The mythos of Hemlock and Hessster
The world in which Hemlock sits is, of course, fictional. It is not part of any single belief system or doctrine, but rather built on an amalgam of ideas taken from various cultural backgrounds. It is a fantasy built on belief, just as science fiction is built on science - a journey to the possible yet improbable, a world where tales speak of myths, not histories. Yet just like the chicken and the egg, it can be difficult to separate fact from fiction and truly understand whether it is fiction that influences reality, or reality that influences fiction, or just maybe, it is a little of both.
The Tree of Souls
At the heart of this cosmology stands Kaela, a vast and ancient tree that spans the entirety of human existence. Hessster's realm resides just below the surface, where the trunk meets the roots, a twilight zone of transformation and possibility. Above, in the trunk and branches, lie realms of greater enlightenment, each level bringing souls closer to the light. Below, in the tangled roots, other domains exist, each playing its part in the journey of individual souls through countless lifetimes.
Each spirit, like sap flowing through Kaela, traverses cycles of rebirth, striving towards enlightenment and a place basking in the sunlight of her leaves. In the world of Kaela, all souls are immortal.
Yet, this path is fraught with challenges, for every choice, every action, can elevate a soul towards the light or cast it deeper into shadow. A very real game of snakes and ladders.
The wisdom gained in each incarnation becomes the foundation for the next, a spiritual alchemy. Souls don't remember past lives, but every lifetime affects and shapes who they are.
The creek, a river of souls, flows through all realms of Kaela. It serves as the conduit for souls moving between realms, mirroring the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. During transition, souls enter a state akin to death, a sleep between lives, a time for the soul to rest. Souls rise up from the very earth in which the tree's roots sit, but the sap flows both ways, and those unworthy will be returned to the very earth from which they came.
Hessster, the Soteriae and the nymphs
Hessster, the tripartite goddess, oversees seven purgatorial realms. Hemlock Vale, with its mist-shrouded forests, whispered secrets, and dark towns, is but one of these sacred domains. As souls descend through these realms, the challenges grow increasingly harsh, with Hemlock Vale being closest to mortal reality while Hollowmoor stands as the lowest.
Within Hessster's realm, the Soteriae - Selena, Sybil, and Sorcha - stand as the tripartite manifestation of the goddess herself. These powerful entities guide and shape the destinies of souls passing through the seven veils of purgatory, their combined wisdom and power maintaining the delicate balance between justice, mercy, and punishment. All three approach their role differently, with Sorcha being the most lenient and wise, while Selena is less predictable and potentially more capricious.
Beyond Hessster and the Soteriae, other entities inhabit the realms of Kaela. These beings, akin to the flora and fauna of the tree, play fleeting yet significant roles in the journey of souls. Elemental nymphs, the most abundant of these entities, occasionally bestow gifts of magic upon souls. Sometimes for good, sometimes for bad, yet all too often yielding unforeseen consequences as in the tale of the Unwanted Gift.
For fate can be a fickle master and even gods and nymphs can't always have it their own way.
Rite of Passage
The challenges souls face within each realm are no mere happenstance. Each test, each obstacle, is a carefully crafted trial designed to reveal a soul's true nature and its capacity for growth. These trials serve as crucibles, forging spirits into their higher forms through hardship and learning, and casting down those who are not yet ready to progress. They are a true Rite of Passage.
There are seven realms in total, each ruled over by a demiurge like Hessster, each realm with its own seven domains. Forty-nine realms in total, each with its own gate either granting or denying access, all ruled over by seven powerful gods and goddesses. Souls cannot move beyond the veil of the realm they're in without access to the gate through a rite of passage (trial).
Through trials and tribulations, souls can transcend their current state, undergoing profound metamorphosis through redemption. This transformation embodies the heart of Hemlock's purpose. It, and Hessster herself, sort the wheat from the chaff. The final gate of Hemlock is the Iron Gate of St. Sybil's Refuge, where souls must undergo a final test before they are released from purgatory.
Yet, even in the darkest corners of realms, where shadows seem to swallow all light, a glimmer of goodness persists, just as in even the highest of places there is a chance for darkness to spark within the light. For in the soul of every demon there is a crucible of good, and in the heart of every angel there exists the potential for darkness. For Kaela is both root and branch, as is every soul within her sap.
Here, the concepts of good and evil exist in perpetual balance, akin to yin and yang. For a tree cannot have branches without roots, nor can roots exist without a tree above. Karmic balance is at the heart of Kaela, for light and dark are part of the same tree, and one cannot exist without the other.
Purpose
While souls retain no conscious memory of previous incarnations, subtle influences persist, like ripples on a cosmic pond. It is not the conscious memories that endure, but the very essence of each soul.
Some spirits form connections that transcend individual lifetimes, their fates entangled across the fabric of existence. These bonds draw souls together across multiple incarnations, creating intricate patterns of destiny and fate.
The ultimate goal for souls in Kaela is to produce a new tree, becoming part of the flower that becomes fruit and then the seed for a new tree, similar but different to Kaela. One forged on the very experience of the soul tree herself. For just as each soul is part of Kaela's sap, her lifeblood, Kaela is part of something too - a forest that seems to grow without boundary or end.
As for Kaela herself, perhaps her purpose is simply to be a dreaming god, a place where other souls get to live and experience existence. While Kaela watches on, living through the very lives of her own sap.
