#kokaal the cessation

[team-mythic-beasts]

Regarding Death, the Underworld, and Demonhood

“What comes after life?”

Such is the question that often crosses mortal minds. After all, no one is stranger to the idea of dying. All living beings will experience the loss of a loved one, one way or another. Most will also inevitably expire themselves. But then… where do we go next?

For some insight into this matter, we will have to take a look at two ancient deities in charge of death:

Kokaal the Cessation, God of Disease and Decay, embodiment of biological death.

Tefna the Devourer, Goddess of Darkness, embodiment of soul death.

Tefna’s subjects, commonly known as vampires, are soulless being and thus near incapable of emotional thinking and moral judgment. They rely entirely on survival instincts, feeding on blood and the soul essence within to keep their bodies running. Kokaal, on the other hand, is the reason for every other undead species.

The undead live in the realm of Ipocos - The Land Below. Vampires live in the city of Tefn’orash, which has been around since Tefna’s first defeat under Diadema’s lamp. For some time, this settlement was open to visitors as they are still a valuable food source for vampires, but with the rising popularity of wooden stakes and garlic necklaces within the living realm, the vampires have allowed its gates to open less often for the sake of preservation.

On the eastern regions of Ipocos lies Kokaal’s settlement, which does not have an official name as far as we’re aware - most people just call it Ghost Town. He does not govern it directly, but through his only vassal, Ivan the Ghastly. Kokaal is forbidden from visiting Tefn’orash as his presence can be a direct threat to any vampire; however, Ghost Town is always open to visitors, even from the living.

Like his twin brother, Kokaal is a kind god as long as you stay on his good side. With Ivan’s approval, he may allow the deceased back into the living world under certain conditions. However, he is easily irritated by those who attempt to break out of the Underworld, so much that a world exists to punish them for such a heinous act, along with grotesque deformities he places upon these defectors.

And this, my friends, is how we get demons.

Upon being forcefully mutated as their punishment, these abominations are then banished to Kolasi, Land of the Damned (but most people just call it the Demon Realm). Most people who have read of Kolasi think of it as a torturous prison - barren land, lava flows, hungry beasts always preying on lesser demons… and they’d be right. After all, there has got to be a reason why they keep finding ways to escape to the mortal realm.

But to add insult to injury, this realm also has its own version of “Hetaveyond,” which provides a false sense of hope and salvation. In reality, while it is designed by the real Diadema, the priestesses who work there are also demons - permanent additions to this illusion.

Some believe this is the Moon Goddess’ effort to reduce demonic invasions in the living world, going as far as removing the priestesses’ ability to speak so that none may speak the truth behind this “Hetaveyond.”

The author of this article prefers not to be named.