- This page concerns the River of Souls geographic feature. For the deleted sequence of A Memory of Light published in Unfettered, see River of Souls.
Angarai'la, the River of Souls, is a stream in Shara.[1] Angarai'la flows through a rift valley called Abyrward.
Rai'lair[]
Rai'lair, the Hearttomb, is an ancient cave that is the source of the River of Souls. Inside is the ancient hiding place of the cup-shaped half of Sakarnen,[2] which was protected by an adult Jumara and the head of a Nym.
While the remnant of the Nym survived, the cave was overgrown with foliage.[1] Following the destruction of the Nym, this may no longer be the case.
The Coming of The Wyld[]
In 1000 NE Demandred, called Bao, came to walk the path of Angarai'la. Inside Rai'lair Demandred defeated an adult Jumara that had taken up residence inside the cave. He then killed what remained of the Nym and claimed the piece of Sakarnen that had been hidden there. He returned to the Sharan people at sunset of the third day, fulfilling one of the last prophesies of The Wyld.
Parallels[]
- Rai'lair, a secretive cave containing many corpses and a ferocious beast, and being the site of a major antagonist gaining an important item, likely refers to the English word 'lair' meaning 'a place where a wild animal, especially a fierce or dangerous one, lives;' 'a burial plot in a graveyard;' and 'a secret or private place in which a person, especially a criminal or enemy, takes refuge.'