What's the afterlife like for Eorzeans?

[Ooshima]

Unfortunately, I can't remember EXACTLY where it came up, but what I've gathered from quests/FATE info/things like that is that the body returns to the Lifestream after death (see the end of the Alchemist questline), but the soul goes on to the afterlife, hence all the references to "Thal's halls". So the body dissolves into aether, while the soul continues on, at least in the beliefs of those who follow the Twelve.

Not really into the lore, but I also remember that Aether is the life and magic in Eorzea, just like Lifestream in FF7. When a person dies in FF14, he/she disappears physically and returns to the planet as Aether.

Turn 9 end cutscene and dialogue actually gives more info about death and aether. Spoiler alert.

[TinyRedLeaf]

When a person dies in FF14, he/she disappears physically and returns to the planet as Aether.

Then why would Eorzeans need graveyards or ossuries?

How do we explain the existence of walking skeletons and zombies? Such remains should have gone *poof* into the aether once the original individuals died but, clearly, they did not, allowing some necromancer to revive them for nefarious deeds.

[Ooshima]

Then why would Eorzeans need graveyards or ossuries?

How do we explain the existence of walking skeletons and zombies? Such remains should have gone *poof* into the aether once the original individuals died but, clearly, they did not, allowing some necromancer to revive them for nefarious deeds.

Which I do not know, and it's indeed a mystery. For FF14, read around that aether is released when people die and return to the aether network. When Nael Deus Darnus dies in T9, it simply turned into aether and disappears.

Weird thing is, discrepancies existed in FF7 too. When Zack died in Crisis Core, we did not see him turn into lifestream and return to the planet - whereas when Kadaj died, it turned into lifestream and returned

[Kyan]

Heaven(s) are mentioned though in a couple of places offhand - Yugiri says "Heavens forfend" when confronted with Leviathan in the English version - an exclamation which I found juxtaposed to the common "Seven hells!" of Eorzeans; Moogle/King Moggle Mog mentions 'Heaven' as part of the mythos and folklore behind him.

Not really bringing anything major to this conversation, but those are two different cultures in Hydaelyn (Moogle and Othardian/Far Eastern) where a concept of heaven is present.

[gornotck]

I think people are mistaking things 'disappearing' due to mechanical reasons with things 'disappearing' for lore reasons.
The bodies DON'T disappear, we just don't deal with them, usually.

For one of the main storyline quests, we schlep several bodies to a cart for disposal and burial.
For at least one of the Hildibrand quests, we follow a trail of corpses.
For that alchemist quest, that body was laying around for over five years, probably preserved since it was no worse for the wear. It 'dissolved' more or less for thematic reasons, possibly because it returned to the dust it should have been when it ran out of magical mischief to hold it together.

In short, the bodies hit the floor, the spirits within hit the door. Their 'spirit' would return to the aether, if nothing else. The body just gets buried or fed to the Ul'Dah refugees.

[JeniLinsky]

The body just gets buried or fed to the Ul'Dah refugees.

Soylent Green is... never mind.

[Saikou]

The NPC at the bottom of Witchdrop claims to believe that the righteous will be with Halone when they die. That an Ishgardian believes such isn't surprising. Several Ul'dah NPCs reference Thal's Realm. I believe this was particularly true in the 1.0 Thaumaturge questline, where you were charged with enacting the revenge wills of those who had paid for and entrusted such wills to the guild. There does seem to be an ever-increasing amount of evidence that the soul in FFXIV is Aether. And so, from the lifestream of aether we come and to the lifestream of aether we return. With this in mind, the fact that Primals gorge themselves on aether which will not be restored takes on a whole new and much darker meaning: It would mean that primals are, in essence, devouring the souls of the departed to sustain their existence in the physical world.

[PArcher]

There does seem to be an ever-increasing amount of evidence that the soul in FFXIV is Aether. And so, from the lifestream of aether we come and to the lifestream of aether we return. With this in mind, the fact that Primals gorge themselves on aether which will not be restored takes on a whole new and much darker meaning: It would mean that primals are, in essence, devouring the souls of the departed to sustain their existence in the physical world.

And then we have that lovely action-packed cutscene from the 2.2 main quest...where Leviathan devours the Sahagan Priest after he becomes an Aetheric being...

[Catapult]

This most recent patch itself teaches us how the soul is not always bound to the body. The gift of eternity is evidence of that.
And since Leviathan consumes his disciple's soul as if it were aether, it is a strong indication of that the soul is made of.

Unrelated:

To all of my children in whom life flows abundant.
To all of my children to whom death has passed its judgement.
The soul yearns for honour and the flesh the hereafter.
Look to those who walked before to lead those who walk after.

[Ooshima]

I think people are mistaking things 'disappearing' due to mechanical reasons with things 'disappearing' for lore reasons.
The bodies DON'T disappear, we just don't deal with them, usually.

For one of the main storyline quests, we schlep several bodies to a cart for disposal and burial.
For at least one of the Hildibrand quests, we follow a trail of corpses.
For that alchemist quest, that body was laying around for over five years, probably preserved since it was no worse for the wear. It 'dissolved' more or less for thematic reasons, possibly because it returned to the dust it should have been when it ran out of magical mischief to hold it together.

In short, the bodies hit the floor, the spirits within hit the door. Their 'spirit' would return to the aether, if nothing else. The body just gets buried or fed to the Ul'Dah refugees.

Nael Deus Darnus's body just totally dissipates into aether.