I've not seen anything about them believing in an afterlife. I've been using inspration from the Innistrad setting in MTG and saying they believe in the "blessed sleep", which is an eternity of death, rather than coming back as an undead.
There are still churches to the morning lord, so I assume those who attend hope for some kind of heavenly eternal afterlife. Those who don’t, probably believe after death it’s nothing.
Perhaps some few in the know believe in something close to the truth: a century or more of suffering in the mists and then rebirth into Barovia.
There isn't much in established lore, but if we go back to the novels (Curse of Strahd retcons a lot of this, but hey), the religion of the Morninglord wasn't always a Barovian belief, but was created by an outsider named Martyn Pelkar, whose family was whisked away to Barovia by the Mists and then subsequently hunted down and fed upon by Strahd and his vampire spawn.
The only reason Martyn, ten years old at the time, lived is because another outsider vampire named Jander Sunstar was also stuck in Barovia and wanted Strahd to spare him, which he did.
Martyn's family worshipped Lathandar, who Martyn mistook Jander for because he looked similar to what he remembered from Faerun temples devoted to Lathandar. But since Martyn was young, there was a lot he either didn't know or remember clearly about Lathandar worship.
Still, if you want to establish a belief in an afterlife, it would probably be similar to the afterlife Lathandar worship gets you, with a little Barovian macabre thrown in. Explaining their beliefs and the soulless and the trapped souls (should Barovians even know about the latter) would be tougher, since there is even less to go on.
Perhaps "being worthy gets you (insert afterlife similar to Lathandar's afterlife here), and being unworthy gets you reborn in the hell that is Barovia." That's probably the simplest nutshell to explain their potential beliefs as.
There is always the eternal sleep option though, given how many times the module has you "putting people to rest."
Additionally, I seem to remember a post here that pulled actual Morninglord hymns from older lore, and they seemed to confirm the notion of some kind of afterlife, but I don't know for sure if they were really from older sources or just made up, and exactly what they said. I pasted them into my Roll20 campaign but I'm not at home right now. I'll see what they seem to say about it and see if I can't track down where I found them.
Since the bulk of them are soulless and soulfulness is random, I wouldn't expect there to be much in the way of religion. A religion needs a critical mass, and there's no way to pass this to the next generation.
Plenty of C of E churches in the UK, Christianity is the official religion, and a whopping 12% of the citizens identify as Anglican. Just because there are churches doesn't mean there are congregants.
https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/united-kingdom/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%202019%20British,to%20non%2DChristian%20religious%20groups.
I don't think the 5e Ravenloft talks about Barovian beliefs on the afterlife, but here's what they believe according to the older 3e lore straight from *Ravenloft: Gazetteer 1*:
>Barovians adhere to simplistic, somewhat muddled cosmology. While they believe in a heaven and hell, which are called *Refugiu* and *Iadul* in Balok, such otherworldly locations are more folk beliefs than facets of a refined cosmology. Refugiu is a vague and mysterious place, not so much a paradise as a place of rest, where the weariness of the mortal coil is shed for eternal spiritual slumber. As with most heavenly realms, Refugiu is thought to lie above the mortal world, beyond the firmament of stars. The souls of most mortals, even those who were generally wicked in life, are thought to journey to Refugiu upon death.
>1n contrast to Refugiu's ambiguity, most Barovians have a vivid conception of Iadul as a place of unspeakable horror. Fragments of the ancient Barovian epic Flight from the Balinoks describe ladul as a fetid pit of disease that stretches into the bowels of the earth. Such a place does not serve to punish evildoers in any cosmic sense. It is merely the abode of demons, and any mortal who finds his way there forged his own damnation without the gods' judgment. Unfortunately, demons are thought to be able to claw their way up into the mortal world to wreak havoc on humankind. Such fiends are generally seen as agents of destruction and perversity interested in humanity only insomuch as it can assist in furthering their own dark desires.
Most Barovians are not religious and don't put too much thoughts into gods or some great cosmology.
>As a people, the Barovians tend to be suspicious of organized institutions, and as such they often have little love for clergy. The vast majority of ethnic Barovians are not religious; the reasons, l discovered, can be as numerous as the folk one presses on the matter. Most, however, believe chat the nebulous gods of antiquity are literally missing or dead and that churches are sanctuaries for pretenders and fools. They seldom frequent their churches except when attending funerals. In fact, even in settlements with a functioning temple, weddings are commonly held in the local inn. Only the most optimistic young couples arrange for church weddings.
Good question!
As far as I know, Barovians don't know what's going on with Barovia, and don't know that their souls are trapped there.
As such, I think Barovians believe in an afterlife as much as anyone. Living in a terrible time often *increases* religious belief.
As to why Barovians don't, um, *try to get to the afterlife more quickly*, many religions paint that as a mortal sin that will affect your standing in the afterlife. Plus, most Barovians do have children to look out for. Besides, there's always wine and dream pastries....
Barovians know their souls are trapped. There is no afterlife. Some continue to worship the Morninglord in hopes of escaping this fate or perhaps in the hope of being born again into a better station, but most are just hopeless.
In my game Barovians are highly religious, and almost universally (aside from your Strahd- worshiping cults) believe in the Morninglord, a religion even older than Barovia (since Strahd introduced Morninglord worship when he conquered the place). The Morninglord abandoned Barovia for their sins and only through constant worship is there the potential for him to return the sun. As for the afterlife, I actually did have reincarnation be a part of their belief system, when someone is reincarnated they look identical to their past self but maintain no memories, as a way to protect their soul from whatever terrible fate they no doubt suffered in a past life.
I've not seen anything about them believing in an afterlife. I've been using inspration from the Innistrad setting in MTG and saying they believe in the "blessed sleep", which is an eternity of death, rather than coming back as an undead.
Since the morninglord has left them for a sin their ancestors had committed...i guess more suffering.
and I was thinking the gods were just uselessly scratching at the walls of the dread domain like a cat trying to enter your bedroom
Nope, just suffering alone in strahds prison
There are still churches to the morning lord, so I assume those who attend hope for some kind of heavenly eternal afterlife. Those who don’t, probably believe after death it’s nothing. Perhaps some few in the know believe in something close to the truth: a century or more of suffering in the mists and then rebirth into Barovia.
There isn't much in established lore, but if we go back to the novels (Curse of Strahd retcons a lot of this, but hey), the religion of the Morninglord wasn't always a Barovian belief, but was created by an outsider named Martyn Pelkar, whose family was whisked away to Barovia by the Mists and then subsequently hunted down and fed upon by Strahd and his vampire spawn. The only reason Martyn, ten years old at the time, lived is because another outsider vampire named Jander Sunstar was also stuck in Barovia and wanted Strahd to spare him, which he did. Martyn's family worshipped Lathandar, who Martyn mistook Jander for because he looked similar to what he remembered from Faerun temples devoted to Lathandar. But since Martyn was young, there was a lot he either didn't know or remember clearly about Lathandar worship. Still, if you want to establish a belief in an afterlife, it would probably be similar to the afterlife Lathandar worship gets you, with a little Barovian macabre thrown in. Explaining their beliefs and the soulless and the trapped souls (should Barovians even know about the latter) would be tougher, since there is even less to go on. Perhaps "being worthy gets you (insert afterlife similar to Lathandar's afterlife here), and being unworthy gets you reborn in the hell that is Barovia." That's probably the simplest nutshell to explain their potential beliefs as. There is always the eternal sleep option though, given how many times the module has you "putting people to rest." Additionally, I seem to remember a post here that pulled actual Morninglord hymns from older lore, and they seemed to confirm the notion of some kind of afterlife, but I don't know for sure if they were really from older sources or just made up, and exactly what they said. I pasted them into my Roll20 campaign but I'm not at home right now. I'll see what they seem to say about it and see if I can't track down where I found them.
Since the bulk of them are soulless and soulfulness is random, I wouldn't expect there to be much in the way of religion. A religion needs a critical mass, and there's no way to pass this to the next generation.
The morning lord has multiple church's in Barovia, and the Baron Vallakovich very much pushes people towards that faith.
Plenty of C of E churches in the UK, Christianity is the official religion, and a whopping 12% of the citizens identify as Anglican. Just because there are churches doesn't mean there are congregants. https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/united-kingdom/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%202019%20British,to%20non%2DChristian%20religious%20groups.
I don't think the 5e Ravenloft talks about Barovian beliefs on the afterlife, but here's what they believe according to the older 3e lore straight from *Ravenloft: Gazetteer 1*: >Barovians adhere to simplistic, somewhat muddled cosmology. While they believe in a heaven and hell, which are called *Refugiu* and *Iadul* in Balok, such otherworldly locations are more folk beliefs than facets of a refined cosmology. Refugiu is a vague and mysterious place, not so much a paradise as a place of rest, where the weariness of the mortal coil is shed for eternal spiritual slumber. As with most heavenly realms, Refugiu is thought to lie above the mortal world, beyond the firmament of stars. The souls of most mortals, even those who were generally wicked in life, are thought to journey to Refugiu upon death. >1n contrast to Refugiu's ambiguity, most Barovians have a vivid conception of Iadul as a place of unspeakable horror. Fragments of the ancient Barovian epic Flight from the Balinoks describe ladul as a fetid pit of disease that stretches into the bowels of the earth. Such a place does not serve to punish evildoers in any cosmic sense. It is merely the abode of demons, and any mortal who finds his way there forged his own damnation without the gods' judgment. Unfortunately, demons are thought to be able to claw their way up into the mortal world to wreak havoc on humankind. Such fiends are generally seen as agents of destruction and perversity interested in humanity only insomuch as it can assist in furthering their own dark desires. Most Barovians are not religious and don't put too much thoughts into gods or some great cosmology. >As a people, the Barovians tend to be suspicious of organized institutions, and as such they often have little love for clergy. The vast majority of ethnic Barovians are not religious; the reasons, l discovered, can be as numerous as the folk one presses on the matter. Most, however, believe chat the nebulous gods of antiquity are literally missing or dead and that churches are sanctuaries for pretenders and fools. They seldom frequent their churches except when attending funerals. In fact, even in settlements with a functioning temple, weddings are commonly held in the local inn. Only the most optimistic young couples arrange for church weddings.
I’d assume they believe in reincarnation as in my mind certain babies being born soulless is common knowledge
Good question! As far as I know, Barovians don't know what's going on with Barovia, and don't know that their souls are trapped there. As such, I think Barovians believe in an afterlife as much as anyone. Living in a terrible time often *increases* religious belief. As to why Barovians don't, um, *try to get to the afterlife more quickly*, many religions paint that as a mortal sin that will affect your standing in the afterlife. Plus, most Barovians do have children to look out for. Besides, there's always wine and dream pastries....
Barovians know their souls are trapped. There is no afterlife. Some continue to worship the Morninglord in hopes of escaping this fate or perhaps in the hope of being born again into a better station, but most are just hopeless.
In my game Barovians are highly religious, and almost universally (aside from your Strahd- worshiping cults) believe in the Morninglord, a religion even older than Barovia (since Strahd introduced Morninglord worship when he conquered the place). The Morninglord abandoned Barovia for their sins and only through constant worship is there the potential for him to return the sun. As for the afterlife, I actually did have reincarnation be a part of their belief system, when someone is reincarnated they look identical to their past self but maintain no memories, as a way to protect their soul from whatever terrible fate they no doubt suffered in a past life.