Resurrection Magic

Although some priests may claim it, there is no proven correlation between deities or gods and resurrections. The simple science behind that kind of healing magic is founded on the connection between the soul and the physical body. As long as a person is alive, their soul inhabits their body and when they die, it will separate and, if there is no interference, will move on to the afterlife. If one has trouble understanding this concept, it is often likened to the soul being tied to the body via a string. This colloquially known “string of life” is very faint and fragile in normal low mana environments. Once a person dies, their string of life gets pulled taught by the body and soul separating and breaks, setting the soul free and making it impossible to resurrect them. A widely accepted thesis assumes that high concentrations of mana strengthen the bond between soul and flesh, making resurrection possible. Resurrection is, simply put, pulling the soul back into the body via tugging on the string. If the string is too weak or the mage is not in control of their power the resurrection fails. If the circumstances are balanced, resurrection succeeds.

Resurrection only works if the soul was forcibly expelled from the body via such incidents such as accidents, poisoning or other murder attempts and other such scenarios. Should someone die of natural causes, the string will have worn off naturally and will not be repairable unless under special circumstances.

The soul may also be bound to an object that has been imbued with ancient magic and ample amounts of mana. These can work by either emanating a strong field of mana around the item that reproduces the environment of a mana dense biome in a small scale and thus strengthening the string of life. Or by literally binding the soul to the object which may lead to ghosts and wraiths, as they run the risk of being unable to return to their body as their connection wavers. Any and all such objects are strictly forbidden and owning such an item is punishable by death.

### Resurrection within mana dense Biomes

All dungeons have a very high concentration of mana, making the existence of monsters and sprites possible. This also has an impact on the souls of the living and newly deceased. Some smaller, weaker Biomes and Dungeones only have a prolonged window of resurrection, as the soul is more closely tied to the body. Others, who may even be cursed with immortality or other such ancient magics, may make it able to revive someone as long as their body is not completely lost. Bodies that are completely burned, have been petrified and smashed, or otherwise scattered into several pieces or cadavers with missing pieces, appendages or flesh may still be revived to their usual appearance. These resurrections need to be performed by highly capable mages or there can be complications. Such implications may include the fusing and consequent confusion of two souls, if the remains of more than one person is mixed, or they were resurrected close to wraiths/other ghosts who get pulled back into the body. As well as body deformities, such as disfigurations after wrong piecing of body parts or bad burns/missing flesh without the proper amount of substitute organic material. Using organic material of other living creatures besides the approved ones (goats, sheep, pigs, in some rare cases cows) may result in the accidental creation of beastkin, or worse. A mage who creates such creatures will be convicted and sentenced according to the land's law, be it accidental or not.