Lore

Life, Death and Resurrection - by T.A. Saunders ©2011 v1.5

The Destruction of the Soul: Eternal Death

Under certain circumstances the soul of a mortal creature can be destroyed utterly, making it impossible to resurrected that person. Unless restored by a major act of divine intervention (99-100% on a percent roll) at the moment the soul would be destroyed, there is absolutely no means whatsoever to retrieve that soul. No creature who follows an ethos of Order can willfully participate in such an act, without suffering some form of divine consequence. Even a creature thought to be evil cannot be justifiably destroyed, as the ethos of Order promotes that all creatures deserve life, or eternal damnation as they see fit.

Those who subscribe to the ethos of Chaos or Neutrality may well have a hand in such deeds and incur no wrath from the Heavens. The power to do such a thing resides within certain types of undead, Infernal fiends and certain necromantic magic and sentient weapons. Regardless of method, the soul is dissipated and its primordial energies are transferred to the destroyer. In no way, shape or form can a soul, once dissipated in this way, be returned. In more advanced Shadowmancy, the act of destroying a soul can also convey some of the knowledge and memories of the person thus destroyed, to the Shadowmancer. The destruction of a soul is only as potent as the one attempting it. If the caster is stronger than the victim, the chance is greater; if the opposite is true, then the chance is much less that it will succeed (base 50% chance, going upwards or downwards based on the strength of the characters/NPCs involved).

In the case of Seers rather than having the ability to destroy a soul, it is possible for them to torment a soul, by binding it to an object or in the worst case, a dead body of something. This is not an attempt at resurrection, but an an attempt to imprison the soul. This too is considered an act of Chaos and will be treated with the same punishments should one who follows the Gods of Order attempt to do. Those who are imprisoned in this way can be resurrected if they are freed from the soul binding by an individual more powerful than the one who bound it. Simply destroying the thing the soul is bound is not enough; doing so actually makes the process more difficult, as the object in question must be whole and intact before a soul can be unbound from it. As with soul destruction, soul imprisonment is only as potent as the one casting it (same rules apply).

Conversely, souls can also be protected from destruction and imprisonment. Protection merely wards an individual from soul destruction or soul imprisonment (but never both). This protection can be conveyed only by Seers and Priests who follow the Ethos of Order or Neutrality. Those who follow the Ethos of Chaos can be punished by their gods if they choose to protect a soul from destruction or imprisonment. As in the cases of destruction and imprisonment, the protection is only as good as the one who places it (hence governed by the 50% rule).