Dying

Dying in Hollow is a topic of much contention, including the issue of returning after your "death." This page will give some guidance on the methods of death and restoration of life. There are several general rules upon which most players can agree. In the balance between Fantasy and Realism, it is still widely accepted that even in a magical fantasy realm, death is a certainty; the most well aging races still die in due time (barring Undead, which are always assumed to be destroyed in some way eventually ).

Ways to die

There are four ways one's Character can die in Hollow; they are as follows:

Planned RP Death

You decide to RP a death because either you think it will be a valuable part of an RP, or you don't think you'll be using that Character anymore.

If you choose to kill off your Character, consider it seriously before doing so. Many people prefer to fade off into obscurity then return later if they stop playing the game or start playing a different Character. If you decide to abandon a Character to play a different one, remember to let an Admin know; do not attempt to transfer gold or items to the new Character. Once you have your new Character, you will be expected to use the old Character in any way no longer, as you are only allowed one Character at a time. Many people have caused their own death in-game because they have gotten upset with a Character, Admin, or the game in general and swear to themselves they will never play again, frequently only to return a few months later. Be careful to weight your decisions with a level head, and don't rush into an RP you'll regret later. Bringing your Character back after you've RPed your death will most likely invite some rolled eyes and snide comments and is generally considered bad RP form, though not quite as severe as the 2nd scenario. Though whether you do this or not is up to you, it is highly recommended to avoid this behavior. It generally provides no positive results for your Character's continued RP and often garners disrespect from other players.

Death Duel

You are either killed in a Death Duel (DD), by your owner if you lose a Slavery Duel or other such stakes that demand you properly RP your death.

If you lose a judged Death Duel that you agreed to before its inception, YOU ARE DEAD. That is the purpose of death duels, to kill another Character. Losing a Death Duel only to bring your Character back shortly after that through the help of a Necromancer, Wizard, Priest, or some other force is just plain Bad Form; this would also include bringing them back as a Wraith or Ghost of some kind. Some very respected players have lost credibility by making such a thing, not to mention the inevitable RP clout loss for the Character. For these reasons, entering into a Death Duel should be taken seriously. Please don't do it for OOC reasons, as you are only ridding the game of a Character, not a player. Only agree to a Death Duel if you are willing to forgo the use of your Character permanently. The same consideration should be taken for entering into a duel for Slavery. If you become someone else's slave by your own volition through stakes of a duel, good RP form would include doing precisely what they dictate you to do, including your execution. If you aren't willing to abide by the stakes of a duel, don't agree to them. Egregious violations of noncompliance with duel stakes could result in Admin Intervention.

RP death and rebirth

You are part of an RP in which your player's death and eventual rebirth is planned and fully explained with good, logical RP reasons.

The third option is, by most standards, the only acceptable reason for the return of a dead Character, barring direct influence from a Divine source that brings back a Character for their purposes. Generally speaking, these types of RPs are well thought out and planned. The forces necessary to restore the Character to life are logical and in place BEFORE the death occurs, so the reincarnation follows a reasonable flow of events. The basis here is “suspension of disbelief,” the events should reflect a level of realism equivalent to the nature of magic in the realm as well as the Character's immediate situation. This requires the intervention of an Ascendi to ensure your soul is safe while your body is dead.

Spontaneous RP death

You get attacked by someone in a particularly creative way, as an assassination attempt or the like, and you RP that the injuries were unavoidable, leading to your Character's death.

The fourth way of dying is probably the most contended. Some people feel that this is the most respectable way of RPing your Character. Others think that it's just dumb to think they will abandon an aged Character with possibly years of experience, thousands of HP, multiple custom items, etc... after only one post from an assassin, no matter how good the post was. The Assassin class has the specific goal of stealthily killing other characters without putting their Character at risk. However, this form of killing doesn't bode well for the general nature of RP on Hollow. This leaves a problematic position for Assassins to play; one solution would be to start by RPing the killing of pets, NPCs, etc., and starting the killing of characters with DDs to prove their Character's worth and cement the abilities of their Character firmly within a valid RP history. Doing such will establish one's Character as a much more credible force when attacking someone, though killing off a veteran Character will probably be tricky. It is expected that someone with years of experience probably has a fair bit of knowledge and RP history themselves, which would give validity to their ability to avoid death. Dying in this way is still your choice and should not be reversed in any way. As stated before, this will undoubtedly end with your loss of RP credibility and favor.

Ways to come back from Death

Once the body is dead and cold unless you have a previous deal with an Ascendi, there is no chance of coming back as anything besides a mindless undead shell. This is explained in the following:

Reanimation

• -- Reanimation is the restoration of life force to a dead body without a soul. This creates an Undead. The undead have no real ego, mind, emotions, etc.; they are merely walking shells of a former life. This is mostly achieved through Necromancers desiring the services of an Undead slave or the like.

Resurrection

• -– Resurrection is the restoration of life, including the soul, to its state before death occurred. This requires a mighty Priest or Necromancer, and your soul must be in either Praemia or Perdere before the resurrection, to make it available to the body. If a character dies and doesn't make it into Praemia or Perdere, its 'soul' ceases to exist and can not be brought back.

Restoration

• -– Restoration is the healing of a very recently deceased's body (within minutes), assuming the organs are still in place and the death occurred by trauma and not by poison, disease, or natural causes. A healing of this nature requires at least four people, including at least two Master Healers. The body must be healed within mere minutes of the death, while the soul is still occupying the warm body. Once a body has started to cool, the soul has already left, and there is no possibility for healing or at least no potential for life. The body could be healed, but there would be no soul or life force to occupy it, leaving only a dead restored body.