The Long Pale Road

The Long Pale Road (Which May Be More Than One Way)

In most fantasy stories, death is a fact of life. People and things die. If they didn't the world would be a pretty crowded place, after all. In fantasy stories, however, death may not be as final, or even as permanent is it is in the real world and most fictional genres. It all depends on how you decide to handle it in your story. The following are some different ways death and the afterlife could be handled. They are not an exhaustive list by any means.

1) Death is the end. In a world where this is the reality, you get one life and one life only. Once you're dead by any means, you are gone forever. There can be an afterlife in this sort of world, but there is no way to cross over to it except by dying. As such, any concept of the afterlife will be pretty much unprovable.

2) Death is pretty much permanent, but temporary returns may be possible. This is similar to the above, except it is sometimes possible to either return to the world of the living, although in a limited fashion. A world where ghosts exist, or certain magical beings or magic users can communicate with the dead would be such a world.

3) The afterlife accepts visitors. In this world there is an afterlife, and it is even possible for the living to go there and come back out again. Many mythologies have this sort of structure, where the afterlife is a physical place. An alternative is that the afterlife is in another plane of existence, but one the living can, with access to the right secrets, travel to. This can allow people to get the advice of the dead, and find out facts they might not otherwise have been able to find out. Generally, the dead can be removed from the afterlife and brought back to life, but it is normally exceptionally difficult to do, and there are often terrible consequences.

4) Death has a gatekeeper. This is also true of many mythologies. A god of the dead may allow certain mortals a second chance under certain circumstances. Usually it requires some sort of legendary task be performed. It could also be that someone living be willing to trade places, or that a powerfully worded petition may be sufficient.

5) Death can be beaten. Usually through powerful magic, it is possible to prevent or even reverse the course of death itself. Usually, there is again some price to pay, but it's not something negotiated with a great power, it's simply a magical law. Perhaps the only way to cheat death is to become a barely living husk, kept alive by magic alone. Maybe bringing someone back from the dead allows something to come back with them. There can be any number of possible bad consequences, or possibly the only reason everyone doesn't do it is cost and complexity of the magical formula.

6) Reincarnation. This can be factored in to any of the other systems, except under this, death, while potentially long term, is not generally permanent. You will get another chance eventually.

7) Ascension/Declination. Here death is the beginning of a new life. Everyone who dies goes to some after life where they are changed into something else. Angels, demons, perfect forms, or just screws for the gods to mount their pictures with. In this system it would be pretty much impossible to bring someone back from the dead, but it might be possible to contact them.

So, there are seven general ways you can handle death in your stories. Of course, you may all have your own ways to do it too, and I'd love to hear about them. Until next time.