Soul
State Source Type Origin
Ghost Spirit Soul Primal Spirits
Phantom Spirit Soul Primal Spirits
Spectre Spirit Soul Primal Spirits

Soul

All Souls are born, sometimes even reborn, as fruit on the Tree of Life in the Other World. When a creature’s body is born on any of the Worlds, a Soul fruit drops from the Tree of Life and lands in the Spirit World of the World they were born in. The Soul or Spirit of a creature is always present in the Spirit World typically linked to and overlapping the creatures physical form.

When a creature dies the link between the Body and Soul is severed, and the Soul remains in the Spirit World as a Ghost for a time. A Ghost is a soul that may linger for a time after their Body’s death, or who has chosen not to move on yet, or is simply traveling to its next destination, the Well of Souls in the Under World and on to whatever afterlife awaits them beyond it. Souls that cannot move on, or that are trapped, or bound by some unfinished business become a Spectre.

Souls are drawn to the Well of Souls where they sink deeper and deeper into its waters, before being dumped out in a great waterfall that is the headwater of the River Styx. It is here along the Rivers shore that a Soul will be judged to be either Faithful or Faithless. The Faithful are those who worshipped or paid homage to one or more Gods while living. The Faithless are those who chose not to follow a God or deny them. The Faithful are allowed to boards boats that will ferry them through the planes, while the faithless are left to float in the turbulent and forgetful waters of the Styx.

The Faithful that have travelled through the Well of Souls and are moving on to whatever afterlife awaits them are known as Phantoms. A Phantom is a soul that is rewarded or punished by their chosen God or Gods, and sometimes sent on errands. What happens to these Phantoms is determined by each individual God. Sometimes a Phantom may have more than one God claim them in which case the God of the dead decides if they cannot come to some arrangement.

Souls, both Faithful and Faithless, travel along the river to the border between the Under World and Hell, many entities may try and convince them to align with them instead, or even get them to sell their souls to them. Those Souls who make deals are taken away before reaching judgment. Any Faithless who make such deals become Phantoms as part of their bargain. At the border, the Faithful are judged by the Gods of the Pantheon they worshiped in life, while the Faithless are left to float along on their journey. On some occasions though a God or Gods will claim a Faithless for judgement plucking them from the river, making them Phantoms. Even though the Faithless don’t believe in the Gods doesn’t mean the Gods don’t believe in them.

Phantoms who reach judgment, will be judged to either be True or False. The False, those who chose to worship a God or Gods, but lived their lives in a way counter to their God’s beliefs, are held in Hell to be punished while others may be taken to be left stranded on one of the other Worlds or Planes in exile. The True, those who lived their lives by their God’s beliefs, are allowed to continue down the river until it reaches the home Plane of their God or Gods and the afterlife chosen for them.

If not claimed the Faithless sink deeper and deeper as the Styx continues its journey, losing more and more of their memories the deeper they sink. By the time the Faithless have reached the border of Hell and Paradise very little of their former self remains. Within the borders of Paradise, the River Styx becomes the River Okeanos before it crosses over into Heaven. Within the borders of Heaven the Soul is cleansed of past sins and corruptions as the Okeanos flows into the Dawn Wild to water the Tree of Life. It is through this process they are reborn as a new Soul as fruit on the Tree of Life. It is not uncommon for Phantoms who have tired of the afterlife to also reenter the Rivers to be reborn in this way, often recalling much of their past lives and personalities.

While this may represent the journey for a majority of Souls, some Gods or Pantheons may choose a different path for those that worship them.

Religion: Varies.
Language: Varies.
Names: Varies.
Adventurers: Soul adventurers are typically those who had some unfinished business with their past lives, or even are just bored with the afterlife.
Ghost: They rarely build communities or settlements of their own, but will instead be found wandering about trying to find a purpose.
Phantom: These souls are the most likely to build communities, typically on their Pantheon’s, God’s, or Master’s home plane or around sites special to them.
Spectre: They rarely build communities or settlements of their own, but will instead be found haunting a specific location, item, or familial bloodline.

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