Seal Stone

Spoiler Alert!

The details below contain SPOILERS, you may want to view this after completing the storyline in-game.

“If there is even one Seal Stone left in the world, the Black Mage cannot fully regain his powers. For that is the great wish of the people of Maple World.”

― Gelimer, in his notes on the Seal Stones

A Seal Stone stolen by the Black Wings

A Seal Stone is an object of immense power, greater than that of the Ancient Gods and the Transcendents. The predecessors to the Seal Stones were the Godspheres (known as the "spear of god" in the original KMS text), which were made by the elders of Grandis to create Adversaries in order to defeat the Ancient Gods. Eons later, Freud created the Seal Stones as safeguards and weapons during the war against the Black Mage. As he had created them with the purpose of sealing the Black Mage, Freud chose to name them Seal Stones. Although the Seal Stones were modeled off the Godspheres, both are identical and share the same properties, as both of them were imbued with the same power of the World Heart - the original relic created by the Overseers.

During the events of Yum Yum Island, Kaling attempted to replicate the Godspheres, but her resulting failure resulted in the creation of contaminated Godspheres. These imperfect, failed copies of the Godspheres had their power placed inside her blue buttons, which contained only a small portion of divine power.

During the history of the Angler Company, the Angler Father has attempted to create an artificial Godsphere by harvesting immense amounts of power across Grandis and integrating it with his mechanical heart, though it remains unknown whether this artificial Godsphere holds the same power and ability of a true Godsphere containing the power of the Overseers.

During the war against the High Flora, Gerand Darmoor and his Apostles used draining crystals in order to absorb the power of the gods. Although unconfirmed, it is speculated by the Adversary that these crystals are an offshoot of the Godspheres.

Properties and Use

According to Gelimer's research, a Seal Stone has the following properties:

1. Is a gem
2. Contains mysterious power, greater than that of a Transcendent
3. Requires many conditions to use, mainly the desperate wish of many
4. Once it demonstrates a power greater than cause and effect, it will be destroyed

The writings on the Godspheres in the Cernium Royal Library state:

To defend against the Ancient Gods' chaos, the world created a holy artifact. The weapon fused with the noble one. And together, they began the ancient war. Only one thing wakens the holy artifact... The will and determination of the people. As such, the godly power within this item can never be limited to a single individual.  

Seal Stones and Godspheres

Despite the Seal Stone and the Godsphere being functionally identical, both of them were developed independently for different purposes.

The Godspheres were first created by the elders of Grandis, who drew upon the power of the World Heart - the holy relic of the Overseers given to them with the intent of defeating the Ancient Gods. The World Heart, despite being known as "the first Godsphere", has entirely different properties from the Godspheres - namely that it possesses the power to divest higher beings of their godly power, as well as the fact that it does not respond to the will and determination of the people. Drawing upon the immense power contained inside the World Heart, the elders mass-produced the weaker Godspheres, modeling them off the properties of other holy relics belonging to the Ancient Gods. Similar to how these relics awaken in the hands of one chosen by the followers of that god, the Godspheres awaken to the collective desire of the world itself, thereby ensuring that its power cannot be monopolized by the greed of an individual. Despite this, however, the Godspheres were not created with the intention of being given to the people, instead being manufactured with the intention of being used as weapons against the Ancient Gods. This reason is why the name of the Godspheres in the original KMS text is the "spear of god".

The Godspheres were produced with the intention of fusing them together with worthy individuals, awakening them as beings capable of defeating higher beings, which the elders called Adversaries. However, as the Godspheres' power can only be drawn out by the will of the people, the elders conducted brutal experiments in Odium to artificially create Adversaries by erasing their individuality and sense of self, ensuring that their test subjects were stripped of any personal desire or emotion outside of their hardwired purpose of fulfilling the greatest wish of the people: to put an end to the chaos of the Ancient Gods. As a result, the Godspheres recognized that these test subjects were empty Vessels filled with the collective desire of the people, thereby fusing with them and turning them into Adversaries. As the Godspheres contain the power of the Overseers, these holy artifacts are imbued with the Overseers' will and their strong desire to maintain order and certainty in the universe. As the Overseers believed that the existence of the Adversaries made them as powerful and uncontrollable as the Ancient Gods themselves, the power of the Overseers within the Godspheres ensures that the destiny of every Adversary is death upon the fulfillment of their purpose, with the Godsphere bringing about their preordained end. As a result of this, the Adversaries created by the elders all met their deaths upon carrying out their task, resulting in the power of the Godspheres scattering across the world and permeating deep beneath the continent.

In contrast to the Godspheres, however, the Seal Stones were created by Freud by extracting the power beneath the continent and refashioning it back into the original relics, which he named 'Seal Stones'. Unlike the elders, who had created the Godspheres to be weapons against the gods, Freud had created the Seal Stones with the intent of sealing the Black Mage away, as well as to use them as safeguards in the event that the Black Mage destroyed Maple World. As the Seal Stones were capable of granting the greatest wish of the people, Freud distributed the Seal Stones to the various regions of Maple World, intending for the Seal Stones to grant the wish of the people and restore their broken lands. However, this mechanism was merely a contingency in the case that the Heroes failed to defeat the Black Mage, as Freud's primary goal with the Seal Stones was to combine their divine power with a special sealing spell that he himself had devised, in which the sacrifice of one living person's time could catalyze a spell that would absorb the power of the Transcendent of Time stolen by the Black Mage, creating a seal with the power of time that would bind the Black Mage to eternity.

Despite this, however, two of Freud's Seal Stones would be used for both of the purposes for which each of their respective creators - the elders and Freud himself - had intended. The Seal Stone of Victoria Island was used by the Explorer and the people of Maple Island to restore their land after it had been destroyed by the Black Mage. Later on, at the end of the battle of Black Heaven, the player was exposed to Gelimer's deadly Retoxin that placed them on the verge of death. The Maple Alliance then used the Seal Stone of Ereve, pouring in their collective desire to save the player's life. As a result of the player being filled with the wishes of the people, the Seal Stone fused with them and turned the player into an Adversary, saving their life in the process. However, as the Seal Stone shared the same properties as the Godsphere, the player - after fulfilling their purpose by killing the Black Mage - was destined for death in the near future, though this was averted by Gerand Darmoor, who destroyed the Seal Stone inside the player during the events of Cernium, thereby ensuring that they would not meet the Adversary's destiny.

Destructibility

Kaling's experiments with the Godspheres on Yum Yum Island suggest that they cannot be destroyed through conventional means, as Gaon recognized that the Adversary was able to destroy her contaminated Godspheres, whereas he could not. It is likely that only a true Vessel is capable of destroying a Godsphere by drawing out the power of the Adversary contained inside it. Given that Darmoor was able to destroy the Adversary's Seal Stone, it is likely that a higher being, such as an Ancient God or a Transcendent, can also destroy a Godsphere, lining up with the ancient belief that "only a god can challenge another god". This is supported by the fact that the Adversary was able to destroy Azor, the holy relic of Mitra, only because they held the Seal Stone, which was matched in divine power with the holy sword. As the Seal Stone of Ereve was described as the final Seal Stone left in the world, this suggests that the Black Wings were able to destroy the ones that they had collected, though it remains unknown how they could do so without a true Vessel or a holy relic. It is possible that the Black Wings chose to seal the Seal Stones away, rather than destroy them, thus ensuring that their power could not hinder the Black Mage from regaining his full strength.

Limitations

There appear to be only two limitations on the power of the Seal Stones:

1. According to Empress Cygnus, the Seal Stones cannot bring back someone from the dead, although they do have the power to save someone on the brink of death, such as the player, who was dying from Gelimer's Retoxin.
2. The main restriction on the Seal Stones is that they cannot be used to grant the wish of an individual, as they respond only to the collective desire of a population. Additionally, a Seal Stone will be destroyed upon use, such as when the Explorer used the Seal Stone of Victoria Island to restore Maple Island after the Black Mage's attack.

If the wish granted by the Seal Stone is targeted towards an individual, such as the player being filled with the wishes of the Alliance for their life to be saved, the Seal Stone will not disappear upon use, but will instead fuse with them and turn them into an Adversary. The Seal Stone will then remain inside the Adversary until the fulfillment of their purpose, at which point it will kill its Vessel in the near future and scatter its power into the land. However, this fate can be averted if the Seal Stone is removed from the Adversary before their preordained end.

History

The Ancient War

The Godspheres were first created by the elders of Grandis, who used the Overseers' original relic - the World Heart - as a template. Whereas the World Heart had the ability to drain a god of their power, the weaker, man-made Godspheres did not share this property. Furthermore, unlike World Heart - which had its own unique conditions to awaken - the Godspheres awakened to the will and determination of the people, similar to how the holy relics of the Ancient Gods selected a worthy champion based on who the followers of that god deemed worthy. The elders conducted experiments in Odium to fuse Vessels with the Godspheres, giving rise to Adversaries who could defeat the gods and put an end their unaccountable chaos. As there was a danger that the Adversaries could cause chaos on-par with that of the Ancient Gods, it had been ordained by the Overseers that the fate of every Adversary was to die upon fulfilling their purpose. As a result, the Adversaries of Odium began falling one by one after defeating the gods. Eventually, the Ancient Gods were defeated and the power of the Godspheres, deriving from the World Heart, permeated deep into the land.

The Seal Stones

Eons later, Freud, the leader of the Heroes, was able to extract the World Heart's residual power from the continent and modeled his own Godspheres. He chose to name them Seal Stones, as he hoped to infuse them with the power of time in order to seal the Black Mage away. To this end, he added magical seals to five of the Seal Stones, such that they could draw the power of time that the Black Mage had stolen from Rhinne in order to create a powerful Seal of Time. In addition to sealing the Black Mage, Freud hoped to use the Seal Stones as a failsafe in the event that the Black Mage destroyed Maple World. As the Seal Stones could grant the wish of a population, the Heroes distributed several Seal Stones to the people of Maple World, which would allow them to turn back time and undo any damage sustained to their lands in case the Heroes lost the battle against the Black Mage. During the final battle, Freud placed the five magically enhanced Seal Stones around the Black Mage. As the seal spell required the sacrifice of a living person's time in order to be catalyzed, Shade chose to give up his time, after which Luminous fought the Black Mage and forced him to exceed his full power, such that he would have no choice but to use the power of time that he stole from Rhinne. Through Luminous' efforts, the Seal Stones absorbed the power of time and created the Seal of Time to bind the Black Mage to eternity. However, as a result of Arkarium attempting to go back in time and break the seal, one of the Seal Stones began degrading and eventually shattered when the Explorer attempted to replace it with the Seal Stone of Victoria Island, allowing the Black Mage to break free from his seal.

Shinsoo's Teardrop

Shortly after Empress Aria's death, the Knight of Light - the Empress' guardian - was tasked with protecting the Seal Stone of Ereve, which had been given to Shinsoo by Freud. In memory of Aria's death, the Seal Stone of Ereve was given the name 'Shinsoo's Teardrop'. The Seal Stone was kept within the Soul Shield of the Knight of Light, with each Knight being tasked with its protection over generations. Centuries later, the Soul Shield came under the guardianship of Chromile, the Knight of Light. A disciple of Chromile named Atan, who had heard the legend of Shinsoo's Teardrop, which was said to have the power to grant any wish, killed Chromile and his wife before kidnapping his son, Mihile, and raising him as his own son, hoping to manipulate the boy into awakening the Soul Shield and extract the Seal Stone. Eventually, Mihile was discovered by Empress Cygnus and brought to Ereve as the new Knight of Light. However, Atan sieged the island and tricked Mihile into giving him Shinsoo's Teardrop. Though Atan prayed furiously for his son to return back to life, the Seal Stone remained unresponsive to his thoughts, as it would not grant the wish of an individual. Shortly after, Atan was killed while fighting Mihile, who relinquished guardianship of Shinsoo's Teardrop and returned it back to the Empress, its rightful custodian.

The Black Wings

Soon after, the Seal Stones became objects of interest to the Black Wings, who sought to collect all the Seal Stones, believing that it would allow them to revive the Black Mage. In reality, however, the Black Wings had been ordered to collect the Seal Stones by Orchid so that Gelimer could use them as power sources to revive Lotus, who had been beaten into a coma by Phantom. Despite the best efforts of Aran, the Cygnus Knights, and several others, the Black Wings succeeded in stealing all but one of the Seal Stones by the time of the Black Heaven incident. However, Gelimer was unable to harness the Seal Stones' power, as they would not grant the wish of an individual. These Seal Stones, through unknown means, were eventually destroyed, leaving the Seal Stone of Ereve as the final Seal Stone in existence. At one point, Arkarium ordered his forces to steal the Forbidden Book of Alchemy in Magatia, which contained information on Dark Alchemy, the art of creating and destroying magical substances. With it, he hoped to destroy the five Seal Stones that powered the Seal of Time and free the Black Mage, although his plans were foiled by the Demon. After the Black Mage was accidentally freed from his seal by the Explorer, he laid waste to Maple Island. The Explorer was eventually able to use the Seal Stone of Victoria Island to undo the damage inflicted by the Black Mage. Despite being freed from the Seal of Time, however, the remaining Seal Stones in Maple World unconsciously channeled the collective desire of the people for the Black Mage to be stopped, which prevented him from using his full power.

A New Adversary

At the end of the Black Heaven crisis, the Alliance used Shinsoo's Teardrop - the final Seal Stone in existence - to revive the Alliance member who had defeated Gelimer. While the use of the Seal Stone removed the final restraint on the Black Mage's power, which had been restricted from the Seal Stones unconsciously channeling the people's wish for him to be stopped, the Seal Stone fused with the Alliance member, who became a new Adversary. The Black Mage, upon sensing the creation of the Adversary, told his Commanders, "The shape of destiny has been twisted. A new Adversary has appeared, with the power of the Seal Stone." Unbeknownst to them, however, the Black Mage had intended to create an Adversary, who would be able to kill him, thus destroying the Transcendents and liberating the world from the Overseers' influence. With the power of the Seal Stone, the Adversary went on a journey through the Arcane River in order to confront the Black Mage. Alongside the Alliance, the Adversary fought the Black Mage and his forces at the final battle of Tenebris, where their strong determination allowed them to awaken the Seal Stone's power and kill the Black Mage in Limina.

Yum Yum Island Experiments

After becoming an Apostle of Darmoor, Kaling was tasked with creating a Godsphere in order to create a new Adversary for Darmoor. In Yum Yum Island, Kaling began conducting experiments to create Vessels and Godspheres using the Erdas of the most powerful monsters in Maple World. Using the power that she received from Darmoor, Kaling began mass-producing her replicas of the Godspheres, whose power was contained inside her blue buttons. However, though her button Godspheres contained a trace of divine power, they were ultimately imperfect, failed copies that soon became infected with her contamination. The buttons were artificially fused with the makeshift Vessels that Kaling created, though these creations were all defective Vessels that were unable to reach the residual power of the Adversary contained inside the defective Godspheres. However, Chief Lyon was able to destroy a contaminated Godsphere, suggesting that he may be a true Vessel.

Angler Company Experiments

The Angler Father, a defective Vessel created in Odium eons ago, founded the Angler Company in the present day, hoping to fulfill his hardwired purpose to become an Adversary, despite being deemed incompatible with the Godsphere during the Odium experiments. The Angler Father built several cybernetic children using stolen Odium technology, intending for them to harvest enough energy for him to create a Godsphere without the power of the World Heart. The Angler Father created two artificial Godsphere hearts for his cybernetic body, one of which was deemed a failure and given to his son, Cosim. However, the other heart was considered a success, containing an immense amount of raw power harvested by his children. Nevertheless, the power source for this heart was stolen by Cosim, who turned on his father after his memory chip was influenced by the failed Godsphere heart, granting him memories of a rabbit Anima kidnapped by the Angler Father, which made him believe that he himself was the Anima stolen by the Angler Father and turned into a machine against his will. Cosim then took the power source from his father's perfected heart, keeping it inside his failed heart, which the Angler Father later recovered by capturing Cosim. Because the power source could not be disentangled from Cosim's failed heart, Senya Angler - Cosim's sister who had come to rescue him - took Cosim's entire heart out of his body before escaping, resolving to keep the Godsphere out of her father's hands.

Destruction of the Seal Stone

During the expedition to Cernium, the Adversary learned that that the Seal Stones had been originally created in the form of the Godspheres, which had been meant to be used as weapons against the Ancient Gods. Soon after, Gerand Darmoor - disguised as Aaron - forced Mitra the Sun God to possess Seren, who immediately targeted the Adversary, having recognized that the power of the Seal Stone within them was the same power that had defeated the Ancient Gods. In the aftermath of the battle, Darmoor revealed his true identity to the Alliance, after which he extracted the Seal Stone from within the Adversary before destroying it. Unbeknownst to them, however, Darmoor - knowing that the Adversary had fulfilled their purpose by killing the Black Mage - had intended to destroy the Seal Stone in order change the Adversary's destiny to die, as the Seal Stone would have soon killed them if it had remained in their body any longer.

The World Heart

Following the events of Cernium, the Adversary was led to Karote, where they learned about the experiments conducted by the elders of Grandis. They then arrived in Odium and encountered Hundun, who bestowed the World Heart - which he called the final Godsphere of Odium - upon them. As the World Heart's power had faded, the Adversary, with the help of Master Tai Yu, traveled to Shangri-La in order to ask the elders to help them restore it. In Shangri-La, Kaling - with the help of several traitorous elders - broke into the realm of the sages and attacked the Adversary in order to take the World Heart. After the Adversary defeated her, the World Heart absorbed the Transcendent powers that Darmoor had given her, restoring part of its original strength. Following the battle, the Adversary began a new journey to restore the World Heart and reawaken its power.

Known Seal Stones

1. Seal Stone of Victoria Island - Francis the Puppeteer used his puppets to seize control of the monsters in Victoria Island in order to find the Seal Stone of Victoria Island. However, Phantom and Tru were able to obtain it first. Tru later gave the Seal Stone to Aran and Lilin to safeguard in Rien. Eventually, Lilin entrusted the Seal Stone to Athena Pierce, although Baroq the Master of Disguise managed to steal it while it was being transported by disguising himself as an Explorer named Olive. The Seal Stone was eventually recovered by the Explorer, Olive, Tess, Sugar, and Rondo. After the Black Mage laid waste to Maple Island, the Explorer used the Seal Stone of Victoria Island to restore Maple Island.
2. Seal Stone of Ellin Forest - Aran attempted to recover this Seal Stone by going through a crack in time in Ludibrium, which led her to Altaire Camp. Before she could take the Seal Stone, however, Hiver managed to steal it first. It is unknown why this stone was made separately from the Seal Stone of Victoria Island, as Ellin Forest was part of the island before it developed into the Perion and Ellinia of present day.
3. Seal Stone of Orbis - The Black Wings stole this Seal Stone by tricking Evan into aiding them. The young magician sprayed a growth accelerant on the Nependeaths, allowing Hiver to break into the Sealed Garden and steal the Seal Stone. Aran discovered its theft while remedying the situation on Orbis.
4. Seal Stone of El Nath - The stone was once in possession of Alcaster's master, and was passed down to Alcaster upon his death. During his investigation on the Black Wings, Phantom discovered that the Black Wings had stolen the Seal Stone from Alcaster's master's laboratory. It is also possible that Alcaster's laboratory could have been connected to the basement of the Chief's Residence in El Nath, as the Black Wings tricked Evan into obtaining a copy of the key to enter the basement during their mission to obtain the Seal Stones. 
5. Seal Stone of Mu Lung - Aran attempted to stop the Shadow Knight from stealing the Seal Stone in the Sealed Temple, but just as she defeated the Shadow Knight, Hiver took the Seal Stone and disappeared.
6. Seal Stone of Ludibrium - Evan, tricked into helping the Black Wings, destroyed the Door Block guarding the Seal Stone, allowing the Black Wings to steal it.
7. Seal Stone of Ereve - Also known as Shinsoo's Teardrop, this Seal Stone was protected by the Knight of Light for generations until Mihile gave it back to the Empress. The Seal Stone was nearly stolen by Baroq, who attempted to infiltrate Ereve with his shapeshifting skills, though Aran's timely warning allowed the Chief Knights to stop him. It was later used during the Black Heaven crisis to revive the Alliance member, who bonded with the Seal Stone and became an Adversary. The Seal Stone of Ereve was later destroyed by Gerand Darmoor in Cernium.

Known Godspheres

• Though a large number of Godspheres were manufactured by the elders of Grandis, these Godspheres were all destroyed after their Vessels met their preordained deaths, scattering the World Heart's power contained within them deep beneath the continent.
• Although it remains unknown whether the First Explorer was created in Odium, the power of the Godsphere contained within him scattered into the leaves of the Maple Tree on Maple Island after he met the fate of all Adversaries.
• There are many contaminated Godspheres that exist on Yum Yum Island, which have been fused with the defective Vessels that Kaling created. However, these contaminated Godspheres are later described by Gaon as 'failed' and 'imperfect', causing him to doubt whether they can even be called Godspheres at all.
• An artificial Godsphere has been created by the founder of the Angler Company with the intent of becoming an Adversary with its power. This Godsphere was created by harvesting an immense amount of energy and placing it within a mechanical heart. It is currently unknown whether this Godsphere functions in the same way as a true Godsphere, as it does not contain the power of a higher being, instead being entirely man-made. However, as the Angler Father had deemed it a successful experiment, it is possible that its power is enough to imitate a true Godsphere in the event that it is integrated into a cyborg, enhancing the Vessel enough to have the strength to challenge a god, even while being rejected by a true Godsphere.
• The World Heart has been described as the "first Godsphere", which was created by the Overseers and bestowed upon the elders. However, as the World Heart has completely different properties from man-made Godspheres, it cannot truly be considered a Godsphere in the same sense as conventional Godspheres or the Seal Stones.

Trivia

• Server Naming Difference:
  • Current name:
    • GMS / MSEA: Seal Stone
    • KMS: 봉인석 (Bonginseok)
  • Original name:
    • GMS: Godsphere
    • KMS: 신의 창 (Spear of god)
• In the original Explorer storyline, Hiver actually tried to steal the Seal Stone of Nihal Desert, which was recovered by the Explorer, Sugar, Tess, Olive, and Rondo. With the changes made to the storyline, this Seal Stone is no longer confirmed to exist.
• In the same storyline, the combined will of the Explorer and their allies transformed the Explorer's maple leaf into the Seal Stone of Maple Island, which they used to restore their home. The old storyline stated that the Seal Stones could only be used on the lands they were made for, which was why the Explorer couldn't have used any of the other Seal Stones to restore Maple Island until the creation of a new Seal Stone for the land. This information has been removed in the new storyline, which is why the Explorer was able to use the Seal Stone of Victoria Island to restore Maple Island.
• Before the Explorer storyline was revamped in the Destiny update, Magician Explorers were able to complete a quest that allowed them to obtain Freud's research notes on the Seal Stones, which detailed the necessary components in order to create one:
  1. A focal point for where the power of the Seal Stone must be channeled (a continent, person, etc.)
  2. The combined will of five individuals to give the intent for the Seal Stone's power
  3. A strong desire to abandon destruction and seek peace However, these details were made non-canon after the Explorer storyline revamp. In particular, the power of a Seal Stone is no longer limited to the continent for which it was made in the current continuity.
• The color of the Seal Stones is fairly inconsistent across storylines:
  • When the Seal Stones were first introduced in the game, they were all colored purple.
  • Later on in Luminous' storyline, the Seal Stones that powered the Seal of Time were colored red.
  • In Black Heaven, the Seal Stone of Ereve was depicted to be blue.
  • However, in Cernium, the Seal Stone of Ereve was shown to be red when Darmoor extracted it from the player.
  • In the Explorer storyline, the Seal Stone of Victoria Island was colored purple, which is consistent with its original appearance.
  • In the revamped story for Mihile, the Seal Stone of Ereve was colored red, which is consistent with its appearance in Cernium, but not in Black Heaven. As a result the Seal Stone of Ereve chronologically starts out red, then blue, then red again.