In the homebrew world I am creating/developing (it’s a world I enjoy developing in my free time, with various stories and characters I’ve created), each continent has a different widely held belief of what happens after something dies, and therefore there are different gods/deities representing death according to each belief. So far I only have a few ideas according to each continent, and would like some assistance. I will describe each continent, and the basic ideas for what I’m thinking for the afterlife (If I have any ). The continents are also not all named, so if any assistance could be provided with that as well, it would be greatly appreciated!
First is the largest continent; a sprawling land of mostly forests, with a large area of plains in the center with mountains and swamps scattered around the coastlines. It has the most (and the largest) official kingdoms of every continent, with this continent being a sort of mix of many different cultures and peoples. It’s a hub of trade, culture, travel, and general history. Most people are entrepreneurs and traders, often traveling on trade routes throughout the continent to deliver and sell goods. Many artisans and other traders stake their claim on land there, as it is the most profitable for those lines of work. It also holds the most temples to various deities, with it also being the most religiously diverse place in the entire world.
Second is a continent referred to as “The Afterlife’s Hand” by outsiders. It is cold and barren, an icy desert with few plants and even fewer people. It has the lowest population of all five continents due to its unforgiving environment, and is widely feared because of that. The people who still do live there have adapted, finding ways to survive even in this harsh eternal winter. People there tend to believe in more primordial concepts and deities, if they truly believe in any at all.
Third is a lush continent filled with plains, jungles, and rainforests. It is known for its many farms and culture of farmers and small towns. There are few kingdoms as most organized societies instead take the form of large rural cities. It is seemingly a safe haven, and is the most vibrant and flourishing continent out of all five. People who live there mostly believe in deities that show the kinder, more benevolent sides of people, as well as those relating to farming and plants.
Fourth is a rocky, mountainous continent rich with minerals and gems, and therefore is the one with the most trade. It has many bustling port and mining towns, and pulls in the most money and materials of trade throughout all five continents. It is much more secluded than the others despite the bustling hubs of trade, and the people of that continent tend to believe in more grounded deities, or ones that they think will assist their work.
Fifth is a small group of islands that is considered a continent by both the residents and the outsiders. It is a group of island nations that live off of the sea and it’s resources, and make money from trading the seafood and valuable underwater goods. The beliefs of this continents people also lean towards deities of nature, specifically animals, and they are thankful for the things provided to them by those deities and the more primordial ones that have created these things as well.
(Also I apologize for the poor descriptions, I am not very good at translating the ideas in my head to written/typed word)
Well first, I'd like to take a stab at naming said continents (my friends always come to me when they need a good fantasy name so I think I'm qualified):
First continent: Adabaldos, Allora, or Aytellas (for some reason, I'm feeling A-ish about that one)
Second continent: Shereston, Ilkenk, Yaos, or Kruhs
Third continent: Viridael, Tanvilale, Saudras, or Peroth
Fourth continent: Bera, Kontaurus, or Allora (again)
Fifth continent: The Trident Islands, the Mythica Archipelago, Hausia, or Kemdae
Now for the main thing, the death mythologies. The first one- so it's a very diverse and varied place, yeah? Many underworlds throughout different real world and fictional mythologies have different forms of the underworld for different people, depending on what they did in life. I'd recommend the typical "good people go here, bad people go here" kinda thing, where the bad people each have a custom-designed punishment based on what they did (greed, gluttony, murder, theft, etc)
If the second continent is so doom and gloom, then their version of the afterlife should be either nihilistic (they face oblivion when they die) or a version of the first continent without the good alternative. Or actually, if you plan to make them some kinda raider/warrior culture, you could go with a Valhalla sort of thing where they believe dying heroically in combat will net them into a good afterlife.
Third continent and I'm also gonna skip to the fifth on this one: they both are nature-y types. Reincarnation, or some sort of belief in an afterlife where their spirits turn into wolves and can run free forever, would fit in well. I once did a mythology where all of the gods were animal spirits. The spirit of death was a deer, and the followers of this faith believed that when they died, they were brought back as deer that then joined the spirit's herd, living peacefully in the astral plains for all eternity.
Fourth continent: Here's a novel concept: A capitalist belief of the afterlife. They follow work-related gods, yes? Gods of trade, or forging, crafting, etc? Perhaps they think they need to buy passage into the afterlife; their wealth determines where they end up and how swanky their new accommodations are. Some god is believed to weigh all their gold or crafted goods they earned/made over the course of their lifetime, so that leads to them having a stronger work ethic during life. It could also create an interesting lore about there not being a lot of thievery in the fourth continent, because thieves are believed to be punished severely for their ill-gotten wealth in the afterlife.
Thank you so much! I love the name Viridael for the third continent, and I strongly agree with your idea for the fourth one. I’ve been thinking about it more and I may go with a concept where your actions in life are converted into a sort of afterlife currency; where you can take different places in the sort of after death society depending on how much “life credit” you have. Though if your “life credit” is negative due to a horrible life (or a direct affront to one deity or something) you are in debt to the death deity that runs that specific afterlife, and help with various things around that place of afterlife. It’s sort of inspired by the land of the dead in the game Grim Fandango, and a little bit of the weighing of the heart in Egyptian Mythology.
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In the homebrew world I am creating/developing (it’s a world I enjoy developing in my free time, with various stories and characters I’ve created), each continent has a different widely held belief of what happens after something dies, and therefore there are different gods/deities representing death according to each belief. So far I only have a few ideas according to each continent, and would like some assistance. I will describe each continent, and the basic ideas for what I’m thinking for the afterlife (If I have any ). The continents are also not all named, so if any assistance could be provided with that as well, it would be greatly appreciated!
First is the largest continent; a sprawling land of mostly forests, with a large area of plains in the center with mountains and swamps scattered around the coastlines.
It has the most (and the largest) official kingdoms of every continent, with this continent being a sort of mix of many different cultures and peoples. It’s a hub of trade, culture, travel, and general history. Most people are entrepreneurs and traders, often traveling on trade routes throughout the continent to deliver and sell goods. Many artisans and other traders stake their claim on land there, as it is the most profitable for those lines of work. It also holds the most temples to various deities, with it also being the most religiously diverse place in the entire world.
Second is a continent referred to as “The Afterlife’s Hand” by outsiders. It is cold and barren, an icy desert with few plants and even fewer people. It has the lowest population of all five continents due to its unforgiving environment, and is widely feared because of that. The people who still do live there have adapted, finding ways to survive even in this harsh eternal winter. People there tend to believe in more primordial concepts and deities, if they truly believe in any at all.
Third is a lush continent filled with plains, jungles, and rainforests. It is known for its many farms and culture of farmers and small towns. There are few kingdoms as most organized societies instead take the form of large rural cities. It is seemingly a safe haven, and is the most vibrant and flourishing continent out of all five. People who live there mostly believe in deities that show the kinder, more benevolent sides of people, as well as those relating to farming and plants.
Fourth is a rocky, mountainous continent rich with minerals and gems, and therefore is the one with the most trade. It has many bustling port and mining towns, and pulls in the most money and materials of trade throughout all five continents. It is much more secluded than the others despite the bustling hubs of trade, and the people of that continent tend to believe in more grounded deities, or ones that they think will assist their work.
Fifth is a small group of islands that is considered a continent by both the residents and the outsiders. It is a group of island nations that live off of the sea and it’s resources, and make money from trading the seafood and valuable underwater goods. The beliefs of this continents people also lean towards deities of nature, specifically animals, and they are thankful for the things provided to them by those deities and the more primordial ones that have created these things as well.
(Also I apologize for the poor descriptions, I am not very good at translating the ideas in my head to written/typed word)
Well first, I'd like to take a stab at naming said continents (my friends always come to me when they need a good fantasy name so I think I'm qualified):
First continent: Adabaldos, Allora, or Aytellas (for some reason, I'm feeling A-ish about that one)
Second continent: Shereston, Ilkenk, Yaos, or Kruhs
Third continent: Viridael, Tanvilale, Saudras, or Peroth
Fourth continent: Bera, Kontaurus, or Allora (again)
Fifth continent: The Trident Islands, the Mythica Archipelago, Hausia, or Kemdae
Now for the main thing, the death mythologies. The first one- so it's a very diverse and varied place, yeah? Many underworlds throughout different real world and fictional mythologies have different forms of the underworld for different people, depending on what they did in life. I'd recommend the typical "good people go here, bad people go here" kinda thing, where the bad people each have a custom-designed punishment based on what they did (greed, gluttony, murder, theft, etc)
If the second continent is so doom and gloom, then their version of the afterlife should be either nihilistic (they face oblivion when they die) or a version of the first continent without the good alternative. Or actually, if you plan to make them some kinda raider/warrior culture, you could go with a Valhalla sort of thing where they believe dying heroically in combat will net them into a good afterlife.
Third continent and I'm also gonna skip to the fifth on this one: they both are nature-y types. Reincarnation, or some sort of belief in an afterlife where their spirits turn into wolves and can run free forever, would fit in well. I once did a mythology where all of the gods were animal spirits. The spirit of death was a deer, and the followers of this faith believed that when they died, they were brought back as deer that then joined the spirit's herd, living peacefully in the astral plains for all eternity.
Fourth continent: Here's a novel concept: A capitalist belief of the afterlife. They follow work-related gods, yes? Gods of trade, or forging, crafting, etc? Perhaps they think they need to buy passage into the afterlife; their wealth determines where they end up and how swanky their new accommodations are. Some god is believed to weigh all their gold or crafted goods they earned/made over the course of their lifetime, so that leads to them having a stronger work ethic during life. It could also create an interesting lore about there not being a lot of thievery in the fourth continent, because thieves are believed to be punished severely for their ill-gotten wealth in the afterlife.
Thank you so much! I love the name Viridael for the third continent, and I strongly agree with your idea for the fourth one. I’ve been thinking about it more and I may go with a concept where your actions in life are converted into a sort of afterlife currency; where you can take different places in the sort of after death society depending on how much “life credit” you have. Though if your “life credit” is negative due to a horrible life (or a direct affront to one deity or something) you are in debt to the death deity that runs that specific afterlife, and help with various things around that place of afterlife. It’s sort of inspired by the land of the dead in the game Grim Fandango, and a little bit of the weighing of the heart in Egyptian Mythology.