Death
When a character's vitality or spirit drops to 0, or a vital body part is removed, the character will die. There are some other circumstances in which death can occur, such as being struck down by an Immortal.
Dealing with death
Death in DragonRealms is not permanent, but can be a hassle. If you have set a STORE container for items in your hands, your items will automatically be STOWed. The TOGGLE command gives you the option to add the room name location (you died in) to the global death message that is sent to every other character in-game.
Your options will vary depending on how you died (through vitality loss or spirit death).
DEPARTing
At any time during or after death, the player can DEPART at which point his mortal shell will dissolve, leaving behind a grave, and his soul will take a trip on the starry road. Depending on the number of favors at the time of death you can depart with your items, with your coins, with both, or with nothing. See DEPART for details.
NOTE: Adventurers of first circle are given 5 favor-free deaths in which their items will remain on their person after departing. This benefit goes away after the fifth such death, or if you rise to 2nd circle, so don't forget to stock up on favors!
Auto-depart
Once dead, the character has a certain amount of time during which his soul will remain attached to his body. The amount of time remaining for a corpse to remain bound to the world of the living is based on spirit, which can be improved by increasing the charisma stat.
Departing at sea (aboard a ship)
Departing during an ocean journey will transport your body to a room called [The Sea Floor]. You will be too weak to swim for quite some time; however, after restoring a certain level of health and spirit, the light will beckon you to surface, and you will be returned to the ship that you departed from.
Resurrection
Alternatively, if the corpse has at least one favor, it can be healed by an Empath to the point that it can sustain life and the soul can be found in the spirit realm by a Cleric and returned to the body through Soul Bonding and Resurrection. A cleric can also protect the memories of the character using Rejuvenation, thereby preventing or reversing the skill loss that accompanies the decay of the corpse.
If you have no favor then there will be nothing to guide a cleric to your soul, making it impossible to resurrect the corpse.
Resurrection has a number of benefits, in that you will retain some of your field experience and have a chance to retain any temporarily memorized spell scrolls (based on the number of favors you have). Additionally, you will suffer no effects from Death's Sting.
Spirit death
If you died from spirit loss, your spirit will be too weak to find by a cleric. Your only option is to DEPART, but you can still seek the protection of your memories by a cleric.
Favors
Obtaining favors is gaining the Immortal's attention through sacrifice of your experience in order to protect against the penalties of death. It's advantageous to have as many favors as you can obtain. Fifteen favors is the recommended bare minimum. Carrying fewer favors makes resurrection much more difficult for any Cleric helping you.
Prydaen Favors
See Prydaen Favors for more information on gaining favors from the Prydaen Three, (Eu-Demrris-Tenemlor).
Rakash Favors
See Celoturs uz Siksraja, Rakash Traditions and Dawvs and Awksa Dzilvawta Ala for more information on gaining favors from the Rakash Immortals, Mrod, Enelne and Coshivi.
Death without Favors
Dying without any favors, assuming you have none of the 1st level bonus favors, results in three things.
- You cannot be Resurrected.
- Death's Sting, the after death penalties, are the maximum possible for the maximum amount of time.
- Upon arriving at the local altar, rather than a complete healing, only enough to sustain life occurs.
Penalties from death
Death's Sting
Death's Sting is the fanciful name given to the stat penalties that occur after DEPARTing. The severity and duration of the penalties depend on the ratio of pre-depart favors to circles. The best possible ratio is 1 favor per 10 circles. The Sting will pass eventually in time, or the Cleric spell Uncurse will shorten the duration of the condition, but not the severity.
Permanent Death and the Afterlife
Permanent death is no longer possible in DragonRealms as of 2009. Previously, having a character die without favors ran the risk of permanent loss. Dying in this way was referred to as "walking the starry road." Unlike other player character races, the Prydaen believe that upon death their soul is returned to the Wheel of Life to be born again.
From an Out Of Character (OOC) perspective, permanent death will never occur, whether due to lack of favors or old age. From an In Character (IC) perspective; our characters understand that they may die at any time, when the Immortals deem their time on Elanthia is over.
The general populace of Elanthia, including most Nobility and some Royalty are unable to gain Favors and live their singular life and die once, permanently (one of the reasons why wars and disasters and diseases are actually a big deal lore-wise).
Once someone dies, their eventual fate varies.