[OOC: This took 6 drafts to write and I still don't know if I was able to articulate my point effectively while staying in-character, but here we go!]
Dear Ambassador Tukufu val’Holryn,
With all due respect, Ambassador, I cannot agree with your theories about the relationship between the mind, the body, and the soul. While they are interesting from a philosophical perspective, they seem strangely broad for topics which seem to me to be straightforward (or, at least as straightforward as the machinations of the Gods can be for mortal men). You assert that the body is the house of the soul, but I cannot see how this can be so. You yourself state that if the soul were seated within our fragile physical forms, the soul could be damaged by something as crude as wound or an amputation. I cannot fathom how one could consider Holy Illiir and the rest of the Twelve would be so fallible to place such an important thing as the soul into such a fallible, fragile container. After all, Illiir is He of Perfect Form, and therefore could not be responsible for the creation of a flawed vessel. As we are all His Children, and the Children of the Twelve more generally, to suggest that He would not be perfect is insanity. No, my dear Ambassador, I believe you are looking to the wrong location for the soul. Instead of looking to the body, you must instead look to the mind.
In my studies, I have found no evidence to suggest what you posit in saying that all of the Children of the Gods are made of three equal parts. While I agree that the body, mind, and soul are inexorably entwined, they are instead each a means to an end rather than a packaged deal. The Gods gave us a soul so that we may be closer to them, to give them adulation and to place us above the lesser races of Arcanis. However, souls are but primeval energy forces, not physical things. They cannot be placed within a physical body because they themselves are not physical things. Additionally, unlike the Elorii who constantly reuse their lesser forms of being as exact copies from generation to generation, human souls are constantly shifting through the actions of Beltine and Her Cauldron. This allows the human souls to be constantly reinvigorated, and for the Gods to grant their Children the ability to expand in population (unlike the Elorii, who are limited in the numbers of their souls due to the limitations of their creation, and whose souls lie static and stagnant without Beltine’s actions). However, unlike the Elorii who simply parrot the memories of their past lives, the souls of humanity have no memories, they have no driving actions. For the soul to manifest on the world, it needs to be tied to a MIND. This mind—shaped through our experiences and through the Wisdom of the Gods—acts as a vessel to allow the soul to exert its will upon the physical universe. It is the glass which contains the water that is the mind, for without such a container the mind would simply spill into a form too thin to be of any real substance.
This is further evidenced by the actions of those more foolish of the followers of Neroth who choose to sacrifice their souls to prolong their minds and their bodies. From what I have read on the subject, at the moment of death, when the soul would otherwise detach from the mind and body to return to the Judgement of Nier to be judged, the soul is instead held tight. It is then consumed to fuel the continued existence of the mind and body. Using the immense power of the soul (which, after all is a form of the divine), they channel its Holy energies into the selfish desire to remain in touch with this flawed world and its passing, narrow pleasures. However, while the body remains, it is a crumbling marionette for the mind, which further supports my view that the soul is linked to the mind instead of the body. After all, if it were linked to the body you would expect the body to remain whole with such mighty energies, no? The only diminishment of the mind seems to come in the area of emotion, for the mind is but a channel for the soul, and it is from the soul from whence passion originates. While obviously pleasing to Neroth (to an extent, at the very least), I cannot fathom how one would be so blinded by worldly pleasures as to deny the Gods their due.
As such, the Gods (in Their wisdom) have the mind the seat of the body. The mind controls the body, allowing it to act out the Will of the Gods, while the mind is then driven by the soul. It serves as a bridge between the divine Gift of the Gods and the physical universe we all interact with. After all, if the body were nothing but a vessel for a soul, how do you explain beasts, which have bodies and even sometimes minds, but no souls? Alternatively, you have those pitiable creatures like Shades which appear to be minds which are linked to their restless souls, but who lack physical form. Using the mind as a bridge, the Gods protect Their Gift from physical harm, allowing the soul to be enriched through actions in Their name without risking its destruction by evil forces. When a physical body is cut down, the mind dies, freeing the soul to return to Beltine’s Cauldron. It is then judged based on the lives of those who it was tied to. If that person followed the call of the Gods, their soul will be enriched and the soul will be taken into Illiir’s Paradise. If the person lived a life of sin and turned away from the gods, the soul will be diminished and tossed back into Beltine’s Cauldron to be reshaped so it may gain another chance to reach enlightenment. Remember, Illiir is the God of Perfection, and the Judgement of Nier would not allow imperfect souls—marred by apostacy and sin—to enter into his sight, but He would also not simply destroy those souls as they are themselves gifts of the Gods. As such, they are sent back to Beltine, reshaped with the rest of the flawed souls, to try again to become the perfect forms which so please Holy Illiir.
For those who make it to Illiir’s Paradise, I have heard conflicting reports. Some religious scholars seem to believe that after a time Illiir sends these Perfect Souls back into Beltine’s Cauldron after basking in His Holy Presence to enrich all of mankind from being touched by the Divine. Others believe that they remain with Illiir, becoming his tools in the coming battle with the evil forces of those who wish ill upon His Children. Some also believe that the Paradise is the final state of enlightenment and piety for which mankind may attain, and that we simply gain the pleasure of being in His presence forever more (a worth goal in itself). As a simple priest of Nier, I cannot claim that I can understand the nature of Illiir’s Plan for us all. I have no more intimate knowledge of anything beyond the flaming sword of the Judgement of Nier than any other living man or woman that I have met.
Haakon Marcus val’Virdan, Priest and Holy Judge of Nier.
_________________ Cody Bergman Legends of Arcanis Campaign Staff Initial Author Contact/Adventure Vetting
Haakon Marcus val'Virdan, Divine Holy Judge of Nier Ruma val'Vasik, Martial Crusader and Master of the Spear Jorma Osterman, Arcane Coryani Battlemage
|