Kólasi (Theosi Mythos)

The Theosi underworld, Kólasi, is depicted as a cold, gloomy, cavernous place – not icy, but dank, damp, and cold. It is a home for troubled souls, those whose ill deeds condemn them to punishment and penance before being allowed to reincarnate.

Kólasi is ruled by Dikastís, the Judge, the Lord of the Underworld and the Adjudicator of Souls. Dikastís determines which souls have committed sufficient evilness to be confined to the Underdark ream called Kólasi. He is considered to be the patron of justice, judges, law enforcement, and punishment. His wife, Éleos, is the goddess of mercy, who tempers her consort’s judgments.

Their three children also reside in the Underworld: Fylakí, the Warden, who is the jailer for the prison of souls, the God who oversees the torments inflicted on evil-doers who are punished until they are allowed to return to the earth to “try again” in another life; Thánatos the Undying, the god of the Undead: the animated bodies of the dead, like zombies and skeletons; the troubled spirits who have not passed over, like ghosts and poltergeists; and those like vampires and liches who have achieved everlasting life through undying death; and Prodosía, goddess who rules the intelligent and unintelligent creatures who dwell beneath the surface: orcs and ogres and carrion crawlers, among others.

The gods of Kólasi are recognized and feared, but rarely worshipped on their own. Funeral rites include homage to Dikastís, the Judge, ruler of the Underworld. Believers will also pray to Éleos, wife of Dikastís, to intercede on behalf of their loved ones’ spirits, particularly those who had committed egregious crimes in their lives. The only temples and shrines to their offspring are typically those of covert and sometimes illegal sects.