Vera/Ending myth

The **Ending myth**, in Donatese mythology, is the myth that describes the end of all living things and the rebirth of the universe. Its first variation was recorded around 1250 as a text of apocalyptic predictions. It is the most important eschatological myth of Donatese mythology and Vera. There are various interpretations on it, though some core elements remain uniform.

## Summary

### Initial signs

The myth generally opens with the belief that the world is constantly trying to reach a state of equilibrium and how it will take no less than some millennia for this to be achieved, as there have always been unequal levels of virtue and sin in the world. The moment that this happens, a large humanoid (sometimes having tree branches for hair) figure with no facial features other than two eyes, one of which is gouged out and sewn shut, will rise as a shape in the clouds. Any true believer is said to have noticed it by this point, though some interpretations say that the disbelievers will be able to see the shape, too. This shape will then block out the Sun and plunge the world into eternal darkness. The shape is created out of one singular cloth, which is woven from the good and bad cloth (see Donatese creation myth) in equal parts.

### Deliverance towards mortals

The universe's ultimate goal is to revert itself to its starting point as an intangible mess of desire. Despite this, though, in most variations of the myth, it first brings punishment towards souls who have sinned, while it rewards those who have done good in their lives. During this period, the sinful will be able to feel everything on the intelligent spectrum of emotions, while the virtuous will only feel pity, content and happiness. Some variations claim that this 'emotion locking' goes both ways. For mortals, time will be warped so that the period of deliverance feels longer lasting.

#### Reward

Those who have been virtuous will be allowed free reign of the world and will sit through a ceremony where all the spirits reveal their names to them. For this period of time until the universe is reverted, spirits of every rank (including the *Duosters*) will have to do their bidding. The virtuous will be exempt from any sort of pain, suffering and other negative emotions.

#### Punishment

It is often conveyed through metaphor that the sinful will be dragged up towards the clouds, where they will be hanged by their necks until further punishment is delivered. Once they sit through this, they will be divided into several groups, whose punishment will be different depending on the sins they committed. They cannot die during this time period.

The specifics of individual punishment blur between variations, though the most common ones will be listed here. The lustful will be impaled on pikes from their rear end to their mouth and will be rotated on top of the Sun. Every so often, sparks will jolt from the Sun's surface and fry their genitals. The gluttonous will all be cast into one great ditch where they will be immediately starved '*to the brink of perishing*' and will be forced to eat one another's entrails, though they will find that anything that ventures inside their mouth is turned to a '*powder tasteless that induces vomit*'. The greedy will be stripped of all clothes and guided to an empty and endlessly spacious room, where they will be granted that anything they touch turns to gold. However, they will soon be overcome by an irresistible itch across their entire bodies and will '*succumb to their own instincts'*. The slothful will be tasked with endlessly writing down their names while standing up, and if their hand diverges from the provided parchment even once, a great swarm of ants will come to pick apart their flesh, though they will stop at half way and then spit out their flesh back at them. They are then again tasked at writing. The envious will be guided towards great mirrors where their reflections will turn into the people they detested the most. These mirror images will then live through the life they once had, except they will avoid every wrong decision. The wrathful will be led to a hall where every living thing they inflicted rage upon will take turns at digesting them. The prideful will be in the same place as the envious, but their reflections will then endlessly mock them for each weak point they can find. If this is proven unsuccessful at beating their psyche, the reflections will then come through the mirror and claw at them until they are bone.

Those who have been morally grey throughout their lives will turn into warm-blooded serpents that are then transported towards a harsh environment of endless snow and hail. Disbelievers of Vera and those who have done things to harm, mock or provoke the spirits (and in some interpretations, Donat and the Donatians) will be torn apart from limb to limb and will have each hair plucked out from their bodies and will be unable to scream, as both their mouths and noses will be sewn shut.

Duosters will carry out the punishments for the respective core sins they govern, while *malghosts* will carry out punishments not binded towards a core sin.

### Degradation of the universe

At the end of the period of deliverance, it is said that the souls of all living beings will be freed and returned towards the center of the universe, although it is never clear where this location exactly is. All forms of matter are then sunk back into the soil. The soil is then transformed into water, which disintegrates into the elements. Once all forms of matter have been reduced to the elements, the elements will then degrade into desire from which they were woven. They will scatter across the universe, until '*matter can be conceived again*' (see Donatese creation myth).

Throughout the myth, it is implied that the souls are '*waiting for eternal deliverance*', implying that the deliverance granted by the universe is not true freedom. It is often thought that they will be free once they can roam the newly-created world, though this sometimes troubles theologists, as it is unclear in the myth as to whether they are contained within the intangible mess of desire, or if they are meant to be reconstructed from it. The extensive repetition of the universe is implied throughout the myth, and it is thought that the creation myth is deeply intertwined with it.