Reliquary of Souls Strategy Guide
The lost souls found within
Before players reach the encounter, the boss is protected by a gauntlet of ghosts. Players must push through the gauntlet safely and quickly before mobs respawn with them and join them in the boss encounter. However, who are these lost souls?
It's easy to say it could just be any souls found throughout Outland, but a potential connection could be that the Draenei souls that were used to power the Dark Portal in the first place are the souls found in the temple, as the same statues that tower over the Dark Portal are also found in the Reliquary's boss room.
The same statues seen at the Dark Portal can be seen at the Reliquary as well
On top of that, one of the ghost models, the Angered Soul Fragment, appears to have a male Draenei-like model, helping support this theory. The lives lost to power the portal could have been transferred or taken back to the Black Temple afterward. However, there might be a different reason for these model types being here.
The True Intentions of the Reliquary
Players who carefully read through their Mount Hyjal attunement would notice that although there were seven Vials of Eternity total, only five were accounted for, with another used to create the Sunwell.
Soridormi says:
"Seven vials were drawn from the Well of Eternity by Illidan. He poured three into the lake on top of Mount Hyjal, and a second Well of Eternity was created. For years, the rest were believed lost.
With the opening of the Dark Portal, we've come to know that he gave one each to his lieutenants Kael'thas and Vashj."
It wouldn't be until the Mists of Pandaria expansion that Warlock players would get a unique scenario to learn that the Reliquary of Souls was where the seventh Vial of Eternity was used, in an attempt to create a new power source for the Blood Elves to cure them of their magic addiction. For some reason, it didn't grant them that access.
The Creation of the Reliquary of Souls
The Illidan Novel also references a "soul device" used to capture the souls within Auchindoun, using those souls and their Energy within the Black Temple. It's probable that the "soul device" was the very boss we face here. In Wrath of the Lich King, a similar entity of the same model surfaces as the final boss of the Forge of Souls dungeon, named the "Devourer of Souls", and also serves as a "soul device" for the Lich King, keeping all the souls within the forge to power it.
The Devourer of Souls from the Forge of Souls dungeon
It's very possible that these two are cut from the same cloth and serve the same purpose in their respective areas. As mentioned earlier, Illidan used this in Auchindoun, which may be the actual reason we see similar soul/ghost models that we would in Auchenai Crypts to the ones in the Black Temple versus the theory that these souls are from the sacrificed Draenei used to power the Dark Portal (but maybe it could be a little of both!).
