This document presents a number of beliefs about the nature of Heaven and the afterlife among Peonian and Laranian priests and lay followers. As much as possible this information is presented as the words of individuals on Hârn.
The organisation of the text is as follows:
Peoni dwells in the enchanted meadows of Valon where it is forever spring. Valon is an impossibly verdant field of flowers, rich in delicious nectar, able to regenerate themselves overnight. This is the heaven of Peoni's worshippers. Here, in humble but pleasant cottages dwell those who have laboured hard in life. The common belief is that Valon is on Yashain.
Gods of Hârn, Peoni 1
It is widely held that the meadows of Valon are four in number, but they are variously differentiated from each other by different groups of believers. Some take the view that there is a eternal repeating sequence to life in Valon, of which mortal life is but a poor reflection:
Just as in the mortal world a single year is comprised of four seasons, and just as a mortal's life may be seen as a progression of four seasons, so it is in Valon. Yet how much more wondrous it is in that place, such that excesses and immoderation are unknown, and a life does not die to give birth to another, but lives on forever in its purest form.
Haelinla, Where the Goddess Walks
Such a brief statement, while perhaps sufficing for the majority of lay adherents, raises many more questions than it answers. Any number of priests and scholars have puzzled over the implications of the above passage. It is needless to say that a range of answers and clarifications have been proposed, some of which are presented here.
The question of having children, and what happens to bodies after "winter"?
Larani dwells in Tirithor, which may be translated as the Kingdom that Guards or the Land of the Mighty. Tirithor is probably located on Yashain and is constantly at war with the realms of Agrik and the other evil deities. Tirithor is organized as a feudal state; Larani is the Queen; her barons are demigods, her knights are slain heroes. The fertile countryside is divided into manors and worked by yeomen and a virtuous peasantry. Tirithor is the feudal ideal.
Gods of Hârn, Larani 1
The heart of Tirithor is the legendary castle of Dolithor, seat of the goddess and haven of her followers. It is said to be the fairest structure in two worlds, and the strongest fastness, although followers of Agrik claim the latter distinction for Balgashang. Dolithor stands atop a hill and from its parapets the goddess may view the whole kingdom and marshal her forces for its defence.
Gods of Hârn, Larani 1
Dolithor is the home of the greatest Kalamin trees alive; they line its walkways, and the great path that leads to the castle's gates. The hill on which it rests is named Athallata, which means World Centre. It has been said that the castle Dolithor was not built on the hill, but rather grew from it as the Goddess rested in that place (see, for example, the Gest of Ambrathas.
The Laranian beliefs about the nature of heaven also include the "realms of Agrik", and its great stronghold Balgashang, the counterpart to Dolithor. This black fortress stands on the Boiling Plains of Barashnak, the boundless expanse of wasteland that surrounds Valon and Tirithor, trying forever to encroach on those more hospitable lands.
Given that Gods of Hârn makes an explicit connection between Larani and Peoni (with the latter being commonly regarded as the spiritual mother of the former), it is plausible that the heavens of both religions share more than passing similarities.
The most wide-spread view, among followers of both Larani and Peoni, is that the land of Tirithor is either surrounding, or a part of, the Fields of Valon.
In one manuscript, an ambitious illuminator has put down his own (or his superior's) image of the two lands, in the map below:
This image is interesting both for its debt to historical symbolism and for the illuminator's creativity. It seems clear that whoever was responsible for the representation had access to, or well remembered, a copy of Vellian's mammoth work on early church martyrs, Unto Heaven Called. The following passage should make this apparent:
[Stuff on crescent moon, including the "seas", which are part of the pattern of the four fields in Valon - what a nifty idea!.]
Vellian, Unto Heaven Called
The most remarkable feature of the map, however, is the skillful use of the so-called Mountains of Sorrow (note that this name was first used in this connection some time after the map was made) to provide the boundary between Valon and the dominions of Agrik where Tirithor does not reach (on account of its crescent shape). It is debateable whether this is an accidental or purposeful imitation of *****. A less obscure source would be the legend of St. Pelen, which has been given in abbreviated form thus, in Jeredd of Mathsel's A Treasury of Wisdom:
While still a young man, Pelen heard the call from the Goddess, and left his fields. He wandered far, searching for a person to show him how best to serve the Good Mother; but wherever he went, none would teach him, for they saw that he was more holy than they. And because of this, as he traveled, he was followed by many people, priests and non-priests alike, who had adopted him as their guide and mentor. Pelen was distressed at this, for he did not regard himself as worthy of disciples, telling those who followed that they should answer their own call. Few listened to his words, and the number of his followers grew.
It happened then that Pelen came to the foot of a mountain, beyond which lay more mountains, and he called out to his disciples that he was intent to climb this mountain. Whereupon some of the disciples turned back, and followed no longer; but many did not, and went with their master up the mountain. The way was hard, for the mountain was very steep, and
The name given to the whole mountain-range on the map seems a little out of place, and was perhaps only meant to make clear that the his crude mountain peaks were in fact just that. However, see below for another explanation.
It is also interesting that in the above drawing, Valon appears to "fill out" the full circle of which Tirithor is but the crescent. Others have noted this, and managed to work it into their varying interpretations of wider issues.
Some claim Tirithor and the Fields of Valon to be different names for exactly the same thing, but this raises some problems:
Tirithor cannot be Valon, for their natures are wholly different. The Kingdom that Guards does not guard itself, but rather another place, which is Valon. The ravages that this mighty land suffers, though it stands eternally, are not to be thought of in the Fields of Valon, where all is harmonious due to the very actions of those who dwell in Tirithor. To consider that those who dwell amid eternal spring are subject to the deprivations of Agrikan soldiery is anathema.
Blah de blah, Laranian Priest, Council of
This section presents a number of ideas which are not a part of commonly or officially accepted doctrine, and which to a greater or lesser extent contradict the standard views.
A Peonian heresy, the origin of the idea of the Fifth Field is unknown, but in recent Hârnic history it is most closely associated with the priest Dalfo and his "crusade" against the nobility in the Thay region in 686-687 TR.
The heresy itself is the supposition that there exists, in addition to the four fields of Valon, a fifth, designated especially for those people deemed especially worthy (or, in some variants, especially damned). This runs directly counter to the standard belief in equality for all souls.
The following passage is part of a sermon made by Dalfo to his assembled followers on the hill at *****, three days before he was captured, tortured, and executed:
... And I say to you that there is not one heaven for all those who follow in Our Mother's wake. For many of those who say "yea" with their mouths, cry out "nay" with their hearts, and the Good Woman is grieved, and wishes such to dwell far from her. But those who are true in their beliefs, and who fight for the Gentle One's sake, are Her most beloved servants. For these, and these alone, is granted the highest honour, to dwell forever beside the Nurturer, and to know without any doubt that they are truly blessed, and in the company only of those who are similarly blessed.
So I say to you not to stand idle, but to use your strength, so that you might not be shamed by living wretched in a pale shadow of the real Heaven, that is reserved for those of true heart and spirit. Rise up, my people, rise up and fight against those who would see you oppressed, and prove your courage. Do not be dissuaded from your path by those destined for the four meadows of Valon; for it is only you, if you flex your might, who will come to the fifth field, the true place of bliss and eternal life.
Dalfo, Peonian Heretic, preaching outside Thay
There are some among the worshippers of Larani who hold that before there was ever either that Goddess or the Demon Agrik, there was Manrasusha, the First Fire, the Creator. He created all things - the world, the stars, plants and people. And later from him arose the two gods, Agrik and Larani, as brother and sister. From the first moment the two hated each other with a passion, each claiming the universe as his or her own sole inheritence.
Those who accept this view (and the above is the barest outline of the basics of their belief) have a correspondingly radical view of heaven. The realms of Agrik and Larani are not considered as separate at all, but rather exactly the same, the fire of Manrasusha, only experienced differently by each according to their view. There are those also who claim that true spirituality arises from reconciling the two Gods, and returning to the primal source, Manrasusha. Just what this means for the experience of Heaven is not at all clear.
Worship of Ilvir never took a great hold on the hearts and minds of the Hârnic admixture of Jarin and Pharic peoples. Nonetheless, for a time he was numbered among the truly Hârnic gods, and as such had an influence in the development of the ideas concerning heaven. Interestingly, given the god's supposed habitation of Araka-Kalai, there is a definite place for Ilvir in the early belief system. That place is ill described by the few sources, and more so than most other images of heaven it is difficult to bring forth any consistent conceptualisation - the Ilvirans have been remarkably successful in keeping their faith free from literalism, by means of honouring equally individual views.
What can be discerned is a marked attention to a small geographical area, defined almost entirely in terms of symbolic imagery, particularly that associated with animals.
On the map (above), there should be some name of a place in the mountains, and in the saint's journey there should be mention of coming across a hole/cave somewhere. Perhaps flanked by a massive carved head or figure or something. (The mouth being the cave entrance?) Better, a cave with a path leading to it/past it, with the head/figure high above, near a peak, and inaccessible.
On the map of heaven shown above, the mountains are labelled Rock Face. From the story of St. Pelen crossing the mountains, however, it seems clear that somewhere in the descent of that tale from its source to the drawer of the map, a phrase has been misread - the "rock face" is in fact a "face of rock"; that is, a face carved out of rock!
Apparently some stories relate that the area outisde Tirithor (and presumably also Valon) is not the Boiling Plains of Barashnak, but rather the Blasted Plain, home to Ilvir. It is also sometimes said that beyond this wasted land lies the realm of Agrik, in accordance with other beliefs. It should be pointed out that few Ilvirans openly hold even part of this view; they have their own, very different, stories.