Mortality

The existence of a mortal being is comprised of three parts. The body, the mind, and the soul.Lectures on the nature of mortality, at Oxfold Academy

The Body

The physical portion of a mortal being. It is what moves and manipulates the world. It's main purpose is to house the mind, and reproduce.

The Mind

A mortal learns from their interaction with the world, and gain experience throughout life. These are generally internalized as memories in the brain. The structure of the sum of these memories is what comprizes the mind.

The Soul

The act of conception involves a magic more ancient than even the gods, and plants a seed of what later develops into a soul.

The soul is by far the most nebulous of the three to define, but in the simplest sense it is what gives a mortal their individuality. It is what experiences existence.

The presence of a soul is not necessarily a requirement for a mortal to live, but without one, a being cannot be said to be complete.

Further reading

Death

Death is the natural conclusion of the life of an overwhelming majority of all mortals. When this happens, the three parts that compose the mortal being quickly part ways, and very few methods is known to bring them back together again.

Due to the presence of deities in the "local cosmic neighborhood", the souls of the dead are usually attracted to the realms of the deity that best matches the alignment of the departed. There they become petitioners. The body remains on the material plane, where it decays like any other piece of dead flesh. And finally the mind is shed in The Astral Plane as the soul "travels" to its destination.

Undeath

Un-what? You mean like them ghosts the crazy lady in the papers says she can talk to?Greg, regular patron of The Sitting Duck, Tavern in Millthorpe

On Orn undeath is rare, and mostly expresses itself as ghosts or other incorporeal manifestations. Corporeal undeads do not tend rise naturally, but stories circulate about ghouls being discovered in secluded places from long ago as well as the occasional rumors from graveyard keepers talking about wishing to be cremated when they die to "avoid the possible alternative".

Petitioners

A petitioners is usually what the soul of a dead mortal becomes after it has entered the realm of a deity. What exact shape it takes, and what fate awaits it varies greatly. Some petitioners are worm-like, others are amorphous vaguely bipedal smoky masses, while others yet are close to the body they left behind.

The petitioners then go through a set of obstacles and challenges depending on the power that captured them. Some are twisted and abused before being consumed by other outsiders, some are reincarnated after a short judgement, and other still get absorbed into the deity or plane in some less painful or destructive way.

Petitioners do not, as a rule, remember their previous mortal lives.

Soul capture

The soul is a topic that has intrigued mortals for millennia. In their endeavors to study it, several spells and materials have been devised to capture, contain, or even imprison souls. This topic is one fraught with moral considerations, and there are many examples of those who ended up sacrificing their humanity in pursuit of knowledge and power. Desensitized to what they were experimenting with, they often get swept up in all the things they could use them for. From spell components, to something as heinous as direct consumption - all unquestionably evil acts when done intentionally.

Resurrection

Raising the dead is one of the most notable, as well as popular, of miracles reported to be performed by saints and wonder-workers. Scrutiny by sceptics, however, regularly disproves such claims. Usually discovering the aleged deceaced being either swapped for a dummy, or only playing dead.

Nevertheless, the actual revival of recently deceased is not unheard of, with time being a critical factor. Equally critical is the nature of the death, with severe trauma making revival practically impossible.

Real magical resurrection is in reality very rare, and is performed mostly through the use of divine magic, though some other methods probably also exist.