Olympia: The Age of Gods PBEM (May 4 1999)
When nobles die, they become a corpse and are buried in a nearby
graveyard. Corpses decay and eventually fully decompose. The time for
a body to decompose depends upon a number of factors, such as the
quality of the local groundwater and prevalence of insect life. There
is a 1/6 chance each month that a corpse will fully decompose. Until
they decompose, bodies may be obtained from graveyards with the
exhume
command (see See exhume).
When the corpse fully decomposes, the noble's spirit is freed. The spirit passes into Hades, where it wanders aimlessly as a lost soul. Lost souls eventually pass out of Hades and onto their final reward. The duration a soul spends wandering Hades depends upon the whim of the gods; there is a 1 in 10 chance each month that a lost soul will permanently ascend.
Under certain conditions, such as when a noble dies in Hades, a dead noble will directly become a lost soul.
Priests may learn a skill to administer last rites, hastening the passing of the dead noble's spirit. Some exceptionally skilled priests possess the ability to resurrect dead nobles.
Once a lost soul ascends, or last rites are administered, the former owner of the noble will get back 1 noble point. The former owner does not regain any additional noble points spent on the noble (e.g., points used to learn magic or religion skills, etc.) NPs are not returned for nobles who are resurrected or defiled by Necromancy spells.