Near-death experience

"I lay down my life. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord."

- John

Common elements to near death experiences involve a perception of being surrounded by darkness, with a light that seems to draw you towards it. There is also a feeling of warmth and an increasing sensation of floating or your weight diminishing. As you approach the tunnel of light, there is also an impression that there are beings in the light. Most often this seems to be family members who have passed on before. Often, there is also an impression of an overseeing or guiding force in the light.

In the Kingdom of Formour and among the Gothic tribes, this is usually perceived as a pleasant experience. Those who have had a near death experience report that loving family members either welcomed them with open arms, or instructed them to return—as it was not yet their time—sending them back with fond wishes for their well-being. This is perceived by those who follow the Temple of Light as being a profound religious experience. The experience confirms for them that The Light loves them and wants the best for them. Knowing that they will be reunited with their loved ones, and blissfully joined as one with The Light, strengthens their faith considerably. Even those Formourians who are not devout members of the church—even those who follow another faith, or are either agnostic or atheistic—experience similar phenomena. There are several accounts of those who steadfastly believed in the lack of any higher power who have been converted after a near death experience.

In the Byzant Empire and the Elder Kingdoms the experience is similar, but the perception is quite different. The feeling of warmth rapidly grows to an uncomfortable temperature. In those lands, people have reported being sent back by a spiritual bureaucrat who rudely informs them that their presence in the afterlife is the result of clerical error. The recognisable spirits of this vision are not welcoming, but rather seem as frightening and cold as they would be if witnessed as a ghost. These entities have been reported as seeming to be in great discomfort themselves.

It is interesting to note that only Dwarves, Ghouls, and Humans commonly report near death experiences. It remains unconfirmed by the loremasters and necropolitans who have studied this phenomenon whether this is due to common cultural elements, or due to common factors in their physiology. While all three have lived for centuries with close societal ties to one another, it has also been noted that many biochemical properties are common to these species.