In EG II you would receive a Fallen helmet thing. A horned and red helmet it was, without eyes. It'd give you a huge strength boost, which resulted in turn for a health boost, thus prolonging the time you have left before being stuck with 0 strength, and giving you a slight advantage in battle for the time being. Since I never played a dead character for so long (I always started over after smothering my murderers) so I wouldn't know what happened at 0 strength. I do know that you would get fallen ones in your party to help you with your revenge.