So, /tg/. Do your settings have any interesting burial rites? What's the faith/reasoning behind them? If there's a confirmed (absence of an) after-life, like the D&D Planes, do these rites have any actual effect?
>Blank face god
Is this a reference to Chick Tracts?
>>43770001
As a matter of fact, Oglaf is now selling Sithrak Tracts.
>>43769984
I was just about to make this thread, though more about how you deal with the power of the gods and supplanting them. Fucking epic comic.
I don't know if it's really an interesting burial rite, but one of the customs universal to the cultures on the continent of Alcriora is singing about the life of the deceased at their funeral or funerals, if it's a group of them that died. Their accomplishments, their failures, their sins, their virtues, are woven into song by priests of the god of the dead, Ur-Kazak. It's believed that Ur paints records of the world upon the walls of his infinite cave, and that when you die you pass through his painted cave to... well, the ultimate fate differs depending on culture, species, and what aspect of Ur-Kazak is worshipped by the deceased. What actually happens though is that Ur-Kazak guides the souls of the dead through halls echoing with song, and they are taken to the soul forges to be born anew into the world. The song is fueled and maintained by his cave paintings, which are inspired by the songs sung by his priests for all soulful beings.
Well in my setting people are traditionally buried underneath the extremely large mountain range in the middle of the country. This is to "protect them from the devil's sight" since heaven is believed to be below the earth and all the stars and our sun have been determined to be balls of hell.
>>43770096
>underneath mountain range
Actually /under/ the mountains (as in catacombs etc), not just on the side of the mountain?
>>43770133
Yes, usuall tomb depth is 6,000 feet below the surface height of the mountain directly above the location. Dwarves have made a pretty living in my setting.
>>43770158
I don't know what kind of setting it is, or what the tech level is, but now I imagine the dwarven Catacomb diggers lookling some kind of Western undertaker.
>>43770008
Fuuuck my wallet
>>43770226
Nah, they're more flowery and presentable due to around 10% of their GDP being related to funerals since they basically cep tol every mountain range tomb. I didn't want them to be greedy bastards so funerals are actually pretty cheap, it's just the related costs and the huge amount of money come from the sheer amount of deaths per year on the surface, especially during war.
>>43770096
So do they do sky burials for heinous criminals?
>>43770403
For criminals who committed acts of treason, murder, etc they are tied to the mountaintop (or highest location within the local area) until they die due to starvation and their soul is believed to be attacked by the many demons that see it.
Coincidentally most soldiers beg to be buried right before they're slain in battle, and most armies ablige by burying them in the deepest hole locally available. This also mean cave trolls thrive in deep holes near battlefields.
>>43770553
>Execution via crucifixion
Put them a few meters extra close to sky hell
>>43770627
I believe being tied laying up on a rock with no way to move and staring straight into your society's hell would be more appropriate than crucifixion.
>>43769984
things like this gives me the impression I'm never done tinkering with my expansion.
Every time I want to write it all down, /tg/ or someone else suggests something that I hadn't taken into account.
>>43770769
with expansion I meant Setting.
>>43769984
That's actually a pretty baller origin for both a risen deity (the ascended emperor, say) and a fallen, evil one.
>>43769984
My setting has a number of half-civilized, semi-nomadic group, where the bulk of the tribe moves with the herds but return each year to a small permanent settlement built around a holy site, where live the elders too frail to ride, the high priesthood of their faith, and their most skilled craftsmen whose tools are too heavy to be moved, such as the eldest smith, along with a chosen handful of younger folk who support them. Each such settlement serves as "home" for two to four tribes related by blood, marriage, or oath in war.
The elders, priests, and craftsmen in the settlement form a sort of council which governs their subordinates who travel with the tribe itself, such as the healers, farriers, and petty-smiths who keep the tribe's blades sharp. They all in turn follow the First Rider, who heads the tribe, and the Last Rider, who was the previous First before growing old.
(shit this got too long, cont.)
>>43771342
Each group has it's own burial rituals which are believed to send you to the right place in the afterlife.
The smiths bleed the dead and render down their blood's iron, and from this the First Smith's anvil and First Rider's spearhead are forged.
The priests cremate their dead in the smith's forge and collect the ashes in a pit, enshrined in the temple. It is believed that the First Priest can hear the voices of the ancestors speak from the pit, and their guidance is revered.Shamelessly stolen from Morrowind
The elders practice sky-burial, where the corpse is placed on a plinth above the temple and birds are allowed to consume them. It is believed that the elder's spirit can see through the eyes of every bird which ate of his body, and in this way he may watch over his tribe in death.
The warriors of the tribe, should they fall to the sword in battle, are buried with an elaborately decorated wooden sword, carved using the blade of their own weapon, so that they might keep the tribe's spirits safe on the journey to the afterlife. During the funeral rites, small portions of flesh from their arm are cut off, cooked, and consumed by the surviving warriors, to pass on their strength. If a warrior died of sickness or injury outside of battle, they are simply buried under a small cairn of stones, as are the remainder of the tribe's dead who don't receive one of the other rites. Each tribe marks their cairns in some way, such as by painting the stones a certain color or leaving streamers of rope or cloth wedged within.
The dishonored dead are buried under unmarked stones, and away from the tribe's path. This symbolizes that they are disowned by their kin and prevents their spirit from finding the tribe in the next life.
Over generations, these cairns form a sort of trail marking the seasonal path of the tribe. Many believe that it's bad luck for the herds to roam away from the path of cairns, and that a hard winter will follow.
>Tell players they're expected to pay the reapers toll for every sapient they kill
>a gold coin on either eye
>Let campaign drag on
>Know that players will forget/stop caring
>Keep a tally of everyone they didn't pay the toll on
>BBEG will constantly call them on hypocrisy and not paying their debts
>Final showdown
>BBEG curses them to relive their torments
>Have to fight everyone they ever killed and didn't pay the toll on
>Party is ripped to shreds by the vengeful dead taken from life by the murderhobos
For some reason out of all the religions and there various tenets one single aspect arises in each one seperately and entirely to its own. They tie the corpse to a balloon. The reasons and methods of such an action vary from religion to religion but the result is the same. Through this act many incredible things exist in this world from simple floating graveyards to entire kingdoms a king wished to never part with in the sky. Land itself in some severe cases has been turned into the flotation device as well causing occasional overcast due to large or many landmasses blotting out the sky. Its a dangerous world as some balloons are just plain balloons and weather can take its toll dropping a dead body at random. The worst are islands that are floating mass graves effected by necromancy occasionally dropping skeletal armies. most travelers heed the weatherman's forecast but if you're brave and need to go somewhere there are few but well fortified trench and tunnel roads that provide some protection from falling dangers during "stormy" weather.
Once had a fucking 300x300x100 meter landmass land infront of us and skypirates poor out.
>>43772528
I like you, Anon.
Speaking of necromantic possibilities, a common reason behind death rites is to simply apply a massive divine "fuck you" shield against necromancy.
Quite liked Garth Nix's Old Kingdom magic, where people were immolated in a cleansing fire made of peace, sleep, fire and destruction rune-magic whenever possible.
Because necromancers are just that big a deal. You leave corpses lying around they can and will be used to raise undead armies, or things worse.
You die, you're dusted.
Anyone have interesting settings where death rites apply a "fuck yeah" necromantic magnet? ESO Dunmer spring to mind.
I assume pottery warriors are carrying equipments they were sculpted with only. Man, the emperor was a dick and thoroughly prepared if he sculpted two giant nail guys and a hammer guy.
>>43772866
That is fucking metal!
>>43769984
Within the Ashed city states, there are no graveyards, headstones or shrines commemorating the dead. Upon the death of any person within the city states barring use of the body for investigation or protest from next of kin/friends claiming the body, it is taken to the carvers.
The carvers remove the bones, fat, thickest skin, and usable meat from the human body to be recycled into any of the multiple uses of the human body before sending it off to the furnaces.
The furnaces burn away the human to ash, which is then mixed with concrete to create a funeral brick. This brick may be claimed by family or the government and used in many of the construction projects in the city, usually in the expansion of their walls.
>>43775087
>The reasoning for this is the Ashed value above all else in their philosophy, their constant ever present usefulness in both life and death.
to them, usefulness is spiritual accomplishment, from the people who run their country to the lowest street sweeper, everyone and everything has some purpose or other.
While this is not to say that their lives are joyless, even things of sentimental value can be useful by bringing joy to their lives, often the skin of a relative can be made into something like a fine money pouch or book cover of a journal that cataloged the deceased relative's life.
>>43769984
The struggle against an undead plague is real in my setting so corpses are usually burned, after of course undertaking a night in the shrines of the death goddess with priests praying all night long so that their souls don't get snatched away. Then the burning happens, followed by the pot full of ashes being locked into said shrine.
Unless of course the rulers are druids, then you get placed in a sanctified garden to rot and feed the great city tree hoping said druids do not fuck up the wardings.
Or you could be a goliath or a gnome, then you get brought to the tombs of the ancient giants and burned in front of their thrones, so your spirit can reach those mighty rulers of the past in a glorious afterlife.
Depends on the culture when it comes to funerals and burials, but almost universally people are interred with their fragment of the life tree. The belief is that it will guide them to the afterlife, the actual effect is that in the flow of the afterlife the fragment will shine out, allowing the death god to see the dead person's soul and fish them out of the flow, safely placing it in his boat with all the other souls of people who were fortunate enough to die with the same consideration.
A little known alternative though, is an adherent to the proper church will have their soul welcomed to the setting equivalent of heaven. Compared to the total population of the setting though, not many people follow the church though and those members of it have only their faith of what they believe will happen.
>>43775087
That's ... pretty awesome. Do you mind if I use it with my group ?
>>43774927
Honestly its just an excuse for our DM to throw random encounters at us at any time. We've had a gold laden
>>43776387
No idea why it posted only half.
We've had a golden laden corpse of a king fall and seriously injure one of us then the resulting peasant mob hurt him more and hurt me some trying to reacue him.
>>43772866
>>43774927
>>43776387
>>43776409
Fulton the Dead
>>43769984
If true, how does this deepest lore tie into the immortal paladin of that god?
Could he meet a modern worshiper of Sithrak and be informed that his god is alive, or do those strips occur in very different time periods?
The souls of evil men wander the earth until finding their way into ash trees. coffins are made from ash so that the souls of the righteous buried within may guide the wicked souls to the afterlife.
For this reason, graveyards filled with bad men are frequently haunted with evil spirits.
In the days before man knew this secret, ash trees would gain so many evil souls that they would become animated as ethereal and beautiful humans who ravaged the countryside.
>>43772528
Why not just cut out the eyes of everyone you've killed / are about to kill?
>>43776795
I can't SEE why this wouldn't work
>>43769984
One race in our setting, which lives in a rainforest canopy, decapitates its dead. The brain is extracted (and discarded, who cares about that shit), the head is stripped of flesh by insects, and the skull is covered in plaster and resin, decorated with ornamental stones and brightly painted, and placed on a shelf-like shrine in the extended family dwelling. The body is placed on a treetop platform to be devoured by scavengers. The race believes that the ancestors live in your blood, and nobody is truly dead as long as their family line lives on, so what happens to dead flesh is of no consequence. The skulls are mostly to revere the memory of the ancestors, though sometimes they are used as foci in magic bloodletting rituals to commune with ancestral spirits.
There is no canon afterlife in the setting (and no resurrection), so nobody knows if any of that is actually true or effective.
Another race is fungal, and its "old age" consists of it anchoring itself in place and slowly rotting away. Parts of them start sloughing off, they become slimy and fragile, and they lose the ability to speak. Nobody knows exactly at what moment they "die;" it's a slow, gradual drift, like falling asleep over a period of years. Their term for a cemetery basically translates to "death garden," and instead of headstones it's full of party decayed, sessile elders, some of which still speak or twitch, and others that look like little more than rotted stumps. These death gardens produce fantastically fertile soil, which is dug up and used in their nurseries to grow new members of their race (who in childhood are also anchored in the soil and unable to move).
>>43776795
The thing isn't to cover the eyes. It's the toll for the ferryman.
Because to get into the afterlife you need money. No idea what the fuck the ferryman spends it on mind you.
>>43770008
Brilliant.
>>43776926
Guy works for tips since they don't pay him a living wage.
>>43776973
Fuck you Carlos you little shit.
>>43776624
*checks previous strips*
HOLY SHIT you're right, the Immortal Paladin's did serve Sithrak.
Feels ages ago since the whole bit with the Funsnake.
That's gonna be an interesting strips, if Morag is ever to meet the two bumbling evangelists. Assuming she can reattach her head.
>>43770008
I compiled their trial tract.Inb4 I get b& for reasons I will never understand.
>>43776973
Someone needs to cap this, I would if GIMP didn't give me cancer.
Please.
>>43776227
I cant stop you
>>43776893
Those are awesome. I especially like the fungus people one. But then I find mushroom people cool in general.
>>43777219
>>43780558
You realize that doesn't make sense if you cut out the post about the burial ritual, right?
>>43780595
If anyone is familiar with mythology at all, it does.
>>43769984
For me it's more about the way they live in proximity to the dead.
Barrow cities. After a shoddy history of mass annexation there is one race that lives solely on the vast burial mounds of their ancestors. While they do not believe in any religion, they simply hoard the goods of life like rats, a habit that persists beyond death. Barrows are built on barrows after each passing generation, and the living build higher houses and dig deeper tunnels for their dead.
The poor cast their dead into bottomless shafts that peek out between buildings. The Ankou caste guard the catacombs of noble houses from looters, rival houses, or the dreaded necromancer covens looking to expand their power bases. Their watch is not for nothing, for incredible arcana and artefacts from sunless ages can be found in the deepest clefts and shelves.
Other than that, the only defining features of the race are vermin motifs in their armour, raw and brutal firearm technology, and a boner for mass slavery.
>>43776926
>the ferryman is racist and wants more gold for people with more than two eyes and less gold for people without eyes or one eye.
He's a fucking racist I aint giving him any money, all good gods should be with me on this or the setting is shit.
>>43772528
>>43776926
What about graverobbers? What happens if some jackass digs you out and takes your coins?
>do the coins magically vanish from the corpse when the spirit pays the ferry?
From that would follow that thieves get no cash and as such the profession isn't lucrative. Also if somebody jacks your toll before you pay, you'll probably do 'undead out for revenge' shtick.
>if the coins aren't magicked away, what happens to spirits past the border in case of graverobbing?
>>43777105
>Assuming she can reattach her head.
Alas, no.
The best she can hope is Navaan (the vampire chick) to attach some bellows to her neck and have the Luck cultists operate them.
>>43769984
As a tangent, I really, really like the Underworld and ghost rules for Exalted.
>>43786670
The Gorgon raised her eyebrow, pressing her horn-rimmed glasses to her face with a forked tongue to keep both hands parsing documents.
"It's been revoked, sir."
>What?
"Your carry-on package. It would seem that your payment has been retroactively canceled."
>So, what now?
"Well, you'll have to get it back, sir. Typically, your package allows for profane ressurection in events concerning personal retribution, vendettas, etc. You'd be regenerated as your former self, twisted by the forces of death and empowered with a burning, unholy hunger to settle the debt- to ensure timely return, and life-fraud, you see."
>Great, I'll-
"But, being that your package is revoked, due to lack of payment-"
>But I-
"DUE TO LACK. OF. PAYMENT. you will have to make due with an auxiliary recompensation plan."
>Which is?
"We give you a transparent sheet and chains."
>Chains?
"For rattling, yes."
>>43775486
Isn't this just Innistrad except burning actually works rather than condeming the soul to a painful burning existence for all eternity?
>>43769984
>Oglaf: Kill Six Billion Demons Edition
>>43776624
>that the god is alive
Nah, Sithrak's a dead god. He's got a skull for a head.
>>43787108
"Burn the corpses so necromancers don't get them" is a very widespread standard really.
>>43787125
>Fuck Six Billion Demons
Now that we have the technology to compress ashes into diamonds, has anyone tried delving into turning the corpses of the fallen into jewelry, with or without the fuckery of Soul gem shenanigans from TES?
>>43787127
Dude, that's racist
>>43787201
Crematorial ash is mostly salts and stuff, no? Barely any carbon
>>43787219
They offer to make it from a lock of hair too so I have no idea what's going on with the physics there.
>>43787201
Exalted Alchemicals setting has soul gem shenanigans. The people living in the body of machine god Autochton implant soul gems in their foreheads on birth, when they die the soul is stored in them. They use the emerging markings on the gems to track reincarnation history and note individuals with especially strong souls as candidates for rebirth into Alchemicals - magical super robots/golems, champions of the people.
For normal reincarnation, they release the soul from the gem in a special ritual location so their god takes it and circulates it into a newborn somewhere; for Alchemicals they transfer the soul to a new gem which is implanted into the artificial body.
>>43787161
that does sound more like oglaf
>>43787324
It's obviously not made purely from the hair, it's merely a way to incorperate part of the deceased. The human body does contain a fair amount of carbon though, but I'm unsure if it's enough to actually make a gem of some sort that's larger than the head of a pin needle.
>>43777171
oh my god yes
>>43787054
heh
>>43787359
nearly 20% of the human body is carbon, this amounts to around 16kg on average.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_of_the_human_body
>>43787517
It's a question of how much you can actually extract though. A whole lot of that carbon is surely bound in tissue
>>43787517
Here it's said human hair/keratin is composed of 45.2% carbon. They do not say if it's by atom or by mass, so I will assume mass for now.
To make 1 carat (200 mg) worth of diamond, you would need about 442.5 mg of human hair, assuming ideal compression, with no impurities. This corresponds to a diamond with a volume of ~5.7 cm^3.
The hair samples in this study http://www.unites.uqam.ca/gmf/caruso/doc/caruso/passos/legrand_2005.pdf had a mass of around 10 mg for 100 strands, 1 cm long, so around 0.1 mg per strand, per cm.
To make 1 ct. worth of diamond, you would need ~4.4*10^3 strand*cm. A bundle of a 100 hairs needs to be at least 44 cm long to provide enough carbon for 1 ct. worth of diamond.
If we're talking about compressing diamonds out of ashes: barely any carbon is left in that case, due to it burning up.
>>43787651
Forgot to link source of hair carbon content http://www.texascollaborative.org/hildasustaita/module%20files/topic3.htm
There high-altitude society partially inspired by Tibetieans in my world that "buries" their prominent dead by carrying them high into the mountains, to a slope selected for being extremely dry and windy (they live on verge of high altitude desert, not unlike Gobi and the surrounding regions so finding such places isn't hard with a bit of skill and experience) and then propping them up in an upright sitting position, facing in the direction of their home village. The body is then protected for some time from scavengers and animals, while dry wind will eventually mummify it.
The result are slopes on mountains surrounding their villages that are filled with mummies (usually decorated - painted with various colors or "dressed up" in colorful rags and basic jewelry) under open sky - these open-air mummy displays are then place of many various religious rituals associated with death and ancestral worship.
The theory behind is fairly simple: it is believed that spirits of death can remain in human world as long as their bodies are preserved, and the spirits of those who were buried in this fashion will overlook and protect their homes and families from up there.
Only "prominent" members of the society are getting such treatment: usually only the current oldest men in their respective families. Women, children, younger men who had not yet earned special respect are buried in "mass" graves in caverns with much less of a ritual.
>>43770918
>Implying Shitrack is evil.
Hate is the purest emotion sempai.
>>43788063
Sithrak isn't evil at all.
