The World of Layonara
The NWN Persistent World => Server Rules => Topic started by: Leanthar on August 10, 2004, 10:57:00 am
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A lot of people have been asking about this so here you go. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What does it mean to die on Layonara?
When a character dies on Layonara the soul will be sent to the Plane of the Lost, all souls are sent there. This plane is controlled by the Soul Mother and her first in command, The Harvester of Souls. It is thought that eons ago the Soul Mother made some sort of deal with the then upstart deities and in return she was granted this Plane of existence.
Two Types of Souls
- Lost Souls are souls of those that die and do not follow a deity or have somehow made their deity lose faith in them. These souls make their way before the Soul Mother and are judged. Not all lost souls are necessarily damned as at times a deity will speak up and accept one of them, but it would depend on their actions in life and of course working with the Soul Mother. It takes at least three days before a soul is judged. Unless for some reason the soul is somehow lost forever (i.e. permanently dead), if this is the case the soul is pushed to the front of the line and judged quickly.
- Called Souls are souls of those that die and are tied to a deity. They arrive on the Plane of the Lost and travel to a location called the Doors of The Gods. There they wait for three days (in game time) before finally arriving to their deities’ plane of existence. Nobody is sure why it takes three days but sages state that it is because of the deal struck long ago with the Soul Mother.
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The Harvester of Souls
Sages state that the Harvester is the one that travels to various planes and primes seeking out live beings and marking them when they die. When a character is marked it draws the attention of the Soul Mother. Sages disagree on why the Harvester does this but the strongest argument is that it somehow taints the soul in a way so that if a soul ever arrives on the plane to be judged it gives the Soul Mother a way to see in to the life of the now dead character.
The Soul Mother
It is known that she is the patron “deity” of the Plane of the Lost. Sages are now starting to speculate that somehow she may have betrayed the deities in the deal that was struck and in the gathering of souls over the eons she has grown in power. A few sages even go as far as to speculate that she is the cause of the current god wars.
Blood Pools and Blood Wells
It is thought that Blood Pools/Wells somehow touch the Plane of the Lost and therefore when you die near one you will lose a part of your soul (i.e. you gain a death token).
Death on the Plane of the Lost
If a creature dies on the Plane of the Lost they are instantly lost forever (i.e. permanently die) and are judged by their deity or the Soul Mother instantly.
Bargaining with the Soul Mother
It is said that if a character is ever permanently dead that brave adventurers could travel to the Plane of the Lost and deal with the Soul Mother in order to get a small part of their soul returned (i.e. one death token). This would surely be a deadly and highly dangerous quest however and it is rarely attempted. Even souls that have traveled to their deities must be returned back through the Plane of the Lost so one must still deal with the Soul Mother.
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Question:
What happens when someone is raised? Are they ripped from the Soul Mother's Judgement and the Plane of the Lost? Does the Diety of the Cleric step forward and speak for the deceased soul therefore giving the deceased's soul back to Layonara? Can the soul mother interfere with a Raise / Ressurection?
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Good questions.
It takes at least three days to get judged or to pass through the doors. So if you are ress'd/raised/respawn within 3 days of time (in game) you are just ripped back from the planes, nothing more.
If after that time you are then ripped from your deity or the Soul Mother. The deity may or may not be okay with that, the soul mother will not be happy. But it is all a matter/fact of "life" and there is little that can be done (within "reason" ) according to deals made eons ago.
The Soul Mother can not intefere (nor can deities--with one exception--and no I will not say who that is) if it is within the three day time period. After that however the Soul Mother will take notice and you will likely be visted by the Harvester at some time in the future. The deities will also take notice if it is after three days but it is up to each deity on how they would react.
Remember, there is a three day (in game) period (about three hours RL time--slighly less) where the souls are aligning and lining up for the deity or Soul Mother to judge them. After that it is hit and miss as to what could and would happen.
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Bumping so it is not deleted.
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The above posts have been superseded by the below, effective immediately.
Death
Souls
Each living sentient creature has a soul and this soul occupies the body. When this creature dies, the soul leaves the body.
However, the soul is still connected to the body it belongs to by one or more Soul Strands. Because of this connection, the returning of the soul to its body by resurrection magic is possible.
The stronger the soul, the more Soul Strands it has. In general, all sentient races, like humans, elves, halflings, orcs, brokanian and so on, have ten.
At the moment of death, the soul runs the risk of a Soul Strand snapping. When the last Strand snaps, the soul is no longer connected to the body it belongs to. The creature can then no longer be brought back to life by magical means and is permanently dead.
The Harvester of Souls
When a creature dies, the soul leaves the body, and travels to the Binding Void. It is still connected to its body by one or more Soul Strands
In the Binding Void, the soul will be judged by a creature called the Harvester of Souls, also known as Harvester for short. This entity resides in the Binding Void. It is not a deity.
Some think the Harvester is really a god of death but others do not think he should be classified as such since he just passes souls on to their next destination.
It takes three days for the judgment by the Harvester to be made. If resurrection magic is used on the corpse within three days of a death and the soul is still attached to its body by one or more Soul Strands, the soul is pulled back and returned to the body.
If no resurrection or bindstone magic is used, what will happen then depends on the faith of the soul:
1. If the soul followed a deity, it is cast into the Heavens (which border the Binding Void) by the Harvester after the three day period. It will then move to the section of the Heavens that is the domain of the deity it followed and spend the rest of eternity there.
2. If the soul did not follow a deity, two things can happen when the three day period is up and judgment takes place:
[INDENT]a. In case a deity wants to claim the soul as one of its own, for example because the actions of the soul in life reflect what the deity stands for even though the soul did not follow the deity, the deity can mark it and the Harvester will cast the soul into the Heavens when he judges the soul when the three days are up, just like souls that did follow a deity.[/INDENT]
[INDENT]b. No deity claims the soul and it is cast into the Binding (which also borders the Binding Void) by the Harvester when the three day period is up. There the soul will then migrate through the elemental planes and the Pits of Endless Strife towards the Thread which will absorb the soul. [/INDENT]
During the three day waiting period, a bargain can be struck by somebody visiting the Harvester allowing for the reattachment of a single Soul Strand, making it possible for a soul to return to its body.
The way to the Binding Void and the Harvester is perilous though, not to mention the bargain which differs every time. Those who perish in the Harvester’s domain instantly have all their strands cut and are permanently dead
Note for NWN: next to this bargain with the Harvester, there is also the option as explained here LORE: Grievance Policies (http://lore.layonara.com/Grievance%20Policies#2) under "Special note regarding the loss of a character's final Soul Strand"
Souls and the Pits of Endless Strife
Souls that did not follow a deity, or were not picked by one when waiting to be judged by the Harvester, will migrate towards the Thread.
To reach the Thread however, they will need to go through the Pits of Endless Strife. The nefarious creatures of the Pits will always want to capture souls to gain more power. The more souls one has, the larger the Pit, the more powerful the creature dominating the Pit in question.
A master of a Pit always has competition from the others in that same pit so any soul passing through the Pits of Endless Strife is highly likely to be devoured.
Bindstones
Bindstones are a form of resurrection magic, a very crude form and not of the same type as resurrection magic coming from the deities.
Sentient creatures can forge a link with a bindstone, which will ensure that when a creature is killed it pulls both the body and the soul back towards it and joins them together once again.
This does not protect against the snapping of a Soul Strand.
This transporting and rejoining of body and soul comes at a cost. The creature that undergoes this comes back in a weakened state; some of its life force had to be paid to the bindstone for the returning.
After a period of rest, the creature will be back to full strength/health.
Any sentient creature can try to link to a bindstone, but, when attempting to create the link, the bindstone somehow evaluates if the creature is worthy/worthwhile to link with or not.
If the creature is not deemed worthy, the bindstone pulls the creature’s lifeforce from it and creatures have been known to die of this.
This is why not everybody dares run the risk of forging a link with a bindstone. The benefits are great, yet so are the risks.
Note: by default, all Player Characters have undergone the binding process.