Vala Cristalis is a unique crystal sphere that contains a world: an ark holding 1,200,000 souls escaped from the broken Cosmarca, seen from outside as a transportable gem and from inside as a river-crossed continent.
| Type | Concept (gem-world) |
| Era | Age of Crystal |
| Also called | Vala, Valis Cristal, Vallys Cristal |
| Spanish entry | Vala Cristalis |
From outside
It is a sphere about sixty feet across, “a hole in the universe” that absorbs light; when forced, “it grows, it does not explode”. In at least one known state it is broken, and emptying it, leaving “a crystal without souls”, was considered.
Lucifer held it — “that ark of salvation”, the sphere “with the potential of a universe” — then a company did; it is entrusted to the knights to carry, and can be demanded as payment.
From inside
Inside lies a river-furrowed continent of Mesopotamian architecture and ancient Mediterranean lineage, older than the known empires. “We are inside a closed crystal and the facets are the platforms.” It has ruins of earlier floods, remains of elves and the serpent being, politics, economy and its own gods (Inanna), with traces of old gods of Earth, though it is not Earth. On 8 of 6 of its calendar it is cold. Routes enter through Avernus, Torin and the steppes. The shriek of the 1,200,000 souls is heard, with “images of a horrible nature”.
The ark
The Cosmarca broke into souls, which escaped through the breach called Antiterra; the gem gathered them and made them a world. They “will return to it”. Unlike Darksand, ravaged by magic, “this world had time to start from zero”.
Theology
Inhabitants hold that the demiurge is evil and the serpent of knowledge is not: a “malgnostic” world with “an infernal substratum”. It is also called a prison, created by a powerful entity that hides it for its own benefit. Vala itself crystallizes; in that context Maristo was named the only company member with no history of betrayal.
Conflicting accounts
- Ark of salvation or prison: “for some it is a lost world; for others it is the reverse, the world of salvation”.
- Duration: at least 4,400 years of inhabitants; a “great road of perdition for 4,004 years”; 4,000 years since the first incarnation of Cakravartin.
- Soul count: “a million”, “a thousand”; the fixed figure is 1,200,000.
Open questions
- Whether “Vala” and “Vala Cristalis” name one thing at two scales or two entities.
- How and when the crystal broke, and what happens to souls when it is broken.
- Who the imprisoning entity is: the demiurge, Lucifer or a third.
- How a sixty-foot sphere is carried.
- What the “8 of 6” date system is.
- Whether Avernus, Torin and the steppes are facets or regions of one continent.