Shao
Bring back angry react
To tell the Lady’s story we must start at the beginning of it all, when the worlds were new and first formed, when man first rose from the dust guided by the hand of Shalherana. It was she who breathed life into us, we her children, yet as all things must life had a cycle, a cycle she did not forsee. As her children slipped away from our earthly realm into the cold dark of the void she heard them scream, they were screams of painful sadness riddled with despair, this broke her heart, so she wept like any mother would. As this tear rolled out of her eye it fell into the void, freezing and taking shape, all of Shalheranas sorrow embodied in this cold form, thus was born she who we call The Grey Lady, Matron of the Afterlife, Goddess of Death and Judgement.
From then on it was her purpose to guide those passed to the afterlife, to judge their mortal lives and either reward or punish them, to commit them to eternal burning and pain or a realm of their reward. As the ages passed she kept a close eye on these souls and saw nothing but empty space where once there was a group of souls. It was then she first knew they had been stolen, taken from their eternal punishment, from her judgment, this stirred up the first and only emotion to ever take hold of the Lady, it was anger, anger against he who stole, his name is Skraag the Soul Stealer he had taken the souls to trap in his cages of rotten flesh twisted like steel binds around them, to use in his experiments with undeath. Then like the tide this emotion faded away and she returned to her normal self but never forgot Skraag’s trespasses, she was no longer blind to his trickery.
Still to this day she watches and judges our mortal actions on this realm, performing her duty diligently, guiding wayward souls through the void keeping them from the vile claws of the Soul-Stealer. Be you faithful or a heretic, Elf or Caparii, we must all pass through her hands when our time on this earth comes to an end, in this way she must be respected, like Shalherana is the beginning The Grey Lady is the end.
Between the faithful of the Lady there are certain beliefs shared among all individuals and others more personal, which mostly arise from how the person interprets her tenants.
It is widely accepted, no, near certain that throughout your life your actions are judged, the scales of judgment tilting to either side with everything you do, be it big or small. The Lady in effect is the interpreter of such a scale and she never makes a mistake. At the end of your life she sees all you have done everything good or bad, honourable or evil and with this decides your fate, which realm you deserve to spend your afterlife in.
To my knowledge entirely thanks to the High Priestess Ashna the nine realms of the afterlife that once were have now become seven. She believes it is to keep the realms stable and disconnected from other divine influences after the events of Aldred, son of Visage. Though there is much uncertainty to most of these realms, however three of them are well known. The first is the Realm of Reward, for those who have been judged to have lived a good life, be it simple or grand, it is a place of bliss devoid of pain, it is said in some circles that eventually the souls there are reborn into this world once more to live again with no memory of their former life. The second is the Realm of the Damned, a place for those who have sinned greatly and have lost all favour with the Lady, it is dark and burning, where sinners labour for eternity as they are subjected to the Lady’s indifference to their suffering. The third is a place in between called Limbo, where souls await their judgment. Thanks to insight from the High Priestess Ashna I can inform you of further realms, one for forgotten and blasphemous beings supposedly not all of which were once mortal. The last known realm is one in which the divine blessed are allowed to reside not much is known about these two realms beyond this, as for the other two they are a mystery.
The Grey Lady holds two tenants:
~Let not your Judgement be clouded by materials or conflict
~Beware the Soul Stealer
Every faithful interprets them differently, the second tenant being where most differ from each other in belief. I shall discuss how I see each and how I have seen others interpret them.
For the first tenant I believe tells us the importance of seeing the world and certain situations with a neutral eye, for to truly judge something we must see it as an on looker and not have our view of it disrupted by material gain or conflict between ourselves, those we know and those involved, our decision, our judgment must be pure. That is why I practice the control of the mind and emotions so that I can be as close to neutral as the Lady herself. Most others see it like this being as it is fairly clear cut as far as tenants go, however the difference lies in the degree we implement it into our lives, some do not repress their personal feelings when it comes to judging a situation, they instead let their anger or love cloud their mind and inform their actions. I believe all should put this tenant into practice in their lives and those of faith doubly so.
The second as said before is where most disagree, some see it as a call to war, others like me believe it is merely a warning, telling you to keep an eye out for Skraag. I believe if any of his plans make themselves aware to you, you should try to disrupt them and lessen his influence on his realm. You should take measures to insure it is harder for him to dig his claws into the world around you, such as the sealing of corpses in iron coffins and the use of divine magic to hide the souls of the fallen from Skraags wicked eye. Others feel it is their priority, over the care of the dead and the Lady’s holy sites, to hunt out and destroy any inkling of Skraag, whether it’s a whisper or a shout they will spend their days hunting him out.
There are many ways to worship the Grey Lady and anyone can, be you a farmer, a priest or a king she plays a vital role in a very important part of your life, the end. Worship can range from simple acknowledgement to all out devotion.
A central aspect of her worship is an innate respect for the dead, to deface them is unforgivable in the eyes of the Lady and shows a lack of respect or faith in her. In places where the dead rest there is often a shrine dedicated to her so she may watch over those buried there, these places also tend to be the primary areas for people to worship her as there are very few temples to her in these lands.
For those that decide to take their faith in her more seriously and wish to dedicate themselves to her they often join the Ministry and strive to gain their priesthood. If they do well they are often charged with caring for and running one of the many graveyards on this continent. As the primary mission of any priest is to care for the dead and to care for the holy sites dedicated to Our Lady, there are those who do choose to focus on other things such as the destruction of Skraag’s influence. To further worship her those of extreme faith make an effort to take on aspects of the Lady, her neutrality, her judgement, all to better serve her. Those who worship should not seek death but to live life to the fullest, accepting of the end.
I hope reading this has given you valuable insight into the Goddess of Death and Judgement and has caused you to forever keep her in some part of your mind.
Lady delay Judgement upon all who read this.
Solus Lannis
(ooc: This shortish text will be avaliable in book form when i'm done copying it over, it will likely be handed out by me for free at s.l, if you want a copy for your library pm me)
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