Ambient sounds courtesy of tosha73 and EminYILDIRIM
Greetings to those below. I am Death, though Azrael is the name I choose. Today we will be discussing The Void, a place that is either a place or not a place depending on whom you ask. If you ask the Sithuwaye elves, they’ll say it’s both a place and not a place all rolled into one. That’s what you get when things start getting existential, but you should expect that with the cerebral Sithuwaye.
They’re not wrong, though. Being undefined is the nature of The Void. It is a fictional place to some, a spiritual idea to many, and a physical realm of the so-called “damned” to many more. But, one thing I should clear up right now considering my audience. The land of elsewhere has its own concept of a place where damned souls go, but I will clarify and say, The Void is not Hell.
The Belief
by brands amon from Pixabay
n essence, The Void is a realm of shadow. There are various interpretations of what this exactly means, which I will explain in a moment, but the general consensus is, it is a place where the sun cannot penetrate. It is a place of lost souls. It is a place where the darkness comes alive, sprouts teeth, and feasts on those who wander. It is a place of magic.
You see, there is no such thing as magic in the world of Orosta. Well, at least, that’s the official story. So you can imagine hearing of such a land would be quite frightening to children and adults alike, especially if it is a place you are destined to go when I inevitably come calling. Yes, I am tangled up in this belief, too. Being conflated with various religions happens to me quite a lot, actually. But, out of a professional courtesy, I make the solemn promise to you now—assuming any of this is real, at all—that I would never deliver your soul to The Void.
Then again, where I deliver your soul is not actually up to me.
It never has been . . .
Religious Differences
The Children of Le Sair
by Jim Cooper from Pixabay
mm? Oh, I think I got a little sidetracked there. Anyway, there are different understandings of The Void. Recent times would have you believe The Void is a relatively new religious idea, and in some ways that is true, but if we wish to be technical—and I do so love being technical if only to spite Vānima who would rather you didn’t know this—the concept of The Void has existed since the dawn of time.
The Children of Le Sair worship my master. I have explained already how my master’s influence has dimmed on Orosta, especially in recent centuries, but before all that, as I am Death given form, my master was understood to be Life personified. So naturally, without him there could be no life, and I would fill in the proverbial . . . void. You see where the term comes from now, which makes its modern understanding all the more amusing, but I digress.
To the Children of Le Sair, The Void is not a physical place, but more so a spiritual state of being. Since Le Sair is literally Life, being separated from him would be like . . . well, snuffing out a light. Poof. No more life. No more you. Darkness would be all that remained. As such, it would not be wrong to say that, to the Children of Le Sair, The Void is the absence of Le Sair. The Void is the absence of life. The Void is death.
And with that, things just became quite confusing considering who I am, but as I am an idea, so, too, is the Children of Le Sair’s understanding of The Void. So, if you squint, I suppose it is not incorrect to think of me as The Void. It may be a bit shocking to the average Child of Le Sair that their so-called spiritual state of being is a bit more opinionated than they imagined, but when is anything simple these days?
The Religion of Velherr
Speaking of which, in modern times, The Void has taken up a much more literal understanding. With the rise of Vānima the Veldriss, the people, especially the Zurrinaih elves, began worshipping her as a goddess, and it quickly became understood there were many realms beyond this one. The realm of Velherr where the goddess supposedly originated from, the realm of Vyash where the goddess’s beloved children gently drift after death, and . . . The Void where those who betray the goddess are doomed to be tortured and eaten for all eternity by the scáth.
What are the scáth? Oh, the scáth are a problem. I will tell you more about them soon. They deserve greater attention than what I can discuss here today. Vānima had quite a bit of fun incorporating them into her religion. If she really knew what they were, though, I doubt she’d be so glib . . .
But as Vānima the Veldriss adopted the scáth, you can see how she also adopted The Void and redesigned it to her own purposes. But in doing so, she completely removed me from the puzzle, an act that did make me chuckle considering me “filling the void” is, as I said, where the term comes from in the first place. Vānima didn’t bother to update the name. Who knows? Maybe it was to keep the V theme going.
Underworld vs Otherworld
by jplenio from Pixabay
ess amusing, though, is another linguistic quibble involving The Void. Many believe another name for The Void to be The Underworld, and in many a conversation, a person may use The Void and The Underworld interchangeably. However, this is actually a mistranslation of old texts that confused the word “otherworld” for “underworld.” Add to this the fact “underworld” and “otherworld” sound much the same in various Orostian languages, and soon, you have what exists today where the term “otherworld” is either not known or buried so far in archaic texts that only the truly committed undine scribe would know it.
I bring it up because “otherworld” is one of those sneaky little words that maybe shouldn’t be . . . ah, perhaps it’s for the best. Hmph. I’m sure at least the dragons are happy about this natural evolution of language, but I digress again. Remember dragons lie.
Hungry Spiders
by Stefan Keller from Pixabay - Modified by J. L. Gryphon
ut that does bring me to a religious example I’ve used in the past. In my discussion of The Cult of Azrael, I explained their worldview to be that of a spider’s web. People are the flies on the web avoiding the hungry spider, and in Orosta’s case, I mentioned there were several hungry spiders who all enjoy playing with their food.
I maintain this statement now, and I will tell you that those “spiders” very much love the idea of The Void. A world plunged into eternal night, except there would be no moon, no stars, none of the things that make the night a lovely place. Even that they would ruin.
And certainly there are places in Orosta that may have inspired the belief in the first place. Dark places where the sun cannot penetrate, and the scáth drift freely. When you stumble across such things, it all starts to seem . . . familiar.
Is It Real?
by Yuha park from Pixabay
his of course brings me to the question: Is The Void a real place? Is it truly something to fear, or is it merely . . . fantasy?
Well, like all religions, it comes down to what you believe.
So . . . what do you think?
Signed your shadowy narrator,
Azrael the Star of Death
Book Information
To learn more, hop on over to the books page OR hop on over to the teaser and get a sneak peek of Chapter 1! For more articles like this one, have a peek at my Worldbuilding Journal and explore Orosta.
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