The Vale of Sleep

The Vale of Sleep is also known as the Place between places. It is believed to be adjacent to the Shadow Lands of the Dead, and that all who go there must pass through the Vale, first. Not just the mortally wounded enter the Vale, however. All those who fall into non-magical slumber also enter it, for a time.

While the Vale often appears to be a large and continuous unlit forest, the Vale is divided into two different realms: the Dreamscape and the Nightmare Lands. 

The Dreamscape is a vast space ruled by a beneficent being known as Reme or Rayam. It is a place of wisps and clouds which often form into different shapes and terrains based on the mind and experiences of the people in it. 

The Lands are riddled with vines or webs which try to hold those who are within its borders and prevent them from leaving. They are ruled by the Nightmare Man and his Nightmare Court from its center. His court includes Hypnos, Mullonga the Witch, the Rainbow Serpent, Morpheus, and the Ghost Dancer.

The Candlejack

The Candlejack is said to be skeletal figure buried beneath the robes of what his devotees might call a Bawler, or priest. Rather than being made of bone, his skull is supposed to be made of white wax. He carries a lantern in his left hand which he uses to identify those he searches for.

Once a member of the clergy, the Candlejack supposedly saw the error of his ways and gave up his life of reprimanding others and took up the life of a thief. Thereafter he used his knowledge of religious ideas to help the dead cheat their appointment with the Ferryman.

According to those who believe in him, the Candlejack is impressed by the best and most audacious of thieves. Those brave thieves who don't rat on their friends are secreted away from their appointed end. He instead shows them the way to Whiskerhaven -- the paradise of the thief.

Barring being impressed, many devotees believe that he can sometimes be bribed by those who have a coin to offer him. So as not to be mistaken for the payment to the Ferryman this bribe is placed in the mouth of the dead, rather than on his eyelids. 

The Shadow Lands of the Dead

In the Shadow Lands of the Dead, the River Hyburleth divides the world of the living from that of immortals. Wide, black, and slow, its surface shines like hammered obsidian beneath a sky of perpetual twilight. A silver mist drifts low across the water, rising and curling in shapes that sometimes seem almost human, as though the river itself remembers every soul it has carried.

On one shore lies Negwh, where the spirits of the Besnir gather. On the other is Sopora, where the souls of all men tarry. All stand in watchful silence, eyes fixed upon the black waters. None speak. All wait for the season of their transport. Time does not pass there like it does in the worlds of the living. The long twilight never gives in to day.

Every Festal Mon, the Ferryman comes and stopping first on one shore, and then the other, takes his passengers on their fateful journey. Through the mist, the prow of the long ferry emerges, and the Ferryman’s shadow rises at its stern. Whether from causeway or pier, every one of the dead must take the same step: down into the boat, and then along the river to their appointed end. Besnir will disembark at the first stops, their spirits rejoining that of their primogenitor on the worlds for which they are destined. Human souls will continue to the celestial city of Solenth -- there to face the judgment seat made before the foundation of the world.

The Marsh of Negwh
Nine streams, each different in strength, flow down from unseen highlands—one a crashing torrent, another no more than a whisper of trickling water. They braid together into a broad marshland of green reeds and soaking grass, the ground is soft enough that even the weightless feet of spirits would sink.

Through this mire runs an ancient causeway: a raised path of dark timbers bound together, their surfaces warped and slick with age. Moss clings to the beams, and water seeps beneath, but still the path endures, winding across the marsh to the riverbank. Spirits tread silently along its length, their forms pale in the mist, until they reach the ferry landing where the water swallows the land.

The air of Negwh is thick and damp, heavy with the smell of moss and wet earth. No bird sings here. Only the sigh of the streams and the soft groan of the old wood mark the passage of the dead. The spirits gather here waiting for the Ferryman. To keep them from despair, Melenne Erebenne is a sylph-like being which dances to distract and give dreams to those waiting.

Some hold that there are areas of Negwh not commonly known, pools born of the waters which feed the Hyburleth. The Dwarves, for example, hold that there are Swanships there, upon which the Enheri depart immediately without waiting for the Ferryman.

Soporia — The Docks of Men

In contrast to the primeval marsh of Negwh, Soporia feels newer—a straight dock of hewn timbers, built as though a mortal harbor town had been stripped of life and sound. Lanterns hang at the edges, burning pale yellowed flames that flicker without warmth.

Behind the dock stands a low public house, square and simple, where human souls gather in listless silence to await the boatman. Its windows glow faintly, though no laughter nor song ever rises from within. Beside it loom several featureless warehouses, built without sign or purpose, their doors forever shut. They stand like empty shells, monuments to forgotten labor.

The Afterlife: Hall of Heroes

The Northruners believe that upon their death, those who are worthy will be conducted to the feasting Hall of the greatest heroes of their kind. There they will join the celebration and await the next battle. 

This belief hews closely to the idea of the Enheri of the Dwenir, which is unsurprising given that the Dwarves are considered to be tutors of the Northruners.

The Afterlife: The Celestial Court

The Manwin (civilized or city dwellers) of Eastrun believe that their highest calling is to follow Bao Dan in death. Bao Dan reportedly lived until the age of 120. It is believed that upon his death, Bao Dan was translated into the Celestial Court of Shang Ti -- The Great Emperor. His body was rendered incorporeal and he was witnessed rising into the clouds on a ray of sunlight.

The Afterlife: The Four Winds

To the nomads of Eastrun, the Four Winds are not only spirits who are greatly revered, but are the source from which the Daizu and the Hayao believe they will return. The four horses of Ao Shun, Ao Jun, Ao Chin and Ao Kuang make up the warlords of Shang Ti, the celestial emperor. Those who die will be claimed as part of the Batari of one of the four and will be felt thereafter in the physical world as winds and weather, but who are battling forever in the spiritual realm against foul spirits.

The Afterlife: Whiskerhaven

Whiskerhaven is the mythical afterlife according to those who play the Long Game -- the so-called religion of thieves. It is a shimmering, half-real city of twilight streets and endless markets, where no one wants for food or coin, and no one chases what they’ve already lost.

In Whiskerhaven, the rules are inverted: the clever are honored, the watchmen are all blind, the audacious are protected, and every door swings open for those who know the right knock. In Whiskerhaven, there are no lords or masters. Thieves govern themselves in loose circles of trust, gamble with fate itself, and live without debt, punishment, or poverty. Jailors are beggars. Barons sweep streets. Every tavern is open and every coin flips heads. 

• The Twilight Streets: Lanterns flicker in endless dusk; shadows hide more doorways than walls should allow. A thief never runs out of alleyways.
• The Grand Bazaar: Every stolen thing finds its way here, often in stranger forms—coins melt into dice, gems turn into bottles of wine, and locks hang open waiting for anyone to “steal” their contents.
• The Gambler’s Bridge: A bridge with no bottom beneath it. To cross, one must roll dice against Fate. Some thieves never leave the bridge, playing eternally but never falling.

The door to Whiskerhaven is said to be guarded by none other than the uncontested Prince of Thieves. That position is believed by many to be Thorne Blackwyd, but it is well known that if another thief should take that honor, he will replace Thorne at the door.

It is said that every thief gets at least one shot at the perfect job—the final job, the one that brings them to the attention of the Candlejack. If the Candlejack notices their attempt, their souls will be stolen from the Ferryman upon their death and taken to Whiskerhaven.

Failing that, the Candlejack can sometimes be bribed to take an unknown thief, if a blackened gold piece is placed on the deceased's tongue as a bribe. 

If the departed thief cannot win the attention of the Candlejack by his deeds, or have his bribe accepted, there remains one final option to gain Whiskerhaven -- that via the Red-Fingered Woman. The Red-Fingered Woman is a fat and dour wench who serves drinks to those about to board the Ferry. Despite her perpetual grimace, she is said to have a secret weakness for a good story or a well-told joke. Thieves believe that if they can make her laugh, she will keep hide them beneath her robes and while they will not enter Whiskerhaven, they will at least avoid the great judgement that awaits them. With the Red-Fingered Woman they will be able to drink forever and find themselves slumbering at each day's end in her ample bosom.

Not all thieves believe in Whiskerhaven, but all have heard its stories. To believe in it is to believe that death is not a punishment, but the greatest con of all. It is not solely the abode of Thieves, either, as they believe that Rangers and Bards may find themselves there, as well. Though those who do will have to buy the drinks of any real thief they meet. 

The Afterlife: Dryhook

Those who practice Fatho'deep believe that Shuro, a titan of old, has prepared a dry place in the middle of a vast and distant sea. This place is called Dryhook and is the embodiment of a sailors dream -- a place where every wanderlust is finally sated, and everyone's feet are dry. It's a place of relaxation, rum, tobacco, and endless dancing. But those who do not find Shuro's favor are said to be consigned to the deep, minions of Old Rita -- the mother of krakens.

The Afterlife: The Hearths Among the Stars

The Demi-humans, or Besnir, do not age the same way as humans do. Rather, after many years of mortal life, their bodies are finally consumed by the unquenchable fire of their spirits -- the way that a candle is consumed by its flame. They will then "Journey On" to be one with the spirit of their makers: Yomal, Goren, Morad, Lareth, and Drash.  

To accomplish this unification, they must have returned in their dotage to their Arvonaith -- the Holy Place of their ancestral home. For this reason, it is considered a sin of the highest order to prevent or delay one of these home faring pilgrims from arriving at their destination. 

Once arriving the Besnir will become one of the "Silent Siblings" -- a caretaker of that Holy Place. Their other interests in the world of Erenth will have grown faint. Even routine conversation and reminisces of old friends will cease to have meaning for them. Over a period of a few moons, they will begin to become increasingly insubstantial and then eventually fade from view.

Because making it to Arvonaith is a requirement for a peaceful and happy death, those Besnir who are taken ill and suffer death, along with those who die from wounds, must be conducted by others to their proper rest. Those that do not become wild and angry things, separated from their origin and the being which made them. 

Once a year during the Festal period, spirits are released from the Arvonaith of their people and conducted by the ferryman to the hearths among the stars which their creators have settled -- there to be joined with their makers forever. The Vyrum are reunited in Drasenth; the Elves in Larenth; the Dwarves is Morenth; the Gnomes in Gorenth; and the Halfling in Yomenth.

The Afterlife: Paradise and Perdition

The Holy Church of Westrun teaches that all men must answer to the Great God for their deeds. It is taught that upon death, the soul of man is taken from his body and ushered to the ferry between worlds and from there conducted to the great judgement seat. The righteous dead will be permitted to enter paradise, but the unrighteous and impenitent shall be denied entry to that place. They will instead find themselves confined to the infinitesimal prison of Perdition, devolving into the mere sum of their greatest desires -- wholly incapable of either being good or of experiencing good.