The Journey After Death

Theologians, thaumaturges, and priests across Hillit have pondered what happens to the self after death. There is mystic evidence that something happens, such as resurrection magic, necromancy, and divine message. As of the latest consensus, the following is the most likely nature of the experience of death in the material plane.

Journey to the Astral Plane

When the body dies, the spirit and soul remain nearby in the overlapping near ethereal plane. At this point, the spirit is wrapped around the soul and carrying it. Within minutes of the death, the spirit and soul departs from the body and travel deeper into the etheral and eventually emerges in the shadowlands.
The journey through the shadowlands is bleak, as the spirit begins to remember everything they did in their life. They meet their psychopomp, who guides them in this stage of the journey. Pride, guilt, and regret fade here as emotion is suppressed in the journey. The spirit and their soul will remain here until the spirit accepts fully what they have done in their life. When the spirit has fully accepted their deeds, they can progress through the storm of creation and arrive in the astral plane .

Judgment

All spirits begin their journey in the major plane (huyem peosh) known as Nusham. Here, they must face the thought of judgment and begin removing attachments to the life they left behind. When they are able to do so, then they proceed to the major plane Khasi.
Khasi houses the courts of judgment. The spirit, now walking side-by-side with their soul, meet two divinities: Aalun, the white moon of judgment, and Yayisa, the scribe in the Tome of Life. Aalun and Yayisa will record the spirit's entire existence in the Tome of Life and judge its worth. They look to see how far the spirit walked on the path towards the Ashi state of enlightenment. Wherever the spirit furthest journeyed in life is their heaven and they are placed in the major plane corresponding to it or one of the countless demiplanes that are fine-tuned to the spirit's true, self-actualized philosophy.
The sins a spirit carries are shed off of its astral form and they fall into the vile planes of obstruction. For some spirits, their essence is composed too heavily of sins and the remaining astral form is weak and small. For others, barely any descends.

Journey to Ashi

Once the astral form is shed of their sins, they returns the soul it guarded to the Cyclical Pantheon and follows Aalun's judgment of heavens. There, they faces two choices: remain in the heaven and melt into the paradise matching its true nature, or strive to grow even more.
Many spirits chose to remain in paradise because growth is difficult without a soul. They remain in the plane or demiplane they are best suited for until their astral form melds with the reality around them. If their astral form is strong, they can keep their identity for years, decades, or even centuries after death. If their astral form is weak, then they rapidly meld into the plane they reside in.
For a few powerful spirits, growth is possible. They can elect to continue the path towards enlightenment and strive to travel further down the Oe Peosh. Each new major plane and its accompanying demiplanes welcomes the spirit, but a small part of itself remains behind on every plane they traveled through. Most spirits that strive for growth and are powerful enough to achieve it ascend one or two planes before resting in their new heaven.
Very rarely, a spirit is able to reach the highest plane Ashi and achieve true spiritual enlightenment. No known spirit has achieved that in recorded memory, but the gods have assured mortals it is possible.
To improve the chances of reaching Ashi, most spiritualists will strive to achieve as many stages of enlightenment as possible while living. Having a soul dramatically improves their capability to grow and self-actualize.

Vile Planes of Obstruction

The vile planes of obstruction (the Yo Earbusu) are the realms that the corrupted parts of spirit land in. There are conflicting narratives about what happens here, even today. The most common narrative is that these fractions of a spirit are full of spite, vengeance, or other horrid motivations. They loathe how they were cast off when their astral form was allowed to ascend. Most rapidly meld into the plane they reside in, but a few spirits that were particularly vile are able to create a shed form that is potent enough to retain their identity.
There are scattered legends about some shed forms able to confront and redeem themselves of their sins while in the Yo Earbusu. Redemption allows the shed form to ascend to a heaven and meld into a paradise.

The Soul's Path

Unlike a spirit, a soul has no ego. It is a spark of the divine flame all sentient beings share and grows in strength with each life it lives. When the spirit that protected it leaves for their heaven, the soul remains with the Cyclical Pantheon. It is cleansed and given a new spirit to carry into a new mortal life. The cycle of life, death, and rebirth continues, and the soul returns to the material plane.

Necromancy

The power and magic inherent in the spirit and soul is mighty indeed. The First Defiler discovered this and learned that a spirit and their soul could be used to great personal benefit. Foul magicks were weaved by the First Defiler and the spirit (still guarding its soul) were ripped from the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Instead, they were consumed by the magic and fed to the Defiler.
This practice has continued in various forms ever since. Any spiritual necromancy that creates sentient or ethereal undead defiles a part or the entirety of a spirit and soul. The negative energy used in the magic binds these astral entities and corrupts them, potentially forever. The most potent and horrid rituals can completely destroy a spirit and soul.
It is unclear how much this can be reversed. There are stories of mighty heroes being defiled after their death and only the direct divine intervention of the Celestial Pantheon or the Cyclical Pantheon could repair them. Other legends tell how even the gods were unable to repair the damage done by the magic.

Type

Metaphysical, Astral