Muid

Muid is the realm of the Gods, also called the 'Celestial Plane'. It is the home of the Living Gods, as well as many of the spirits created by them to help fulfill their directive. Muid serves two primary purposes: it acts as the original home of the Adac, and it also serves to connect all planes together. For this reason, it is often called the 'Nexus', existing as a sort of focal point to reality.

The Afterlife

Most people go to Muid when they die. The mortal races were largely constructed by the Gods, and even if they were designed by a God now Corrupted, their souls were designed upon conception to bring them to Muid. Specifically, they are sent first to Malek's Carrion Hole where they will be pooled into the Well of Souls, before being distributed based on a variety of factors, towards one God Realm in particular in some cases, or even reincarnation. There are notable exceptions to this: those who die in particular ways become Ghosts, and Orkhai - being designed by Jaxkael after his fall - go to Bel upon death. The Krish are unique in that they were originally Hyr'Norai, but have found a way to bind their souls to the Outlands, where they continue to roam as Terrorwraiths in their demise, often serving their Tribal Kingdom after death.

The far majority of mortals, however, do end up in Muid, one way or another. This can be a shocking and strange occurrence for worshipers of faiths such as the Omen or the Old Ones, who did not subscribe belief to the Living Gods. The followers of the Cults of Bel who did not yet dedicate their soul to a Corrupted God still end up in Muid, those individuals often requiring 'reeducation', many of them considered blasphemous, and dangerous to stability.

Many believe the pull towards Muid to be a validation of the falsehood of other faiths, though others argue that it is simply due to Venadak's ability to forge planes, a power that has now essentially been lost. Whatever the case, Muid is the end for most people, a haven that is strangely disconcerting to many, though undeniably serene.

Awakening

When a soul first dies and is distributed to Muid, they will typically awaken naked - appearing how they did in their early adulthood - within one of the many fields between villages. Often, they will wander, or an acolyte or traveling soul will clothe them and bring them to their own town. Towns grow and shift organically within Muid, people moving when they want to, leaving or staying, abandoning or occupying the countless buildings that never seem to decay. Such is the life for the soul that first awakens; they simply wander, and choose, assimilating into the community they find belonging in, the one they resonate with. Many souls will seek to find the family they had in life, though this can be next-to-impossible. For this reason, many give up trying, and often find new families. The concept of 'family' in Muid is a strange thing: it is often temporary and tied to a sense of companionship, however fleeting. Marriages can form in hours and last only days, if two decide they are not content with one another.

Perhaps due to the infinity offered by life, and the impossibility of death or wasted time, souls within Muid rarely tend to settle. Many of them even appear restless, desperately attempting to find some form of purpose. These souls are often those approached by acolytes, becoming the most fervent orators of a selected God, if only to bring meaning to their own being.

The Surface: Senia

Muid is known to be a land of endless beauty. Green meadows, trees with colorful blossoms, often open fields divided by white hills with small villages atop them. It is a land that reminds those who dwell within it of antiquity: there is a noticed lack of technological development, with the scattered settlements relying on ancient methods to procure food, wash and perform other deeds. Indeed -- despite being a form of 'afterlife', life continues to go on in Muid. Peacefully. Any violence or cruelty is quickly nullified as the world is snapped back into place, as if reality itself will not permit vileness, or insubordination.

Those who have gone to Muid and have returned describe it as a beautiful, if generated life. A sort of simulation of what utopia should be like, yet one that appears to rely on submission. The population within Muid is wildly religious, even fanatically so, and each town and city within is typically lined with endless altars dedicated to the Living Gods.

Senia, the primary surface of Muid -- where most people appear to go to in the afterlife -- appears endlessly vast. Despite this, it is occupied by a monoculture: people wear the attire permitted to them by the Living Gods. Toga, sashes, caligae, tunics, and so on. Soft, simple attire is the norm, with a greater level of exposure and indecency than is seen in the mortal realm.

The buildings tend to be made of white stone, square shaped, with wooden-framed balconies and porches overseen by boxed, window-like overheads, vines and leaves draping from them. Almost every home is occupied by a family, with a garden, and often some form of animal companion. These companions vary: cats and dogs are the most common, but some homes wield pet bears, griffons, or even stranger beings.

The surface of Muid is filled with constructs known as 'anchors', which connect the surface to the God Realms. Each anchor is manned by an acolyte of one of the Living Gods, with these acolytes wearing the garbs of their chosen deity. The anchors are also covered in the ornate symbols of their creator, to further distinguish where they connect to. Upon stepping onto the center of an anchor and willing oneself to move, that individual will be transported to one of the God Realms, which connect to Muid's surface as a large number of disc-like floating islands, completely surrounded by mountains, waterfalls, or some other thing, depending on the God in question.

The God Realms

There are eight occupied God Realms, each of which can be found in the articles of the Living Gods. The God Realms, metaphysically, act as an extension to the Gods themselves. Each God's Divine Spark offers them the ability to construct a sort of demiplane, or a physically constructed but metaphysically separate realm-within-a-realm. These are the God Realms, and they are designed to reflect the Gods themselves, as well as administer their Domains and will in a unique way. They appear to float above the surface of Muid, typically on the outer corners, though they are mostly visible if one is to look up and out towards the horizon. Each realm appears to be a floating island of sorts, and is completely obscured from below by natural borders, as well as towering statues and symbols of the God that occupies them.

The Empty Lands

The Empty Lands are the seven homes of the now Corrupted Gods, who no longer dwell in Muid. Their homes, abandoned, have been kept within Muid in memory of who they once were -- though over time, they have changed. There is little to describe here, but the Empty Lands may be traversed to through Anchors - even still - and explored in-character. They tend to appear weathered and less maintained than the others, many of the inhabitants of Muid describing them as 'Fall Realms' for their dormant trees, withering leaves and cooler, even more ominous atmosphere. Most daunting of them is Venadak's old realm, the Crusader's Eye, which sits far above the rest of them - even above the Everyshade Plains - and looms within the clouds, yet stands completely empty, strangely tilted as if ready to spill out onto the surface below at any moment. The center of Venadak's old realm is open, and through it dangles a golden sphere of light that still glows, acting as Muid's sun. Come the night, Tenebrax obscures it.

Traversing Muid

Anchors connect all of the Realms, and the surface, together. However, Gods also have the ability to especially permit (or 'invite') or exclude visitors from their realm. Within Muid, all eight of the Living Gods are totally omniscient of the ongoings of the realm, and they are quickly able to detect hostile or invasive forces, able to exclude them at a moment's notice. While banishing them from the plane entirely is a possibility, many will opt to bar them from their particular realm and observe them, banishing them if they continue to present any sort of threat.

Interestingly, Draedan - even those of the Corrupted - cannot easily be banished by the Living Gods, due to their spark of divinity. There have been cases of thoroughly corrupted Draedan entering Muid for hostile reasons and attempting to cull its residents, only to be confronted and executed by the Living Gods, or their Dragons.

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