[Mkguild] Untitled Intro Story CONTINUED!

[Raven Blackmane]

John Burman wrote:
> Very nice!  One thing I noticed is when she is arguing with the guard 
> she says seven hells and near the end says nine hells.  I'm not sure 
> if the Followers belive in one or multiple hells, but the Lothsani 
> (sp? sorry Raven) I think believe in nine.
The Followers, as far as I know, believe in one "real" hell; the 
Lothanasi (it helps if you sound it out: LOTH-uh-NAH-see) talk about the 
Nine Hells.

Incidentally, the Nine Hells are factually existent in MK's world; 
plane-walkers from ages past traveled there and brought back information 
about them. But they aren't a place of permanent judgment; they're more 
like purgatory, where souls work off their karmic debt before moving on. 
(The First Hell is a place of rest and reward; those in progressively 
lower hells have to deal with various hardships, from the risk of being 
eaten by fiendish creatures in the Second Hell to the obscene tortures 
of the Ninth Hell.)

Where those souls move on /to/ is a subject of much debate among 
Lothanasi. They may very well move on to some sort of final resting 
place established by the Creator; or they may be reborn in new bodies; 
or they may enter a state of unknowing non-being. Nobody really knows, 
since it's not something you can come back from (as far as they know). 
The Lightbringers use the term "Oblivion" to describe what waits on the 
other side of the Nine Hells, but that's more a generic term for "we 
don't know what the heck's out there" as opposed to an actual point of 
doctrine. :)

Some common expressions related to the Hells:

"To the Ninth with <it, him, her, etc.>" (A very strong curse, used for 
angry dismissal)
"What in the Ninth...?" or "What in the hells?"
"Five hells' worth of trouble" -- Something that is a very serious problem


Cheers,

Raven


-- 

"I love science, and it pains me to think that so many are terrified of 
the subject or feel that choosing science means that you cannot also 
choose compassion, or the arts, or be awed by nature. Science is not 
meant to cure us of mystery, but to reinvent and reinvigorate it." 
--Robert Sapolsky