We understand the mists to be central to the guild wars universe in that everything begins and ends within the mists. They connect all realities and are part of everything. Within the mists we know there to be several named places: The hall of heroes, The Fissure of Woe and the main base of my arguement The Underworld and its subsequent areas such as the Realm of Torment.
In guild wars we understand that when a character dies they may be ressurected with magic restoring them to health. The game mechanics incur a death penalty with is basicly Anets way of saying "you cant have a get out of jail free card". If we take death penalty into a "factual" aspect (as factual as you can get with magic and monsters) I would understand death penalty to be the draining of the creatures life force causing them to be less vital each resurrection subsequently eventually actually "killing" them, in that they cant be ressurected again.
When the creatures life force is gone their spirit is carried to the underworld by the Envoys. This is where it gets iffy. We know that spirits dont always go with the envoys and can stay in tyria in many forms undead and spirits for example. Turai Ossa died but stayed in the crystal desert along with a good load of other elonian spirits still trying to ascend even after they died (cheating?) The undead from Orr are unable to accept their demise and still haunt the peninsula where their home once stood.
But what actually constitutes as death in guild wars? I mean if we are brought to the underworld when we die why is it that we(the players) can enter in corporial form as we wish? The realm of torment also, we understand it to be a horrible section of the underworld where all those tainted by abbadon go after they die. We go there when we're living breathing people.... we meet shiro and the lich there who are certainly still in corporial form after clearly dying and are well able to hurt us! After we "kill" them in the realm of torment where do they go then? another further division of the underworld? Or do their sould join with the mists again.
The only creature I believe i have actually seen "destroyed" in Guild Wars was Abbadon and he was "kormired" in that his essence was absorbed into another being after his physical form was destroyed.
What do we constitute as death in guild wars?|||First of all, what is your definition of "death"? Cultural, scientific, and religious views and definitions of death vary to an extreme degree, and we have no clue what happens to us after we die beyond the fact that our body stops working. So how are we defining death in the context of this discussion?|||Ok well for the sake of arguement we understand that everything begins and ends with the mists so for something to be technically "dead" in guild wars it's essence must be reabsorbed into the mists.|||The way I see it Abaddon didn't die he was reborn and cleansed from his previous corrupted form.|||But if that's the case what happened to kormir? is she still in there? and if her spirit got tangled up with abbadon's why isnt she like a crazy corrupted kormir?|||===SPOILER ALERT===
Well, to answer this, i'll have a look at a few cases.
1) In-game Deaths.
In most cases, when we are killed, we can be resurrected by use of magic; shrines, spells, rituals. Many advanced races are able to resurrect. Two in-game cases of resurrection not being pulled off are as follows, with possible explanations:
Saidra is killed in the ice caves of Sorrow, by a group of Mursaat. There was a bloodstone nearby and no possible way to get to the corpse with the large groups; resurrection is impossible.
Prince Rurik dies near the Frost Gate, half-buried in snow and decapitated by Dagnar Stonepate. The caravan is forced to move on quickly to avoid Stone Summit backlash, and the area is heavily controlled- resurrection is impossible until Vizier Khilbron raises the prince as Undead.
Brechnar Ironhammer is also slain by a large group of Mursaat, serving as a distraction. The area is heavily controlled by Mursaat, and players must rush on quickly; resurrection is also impossible. Brechnar is cremated.
2) Deaths on a Bloodstone
The Bloodstones, in lore, make resurrection impossible; "no force in this world or any other will bring [the subject] back". Note: Perhaps due to game mechanics, or perhaps due to the curse of the bloodstone not reaching optimal strength for a while after a death, the Bloodstones simply hinder resurrection IN-GAME. The Chosen slaughtered atop the Maguuma Bloodstone have their spirits used to power the soul batteries. So either the spirits are not taken away to their rightful place if the subject was killed on a bloodstone, or they can't be reached inside of the Mursaat's Statues.
3) Orrian Undead
The Orrian Undead were destroyed by the Cataclysm, and we still do not know the precise nature of this explosion, but it's generally assumed that the Orrian Undead are kept alive due to being bound to the will of the staff-bearer holding the scepter of Orr.
4) Spirits bound to the World
Spirits are encountered at the graveyard just north of Rin, and in the Catacombs, as well as other places. Explanations here seem rather simple: the graveyard Spirits were bound to the world due to the cursed tome of the fallen, and the spirits in the catacombs... well... there's all sorts of wierd stuff going on down there. You know. "well, they're dead... they're... all messed up".
5) Spirits in the Underworld.
The spirits in the underworld have not reached their proper destination quite simply due to the Terrorweb invasion.
Next, i'll have a look at the Lore of death.
When you die, you are assigned an Envoy to take you away. The envoys are those that have committed atrocities in life, punished by "community service" if you will. You are taken to the Hall of Judgement, the underworld palace guarded heavily by the ice elementals. There you are judged. If you have been a great hero in life, your reward is eternity in the hall of heroes. If you are a dwarf, you are headed to the Great Forge. If you are a Tengu, you get sent to the Sky above the Sky. Those that do not know they have died or refuse to know it are sent to the Forgotten Vale. If your soul is "without valor or redemption", you inevitably end up at the Chaos Planes.
Next, have a look at special cases.
If you catch the affliction, the disease taints not only your body, but your mind and your soul. please keep in mind: the afflicted ARE NOT ZOMBIES! they are still alive!
If Shiro gets hold of your soul, he may carry out the vile ritual to stuff it into a Shiro'ken Construct. He's able to do this due to his power over the dead; he may not be community-service bound, but he has the powers of an envoy. He often uses this against his greatest enemies- my god, he was not a popular man :D
Those in the realm of torment have been diverted away from their rightful destination, due to the damming of the river of souls: while it usually flows souls to their proper place, Dhuum's forces diverted the flow in the nightfall campain.
I think that pretty much covers the whole topic. have i missed anything out?|||Maybe Abaddon was demoted to just a plain demon lol|||Quote:
But if that's the case what happened to kormir? is she still in there? and if her spirit got tangled up with abbadon's why isnt she like a crazy corrupted kormir?
Because Abaddons will and identity was shattered and now Kormir is the new goddess of knowledge. She knows everything Abaddon knew so therefor Abaddon is probably a part of her.|||Well summed up apteleon :)
Nicely said.|||Forgive me if I just haven't read clearly enough, but I still don't quite understand the distinction that makes one really dead. With so many monks around, why doesn't everyone get resurrected all the time? How did the Searing kill so many people? From in-game talk, I know Devona's father is dead; why couldn't a monk bring him back?
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