Death banned in French town

[hong]

All silliness aside, the idea of a town banning death, and then finding all sorts of terrible consequences, seems like a GREAT D&D adventure seed....


From the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2209800.stm

The mayor of Le Lavandou on the French Cote d'Azur has banned his fellow citizens from dying.

It is a simple solution to a complicated problem.

The existing cemetery is full and the mayor, Gil Bernardi, has been refused permission to establish a new one.

"No-one has refused the order, we are unanimous in support for this," he told BBC News Online.

But he admits the ban, which has been in place for two years, is not without its difficulties in a town where about 50 people normally die per year.

"People die nonetheless, it's terrible".

Permanent residents of the town who have already staked a claim to a family plot are still allowed to be buried in the cemetery.

But people with second homes, or visitors to the town, die in Le Lavandou at their peril.

They face being shipped to their home region, or finding their final resting place in a faceless "pigeon-hole" for urns.

Currently, Mr Bernardi is wrestling with the dilemma of where to put a homeless man who has died in the town.

New attraction

Mr Bernardi had plans for a new cemetery in a tranquil spot by the sea.

But a Nice court ruled it a site of extraordinary interest, and refused him permission.

"There is room for the living but not for the dead," he says, adding that the rest of the town is already heavily built up and he sees no alternative location.

Although his ban on dying is hardly a long-term solution, at present he sees no alternative unless there is a change in the law.

And it has certainly added to the town's assets.

"It's created a lot of interest and people find it attractive," Mr Bernardi says.

Hong "it's almost Bergmanesque" Ooi

 

[Hakkenshi]

It sounds like the actual problem is being ridiculed by the BBC, but I can understand the town's problem. France isn't huge after all.

I'm not convinced the whole "ban on death" thing isn't an invention by the BBC.

Still, it WOULD make a great D&D adventure... hmmm...

 

[Sir Trent]

Law breakers...

I am outragged at people who are so willing to flaunt the law! All the French Government is asking is that, for the time being, the citizens of that town delay their deaths until a more convenient time! Is that asking so much? The citizens should use the time wisely, working more overtime to build up their savings, spending more time with their children or grandchildren, etc. The Government will deal with the situation in good time. I believe those people openly flaunting this statute should feel the full retribution of Law!

 

[Tom Cashel]

Cool post, Hong.

So how would this play out as D&D scenario? I'm imagining that the Mayor of the small village would ban death, perhaps because the cemetery is full and it's too dangerous to go farther afield to bury corpses (this is an isolated hamlet, with dangerous moors or swamps nearby).

Mayor allies with local Clerics, who promise to Raise each and every person who dies. They begin doing so. They're all good-aligned, but slightly mad. Clerics of a LN god of Death might get upset, and try to stop this process. Even celestials and devils could get involved.

DMs looking for a way to take raise dead and resurrection out their game--search no more! The abuse of such spells could easily result in upheaval among the gods, and the world-shaking consequnce is that they no longer function at all.

 

[Dark Helmet]

Re: Law breakers...

I am outragged at people who are so willing to flaunt the law! All the French Government is asking is that, for the time being, the citizens of that town delay their deaths until a more convenient time! Is that asking so much? The citizens should use the time wisely, working more overtime to build up their savings, spending more time with their children or grandchildren, etc. The Government will deal with the situation in good time. I believe those people openly flaunting this statute should feel the full retribution of Law!

I say hangin's too good fer 'em.

Actually I picture the Grim Reaper standing outside the town saying "No, really, I just have to use the bathroom. I'll only be a minute."

Ah well, if Death ever REALLY showed up, they'd probably just surrender anyway...

 

[hong]

Cool post, Hong.

So how would this play out as D&D scenario? I'm imagining that the Mayor of the small village would ban death, perhaps because the cemetery is full and it's too dangerous to go farther afield to bury corpses (this is an isolated hamlet, with dangerous moors or swamps nearby).

Mayor allies with local Clerics, who promise to Raise each and every person who dies. They begin doing so. They're all good-aligned, but slightly mad. Clerics of a LN god of Death might get upset, and try to stop this process. Even celestials and devils could get involved.

Feh on you. This is fantasy. There's no reason that what's figurative in the real world can't be literal in a fantasy world. Hence if death is banned, that means people literally _cannot die_.

How might this happen? Mighty magic in the past. A deal with a demon. Misuse of knowledge that Man Was Not Meant To Know. A terrible price might have been paid: the sacrifice of all the town's children, say, and the inability to produce more; or 20 youths and maidens every year; or the town and its inhabitants being wrenched out of the natural world; or something.

After twenty generations/10 centuries/777 years, the people realise that the price they paid isn't worth it anymore. Remember Bilbo's words in FotR: "I feel like butter spread over too much bread"? The same might apply here. People are weary: they want to die, but they can't. This is where our Mitey Heros[tm] come into the picture.

There would be problems adapting this scenario to a game:
- not being able to die is like manna from heaven to an adventurer.
- keeping the players interested in an adventure without much prospect for loot.
- generating sympathy for the plight of the townsfolk ("You can't die? Well, boo hoo.")
- stopping people from making constant references to the death skit in Monty Python's Meaning of Life.

These problem shouldn't be too hard to overcome. And I will post how to do it, as soon as I figure out how to overcome them. The last one is probably the most difficult.

 

[Kilmore]

I guess they better lay off the FRENCH fries.

Ba-da-boom.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Have you seen the foreign language film "Roseannas Grave"? A really nice comedy based on the principle that Jean Reno's wife is dying, but there is only one plot left in the cemetary - so Jean Reno is moving heaven and earth to make sure that nobody else dies before his wife does.

Lovely film. I can't remember whether it is in french or italian (I was just reading the subtitles), so no offence meant to the native speakers of the films original language!

Cheers

 

[hong]

Have you seen the foreign language film "Roseannas Grave"? A really nice comedy based on the principle that Jean Reno's wife is dying, but there is only one plot left in the cemetary - so Jean Reno is moving heaven and earth to make sure that nobody else dies before his wife does.

Lovely film. I can't remember whether it is in french or italian (I was just reading the subtitles), so no offence meant to the native speakers of the films original language!

Hm, can't say I've heard of it. Jean Reno was also the guy in _The Usual Suspects_ and that offbeat French comedy about a couple of time-travelling medieval guys, wasn't he? He's good.

[NWN SPOILER - select the text to read it]

Actually, what that article had me thinking of was the quest in NWN where you find a village that's been unchanged for hundreds years. An archmage wanted to become a lich, and tricked his cleric brother into sacrificing all the village's children as part of the ritual. This was so heinous a crime that the gods decreed the lich, the cleric and the entire village should be placed into a nightmarish, unchanging existence until someone could judge them. That judge, naturally, turns out to be your character. This was without a doubt the best part of the game, IMO.

I'm pretty sure there was a book or movie that had a similar plot. Can't think what it was, though.

 

[Rel]

Well the D&D consequences of such a place seem obvious.

A paladin gets killed while defending the town. The local cleric raises him but he has lost paladin status for breaking the law AND he gets thrown in jail.

With the primary defender of the town out of the way, the goblins overrun the place and kill everyone. Paladin goes Blackguard and takes control of the goblins. He rules the kingdom with an iron fist. Everyone lives happily ever after.