Gnosis Afterlife, Death, And Reincarnation Wiki

Documentation Freshness (2026-04-19)

• This page has been reviewed against the current terminal/server build and the latest portal documentation surfaces.
• For exact live catalogs and tuning values, use the source-driven portal compendiums:
  • /bestiary
  • /spell-omnibus
  • /technique-omnibus
  • /item-omnibus
  • /recipe-omnibus
• In-game references are available through the W wiki menu (including generated spell/component compendiums).
• World/floor map reference is in-game via P; the website map page is intentionally hidden.
• Multiplayer host/deployment details live in docs/multiplayer_server_wiki.md and docs/server_portal_setup.md.

Current Build Delta (2026-04-19)

• Deep floors now have a depth-scaled chance to spawn Lizard Kingdom Gates (FeatureLizardKingdomGate).
• Using a Lizard Kingdom Gate enters Lizard Kingdom side sites (SiteLizardKingdom) with lizard society-biased populations.
• Lizard Kingdom floors use dedicated cave themes (Outer Warrens -> Royal Sinkhalls) and integrate with map/examine/senses/clairvoyance text.
• This update is live in terminal mode and server mode; hosted clients inherit the behavior from the game build.

This is the implementation-level reference for death flow, corpse persistence, afterlife combat, and reincarnation in the current Go terminal build.

1. Death Pipeline

When the vessel hits 0 HP, the game runs this sequence:

1. Check for an equipped phylactery (Soul Phylactery or base type phylactery).
2. If phylactery exists, it shatters and prevents death once.
3. Otherwise:
4. Stand is dismissed.
5. SoulState.Deaths increments.
6. SoulState.Tether decrements.
7. Current bound Aeons are remembered (RememberedBind).
8. Corpse anchor is created (region/floor/position/items/obols/body descriptor).
9. Death is recorded in chronicle history.
10. Soul is moved into afterlife mode.

2. Phylactery Death Prevention

If the equipped charm slot holds a phylactery:

• death is cancelled
• HP is restored to roughly half (minimum 1)
• stamina and focus are partially restored
• bleeding/sleep/unconscious are cleared
• ward and quick-turn buffer are granted
• phylactery item is consumed

This does not grant immortality; it is a one-time save per item.

3. Corpse Anchors And Recovery

On true death, a corpse anchor is persisted:

• exact site/floor/tile
• full inventory clone
• obol amount
• vessel descriptor

If the floor is loaded, corpse tiles and dropped items are materialized immediately. Otherwise they appear when that world is loaded later.

Recovered corpse anchors are marked as retrieved in soul state.

4. Afterlife Chain Construction

Afterlife chains are built from the Noss library:

• standard chain: 3 judges
• final trial chain: 4 judges
• grand trial chain: full 72 judges

Soul-side HP and judge stats scale from:

• soul echo
• persistent insight/memory
• vessel-derived effective stats at death
• current depth tier context

Known true names are injected per encounter (KnownName), enabling instant dismissal.

5. Afterlife Combat Controls

Inside afterlife mode:

• a: strike
• f: soul-shot
• G: guard (ward gain)
• H: parry stance
• Z: spell-parry ward stance
• n: speak known true name (instant win for that judge)
• z: cast known rites/formulas in soul combat
• F: open favorite spells
• x: open the forget-spells menu
• w: writing spells to scrolls is not exposed here; it requires a material vessel

Spell cooldowns are tracked in afterlife state separately from living-world cooldowns.

6. Name Dismissal Rules

If current judge true name is known:

• speaking it (n) instantly resolves that encounter
• event is recorded as noss_named

If unknown:

• you must defeat through attacks/guard/spells
• event is recorded as noss_slain on win

7. Win/Loss Outcomes

Clearing a non-grand chain

• AfterlifeWins increments
• Echo increments by +1
• if it was final-trial state, tether resets to 1
• reincarnation occurs at floor 1 of selected return site
• remembered Aeon bindings are restored to new vessel
• rewards: obols and a bandage

Failing a non-final chain

• soul is reincarnated, but with failure history recorded

Failing final trial or grand trial

• triggers full game over (Final Death)

Clearing grand trial (Seventy-Two)

• triggers game win (Escape)
• mode switches to game-over victory state with final record

8. Final Gate And Seventy-Two Trial

Final gate eligibility in current build:

• at least 12 known Noss names
• sufficient depth progression to open final site linkage

The final world is level/floor 9999 (The Seventy-Two Seals).

Dying there launches the grand afterlife trial (72 judges). Clearing all is the hard win condition.

9. Persistence Matrix

Persists across reincarnation:

• soul stats/progression (Echo, Insight, Memory, skills, knowledge)
• known names, known spells/components/tables/forms/elements
• favorite spells/formulas
• spell-scroll writing is not part of afterlife persistence; only the learned spell is
• chronicle history and corpse anchors
• remembered long-term progression carry (level/perk/feat/stat alloc, stand progression state)

Resets per vessel:

• immediate run inventory and tactical state
• body condition for the newly rolled vessel
• active bound Aeons (temporarily reset on reincarnation, then restored after afterlife clear via remembered bind)

10. Related Modules

• internal/game/game.go (death handling, corpse anchors, reincarnate)
• internal/game/afterlife.go (chain build, afterlife combat, victory/failure)
• internal/game/endgame.go (final gate and level-9999 world conditions)
• internal/game/save.go (full persistence for soul/afterlife/corpse state)