An Assessment of Souls

[Old-Rattlesnake 1534]

 

An Assessment of Souls

 

    Within the bosom of man has always beat a heart, and along with that heart, a soul. The soul is what raises us above the lesser creatures of the forest and elevates the mortal races to aspire ever onwards with societal advancement and technological discovery. Through careful study and practice one can even use this metaphysical essence to channel the powers of the void for personal use; an accepted, if still somewhat taboo practice in the modern era. For those who do not use their soul merely as an object of acquiring otherworldly power, there still remains the various religious services of the realm. By all accounts, your soul is your true self, and the physical form it inhabits is merely a vessel. Just as the brave explorer takes to a ship and sets sail across an endless sea in search of knowledge and fulfillment, so too does our soul use the body as a means of maneuvering the mortal realm.

 

    But what becomes of us once our soul has left the body? In truth, what little we know about the afterlife and it’s various destinations has been pieced together through centuries of collaborative effort between scholars of all shape and size. When one dies abruptly and unwillingly, it is the Monks who rescue the soul from the jaws of oblivion and place it back into a body to walk again. Should someone lose an arm, or a leg, if such is not reattached in good time then it will be forever lost to them -- unable to be restored by even the Monks. We may deduce from this observation that the soul acts as a sort of template for the body, and it’s presence is wholly necessary for a healthy, normal mortal form to exist.

    Let us next observe something which is in possession of an altered or ‘corrupted’ soul, as some call it. While there are many examples of this occurring the most prominent was observed in the creatures known as the Undead; mortals changed by the Archdaemon known as Iblees. The physical forms of the Undead were observed as rotting, mangled, and occasionally even skeletal. When killed their souls did not go to the Monks for revival, instead opting to flee to the Nether realm where their bodies would regenerate, again, as rotting and mangled. The fact that the Monks of Aegis were not able to ‘fix’ the Undead themselves (Remember, the Monks can fix almost anything) and put an end to the crisis at hand immediately is a testament to how changed the soul within the Undead must have been. It is therefore plausible to assume that alterations made to a soul directly affect the withheld template that the soul uses to regenerate its physical structure. In the modern era of Axios this theory remains true as creatures capable of regenerating independently of the monks, namely Liches, Ghouls, Wraiths, and so forth have very different physical structures that their soul inhabits.

 

    Directly altering a soul, either through Aegudaemonic intervention or independent soul-altering magics, is certainly a tempting suggestion for those seeking power or a means to cheat death. However it stands to reason that altering a soul does not come without consequence, and the consequences are quite dire indeed. When an altered soul eventually seeps out of the mortal realm, be it centuries or even millennia past when they should have naturally passed, it enters the Soulstream as a pariah -- if it even enters the Soulstream at all. Those souls who sought out a higher being will find themselves claimed and dragged into the realm of that being for all eternity, often separating them from the souls of their descendants and loved ones in the process. But the worst of fates befalls those who willingly and rashly subject their own souls to alterations through dark magics. With no higher being to claim their soul upon death, and their soul drastically changed from it’s natural state, it is entirely possible the soul will fail to make the journey at all. The soul itself may disperse and die immediately, or the corrupted and lost spirit may simply wander the mortal realm as a malevolent and confused entity until it is eventually slain.

 

    Though this piece is intended as a scholarly attempt to make some sense of an unknown part of our reality, I cannot complete it in full without giving a word of caution to those who have been affected by the allure of power. Immortality is not worth it, and indeed nothing in the mortal realm is truly immortal. You may cheat death for a time, but it will eventually catch up with you. For the sake of your own soul I pray that you don’t attempt to win the battle, for you shall surely lose the war.

 

- From the desk of Delaselva "Heial" Vientos, Master Sage of The Ascended on Axios

[Paleo 298]

Moved to The Great Library. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

 

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