Phantomspace
THREAT DETECTED!!
User [NHIMOR] has been rendered unconscious by hostile magical force!
>Preparing defense program. Assessing target's weak points...
Oh please.
>All current operations cancelled, on authority of [METEO].
I will remain here to guard [NHIMOR]'s body until his return.
You can hijack my tridenthead too?! I didn't know you were a necromancer AND a squidhacker!
Flesh is flesh, Nhimor. Your "biotechnology" is no exception to my mastery.
Now, let us transcend the boundaries of space.
Wait wha? Whe were just in the graveyard a second ago, how the heck did we get...wherever here is?
We may have been in Zoincailla mere moments ago, but now we have exited the bounds of conventional space entirely. With no vessel to anchor down the soul, one's location in space becomes a mere suggestion.
That's another reason I extricated you from your body, actually - carrying someone with physical mass here is considerably more difficult. As someone comprised of mere energy, it's only natural that I prefer the path of least resistance, yes?
Good to know stealing my soul from my body was convenient for you...
And here we are! The ultimate destination of every soul in existence: Phantomspace
Well that just looks like another planet! It even has a ring around it and everything.
That would be its halo.
A halo? Like the one you have over your head?
Precisely. Halos serve a very specific purpose, you know.
Without a link to a physical vessel, a soul has no frame of reference for where or what it is. No mass, no shape, no connection to reality whatsoever. It is an existence of eternal darkness and confusion. But, a specific loop of magical energy can create a stabilizing field sufficient to imitate the anchoring effects of a body.
Phantomspace's halo is the most powerful of all, forged by the gods themselves. Without the protection of a living body, all souls are drawn inexorably toward it, where they will eventually find rest. Those of strong will and sufficient magical power can resist its pull, but they will never be free of it. Even I, who have persisted in unlife for centuries, will one day be claimed.
Doesn't that mean it's dangerous for us to get so close to it? We don't wanna get trapped in the afterlife, right?
As you shall soon see, things are somewhat more complicated than that.