Ul'dah and unclaimed bodies?

[Riven]

Considering you have to pay for your dead loved one or yourself to have a cheerful afterlife there...what would be the city policy you think on bodies that are found/collected-and nobody's paid for them?  Do you think they're put in a mass grave, or if there are some charitable souls that collect donations to offer for them?

 

I ask because Riven's mother has died there-and generally she was found in her little room only when a neighbor started to complain.  As Riven isn't in Ul'dah and can't be located as next of kin, I was just wondering what the lore theorycraft policy might be?

[Unnamed Mercenary]

I believe the church by Drybone accepts donations, but don't have the exact quotes on me.

 

 

I mostly assume that Ul'dah does not want the undead running around in their city, so the bare-minimum of body disposal is probably handled. In the worst case, probably mass-burial or cremation to ensure the body can't be possessed by any voidsent looking for an easy in.

 

But from what I can recall from THM/Ul'dah NPC dialogue is that people pay good money to ensure a "good" afterlife. Like as if their gil will make the aetherial blender more gentle.

[Roen]

I went with a mass-burial for the poor myself.

[Virella]

People get thrown into the lichyard of camp Drybone. Even nameless faces get buried there, seeming they don't be wanting zombies and the like all over the place.

[Kellach Woods]

Honestly I don't think they'd cart out people that often to Drybone.

In one of my characters' backstories I have a few priests of Nald'thal who are specifically assigned to handling these cases, which would likely mean something like cremation. Much cleaner and less chance of the dead rising up as zombies when they're ashes.

 

Although someone performing a ritual to combine the vengeful spirit of Sil'Dih as the Ashes of Sil'Dih would be pretty dang sick.

[Sounsyy]

Considering you have to pay for your dead loved one or yourself to have a cheerful afterlife there...what would be the city policy you think on bodies that are found/collected-and nobody's paid for them?  Do you think they're put in a mass grave, or if there are some charitable souls that collect donations to offer for them?

 

Mass burial, as evidenced by the MSQ, The Warden Works in Mysterious Ways, seems more common of late. Though I would not rule out cremation, but this is likely a costly service to perform.

 

There is one thing I regret to inform you: though we wished to inter your comrades on church grounds' date=' the number of fallen Scions far exceeded our estimates. After discussing the matter with Father Iliud, we have concluded that we have no choice but to bury the dead in the same plot as those who perished in the Calamity. Please forgive us. We do not wish to dishonor the memory of the fallen. But as caretakers of the lichyard, these are the realities we must face.[/quote']

 

So' date=' you wish to honor the dead once more? Make offerings of these Nymeia lilies at some of the simpler graves in the lichyard. The poor souls died alone, you see, with no one left to grieve for them.[/quote']

 

Alternatively, its entirely possible that the destitute who perish are simply left out for the crows beyond the city walls. What happens to them out in the wastes does not seem to concern the Ossuary if they did not entreat the guild to proper burial.

 

What would you like done with the remains? He was not a citizen of Ul'dah. You will have to appeal to Arrzaneth Ossuary to make arrangements. I should think medical expenses and internment costs will come to upward of one and a half million gil. ...Then take his corpse out of here yourself. Leave it beyond the city walls' date=' if you must. I'm sure the crows and the beetles will be happy to save you the cost of a burial. But whatever you do, do it quickly.[/quote']

The cost of not burying the deceased is far greater than the cost of burying them. Those not properly returned to Hydaelyn are damned to spend an eternity wandering the wastes!

 

 

 

Honestly I don't think they'd cart out people that often to Drybone.

 

Actually, it seems to becoming more and more the norm. The Erralig is overflowing with dead and very few bodies are being interred there anymore. The exceptions are those "virtuous" in the eyes of Nald'thal, aka those who've paid "small" fortunes to the Arrzaneth Ossuary. Whereas Saint Adama Landama's lichyard will bury anyone, prince or pauper.

 

The virtuous are interred in Erralig's Burial Chamber' date=' to ensure their safe passage into the realm of the dead. Men measure virtue in many ways, but Thal's scales weigh wealth most favorably. If you worry that you are yet wanting, you may make a donation at any time.[/quote']

 

Just how virtuous you ask...?

It is for just such unexpected acts of kindness that I continue to give selflessly to the Order of Nald'thal. I recently purchased for them an elaborate statue of Nald for some ten billion gil or so' date=' I don't recall the exact figure. No doubt such a gift moved Nald to imbue this talisman with his complete graces.[/quote']

 

 

Lichyard of Saint Adama Landama

'Tis a peaceful place for the most part. A lot of folk as perished in the Calamity are interred here - no room left in the city' date=' ye see - and their loved ones come to pay their respects. Of course, people also come bearin' the bodies of the recently deceased, so the church always has its hands full attendin' to everyone's needs.[/quote']

 

Welcome to the Church of Saint Adama Landama. Our patron saint was a wealthy man in life' date=' and so many merchants used to come calling to pray for his favor. But that all changed after the Calamity. Our small lichyard grew and grew as we took on the dead, and now we receive more mourners than merchants.[/quote']

 

In days gone by' date=' the lichyard was a small, humble plot. But that all changed after the Calamity fell five years ago. The dead grew in number, and so the yard grew with them. It is still simple, despite its size. Of course, it's that selfsame simplicity that keeps it from becoming more of a priority for the Order. We can ill afford to assign adequate numbers to its keeping, just as we cannot charge the poor to bury or be buried. Yet that does not stop the many who come calling to see their dead put to rest here.[/quote']

 

As an adventureer' date=' you are familiar with guildleves, yes? If so, you have likely seen our Saint Adama Landama, for his wealth and munificence were such that some guildleves now bear his likeness. A strange state of affairs, though, that a church bearing the name of a rich saint should now be overrun with the poor who come to bury their dead.[/quote']

 

 

Hope this helps! ^^

[Nebbs]

Just maybe...

 

Bodies mysteriously vanish, some think it is the city cleaning up but little do they know the truth. Body Snatches operate through Ul'dah and these dead and almost dead bodies are a rich source of materials for the dark arts practitioners. Anything from components to animations and even hosts for things from the void. There is even rumour of a sect that dine of the flesh of others.

[Kellach Woods]

Hope this helps! ^^

 

Strange, I remember the reaction to carting out the dead bodies of the Waking Sands (back in 2.0) being very gruesome. I doubt anyone dying in Ul'dah and poor is that clean of a body so the reaction stood out.

 

Fortunately, I just have to change that to preparing the bodies for transport rather than cremation in my character's backstory so that's always a good option.