Afterlife

From Crucible

With the loss of the original pantheon (most notably the death deity) and the disconnection of the Outer Planes, the promise of eternal salvation or damnation in the hereafter no longer holds sway amongst the populace. While even the most lowly commoner knows that all they have is this lifetime, what only the most learned sages could tell you is after death, the soul energy of the dead is transferred to The NoWhere. Over a period of several weeks, the energy is absorbed by the fabric of the plane, making recovery of individuals via resurrection magic significantly more difficult with the passage of time. Even more troubling, a (relatively) recent discovery by the Bleak Confederate appears to pinpoint this very energy as the source of Arcane Magic.

General Opinions

While initially met with horror by the masses evacuating the devastation of the Shattering, subsequent generations have come to accept their fate of eternal dissolution, having never known another alternative. In many ways, it has caused the people to make the fullest of what time they do have. Among the powerful and knowledgeable, many seek to escape the finality of death through escape to The ElseWhere, longevity magic, or undeath.

Effect on Law and Order

In civilized areas, punishment for violent crime does tend to be harsher, including indefinite periods of incarceration and deprivation for repeat offenders. Capital punishment is typically frowned upon, except in the wilder areas of the Countryside, where it can often be seen as a quick and final resolution to a "bad seed."

Effect on the SpellCasting Community

With the reports of the ElseWhere (and specifically, the dead) as the source of Arcane Magic, many Necromancers have attempted in recent years to proclaim their art as superior to all other schools of magic. While in general all schools are relatively equal in power, this development has led to the founding of at least one wizard's college (name and link here eventually) devoted exclusively to good aligned necromancers, who see themselves as shepherding the souls of the dead to the next stage of collective existence, or tend to dedicate themselves to the preservation of especially significant individuals through undeath. There is also known to be at least one Cabal of exceptionally talented and powerful sorcerers who make it their mission to destroy all seeking (or already having obtained) immortality (whatever the method), for as they see it, every soul denied to the ElseWhere is a reduction in overall arcane power, and therefore a personal affront.