Soul

A soul is that aspect of a mortal that persists after death. In more pragmatic terms it is raw willpower, unconstrained by the flesh, and has the power to reshape reality.

When a mortal awareness perishes, their soul often traverses the Astral Plane. It seeks a 'home' that produces the most harmony with their spirit. Harmony is found when the nature of a soul matches the nature of a dimension. This harmony can be influenced by a number of factors-- ethical decisions made in life, the karma of harm versus help, even preferences for otherwise vague concepts such as honor, loyalty, or hunger. Time is meaningless in the Astral Plane; some souls wait for a new body that fits their harmony, while others gravitate towards specific dimensions as petitioners, to join the like-minded in an afterlife. Some simply proceed out of the reality entirely in an ascension towards an unknown place and purpose. Others drift through eternity, wandering through the dreams of the living.

Harmony is not merely the search for pleasant circumstances. It can be affected by contact made through dreams, through stories and bloodlines, even through associations in a mortal life. The number of destinations for the travelling dead are vastly exceeded by the souls they court. A cowardly warrior would find themselves in Hel if they worshipped the ways of Asgard; a liar who petitions Olympus might find himself in Tartarus. Such punishments persist until the soul restores harmony with itself and the dimension around it.

Of the infinite dimensions and pocket planes, the most notorious is Hell. Occupied at first by the Fallen Angels who joined Lucifer in revolt, Hell has become a twisted and distorted reflection of internal enmity and narcissism. Those spirits who find themselves attuned to Hell are largely those who have deluded senses of their self-importance, are profoundly narcissistic, and particularly obsessed with the idea of personal power and dominion over others. The great irony is that the gates of Hell stand wide open. No jailers or locks keep the mortals in their red-hot chains. Every soul in Hell is flayed with the pains they inflicted during their lives, and there they stay until they feel their absolution has been made.

Few ever do.

Virtually all cultures in the universe share this dichotomous view; if there is a Hell then there is also a Heaven, a place of respite and reward. This is a vast oversimplification of the unique cultural viewpoints expressed across the cosmos, all of which are equally correct yet limited by the perspective of mortality.

If there is a purpose to souls, it seems to be the preservation of knowledge, writing a story of all the experiences both good and bad a mortal can encounter. Some souls seem to wander the cosmos near-infinitely in search of new experiences; others return to the Silver City at first opportunity. Of all the magics and powers known and unknown, the Great Gates into the Infinite Beyond seem the only absolute way a soul can depart existence.

There is otherwise one constant: A Soul cannot be truly destroyed. It can be stolen or consumed; this strips it of accrued knowledge and enlightenment. Many creatures feed on the harmony a soul carries, as a form of power or nourishment. Some redirect the inherent willpower of the mortal soul to rewrite reality itself, using it as a battery. But no force, no entity, can outright destroy a soul. It will simply return to the Source, the origin point for all such things. Many monstrous undead of legend such as vampires, zombies, and even demons exist because a once-mortal creature polluted and profaned their spiritual essence. Holy icons and consecrated materials such as silver or holy water cause significant harm to these creatures by burning out the corruption that sits where the soul would normally be.

Among those beings who deal in souls, or who rule demesnes, there is an accord which states that a soul cannot be taken without consent. This was decided with the Convocation of the Gods approximately 1000 CE.

Stealing souls is the sort of offense that moves warfare on a truly cosmic level, mobilizing forces to march between the dimensional walls in full invasion. If it is fair game to simply take spirits, then outright war would erupt and hoarding would begin. This is why contracts and Faustian bargains are so frequent; the spirit is giving full consent, even if it means that the spirit would otherwise be attuned to another harmony.