Kiria

"Did you know that in some cultures, deer are regarded as messengers to the Gods, capable of bridging the distance between Earth and Heaven? Shall I tell them 'hello' on your behalf?"

It might not sound funny or cool the way Kiria says it, but in her case, it is absolutely true. The doe standing before you is a grim reaper.

Or she was, more accurately. In her own universal time line, grim reapers are no longer required. Some time around the early 1900s, the Afterlife underwent a great "Revision." Gone are the ways of judgment and condemnation, and instead, all the departed souls are escorted to the Heaven of their choosing, reducing the former judges, juries and executioners to little more than tour guides. After the realignment of the afterlife, the reapers were all given a choice: accept their new role as guides where directed, or assume mortal form to assist in revitalizing the world of the living.

Kiria chose the latter. She did something she shouldn't have, however, and has been demoted to the Park, a lawless limbo in the eyes of the Heavens. At first she only assisted in studying the Park and its natural "reforming" phenomena. Then after her superiors noted just how diverse in nature and background the population of the Park was, she was given a second assignment: assess the effectiveness of the new Heavens by escorting them to the Heaven of their choosing.

Kiria herself can appear as anthro or feral, but always appears as a black doe (should she appear at all). Yiff or vore might be possible, but is unlikely because Kiria is A) a stoic stick in the mud, and B) a grim reaper. Kiria's real value is as a guide. Given the proper precautions, Kiria can temporarily remove a person's soul from their body and take them to any version of Heaven (assuming Kiria has been asked to review it) that they desire.

The typical format of such a scene will involve Kiria taking her partner to the Heaven that most closely mirrors the one which they desire. For an unspecified (but always temporary) amount of time, the person will be treated as a new arrival. They will be shown around the countryside and, if applicable, shown to their assigned abode and be welcomed by their caretakers. The player will also get a chance to meet several of their neighbors, other (more permanent) residents of the same Heaven, and eventually (usually through first-hand experience unless the partner is particularly insightful) learn the true format of the world and be able to decide for themselves just how Heavenly their Heaven is.

Kiria has been permitted limited access to the following levels:

LIMBO



Though any Heavenly realm may be open to them, some people simply do not believe themselves deserving of Heaven. The compromise is to bring them to Limbo, a barren yet peaceful land that offers nothing but peace, quiet and time for reflection. As the sayings go, misery loves company, and time heals all wounds.

Visitors to Limbo may start off in the outskirts as is customary, or if they desire, Kiria may escort them directly to Harmonium, a massive metropolis built around the foundation of Mt. Purgatory. Here they may converse with the residents and reflect on their past lives. Guests may also attend lectures and committee meetings held by the Artisans, great mortal minds who cannot be fairly reincarnated because of the continuous stream of vibes being cast unto them for their place in history and who now busy themselves serving the greater good. A committee of twelve Artisans serve as the government body for Harmonium (and by extension, all of Limbo), typically consisting of six who died before the Revision and six who died after. The current committee includes pre-Revision representatives Mary Magdalene, Dante Alighieri, Joan of Arc, Catherine the Great, Abraham Lincoln, and Sitting Bull, and post-Revision representatives Mark Twain, Leon Trotsky, Mohandas Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, and Mother Theresa (all of these individuals, in spite of their great accomplishments, died with regret that they could not have done more).

MATIMEDER



Matimeder is an endless dream land, completely fluid and subject to the imaginations of its inhabitants.

Actually controlling and maintaining the dream is difficult, so it will be Kiria's recommendation to rendezvous with one of the nightmares (black all-female unicorns) under the command of Mora and request escort to Matimeder City, where its ruler, the eagle Altjira, imposes a minimal working order on its inhabitants.

Emphasis on the word "minimal." Matimeder City gets the nickname "Toonopolis" for a reason: because the residents have a tendency to be two-dimensional and defy the laws of conventional reality. For their own safety, however, residents and visitors alike may be loaned "toon suits." These are exactly what they sound like: like fursuits, but which take the form of true, real life "Matimetoons" and allow the wearers to both conform to toon physics and act upon toon logic.

Kiria may gift one of these toon suits to a particularly wise or appreciated visitor, but will generally request that they be returned after leaving since they have a strong influence on the wearer's mentality. If a person becomes so accustomed to living according to toon physics that they forget they are wearing a suit, it will become impossible to remove.

LAVALLAH



Those weary of hunger may find their Heaven in Lavallah, the endless banquet. Saehrimnir the cook & Heiorun the brewer provide as much meat and wine as the patrons may desire, served to them by the Valkyries in the Hall of Heroes.

Kiria will only permit her guests to completely gorge themselves on the first day. After that, she will request that they start practicing some moderation.

PLYMOUS



Within the infinite halls of Castle Plymous, love knows no limits. Kiria may request access from Anubis and Bastet, the guardians of Plymous, who will allow them entry into the main hall. There, they will be greeted by the sphinx, Qetesh, who will entertain any request by the visitor for company for the evening. With whomever, with whatever and however the visitor wishes to "know love" may be provided.

Like Matimeder and Lavallah, Kiria will insist on giving the visitor only a limited amount of time to indulge himself before insisting that he be introduced to the sphinx Astarte, caretaker of the entertainers, who will introduce herself, as well as a few of her favored entertainers whom she will request speak of themselves. If the visitor still wishes to remain after hearing what they have to say, they may.

HANJAN



Hanjan is the land of infinite wealth, where anything and everything may be acquired just by asking. Each resident of Hanjan is given two things: a plot of land and a team of providers; aspects of the ruling committee of Hanjan who solely serve the individual. The providers are, in order of importance:

• Dysan the Tamer (M wolf), provider of any and all servants and companions the resident desires (himself and the rest of the committee included).


• Kyntahan the Groundskeeper (F rabbit), gardener, and above all else, master of spatial boundaries.


• Payjan the Carpenter (M beaver), master architect and interior decorator.


• Tuldun the Surgeon (M caribou), master of cosmetics.


• Veddan the Tailor (F mouse), provider of fineries.


• Zafaman the Jeweler (M raccoon), master stonesmith.

All six of these providers are master alchemists, capable of producing anything that it desired out of anything that is not. Additionally, residents may become familiar with Lummaldun the Cleaner (M skunk), who collects all broken or unwanted materials and waste product to be recycled, and Gemman the Gatekeeper (M fox), captain of the guard.

Kiria will also give visitors the opportunity to familiarize themselves with their neighbors, residents of Hanjan who came before them (and who also have aspects of of the alchemists at their command).

CENTIDIAS



Centidias is home to the blessed, the virtuous, the ascended, and the enlightened. High in the clouds reside the Gods and their Angels, far beyond the reach of Xenu and his minions in the ocean below.

Anyone brave enough may leave the cloud realm and speak with Xenu and his minions if they desire. Kiria will, in fact, highly recommend it.

GARDAS



The Revision put an end to the days of condemnation, but for those people who insist on going to Hell, there is Gardas. Crusaders may wade through the flames and join in the fight against evil here, while soothsayers and condemners may view the lake of fire from isolated cliff sides.

Kiria will insist immediately upon scaling the mountains and arranging passage to Dis from the harpies that live above the battle grounds. Dis, guarded and governed by Cerberus, has been stripped of all its punishment structures and now suffices solely as a retirement community for the devils.

Gardas is the only afterlife left predominantly unchanged after the Revision. As such, Dis is home to the libraries that house all records of the Afterlife pre-revision. Additionally, many of the formerly condemned Artisans elected to stay there, contributing to Gardas a wealth of knowledge and insight which even the Artisans of Limbo cannot rival.

OBLIVION



If you really, really want to see Oblivion, it can be arranged, although Kiria can't make any promises.

You might have guessed by now, but all of these levels aren't really Heavens at all; they're Hells. The Revision came as condemned souls fought their judgments and took pride in their suffering as "the product of an unjust God." Many a devil and condemned alike noted this and petitioned (after a long, bitter struggle against the ruling order) to revise Hell.

The concept is simple: people with flawed or selfish ideas of Heaven are taken to flawed, deficient versions of Heaven. This eliminates the possibility of a sentence being fought against because they are in the Afterlife of their choosing, therefore they only have themselves to blame. Additionally, all the suffering that occurs on these levels comes as a result of the individual's own activity. Therefore, denizens not only cannot pass blame unto the native residents, but may also alleviate their suffering as soon as they realize the error of their ways and stop feeding into them. The purpose of Hell after the Revision is not to imprison and torture, but to educate and rehabilitate.

This is why Kiria has been asked to review these levels from offworlders she encounters here in the Park. The former Hell as conceived by Dante Alighieri seemed perfect from a third person perspective, but souls condemned to those fates could not see the beautiful symbolism or irony past the pain. To better ensure the effectiveness of the current levels, Kiria has been asked to assess their effectiveness. Since residents of the Nexus Park will either be subject to the afterlives of their native planes, or will never leave the Park after death at all, they have the capacity to review these planes on both personal and objective levels.

People who have conducted reviews thus far include:

NeoH
Matimeder: Pending
Plymous: Results surpassed expectations

Kiria, though neither a D.A.M.I. operative nor a P.S.A. carrier, is an agent within the two organizations' joint S.A. (Special Associates) sub-division, which pertains to the study and monitoring of all things supernatural. As such, she can be found living with Terastas, Deva, etc. living in the tree fortress in the Katschemakensisan.