afterlife

The afterlife is the place the souls of mortals go after they die. Most pantheons and religions have their own version of the afterlife which can be vastly different from one another.

Types of Afterlives

While afterlives can be quite distinct, most fall into one of a few distinct categories: Abodes of the Dead, Halls of Judgement, or Palaces of the Gods.
Abodes of the Dead are afterlives where both righteous and sinful souls congregate together, most frequently in a neutral area without joy or torment. In these afterlives, the dead simple exist, unchanging and unalterable. Frequently, there is one deity of the pantheon or a servant of the solitary deity who is responsible for overseeing this afterlife, shepherding the souls and keeping them in the afterlife. Most such religions claim that, in an indistinctly distant future, some event will occur where the souls will receive some reward or rebirth. It is often possible for the living to contact the souls through some method and may possibly be able to physically travel to the afterlife through some mechanism.
Halls of Judgement are afterlives which separate the souls of the deceased based on their actions during life, often sending the virtuous to a paradise and the wicked to a prison of torment. Those sent to the paradises are rewarded in some manner, receiving boons and being free of pain, want, or hardship. The virtuous may be able to exert some influence over the mortal world, but it is limited. Mortals may call upon the deceased through magical means, but normally are not allowed to physically visit paradise. Paradise is often overseen by the primary deity of the pantheon and their servants.
The wicked are conversely tortured and punished for their sins, usually in a manner relating to their sins. In some cases, this punishment is only temporary, being inflicted only until the soul has been cleansed of their sins, at which point they may either move on to paradise or be reincarnated for another try to live a virtuous life. Others are to be tortured for eternity or until some far-future event occurs which may either free them or cause them to cease existing entirely. Travel to the prison is often possible for the living, who may be able to free a soul there after overcoming some difficult trial. The prison is typically overseen by a deity charged with punishing sinners.
At times, there also exists a third afterlife, a limbo in which souls which are neither sufficiently good nor evil are sent. This limbo is typically similar to an Abode of the Dead, a holding place where neither pleasure nor punishment happens.
Palaces of the Gods are afterlives for pantheons which are more involved in the lives of their worshipers and may politic and work against one another. In these afterlives, each deity in a pantheon has its own "home" where its worshipers are sent upon death. For those who are not particularly religious or dutiful, they are most often sent to the palace of the god which most closely reflects how they carried themselves in life; merchants and misers might be sent to a god of money's palace, while a particularly cruel individual will be sent to the palace of the god of fear. These palaces are often presented as places of joy and comfort for the god's followers, though rarely are they the hardship-free places that the paradises of the Halls of Judgement.
In pantheons which contain "evil" gods or those that embody traditionally negative aspects (such as greed, pain, or lies), their palaces are often portrayed as unpleasant, though rarely outright punishments. Usually, the souls that end up there must continue to toil and compete with one another, often in exaggerated forms of their lives. This is typically presented as the price a person must pay for accepting the power provided by these gods during life.
Mortal travel to these palaces is often possible and occasionally even easy. While mortals are not allowed to remain in the palaces, they can visit the dead, ask them questions, or even retrieve the dead. Some deities may even allow the dead to temporarily depart their palaces to take care of some task in the mortal world.

Locations

The afterlives are typically separated from the mortal world in some way, though the difficulty of traveling between them varies from pantheon to pantheon. Despite the beliefs of many religions, their afterlives do not exist in an alternate reality or different plane of existence. Rather, most afterlives tend to be located in inaccessible and/or hidden locations on their realms. Typical locations include deep underground, atop an extremely tall mountain, on a realm's moon, within the realm's photopartum, or in a city floating high above the realm.
Traveling to an afterlife for a mortal can be as simple as walking to its location to as complicated as requiring a precise set of rituals and journeys to reach. Some afterlives are virtually impossible for mortals to enter, with closed gates that are protected against all forms of penetration. However, sufficiently powerful mortals can achieve almost anything and legends of people entering and leaving even the most closed off afterlives are present in most cultures.

Type

Metaphysical, Divine