The Court of Death

Death is a tumultuous time for a soul.   Discorporated souls once found their way to the realms of their gods, who would reward or punish them as they saw fit. No more. An interceder altered the deal, funneling the world's dead into the vast plains of Ilvik Aizsaule, the land of longing. Even after a usurper claimed his title, souls continue to be denied to their gods until after they have completed an arduous trial, called the pilgrimage.   Stories from souls who make their way beyond the veil have as much variety as those who tell them. There are often, however, certain constants among stories.    First is almost always a beach, a shore, a flat plane of some kind. The soul awakens here in varying states of confusion. Then, there is a meadow, a respite, a place of solace. At the end of this rest is a path and a guide. The guide is often silent, ushering the soul on. Many say he or she appears similar to a family member or close friend. Others claim it is Vakrin, the cavalier of dusk himself, greeting souls at the start of their long journey. This guide shows them to the beginning to a path. The path is often straight, but can be difficult, challenging the vagrant soul even as it ushers them onward. At the end of the path is a great door, inscribed with ancient symbols and hauntingly familiar carvings. One need only touch this door and it will open before you, revealing a stark cliff.   Arrayed beneath this cliff is a vast city, a city full of hesitant souls. At the center of this city is a massive pillar of flame, extending far into the sky.   This is the threshold of the great pilgrimage, the City of the Forlorn.     In this place, souls may either linger, cast themselves into the flame and dissipate, or set out on a long and dangerous pilgrimage through the afterlife. On this pilgrimage, the very worth of their soul will be tested in every way imaginable. It takes a spirit of uncommon strength to see the pilgrimage through to completion and retain a shred of sanity. Many of the older souls in the City have attempted the pilgrimage at least once, but turned back before they became forlorn.   Beginning this pilgrimage requires a soul to climb to the edges of the city, to a temple overlooking the inferno. Here, the Conflagration Tenders will prepare you for your journey, arming you with three ceremonial items: a circlet of entwined wood and bone, a needle and thread, and a lantern imbued with a spark of the Conflagration.   The soul then ascends a tall, spiral staircase, at the top of which is a circular room with a stone arch at its center. Stepping through this arch will take you to the first stage of the pilgrimage.  

The Pilgrimage

  The Mountain, Realm of Desire: - A seed-realm extracted from the Plane of Earth. A manifestation of all earthly wants and needs. Rage, lust, hunger, all barely contained in a stone shell. Climbing the Mountain means confronting, rejecting, and embracing worldly desires all at the same time. It means allowing fire to fill you up, turn your insides to ash, boil you and turn you to liquid, then forcing yourself to reform, harder and stronger than ever. Those who emerge have conquered all want.   The Temple of Mirrors, Realm of Selves: A seed-realm created from a careful fusion of Elysium the Shadowfell. A hauntingly quiet and empty temple at the edge of a moonlit lake. The temple is filled with reflecting pools, mirrors, and hallways that twist and confuse the pilgrim. Although tainted by the somber memory of the Lady's daughter, it is a peaceful place, and more than a few pilgrims choose to remain here rather than press on.   The Pit, the Realm of Pain: A seed-realm stolen from hell itself, manned by a host of eager devils. A hellish cyst of torture and agony, where souls are routinely chased by devils, flayed, and left to slowly reform on beds of coals. A common epithet rings out among souls trapped here: "NAME YOUR PAIN AND IT SHALL OBEY YOU". Here, pain takes literal form as a creature who walks with you as you journey through the Pit. The Painling is your shadow, your tormentor, and your sole companion. The Painling will trick you, drag you down, scream in your ears while you rest, hide for a moment then return stronger than ever. Conquering the Pit means learning to harness the Painling rather than letting it control you.   At the depths of the Pit is a sheer drop into blackness, at the bottom of which is a vast, featureless lake. This is a seed-realm of Carceri, grated onto the pit in order to better secure it. At the center of the lake is a small, rocky island, upon which is a basin with stairs carved in the sides. At the center of the basin is a massive, upside down pyramid hanging suspended above a perfect black stone sphere. This is the Prison of Othrys. Here, the most dangerous and wicked souls on Saheim are kept imprisoned in layered spheres, crushed by the collective weight of their magics. The pyramid is enchanted to fall if the Lady in the Tower ever should die, ensuring that the prisoners do not escape upon her death.   The White Void, Realm of Apathy: A seed-realm of Rymvrandt's own creation, a place beset by endless storms of scattered remains of forlorn souls. Buffeted by a constant blizzard of memories, regrets, lingering doubts, a soul must trudge through an eternity of nothingness, until they are unsure of why they even began this walk. Once and a great while, however, they may be struck by a single flake of encouragement, maybe a piece of grim determination, or a wish that the next pilgrim fare better than they. If the pilgrim can find their resolve in the White Void, they will find the wind pressing them onward instead of forcing them back, the patterns clearing to reveal their destination right before them.   The Tower, Realm of Memory: The home of the Lady, who is queen of the court and the latest in a line of overseers of the afterlife. The Lady in the Tower wrested control of the realms of death from their previous master, Keiros. After seducing him and convincing him to take her as his wife, the Lady slew the death god and used his corpse to ignite an every-burning pillar of flame, reconnecting the realms of death back to Sa and all Saheim. Keiros's corpse is still interred to this day in the depths of the Conflagration Chambers, blazing away in endless agony.   The Lady then gathered a council of lesser deities from among her followers, and set about expanding their territory. The realm of Death is everywhere, and nowhere. Tucked away in bits and pieces in the gaps between other planes of existence. Suffusing existence, holding it together, perhaps...