"Congratulations! You have died! Although don't look too down in the dumps my friend, for the Pillars protect does it not? Now, will you be giving me some offerings for your return to the mortal plane? Or shall you be giving me your dedication and joining me to crush the foes of our realm?" ~Tia

Hee-Ho, howdy everyone! Today I bring you once again some more lore of the setting! The Realm of Materia is an extremely dangerous place, but not just that- it is still the home of the gods! Pledge your allegiance to the pillars, and you may find yourself resurrected at one of their cathedrals in a town close to your location... That is, for a price, of course. Let it be valuable items you found on your journey, someone going to a cathedral to pay for your resurrection, or even dedicating your life to the pillars and joining their army. (Those who join the Warrior of the Pillars apparently get a discount if they fall on the battlefield.) Sometimes if you're lucky enough you might even still have the gear you kicked the bucket with! (This will be merely a "copy", but if you, yourself try and retrieve your original gear it will vanish and be given to the gods. Looters aren't worth the effort to the Pillars, but they'll at least give you a bonus for recovering the lost gear.)

Now if you can't pay with allegiance, goods you've obtained or personal belongings... They will let you go and fall into the stream of souls. (Or depending on your religion, allow you to go to the Gulch.) Death is pretty common and can be simply bribed to stay at bay for now. Although run the god's patience thin and they will gladly let you go. Even those with an extreme amount of wealth are not safe as they take percentages. However, this allows even the less fortunate adventurers and soldiers to keep up the pace with very minimal losses to give them a fighting chance. This system however only existed after the War against the Stars and is still relatively new. However, the pillars, especially the mighty Tiamat, wishes for an army, and for she believes giving mortals a mere taste of immortality is a good way to go about it. A way for the pillars to actually obtain war-funds, manpower, and much more.

...and that's all I have to say for this one! Have a wonderful day everyone!

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Disclaimer and Copyright: These characters involved, and the artwork belongs to me, TwistedHensley. The Skin to Scales universe also belongs to me there, TwistedHensley... You get the drill. I want to point out that this is an Epic Dark Fantasy setting with a lot of mythological and religious tones and that there is no real-life connection to any of these events, religions, characters and it is fully, grounded, in fantasy. There is no copyright infringement also intended to other forms of media as Skin to Scales is meant to be its own thing and something I've been working on for a very long time. This is the same setting where faith is a massive part of the magic system.

Other Disclaimer: You are allowed to share my artwork as long as I am credited, but do not upload it anywhere else, edit it and or mark it as your own if that wasn't common sense...