A Soul is the essence of life contained within a mortal creature. Souls are said to have been created by the gods, but various attempts at synthesizing souls have been made over Quelmar's history.
Alignment and Purity[edit | edit source]
Souls are typically destined to move on to one of the outer planes after the mortal body has passed away. Evil gods seek dominion over evil souls, while good gods seek out the good souls. The purity of a soul does not have a direct correspondence to its alignment. However, the overlap between corrupt and evil is much greater than it is with good. Evil souls must walk a fine line if they want to arrive in an evil paradise such as Acheron or Carceri. Otherwise they will be too corrupt to achieve a proper afterlife.
If a soul becomes too corrupted, it will belong to Asmodeus in accordance with an ancient pact set up by the Gods. When this happens, the corrupted soul is instead sent to the planes of hell to serve as a devil.
On rare occasions, a soul may be so corrupted that it transcends traditional pathways, instead electing to break all known rules of order and become its own chaotic essence. When such a transformation occurs, the soul had become a true form of demon.
Corrupting Acts[edit | edit source]
An example of evil acts and their measure of corruption on the soul can be found below:
- Using an evil spell: +1 Corruption
- Humiliating an underling: +1 Corruption
- Engaging in intimidating torture: +1 Corruption
- Stealing from the needy: +2 Corruption
- Betraying a friend or ally for personal gain: +2 Corruption
- Causing gratuitous injury to an innocent creature: +3 Corruption
- Perverting justice for personal gain: +3 Corruption
- Inflicting cruel or painful torture: +4 Corruption
- Premeditated Murder: +5 Corruption
- Forcing other souls to serve against their will + 6 Corruption
- Murder for Pleasure: +7 Corruption
Lost Souls[edit | edit source]
Occasionally a mortal creature dies without a secure bond to a divine entity or god, meaning that an afterlife has not been picked out for them. These creatures' souls are doomed to float among the astral sea, watching as souls pass into their peaceful heavens. Occasionally a lost soul is plucked out of the astral sea, either returned to life by divine magic, or given a new purpose.
