The Politics of Burial

[Austin]

RuneQuest adventurer deaths can involve more than ritually running the character sheet through a shredder. The question of where—and by whom—the adventurer is buried provides a roleplay opportunity.

In Sartar, most clan villages have a nearby urnfield in which their members are interred. Tribal centers and cities have a necropolis or other site for burying the dead. Some (like Clearwine Fort) set aside a place of honor for tribal nobility. Adventurers often have both kinship and political ties as a result of their deeds. Who has the stronger claim?

Controlling access to graves is a point at which religion and politics intersect. A tribe meets its obligation to the ancestors by feeding them sacrifices. The nobility can restrict who provides the sacrifices yet fulfill their sacred duties. Determining who can participate in the community's ancestor worship helps local leaders remain in power. This also gives the nobility a motive to inter powerful persons—i.e. players—among the elite rather than their kin.

In this context adventurers might delve into a necropolis for holy reasons. It's not sacrilege to worship one's gods or ancestors! The classic tomb raiding adventure can have justification beyond treasure hunting. Politically, local leaders might oppose the adventurers—even with force—but in a religious context their actions may well be justified.

Of course, this can also lead to the evils of kinstrife…

[Joerg]

I have a (German language) HQ mini-campaign about a 90 years old Asrelia priestess asking on her deathbed to be interred in her family crypt in the Nochet Necropolis (aka Antones Estates), against the wish of her clanfolk for whom she had been the dominant earth priestess. Part of the campaign is getting the green light for her and her requested grave goods to be let go, part is getting her there, and the last part is to get her kin to allow her burial, or failing that, breaking and interring. Plus there is an old (Nontrayan) nemesis of hers waiting to take revenge.

[Austin]

2 minutes ago, Joerg said:

or failing that, breaking and interring.

God… God dammit. I'm grouchy that made me laugh. 😄 

[JonathanQuaife]

On 1/18/2024 at 5:01 PM, Joerg said:

I have a (German language) HQ mini-campaign about a 90 years old Asrelia priestess asking on her deathbed to be interred in her family crypt in the Nochet Necropolis (aka Antones Estates), against the wish of her clanfolk for whom she had been the dominant earth priestess. Part of the campaign is getting the green light for her and her requested grave goods to be let go, part is getting her there, and the last part is to get her kin to allow her burial, or failing that, breaking and interring. Plus there is an old (Nontrayan) nemesis of hers waiting to take revenge.

Can we get to see this in some form? It sounds excellent!

[Ian Absentia]

1 hour ago, JonathanQuaife said:

Can we get to see this in some form? It sounds excellent!

It reminds me a lot of an episode from the original Kung Fu.  Some crazy old miner hi-jacks a gold stagecoach to transport his native wife's corpse to her tribal burial ground.  Nobody is happy with his plan, including the tribe at the end of the line.  And -- wait for it -- there's a twist at the end.  It really was an excellent episode.

!i!

[Joerg]

14 hours ago, JonathanQuaife said:

Can we get to see this in some form? It sounds excellent!

Apart from the niche publication in the (mostly non-Gloranthan) scenario book for the German edition of HQ2, extensive notes exist, but with this morning's (mechanical) computer crash, I either have to wish for data recovery or write it again from scratch. And I most definitely need an editor.

The original version is set in 1619 or 1620, with a trip through the Lunar camp besieging Whitewall as the start of the travel entcounters. While that is not essential, I planned to make good use of world politics going on as backdrop for a road trip.

 

In order to remain on topic, the scenario has two political portions. The protagonists are supposed to be (married to) descendants of the priestess (through female descent, conforming Esrolian legitimacy), spread out over numerous clans and even tribes in Sartar, and maintain her wishes against her patrilineal descendants of her home clan.

Spoiler

The deceased and her husband had been companions of Dorasar from before his New Pavis venture, and she and her husband had brought a number of Old Pavis artifacts to their clan when her father-in-law and chief of the clan died, paving the way to become the new chief. These artifacts have since been regarded as clan regalia or possession of the chief's (male) bloodline even though the priestess had been the one to hold them all these years. Getting some of them to serve as grave goods will be a legal struggle. And having a certain selection of these at hand is preparation for the final showdown.

 

In Nochet, they find out that their (great-) grandmother was from a branch lineage inside the ruling Enfranchised House in Nochet, who had fled her house after losing an important heiress she was supposed to chaperone to the Puppeteers. Dramas were written around the parents of said heiress. Having left in disgrace and damaging the main lineage, the current mistress of the House is disinclined to allow her stray kinswoman to join her ancestors in the family complex (although the ancestors at least of the side line, and from way earlier, would support her if a trial of ancestors would be held). Still, the will of a Grandmother might override even ancestral wishes (for as long as she remains in power).

 

I may have crammed too much historical detail into the backstory, but provided the players run with it and acquire some of the information during play they may develop personal passions towards a number of very influential people in Sartar, the Lunar Empire and Esrolia.

[Cassius]

On 1/18/2024 at 5:50 PM, Crel said:

In Sartar, most clan villages have a nearby urnfield in which their members are interred.

A very interesting question. I'd never thought about it.

I would have said that there is a difference in funeral practices depending on whether the person was a follower of Orlanth (and his associates) or Ernalda (and her associates): the corpse of the former is burned, the corpse of the latter is interred.

For the former, part of the ashes are collected in an urn. This urn may itself be kept in the family's home or buried in its stead. Or it may be kept or buried in a place shared by the clan.

For Ernalda's initiates and associates, the corpse is laid to rest in a deep burial chamber beneath Ernalda's temple. I imagine that Ernalda's temples always (or almost always) have basements.

[Darius West]

There is the issue that Orlanthi get cremated.  Are their ashes kept?  I can see other cults getting buried or even put in tombs.  it is a bit hard to have a royal tomb when the the Kings can be stored in a large ash tray.

Edited January 20 by Darius West

[Joerg]

Vingkot was immolated, but that was in order to rid himself of the ailing but immortal body that was unable to recover from the Chaos wound he had received at the Battle of Stormfall. It was part of his apotheosis, but may have set the trend for his successors (possibly hoping for a similar transition into the Storm Realm). Other Orlanthi may have retained other practices. None of the other gods of the Storm Pantheon received anything like a burial (unless you count the Underworld dismemberment of Umath at the hands and presumably jaws of Shadzor-Alkor).

In the time of King Heort, separating the Living from the Dead was the major task to get the Silver Age started. Having the Dead cremated may have allowed for a clearer distinction than body burials. With Vingkot as the example, male cremations may have become the standard (although the five husband-founders from outside of the Vingkotlings may have brought their own rites, possibly including necrophagy for the descendants of Porscriptor the Cannibal).

Cremation results in burnt remains, with major bones often surviving the pyre (in a brittle state) when cremated properly, and possibly only medium-rare in case of mass burnings with limited access to fuel.

In a respectful cremation, the dead body is laid out in state, with his grave goods which are supposed to undergo the same transformation/transition as the body, to be magically at hand in the afterlife. In case of rich burials, not all grave goods may fit onto the bier, and may have been marked for their afterlife journey in another way.

One might need to consider the non-modern concepts of personal property among the Orlanthi when it comes to providing grave goods, though - these might include items or at least symbols enabling an everyday afterlife in the Otherworld, but more likely the deceased will receive a preparation for the afterlife heroquest, with support items like you give to a living heroquester about to penetrate the veil. Much of the property of the deceased will be property belonging to the bloodline rather than the person, with part of that property having been temporarily bestowed by the clan (or some higher authority), like much of the means of primary production.

[soltakss]

5 hours ago, Joerg said:

Vingkot was immolated, but that was in order to rid himself of the ailing but immortal body that was unable to recover from the Chaos wound he had received at the Battle of Stormfall. It was part of his apotheosis, but may have set the trend for his successors (possibly hoping for a similar transition into the Storm Realm). Other Orlanthi may have retained other practices. None of the other gods of the Storm Pantheon received anything like a burial (unless you count the Underworld dismemberment of Umath at the hands and presumably jaws of Shadzor-Alkor).

The Orlanth writeup in the Lightbringers Book says:

Quote

Life After Death

The bodies of dead cultists are burnt using especially smoky fires while onlookers sing the “Song of Immolation.” The ashes and bones are often put in urns and placed in tombs. Funeral goods are always included to assist the person in the land of the dead.

 

[French Desperate WindChild]

7 hours ago, Cassius said:

For Ernalda's initiates and associates, the corpse is laid to rest in a deep burial chamber beneath Ernalda's temple. I imagine that Ernalda's temples always (or almost always) have basements.

the question is that so many bodies (40-50% of the population!)  would request too much room to be welcomed in/under the temple. Maybe rune levels in/under the temple and other in a kind of graveyard (in the temple field of course,  but not under the "building)

just a question, no definitive truth in my words

[Cassius]

1 hour ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

the question is that so many bodies (40-50% of the population!)  would request too much room to be welcomed in/under the temple. Maybe rune levels in/under the temple and other in a kind of graveyard (in the temple field of course,  but not under the "building)

Yes, I've thought about that. And I thought we could imagine some sort of family burial vaults for most people, and individual burial vaults only for those most important to the clan or tribe.

[Yazurkial]

I've always thought it odd that Herotlings and Praxians use cremation for all of their male deaths. Cremation takes a lot of wood, which is pretty expensive in terms of work. Even worse for Praxians! So the Cremate Dead rune spell in RQG seems like a culturally important thing. I get how Waha would get that spell from Oakfed, because there's the Waha Tames Oakfed story. I'm not aware of an equivalent for Heortlings. Have I missed it? Or do they get it from someone else? It would make sense as some kind of sacred lowfire. Along those lines, I see a comment in 2016 from Jeorg: "According to Thunder Rebels, this practice is overseen by Torabran, a Lowfire husband of Keva, an Ernaldan handmaiden or the first person to be cremated (or both), indicating Fire Tribe origin for the practice, and possibly shared by some of the Solars." So perhaps he provides Cremate Dead to the Heortlings.

Also, in terms of burial inside the temple the ashes of a dude are pretty small. The problem would be women. Perhaps, at least in Nochet, the family vaults are something like those found in New Orleans. In New Orleans, the vault is typically divided by a shelf. The body is left (usually in a coffin) on top of the shelf. The heat generated inside the vault helps the body break down over the course of a year. After a year and a day, relatives would open the vault and move the remains below the shelf, which is just open dirt -- and the remains of loads of other ancestors. In the case of a woman who wants to be buried permanently in an Esrolian temple, I'd expect that they would put the remains in a small urn and bury the in the temple. That would be much smaller than the urns used in rural urnfields, where the woman is buried bodily inside the urn.

[Joerg]

Earth cult burial practices tend to aim at the preservation of the dead body, at least of the body shape. Mummification or other forms of embalming are typical.

The dead of Nochet claim a great lot of land, making the overland import of fresh goods almost impossible. There obviously are ways to "repatriate" the dead, otherwise the temple of Esrola would be surrounded by tombs.

Sooner or later, skeletons may be what is left of a body.

 

I wonder what the idea is about keeping the body remains of an individual whose spirit/soul no longer lingers in Ty Kora Tek's halls. Daka Fal shamans may learn about a spirit departing to Rebirth.

[Austin]

On 1/20/2024 at 1:04 PM, French Desperate WindChild said:

the question is that so many bodies (40-50% of the population!)  would request too much room to be welcomed in/under the temple.

I recently finished reading Burial and ancient society by Ian Morris (which is where this post basically came from), and this is a problem he discusses in the burial archaeology of ancient Attica. He makes a fairly plausible argument that a significant chunk of the population must have received a communal, less detectible, burial. Basically calculating sizes and years of use for cemeteries to determine approximate burial community sizes (often family or multi-family communities), and then comparing that to other demographic methods for ancient populations.

Worth noting that I am not a specialist - just a nerd that likes academic books. I also don't fuss too much about retention or "realism" because my focus is finding ideas for fiction, not historical accuracy.

Among the Orlanthi, I think it's plausible that this would analogize to the Unfree or Semifree having some type of mass interment or grave, with the Free standard of living and upward having more lasting monuments. I get the impression from Morris's book that specific family groups - basically clans - emerge and dissolve with some regularity. So another way to handle it would be that Orlanthi clans typically last just a few generations, while tribes are more enduring. Clans ending not in disaster, but just because the central family figures aren't present to keep generations of descendents returning for family reunions.