The Afterlife

Afterlife   Most people living on Irminsul more or less know what awaits them in the afterlife. Clerics preach the literal words of their gods and some souls have even returned to tell the tale of their post-mortem journey. However, this does not mean everyone agrees on how to live to obtain the best possible afterlife. As many gods offer different rewards for different actions, no-one can be exactly sure what is going to happen to them after they die.   Judgement   All souls who die on Irminsul appear in the Ethereal Plane and feel an irresistible urge to journey to the domain of the God of Death on the Fields of Waiting, a vast wasteland on which the dead converge. There are no trees, grass, streams or rivers on these fields, just barren grey and brown rock. The sky is a cloudless grey mass in perpetual twilight. At the center of the fields is the town of Eerie. Souls linger here until they are ready to be judged. When they are ready they are found by Spade's shadowhounds who guide them to the Celestial Courthouse at the center of Eerie. Each God has multiple heralds tasked with advocating their god's virtues and demanding an appropriate punishment or reward for the dead souls of their followers. A soul can choose the herald of any one God to join theirfinal proceedings. Seventeen Blue Spectres of Aitlas, God of Justice, weigh the soul’s life against the present herald's demands and decides to either allow the soul entrance in to his God’s afterlife or to send the soul away for punishment. Souls granted access to the afterlife are sent to the appropriate realm or are allowed to journey to the Eternal city of Skye. Souls who need punishment are sent to Anon, a city in the Pit on the first layer of Hell.   Reward   If allowed entrance to the afterlife a soul is sent to the appropriate terrace on Mount Elysium or are allowed to journey to the Eternal city of Skye. There it is free to live in comfort for all eternity. All souls on the terraces are allowed to join the Divine Hierarchy. This transforms them in to celestials and allows them to serve their God as he or she sees fit. Once transformed there is no going back. Souls on the terraces can also elect to be reborn, in which case the cycle starts again.   Punishment   Those souls found unworthy of the afterlife they crave are sent to Anon to serve the Profane hierarchy as slaves. They are not given a duration for their punishment and are free to leave Anon at any time. Once a soul considers its punishment completed it can travel to the Fields of Waiting to once again face judgement. The Blue Spectres will take the time of slavery in account when determining his judgement. The options are the same as before, either the soul in admitted in to the afterlife or it is sent back to Anon for further servitude.   Damnation and Corruption   At any point after its death, a soul can travel to Anon, and walk through the Duat Gates. Doing so transforms the soul in to a devil who then joins the Profane Hierarchy. Once this is done, there is no going back. Souls can also be lured (or forced) in to traveling through the Eye of the Abyss. Doing so transforms the soul in to a demon, another permanent change.   Resurrection   Magic can call back any soul on the Fields of Waiting, the Seven Terraces of Mount Elysium or the layers of Hell. However, souls who have undergone a transformation in to a celestial, devil or demon are lost to such magic. The person who died no longer exists and thus can no longer be restored to life.