The Well of Souls

Divinity: None. The Well is a destination rather than a being
Adherents: Near-universal, usually alongside another faith
Nature: Held to be whatever the soul arriving needs it to be
Location: Disputed. Some claim to know it; others hold it is for souls alone

The Well of Souls is where the dead are held to go. The place has many names, but this is the one that stuck — coined by a single religious sect and then adopted by almost everyone who had no other doctrine to offer.

Its defining quality is that it is not fixed. The Well is described as warm and welcoming, or still and quiet, or as a banquet of everyone you expected to see again — whatever the arriving soul needs it to be. That flexibility is why belief in it sits comfortably alongside almost every other faith on the continent.

What it actually is remains unsettled. Ask ten people and you will get ten answers. Some claim to know where it lies on Aropria and have gone looking. Others hold that the Well is for souls alone and that the living have no business seeking it.

In their own words

Illona Torok, A Collection of Thoughts

The question of what waits for us after we draw our last breath is one that nearly every person has pondered in some form of another. To some, it’s another life awaiting them elsewhere; to others, it’s a vast silence. Many folks tend to lean toward some sort of ideology that there is somewhere your soul ventures to once its time on Aropria has come to an end. This very place that folks wander to after their death is called many things, but one religious sect coined it as the Well of Souls, and most of us without another set doctrine tend to call it by that same name.

The Well of Souls provides its comfort as that place calling to you once your time on Aropria comes to an end, and it serves as whatever you need it to be. It can be warm and comforting, like a hug from a loved one that you’ve waited far too long to receive; still and quiet, allowing a restless soul a final place to rest; or even like a banquet of all the people you knew you’d see again when the time came. The Well of Souls is everything that folks need it to be, and in that regard, it is known to all.

The one factor about the Well of Souls that seems to elude the masses is the truth of it. The Well itself is shrouded in speculation, and you’ll often hear a different answer from each person you ask. Some folks will even tell you that they know where it is on the continent, and I’m sure plenty of spiritual quests have searched far and wide for its whereabouts, but some also argue that the Well of Souls is for souls alone, and those walking among Aropria shouldn’t encroach. While there’s a small part of me that would love to behold the beauty of it as I live and breathe, I find that when I really think about it, I agree with the latter belief. After all, once my soul is ready to go to the well, I’m sure I’ll have all the time in the world to enjoy its splendor.