Others have probably already said what I’m about to say, or at least in close enough terms, but I’m a sucker for a lore thread so I thought I’d throw my two pennies in.

Q1:

I’ve not seen a solid lore reason why we respawn, though I am personally quite interested to read theories about it. There are plenty of them, from the magic of the bracelets to TEL being a purgatory, but I think it’s deliberately left vague (and will never be answered definitively) because it’s a game mechanic. It’s just one of those things the devs had to bite the bullet on, as it’s incredibly meta, and respawning is just such a natural part of games.

Q2:

Outside of age ratings and PR, my personal theory would be the harsh conditions. Even in the “nicer” areas of TEL, life is far from pleasant with the sandstorm, beasts, beating sun and vicious purges. Children could exist for sure, there’s no evidence that I’ve seen to indicate the slave bracelets prevent reproduction, but the deck is stacked incredibly high against the prospect of new and delicate life. There’s also the potential that children who do survive would want to leave TEL and find help for their relatives, a journey that most likely would not survive. I also don’t doubt that sorcerers would have some dark use for the blood of children.

On that note, it is worth noting that some sorcerer camps have interesting cauldrons, the one that jumps to mind is at Spinebreaker’s Flank. The cauldron is full of blood and tiny limbs, far too small to be an adult. Much like Q1, we’ll never get a solid answer because it would be “we don’t want to depict children alongside the game’s themes”, but the child-like limbs in the cauldron are perhaps a small hint at the fate of children in The Exiled Lands.

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