Bring out your dead! - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Bring out your dead!

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
Mar 30, 2006 13:17:12 Okay, after hunting through all 98 pages of posts, (@#%* non-working search function) I've decided to ask this bit of Fluff: How are burials, the dead, etc., handled in your games? Are they just buried in a cemetary/mausoleum/mass grave somewhere inside the city (outside would attract scavengers, which attract predators...), cremated (doubtful, because of the need to use the wood for more useful things), taken to a boneyard and knacked? (basically peeling the flesh and tissue off the skeleton)

In my game, it varies from place to place, of course, but here are a few:

Tyr, during Kalak's reign: The bodies of the poor were dropped in vats of acid and the skeletons were ground up to be mixed with the mud for the bricks used in building his ziggurat. Now, the bodies are laid to rest with the help of a Earth Priest or Fire, if the family wishes a cremation.

Gulg: They eat their dead in the belief that their wisdom, strength, whatever will help them in their life if they were elders, or just in respect should they be young (relatively). This is if the dying person didn't wish to wander into the forest and let whatever take place.

Balic: No-brainer here, the dead are laid to rest in catacombs beneath the city. The richer the family, the bigger your niche/mausoleum.

I'm curious as to what the rest of you do in your games... :D
#2
kalthandrix
Mar 30, 2006 13:42:42 Well- my group left the bodies of a few of their dead companions in a rented room in an inn because they had to excape Urik because of a huge fight that they were in that made it impossible to bring the dead anywhere.

The other time- they brought the body of their halfling ranger back to the inn they were staying in and the inn keeper (whom really like the group) told them that their friend would be taken care of with the honor he deserved, because once again the events conspired against the PC to have the time to do it themselves.
#3
zombiegleemax
Mar 30, 2006 15:06:34
Well- my group left the bodies of a few of their dead companions in a rented room in an inn because they had to excape Urik because of a huge fight that they were in that made it impossible to bring the dead anywhere.

The other time- they brought the body of their halfling ranger back to the inn they were staying in and the inn keeper (whom really like the group) told them that their friend would be taken care of with the honor he deserved, because once again the events conspired against the PC to have the time to do it themselves.

A meaner DM will have him served as a delicatesse to kreen customers.....

A tavern makes an intresting unusual burial ground.

given the nature of the setting I wont be surprised to see dead people used to concimate the daing soil of Athas....
Druid instead use defilers, preferibly buried alive.
#4
dirk00001
Mar 30, 2006 15:56:04 My guess would be that dead slaves are, when possible, chopped up and used in foodstuffs for beasts of burden, or possibly sold to arenas as feed for exotic creatures - nothing like getting your combat critters used to the taste of human flesh to make the fights more interesting. :D

As for others, Ablamar, I think your ideas are as good as any - it's dependant on culture and how wealthy they are. Whatever would be appropriate to the "equivalent" real-world civilization for that city would probably also be what they do.
#5
the_peacebringer
Mar 31, 2006 7:03:58
Gulg: They eat their dead in the belief that their wisdom, strength, whatever will help them in their life if they were elders, or just in respect should they be young (relatively). This is if the dying person didn't wish to wander into the forest and let whatever take place.

It acually depends on the element a particular People worships; pyres (fire and air), actual burial (earth), ashes scattered to the wind (air), watery mud burial grounds (water). I made it so that each of the 39 Peoples of Gulg have different ways; some walk out in the forest to die, some have to be buried in catacombs, some have to be brought to a special site in the mountains, some are sacrificed to the beast of the forest, etc. Yours'd be interesting, but I wouldn't use it for the whole population in my campaign. :D
#6
zombiegleemax
Mar 31, 2006 8:02:08
Yours'd be interesting, but I wouldn't use it for the whole population in my campaign. :D

True; they probably wouldn't be able to get super-size fries with it all the time. :D
#7
jon_oracle_of_athas
Mar 31, 2006 12:15:14 Raam has a crematorium, so cremation is at least one means of burial in said city.
#8
jon_oracle_of_athas
Mar 31, 2006 12:16:11 Pakk eats Korgunard´s body to achieve what is described in another post for Gulgs, so I would make that a halfling tradition of some tribes. Mind you, this would not apply to halfling dead. Recall the background story of Lokee - he did the unforgivable - to eat halfling flesh. Whether this differs from tribe to tribe is another matter, but the source material does not say so.
#9
pringles
Mar 31, 2006 13:02:08 In my campaign, the slave are just pilled up in the desert to be eaten by the carrino and animals. Noble,templar and merchant are buried in mausoileum, cimetary,buriqal catacomb, depend on wich city state.

As for the dead PC

- One (an elf mage/thief/psionist) was killed during the big gladiator game in Tyr and his body was thrown in a pit in the stadium catacomb were they throw all the dead gladiator. The PC had to sneak in these catacomb to recover the body so they can raise him from the dead. They had to fight the critter who lived in the pit.

- Another (a ranger half-elf) who died at the hand of Balican Templar was simply thrown in the silt in the city canal. Her body is impossible to find.

- Another (an half-elf ranger/thief) was pulled under the sand by an Ant Lion, in the alluvian sand waste south of Tyr, so they never recoreved his body.

- Another (a drawen fighter/fire cleric) was petrified by a Basilic very far north of Raam, and the PC had to escape, so he was eated by the Basilic. The reason why theyhad to left in a hurry? He changed into a banshee.

- Another (elf fighter/thief), was executed for thievery, by Kalak templar during the construction of the ziggourat. He's body was first exposed for exemple during ten day, hanged on a pole in the market rotting in the sun, and then buried in a dead-slave trench with hundred of other dead slave, near the big slave pound.

- Only one player-character had a decent burial. Its the elf mage/thief/psionist who got killed by a So'ut after being half-dissolved by his acid. My player buried him with all his belonging (including magical item) under a giant statue of himself near Loepoldus south (for the statue, they used craft skill and Stone to mud spell multiple time). The burial got looted by my recuring vilain later in the campaign, and the players got very angry.
#10
squidfur-
Mar 31, 2006 20:39:53 Hah!!!! I knew there was a thread on this.....

you can get some ideas from here: http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=567039

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Mar 30, 2006 13:17:12	Okay, after hunting through all 98 pages of posts, (@#%* non-working search function) I've decided to ask this bit of Fluff: How are burials, the dead, etc., handled in your games? Are they just buried in a cemetary/mausoleum/mass grave somewhere inside the city (outside would attract scavengers, which attract predators...), cremated (doubtful, because of the need to use the wood for more useful things), taken to a boneyard and knacked? (basically peeling the flesh and tissue off the skeleton) In my game, it varies from place to place, of course, but here are a few: Tyr, during Kalak's reign: The bodies of the poor were dropped in vats of acid and the skeletons were ground up to be mixed with the mud for the bricks used in building his ziggurat. Now, the bodies are laid to rest with the help of a Earth Priest or Fire, if the family wishes a cremation. Gulg: They eat their dead in the belief that their wisdom, strength, whatever will help them in their life if they were elders, or just in respect should they be young (relatively). This is if the dying person didn't wish to wander into the forest and let whatever take place. Balic: No-brainer here, the dead are laid to rest in catacombs beneath the city. The richer the family, the bigger your niche/mausoleum. I'm curious as to what the rest of you do in your games... :D
#2 kalthandrix Mar 30, 2006 13:42:42	Well- my group left the bodies of a few of their dead companions in a rented room in an inn because they had to excape Urik because of a huge fight that they were in that made it impossible to bring the dead anywhere. The other time- they brought the body of their halfling ranger back to the inn they were staying in and the inn keeper (whom really like the group) told them that their friend would be taken care of with the honor he deserved, because once again the events conspired against the PC to have the time to do it themselves.
#3 zombiegleemax Mar 30, 2006 15:06:34	Well- my group left the bodies of a few of their dead companions in a rented room in an inn because they had to excape Urik because of a huge fight that they were in that made it impossible to bring the dead anywhere. The other time- they brought the body of their halfling ranger back to the inn they were staying in and the inn keeper (whom really like the group) told them that their friend would be taken care of with the honor he deserved, because once again the events conspired against the PC to have the time to do it themselves. A meaner DM will have him served as a delicatesse to kreen customers..... A tavern makes an intresting unusual burial ground. given the nature of the setting I wont be surprised to see dead people used to concimate the daing soil of Athas.... Druid instead use defilers, preferibly buried alive.
#4 dirk00001 Mar 30, 2006 15:56:04	My guess would be that dead slaves are, when possible, chopped up and used in foodstuffs for beasts of burden, or possibly sold to arenas as feed for exotic creatures - nothing like getting your combat critters used to the taste of human flesh to make the fights more interesting. :D As for others, Ablamar, I think your ideas are as good as any - it's dependant on culture and how wealthy they are. Whatever would be appropriate to the "equivalent" real-world civilization for that city would probably also be what they do.
#5 the_peacebringer Mar 31, 2006 7:03:58	Gulg: They eat their dead in the belief that their wisdom, strength, whatever will help them in their life if they were elders, or just in respect should they be young (relatively). This is if the dying person didn't wish to wander into the forest and let whatever take place. It acually depends on the element a particular People worships; pyres (fire and air), actual burial (earth), ashes scattered to the wind (air), watery mud burial grounds (water). I made it so that each of the 39 Peoples of Gulg have different ways; some walk out in the forest to die, some have to be buried in catacombs, some have to be brought to a special site in the mountains, some are sacrificed to the beast of the forest, etc. Yours'd be interesting, but I wouldn't use it for the whole population in my campaign. :D
#6 zombiegleemax Mar 31, 2006 8:02:08	Yours'd be interesting, but I wouldn't use it for the whole population in my campaign. :D True; they probably wouldn't be able to get super-size fries with it all the time. :D
#7 jon_oracle_of_athas Mar 31, 2006 12:15:14	Raam has a crematorium, so cremation is at least one means of burial in said city.
#8 jon_oracle_of_athas Mar 31, 2006 12:16:11	Pakk eats Korgunard´s body to achieve what is described in another post for Gulgs, so I would make that a halfling tradition of some tribes. Mind you, this would not apply to halfling dead. Recall the background story of Lokee - he did the unforgivable - to eat halfling flesh. Whether this differs from tribe to tribe is another matter, but the source material does not say so.
#9 pringles Mar 31, 2006 13:02:08	In my campaign, the slave are just pilled up in the desert to be eaten by the carrino and animals. Noble,templar and merchant are buried in mausoileum, cimetary,buriqal catacomb, depend on wich city state. As for the dead PC - One (an elf mage/thief/psionist) was killed during the big gladiator game in Tyr and his body was thrown in a pit in the stadium catacomb were they throw all the dead gladiator. The PC had to sneak in these catacomb to recover the body so they can raise him from the dead. They had to fight the critter who lived in the pit. - Another (a ranger half-elf) who died at the hand of Balican Templar was simply thrown in the silt in the city canal. Her body is impossible to find. - Another (an half-elf ranger/thief) was pulled under the sand by an Ant Lion, in the alluvian sand waste south of Tyr, so they never recoreved his body. - Another (a drawen fighter/fire cleric) was petrified by a Basilic very far north of Raam, and the PC had to escape, so he was eated by the Basilic. The reason why theyhad to left in a hurry? He changed into a banshee. - Another (elf fighter/thief), was executed for thievery, by Kalak templar during the construction of the ziggourat. He's body was first exposed for exemple during ten day, hanged on a pole in the market rotting in the sun, and then buried in a dead-slave trench with hundred of other dead slave, near the big slave pound. - Only one player-character had a decent burial. Its the elf mage/thief/psionist who got killed by a So'ut after being half-dissolved by his acid. My player buried him with all his belonging (including magical item) under a giant statue of himself near Loepoldus south (for the statue, they used craft skill and Stone to mud spell multiple time). The burial got looted by my recuring vilain later in the campaign, and the players got very angry.
#10 squidfur- Mar 31, 2006 20:39:53	Hah!!!! I knew there was a thread on this..... you can get some ideas from here: http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=567039