[Information] After death

After death

The gods of life and death are in an eternal fight over the souls of mortals.
After death, the soul detaches from the body and travels to Kheas realm, the underworld. But both worlds influence each other. Depending on how one has lived his life in the world of the living, affects where he will spend his time in death. Because the underworld is spilit into three parts.

When someone dies, the soul stays in the body for 13 more days. In this time, the dead has to be interred apropriatly. Then the soul travels to the underworld, either alone or with the help of a nergal.
There, four goddesses decide over his soul. Khea, the ruler of the underworld, her mother Alketa, the goddess of fate, Jesper, the goddess of the soul and Tali, the goddess of the end. They look at the time the soul has spend under the living and all his memories and deeds and decide to which part of the underworld the soul will be send.

Erebos

The Erebos is the biggest part of the underworld and most souls are send here after their death. It is a huge island, surrounded by a black sea. It is peaceful and quiet, but the days are also monotonous and eternal. There is neither day nor night and no seasons.
Free will is taken from the souls and they have to work for Khea and the other gods. But, once a soul reclaims her free will and wants to be reborn, their wish cannot be denied.
The soul is send to the border of the Erebos, a bridge on which a huge labyrinth blocks the way. Only when a soul makes it to the end of the labyrinth, to the court of motals, can she be reborn.
Since time works diffrently here, a soul can work for an eternety in the Erebos, but be reborn weeks or month, years or even centuries after his death.

Yama

A person who lived a sinfree live according to the will of the gods or did many good things, is send to Yama after his death. This land is also called paradies and every wish is granted here. The days can be spend among the wonderfull meadows, the crystal clear rivers and beautiful forests. Souls are allowed to read every book in Kyranas library or to celebrate with the gods in Elirons garden. There are parts for each seasons and day and night exist just like in the world of the living. The souls can stay as long as they like, but as soon as they wish to be reborn, they are send to the court of mortals.

Hell

Sinners are send to hell, after they die. A place of torments and punishment, but also a source of cleansing. The souls are punished for their crimes and cleansed from their sins through torture and realization.
Hell is bell-mouthed and divided into several levels. There are nine circles, each one becoming smaller and laying deeper towards the inside. The deeper the level, the worse the sins which are punished there.
Legends say that a tenth level exists, where the gods banish their worst enemies to, but no one knows much about it.

• 1. Faithlessness

  The first circle of hell is for all those, who didn’t honor the gods.
  It is an eternal desert, with a huge fireball burning in the sky and no food or water. Occasional ruins indicate that once magnificent palaces decorated the landscape, but now only derelict stones are left. Black birds make their circles in the sky.
  Thirst, hunger, heat and loneliness drive the souls into insanity, while they wander through the wasteland. At the horizon they can see a beatiful city with high towers made from gold and silver and sometimes they can hear distant laughter or a peal of bells. This is Yama, the paradies. Always in front of the damned, but they can never reach it, no matter how far they walk.
  Finally, when they are ready to admit their sins, a thunderstorm appears and Yelda, the god of wind explains to the soul what is going on and why they were here. If they are ready to be reborn he flies with them over Yama to the court of mortals.
  
  

  2. Lust, gluttony and sloth

  The second circle of hell is for those who overindulged in lust, gluttony or sloth. Here, the damned have to wade chest-deep in quagmire. Heavy stones are attached to iron chains which they carry around their wrists. Plagued by hunger and thirsts, the souls have to walk through the mire. If they drink the disgusting mud, it only makes their thirst and hunger worse and if they stand still, they sink deeper into the ground until they are completly covered.
  The souls have to stay here until the sins are completly washed away. Once they are ready to be reborn, they are sucked into the mud and fall through it onto a road that takes them to the court of mortals.
  
  

  3. Pride and greed

  The third circle of hell is for the proud and greedy. It is a disgusting swamp and the sinners have to walk knee-deep in the mud, through which strange creatures, like huge worms and flaky reptiles swim. Big, black mosquitos fly through the thick, reeking air, greedy for blood. The proud and greedy are broken, because the damned have nothing and need to constantly fight for their survival. Once they are ready to be reborn, they get attacked by thousands of mosquitos and wake up on a road that takes them to the court of mortals.
  
  

  4. Wrath and envy

  In the fourth circle of hell, those possesed by wrath and envy tear each other to pieces, while a rain of fire hails down on them. The sinners are placed in a narrow canyon, through which a river of blood runs. They have to fight each other with their bare hands. But no matter how bad the wounds are which they cause each other, since they are in the world of death, they can’t die. The terrible pain begins to destroy them until they collapse from the anguish and begin to regret. Wrath and envy make way for humility.
  Once they are ready to be reborn a wave of blood takes them into the river which brings them into the sea. To get to the court of mortals they have to swim through that sea.
  
  

  5. Corruption, hypocrites and frauds

  Those who where corrupt, doublicitous or deceitful are punished in the fifth circle of hell. It is a burning city. Wonderfull palaces, temples and houses all in flmes. The damned wander through this terrible landscape, always on the run from the fire. As soon as they found a place to rest and sleep, the flames reach them and burn their body. They constantly hear the horrible screams of other burning souls, but they never meat any one.
  Finally they encounter another person. This person is very nice to them and promises to bring them away from this awful place, if they do something for them in return. The soul shall bring them a treasure, which is hidden in one specific house in the city. It is dangerous, but the only rescue.
  But this person is no less than the god Ender. He betrays the soul takes the treassure and leaves the sinner burning in the flames. This happens again and again until the soul is finally ready to be reborn. After they burn for the last time they wake up on the road to the court of mortals.
  
  

  6. Malice

  The sixth circle of hell is an eternal ice waste. Here those souls suffer, which were vile and malicious. They enjoyed the pain and suffering of others and are now damned to suffer themeselves. Their souls wander through the piercing cold. Their is nothing in this snowy landscape, no warmth, no sun, no life. The cold bites into their flesh, burn in them like fire and destroys all arrogance, all venom.
  If the souls start to cry or show otherwise weakness, they hear loud laughter and mean voices, which ridicule them, from everywhere around.
  Once they beg for mercy from the bottom of their heart, a young woman with snow white, translucent skin and long withe hair appears in front of them. She wears an iceblue dress and silver ornaments on her body. She is beautiful, but a blue heart of ice beats in her cheas and her blue eyes are cold and cruel.
  As much as the souls beg, she stays cold. It is no less than Astrid, the goddess of revenge.
  Finally she hunts the soul with silver arrows until the sinner collapses. She shoots an arrow directly into the heart of the soul and the body bursts into a cloud of ice. The soul is finally free from her cold, evil heart and is brought to the court of mortals.
  
  

  7. Heretics, Blasphemers and outlaws

  The seventh circle of hell is for those who angered the gods. Heretics, blasphemers, those who defiled temples or murdered priests or those who where damned and outlawed by priests.
  In this circle, a thick, dark forrest grows. A poison lays in the air, which burns in every breath like fire and seems to burst the lungs. Strnge mokneys sit in the treetops. They hve glowing red eyes, long claws on their hands and feets and sharp teeth. They throw spears, strange rotting fruits and faeces at the souls.
  The bushes which grow on the ground are full of thorns and instead of water, it is acid which runs in the rivers among the trees.  
  The souls have to eat the rotting fruits, which are unlike any that grow in the world of the livings, when they want to eat at all.
  Finally a young girl appears to the sinners. She wears a red capuchin and carries a lantern. It is Alisia, the goddess of truth and she guides the souls through the forrest. She tells them about her search for the truth and that it can be hard to find it. But sometimes it is very clear see and just difficult to accept.
  Once they get to the end of the forrest, the goddess disappears. The sinners are left at the end of a long tunnel. It is pitch black, there is no light and no sound, not even the sound of their own voice. While they walk through that tunnel they start to loose their sanity but once they are ready to be reborn, the tunnel ends at the court of mortals.  
  
  

  8. Tyrants

  The eighth circle of hell is for tyrants. Those who used their power to let others suffer. Rulers, who exploited their people, noble men who slave-drove their employes or father who abused their families.
  The damned stand in a wonderfull palace. Walls made out of marble with beautiful paintings of happy people. Precious chandeliers hang on the ceiling and in front of them stands a throne made from silver and gold and velvet. On the throne lies a jewelled crown. But as soon as the souls take the crown, the room gets dark, as if the sun suddenly stopped shining. All mirrors on the walls burst and screams of deepest pain resonate outside. With a loud thunder the door opens. Outside a horrific scene presents itself to the souls. The poor city filled with ruinous houses and dirty streets, that lies infront of them is haunted by a terrible thunderstorm. The ground is filled with gaunt people in beggarly clothe. They are in terrible pain and dying from hunger and sickness.
  As soon as the soul steps outside, the door closes behind them again. Now they have to walk through the city, while the people beg them for help. They soon notice that every person has a face they know and they are reminded of all the suffering they caused. The people start to mob the sinner, tear at their expensiv clothing. The soul escapes into a building, filled with pictures that show the soul as the savior of the city. But as soon as they step outside again, all people retreat from them in fear. The whole city is suddenly filled with mirrors that show the true, ugly, evil form of the soul.
  Suddenly all people attack the soul in rage. They tear the sinner appart and kill them. The soul wakes up in the palace again and the whole thing starts again until they are ready to be reborn.
  
  

  9. Traitors, murderers and rapists

  The ninth circle of hell is the most infamous. Only the worst of sinners are send here. Those who have commited treason, who have murdered or raped.
  It is a dark dungeon, a long corridor with moggy, moldy cells on each side in which the damned are tortured. Here every one is tortured individually with many diffrent methods in the diffrent cells. Some are driven into insanity through isolation, complete darkness and silence, so that they cant’t even hear their own screams. Some are tormented on torture devices, burned, whiped, cut into pieces, skinned or any other disgusting method. Murderers and rapists can experience their horrible crimes firsthand, traitors experience their own treason in the role of their victim again and again.
  The sinners are punished for their crimes until they are ready to be reborn. Then they are send to the stairs where they have to walk past all other circle of hell to the road that leads to the court of mortals.  
  

Court of mortals

Every soul appears in front of the court of mortals twice before they are reborn. Once right after they die. Khea, the goddess of death, Alketa, the goddess of fate, Jesper, the goddess of the soul and Tali, the goddess of the end decide where the soul is send. Jesper shows all memories, thoughts and secrets of the soul and Alketa shows her fate. Together they decide over guilt and innocence and if the soul belongs to Yama, Erebos or Hell. Once decided, Tali takes the body, which decomposes into dust and Khea sends the soul where she belongs.

The second time they come before the court, when they want to be reborn. A soul from Yama can decide to be reborn whenever she wants. A soul from Erebos has to find her way through the labyrinth. A soul from Hell is brought to the court as soon as she has atoned for her sins.
This time it is Jeevan, the god of life, Alketa, Jesper and Nayka, the goddess of the beginning, who judge over the soul. Jesper takes all memories from the soul, so she can’t remember her former life. Alketa gives her a new fate and Nayka gives her a new body. Then Jeevan sends the soul back into the world of the living.

The soul is send back to earth, where she is reborn. Souls don’t have a gender or a race. A man can be reborn as a woman and a human can be reborn as an elf or a fae or a mermaid.