Burial Practices for Roleplaying Villages

Every NPC village needs a grim burial practice to freak out your players. This can be fun if your players are involved in the burial rites in some way; perhaps they need to do so to win the hearts of a suspicious town, or they need to take part because they killed the person being buried, or perhaps the selected Burial Practice is part of your characters culture. Whatever the reason, these should add a little bit of flavor to a role playing game.

D8 Table of Burial Practices for Roleplaying Villages.

1. The corpse must be buried in a mirrored box. The mirrors must line the inside and the outside. The belief is that the soul passes through the mirror into the afterlife. The mirrors on the outside prevent lost souls from entering the corpse. The glimpses in the corners of your eye are the shadows of the souls who have failed to pass through the reflection. If you stare into a mirror, your face might change or you might see movement, and that is when you have seen true reflection of the afterlife. Souls that aren't buried in a mirrored box are doomed to wander the earth. Some believe you can catch a soul in a mirrored jar and return it to the other world, but that is just silly, isn't it?
2. The killer or close family member of a corpse must lie in bed with the body from dusk until dawn First the corpse must be washed with lavender oils and then wrapped in silks. The Sleeper must comfort the corpse to help the soul rest with a familial embrace and comforting words until dawn. This is usually terribly uncomfortable for the Sleeper as the corpses eyes must not be closed or else their soul will be trapped forever.  The corpse is then buried in a coffin with the living Sleeper. The sleeper is usually not told about this, convinced they are going on a journey with the cadaver to ensure its safe burial. The elite of the town keep this a closely guarded.
3. The body is embalmed and then stuffed into the position of their occupation or role in life. If they were a potter, they will be stuffed and positioned at a potters wheel. If they were a parent, they might be holding a wrapped bundle. If the corpse was a prostitute, they will be in a position they were best known for. If they were a Soldier, they will be in a position of battle and so on and so forth. These corpses are then displayed in large underground tomb which also acts as a morbid museum. Some say that the corpses reanimate during the night and any left in the tomb will be adopted into the macabre display, usually during this time the tomb is sealed.  If a King or Queen dies with no heir, elected or through blood, then a long, slow process of embalming their entire court begins usually carried out by the military.
4. The corpse is roasted during a full days festivities in the town center. Music, dancing and a myriad of hot, succulent meals are enjoyed by all. Usually, if the death is not sudden, the deceased will have planned how they would like to be roasted and with what accompanying vegetables and paired alcohol. At the end of the day when dusk falls, the townspeople and villagers will dine on the corpse of the deceased. If the deceased is diseased, they will be dried and then crushed into a light powder to be sprinkled on a cocktail shot known as "The Shot In the Dark". It has a 1 in 4 chance of giving you one of the below sicknesses:

i. The Black Plague

ii. Dysentery

iii. Smallpox

iv. Rabies

v. Malaria

vi. Instant Death

5. The body is carried around either by the family or the individual who caused the death. If there are no family members and the death was natural, then a lottery will be taken to determine the "carer" of the corpse. The corpse is treated like a member of that persons family. They must carry it with them, feed it, clothe it, bathe it and act as if it is a real, living person for 1D20 months. If it loses a limb it must be stitched back on. If the limb is not replaceable then a crafted limb or head will need to be made for the corpse. This is just in case, on the off chance, the corpse is reanimated or decides to "wake up from its eternal slumber". If the corpse remains dead, as it usually does, then it is burned and spread over the space where it expired.
6.The villagers believe that the only way to truly reach the heavens is to have a "burial in the sky". The way this is achieved is the body is fired in a blessed trebuchet aimed at the sky. This is usually done when the sky is cloudy or even better, when it is foggy. To ensure the body reaches the "heavens" safely, the body must be strapped to a member of the town, or some brave adventurers, willing to take on the role of "Sky Guardian". The Guardian is dressed in a hide suit with "winged arms" and fired violently into the sky. Surprisingly, these Guardians never return to the village. The belief is that they are taken into the heavens as a reward for guarding the corpses journey to the clouds.
7. The corpse is turned into armour by a "Skinsmith" and worn a soldier who makes the best case to the corpses family or, if the deceased had no family, a group of town officials. The winner of the debate, showing the most respect and care for the deceased, will win the armour. The debates can last a while. If the corpse is a Fighter, the wearer of the Human Armour will gain a 1D4 bonus to their AC or Strength (your choice). If the corpse is a Specialist, they will gain 1D4 points to spend in their skills. If the corpse is a Magic User, the wearer will gain 1D4 spells (only one spell can be prepared a day) up to the wearers level. The armour does not last long and begins to decompose, losing its power, after 1D6 days when the soul is freed. A Skinsmith can repair the corpse with oils, and this will cause the armour to last a further 1D4 days. Skinsmiths in other locations are either rare or thought of in the same light as witches or necromancers.
8. The body is crushed into a thick, gooey jam, over several days, with clubs and knuckledusters by the townspeople. This is usually on an altar in the center of town. A guard rotation is set up to ensure that rats, wild dogs and birds do not devour the body whilst it is sufficiently pulped. The jam is then scooped into a metal box engraved with holy symbols. This carried by a Cleric or religious individual until the next full moon, then buried. Sometimes, it is said that the "jam" pulses in the night, letting off a faint red glow and if consumed the corpse jam will give the consumer vivid hallucinations of the past and future (it doesn't specify whose future). Opening the box and eating the remains is desecration and will condemn the soul. The carrier will need to make a Save Vs. Magic or Will save to resist the temptation of the Body Box. They will hear it whisper.

Images courtesy of wiki.commons