Knowledge, Body and the Soul

[McCurmudgeon]

Getting metaphysical for a moment, I was recently thinking about knowledge and it’s connection to the soul, specifically in the case of undead.

In Hellfrost, the soul obviously has access to any knowledge it has gain, both in life and after death, because a departed soul can provide information when contacted through grave speak or as a ghost (I can’t remember if ghosts are a common thing in Hellfrost).

However, I was wondering if knowledge and memories from life is also connected to the body? Correct me if I’m mistaken, but an undead warrior is created by binding a spirit to the body of a dead warrior, which implies that the spirit gains some of the warriors fighting prowess, or at least while inhabiting that particular body.

My big question is if the spirit has access to the bodies memories too, because knowledge and skill are very different from memories?

I could honestly ask so many questions on this subject and would be interested in hearing other people’s questions and thoughts if they would be interested in sharing.

Champion of Chronos

[Enno]

For me it depends how a culture handle the remains of their dead.

There are groups that venerate their dead and see an eternal bond between the remains and the “soul” that enters the cultures form of afterlife. They honor their dead and treat them as part of the family. They eventually believe that at least a part of the deads soul/being/memories resides in the body or is in some way linked to it.

Others might believe that the remains are just an empty shell, and that it has nothing left of the former person.

The “truth” is somewhere between the extremes, i think.

If i take Life after Death into consideration, there is not one view and not one truth about the afterlife, but many, even within the same culture, people and cult.

High Priest of Hoenir & Champion of Qedeshet

[TAG Wiggy]

Well, there’s definitely no canonical answer. 🙂

The exact nature of spells is very vague. Perhaps when casting zombie you specify the nature of the dark soul you want, or maybe the body has a limited memory that only accepts specific souls. Or it could be totally random – there are more dead farmers than dead warriors based purely on demographics.

On the other hand, there is game balance to consider. If every skeleton animated by zombie was a skeleton warrior then the spell becomes more powerful (skeletal warriors are better skilled, after all). Of course, if you cast zombie on a skeleton wearing armor then it is tougher than a regular skeleton, despite sharing the same Traits. Doesn’t make it a skeleton warrior, though.

Wiggy
Triple Ace Games Creative Director
wiggy@tripleacegames.com

[Author]

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