Description
Most likely you will die at some point during your adventures through the world of Alyria. When your hit points drop to zero and death inevitably occurs, the most important thing is to remember not to panic. In the world of Alyria, death for Adventurers follows different rules than you might otherwise expect, due to the intervention of the Powers.
If you are under level six, the Powers usually take pity on you and restore you immediately to life, with all your equipment and inventory on you, without penalty. You'll have to rest a bit to rejuvenate your hit points, stamina, and spell power any time you are restored to life.
You'll often be restored to the nearest RECALL point to where you were slain. If you are under level six and die in Lasler, for example, you will be restored in the Shrine of St. Wiseheart. If you die in or near the Towne of Rune, you will be restored in the Health Services room in the Runic Temple.
At level six and greater, when you die you will become a shade - a ghostly specter forced to roam the world until a Power takes pity on you and reincarnates you. Luckily, the Powers are pretty predictable about when they will get around to restoring you, and by typing SCORE you will be able to see how much time you have remaining as a shade.
Don't worry if you don't see your inventory as a shade. It's all there (with some exceptions as noted below), and will reappear once you reincarnate.
As a shade you have acquired the accoutrements of a specter, chains and all, which bind you to this world and keep you from moving on to the afterlife. The ancient Druids understood the necessity of the Adventurer and were able to negotiate a pact with the Powers that keep Adventurers from suffering the fate of ordinary mortals. You, as an Adventurer, get to take advantage of this pact and never suffer real, permanent death.
If you were unfortunate enough to die in a CHAOTIC PLAYERKILLING ROOM, whether you are slain by an NPC, a player, or your own stupidity, you will leave a corpse behind that will contain some of your possessions in it. You must journey back to that exact locale to recover your belongings.
If there is more than one corpse in a room, add a #. in front of the word 'corpse' to look at the specific corpse, (where # is the number of the corpse, such as 'look in 2.corpse').
Faerie Death
Because the Fey and the Sidhe are not native to the material world, their essences remain unharmed after they are killed. However, the forms that they project are temporarily dissipated, returning them to the Faerie Plane. Since it takes a great deal of magical energy to recreate these projections, the unfortunate victims must remain on the ethereal plane for a while. Again, you can see when you will be returned to the world of Alyria by typing SCORE.
Reincarnating Early
Some character classes within the game (such as Priests and Shamans) can gain the ability to directly petition the Powers to intervene on your behalf and thus reincarnate you earlier than normal. This is called RESURRECTION.
Or, if you don't have someone available who can resurrect you, it is possible to get returned to the mortal world early by seeking out the copper door in the Ethereal Void (which is where all shades begin). Behind this strange door is a maze, and within that maze lives a Hermit. If you can find your way through the maze in time (it changes often) the Hermit will restore you early. Or, if you are unfortunate enough to be trapped alive in the Ethereal Void, the Hermit will return you to the physical plane unharmed (if you can get to him without dying, that is).
King Sandoval of the Sidhe and Queen Tirona of the Fey are eager