A Death Point is received every time a player dies. Death points are removed after a set period of time (up to 28 hours) or by consuming Food. If a player accumulates too many Death Points, a Death Penalty is applied.
The length of a death point is tied to your potential rating. Potential rating is calculated by what your Adventurer rating would be if you were currently gaining experience in your highest level school. Beginning at level 10, the death point will last 8 hours. It will gain 4 hours for each Tier beyond (12, 16, ...) to a maximum of 28 hours.
Even for the Gifted, death has consquences...