Death

Death, or the termination of a being's physical existence, is sadly a part of gameality. However, it isn't the end of existence entirely. When a mortal being dies, her consciousness remains in aetherial form — that of the soul remains. What happens to it depends on the afterlife policy of the god she worshipped during life, if any. Most deities send their followers to some kind of afterlife based around their own particular self-concept; a few reincarnate them or “promote” them to hosts (the aethereal servant of a god, such as an angel, demon, or grim reaper). Some of the nastier gods obliterate their deceased followers, leave them to walk eternally, or even ritually consume them. At least one rather strange causality-defying deity dispenses with the concept of an afterlife entirely in favor of an eternal prelife, in which his one-day followers either suffer or are rewarded based on how they will eventually behave during their mortal life. There are almost as many different possible fates as there are deities. Individuals who die without having worshipped a god generally become undead in some fashion. Although some people live most of their lives without worshipping anyone (intending to get religion while on their deathbeds), most gods take a dim view of this and may exact large penalties in the form of exacting geriatric quests upon these sneaky senior citizens who attempt to take advantage of the system.

If all goes well, a host will typically show up upon a person’s death and escort him to the proper afterlife. Unfortunately, the whole afterlife system isn't perfect, even aside from the unpleasantness endured by people who choose the wrong god. Gods often misrepresent themselves and the nature of the afterlives they have available, though other gods may do their best to defraud such scams. Hosts are late or do not show up at all (say, due to traffic holdups or being on strike), or they are bored with their jobs and are surly and uncooperative with the deceased. And as in all bureaucracies, sometimes mixups occur. People are sometimes sent to the wrong places, or are unable to enjoy the rewards of their afterlife due to not having obtained the proper paperwork.

People also become undead (usually, though certainly not always, as ghosts or sapient zombies) as a result of situations other than simple heathenism. Even if they worshipped a god with great zeal in life, they may also rise again as a moving corpse or bodiless soul when the circumstances surrounding their deaths are less than ideal, if this is typical for the god they worshipped, or in particular if they have some form of unfinished business awaiting their attention. As ghosts, they are usually much less suited to accomplishing whatever this business is than they might have been in life, but as most ghosts have nothing better to do, they often make the attempt anyway. Other ghosts give up any attempt to resolve mortal concerns and just hang about and harass the living. Though most ghosts are highly ineffectual when it comes to interacting with material things, the more competent among ghosts are responsible for various kinds of hauntings. Zombies and other physical undead are more capable of accomplishing tasks in the material world, but are plagued (so to speak) with such intense prejudice that unlife for them is usually exceedingly unpleasant.

Previous: Gods Next: Undeath