Kual-Ko'Tan

When a Tal-Enki is left too long to wither without a proper Hearth Pyre performed, it leaves its home to wander the wastes of Northfeir forever as a Kual-Ko'Tan; a Dead Home. These wandering forgotten spirits eventually may manifest into tangible specters, filled with wrath over their neglect. After a Kual-Ko'Tan has been created, a Hearth Pyre will do nothing to affect it. An angered Kual-Ko'Tan may only be slain by first subduing it with magic before hammering it to the ground with a red-hot iron rod that quenches in the snow.