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Immortals can be slain like any other living creature. Unlike mortals, however, an immortal must have two conditions fulfilled before he is sent beyond. These are:
After his vox is removed, the corporeal body of an immortal, if he has never incarnated as a human, dissolves into dust. If he has incarnated into human form within a century of his slaying, his corpse remains. During these final moments, the character’s soul attribute becomes his only attribute, the others are "spilled" as life-force, dissipating into the environment. The character is now a spirit. The shape of this spectral shape is never human in appearance, but reflects the true form of the character. The immortal’s spirit has two choices. It can remain on earth and rebuild it’s other attributes, becoming corporeal a little bit at a time, or it can pass into the spirit dimension, an infinite ocean of energy known as the Blue Air. In the Blue Air, time is irrelevant. The spirit lives in a world of illusions created by his own desires, becoming a virtual god of his own universe, although the illusions are "real" only to himself and effect no other souls. The Blue Air is a seductive place where spirits can easily lose track of the real world or the fate of the living. It often takes an act of will for a spirit to return from this place into the harsh competitive corporeal universe. On the other hand, being an omnipotent god of a universe springing from his own mind is often hollow and meaningless.
An immortal is slain. If he is ancient and has not incarnated in mortal form within the last century, his body dissolves into dust. Otherwise, it remains. The shard that lies within him, still trapped by the soul of it’s immortal host, becomes resident in the spirit, where it glows quite prominently. The vox, originally made by the shard but not really part of it, lies on the ground beneath the disintegrated throat of the immortal. It is the key component to allowing an immortal to rejuvenate himself. (See Combat Aftermath: Healing and Rejuvenation, below.) Even when recovered, an immortal’s remains do not betray his origin to humans using normal technology. Other advanced technologies of non-human origins, as well as some humans with special psychic ability can identify remains of an immortal for what they are. Any immortal can identify another immortal’s remains on sight. As for the life-force that inhabits the immortal---his halo colors---they blow away from him, radiant, multicolored aurora’s unseen to human senses yet magnificent in the eye of other immortals. This rainbow effect is a flashy prelude to an immortal’s soul escaping the empty shell. This shock-wave of life-force is known as a spill.
This shock-wave spreads as a sphere of energy through and beyond the area where the immortal was slain. It’s range of dissipation is indefinite. Anyone within 50 yards of a dying immortal absorbs part of the spill as the shock-wave passes through them, providing that they have tainted attribute points. A spill is rated by the amount of (untainted) soul energy the immortal dying possesses. For example, an immortal with 4 untainted soul creates a spill with a rating of 4. This means there are 4 attribute points generated by the shock-wave. The number of points an immortal absorbs is based on two factors: How many tainted motes he has himself, and his own soul rating. An immortal absorbs one mote (purifying one of his own taint) for every 3 soul points he himself possesses. An immortal with a soul rating of 7, for example, absorbs 2 from the spill. He can only absorb as many motes as he has taint. If he has a 7 soul points, but only 1 taint, he absorbs only 1 from the spill. This reduces the spill’s rating by 1. The person closest to the dying immortal absorbs first, then the next closest, etc. Anyone beyond 50 yards of a spill cannot absorb it.
When anyone with a soul dies, others with souls have the potential to sense the resulting spill. Since a spill’s range is indefinite (perhaps infinite) the ability to sense it is based not on how far it spreads, but on how intense it is and how endowed with soul others are. The chart below shows the range at which a spill is sense based on it’s intensity and the sensual acuity of those who could sense it. Step 1: Determine the spill rating (1 to 15, based on the untainted soul total of the victim, subtracting any part of the spill absorbed by those in the area.) Step 2: Determine your own character’s soul rating. Step 3: Add these together and consult the chart below.
Examples: An average immortal with a soul of 6 can sense the death of a person with a soul of 1 (many humans have this rating) if he is within 40 yards of him. A human with a soul of 1 can sense the death of another human whose soul is 1 if he is within 2 yards (bedside) but he can sense the death of a powerful immortal (soul of 14) a mile away. An immortal whose soul is 14 can sense the death of even a 1 soul-point individual within a mile of himself, and can sense the death of more powerful individuals beyond a mile. See the cultural note sidebar: The Paragon’s City, below. Anyone sensing an immortal’s death will not know who died, but will know the exact place where they died.
Two immortals are in combat with one defender. The defender has a total untainted soul of 4. The assailants have souls of 4 and 7. Each of the assailants also has two tainted motes in their auras. They manage to slay the defender. The spill from the defender has a rating of 4, the same as his soul. Assailant 1 is closer to the dead defender, so he absorbs first. His soul is 4. He will cleanse one of his taint by absorbing from the spill since he absorbs 1 for every 3 soul he possesses. His friend, on the other hand, has a soul of 7. He cleanses both of his tainted motes. There are no other tainted individuals within the 50 yards, so the last point of the spill is not absorbed, but continues to spread through the cosmos. If both assailants had been able to absorb the entire rating of the spill, it’s progress would stop there, and no one would be able to sense the death of the unfortunate defender. As long as at least as 1 point escapes, the death could potentially be noted by others.
Quicknote: Who Absorbs A Spill Any immortal within 50 yards if a spill, if he is tainted, automatically absorbs a spill based on his own soul. For every 3 soul he possesses, he absorbs 1 life-force, as long as he has corresponding tainted motes to be cleansed. The closest member to a spill absorbs first, the remaining energy passing on to the next closest person, until it is either completely absorbed (in which case, the spill is not sensed beyond the area it occurred) or dissipates into the environment (where it can be sensed by others.)
Quicknote: Who Senses A Spill Energy from a spill not absorbed by those in its vicinity forms the base number to which is added the soul of other immortals who might sense it. If these immortals are within the range (column 2 of the above chart) they sense the death of the immortal. The sensation is musical in nature and unmistakable. Quicknote: How Long It Takes To Absorb From A Spill The first person to absorb from a spill takes 1 round to do so, the second person the next clash after that, and so on until there are no other candidates within 50 yards capable of absorbing the spill.
Sidebar: Cultural Note: The Paragon’s City Any city where a Paragon, the ruler of one of the immortal nations, resides is considered, by most immortals, a safe place to live. In this city, immortals understand that if they are slain, the Paragon will sense it and bring swift retribution on their murderers. The reason for this is the ability of a Paragon to sense the death of an immortal by his spill. Because a Paragon’s soul is so powerful (his FI is high) his senses for spills extends a great distance, and is acute enough to sense the death of even weak immortals. Because a Paragon’s soul is so high, he or she senses the death of most immortals within the city. Paragon’s are unrelenting in their prosecution of any murder of an immortal since immortal law forbids it. Paragons and other powerful immortals have the ability to set up instant response teams to arrive at the scene of a murder within as little as 3 rounds after it happens. As soon as absorption of the spill is finished, the death is sensed in the very next round. The Paragon will usually use telepathy to direct her team to the area where the murder took place. A member of the team will always have a high ranked Ley serenade, the ability to transport himself and the others instantly to the scene of the crime. In all, the entire response time takes only a few clashes. Those who commit the murder had better not be around when the team arrives. A response team consists of a number of immortals from various occupations within the nation: a probe (to study the scene for clues as to the murderer’s identity, and to study the remains if any remain) a highbinder (to track the assailant) three slayers (to dispatch the assailant if necessary) and a scourge (to interrogate the assailant if he is a member of immortal society, otherwise allowing the slayers to do their grim work if he isn’t.) Highbinders will also attempt to recover the vox of the immortal who was slain, digging through the ground until he uncovers it. In areas where no Paragon (or other powerful immortal) resides or (more rarely) does not enforce the law, murders occur more frequently. Certain areas are no-man’s lands where little or no enforcement exists, especially in wide-open tracts of wilderness.
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