Smuggled out by Maurice Lane

Heaven. Paradise. Elysium. The Place Where the Good Folks Go. Superficially, it hasn't changed much in the Tattered universe. Sure, some of the structures and Cathedrals are missing, altered, or in different locales, and there's that glaringly broken Jacob's Ladder, but there's still lots of angels, lots of blessed souls, and a cheerful disregard for the laws of physics. If anything, this version of Heaven may even seem slightly more majestic, seeing as there's more banners and impressive architecture. That's only a minor matter: this Heaven seems essentially the same.

Superficially.

All blessed souls live in the Eternal City, unless they've been invited to stay elsewhere. The first thing that one notices is that it's bigger than its canonical counterpart. Much, much bigger: after all, no one has visited the Higher Heavens for quite some time (many souls don't even realize that there actually is a Higher Heaven). Many angels reside there, too: for some reason, celestials and mortals tend to self-segregate themselves, so there are human areas and angelic areas. The human areas will often be further divided by nationality, culture and/or time period, but there's certainly no rule against residing in a 'foreign' neighborhood. In fact, there's no rule against residing in an angelic neighborhood: people just… don't.

The reverse isn't quite true: many angels find that taking up residence in the more modern human zones is good training for future Earth duty. And, of course, those helpful Servitors of the Sword and the Watch are very good for smoothing over the rare problems that arise, no? Not that one needs policemen in Heaven, of course, but it's nice to know that some angels have a personal stake in the community.

For the most part, the human zones are residential. Due to the unfortunate realities of the War, luxury items aren't always high priority, so what shops exist are mostly for food and drink (things do grow up there), or for artistic supplies, plus a few bookstores (some determined blessed souls have managed to acquire or build printing presses). It's a simple life, of course, but simple is good - and so many of those possessions just get in the way of the contemplative life anyway. Blessed souls are not required to do anything in Heaven except to be happy, rest, and never ever worry about the War. They've got plenty of angels ready and willing to defend them. It's hoped that the souls will attend the religious institution of their choice (the Eternal City is absolutely littered with various small churches, synagogues, mosques and shrines) and voluntarily provide any extra Essence that they might acquire, but no angel would ever dream of making either a requirement.

One other change is that, in every human neighborhood, there'll be a special building or two of Deep Rest. Those souls who feel the need to fully embrace the gift of Heaven may use them to catch up on some badly needed sleep. The Host, in its infinite compassion and humility, staffs these buildings with volunteer angels to help the sleepers achieve true comfort and rest. Many blessed souls end up here, eventually.

Of course, things will be even better when the Exiles come to their senses. Until that time, it's unfortunately necessary to be on guard against Exile saboteurs and provocateurs. Alas, some blessed souls are even sometimes deluded into helping such nasty individuals: the Host finds this sorrowful, but luckily they can usually show the poor things how they've been duped. Really, it's best if such things are nipped in the bud, so anyone who sees this sort of thing going on should make sure that they tell their angelic protectors as quickly as possible.

Still, it really is the best of all possible worlds.

As the above suggests, not much. If you like to paint, write, play a musical instrument, sing, act or cook food, you shouldn't be too bored. Those who aren't artistically inclined (and, after a decade or two, many people take up a hobby to stave off mild boredom) are always welcome to pray, participate in various equipment-light sports, or fornicate. No matter what you do, though, don't ever expect to get more than amused, good-natured tolerance from angels - to be fair, that's the usual attitude one encounters, and sadistic behavior is firmly stepped on by the authorities - and don't even hope to be treated as an equal. It doesn't matter how bright, how brave or how pious you were on Earth - here, you're just another human, and it's a mark of favor if the Host deigns to consistently remember your name. They are very busy protecting you, you know: cutting them a little slack is only polite, under the circumstances.

For the most part, people handle it by not thinking about it much. Not having to work or struggle to survive is a refreshing novelty for most of the new souls, of course: when that pales, there are always the various formal artistic societies. If and when that pales, Deep Rest is a powerful temptation: sleep away the years in pleasant dreams. Who knows: things might be more interesting when you finally wake up. Most people get along.

The Underground exists for those that don't. Actually, there's a lot of Undergrounds, ranging from the mildly naughty to the seriously pissed-off. After all, you don't get to Heaven without being something special, and a lot of these folks aren't too happy to be then told to just run off and play. The Host tolerates such antisocial escapades, for the most part, because the Pax Dei is still strong enough to dissuade mortal violence (mortals have a -5 to all Will rolls to initiate or sustain violent actions). Besides, without the Higher Heavens to produce a constant turnover, some sort of safety valve has to be in place to keep the more rebellious in line. Most of the Underground networks mostly just circulate dissident artwork and keep various human zones in contact with each other, anyway. After all, there's no real means of transportation or long range communication in the Eternal City, unless you happen to be an angel.

However, the more militant networks need to be stamped on periodically, as they are more than happy to aid and abet those Servitors of Resistance that seemingly pop in and out of Heaven at will. It's rumored that Heaven doesn't know about all the networks… but rumors really should be reported, for the good of everyone. Rumors that most former Soldiers of the Host end up in the deepest of the militant networks should most emphatically be reported: slandering such devoted, lucky mortals is particularly unfortunate.