Death, the afterlife and resurrection

[Anastasia]

This has come up recently, and combined with what Demedais has done with the Well of Souls, a recap of the situation is well in order. This is only an overview, lots of smaller details and exceptions do exist, but to list them all would make this a ten year federal research project in length and scope.

MORTAL CREATURES

The process of death and the procession to eternity:

When a mortal dies, their soul exits the body approximately one round after the moment of death. Should the body be destroyed, the soul appears at the spot of death. Souls in this state are invisible to almost any means to see, invulnerable and generally beyond the reach of any effect. A soul lingers for a short time, usually between one to six rounds before vanishing. They travel instantly and unerringly to the Well of Souls, where they begin a week's journey to a portal to their afterlife. This is covered in more detail below.

It has been recently discovered that mortals are easier to revive while they are within the Well of Souls. The reasoning is not entirely clear, but speculation is that they still have some ties to the mortal world, making reaching them less difficult. Resurrection magics are changing in account of this, but these spells are still adapting.  But early attempts are clear in that mortal souls within the Well of Souls do not appear opposed to coming back.

Once a mortal soul passes to it's afterlife, it is far harder to resurrect. Souls that have reached the Outer Planes are seldom willing to leave the Heavens, or able to freely leave the Realms Below.  Further, the souls that pass into a divine realm very rarely revive unless it is the will of their patron doing so, usually through a cleric or other agent seeing to the revival. Calls from other divinities are usually ignored. In more detail, a soul that has been absorbed into an Outer Plane  can be revived. A petitioner can be revived as well, as can outsiders with no memory of their past life. Those who transcend mortality or retain their self after death cannot be revived; they have become something different and left behind their mortal shell.

The Well of Souls:

When a soul passes, they drift to a place in between other parts of Creation. Here they reflect on their mortal life, proceeding along as a shade overseen by loyal Knights of Helm. For seven days they pass, drifting towards a portal that will take them to the plane or divine realm their actions have passed them to. During this time they are shades, invulnerable to direct harm. They are often unaware of anything else as they walk, so contemplating their life.  They cannot be reached by themselves, though they are not entirely disconnected from mortality yet.

The Order of the Mist oversees the procession, knights anointed into deathless servants by Helm. They are comprised of fighters, paladins, knights and clerics of Helm, fantastically loyal. The entire Well of Souls is maintained by Demedais the Prophet, who is said to possess near divine powers within the Well of Souls.

Plane shift and similar magic cannot reach the Well of Souls. The only known way is to die and pass through as nature demands.  All the portals from the Well of Souls are one way. However, members of the Order of the Mists have no difficulty entering and exiting as they need. This development is a sharp encroachment into the portfolio of Kelemvor; divine war between Kelemvor and Helm simmers. What effect this will have on the Well of Souls is unknown.

Exceptions:

As with anything, there are ways this natural order can be perverted. First and foremost, a soul with a powerful will to stay behind to finish it's affairs instead lingers on the spot of it's death. The soul gathers ectoplasm to itself, becoming a ghost.  Second of all, spells such as Trap the Soul will prevent a soul from leaving it's prison, effectively removing it from the natural cycle of death. Thirdly, the actions of various divine powers can alter a soul's course. A soul that dies in the realm or plane it is destined to go to skips the Well of Souls entirely, instantly migrating to it's destiny. Certain powers, mostly those of evil, can absorb or consume souls that die in their direct presence.  Finally, by a diabolical treaty with Helm, diabolical pacts are not inhibited by this new order.  A soul that has sold itself will immediately plunge into the Pit. The appeals process as outlined in the Fiendish Codex 2 still exists; a successful appeal frees the soul to migrate to the Well of Souls unless it would be damned to Baator anyway. In that case, everyone has a good laugh and a turn tormenting the lemure to be before getting back to work.

Undead are a special exception to these rules. Besides ghosts, many creatures are damned to become undead if slain by an undead creature. In these cases the soul lingers within the body and remains after it rises as an undead creature. Most undead created from remains older than  a week are near mindless undead such as skeletons or zombies, often times being entirely soulless. However, potent circumstances and dark magic can occasionally wretch a soul from the hereafter and confine them within the form of undeath.

There may be other exceptions, such as the entrapping traits of Hades and Elysium, but to catalog them all is a futile endeavor.

DRAGONS

Death and eternity for dragons:

Dragons are superior creatures, immortal by nature and extraordinarily powerful. They never die of old age, though many seem to fade away after countless centuries. The details of dragon life are beyond the scope of this work; instead, we will focus on what happens when a dragon is slain. When a dragon dies, their spirit lingers for but one round before vanishing to it's afterlife. They are not bound by the Well of Souls, instead heading to the afterlife. Most dragons appear before one of the dragon deities such as Bahamut or Tiamat. The exact fate of a dragon's soul varies by realm, but most are said to continue searching for the perfection that eluded them in life. Interestingly, some evidence suggests that dragons always retain the the memories of their mortal life, but this is not confirmed. In the event a dragon revered a non-dragon divinity, they will appear in that power's realm instead, almost always as a favored petitioner. Also, a small number of dragons migrate to an Outer Plane instead, always merging with the plane after about an equal amount of time as it lived.

No matter what fate, it is noted that dragon-spirits of all type lack any capacity to continue to age or develop. This does not effect planar dragons, ascended dragons or dragon gods, or any other dragon that has not died.

Dead dragons can be resurrected, but very few are interested in living again, no matter how they felt before death.

FEY

The cycle of fey death, afterlife and rebirth:

Some fey are immortal, some are not.  Regardless, when a fey dies, they pass on into a great cycle of death, afterlife and reincarnation. They are subject to the Well of Souls. Most pass to the Seelie or Unseelie Court, in which they exist a time as spirits before rejoining nature and being reborn. This process is far more complex than indicated but again beyond the scope of this work, not to mention deeply obscure and never discussed with non-fey. Fey that are pledged to a power, such as the Seladrine, Brightwater or whatever else may instead pass to the proper divine realm. These fey sometimes leave the cycle of reincarnation or linger for millenia before returning to be reborn. Dead fey retain their memories, only losing them when they are reincarnated.

Fey can be revived as normal, though they are as one in opposition. Fey feel this violates the cycle of nature. Only extreme circumstances or temptation will cause a fey to come back to it's life.

ELEMENTALS

How to revive YOUR favorite elemental force!:

Elementals are of one body and one spirit. When they die, that's that. The essence of the elemental returns to the appropriate plane and that's the end of it. This happens immediately on death. They do not pass into an afterlife or into the Well of Souls in any manner. To revive an elemental, a wish or miracle spell is required. Most elementals are willing to return to life, unless slain by an opposite element.

Do note that summoned elementals are do not die even if slain while summoned, just like any other creature.

OUTSIDERS

Beyond eternity:

Before this begins, it must be understood that each Outer Plane has it's own methods of handling it's spirits, as well as the various gods and powers. Each realm has it's own rules and exceptions. For details on a specific realm, Knowledge(Planes) checks are standard.

When an outsider dies outside of it's plane of origin, it's spirit lingers for 3 rounds at where it's physical form was destroyed. This spirit is unaware of anything and as invincible as a mortal soul; it is the essence of the outsider. Thereafter it migrates back to the Outer Plane it came from, eventually reforming in the same shape or as another type of outsider.  Outsiders cannot be slain for good on any plane but it's plane of origin, though it's soul can be trapped as a mortal's soul can. Outsider souls do not pass through the Well of Souls or any other limitations, they immediately return to the proper plane. No known means short of divine intervention can stop this short of imprisoning the elemental's soul, as per Trap the Soul or other related abilities.

The exact length of time for an outsider to reform varies by realm, as well as any possible promotions or demotions. As a rule of thumb, the more powerful the outsider, the faster it reforms. Once it has reformed, it cannot return to the plane it was killed on. This may be permanent or be a set amount of time, usually having numerological relevance to the plane. (99 years for Baator, for example.) No known means can circumvent this limitation, as Creation itself remembers the echos of it's death. This prevents it from coming, lest it create a paradox.

If an outsider is slain on it's native plane, it's essence joins with that of the plane within one round. Once it has joined it's plane, the outsider cannot be revived by any means short of a wish or miracle spell.  Outsiders vary on returning to life; despite a well known fear of oblivion by many, not all respond to the call.

THE DIVINE

Extremely little is known about divine death and if anything lies beyond for the gods. What is known that a god is almost impossible to kill, reforming in it's realm quickly if slain off plane, much like an outsider. To slay a god, another power or god must kill then in their domain and succeed on an opposed rank check. If the rank check fails or the killer does not possess divine rank, the divinity reforms.

No known means exist to revive a slain power. A wish or miracle is useless in these conditions. Some say that enough belief after a power's death can do the trick, but the truth is unknown. It is generally accepted that a power slain in it's realm is dead for good. If there is any afterlife for those who rule Creation, it is beyond the ken of any but the powers and lords themselves, and perhaps not even them. Perhaps only distant Ao can answer that question.

[Corwin]

Admit it, you knew this was coming. Anyway, questions!

Mortals: This basically means that in the absence of a special case of some sort, it may be possible to bring the dead back within a round of death (possibly with spells that didn't work before) and if that fails, to resurrect/raise them within a week of death (likewise)? In either case, any deity's approval is not strictly required, though the person in question would still need to wish to return (to prevent cultists from killing people over and over again, if nothing else)?

Dragons: Dragon-deities, more like. If Ajan or Ixin have the equivalent of DvR, does it mean they're such creatures and other dragons can come before them when they die? Or do you need to be a proper deity like Bahamut and Tiamat, as listed? Basically, I'm not sure if they are just the most commonly known examples or the only ones.

Elementals: Do they not want to come back if killed by the opposite element, from shame or whichever, or are they unable to due to some cosmic rules? Also, does stuff like the monoliths Lumenbur can call for fall under summoning rules?

Props for the write-up, it was fun to read~

[Anastasia]

Admit it, you knew this was coming. Anyway, questions!

Mortals: This basically means that in the absence of a special case of some sort, it may be possible to bring the dead back within a round of death (possibly with spells that didn't work before)

Theoretically. Since the spells didn't work/exist before that's all unknown ground right now.

and if that fails, to resurrect/raise them within a week of death (likewise)? In either case, any deity's approval is not strictly required, though the person in question would still need to wish to return (to prevent cultists from killing people over and over again, if nothing else)?

Yes. If a person is unwilling to return, no known magic can force them with the exception of certain necromantic powers. You can't go and ask them if they want to since they're dead, so either divination magic or just casting the spell and hoping are your best chance.

Dragons: Dragon-deities, more like. If Ajan or Ixin have the equivalent of DvR, does it mean they're such creatures and other dragons can come before them when they die? Or do you need to be a proper deity like Bahamut and Tiamat, as listed? Basically, I'm not sure if they are just the most commonly known examples or the only ones.

There's an entire pantheon of dragon gods beyond them, but they rarely see mention outside of dragon-centric games. In theory anything with DvR and a domain could receive the souls of dragons, though the dragons have their own system for this.

Elementals: Do they not want to come back if killed by the opposite element, from shame or whichever, or are they unable to due to some cosmic rules? Also, does stuff like the monoliths Lumenbur can call for fall under summoning rules?

Cosmic power and that sorta thing.

If it's a summoning effect they're treated as summons. Note that summoning is different than calling, though in any case the effect should use one of the words to clarify which it is.