More actions
The House of Death is one of the names of the Afterlife, the place where the souls of the dead go. The name is of Elvish origin, as their Loremasters view each of the Worlds of Being as a 'house', and the rightful dominion of the gods of that world. The House of Death is a place on the border of the Terrestrial Sphere - known to the Elves as Tol Sadhaín - where Death rules. It is a lavishly appointed hall where the souls of the dead are shown their proper places; the virtuous go on to Tol ner Tairhen, while those of little virtue are kept in the House and made into the servants of Death. Those whose souls are black with evil are cast out of the House of Death, and are declared outlaw; their souls wander into the Field of Woe where they are trapped for ever, forced to weep for all those that they have wronged.
When Men arrived in Laredhidan during the Great Migration, they were exposed to the ideas of the Elder Races, and the most influential of these were the Elves, whose empire Men divided amongst themselves. The House of Death was a belief that had spread to the client races of the Great Realm of Laredhidan, and even those races which never knew Elven dominion - such as the Tú - had fallen under some level of their influence. Men adopted the House of Death in place of the old Afterlives, finding in it a certain truth that they felt their old ways lacked. New names were devised for the House of Death, and Men assigned to it punishments and stewards that best suited them; the old beliefs were not wholly discarded, and the House of Death was gradually transformed into something different.
Hoûrza tûr Torzûn
The Aztalorian conception of the House of Death - known to them as Hoûrza tûr Torzûn - differs greatly from that of other peoples. Nothing exists beyond the House, and souls are instead assigned positions as befits their actions in life. The virtuous are assigned greater halls in the House, where the unworthy dead are made into their servants and bondsmen; families of countless generations live together in increasingly larger halls, where their needs are met. Those whose souls are so foul as to be untouchable are banished to the Killing Fields, where the souls of the valiant can choose to hunt them like dogs.