Pillar of Souls

Overview
The Pillar of Souls is a phenomenon located in the exact center of the Cosmic Disk which provides the means for souls to travel between planes. It is a mile-thick cable composed of unknown energy which undulates with no known propulsion. Invisible to the naked eye, it exists on the Plane Ethereal and is only visible to most people during death.

The Process of Death
When a mortal, sentient creature's heart stops beating and the brain undergoes full death, the soul exits the body. Taking the form of a white or cyan replica of the deceased in their most "ideal" state (ie, the version of their rmortal selves' absolute physical peak) with no need for sustenance, the soul is immediately drawn towards the Pillar of Souls. Most succumb to this physical motion very easily, being emotionally distraught and unused to their new form.

Resisting this pull is necessary for becoming a vampire or lich—forcing the soul into the prepared body/phylactery, or trapping it through other means, is one of the few guaranteed, known methods of immortality. Souls traveling to the Pillar of Souls are often escorted by The Reaper or similar deities which correspond to their culture; and these deities may become forceful or even violent when the dead soul refuses to cooperate.

Once taken to the Pillar of Souls the soul plummets through the Cosmic Disk and into Limbo. In this neutral zone the soul is mixed with other contemporary deceased and selected by a deity which feels that mortal best represented their ideals in life. Often, a god of the same culture as the soul will select them; though common, this is not guaranteed.

Post-selection the soul will join their new patron deity and either ascend to the Upper Planes or descend to the Lower ones. If no deity claims the soul as their patron, the soul is cast into Abyss, where they are naturally sorted with the rest of the demons whose sins match theirs in an eternal battle for dominance.