When a soul can no longer cling to the mortal realm, and nothing supernatural anchors it, it is compelled to wander to the Halls of the Dead. On its journey, it must cross the desert of souls, which mirrors all its acts during life and strips away all illusion and longing. Crossing the desert can take days or weeks, and sometimes even longer. Finally, all souls reach the Final Gate, a soaring construction thousands of feet tall, opening to the edifice within which the dead make their way.
There the dead queue to meet Nïa the Eternal Administrator, goddess of all the dead. She and her servants judge them can send them to their correct rest, and quiet those who are distressed at their new state. If others wish to restore them to the mortal realm, her bureaucrats guide them to the right location to rejoin those who would summon them. Everything functions in a calm, busy hush, and the Halls are efficient and functional. Nïa's Halls contain libraries and mauseoleums for those who wish for knowledge or simply for rest, but those who declare faith for a deity are sent to that deity's domain, whether for good or ill. The Halls are in a constant state of slightly embarassed repair, under siege from Kerastes, who preys upon the spirits of the dead and devours them for all eternity. The servants of Nïa battle off the depredations of the Worm and his servants, blocking off corridors and wings of the Halls as needed while quiet phalanxes of construct warriors do battle with the invaders. How you can use the Halls of the Dead in your game: - Someone who returns from the dead swiftly is likely not to have crossed the desert yet, and will return with only hazy memories of self-contemplation. Those who have passed through the Final Gate will have lost some of their self-delusion and even memory of their previous life. More powerful resurrection rituals bring their targets back to the mortal realm without even recall of the Halls of the Dead. - Adventurers who need to seek out a particular soul might take planar travel to the Halls of the Dead. Trespassing into the Halls will require bravery and stealth, for evading its implacable construct-guardians is no easy task. The pillage wrought by Kerastes' servants might threaten such a soul, endangering the adventurers' target, and battling off such an invasion will be critical to their mission. Nïa herself might even be amused by such daring, if ever so briefly. Also posted on Game Masters Stash on 26 May 2019. Comments are closed.
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AuthorI'm Luke. He/him pronouns. Archives
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