Where do you go when you die?

Question

Following in the line of this question, I know quite a bit about V:TM, W:TA, M:TA, and Mummy, but sadly I have almost no knowledge of the rest.

What happens to the spirit/soul of oWOD creatures (including humans) when they die?

What I understand so far:

• For vampires, it's a simple "game over." (Though I've seen some discussions that they do have souls, so they could continue the journey somewhere.)
• Mummies will resurrect after a while, after spending some time with Apophis.
• Shapeshifters as I understand have their own "paradise for heroes" (Legendary realm, if my memory is right) and in some cases they can guide or even reincarnate in their offspring (Ancestors/Pure Breed traits).
• Mages die as humans do, but theirs Avatar might reincarnate with another mage

What about the rest?

Answer 1

Most of the rest of the World of Darkness creatures are in some respects or other human beings, and the deaths of humans, as described in Wraith: the Oblivion, leads to nonexistence, either through transcendence or oblivion. Those who have reasons or will enough to keep existing after that may become wraiths — see the aforementioned WtO — or otherwise remain as denizens of the Shadowlands.

Mages die as people do, although their Avatar shards return to the cycle and become attached to new humans with the possibility of awakening.

When it comes to changelings, the Sluagh book puts forward a theory that the Faerie soul reincarnates through the Changeling Way, reforming time after time in different kiths until, finally, one ends up as a sluagh in one's last lifetime. This is thought to be the result of unreliable narration, as it's not backed up in other books.

Answer 2

In no particular order, this is what happens when a *splat dies in WoD.

The following creatures simply cease to exist, or in rare circumstances become a Wraith (see Wraith: the Oblivion for when a mortal becomes a wraith).

• Ghouls
• Revnants
• Dhampirs
• Garou Kinfolk
• Sorcerers
• Mediums
• Psychics
• Kinain
• Gypsies
• Thralls
• All other Mortals
• Vampires
• Imbued

We do have some special cases to deal with.

• Mages - Like any other mortal, their conscience soul ceases to exist (or become a wraith), their avatars are recycled and bound to a new mortal.
• Garou/Fera - 'Legendary Realm' (likely a layer under the Shadowlands)
• Changeling - reincarnate (most) or cease to exist (High Sidhe and in the Dreaming)
  • unless it was a Selkie, who are special.
• Wraith - Cease to exist/eternity as an ashtray
• Kuei-jin - Return to Yomi (where they are very similar or identical to Wraiths). They may attempt to take another Second Breath from Yomi.
• Risen - Do not technically die, as they were already dead. The Wraith returns to the Shadowlands.
• Mummy - Spends time in the Shadowlands before returning to a mortal body.
• Demons - Body dies, the demon finds a new body, or descends to the Abyss.

Answer 3

Just to supplement for the Changelings: the individual Changeling, as in, the combination of fae soul A and mortal human B does die, yes, but as for what happens to the fae souls:

• Those fae who are regular Changelings reincarnate in a different mortal. (Though the soul could be lost if the Changeling died somewhere in the Dreaming off the Silver Path.) Since usually not all memories are kept, and either way there is a new human part of the soul coming up, while the core of the fae does remain the same, the new Changeling will be a somewhat different person. However, beyond the weird Sluagh theory mentioned above, there is no mention of changing Kith when reincarnating that I know of. I.e., once a Troll, always a Troll.
• The majority of the Sidhe, i.e. everyone who didn't adopt the Changeling Way back in the Renaissance, but retreated to Arcadia instead, do not reincarnate. Their souls fly out in a blaze of glory - where to, nobody knows, but presumably back to Arcadia.

I honestly don't know whether the human part of the dead Changeling could stay on as a Wraith oblivious to its previous Changeling existence, i.e. with memories only of the human part of its life. I presume it's theoretically possible, but highly unlikely. (Any proof of this or otherwise would be welcome!)

Hope this helps! If any of this was changed in C20, I'd be happy to find out, I'm still running the old versions, with only occasional introductions from the 20s.