Funeral Rites

[Ignas]

Once again, I found an interesting thread (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=16102301501&sid=1) in the official WoW RP Forum.

Essentially, it's a discussion on funeral customs for various races. Some of the ideas presented there are very good and I would like to see what others here might think.

Note: We don't need to limit it just to the playable races.

[Bruuin]

I will go into it more, but I did this with Brox before, exploring into the rituals of Funeral Rites:

http://wow-tng.org/showthread.php?t=8446

I will expand more on my thoughts of other races later, when I am not at work and getting bitched out.

[Sabachthan]

There's some good reasoning in the OP-linked thread, once you get past the first few staggering-abouts in the dark.

The one exception I take to is gnome burial. Gnomes do not have burials. When gnomes die, there's very little left to bury. Plus, knowing nutty gnome engineers, someone is probably out there trying to power their machine on biomass.

[Bellsa]

I've wondered about this topic before, as most of the things I have read about Tauren culture haven't gone into any real detail on funeral rights and traditions. After reading that thread on the official forums, I'm finding the sky burial that someone there mentioned to be a rather interesting idea. It seems like it could be a reasonable possibility for that culture.

Taking a quick glance at some sites that Google turned up in a search for funeral rites similar to those that some Native American tribes may have used, it's clear that there were a number of ways for death to be handled. While Tauren may have some Native American flavor, it's worth remembering that they are not actually Native American and that any similarities or comparisons made in the game need to be taken with a grain of salt. Still, one site mentioned something in particular that seems to fit quite well with Tauren in the game. Quote: "Nomadic tribes in the Great Plains region either buried their dead, if the ground was soft, or left them on tree platforms or on scaffolds."
The part that caught my eye was the mention of the platform. Some Tauren camps seem to have these by the graveyards. I'd be interested in what kind of tradition or ceremony may accompany this kind of funeral.

[Sabachthan]

There is a Tauren "graveyard" of sorts in Mulgore. Level 7-8 quest. I forget the specifics atm. Scaffolded biers are definitely seen in multiple Tauren camps.

[Cyrass]

Just popping in with what I know.

- Tauren bury their dead, there are several quests involving Tauren grave sites being dug up by Dwarves. However, I'd imagine if there were situations such as the beginning of WC3, where they were on the retreat, they'd start burning their dead.
- Orcs, according to the Horde Player's Guide from the RPG, burn their dead. (There was even a Pyremaster prestige class)
- Trolls mummify.
- Humans bury their dead, and I believe Dwarves do as well.

[Sabachthan]

Here's the quest I was talking about (http://www.wowwiki.com/Quest:A_Sacred_Burial).

[Aleria Fadeleaf]

I would think there would have to be a lot of people resorting to cremation since the onset of the Third War. I know that King Teranas was burned after his death. The two theories I have, if it was for any specific reason was either simply because he was royalty, or to prevent his corpse from being raised and made to serve the scourge.

With the influence of the scourge having spread significantly, and with the undead showing up practically everywhere, scourge or not, I would at least say that it would make sense for cremation to become more and more common. So that, for one, the spirits of the dead would not be jerked away from any afterlife that awaited them to a life of servitude to the Lich King, and of course, to deny Arthas (or a rogue necromancer) any future soldiers.

[Raziel]

We had this discussion years ago, in all honesty.

[Tiraline]

Some of us are new since then.

[Lysimachus]

Some of us are new since then.

Yah!

I was trying to formulate all sorts of possibilities, and then Aleria made her comment and... Regardless as to what they USED to do, I'd wager most races with any sense do cremate, at this point.

[Raziel]

I tried doing a forum search, but it was before the database change back in '07, so..err..couldn't find it.

[Tiraline]

Perhaps another forum-sticky is in order? A thread with the basics of big-ticket rituals per culture? (Weddings, funerals, births, coming-of-age, etc.?)

Of course, I'm not volunteering for this, because I'm reading these threads to learn myself!

[Taknar]

Of course, I'm not volunteering for this, because I'm reading these threads to learn myself!

That just means you're a prime candidate to do the research yourself, rather than someone who has already done it once. XD

[Tiraline]

That just means you're a prime candidate to do the research yourself, rather than someone who has already done it once. XD

Gah!

Why do I keep forgetting the Rule of Mouth: He who opens his first gets the work he proposes?