FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
From the Office of Grand Vicar Cronus IX
His Holiness, Cronus the Ninth of His Name, Vicarius Maximus of the High Synod of the Ecclesiarchy, offers blessings to the devout of Risma during Her holy days this month. May Her holy light spread across the galaxy, offering knowledge and bringing those who have strayed back to the Faith.
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Thirteen blessings.
For those truly among the Faithful, death is nothing to be feared. Your soul, the very essence of your being, will be purified and granted Paradise.
Paradise has many names: Paradiso, Caelum, Heaven, the Golden City, et cetera. It is here that you commune with the Gods, basking in their presence. For simplicity sake, I shall call this afterlife Paradise.
For each person, Paradise is different. An adherent of Irido might be reliving the glories of ancient battles by the god of war's side. A scholar of Risma might study in libraries beyond imagination on all subjects throughout the cosmos. For a follower of Csil, he might spend his afterlife protecting law enforcement officers from the dangers they face keeping order.
We are all different. Why would Paradise not be different for every one of the devout?
Yet not all the afterlife is Paradise.
No, friends. All are subjected to the Hells. There are nine hells. Eight hells await all, the Faithful and otherwise. These eight exist for the purification of your soul for your ultimate fate. The time spent in each hell is dependent on one's sins and actions against the Faith, the Faithful, and the Gods
The dead face the First Hell, the Judgement of Xo. There the Final Judge hears your sins, your crimes, and renders a sentence. He alone determines your soul's fate, weighing your sins against the vouching of the Saints and the other Gods to determine your length in the other levels and your fate.
The Second Hell is the Purification of Earth, the Third is the Purification of Shadow, the Fourth is the Purification of Fire, the Fifth is the Purification of Water, the Sixth is the Purification of Air, the Seventh is the Purification of Light, and the Eighth is the Purification of Faith. I will not go into depth on that here, but each layer is to cleanse your soul and force you to reflect on each of your various sins.
After the Eighth Hell, there are three judgments that Xo may render.
For those who never had the chance to truly accept the Faith, the soul is returned to the living to be reincarnated and given another chance to please the Gods.
For the truly devout, they are granted Paradise.
For those who have rebelled against the Gods by spurning the Faith, by persecuting the Faithful, by actively denying the Gods and their Temples, or by falsely proclaiming your faith to Them, there is but one punishment: The Ninth Hell. The Pit.
It is the Pit where the souls of the irredeemable damned cower in torment and pain, separated from the Gods who created them. Only those souls who have marked themselves as impossible for redemption suffer this fate, such as the now-extinct Taung who attempted to exterminate the ancient Zhell and now rule The Pit as daemons, seeking to whisper to the souls of mortals, to corrupt them and spread the same damnation they brought unto themselves.
Brothers and sisters, I urge you: Accept the Gods. It is by Their hands you were molded. It is by Their hands you were given life. They inspire and guide you every day. Embrace Their Faith and pledge yourselves to them.
Blessings be.
