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Message: <blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 8508713" data-attributes="member: 6790260">I had a further idea, as I was reflecting on it, but I think this should be stressed as one optional interpretation rather than the one and only truth of the matter. So I will keep it spoilered, to emphasize that there should be many different interpretations on this: Who is the Lonely One?[SPOILER="OPTIONAL THEORY"]Personally, I think Bahamut makes the best choice for the true identity of the Lonely One. This is not because he is my favorite D&D deity--though that is true--but because his history in the setting that most closely resembles this one is very similar. Specifically, in the 4e Points of Light setting, Bahamut is the one and only deity actually trying to solve the problem with the broken afterlives in the Astral Sea. See, after the Dawn War, the afterlife broke: some deserving mortals that WANT to go to a specific afterlife just...don't get a spot. They do GO to the Astral Sea, but their soul doesn't actually "belong" to the deity domain it's supposed to, and supernatural forces will prevent them from staying. So Bahamut has arranged for the construction--and I'm not even slightly exaggerating--of divine ark-ship asteroids to sail the Astral Sea around his domain, providing comfortable living places for anyone friendly with the deities of Celestia, not just his own followers but anyone willing to play by the rules, more or less.That sounds more than a little like a deity willing to defy his fellows who have "cut off" the afterlife because it's just completely unacceptable to allow that kind of injustice. But because he is a being of justice, he can't act with impunity, and must make do with compromise solutions and partial measures as he continues to look for a proper solution to the problem. That's why he's empowering Sorcerers and Warlocks, who skirt around the issues with divine magic. He's also not against the use of artifice, but it needs to be done with care and under strict ethical guidelines, not the rampant dangerous experimentation that many are prone to. I also just really like the idea of a deity caught in a catch-22 situation: being LG, and very specifically a deity focused on the downtrodden and forgotten, he desperately wants to fix the problem and create a just and fair world, but it is his own power that invites the greatest problems. If he acts to help people, he will hurt them, but he cannot choose not to help people in need when he has the ability to help them. That's a fascinating and really different take on divinity compared to almost all other settings, where the good gods are usually just too busy or far-sighted to get involved. Here, the deity literally can't get directly involved without making things worse...but cannot choose not to get involved either.Whoever the Lonely One is, if you decide on a particular identity, there should be subtle clues about who it is--and what their real agenda is. Above, I assumed a Lawful Good deity--but that doesn't need to be the case. Perhaps the real reason the world is cut off is that an evil deity pulled a Takhisis and usurped the power of the gods, but in so doing cut off access to the afterlife. Such a deity would be totally fine with the world being really really awful and overrun with undead, and might see the "undead are drawn to divine magic" as a boon to encourage only necromancers and the reckless/ambitious to practice divine magic.[/SPOILER]For a couple more notions:No one is ever buried anymore. Remains are always either burned as soon as possible (religious rites are rare, if conducted at all) or, more commonly, simply thrown over the walls. There haven't been any "tombs" or "cemetaries" for decades, perhaps centuries depending on how long things have been as they are. At most, you might have old former temples re-purposed as places for keeping urns, but even then, many folks prefer to get rid even of the bone-ashes of the deceased--just out of superstition that they might somehow reanimate anyway.The undead fear fire, moving water, and salt. These aren't just ritual shorthands: they're also reminders about the safe ways to prepare meat so that it won't spring back to life and kill you. Freshly-cooked meat is a luxury for most folks. Minced or ground meat is a little more common (since it's hard for undead burger to do much of anything), but far more common than either of those is either pre-cooked meat, or cured meats, which have been saturated with salt and thus repel the undead. Many, particularly among the poor, try to make do with low-meat diets, perhaps enjoying a cured beast flank once a week, or adding small shavings of dried meat to other dishes.</blockquote>

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