Death

Death is one of the cosmic forces that holds sway over every living thing in the Great Dark Beyond. Acting as a counterbalance to Life, it is an unavoidable force that breeds despair in mortal hearts and pushes everything towards a state of entropic decay and eventual oblivion. While the living use the word "death" to refer only to the termination of one's mortal existence, "Death", from a cosmic perspective, is an eternal force of magic that permeates the spirit realm and beyond—one that offers new beginnings instead of only an end.A Doorway Through the Veil: The Shadowlands are the realm of existence for Death and its denizens, existing on the edge of reality and separated from the physical universe by a barrier known as the Veil. In the physical realm, Death manifests in the form of necromantic magic,Steve Danuser on Twitter: "Remember that in the Shadowlands, "necromany" simply refers to the magic of Death. The necrolords are the experts at wielding it, but even they have limitations. In any case, I agree the wording for that text is unclear. It will be clarified in a future update." and serves as the main source of magic used to practice necromancy; the dark art of raising and controlling the dead.Ultimate Visual Guide, pg. 21
The undead are the main manifestation of Death in the physical universe, they are former mortals who died and were brought back through the practice of necromancy or curses, their souls now trapped between life and death. In the Shadowlands, they are all soldiers of the Necrolord Covenant, the armies that serve as the first line of defense in the realm of Death.Power of the Primus
==Origins and characteristics==
The cosmic force of Death was conceived by the First Ones, as well as the other forces five other governing forces of reality. These enigmatic godlike beings, who shaped the cosmos and the fabric of all realities, created the Shadowlands as the realm of Death. Within it, they created Zereth Mortis to be a workshop where they and their servants—the automa—made everything in the Shadowlands and the realms beyond. It was within the Sepulcher of the First Ones that they created beings like the Eternal Ones of the Pantheon of Death, the rulers of the Shadowlands. The brokers believe that the First Ones made the endless cycle of Life and Death the central part of their creation.
Time and Death are not related, as Death is about eternity and not linear time, while time is a construct of Order and structure. To a soul in the Shadowlands, circumstances are more chaotic, it can therefore feel like eons have passed since their arrival whereas only a few months or years have elapsed in the world of the living, much like a dream.
When a living being dies, their spirit lingers in the Veil before being shepherded by kyrian into the Shadowlands. There, spirits face the Arbiter in Oribos, who judges their soul and places them in one of the realms of the Shadowlands, where they will spend their afterlife. When a mortal life expires, an echo of it remains behind. The most powerful mortals leave the most resonant echoes.The Eternal Traveler On some occasions, a living being may go to a different place than the Shadowlands. For example, the spirits of the Wild Gods are bound to the Emerald Dream,Return to Nordrassil where they go following a period of hibernation in Ardenweald upon their death. Liches return to their phylactery,Nyorloth on the official forums (dead link) and less fortunate souls may be raised into a necromancer's service. Elementals killed outside their planes simply reform over time in the Elemental Plane. Most brave Stormheim vrykul are brought to the Halls of Valor by Odyn's Val'kyr, while the spirits of dishonorable vrykul spend eternity in Helheim, where they are turned into kvaldir to serve Helya.Scavenging the Shallows Demons, when killed in mortal planes, are sent back to the Twisting Nether to reform. Some souls appear to travel to a Light-based afterlife after dying, such as Uuna's parents, while the naaru are also able to bring mortal souls to the Light like A'dal did with Bridenbrad in order to save him from undeath.The Boon of A'dal
If a being of Death is killed on the mortal plane, their essence returns to the Shadowlands to be reformed, similar to how demons reform in the Twisting Nether. However, if such a being—either the soul of a former mortal or a member of an endemic Shadowlands race—is destroyed in the Shadowlands, they die permanently. Their energy then disperses and joins the greater whole of the magic of Death. This is the case both for souls of former mortals and for endemic Shadowlands races. If a "workforce" creature like a dredger or steward dies, another member of the same race will eventually manifest to take the place of the one that was killed. Should a soul fall in the Shadowlands, while not even a necromancer of the Maldraxxi could bring them back, necromancy could animate their fallen body as a mindless servant.Steve Danuser on Twitter: ""Necromancer" has a different meaning in Maldraxxus. They can take a fallen body and infuse it with energy to make a mindless servant, or move a soul from one body to another. But if say Draka was killed, they could not raise her from the dead. Her soul would be gone."
The Purpose is the guiding principle of the Shadowlands, it is the belief that the realm of the dead follows a pattern laid out by the Arbiter in her infinite wisdom. According to Fatescribe Roh-Tahl, the Purpose keeps the realms of Death in balance, and all beings in the endless cycle serve it—even those who do so unknowingly or unwillingly.Fatescribe Roh-Tahl#Quotes
===Necromantic magic===
In the Shadowlands, Maldraxxus is the birthplace of necromantic magic, where necromancy was developed by the Primus. He is responsible for the creation of Maldraxxi rune magic, who devised this unique language of intricate symbols, each individually representing a specific word tied to the very foundations of Maldraxxus, from simple commands, to necromantic energy manipulation. In order to imprison his brother, Zovaal the Jailer, the Primus also invented an even more potent death runic language: Domination. Behaving in a matter similar to a language, it alters the victim's thoughts so powerfully that it interferes with their sense of self.Primus dialogue in Zereth Mortis Its sole purpose was to be the utter suppression of another.
In the Great Dark Beyond, the souls of the undead are imperfectly attached to their bodies; the necromantic magic that sustains them is a buffer that prevents their souls from properly joining with their bodies. This is why undead feel only faint sensations of pain or discomfort from most physical stimuli, and why the Light is so painful to their existence.Nyorloth on the Official Forums - 09/02/2012
In the Shadowlands, anima is the source that is drawn upon when using death magic, and is comparable to the mana used in the Great Dark Beyond. The most common practitioners of necromancy are known as necromancers and others include death knights, necrolytes, and the necrolords.
==Prominent figures==
*Pantheon of Death:
**/ The Arbiter - Judge of the Shadowlands in Oribos
** Kyrestia the Firstborne - Archon of the Kyrian in Bastion
** The Winter Queen - Queen of the Night Fae in Ardenweald
** Sire Denathrius - King of the Venthyr in Revendreth
** The Primus - Leader of the Necrolords in Maldraxxus
** Zovaal - Jailer of Torghast and the Maw
* The Lich King - Dark Lord of the Scourge
* Mueh'zala - God of Death, Sandfury's loa of death
* Bwonsamdi - Loa of graves, ruler of the Other Side
* Helya - Fallen Val'kyr Queen, ruler of Helheim
==Shadowlands==
The Shadowlands are the realm of Death, an infinite plane where the souls of deceased mortals go to be reborn, serve, find peace, do battle, or endure endless torment. The Shadowlands exist on the edge of reality, separated from the physical universe by a barrier known as the Veil, and consist of an infinite number of diverse afterlives sustained by the flow of anima from the recently dead. Anima is the essence of mortal souls that enter the Shadowlands, the product of all of the soul's experiences and actions in life. It infuses the ShadowlandsEnsorcelled Everwyrm and acts as the lifeblood of the afterlife, making trees grow and rivers flow, flowing through creatures,Anima Wyrmling and connecting all the realms of the Shadowlands together. The five main realms are Bastion, Ardenweald, Revendreth, Maldraxxus and the Maw, though countless others exist.BlizzCon 2019
The Covenants are four ancient and powerful orders who rule over the different realms of the spirit world. They have existed since the Shadowlands were shaped long ago and bear sacred duties to help maintain the afterlife's ecosystem. Each of them is affiliated to a realm ruled by one of the Eternal Ones, ensuring the protection of the cycle of life and death.
* The Kyrian of Bastion — Angelic beings who embrace humility and service to their order.
* The Necrolords of Maldraxxus — Liches, warlords, and spies who make up the army that defends the Shadowlands.
* The Night Fae of Ardenweald — Guardians of nature who shepherd beings through the cycle of life and death.
* The Venthyr of Revendreth — Vampiric beings who punish the sinful souls sent by the Arbiter in order to rehabilitate them.
Beings of death are ancient and powerful, and it is dangerous to meddle in their realm. When Odyn peered into the Shadowlands, he saw some of its inhabitants: souls in torment, the husks of the dead, ghostly wraiths with no face, and others with no form, all made of death itself.The Legend of Odyn Many beings in the Shadowlands are souls of deceased mortals, some of which have been transformed to serve a new purpose, such as the kyrian. Other creatures—such as dredgers, faeries, and stewards—are endemic to the Shadowlands and are naturally born from the magic of Death to serve the different realms and help facilitate the process of the afterlife. Here are some examples of races that can be encountered in the realm of the dead:
File:Fatescribe Roh-Tahl.png|Attendant
File:Nemea.png|Kyrian
File:Lord Stefan.jpg|Venthyr
File:House of Rituals ritualist.png|Maldraxxi
File:Flitterbit.png|Faerie
File:Acquirer Ta'gosh.png|Broker
File:Oizys.jpg|Mawsworn
File:Khogov the Expunger.png|Devourer
===Zereth Mortis===
Zereth Mortis is the forbiddenDoorway in the Dark realm of the First Ones, tucked away in the fabric of the Shadowlands itself. It was crafted by the First Ones to act as their workshop and is intended to create afterlives, a process carried out by the enormous Forge of Afterlives floating at the center of the realm. A race of mechanical caretakers called the automa were left behind by the First Ones to facilitate this process. The realm's most notable feature is the Sepulcher of the First Ones, which contains knowledge that could rewrite reality.
==Funerary practices==
On Azeroth and beyond, each race has its own funeral rites according to their culture and beliefs, whether by burials, cremations, mummifications, or other processes. Even after the war against the Jailer, death is still an uncertainty to most citizens of Azeroth, as they didn't come to the Shadowlands with the adventurers, and not everyone came back from the realm of the dead.MMO Champion - Dragonflight Developer Interviews
==Notes==
*While necromancy brings the dead back as undead, it is possible for casters to perform true resurrection, which can be accomplished with different sources of magic.
*As servants of Denathrius, the nathrezim attempted to manipulate the void lords, but they appeared somewhat aware of their machinations,Enemy Infiltration - Preface and regarded Death as "the true enemy" which seeks the death of all possibilities and all futures.Windrunner: Three Sisters
==See also==
*Death ritual
*Death March
==References==
Category:Religions
Category:Lore
es:Muerte