CATRINA LORE NOTES

-The underworld: A realm of existance where the souls of the dead end up. It is a somewhat bleak landscape, though very varied. A surprisingly large number of weird biomes and other geographic locations. However to the many ghostly denizens that inhabit it, its mostly a mystery, as not much of it is charted.

-What it is: The underworld is actually created by the memories of the myriad souls of the dead, surrounded and floating on top "the void". The further you go from the center, where most souls can be found, the more dangerous it gets as you get closer to the void itself, which is a force of entropy, like an ocean slowly eroding the edges.

-The rim: At the very edge of the void one kind find the ruins of ancient civilizations, slowly falling into the void, created by the memories of the dead of aeons pasts. Though many answers might lie on the ruins its close proximity to the void makes them dangerous places to visit.

-Existance after Death: Once a person dies, their body, made of matter: flesh and blood, cease to work. However its memories, thoughts, emotions and feelings remain like an imprint, ephemeral bits and pieces of the person that was. It is the duty of Reapers to "rescue" this bits and transport them to the realms of the dead. Most people believe this ephemeral matter that exists long after the body has ceased to work is called the soul.

Once a soul is brought into the realm of the dead its appearance is mostly determined by its strenght. Those that had short lives, violent ends or unfullfilling existance, or merely a strong willpower and love for life, often remember the most of their past lives and this reflects on their appearance, habits and tastes. However more often than not the Dead remember only bits of their lives.

-The Dead: In one word: Excentric. The people that exist on this dusk realm are often collectively called The Dead. They are shaped by their memories and emotions, so a few are very different, reflecting closely who they were at life. More commonly, they remember little of who they were, and only retain a few key aspects of their lives, often, they cling to them, becoming increasingly excentric (to the living) and obsessed with what little remain. Some become collectors of the things they knew at life, others continue their work, as salesmen, traders or cooks, despite those jobs having little merit on the lifeless realm.

-Time: The realm of the dead has no astral bodies as they are known. Light is always an ephemeral contast in the horizon and the Dead have little need of it, as they can see no matter how pitch black it gets. However the Dead in order to make their unlives as close to their past as posible keep counting time. A day is 24 "hours" which can vary from settlement to settlement as they are mostly arbitrary timelapses. A month is thus 30 days and a year 12 months..

Other alternative ways to tell time exist, some use the constant, surprisingly stable buzzing of Soulflyers as a meazure, while other still use the migration of the Bonewurm or the time it takes the faster runner in town to give a lapse around the park. Ultimately, this serves little purpose, often than given the Dead a sense of normalcy.

-The ages: Despite the somewhat relative nature of time in the timeless realm, there exist a constant sense of passing ages. Since slowly but surely as the realm of the dead takes in new souls, it "grows" from the center, as land seems to stretch, with new features emerging either mysteriously or violently into the landscape. However this new features does not mean that the land stretches forever, instead, it pushes and shatters older lands towards the edge, until they come to the rim, and then further into small bits sinking into the void, until at long last they are forgotten and cease to exist.

-The nature of existance: The Dead endlessly debate the purpose of this land and Reapers. The general consensus seem to be that it exists as a sort of "waiting room" where the souls spend time before preparing for whatever comes after. Others yet believe as a purgatory, where you pay up whatever sinful lifestyle you had in life before crossing over. Some dare suggest is merely a natural phenomena, a place with no purpose created merely by the memories of so many dead, though this does little to explain what role the Reapers play on all this.

-What comes after: The Dead can potentially exist for ages on this realm, however more often than not, they fade away. Slowly they lose their memories and personalities, becoming hollow and losing their shape until they flicker out into nothing. Other potential end is the acceptation of their unlife, some very few deside to "cross over" and dissipate on a flash of bright light, often after an important moment of reflection or personal growth. However the number of cases this has happened can probably be counted with your hands, yet this does not stop the countless stories of redemption and hope that the Dead make into plays, movies and tales (and religions).

Many theories exist about whatever might come after. Some talk of afterlifes, either perfect paradises for the good or horrific hells of punishment for the wicked. Others yet suggest that the soul, now cleansed of the baggage of previous lives flows back into the world of the living to be born anew. This two are the most popular theories, yet are far from the only ones. Some declare that what we call afterlife is merely another layer of existance and after you fade from this current layer, you will betransported to a new one, and so forth eternally or perhaps cyclically. And perhaps the most bleak of them all is that there is nothing else. Whatever makes your soul dissipate into the void and you cease to be, to some this is even a reward to be sought, as a well earned rest from too long unlifes.

-Society of the Dead: Surprisingly lively. The Dead try their best to reafirm who they were, they have jobs, talk and celebrate with each other in big parties, make art, create communities and in general fight a battle against the bleakness that surrounds them. They also make laws and rules, which can vary from place to place.

The largest of Dead societies can be found surrounding the Center of the underworld, hugging tightly the shores of the river of souls. A massive modern metropolis which holds most of the population of the Dead, its a chaotic, haphazard place, that is constantly being built upon as older districts are displaced away.

It is ruled by a council of the most influencial Dead souls around, who gets a seat and say is not a formalized process, usually once a faction gains enough traction, its head will be invited or force his way into a seat. As such there is no fixed number, though the largest amount of seats that have ever been has been 108, and the lowest has been 4. At the present there is but 13 council members.

Other communities exist however far away from the busy Center. From the scrapyards surrounding the city, to the many little towns and villages that dot the lands around it. There is also further ones, from tribes of Dead in ancient ruins or small clans living in forgotten lands. Their cultures vary widely and are just as excentric as their Center cousins.