Originally Posted by Sozz
So you're saying the soul cage was crafted in 1482 because that's when the dead three returned, but do we have anything in the game that corroborates that assumption.

As for the influence of dead gods...what is dead may never die, and with strange retcons...I'm pretty sure despite being dead (Bhaal was dead in the first two games) Bhaalists and the followers of other dead gods, have had influence and power throughout the timeline.

I don't think it's beyond the pale for Balthazar to have come in while Thorm was still Sharran, I don't think the followers of evil gods are barred from scheming with each other, and since we know that it was Thorm who captured Aylin, we know that she has been part of the Justiciar rite for what appears to be a long while


While it is completely normal for evil gods to scheme with each other, Shar (or Shar's Cult) has been actively working against the plan of the Absolute by sending a covert strike team to steal the Astral Prism from the Absolutists who stole it from Vlaakith. Also, due to the nature of the Absolute, the Dead Three have mutually exclusive interests with all other gods. As Jergal notes, Mindflayers do not have souls and mind-controlled worship is not legitimate, so the Absolute was actively draining power from every other God. We see micro-examples of the loss of worship in the little notes Absolute followers leave blaspheming their former Gods like Lathander.

The game maintains that Ketheric was not always invincible, as evidenced by dialogue with Jaheira concerning their first fight. This means the Soul Cage was not active in 1392 and was only built after that date. Notes seem to indicate that Balthazar was probably always a devotee of Myrkul, who was still dead between 1392 and 1458-1482 (variable). You make a good point that people worship dead gods all the time. What is likely the case is that Balthazar was a two-bit necromancer working with Ketheric, publicly proclaiming a Sharran faith while privately worshipping the dead god Myrkul. Ketheric, Balthazar, and their special devotees are sealed in the Thorm Mausoleum. Aylin is continuously used as a ritual torture device for the initiation of Dark Justiciars. Myrkul then comes to life. He is approached by Bane and Bhaal who have a plan to take enormous power and get revenge on the Gods. Myrkul finds a sincere devotee in Balthazar and uses him to get to Ketheric. Myrkul offers Ketheric the resurrection of his daughter and true invulnerability in exchange for his servitude. The ritual materials and Isobel's resurrection, along with Balthazar's notes on the Soul Cage in his private study, are recent. It doesn't have to be 1482, but it makes most sense for it to post-date the activity of Durge and the Dead Three, which could be anywhere between 1462 and 1482.

A general rule of thumb in the whole timeline is that the Soul Cage likely post-dates the death of Gorion's Ward (circa 1462-1482) or the Second Sundering (circa 1482). Myrkul wasn't fully dead, being a half-dead rotting god in the Astral Plane for many decades.


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