Dying, Death and Resurrection

Faith & Dieties

In Wyvern Rising, life can be difficult and short. Death is quick, brutal and all too permanent. Death is an inescapable fact in any society. It is, however, a more common occurrence when weapons abound and enemies outnumber friends. Far outnumber, that is. Though everyone dies, most are given a second or sometimes even a third chance at life. We can thank the goodly priests and their diligent studies in the healing of the body and soul for this opportunity.

Dying

When a character reaches zero (0) body points due to receiving damage or other circumstances, such as some special skills, the character must immediately fall to the ground and begin his/her Death Count. The Death Count is the time it takes for a seriously wounded person to bleed to death. The Death Count is six minutes long, divided into three two-minute phases. The Death Count begins immediately upon receiving a blow that causes the character to fall to zero or less body. Each player is responsible for administering his/her own Death Count. We recommend counting to 120 seconds three times in succession to represent the three phases of the count. The actual counting should be done silently or very quietly so that no one else can hear you. After all, dead men don't talk.

During the first two minutes of the Death Count the character is seriously wounded and bleeding. The character may or may not be semi-conscious (at player's discretion). You may do and say nothing except moan or gasp in pain, or choke and gurgle as the lungs fill with blood. You may not move, aside from momentary painful seizures. You have the option to fall unconscious at any point during this phase. Some skills do cause immediate unconsciousness, whereupon this option does not apply. If you are unconscious you must lie silent and still. If you opt to remain conscious and bawl in pain, you must still remember to maintain an accurate Death Count. At this point, any healing abilities, including First Aid, will save the victim. Review the definition for each skill or ability to determine how it is applied.

The second phase of the Death Count begins by the character immediately falling unconscious if he/she has not already. During the next two minutes you are near death and must lie limp, motionless, and silent. First Aid is no longer sufficient to save the victim. A physician must resort to Field Surgery. A trained priest or cleric may still invoke the benevolence of a deity for assistance.

For the third phase, you must continue to lie motionless. The body has failed, but the soul still clings to the last, fading vestiges of life. At his point there is little to be done. Only a few, very lucky, individuals will be Resuscitated by a physician or attended to by a particularly pious clergyman with the appropriate abilities to re-invest the body with the spirit and mend the physical damage enough to maintain life.

The healing abilities and skills listed below are effective for the various phases of the Death Count:

Death

However, even if death does occur, all is not necessarily lost. The Deities do not usually immediately summon up the soul. The spirit often walks the earth for several days before finally becoming so detached from the mortal world that it fades, and is gone forever. During this time, a properly skilled priest might beckon for the soul to return to its body. In fact, these priests often emit such an aura to the wandering spirits that they are unerringly drawn to him/her.

If you should die, put on a bright orange headband. This indicates that your character is dead and you have become a spirit. While dead you may not interact with the physical world in any way, and most other characters are not permitted to communicate with you. You may not touch or move things, nor may you speak to anyone except a priest who is able to resurrect. Everyone else must ignore you as well. Drop all your possessions where you died, to represent your body, and look for a priest with the skill to resurrect. You will eventually get to know who these players are. If you're not sure, you might first visit the abbey or other holy places. Otherwise, go to Logistics for help. Your character will have no recollection of anything that occurs during this time. You may not utilize any information witnessed during your time in the spirit realm.

Upon locating a priest, you may whisper to him/her and make your desire to be resurrected known. The priest will role-play the viewing of a 'ghostly specter' that only he/she can see. This is your spirit communicating from the netherworld. The priest will then take appropriate action to begin the rite of resurrection. In most cases it will be necessary to have your body or mortal remains present to properly perform the ceremony. You may not divulge any information to the priest except your desire to return to the physical world. You may not give the location of your body, the cause of death, or any other information you may have. At this point, you must rely on the priest or your friends to figure out your last whereabouts. If you are present when your body is located, you may remove your headband and again play dead while you are carried or dragged away.

Resurrection

Only properly trained clergy may perform a resurrection ceremony. It will usually occur in a monastery, temple, or other sacred location with a consecrated altar. The priest will have you lie down on or near the altar. Remember, during this entire function, you are still dead and may not move or speak. The priest will perform the appropriate ceremony, and at a given time you will need to roll two special dice. These dice will be supplied by logistics and will vary depending upon how may times you have been previously resurrected. If your roll is successful, the ritual will continue and you will role-play the traumatic event of re-entering the physical world.

If your resurrection is successful, you will be alive, but not necessarily at full health. Depending upon the type of ceremony performed, you may need additional healing. The priest performing the rite will advise you of your condition. You will have only those possessions that where returned with your body. This is a good reason to have friends you can trust. You will not remember anything of your time in the spirit realm. Your memory stops at the moment you fell unconscious and begins again when your soul re-enters your body. Death and resurrection are extremely traumatic experiences and should be role-played as such.

As was alluded to previously, resurrection is not a guaranteed event. For each attempt, a player will be given a set of two dice to roll. There is a chance of failure on each attempt, and the percentage chance of failure increases greatly with each successive attempt. In general, most players will experience 4-6 successful resurrections. Some may be lucky enough to have more; some will have less. And some may fail at the very first attempt. Failure to resurrect is permanent. There are no second chances at a failed roll. If your character fails a resurrection attempt, he/she is dead forever. The Deities have claimed the soul of the fallen and will not allow it to return to the physical world. When this happens, you may no longer play that character. This can be frustrating if your character dies early on. It can also be devastating if you have played and developed that character for a period of months or years. Do not succumb to anger. If you've role-played your character well, people will talk about him/her and express genuine sympathy. It's also fun to listen to the "remember when…" stories that are sure to be told.

When your character suffers permanent death, you now have the opportunity to begin a brand new persona and make history all over again. Players whose characters take a permanent death on the first attempt at resurrection may recover 50% of the deceased character's Build to start a new PC, not to exceed the Build of the deceased character. Characters taking permanent death on the second attempt may recover 25% Build. All other permanent character deaths will recover 10%. The only restriction for a new character is that he/she may have no relationship or knowledge of your previous character. You may not transfer your possessions to a new character, nor may your friends hold them in safe keeping for you. They may, however, keep them for themselves. Your new character is a new person and has none of the knowledge that your previous character had. If you are not ready to begin a new character immediately, you can always visit Logistics and offer your services as an NPC for the rest of the event.