On Good and Evil

The concepts of good and evil in Amb are fluid. They change with time, with perception and with people. The people of Amb understand that good and evil exist in every person. They also understand that no one is truly innocent. Every person lives with what their soul has accumulated in all the lives leading up to their current one. Because it is known that souls reincarnate and are judged by a higher power (Shan), people understand that fate is very intricate, thus actions are seen as something that a person must do in order to move on to their next life.

People understand that good and bad things must happen to them in each life because that is what leads their soul toward their final life as a Holy Warrior or Spirit. Both good acts and evil acts are required to ensure that your soul has learned what it has to learn. In Arascon, there is a firm belief in balancing out your ha-kan (similar to karma). With each life, you get closer and closer to achieving ha-tar-on (similar to nirvana to keep with the metaphor). In Arascon, in the ancient tongue, the soul or spirit was called someone's Ha-a. It is still often referred to as such.

Ha-Kan is roughly translated as "Soul Learning". Ha-Ir-On is roughly translated as Soul Completion. Everyone is familiar with these concepts and knows them to be true. In other countries, these concepts are given different names- in Rosedese they are called T'tik'krageen (roughly translated as Head and Heart Lesson) and T'tik'moreen (Head and Heart Mission). In Gildensol they are called Linavilia Amahli (The Beautiful Spirit of Growth) and Linavilia Phadeena Huulen (The Beautiful Spirit has Mastered Life).

People do not judge good and evil by the action itself, but rather by the outcome of the action. For example, you may quench a fire that runs rampant on a farm, but that fire may be needed to purge the crops and bring new fertility to the land. So, by the outcome of the action, what you have done is deconstructive and thus can be seen as "evil". Conversely, you could set fire to a farm, burning all the crop, but the next year the crop is three times as bountiful for the person, thus the outcome is positive and thus seen as "good".

On the other hand, people do expect others to follow the laws of their land. This creates a delicate balance between mortal "good" and spiritual "good".

Because of the time of first darkness and the time of second darkness, Evil is thought to be those things which are unnatural to Amb. Anything which is of the Void, the demon plane or simply goes against the natural order of life and death (ie undead and necromancy) is thought to be evil. There is a belief in a Greater Evil- the demons from the other world and demon like beings in general. While no one has ever seen a demon outside of any time aside from the times of Darkness, there is a prevalent belief that they are Evil and harbingers of Evil. There is a difference between Evil and evil. The first, "Evil" is used to describe the demonic energies of the world unnatural to Amb. The second is more of an adjective to describe things that people personally don't like.

In Arascon, it is considered improper to call people evil- but it is used from time to time as a great insult. By calling someone evil, you imply that they are acting against their ha-kan. When people refer to "the Evil" or "a Evil", this is referring directly to demonic energies and unnatural forces (or, in rare cases, one who controls demonic energies and does unnatural things).