The Realm of the Dead

Often referred to as the Other Side, the Boneyard, or the Underworld by different cultures, the realm of the dead is home to those who have died and whose souls have not been claimed by another entity.

The realm of the dead is an infinite featureless plane. The air swirls with the Gray, a fog made of weaker souls or souls that have existed and degraded over an unfathomable amount of time. Once a soul merges with the miasma of the Gray, it is nearly impossible to retrieve.

When the soul of an average person first enters the realm of the dead, it appears as a pale ball of light, drifting through the Gray. At this point, the person makes a choice. If they are ready to give up completely, their soul slowly fades and they are unaware of anything around them. Those who are not ready to give up the ghost become aware of their surroundings and the presence of other souls. These souls can communicate with one another and move through the physical space of the realm of the dead. They are still unaware of the passage of time and will still fade in strength over time.

Stronger souls that choose to hold on are able to manipulate the physical landscape of the realm of the dead, sculpting structures and environments or manifesting physical forms for themselves. As the soul degrades in strength, their creations also decay and eventually disappear back into the Gray.

## Traveling to the Realm of the Dead

The easiest way to get to the realm of the dead is to die. When someone dies, their soul leaves its physical vessel and lingers in the material plane. Psychopomps or other spirits of death arrive to usher the soul into the realm of the dead, allowing it to potentially pass on.

If a psychopomp is unable to reach a soul for some reason, it wanders the material plane as a ghost. Ghosts’ actions and manifestations depend on who the person was in life and how they died. Violent deaths or deaths preceded by suffering cause the ghost to be violent in turn, often mindlessly attacking those who draw near. Killing a ghost with certain types of magic or magical items destroys the soul.

While one may physically enter the realm of the dead by somehow passing through the fabric of reality, it is extremely hazardous. Souls desperate to return to the world of the living attempt to take the traveler’s body for themselves. Those who enter the realm of the dead may not return as the same person.

A much safer way of entering the realm of the dead is to project your soul into it. Doing this leaves your physical body behind while you appear as just another soul in the realm of the dead. You may move through the plane and communicate with other aware souls. However, the more times you do this and the longer you stay, the weaker your soul becomes and you risk assimilating into the Gray.

## Reincarnation

Some cultures believe in reincarnation, of the ability for a soul to return from the realm of the dead through rebirth. Some Divines or other powerful beings are strong enough to pluck souls from the realm of the dead and reshape them before releasing them back into the material plane in new vessels. Many of these entities reside in the Spirit World, such as the elven deer god Eilek-Ar.

People reincarnated have the same soul but slightly altered. Sometimes someone can be reincarnated with the exact soul, unaltered, although it is exceptionally rare.

## Resurrection

To bring someone back from the dead without risking them becoming a husk, the soul must have held onto their existence once they entered the realm of the dead and the person attempting the resurrection must retrieve the person’s soul.

Retrieving a soul can take a variety of forms. Some are able to project themselves into the realm of the dead to drag the soul back into the body. Others physically enter the realm of the dead to retrieve it.

Another less common and much more dangerous method is to stand guard on the person’s soul and fight off the psychopomps that show up to bring it to the realm of the dead, after which the person would attempt to guide the soul back into the body. Doing this is certain to anger the spirits of death, which does not bode well for whoever defeated the spirit.