Paradise

== Paradise is the distant plane where the virtuous dead and the favored of some gods reside after death. ==
Paradise is a distant, difficult to reach plane on the edge of the Astral Sea. Unless one is a virtuous soul being called there upon death, one of the transformed inhabitants, or being invited with the sanction of Heaven, it is virtually impossible to enter without access to certain spells and primal expressions and a cosmic level of power required to use them. There are gods who cannot enter Paradise on their own. Once there, the souls are transformed. The most common transformation is into one of two types of being: a Penitent or a Malak. Penitents hold on to some degree of their previous identity due to regrets they seek to address or shame they wish to expiate. The methods they use vary, but it is comparatively easy to send things out of Paradise, so most learn techniques to impart dreams or messages to the sensitive among the living. Most of the "angels" or "celestials" mortals see are actually visions sent by Penitents. Penitents who shed their regrets can join the Malakim or become "Satvashaddim." A Satvashadd is a mortal who is at peace with the life they lived and who is content to leave the outer world behind. They are often teachers and mentors to new souls in Paradise. Malakim are the warriors and stewards of Paradise who shape, defend, and order it. The greatest of them built the city of Heaven and are in essence gods. They are divided into castes according to function, with their form varying depending on their role. There is no prohibition against changing roles: one simply needs to prove worth. An Engineer can become a Sentinel, or vice versa, simply by demonstrating aptitude. 
A Quirk of Population
Malakim are not actually native to paradise. Other than peaceful flora and fauna, Paradise has no native sapient inhabitants and relies on altered souls and entities from other worlds. Some souls reaching paradise abandon the outside worlds immediately and give themselves to the perfection of the realm, becoming Malakim, while others were shaped by gods (granted authority by the lords of Heaven) out of inhabitants of other planes or fragments of their own power. Thorael was one such Malak, before he grew so strong he became a god himself. 
=== The Coming of Paradise ===
Paradise has not always existed. Originally the souls of the dead, regardless of their nature, simply returned to the Astral Sea from which they were born. Then the Abyss formed from the corrupted remnants of Mor-Dun, pulling all Astral things toward it like a black hole at the edge of the cosmos, The sheer spiritual gravity of that plane nearly unmade the Astral Sea. However, at the same time the Abyss formed, Paradise was coming into being at the opposite end of the cosmos. Mor-Dun had been a god of balance as much as or more than simply his Element, and fragments of his nature remained committed to that cause. His last act, performed almost by reflex, was to create a polar opposite to this new threat. He nearly, but not completely nullified it. The few souls drawn to it in that first moment of its existence became the first Malakim. 
Category:Plane
Category:Locations