Ok, I was just wondering. When a person dies, what is the ritual for the body? Is there a burial or they use fire?
When someone dies, do you just leave the corpse to rot around? What can be done in memory of the dead?
Depends on the person and type of death
Templar/Noble, maybe a ritual...definitely if they died of old age and were very respectable.
Merchant/Commoner, shed a few tears, burn it maybe if somebody'll take the time.
Thief/Elf, tossed out of the city to decay slowly in the non-decomposing sands.
Tribals - Depends on the tribe. I think some do, but it's hazy in the docs.
Well what exactly is the ritual? What do you do with the corpse if you are just the commoner? Stripe him naked then leave him out to rot? It is rather hard when there is no strict form of religion.
There's a really good thread about religion in Zalanthas just posted recently. Find it and read it.
There ain't not much no religion in here parts, pot. Mind if I call you pot? Anyways, the ritual will usually not be in any form of religion minus possibly those templars who are very loyal to the High Lord of their city. As for the rest, if they're a respectful merchant/commoner maybe they will rest in peace with their bearings, maybe not. Same goes with tribals
Just about everybody else's stripped from their stuff, head to toe and you'll find their things at reasonable prices in the nearest market. :wink:
You see, about 99% of the deaths in Zalanthas to the playerbase are due to something else killing their pc. Therefore, whatever killed them will most likely take their things. If a PC so happens to die in a city and the body is taken by soldiers out the gates, the soldiers will take their things and yada yada, so on, so forth. I've never seen, experienced or even heard of a PC dying to old age so I can't really help you out there.
EDIT: Delete this post, stupid computer made 2 copies of the post. :roll:
I think, in general, something would be done with the bodies, even if just for health reasons. As low-tech as Zalanthas is, I'm pretty sure at one point, some one said, "hmm, I have an idea. Let's stop storing the bodies in our drinking water, and see if that makes any difference to our health?"
In fact, I've read of discussions by archeoligists and paleontologists and historians and whatever, and it seems that taking care of dead bodies is a pretty basic foundation of civilization. It's seriously up there with language. Anyways, there's no real set rules as to what to do about bodies, but do what you think is appropriate for the character and the setting. Obviously, a highly tribal society would be different from an urban one, and a commoner's funeral would be different than a noble's. Here's some ideas to think about:
Cremation- A good choice, I'd say, and one that I know has happened in-game. Though it might be tough to get a good-sized fire going in some areas, it instantly gets rid of any problems a rotting corpse would create. I don't see keeping the ashes to be a common occurence, however. Unless, perhaps, your character is a little loopy.
Preservation- While the highly stylized mummification of Egyptian nobility is the most well-known form of mummification, mummies have been found all over the world. And while you'd be hard-pressed to find IC reasons to undertake such a gruesome process, there is a version of mummification that I always thought was particularly Zalanthified. Egyptian commoners wanted a piece of that immortality action too, but those who lacked the money or the know-how would normally just bury the deceased in the hot desert sands. The heat of the sand would draw all the moisture out, effectively mummifying the corpse. Of course, people would notice this natural mummification occuring, and probably conclude that it was either a very bad omen or a great blessing to have the body preserved somehow.
Of course, this is just one way of doing it. Though I doubt silver brain-hooks will ever catch on, that's more than one way to skin quirri, and more than one way to mummify a corpse. There was this one group of Asian monks I read about, for example, that would slowly starve themselves, then have others put them into an urn while they were still alive, and live out their final moments there. And while it might sound high-tech, it is possible that some sort of natural chemical, or just a buttload of salt, could be applied to preserve the corpse. Clearly, a highly ritualized way of getting rid of the dead such as this probably wouldn't catch on in city-states. I think it has the best chance of catching on in a tribal setting.
Burial- A common solution (among PCs anyways) to disposing of a body is to make it a tomb or grave, usually a pile of rocks. I've never seen this to be the best solution, ICly, that doesn't mean it isn't a valid one. Not only does it simply beg for graverobbers, it is also a very Western way of disposing of the dead, and might break the mood for some of the other players. But if you think burial would be the way to go for your character, then it's probably fine. Just be careful not to bury them in sand, and make it an accidental mummification.
Cannibalism- I'll let AC fill this one.
Other Considerations- There is always the whole "leave 'em to rot" option, which would obviously depend a lot on the relationship between your character and the deceased. There is almost always something you can do, though. Perhaps in a tribal society, your corpse would be fed to gortoks or sand raptors, so as to help the ecosystem in some small little way. Maybe your raider character chops the heads off all of his victims, just to reduce the chances of them rising from their graves to seek vengence? Would your character insist that a fallen comrade be buried with their favorite sword? Or would you take it and sell it, with the knowledge that they won't be needing it in Drov? And, of course, with overpopulation in a low-tech society being what it is, I think it's fair to assume that the sewers of Allanak and the gutters of New Tuluk are clogged with those too poor or unlucky to have their bodies taken care of after death.
I find the idea that Zalanthans wouldn't take care of a dead body because of their harsh living conditions to be rather silly. They would have to. What would they do, just let grandfather stink up their tenement building for the rest of their lives?
Just remember: a ritual doesn't have to be ritualistic and a ceremony doesn't have to be ceremonious. You can take care of the dead out of respect and/or neccesity, and still maintain the harsh, no-bullshit enviroment we love.
Throwing to Sea of Silt is another option, I want to remind.. Effective and respectful if you have some strong friends.
I believe there is a crematorium in Tuluk. In Allanak the Dragon Temple (not the water one, the other one) looks like a good place to burn bodies, but the room description is ambiguous. Burial seems fine to me, especially if your buddy dies out in the wilderness and you don't want to haul the body around. If you don't cover the grave with a stone cairn the body may be dug up by predators. Otherwise you probably will get mummification rather than rot, that's pretty much a given in a dry climate, unless you seal the body in a jar or something. In a pinch throwing the bodies over the wall would work. Heads on pikes near the gates is a classic, but you wouldn't want too many bodies there because they would attract scavengers and predators. Bleh. For criminals with some meat on them, there is always the option of using them to feed arena animals (plus the gith, mantis and halfling gladiators). Normally feeding people to animals is a bad idea because it can encourage them to become man-eaters, but that would be a problem for arena animals. However, you wouldn't want to feed a really sickly, starved 'rinther to the animals, it could make the poor beasts sick! :twisted:
AC
I was just wondering...
If you wish to perform a burial, and you've rp'ed the whole thing out, is it possible to junk the corpse?
Not that I think I'd do this, but I'm just curious as to whether body objects act the same as other objects.
Yes, it is possible to junk a body. But with a body, you should definately spend some time showing how you dispose of it first.
AC
It's always fun throwing them down a well if you're in the rinth or some such place.
OR, you can use the drop command to make a visual of burying them under a weak little pile of sand and rocks. If you cant pick them up though, you're screwed. Weight down their eyes with a couple sid and call it a day.
So there's actually no strict form of a burial thingy, just whatever you feel like rping at the moment?
Roll em into the rinth and be done with em
Yo, stew, what we're saying is that there is very little 'ritual' for the common citizen of any established city. If you're in a clan of some sort, any sort really, they may have something special they do. Find out IG or through clan documentation in those instances, or by asking the clan IMM.
Quote from: "FiveDisgruntledMonkeysWit"As low-tech as Zalanthas is, I'm pretty sure at one point, some one said, "hmm, I have an idea. Let's stop storing the bodies in our drinking water, and see if that makes any difference to our health?"
This is so my new signature.
midden heaps.
commoner's quarter.
Large. Smelly. Trash. Bodies?
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Also as far as RP wise goes, make sure if you're going to bury someone have a shovel and remember that burying a large body in SAND is going to be an exhausting almost impossible feat for one person since sand constantly is going to fall back in and fill the hole.
I personally don't like the idea of burial at all so much as burning.
Sell their body to the kank butcher. All that meat has to come form somewhere, right?
hahah a spambot rez.
but yea, i haven't seen lots of burials, but I did see a mere Byn runner get a nice cremation up in Tuluk.
Every wonder what the bynner stew is made out of?
It always seem logical to me that the higher reachs of society are buried in tombs. While commoners settle for burial by flame.
I always wondered if I could make a bone weapon out of human bone... worth a try really.
Just a few things. I do not think the code allows you to junk a body, whether you rp it out or not. Unless you wish up. I am also not entirely certain that you can add description to the way the body is in the room. Though I might be mistaken on the last one. In any case, even if you could do it, you wouldnt be able to if you could not pick the body up in the first place. I do remember seeing a corpse 'spot in Allanak. It's a heap of bodies of all sorts that sits right in the middle of the city infront of the Temple. It always gets a few dozen fresh ones whenever some calamity comes.