Soylent Green?

[Inks]

What is the general populace's view on consuming the corpses of the dead? I know it's taboo but is it totally illegal? Seems practical and even necessary in some areas, where food is scarce and people will fight over a dead rat.

Would love some feedback.

[Riev]

I'd bet if you asked the right people, they'd turn it into something nice, and pay you for the effort.

[BleakOne]

The poorest of the poor do it out of desperation, a few do it out of twisted desire, and some races do it for cultural or racial reasons.

So yes, cannabalism happens. In fact, it's even codedly possible.

Allanakis would consider it distasteful, I'd think, but would understand that sometimes circumstance could drive you to it. Sort of like eating rats, leaving the gates, or dealing with elves - you don't want to do it, but you do if you absolutely have to.

Tulukis would likely not consider it, or speak of it. Food is more plentiful in the north, and to resort to such measures is obviously crude and barbaric.

Some tribals might have cultural ceremonies which include it. Others would abhor it.

[gfair]

What's the Zalanthan term for long pig?  In addition to some Zalanthan cultures being known for their cannibalism, I'm willing to bet the desperate have more than once cooked up some of their own species, or similar.

The weak are meat, an' the strong do eat!

[Inks]

Codedly possible? But you can't go all Reijek Hidesman and skin corpse, although I havn't tried so I could be wrong. So you don't have to wish up if you are eating a body to survive/ etc?

[LauraMars]

The weak are meat, an' the strong do eat!

One fine day a predatory world shall consume itself.

[Fredd]

What's the Zalanthan term for long pig?  In addition to some Zalanthan cultures being known for their cannibalism, I'm willing to bet the desperate have more than once cooked up some of their own species, or similar.

The weak are meat, an' the strong do eat!

Nakki Goudra.

[HavokBlue]

The poorest of the poor do it out of desperation, a few do it out of twisted desire, and some races do it for cultural or racial reasons.

So yes, cannabalism happens. In fact, it's even codedly possible.

Allanakis would consider it distasteful, I'd think, but would understand that sometimes circumstance could drive you to it. Sort of like eating rats, leaving the gates, or dealing with elves - you don't want to do it, but you do if you absolutely have to.

Tulukis would likely not consider it, or speak of it. Food is more plentiful in the north, and to resort to such measures is obviously crude and barbaric.

Some tribals might have cultural ceremonies which include it. Others would abhor it.

It's not codedly possible without special apping or staff-spawned food items.

In the North, it would probably be considered subhuman and barbaric.

If I were upper-crust in the south, I'd be repulsed by cannibalism, and unsettled by what it portends. As we've seen before, widespread cannibalism amongst the lower class can and has occured in Allanak.

In the Labyrinth, it's probably pretty common, but the one time I played a Rinthi cannibal, I was treated like the worst psionicist sorceror mul to ever exist so... your mileage may vary.

I imagine desert elves would probably be revolted by it and associate it with the gith.

[Inks]

Really appreciate all the feedback guys, that was weird to be treated like that in the rinth considering stuff. Meat's meat when you can keep your kids alive for another day. Plus couldn't be any fresher.

[tiptoe]

It's not codedly possible without special apping or staff-spawned food items.

In the North, it would probably be considered subhuman and barbaric.

If I were upper-crust in the south, I'd be repulsed by cannibalism, and unsettled by what it portends. As we've seen before, widespread cannibalism amongst the lower class can and has occured in Allanak.

In the Labyrinth, it's probably pretty common, but the one time I played a Rinthi cannibal, I was treated like the worst psionicist sorceror mul to ever exist so... your mileage may vary.

I imagine desert elves would probably be revolted by it and associate it with the gith.

Some d-elf tribes actually eat the hearts of their fallen tribe mates. Some eat(ate) the hearts of their enemies, too, I believe. But munching on someone's arm would probably be less accepted.

I can imagine in the North cannibalism would be associated with halflings (though halflings only ate OTHER races), and probably have more negative connotations.

[Bluefae]

Really appreciate all the feedback guys, that was weird to be treated like that in the rinth considering stuff. Meat's meat when you can keep your kids alive for another day. Plus couldn't be any fresher.

     ^May be new, but gets the game spot-on.

     By the way, Inks, you warmed the cockles of my black heart with the "couldn't be any fresher" observation.  Thanks. 

[BleakOne]

Codedly possible as in you can wish up, and there's actual physical objects of human meat. 

Just like how you can de-limb corpses with a bit of staff help.

[jigglypuffs]

Really appreciate all the feedback guys, that was weird to be treated like that in the rinth considering stuff. Meat's meat when you can keep your kids alive for another day. Plus couldn't be any fresher.

If you ask me, it's not terribly weird, considering both the effects on the society and the body of the consumer. Even in countries with famines killing large portions of population, e.g. the 1990 North Korean famine or the Ukrainian 1932 famine, this practice was very much looked down upon, not solely due to traditional distaste for eating human meat, but the ramifications of you acquiring it. You would essentially have two options, killing someone for the purpose of getting their meat, which is essentially murder and is dealt with rather harshly in every society, or eating someone who has passed away for other reasons. If you don't get killed by the friends and family of whoever you've killed in the former version, you would probably die from whatever killed the individual your character consumed in the latter. Ignoring such exotics as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, essentially you would be willingly infecting yourself with every contagious disease and parasite the host might have. While it is obvious that medicine is fairly primitive in Zalanthas, this is the sort of thing people have figured out quite some time ago in the real world.

I know that the 'rinth is supposed to be this harsh and unforgiving place, but, let's face it, if everybody was killing each other on a daily basis as some might imply, it would simply die out rather promptly. It's not a sustainable model for any society for a longer period of time.

About the only group in which I could see cannibalism occur would be tribals and only those who have their elders propagating this practice for purely ritualistic purposes. Even so, if you look at the cultures that have sprung up across the globe you would find that only a very tiny fraction took up the practice.

EDIT: Actually, to amend that, there could be some secretive, ritualistic cannibalism within the City States as well. There could well be some cannibal cult.

[Inks]

Oh god, character ideas flooding my mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFDgSKbapzY

By the way, Inks, you warmed the cockles of my black heart with the "couldn't be any fresher" observation.  Thanks.  

I love you too, new friend.  

EDIT TO ADD: Bluefae your sig is ridiculously relevant and amazing.

[musashi]

What's the Zalanthan term for long pig?  In addition to some Zalanthan cultures being known for their cannibalism, I'm willing to bet the desperate have more than once cooked up some of their own species, or similar.

The weak are meat, an' the strong do eat!

Soft scrab.

[AreteX]

I have had a character eat pieces of someone before.

Things happen in the 'Rinth.

[Fujikoma]

More fun bugs... Well, folded proteins...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuru_%28disease%29

Course if you don't eat the brain, imagine you might be ok.

[AreteX]

More fun bugs... Well, folded proteins...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuru_%28disease%29

Course if you don't eat the brain, imagine you might be ok.

Every prion is just really bad

Mad Cow disease and all of that.  I don't know if many of them are curable.

[Fredd]

What's the Zalanthan term for long pig?  In addition to some Zalanthan cultures being known for their cannibalism, I'm willing to bet the desperate have more than once cooked up some of their own species, or similar.

The weak are meat, an' the strong do eat!

Soft scrab.

I still like Nakki Goudra.

[Morrolan]

More fun bugs... Well, folded proteins...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuru_%28disease%29

Course if you don't eat the brain, imagine you might be ok.

As mentioned in the article, those who clean (skin corpse or craft head into tasty brains) the dead are actually much more likely to suffer prion infection than those who simply eat the brain.

[musashi]

I still like Nakki Goudra.

Doesn't roll off the tongue.

[Kismetic]

I still like Nakki Goudra.

Doesn't roll off the tongue.

Oy, soft scrab has that je ne sais quoi.

[Fredd]

I still like Nakki Goudra.

Doesn't roll off the tongue.

Oy, soft scrab has that je ne sais quoi.

Bah. Everyones a critic.

[DustMight]

I could see this as some 'naki noble's secret fetish.  Or semi-secret fetish. 

[Bluefae]

By the way, Inks, you warmed the cockles of my black heart with the "couldn't be any fresher" observation.  Thanks.  

I love you too, new friend.  

EDIT TO ADD: Bluefae your sig is ridiculously relevant and amazing.

     Why thank you, Inks.  That quote has continued to inspire me for many years now.

     As to the prevalence of cannibalism, I think it would vary quite a bit from place to place.  Recall that in Zalanthas, there is no "inherent dignity of the individual" undercurrent, so I personally believe many of the objections to why it wouldn't be practiced fall by the wayside.  As to catching infectious diseases, if we're talking the 'rinth here, I don't know that that would dissuade someone who is literally wasting away.  On the other hand, I agree that it couldn't be that common, or as our poke-commentator Jigglypuffs rightly pointed out, the whole thing would have auto-cannibalized itself to oblivion at some point (mm, auto-cannibalism, now there's a word that just doesn't get enough play).

     From a more thematic perspective, I think the idea of eating someone else to sustain yourself is kind of the ultimate expression of the (pun unavoidable) "dog-eat-dog" world we're attempting to portray here.  Arm. isn't always Low Fantasy, but it almost is Dark Fantasy, and for the most part, we like that.

[Bluefae]

I still like Nakki Goudra.

Doesn't roll off the tongue.

Oy, soft scrab has that je ne sais quoi.

Oi, don't tease!  And brilliant man + romance language = teasing.  Just so you know.

To expand on the above post, I can totally see some 'rinthi getting his/her "munch on" around 'Nak's corpse pile.  For the "middle class" and up, this would likely be met with revulsion, and yet more "proof" of the degeneracy of their lessers ('cause everyone in a hierarchy likes to have someone under them).  

[Maso]

I've always been a bit bummed you couldn't skin humanoid corpses.

Humans eating elves and vice versa...isn't really cannibalism anyway.

We can check all real world diseases (and the various ways of obtaining them) at the door. Cannibalism may or may not have physiological consequences in Zalanthas, but we can't speculate on that without having actually experienced it IG. I'm sure the staff would let us know if we ever...needed to know.

[Tyas]

I have eaten other players -- all kinds of other weird things too!

What ended up happening though is I had to talk about it to other people in-game for a long time. The urge that drove me to carry through with it, to think of it in my character as the only viable option, is rather sickly. If you actually do this for fun and come off without any repercussion, well, I could not fully understand. Because after I went through with it, there was a whole period where my character sought out immediate and long-term therapy, and was completely whacked out for some while. I think it was about roughly a few weeks of gameplay.

What I can say is that these events did force me into the character, or some other strange part of my brain. It is an interesting place to open up to. A whole different way of reasoning. But... Fuck that. Eating my own species on Arm was the breaking point in many ways. I second think, absolutely every time that I ever have to kill or -even- eat any living thing after this had happened. I never had cared about that.

The Staff had messaged me before regarding Suicide after all my characters were having this strong tendency. And, as sort being still a NEW player who has been through eating other 'someones' and killing themselves too (emotionally and physically) -- as it seems none of you have? -- Cannibalism was absolutely that much worse.

On a lighter note. My love to all the players out there! Muah 

[MeTekillot]

well

that got really heavy really fucking quickly

[Tyas]

I've always been a bit bummed you couldn't skin humanoid corpses.

Come to be hearing some of this sort of vibe in this thread. I wanted to give some insight on what it was actually like for me when this happened. Also, I am not for this being possible in the our hands, but necessary to have to be Wishing up like said earlier in here.

If you are not really emoting and feeling what you are doing, you should not be doing it in the first place. A good example is killing children in-game. People do this all the time. <kill cloaked figure>

<kill child> Would this be be any different for you? And somewhere in me as a player, I do not feel as if they are imaging what they are actually doing for this reason. And why I feel obligated to bury every fucking one instead of passing it by.

When I first started playing I had killed something similar. It was fine because I had done it with someone else. And was busy talking with them, not thinking we were really doing, and being goofy about it. Later as I desperately needed to do it to survive, and while I was alone, it was this completely other experience.

Also, simply carrying around corpses for me is all different from people who simply <get corpse> When I usually have an emote to cut into it and get out the 'water weight'. Which all of you must be doing anyway. Twinks (jk). I had done this on my first PC when I was only just being shown the ropes. And I was very young in age too. It was just obvious. Nowadays, I prefer to not touch corpses for this reason. Recalling what I myself had to do.

<skin> Oops. Okay, fine, it turned into food. Going to go cook this now. Dah Tah Daaah!

I would not want people to be cooking and eating other people without at the very least having to emote it out.

Alas! not that I am against doing anything on Arm. Simply that light subjects do deserve light responses, and then visa versa. Or else it is out of place.

Soylent Green is a great film by the way. I remember it was Potaje that had initially posted about it, recommending it a while back, which is why I ended up watching the film, and in the end, coming into this thread. Thank you, Potaje!

Also, I can't believe I would be the only one here to chime in with real personal experiences on the matter?

....Am I all alone....  (Where are the halfling players? Is this a Myth? Did they never exist?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2v7mT8bKco

On a side note, am only quite 'light-heartedly' speculating at the moment. The situation is what it is though, and maybe why MeTekillot got (possibly) a bad/heavy vibe from me. Hope everyone understands this, and is not going to be taking me at a fault for ruining anything here. I do care about my fellow Armers and is obviously the reason for why I have posted. Regret posting now kind of.

Muah ha haah!!! 

[Kismetic]

Regret posting now kind of.

Nah, don't.

[slipshod]

As has been mentioned, some tribal cultures could develop unique views on cannibalism, such as gaining the vitality of a deceased loved one (or a defeated enemy).  

During times of extreme famine in Allanak, the people did begin to resort to cannibalism.  I think it would only ever really happen in civilized Zalanthan societies as a result of great desperation.  Even then, it would not be something anyone was proud of or willing to embrace as a new normal, with vendors on the street selling human-kebobs.  Aside from the lone freak with a deranged mind, I don't see cannibalism being viewed as an acceptable behavior in any major settlement.

There are some sad accounts from the Crusades, when the Christian forces launched long sieges without proper rations, and had to resort to eating their own dead.  In those cases their desperation eclipsed their religious belief that cannibalism was sinful, but they were ashamed and disgusted and did not speak of it after returning to Europe.  Alfred Packer and the Donner party are other more recent examples of desperate parties caught out in the wilderness and turning to cannibalism as a last resort.
(On a sidenote, the Albigensian Crusade was launched by the Church against the Cathars - a Christian sect in Europe.  One of the beliefs the Cathars held which was considered a heretical deviation from official Church doctrine was reincarnation.  The Cathars were vegetarians then, not because they cared more about animals but because they could never be sure if the beast they were slaughtering was just a beast on its first life or a dead Christian reincarnated as a cow or pig, and they would not risk "cannibalizing" a fellow Christian.)

Edit:  I noticed above someone mentioned carrying a corpse around.  Did you know one of the punishments for murder in ancient Rome was having the body of the person you killed strapped to the front of your body, and you had to walk around with their decomposing corpse attached to you for several days?!

[MeTekillot]

Has Tyas actually killed and ate a person or does he just get really into character because I can't tell

[musashi]

Really appreciate all the feedback guys, that was weird to be treated like that in the rinth considering stuff. Meat's meat when you can keep your kids alive for another day. Plus couldn't be any fresher.

If you ask me, it's not terribly weird, considering both the effects on the society and the body of the consumer. Even in countries with famines killing large portions of population, e.g. the 1990 North Korean famine or the Ukrainian 1932 famine, this practice was very much looked down upon, not solely due to traditional distaste for eating human meat, but the ramifications of you acquiring it. You would essentially have two options, killing someone for the purpose of getting their meat, which is essentially murder and is dealt with rather harshly in every society, or eating someone who has passed away for other reasons. If you don't get killed by the friends and family of whoever you've killed in the former version, you would probably die from whatever killed the individual your character consumed in the latter. Ignoring such exotics as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, essentially you would be willingly infecting yourself with every contagious disease and parasite the host might have. While it is obvious that medicine is fairly primitive in Zalanthas, this is the sort of thing people have figured out quite some time ago in the real world.

I know that the 'rinth is supposed to be this harsh and unforgiving place, but, let's face it, if everybody was killing each other on a daily basis as some might imply, it would simply die out rather promptly. It's not a sustainable model for any society for a longer period of time.

About the only group in which I could see cannibalism occur would be tribals and only those who have their elders propagating this practice for purely ritualistic purposes. Even so, if you look at the cultures that have sprung up across the globe you would find that only a very tiny fraction took up the practice.

EDIT: Actually, to amend that, there could be some secretive, ritualistic cannibalism within the City States as well. There could well be some cannibal cult.

I'm ... just gonna leave this here. Because I ran across it this morning while digesting my morning scientific podcasts.
People eating people ... maybe not so rare, maybe not so likely to make you sick. Evolution is frightening.

[Maso]

Thinking about it....I'm at least 87% convinced that lot of characters have probably consumed humanoid meat at one point or another...even if they or their players don't realise it. 

[AmandaGreathouse]

True, especially if you look at things like that horsemeat scandal IRL from last year, and think about how large the scale of the misrepresentation was, and how many people ate horsemeat thinking it was something else. And that with all the delightful sort of rules, regulations, oversight and inspection it's subject to. Now think about how possible and likely that would be in a world with little to none of the above where game is scarce, human life is cheap, and there's entire races of humanoids that do or have been known to regularly be cannibals in the past as well as the ones who do it ceremonially or superstitiously more presently.

[MeTekillot]

They'd probably do well from fertilizing crops with blood-meal and bone-meal instead of feeding the bodies to people, if I haven't mentioned this.