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#Post#: 1023--------------------------------------------------
Death and the Dead: A Brief Guide (Headcanon)
DIR By: Clair
Date: November 17, 2015, 7:06 pm
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What happens to one's self when one dies? First, a summary of
terms for the uninitiated.
Glossary (Non-alphabetized)
--Body
A Body is a physical form inhabited by a Spirit. It is the
vessel by which a Being physically interacts with the world. A
Body is near-ubiquitously biological in nature and there exist
schools of thought that any structure not biological is not
truly a Body.
--Spirit
A Spirit/psyche, commonly mistakenly called a soul, can be
called truly the essence of a Being, the controlling force or
the Being itself. A Body without a Spirit is inert, though not
necessarily dead, and a Spirit not inhabiting a Body is largely
impotent, unable to properly act on the world.
--Soul
A Soul is the term ascribed to the proper union between a Spirit
and its Body. When separate, the Body and Spirit are powerless.
When together, the whole is greater than the sum of their
parts.
--Death
The breaking of a Soul by splitting the Spirit from the Body.
----Natural Death
The occurrence of a Soul splitting when the Spirit becomes too
weak to inhabit the body or the Body becomes unable to host a
Spirit. For purposes of this explanation, this includes even
unnatural causes, as the result is largely the same. Going
through Natural Death is very taxing on the Body or Spirit when
the other fails to maintain the Soul.
----Artificial Death
The occurrence of a Soul splitting when the Spirit becomes
separated from the Body when both are still viable.
--Coma
The state a Body is left in when it is still viable when the
Spirit leaves it. Without a spirit, the Body will usually
become unviable shortly.
--Revenance
The state a Spirit is left in when it is still viable when
separated from its Body.
--Ascension
The term used to describe when a Spirit leaves the world. It's
commonly believed that good, virtuous Spirits have a paradise
awaiting them in Heaven while the evil, malicious ones have an
eternity of torment awaiting them in Hell. The truth of it is
completely unknown, though, as no Spirit has ever returned from
Ascension.
--Possession
A Possession is what happens when a spirit inhabits a body it is
not native to. This can happen for a myriad of reasons, the
most common form being post-mortem.
--Corpomancy
Used by Necromancers and Vitamancers alike, Corpomancy is magic
pertaining to the Body. It consists of magic that affects or
detects the physical forms of Beings without affecting the
Spirit.
--Phasmancy
Mainly the realm of Shamans and Mediums, Phasmancy is magic of
the Spirit. Very few are able to use it and fewer still are
able to understand it.
--Animancy
Likely the rarest and least understood form of Magic, Animancy
is the intersectional magic of the Body, Spirit, and Soul. An
Animancer is able to affect Bodies' bonds with Spirits and vice
versa. Most master-level Unicorns are able to attain only a
minimal grasp of Animancy over the course of their lives and
there is no record of any true masters of the craft. In theory,
a master Animancer would be able to attain immortality and
facilitate true Resurrection, circumventing death altogether.
So, now that we have some common terms, we can begin the lesson.
In natural reproduction, at some point between conception and
birth a Spirit is joined with a Body to form a new Soul. This
Soul is what is recognized as being the Being which inhabits the
body. However, as we all know, nobody lives forever.
Eventually, the Body breaks down until it is no longer habitable
by the Spirit. Oftentimes, the Spirit also weakens during its
tenure in the body. At any point that either becomes too weak
to maintain the union, Natural Death occurs. It's common
knowledge what happens to the Body at this point. Less-commonly
known is what becomes of the Spirit.
Death and the Fate of the Spirit
The biggest contributing factor to the immediate fate of the
Spirit is the relative strength of it when it separates from the
body. If Natural Death occurs when the Spirit becomes too weak,
most of the time it will immediately Ascend, moving on to
whatever lies after this world. Oftentimes the Spirit will also
Ascend if the Body is the failing member of the Soul, as Natural
Death is very taxing on the Spirit.
However, it's not entirely uncommon for a Natural Death to occur
when the Spirit is more than strong enough to maintain itself
even through the traumatic experience of separating from its
Body. When this happens, the Spirit enters a state of
Revenance, where it will remain in the world on something of a
separate plane of existence from what most know. While in this
state, the Spirit is fully able to observe the world but, with a
few exceptions, unable to act upon it. Most Revenants use this
time to reflect on their lives and attempt to prepare for
Ascension.
When separated from their bodies through Natural Death, Spirits
decay until they are no longer capable of staying in the world.
In most cases, this decay is much faster after Death than
before, with roughly 20 years of decay per year they spend as
Revenants. When their strength is run out, they leave the world
and move on to whatever is next.
Circumstances of Revenance
As stated, Revenance is the state that falls on a Spirit when
the Soul is broken but it remains viable itself. However, what
happens to a Spirit during its stage of Revenance is quite
variable. Physical barriers mean very little to a Revenant, but
not all can travel at will.
Sometimes the bond of a Spirit isn't completely broken from its
Body. In cases like this, the Revenant is unable to stray too
far from its Body. It's because of this possibility that
graveyards are the most common gathering places for Spirits who
have not yet Ascended.
At other times, a particularly strong emotional bond may exist
between a Spirit and a loved one, perhaps a significant other or
family member. In such cases, the Revenant may be bound to the
other, forced to stay close to them throughout its Revenance.
On the other end of the spectrum, a bond of malice or hate
toward another can stop a Revenant from approaching too close to
a certain Being, place, or object.
At other times, Spirits have been known to, after Death, inhabit
objects. Sometimes completely random, but more commonly an
object of significance to the Being or, in the cases of violent
deaths, occasionally the object used to end their union with
their Body.
In extremely rare cases, Spirits have entered another Body after
Death. Results of this union are a form of Possession, though
the extent of each Possession varies.
If not one of these kinds of Revenance, a Spirit is able to roam
the world at will until they Ascend.
The most accomplished Animancers are able to start their cycle
anew through reincarnation, though most of them are unable to
retain their memories from previous lives.
Revenance and Actions After Death
Most Revenants are completely powerless to affect the world
around them, but there are circumstances where a Revenant can
have profound effects.
All Revenants have slight ability to influence feelings and
emotions of those around them. This is most evident for
Revenants near their anchor points if they have one. It's only
enough to shift mood, though, never enough to change emotion
completely.
If a Revenant is restrained to a certain area, around their body
or loved one, they have limited ability to affect events and
objects. The closer they are to their anchor point, the greater
influence they have, though it's still usually severely limited.
The most ability they have in most cases is to flap cloth, lift
extremely light objects, or shift very light objects.
If a Revenant inhabits an object, they have a limited form of
communication with any Being in direct physical or magical
contact with their habitation. In some cases they can use
actual words, other times they can only communicate with raw
emotion. Some Revenants that inhabit objects also have greater
power to move the object they inhabit, able to alter the
course/momentum of a weapon or tool for example.
In the case of Possession, the amount of power the Revenant
holds is highly variable. Some have only the power to observe
through their host Body's senses. Others are able to
communicate with their host or influence the functioning of
their Body. The most powerful are even occasionally known to
take partial or complete control of the body.
In all cases of Revenance, there are circumstances that can
enhance their power and ability to act. The more Revenants in a
location, the greater each one's power becomes. There is some
magic that can empower them as well. However, the best known
(though still not very known) contributing factor in Revenants'
power levels is time. Nightmare Night's date isn't entirely
coincidental, as it was placed on an annual date of importance.
On Nightmare Night, all Revenants experience an increase in
their ability to influence the world for unknown reasons. There
are other times that affect their power, but Nightmare Night is
the most important.
Interactions with Spirits
Most of the Living go about their business with no idea of the
Spirits in the world around them. There is, however, magic that
can be used to see and communicate with them. This is the realm
of Mediums and Shamans through the use of Phasmancy. Medium is
used to refer to any Being who can communicate with Revenants,
and most are unable to do any more than that. Shamans, though,
are able to empower and direct Revenants to do their bidding,
oftentimes fueling their magic with the power of the Revenants
themselves.
Any variety of Revenants' bonds are able to be molded or muted
by trained Phasmancers. They can capture Spirits, put them into
objects or other Bodies, feed off of their energy, exorcise them
from possessed Bodies or cause one to possess a Body, or any
number of other things. They can ward against them, empower
them, or some of them can even force Ascension. However, most
forms of Phasmancy are considered one of the blackest kinds of
magic and frowned upon greatly.
Any Phasmancy that would put a Spirit into another body or
remove one also requires there to be a Corpomancer present as
well, though not always. Most Corpomancers who would do this
are Necromancers, another quite reviled branch of magic. For
this reason, Phasmancy is one of the most secretive and
regulated schools of magic.
Animancers, however, are able to combine Corpomancy and
Phasmancy to produce different power entirely. Though there are
no records of any truly skilled practitioners of Animancy,
theoretically a master Animancer would be able to manipulate
life and death to a great degree, to the point where, if they
chose, they could exist outside the cycle entirely, becoming
immortal, or even enact True Resurrection, reforming Souls from
their component parts of Body and Spirit. It's likely for the
best that nobody has ever become truly skilled in it.
#Post#: 1024--------------------------------------------------
Re: Death and the Dead: A Brief Guide (Headcanon)
DIR By: Clair
Date: November 17, 2015, 7:07 pm
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*Placeholder post in case of additions*
#Post#: 1025--------------------------------------------------
Re: Death and the Dead: A Brief Guide (Headcanon)
DIR By: Clair
Date: November 17, 2015, 7:09 pm
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*Placeholder post in case of additions*
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