The Definitive Ghost Instruction Booklet
(The Provinces: 350 Dolefaren 355)
Favors just became more important than ever. What is the status on yours?
There’s a lot of confusion going around, and the spirits of the dead aren’t the only ones confused! I hope this will help as people struggle to know what to do when dead, and how to help the dead. I also hope that armed with more information, we can thwart the graverobbers, who seemed to take advantage of the situation the past few days.
With thanks to many quarters, here is what seems to be known about the condition of death during this awkward time. If someone has more information, or more accurate information, please let us know here through this forum.
My best guess right now is that there are several ways to deal with a death, and that is the souce of some of the confusion and conflicting accounts.
Ressurections
The clerics of the land were without a way to raise the dead. Late in the day yesterday, rumors were afoot that clerics could ressurect on holy/consecrated ground. I cannot confirm that, but since holy ground is difficult to find, and pretty costly to the clerics to make, I would not be counting on obtaining a ressurection very often.
The Body
The corpse of the deceased will fall where the person died, and drop whatever they are holding as usual. The glyphing ward that bonds weapons to people’s hands seems to work fine, and quick paladins will know they can foil graverobbers during emergencies with it.
But dragging the corpse to help has become difficult. As near as we can tell, as soon as you drag the corpse into an area or room without much (or without any) holy power, the corpse cannot be moved any longer. Although this writer has seen corpses stuck in areas that had plenty of power, so there could be more at work.
Before you drag a corpse, if you even can, find a cleric and ask them WHERE to drag the person. You could drag them to a place where not even a single rejuve spell can be cast to protect their memories and be stuck there!
Clerics have been protecting memories, even if they were unable to raise the dead, and once the cleric in attendance gives you the nod, you will have to depart.
Just do not depart without a paladin’s glyph of warding. The glyphs of paladins have become critical in helping to protect people’s things.
Get all your communicating and instructions before you depart, because once you have left your body, you cannot hear, nor can people hear you. Except every once in a while a cleric and a spirit seem to be able to hear and/or see something.
The Spirit
Once you depart, you are a spirit without a body, and with a frail connection to the world. You have only as long as your glyph will last to find your things, so one of the last things you should do before you depart might be to ask how long the glyph will last, as well as make sure you know what to do.
Now is where the reports get really hazy. From what I can make out, your ghost may or may not move back to the temple. Some have reported they must make their way to the temple altar on their own, others have reported they appeared there after departing.
It appears right now that your spirit remains at your grave. You have two choices now, to move to a consecrated altar and touch it, or, if there is a cleric there, to try to touch the cleric and establish some link on the spot. The cleric must be ritually pure to attend to the needs of spirits.
The Reunification of Body and Spirit
If you decide to stay where your grave is, reach out to touch the cleric. You will be able to feel when you have. The cleric should then reach out to touch you, too. This is when the cleric will wave incense at you, but you may not see it, and cast a soul bond spell at you, too. Again, you may not be able to see what the cleric is doing in the physical world from your spirit form. When these things are accomplished, you will slowly begin to feel the tug back to your body. If you wander off, you probably will break all the links and must start over.
It has been reported that clerics who tried soul bonding those spirits without those steps [at the gravesite, after each linked to the other, and incense was waved] felt unworthy and unclean. Many days of rituals await those clerics to remedy that.
If no cleric was there, then you must travel to the holy altar (the temples, for sure, but there are other consecrated altars that might work, too.) Once there, touch the altar until you feel more substantial. Some people said that one touch was all that was required, some say you must touch it twice.
If all went well, you will be transported to your gravesite, where you must wait for the reunification of the Body and the Spirit. I do not reccomend wandering. A cleric on the spot now might be able to help, or it might not be needed at all.
Either way, there will be a tugging, some light, and VOILA! suddenly it happens!
Once you slowly rise back to your first breath again, you still must touch your glyph. Remember glyphs only APPEAR to be named, if there are more than one of them, count them to find yours, and touch the ward.
Those Without A Glyph
If you died without a paladin’s glyph of warding, your items are in your grave, and you are going to have to dig them up. And do it quickly. Once the grave is opened, anyone can take your things.