Gaby
Lord of Altera
(Disclaimer: I wrote this first thing in the morning, and I'd just delete it, but I wrote too much and maybe there will be some value in this nonsense. I'm sorry for wasting everyone's time)
(EDIT:
FACT: player characters can be revived after they die, and the first death of a non-heretical character has a 100% chance of successful revival
FACT: in the lore of the server, revivals are stated to be highly rare, and the norm is that those who die will stay dead.
what follows will be an attempt of mine to explore possible in-character means to acknowledge the fact that revivals exist, but are also really rare, so that characters can respond to death and revival in ways that aren't like
*character dies*
Friends of character: *mourns extensively*
*character is revived*
Friends of character: oh cool... you're back
this might just be unnecessary musings, and perhaps this is a bit of a non-problem, but it feels like something that should be acknowledged.
----
A Miracle
to those characters who know little about either the Sisterhood, or the fact that people can return from the dead, an easy response would be to simply gape in surprise, jubilantly praise every god in the pantheon, and go to embrace your long-lost friend. after all, if someone came back to life in real life, it would be nothing short of an actual miracle. Altera is so non-magical, why shouldn't people respond to magic with similar wonder and amazement?
Example (a revival of Wulfe @Woolsey , reacted to by Serri):
A Blessing
to those who have been revived multiple times, or those who have witnessed friends and loved ones return from the dead multiple times, the sense of it being an unexplained miracle fades, as the character notes that it is not an isolated incident, perhaps seeks to understand why it happens. however, a character who still is not aware that these miracles are the doing of the sisterhood will instead attribute it to the will of some far-off being. thus, superstitions would arise, perhaps even a superstition that results in heretical worship. by contrast, the characters who are faithful one of the gods that preside over life or death (Shalherana, Vermella, the Grey Lady, Skraag) would attribute revivals directly to the will of that god.
such a character might try to affect the chance of a character's revival through rituals to appease the strange being that brings back loved ones from the dead.
Example: Molly Redhoof, a caparii who was revived twice, presumes that her continued life is a direct blessing from the goddess Shalherana, and now makes active attempts to preserve natural spaces and create shrines in the goddess' honor, because otherwise the blessing is wasted.
Example: Grimmthaum, a dwarf, had five of his comrades die in battle. when he sees those same comrades slowly return back to life, so close to the Grand Shrines, he presumes that there is a strange magic within the area, that drags the spirits of the dead to the land of the living. he then becomes very wary of disturbing the area near the "sacred neutral ground," muttering a small prayer to the dead every time he has to walk into the Crossroads.
----
False
I remember @Gregor stating that his character Lucius Artorius believed that the Sisterhood did not truly revive people, and merely created a copy, one with all the memories of the original. it's certainly a dark thought, though one perhaps more suited for the skeptical and pessimistic individual.
----
these are the only ones I can really think of right now. I would like to acknowledge the attitudes of a character who knows who the Sisterhood of Shalherana is, but I am not sure if I truly need to explain that sort of thing in detail. perhaps simply remind everyone that the arts of mysticism do seem miraculous to someone who doesn't know what it's truly about, and that the more you know about mysticism, the more you realize how unsure the arts truly are, and how fragile life really is.
also that the only mystic people actually see is a grumpy nakat who seems completely unwilling to make any sort of favors for anyone, and would much prefer to blast you off the face of the earth.
(EDIT:
note that my rant assumes that the character in question would have been aware of their own revival or someone else's revival through a third party explicitly telling them. characters can't remember their own death.)
FACT: player characters can be revived after they die, and the first death of a non-heretical character has a 100% chance of successful revival
FACT: in the lore of the server, revivals are stated to be highly rare, and the norm is that those who die will stay dead.
what follows will be an attempt of mine to explore possible in-character means to acknowledge the fact that revivals exist, but are also really rare, so that characters can respond to death and revival in ways that aren't like
*character dies*
Friends of character: *mourns extensively*
*character is revived*
Friends of character: oh cool... you're back
this might just be unnecessary musings, and perhaps this is a bit of a non-problem, but it feels like something that should be acknowledged.
----
A Miracle
to those characters who know little about either the Sisterhood, or the fact that people can return from the dead, an easy response would be to simply gape in surprise, jubilantly praise every god in the pantheon, and go to embrace your long-lost friend. after all, if someone came back to life in real life, it would be nothing short of an actual miracle. Altera is so non-magical, why shouldn't people respond to magic with similar wonder and amazement?
Example (a revival of Wulfe @Woolsey , reacted to by Serri):
----
A Blessing
to those who have been revived multiple times, or those who have witnessed friends and loved ones return from the dead multiple times, the sense of it being an unexplained miracle fades, as the character notes that it is not an isolated incident, perhaps seeks to understand why it happens. however, a character who still is not aware that these miracles are the doing of the sisterhood will instead attribute it to the will of some far-off being. thus, superstitions would arise, perhaps even a superstition that results in heretical worship. by contrast, the characters who are faithful one of the gods that preside over life or death (Shalherana, Vermella, the Grey Lady, Skraag) would attribute revivals directly to the will of that god.
such a character might try to affect the chance of a character's revival through rituals to appease the strange being that brings back loved ones from the dead.
Example: Molly Redhoof, a caparii who was revived twice, presumes that her continued life is a direct blessing from the goddess Shalherana, and now makes active attempts to preserve natural spaces and create shrines in the goddess' honor, because otherwise the blessing is wasted.
Example: Grimmthaum, a dwarf, had five of his comrades die in battle. when he sees those same comrades slowly return back to life, so close to the Grand Shrines, he presumes that there is a strange magic within the area, that drags the spirits of the dead to the land of the living. he then becomes very wary of disturbing the area near the "sacred neutral ground," muttering a small prayer to the dead every time he has to walk into the Crossroads.
----
False
I remember @Gregor stating that his character Lucius Artorius believed that the Sisterhood did not truly revive people, and merely created a copy, one with all the memories of the original. it's certainly a dark thought, though one perhaps more suited for the skeptical and pessimistic individual.
----
these are the only ones I can really think of right now. I would like to acknowledge the attitudes of a character who knows who the Sisterhood of Shalherana is, but I am not sure if I truly need to explain that sort of thing in detail. perhaps simply remind everyone that the arts of mysticism do seem miraculous to someone who doesn't know what it's truly about, and that the more you know about mysticism, the more you realize how unsure the arts truly are, and how fragile life really is.
also that the only mystic people actually see is a grumpy nakat who seems completely unwilling to make any sort of favors for anyone, and would much prefer to blast you off the face of the earth.
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