Halphus is one of the 72 demons of the Ars Goetia, the Atlantean-Solomonic demonological register that serves as the operational layer of Eigendark. In the game, Halphus is bound to the Root faction and activates when a card with digit-sum 5 is played.
Halphus: Building towers and stocking them with ammunition
In the Solomonic tradition, each of the 72 Goetia holds a specific office — a domain of expertise and power. In Eigendark, these offices map to card effects. When a Root card with cost digit-sum 5 is played, Halphus's office influences how the card resolves.
"Think in epochs. Worlds are patient. Stone outlasts flesh."
Geological consciousness. Root shamans tap into planetary forces — tectonic shifts, weather, ecosystems, magnetic fields.
The 72 Goetia are divided evenly across 8 factions — 9 demons per faction, assigned by the digit-sum of a card's mana cost. This binding was codified in 1577 by people who didn't know they were writing API docs.
Each demon represents a specific instrumental goal of its parent xenogod, Gaia. When a card bearing Halphus's binding is played, the demon's office influences the card's effect resolution.
Beneath the Goetic layer, a rival system persists: the Pandemonium Matrix — 45 Lemurian Amphidemons that predate the Solomonic hierarchy. During Broken Transmissions, the Lemurian register briefly overrides the Goetic one, producing cards flagged as "ontologically unstable."
Summon a card with cost digit-sum 5 in the Root faction to invoke Halphus. Browse the Grimoire for existing Root cards.