U:VII:P2:The Rites of Cremation
Title: The Rites of Cremation
Author: Tolbert
Let this book serve as a guide to those who follow me in the honorable profession of cremator to the finest warriors in all the lands known to mankind, the fine fighters of Monitor! Most of this will become known during thine apprenticeship, but these written words will serve to bolster that which thy predecessor will be teaching thee.
The most important thing thou canst learn of thy profession is this: being a cremator is no less honorable or worthy a duty than taking up sword and shield and doing battle with goblins, trolls, and all the other uncivilized fiends that populate our land. I put to any doubters this question: where would a warrior be if he knew that, should he die valiantly in battle, his body would not be brought back to receive a proper cremation? That his body, primed and trained for war in life, should feed the carrion cowards who would rather flee than fight, or perhaps a meal for the wives of those foul beings who struck him down? He would be in the rear of the force, hoping that he returns home; worried more for his life than guiding his blade through the hearts of his enemies.
I have shown thee the worth of thy profession; now I will reveal to thee the import of burning one's body, as opposed to the primitive practice of burial. Thou hast known from the day thy first words were spoken that there is mystical power in the ashes of the dead. 'Tis true, and thou dost know this from thy Test of Knighthood. Ashes are the soul of a man; his spirit is locked within the remains of his lifeless body, and burning it releases the spirit from its imprisonment. If this is not done, the spirit will go insane and rise up as a monster -- lifeless, yet hateful and vengeful and animated. The spirit is in torment. This is no way for a courageous knight to spend eternity. For such a reason, the cremator is a respected and honored member of our stout city.
The question arises that, after the body is cremated (the method is described in detail in a later chapter), where must the ashes be stored? Fortune and wisdom on the part of our forefathers have placed us in a land whereby an opening in the great mountains to the west can serve as catacombs; a tomb for the courageous dead. It seems that these were once daemon lands, as evidenced by the ruins in the northwest, but more definitively by the catacombs. Therein, coffins and dusty tapestries hold their unburned dead. No doubt the place is naught but ruins because the maddened corpses did rise up and wreak their vengeance on the fools...
