Mahria

My character Queen Mahria, Ruler of Titania originally came into being some few years ago when my real friend, Mahria, asked me to draw her. Knowing that I was not skilled enough to draw a real person accurately, I drew her as a Faerie, which allowed me to pretty much draw a picture that looked sort of like her, without having to look exactly the same. (see right)

The result was a cheerful Faerie Princess. I always had it in mind to use her as a character in my mythos, but as it evolved she became a major minor character.
She was created to rule the Faeries, who were themselves created to handle the job that the Angels abandoned. This job is to deal with the dead. (unusual job for Faeries, but it works)

In the Elda Mythos when someone dies (completely), there soul begins to fall down through the earth, past the tree of life (Yggdrasil) and down onto the shell of a giant turtle on which the tree grows. Souls are weighed down by their sins in life and their punishment is to climb up Yggdrasil, take a path from there to the city of the Faeries (which clings to the west side of the world, a little ways down) and from there ascend the a staircase up into the sky where they congregate and make stars. (it's a good afterlife)
Because souls are weighted by their sins, the more sinful they were, the harder it is to climb the tree. This gives a good way to purify them.
There is also in the mix, Red Mana (as opposed to the normal, blue, variety). Red Mana bolsters physical strength similar to the way that Blue Mana bolsters mental abilities. Here they diverge, however. Blue Mana can be used in Magic, Red Mana can not. Red Mana, however, has a much more powerful affect on the organisms living in it. While Blue Mana does not cause a cascading increase in mental capabilities, something exposed to Red Mana will continue to grow stronger and more basely powerful (over the course of a long time). Souls that are either too heavy or are unwilling to make the climb stay in this Mana and become more and more powerful, while at the same time mutating in form and thought.
These souls become Devils, powerful beasts of varying form. If a devil climbs the Tree with its new found strength it will purify somewhat on its journey. If it has returned to a natural form, it is allowed to pass through Titania (the Faerie city) an up into the sky. If it is still a monster it is fought and thrown back into Wistil (the land of the dead) Where it must again climb or stay.
The Faerie's job is too keep Devil Souls from entering the World (Elda/Midgard), To ferry souls up to Aravi (Heaven) and to appoint Guardians (Souls trusted to remain in Wistil to give directions to the newly dead - they are protect from the Red Mana in a way that I haven't concreted yet)

I've wasted this whole time on the subject of afterlife in the Elda Mythos. I'll expound on Mahria tomorrow, and after that do a bit on Religion in Elda.