randcortin
First Post
I'm playing a Tribal Cannibal in a Greyhawk game. He is Chaotic Neutral, a Barb 2/Fighter 1 Halfling, follower of Kord, and he eats dead people. However, this is not done in a malicious manner; he doesn't kill people and eat them, he waits for others to kill people, then eats them. It is forbidden for a member of the tribe to eat someone they have killed, for any reason. This is because if one of them kills someone then eats them, it could be viewed as killing them with the intention to eat them. This would make them no better than Gnolls, Orcs or any other savage humanoid species that kills and eats people. However, it is perfectly acceptable for them to eat someone that another party (or non-tribal-member party member) has killed, or someone who has died of natural causes, or someone who has died in an accident, or any other number of ways, with two exceptions.
His tribe views the eating of the dead as a sign of respect, of reverence for the accomplishments that the person achieved during life. They follow their beliefs as a matter of religion, believing that to not eat a person after they die is to waste the life of the person and the body of the person; they believe that by eating the brains, heart and liver (among other things) of the dead is to gain the knowledge, courage and wisdom that person had. This pleases Kord, who cherishes the strong and those who seek to get stronger. They understand that not everyone believes the way they do, but they think it is out of simple ignorance of what the dead really want. They believe that when you die, you gain the knowledge of Kord and how it applies to death, and then you want to have your body used for a good purpose, and seeing that most bodies are wasted is a thing of great sadness for the dead. The tribe seeks to right this wrong wherever possible, eating the bodies of the dead, and pleasing the people in the afterlife.
The character is relatively new, and the first situation where his beliefs might apply has occurred. The Party is in Jail for attacking two men and killing one of them; and the cleric doing the interrogating has said that the Paladin who started the fight will bear the brunt of the responsibility. Execution is a definite possibility, and the character has requested to spend some time with the Paladin to approach her on the subject of getting her permission to eat her after she dies, if she is executed, or if she dies later on. The player has stated that she is a very open-minded Paladin. I am, however, concerned about what the other Party Members will think. Is the eating of sentient beings inherently evil, or is there room for a tribe like the one I've described above without being evil?
His tribe views the eating of the dead as a sign of respect, of reverence for the accomplishments that the person achieved during life. They follow their beliefs as a matter of religion, believing that to not eat a person after they die is to waste the life of the person and the body of the person; they believe that by eating the brains, heart and liver (among other things) of the dead is to gain the knowledge, courage and wisdom that person had. This pleases Kord, who cherishes the strong and those who seek to get stronger. They understand that not everyone believes the way they do, but they think it is out of simple ignorance of what the dead really want. They believe that when you die, you gain the knowledge of Kord and how it applies to death, and then you want to have your body used for a good purpose, and seeing that most bodies are wasted is a thing of great sadness for the dead. The tribe seeks to right this wrong wherever possible, eating the bodies of the dead, and pleasing the people in the afterlife.
The character is relatively new, and the first situation where his beliefs might apply has occurred. The Party is in Jail for attacking two men and killing one of them; and the cleric doing the interrogating has said that the Paladin who started the fight will bear the brunt of the responsibility. Execution is a definite possibility, and the character has requested to spend some time with the Paladin to approach her on the subject of getting her permission to eat her after she dies, if she is executed, or if she dies later on. The player has stated that she is a very open-minded Paladin. I am, however, concerned about what the other Party Members will think. Is the eating of sentient beings inherently evil, or is there room for a tribe like the one I've described above without being evil?
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