Afterlife for mixed religions?

From: Kevin P. McDonald <paul_mcdonald_at_...>
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2003 10:38:01 -0400

We had a question come up in my game earlier this week regarding the afterlife in mixed religions. My game is set in Carmania, where wizardry and theism are both practiced by various members of the Carmanian Dualist Church. The question would be similar for some henothiest religions, and particularly for the Lunar religion. The question is... where do people in a mixed religion go when they die? All the same place? If so, then how does this fit into the Otherworlds scheme? If not, then how would it be described?

For example:

In the Carmanian religion, as I interpret it, when a person dies his soul is collected by Idojartos the Psychopomp and escorted to the Sword Bridge where the deceased is judged on the merits of his/her moral decisions in life. The pure ones rise to commune with Idovanus in the Carmanian heaven, and the impure ones fall into the Carmanian hell(s) to be tormented by Ganesatarus. Now the problem: Idojartos is a theistic entity. The Dread Judge of the Sword Bridge is also theistic if it is Humakt. Idovanus and Ganesatarus are oddball entities that have been treated as both theist and wizardry divinities at one time or another. And what about worshipers of theistic entities? Is the Carmanian heaven the same as the Venerable Plane - thus off limits to theists? Do theists go to their god's domain in the God World after crossing the Sword Bridge, never going to Idovanus' heaven? Do they go to the Sword Bridge and then Heaven, avoiding the God World altogether? Also, where is the Sword Bridge, exactly? Does it exist simultaneously in both Otherworlds? The Hero Plane? How does one sort this out?

The same question can be asked about the Red Moon, where pious Lunar souls, spirits, etc, go when they die. Is there a "wizardry ghetto" on the Moon or do wizardry practitioners and theists mix freely there? Or do the Lunar Wizards just vanish in a puff of logic? ;)

Thanks for any direction!

~Kevin McD