The Sorrow of Souls

The Sorrow of Souls is the name given to the religious doctine that dominates every religion and culture in the Saeric lands. It describes how, in the wake of the cthonic goddess of the underworld, the Phoenix, has been overthrown and slain by the Raven. The Phoenix's realm was transformed by its new ruler, and any Soul entering death is now condemned to an eternity of torment and torture.

Spiritual Origin and Early Development

The Rise of the False Phoenix went largely unnoticed to most mortals for seven years. The event had been overshadowed by the Great Confiscation. The Phoenix – the true Mistress and Judge of Souls – was overthrown by Her deceitful and corrupt servant, Eneas: the creature who would go on to become the Raven. He had been an Escort of Death, in the days before the Raven’s evil corrupted their minds, form and purpose. It was during His missions to bring the Souls of the lost to His Mistress that Eneas formed his cruel philosophy. He decided that the Phoenix was too gentle in Her dealings with the dead, and that mankind should be punished more severely for the sins they had committed in their mortal life.
Over the years, Eneas’s philosophy took root amongst His followers and began to grow.

Finally, they made their move. They overthrew the Phoenix, taking Her Skin and forming it into a robe fit for the Prince of Perdition. The evil in Eneas’s heart turned the Phoenix’s feathers of flames to ash. His coronation was attended by the kings of the Saeric Lands; those fickle fools. They who had whored the Souls of every generation of their countrymen for the Raven’s false promises of leniency for their own Souls in death.
But on putting on the robes of the Raven, Eneas realised that He could not torment the Souls of Perdition alone. So, He sent out his vile Escorts of Death, ordering them to hunt down every man, woman and child with the accursed scent of Power in the veins, and bleed them dry. He bathed their Souls in their own poisonous blood, forming from their innate evil His hoard of demons.
Knowing the travesties their kinsmen had become, mankind turned to its pantheon of gods, beseeching them for mercy. That is when we realised we had been betrayed. For time immemorial, our ancestors had worshipped gods of the earth, wind, water and fire. Humankind had been deceived. The creatures they worshipped were not divine. They were nothing more than filthy animals whose bodies and blood were contaminated with Power. This triggered what would become known as the Hubraic Was, where humans slew, enslaved and cast out all creatures with Power in their veins.

This is an incredibly rough draft written for Summer Camp 2023.

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