All of this site work has really helped to rekindle my interest in Audalis. As a result, I've been working on some ideas about the afterlife.

However, as always, I really like community input on Audalis. So, do you have any thoughts?

Those without a faith (or those not true to their faith), should be left to the "mercy" of D'hurgen, the god of the dead. I'm thinking an afterlife of suffering or somesuch.

Should faithful followers of different deities have contact in the afterlife - ie., are there different realities for, say, followers of Lysora and those of Solanis? Or should there just be one celestial realms where the dead go?

Thoughts and input are appreciated!

I don't like the idea of faithless suffering eternal damnation. Those that are not true to the their faith makes sense, though. Is there a "judgement" system?

The question is: What powers do the gods have over the divine realms? Do Clerics of a deity get special treatment as opposed to the person who donates 2% of their wealth and says a prayer every week?

Are truly evil people punished by Rydor? Or made ranking officials by Tyrannis?

Are druids, barbarians and rangers treated the same as followers of Kith-Jora, assuming they pay regular homage to nature?

The low magic nature makes an afterlife more applicable than D&D, but I'm not sure how lightly you want to tread here. I would like to think that clerics of any alignment are united with their deities. Perhaps "evil" people are punished, unless they have the sponsorship of an evil deity to protect them?

I was looking for answers, not more questios!

Seriously, though, you do quantify a lot of the concepts I would like to see addressed. The question about barbarians is an interesting one.

You will note that every culture reveres the same gods. They may perceive them in different ways, have different names for them, even believe them to be of different genders, but the same gods themselves are still there. The Vidarak, for example, do not have names for Therassor and Bakloran seperately - they are simply the varigads. However, I would think that a righteous follower of the varigads would go to the afterlife reserved for followers of Therassor, whereas those who are evil and bloodthirsty would see the rewards from Bakloran.

I do see where you are coming from on the faithless, but you must understand - Audalis is a world where the gods have a definite, visible impact on everyday life. And I am working from the principle that all souls see some sort of afterlife. If they have nowhere to go, then it only makes sense that they fall under the dominion of the god of the dead... and he's not a nice fellow. This has been canon material for years.

What I'm really shooting at is what exactly does the afterlife consist of?

After death, all souls are transported to the plane of Rydor, where they are judged either by he or one of his most powerful clerics (depending on noteriety?).

Those without a faith, and who are neutral in alignment in life are sent to the god of travels (the name escapes me) to wander the astral plane? Given to the mercy of Shinara? Reunited with family of a stronger faith? Reborn as undead?

Those who are good in alignment but lack a specific faith are assigned to the plane of good, but are not united with any deity? Sort of like the first layer of hell in Dante's Inferno. Separation without suffering?

Thsoe evil in alignment are laid at the mercy of D'Hurgen, to suffer their fate.

Certain souls who attract the attention of a deity, either through a life as a cleric or a strong faith, may have their deity go to bat for them, so to speak, at Rydor's bench. That soul then would get placed in the care of that deity. This could be where extraplaner creatures come from? A cleric of Vilathera might find herself on the judgement bench when Vilathera herself would lay claim to the soul, and then perhaps assign her to watch over hunters of her homeland, and contact her if assistance is asked. Or she could be allowed to roam the endless plains and partake in infinite game. Or perhaps they are required to take shifts? Every deity could be different.

Just throwing some stuff out there.

I really like the idea of a judgement. All told, you have some useful ideas, period. Feel free to brainstorm - there are no bad ideas!

Anyone else have somethign to contribute?

What are the planes like in Audalis? Where do undead and summons come from?

I like the idea of faithless souls being reborn as undead when summoned.

Which brings me to an interesting point about magic. Are arcane casters treated the same as clerics of Jusarin? I never quite understood the premise of a divine god of magic. Since Jusarin is neutral, is he partial to all arcane casters? Is it up to the caster to choose his deity?

Also, about judgement: Perhaps it can be a joint effort? D'Hurgen (or a cleric) presides while an administrator of Rydor (or he himself) makes sure everything is fair?

When you die your sould goes to a holding warehouse in Bayris. The Gods fill out forms on a daily basis to have them released and sent to the correct plane. Any left for three years or more are recycledand used as floral print wallpaper.

Sorry. on painkillers. Feeling weird.

It depends on how you are documenting this, Olan. If it is from the viewpoint of men, it may differ according to how they view things.

From the viewpoint of gods, I could see it being a bickering, political game. Some gods would follow their role without question. Others work to unravel the work of their kin. Much like the Olympian, they dabble and bicker and work against each other.

I like the idea of soul being held in judgement. Spirits, avatars, etc of each god could make a bid or whatnot for specific souls. The faithless would truly learn quickly that there are indeed gods and goddesses (faithless is a rarity right in this world?).

Hmm not all the articles for the gods are up...trying to recall the one that was a minor god that wanted to help the downtrodden and sick? Might be an interesting twist if he was always trying to intercede for the faithless in his mercy.

Reincarnation? Once you're dead, do you stay dead? Or is your spirit eventually drawn back into the world of the living?

What about this: The afterlife is a realm of living on its own, where each god has its own realm (island f.i.). If a spirit wants to contact another in another god's divine realm he can travel to that realm, but at some cost.
Another part of this idea would be that if (in a strange case) a group of adventurers wants to travel into the realms of the dead to retrieve a lost companion, there is actually a specific place to go to.
There could also be something like divine warfare in 'the heavens'. And if die while serving your god in such a war (or in any other way) you get to be reincarnated.
Bleh, I'm just brainstorming. I don't know if I even like the specific realms idea myself, haha.

You are thinking of Falloes for the downtrodden. Interesting take.

I am reposting the deities, as you can see from the front page of the site... but this is taking me some time to do.

This document is ment to be a "what really happens". We may look at differing belief systems, as well as what really goes on. I see lots of bickering amongst the god, defintiely.

Here's a question we have long dodged - what about other races? What about Khords, Syls, etc? Personally, I see all races as having a place in the afterlife... they were all created by the gods, after all. But I'm open to ideas.

I think that all races should be judged the same way, according to which God's ideas they lived after.

What if the afterlife is divided in a plane of good, neutral and evil, and within those planes, each god has its own cluster of space?

As in a what really happens: I'm for judgement, then being sent to whatever plane your soul needs to reside on.
But will this be in a council or with one judge (being the god of death, or a new entity)?

...is what we are lookign for, Almerin. I can't decide myself if I like specific realms.

I do see death like this:

In Audalis, death is pretty much final. Only greater gods can return a dead person to life, and this is reserved usually for the truly faithful or worthy; resurection tires the deity a good deal, and thus, they are loathe to do it.

Lesser gods must appeal to their patron deity if they wish to bring one of their own fallen back to life. Naturally, if greater gods don't do this often for their own, they are far less likely to willingly do it for the followers of their underlings.

In other words, return from death truly is a miracle.

I don't see this as happeneing except under odd circumstances... such as a spell or somesuch.

Perhaps those neutral in life and neutral in faith (or lacking thereof) would simply remain in the world of mortals as ghosts, as they are unresolved in where they are to continue on to. Being neutral, their souls have no one to claim them and no place to seek other than their mortal holdins, so they remain.

Until they become malicious or good or some other type of alignment and are either claimed by a deity or destroyed.

Which comes to the question: can souls appear as undead (ghosts)? or are they simply a part of the soul that can appear to mortals (just as physical bodies are the "physical" part that souls are attached to)?

When a non-physical entity (undead) is destroyed is the soul destroyed as well? or is it simply released with no way to return to the mortal plane of existence without special magic?

If souls cannot be destroyed this would present a problem with the souls of evil beings under sway of evil gods unless once their non-physical incarnation (apparition/ghost/etc.) has been destroyed it is beyond the gods to bring them back in a form that can interact with mortals in a meaningful, harmful or otherwise, way.

The reincarnation aspect would be interesting, which leads to the identity of past-lives. This would be considered a "finite" soul count, in my terms anyways. There is only a finite amount of souls in the world, so that there can only be so many living + undead things at once. Once they die they are given a "rest" or perhaps are sent back immediately but they must grow again and have like a current memory only. Its like having RAM and ROM. Once they die the RAM is changed into the ROM and erased from the temporary files. Some people can access parts or all of the ROM in their soul and so have a very large amount of knowledge and experience available to them.

Just some ideas.

I see Syls and Khords as having an automatic "get out of jail free card" ala Kith-Jora and Kharox, although they are certainly free to go elsewhere (with some limitations, perhaps?)

I don't know much about how they were created, but maybe they go to a "special" area? They are really celestials who just return home?