Death.
It was such a simple word but one can typically only experience it once, and before you do, it is as unknown and terrifying as can be. An unavoidable eventuality that all things must experience. It meant the end of everything. It could be painful or painless, but it was always abrupt.
There were many assumptions about what happens after death. There were religions that believed that their souls would be carried by their divinities to eternal lands to live forever alongside their loved ones.
There were those who believed that it all just ended, that there was no reincarnation or divinities that brought one's soul to eternal lands to seek everlasting happiness.
There were those who believed that the soul is cleansed, brought along the River of Souls to be recycled and reborn into new individuals. There were new souls without pasts, but the vast majority of souls were assumed to have experienced at least one lifetime before.
