Eorzean lore and facts

[Naunet]

Oh my god, this thread.

 

I want to have its babies.

[Brave]

So this is another great resource thread ><

 

I've been trying to absorb as much info as possible but most of it is just me trying to find answers to my own questions.

 

I guess something that I have yet to find (or maybe it's discussed in a quest that I've yet to experience since I'm a pretty low level) is anything regarding an afterlife or the concept of a soul.  There is a lot of info on this forum hidden behind spoiler walls that I might just have to examine but my quick glance didn't find anything.  I know the Nymeia governs fate and Nald'thal governs life and death but I've found little concerning the underworld and anything dealing with it.

 

(heck what happens when a WHM raises someone, or when we fall in battle and show up in town >< *although the latter I'm sure is more just a game mechanic, I'm curious if there has been any explanation regarding this stuff)

[Mtoto Wamoto]

I guess something that I have yet to find (or maybe it's discussed in a quest that I've yet to experience since I'm a pretty low level) is anything regarding an afterlife or the concept of a soul.  There is a lot of info on this forum hidden behind spoiler walls that I might just have to examine but my quick glance didn't find anything.  I know the Nymeia governs fate and Nald'thal governs life and death but I've found little concerning the underworld and anything dealing with it.

 

(heck what happens when a WHM raises someone, or when we fall in battle and show up in town >< *although the latter I'm sure is more just a game mechanic, I'm curious if there has been any explanation regarding this stuff)

 

There are two stances you can view this from. There is the religious side of it and then there is the "scientific" side of it. 

 

From a religious standpoint, when a person dies, they are sent to the realm of Thal. According to the thaumaturges guild, a person's standing in life is what determines their standing in the afterlife. A person can also be sent to one of the seven hells, but this depends on their actions in life. Someone who kills without remorse, be it man or beast, can be sent to one of the hells and there have been instances that the lord of that hell may send back the person as a voidsent creature as punishment. The only name we know of the Seven Hells is the Black Warden, lord of the seventh hell.

 

From the standpoint of "science", when a person dies, their body breaks down into the most basic form of matter - aether. This is returned to the planet's lifestream. Their soul is separated in the process and it's likely that the soul is what's sent to the realm of Thal or the one of the Seven Hells. Since the body is broken down and returned to the planet, it is essentially recycled and used to create other things made of aether. There are instances where the some of the aether from a body which has broken down may linger in our realm. In these cases, the aether can solidify with other aether and form aetheryte crystals or a strong aetherial presence. 

 

When we fall in battle and don't die, we are returned to whatever aetheryte crystal we're most attuned with. This is your home point crystal. It's not explained whether or not this is a conscious choice or if the lifestream simply pulls you back to your home point in times of serious injuries, but it can be speculated that it isn't truly an automatic process - otherwise we'd have far less dead NPCs in the world. 

 

As for raise, the game mechanics explain you are raising someone from incapacitation, not specifically from death itself. This is just my thought, but I'm of the opinion that raise is used on someone who's soul and body have yet to separate from one another upon "death" and their body has not broken down into aether and returned to the lifestream. Necromancy exists in the world, which leads me to believe that the zombies we see are devoid of their souls and are merely the bodies of their former hosts, acting more or less as shells for the dark magic that brought them back. Again, just my thought on the matter. Since we don't have any solid info concerning raise yet, I'm sure you'll find out more come ARR next week.

[Brave]

This has been super informative!  Thanks so much!

 

So even the "science" aspect of it has a bit of "mysticism" to it.  I'm a big fan of Lifestream nonsense so this seems like a big plus.

 

:thumbsup: