You probably shouldn’t read this.

When a mortal soul crosses the planar membrane in death, it appears encased in a caul of membrane-material. The caul dissolves within 2d6 minutes unless beings in the Shadowlands cut it open. Until the soul is free of the caul, it can be resurrected without the usual penalty. Once the caul falls away, the soul is officially deceased, and its type changes to Outsider, and it gains the Deceased subtype. It carries an initial cache of essence (CON score + character levels or HD). The “body” of the deceased is at full health, but any further damage can only be healed by spending essence (1d3 hp per essence spent). Spellcasters discover much to their horror that they have no pools of spell points, and must spend essence instead. The most common way to gain essence in the Shadowlands is to kill another being. This releases the cache of essence, which can be absorbed via a Concentration check (up to one point gleaned per 5 points on the roll; those closest get first draw). After 1d6 days of oblivion, the deceased suffers the loss of one level, and rematerializes with a fresh cache of essence (souls that have entered into pacts with binders do not suffer level loss, and return after 1d4+1 rounds). Once no levels/ hd remain, the deceased is destroyed forever, and cannot be restored by any means short of the direct and personal intervention of a god who can restore the dead. Beings who slay enough spirits in the Shadowlands to gain a level may choose to take on the Shadow template.

Without the intercession of divine agents, a soul’s sojourn in the Shadowlands is short and brutal. Agents usually appear when last rites or funerary rites are performed and, if the soul is not technically deceased, they may wait several days until its demise. Divine agents typically have the power to ward off any scavengers in the Shadowlands, and need only worry about competing divine agents. The agents may cut the caul, wait for it to fall away, or simply grab the caul-swaddled soul and ferry it to the patron’s divine realm.

If a divine being takes favor on the deceased, it may grant it Petitioner status, or transform it into another outsider type (celestial, fiendish, elemental, etc.). Otherwise, the deceased is subject to withering as if it were undead. This withering is delayed if the living perform ceremonies of remembrance (telling emotional stories of the deceased, holding a feast in her honor, toasting her memory, laying flowers at her grave, etc.). Such ceremonies prevent withering for one year (non-cumulative), and may grant the deceased some essence (depending on the intensity of the devotion, usually 1d4 points per direct participant and 1 point per 10 witnesses). The deceased suffers an outsider’s crux at each of the following events: one year after death, more than one year since last ceremony of remembrance, death of a loved one, and each decade after death.

If the deceased earns enough experience to gain a level, it may take levels in classes that offer some respite from this harsh fate. Most classes have little to offer the deceased. Martial classes improve combat effectiveness, but have little effect on Concentration checks. Rogues and similar classes suffer from a general lack of anatomical structure, which renders most beings immune to sneak attacks. Spellcasters are loathe to spend their essence on effects, though they can easily glean essence from the demise of others. Truenamers find their power unchanged, since it does not depend on mana, Shadowcasters also function normally. Binders’ powers work much as they should, but the binding process becomes more problematic since they have so much less to offer vestiges and other powers (a failed binding check means the pact was not established, and was wasted for the day; a success requires another binding check to determine influence). Spellthieves can attempt to steal essence or shadow-mana, though their targets can prevent essence loss with a fortitude save (DC is CHA based). Mana-shapers stand out among the classes: while their spell and power point pools are gone, their pools of pure mana function normally.

All mana pools among the deceased suffer the effects of withering as per undead. Those who seek a more permanent base of power may obtain divine patronage (Petitioners and other outsiders are not subject to withering, though at the cost their mortal memories). Alternately, they may seek to become divine in their own right. If they absorb three divinity sparks from different sources, they gain the divinely infused template (per Requiem for a God), which halts withering. If they build a sufficient power base, they may conduct a month-long ritual that costs a total of 1000 essence from 3-12 sources (more than half of this must come from the would-be god), which generates a telltale signature that expands 5 miles per day (detection DCs 30 for deceased, 25 for other outsiders, 20 for divine servitors/ agents, 15 for divine beings). If the ritual is not interrupted, the deceased becomes a quasi-deity (Divine Rank 0), it loses the Deceased type, and any withering reverses. Of course, such newborn gods must survive all the attention they attracted from the ritual…