Chinvat Bridge
Planar pathway
The Chinvat Bridge ain’t your everyday bricks-and-mortal affair, oh no cutter. Think of it more like a cosmic toll booth on the turnpike of the afterlife. Imagine this: A bridge stretching between the realms of the living and the dead, and it’s more than just a few planks and ropes, it’s made of lightbeams. It’s a metaphysical tightrope act that makes the Dead Roads look like a cakewalk. As well as being a long way, the Chinvat Bridge is also a test of your moral compass. You step on it after shuffling off this mortal coil, and where you end up on the other side depends on your deeds in life. It connects the Prime to all of the outer planes where powers of the Persian, Ugaritic and Mesopotamian pantheons reside, via the Astral.
If you’re a paragon of virtue and you’ve lived a life that would make celestials blush, you’ll breeze across like a modron cart on rails, straight to the good stuff, like Elysium or some other heavenly plane. But if you’ve been a real nasty berk, well, be prepared for a bumpy ride. The bridge narrows, gets all wobbly and jagged, and if you’re not careful, you’ll end up taking a dive into the Abyss or some other lower plane.
Now, as for the locals, you’ve got those psychopomps playing bouncers at the gate. They’ll be the ones checking your spiritual credentials so to speak, and they don’t take bribes. Well, most of ‘em don’t. If you don’t make the cut, they’ll politely (or not so politely) show you the way to your next destination, whatever that might be. And if need by, they might even give you a shove off the bridge.
I’ve heard tales, berk, of adventurers who’ve crossed that bridge and come back with their heads all turned around, whispering about what’s waiting on the other side. It’s a real head-scratcher, that Chinvat Bridge, but one thing’s for sure: It ain’t no tourist attraction. So, if you’re ever contemplating a visit, be ready to face the consequences of your life’s choices, and keep your fingers crossed that the bridge is in a forgiving mood.
Source: Jon Winter-Holt, mimir.net
