These gems are a dark, murky purple and charged with necromantic energy to create the perfect container for trapping a soul. Each soul gem can hold only a single soul, and releasing the soul destroys the gem. Soul gems are created using the create soul gem spell.
More powerful souls require more valuable soul gems to trap them. A soul gem must have a value of at least 1,000 gp for every Hit Die possessed by the creature to be trapped. If the soul gem is not valuable enough, it shatters when the entrapment is attempted.
The soul, once trapped in the gem, cannot be returned through clone, raise dead, reincarnation, resurrection, true resurrection, or similar magics which require the soul to be free to return to the living body. A miracle or a wish can free a soul from a soul gem and restore it to life; however, some powerful magics which traps souls (such as the soul bind spell) may prevent this.
Once a soul gem is used, it loses all value and is priced according to the soul trapped inside. While attempting to trap a soul that is too powerful shatters a soul gem, trapping a less powerful soul than the gem can hold works but can cause the gem to become less valuable in the process.
Each soul gem can only be used once. If the soul is freed, destroyed, or otherwise removed from the gem, the soul gem is destroyed.
Faint necromancy; CL 5th; create soul gem; Price 1,000 gp/max Hit Die.