File: jayose/Jayose Library: Burial Wells What are They_.txt

by Pellingar the Scribe


All residents of Yliakum dispose of the empty shells of the truly dead in the same manner. Perhaps by accident, or by necessity, the custom arose that the dead should be dropped down deep naturally-formed holes, sometimes called ’holes in the world.’ Some theorists present tales of the dead being interred in the earth in the past. That these events carried with them ceremonial intonations is no surprise and the remnants of these past customs can be seen in Yliakum’s burials as well. The Lemurs were the first to take up the practice of disposing of the dead in these wells, and marked them with decorative stone, usually in the shape of faces with open mouths. Historians tell of a Lemur city that was abandoned because of disease. While no one is positive about the nature of burials before wells were used, we can be fairly certain it was first done to avoid the spread of disease once a soul has departed the body. We know them to be vastly elaborate, and chosen specifically for their endless depth. One of the more famous burial wells on the first level of Yliakum has a winch system which lowers the dead partway down the well, illuminated to the watchers above by light crystals set into the walls and charged by a presiding priest of the ceremony. Having witnessed a burial in this famous well myself, I can say the effect is gloomy and inspires the next question: where do the bodies go? The most popular theory for Yliakum’s existence is that it is a hollowed stalactite. If this were true, then the tunnels would lead to the outside of the stalactite and fall into a possibly immense nothingness. Some claim that the wells do eventually dead-end, and that the bodies are piling on top of one another. They posit the belief that a mound of bones will grow forever until the wells are impossible to use. There are also suggestions that the wells contain some of the fearsome creatures that live beyond the Bronze Doors. These creatures are thought to feed on the bodies, possibly contracting diseases from the dead flesh. The most prevalent theory is that consumers live in them to feed on the bodies, and occasionally emerge from the wells during night hours to kill and feed on livestock. Though no recent accounts can verify these claims definitively, the pervasive notion that things live in the wells, or that they indeed have no bottom, has prevented anyone from exploring the wells to discover their true nature. That, and it is illegal to do so, for fear of infection.