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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hellcow" data-source="post: 1974808" data-attributes="member: 15800">And yet, what I'm saying is, what does "obliterated" mean? As the person who wrote that sentence, the point I was trying to make was primarily mechanical: it means that it cannot be communicated with. It means it cannot be returned from the dead. For all game purposes, it is gone. But for theological and spiritual purposes, who knows?  Why should it have an effect on the original soul? It's entirely clear that the personality of the original soul is gone forever (see "obliterated"). But that doesn't stop the Taerans from feeling that it has been fused into the soul of the hero - that it can't be commuinicated with or resurrected because it is part of the hero. First off, you assume she KNOWS what is going to happen to the girl. As I've said, I see no reason the Taerans would have given any thought to the fate of the souls of the orb-bearers other than that they are going on to a reward. The girl has chosen to take the orb, which is what the orb is used to dealing with - she's had many willing hosts in the past. She's promised the girl adventure, and that's what she'll get - a chance to participate in an adventure that will reshape the world. Again, from the Taeran point of view, this is a tremendous honor - you get to shape the destiny of the entire world! We can argue about the word "obliterated", but bear in mind that the TAERANS have never read page 80 of Seven Civilizations - and I see no reason that they would view things in those terms. Turning back to the ethics class example, does it make a difference if a healthy person volunteers to give his life to save thousands (remember, they believe that their actions safeguard entire future generations)? That's what the Taerans are used to dealing with: volunteers. The idea that they have to deal with unwilling hosts is entirely new and alien to them, and it's when you are dealing with an unwilling host that the fate of the soul becomes more of a concern. So certainly, I think the idea that some Taerans might question their actions in the modern day is an interesting one to explore. As for the paladin listed in the book, he's inhabiting the body of an evil creature, so yes, he believes that the destruction of the host is a good thing (you can argue that the destruction of a soul - even that of an evil monster - is never a good thing, but then we're back to whether he has any knowledge or way of proving that the soul is being destroyed). Anyhow, the request was made for me to explain my thoughts in writing it, and there they are. The host's personality is certainly lost. And for game purposes, the soul is lost - there is no way to recover it or communicate with it once the transformation is complete. But I see no reason that the Taerans would be aware of this fact. If you feel that nonetheless, this mere form of existence would make them evil, by all means, make them evil. But the point is that they are going to continue to try to do good: battling the forces of evil in the world and trying to overcome other forms of social injustice. So good or evil, it comes back to the fact that good people can unwittingly do evil, and evil people can do good.</blockquote>

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