Death and Resurrection
Death is apparently something universal to all of the various worlds, though not necessarily in the same way. For instance, to the denizens of Undersea, death is seen as part of a cycle where the soul is simply reborn into a new individual, where as in the Rock of Storms the souls of those dead who are found worthy by the Storm Father are brought to the Rainbow Hall. To be clear, whatever your conceptions of how death worked in the world you came from, the laws governing such there do not apply here.
Within the Forest, the souls of the dead (i.e., the ephemeral spirit of a person which transcends death) leaves the body a short time after the body has ceased to live. There are some healing techniques which can restore a body to life before the spirit leaves, but such usually requires a large amount of skill in the healing arts as well as the use of a specialized device, such as a rejuvenator. However, once the spirit leaves the body of the slain, even this miraculous ability cannot bring someone back.
From here, the spirit travels to the gatekeeper, an entity who guards and manages the gates of "hell," which is part of the afterlife of the Forest. However, apparently hell is filled to capacity, and thus newly arrived spirits are not able to enter. This may be a good thing, as hell is apparently not a desirable place to be. There is supposedly a second "final destination" of the dead, a so-called paradise, but the way to enter into it has been lost for the time being. Thus, the souls of the dead are unable to enter the afterlife within the Forest, and they are forced to wander the Forest as spirits. This means, however, that the spirits of the recently deceased can be found and brought back to life, but also means there are dire consequences if such does not occur.
The ancient city of Un was very powerful in many ways, and had developed a way to bring the dead back to life if the spirit could be found in time. The means by which they were able to do this was by using a large stone tablet which could channel magical energies and use them to place a spirit back into a deceased body or, amazingly enough, even re-create the body of a deceased spirit to inhabit once again in regained life. Unlike the practices of some darker powers, this process does not create "undead" or corrupted beings, but rather is a form of true resurrection to actual life and vitality. However, it has been told to us by the Gatekeeper that any given individual can only be brought back to life so many times.
A note to those from the Enchanted Glade. Unlike in the Glade, Fairies can indeed die permanently if you "wink" too often within the forest. Fairies apparently do not require the use of the tablet to be brought back, as they do indeed wink in a similar fashion to how it works in their home realm, but doing so does have its eventual consequences. Also, apparently Fairies do not speak with the Gatekeeper when they die, but instead speak with the Gardener. I myself do not have much information on this.
The main point: don’t die while in the Forest if you can help it. If you are overwhelmed, a commonly held rule by many in the town is the adage "die loud." If you call attention to yourself, you have a better chance of the rest of the town finding you and perhaps treating you before the body dies or the spirit leaves the body.
-Sir Talon